The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 64: Investigation Report

Episode 64: Investigation Report

We safely reached the base and sat down at the same time. It seemed like we had been on edge ever since the fight with the Guardian. Now that we were in a safe place, all the tension drained from us.

“Hey, Fel. Just in case, you should put up a Shield.”

“You’re right, Lilia. But do you think a Shield can block a Guardian?”

“That’s the thing—you just have to make it a lightning-attribute Shield.”

“I see.”

I immediately followed Lilia’s suggestion and put up a lightning-attribute Shield. Now I could relax. Lilia gently stroked my head as I collapsed flat from exhaustion.

Even Ardan seemed to have no energy left to cook. Even though he had received a mental energy recovery spell from Elise, it looked like he had reached his limit.

“Is everyone okay with rations again for today?”

“Of course. I can’t possibly ask you to cook. Oh, right! Should I make food for you instead?”

“Elise, you’ve been using the Small Light spell all day, right? You must be tired too. You should rest today.”

“Really? Alright then.”

Elise pouted slightly as she said that. Apparently, Ardan didn’t want Elise to cook. This must be that—Elise is definitely a bad cook. I didn’t feel like cooking either. So rations again for today. It would’ve been nice if the rations were a bit tastier.

When I checked the current time, it was 4 PM. Still a while before dinner. So we all had a light, sweet snack. That gave us a little energy.

“Tomorrow’s investigation will probably be the same as today.”

Jill murmured quietly. The atmosphere still felt heavy.

“We’ll probably have to fight another Guardian.”

I gave a wry smile at that mood. We hadn’t seen daylight all day today. Maybe that’s what was lowering our spirits. Sunlight is a powerful thing.

“Yeah… We still have time before the mission deadline. So we could take a break tomorrow if we want?”

Ardan’s suggestion made us look at each other. But probably, everyone felt the same. Lilia and I could fly straight to town if we wanted. But the others didn’t have that option.

“Even if we take a break, there’s nothing in particular to do, right?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Maybe just sleep in?”

“My body would get stiff, so I’ll pass. Fel and Lilia could probably cuddle all day though.”

Jill looked at us with a smirk. Well, if you ask whether we could or not, we could… but… When I imagined the scene, I couldn’t help but look away.

“Hey! How rude! It’s not like we’re flirting all year round!”

Lilia said that, while clinging to my face. Apparently, she was recovering her magic. That didn’t help her case at all. Jill quietly shook his head. There was no light in his eyes.

“Alright then, we’ll continue the investigation tomorrow. Are there any other places where we might find airship-like things?”

“So far, just the place we found today. What I’m also curious about is the place with the large magic stone. But, after seeing the airship, I think maybe that big magic stone was used to power the ship. It didn’t seem like the airship had any magic stones loaded.”

Ardan put a hand to his chin and nodded repeatedly. He had a serious expression, but there was something light in his demeanor.

“That’s possible. I’d like to think the idea of a giant Guardian is off the table.”

“There doesn’t seem to be enough space for a giant Guardian to move. Still, there are a few rooms big enough for the Guardians we’ve been fighting.”

“So that means there’s a high chance Guardians are in those rooms too.”

Jill snorted sharply. He didn’t seem afraid of the Guardians. Even though his prized sword didn’t work on them, he hadn’t lost his confidence. That inner strength must be the source of Jill’s strength.

“That’s right. But now that we know how to defeat them, we don’t need to be afraid unnecessarily.”

“True. Drop them in a hole, hit them with lightning, and it’s done.”

Lilia pressed even more tightly to my face. No wonder Jill teases us. Ah, Elise’s eyes are half-lidded. Looks like she’s fed up with us.

—

From the next day on, the ruin investigation continued. In every room that had a magic stone reaction, after what sounded like a warning sound, we were attacked by a Guardian. Thanks to the combo magic of Pit and Thunder Lance, we fortunately suffered almost no damage.

“If Fel hadn’t been there, it would’ve been tough.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been. Actually, it probably wouldn’t have been possible to defeat them at all.”

“Even if we had run away, who knows how far it would’ve chased us.”

Somehow, it felt like Ardan and the others were praising me, and the base of my neck felt ticklish. Still, I told myself to focus, focus, and thoroughly checked the surroundings using Analyze.

“This is the room where there’s a large magic stone reaction.”

“I see. Just like Fel and Lilia said, it’s just an ordinary room. There’s no sign that a giant Guardian might appear.”

As we carefully proceeded deeper into the room, there was a large safe. Apparently, the magic stone was inside this. It had a round dial with a shape we had never seen before. Near it, there was also a keyhole.

“Looks like some treasure is sleeping inside here. I wonder how we open it?”

“I don’t think we can open this, right? This is the first time I’ve seen a safe shaped like this.”

Ardan and Jill were examining the safe, but there was no sign that the door would open. In this case, with Lilia’s magic…

“Lilia, think you can open it with magic?”

“I don’t think so, honestly. Well, I’ll give it a try. Key Open! —Wow, it opened!”

The moment a sound clicked from the keyhole, the round dial began spinning rapidly. Then with a soft click, the door opened slightly.

Fairy mischief magic is terrifying. Its effectiveness is too high. It must have been used to sneak into secret rooms and treasure vaults. And Lilia must’ve known the safe would open. Her last words were spoken in a flat tone.

“Well then, let’s go ahead and open it.”

“Never thought we’d get lucky and the safe door would just open from the start~”

Jill responded in a flat voice. Seems like he was going to pretend he didn’t see anything. Much appreciated. When we opened the safe, inside there was only one large magic stone. It was sitting there all alone. Since we had expected maybe gold and silver treasure, it was a bit of a letdown.

“Looks like it’s just a magic stone. Even so, it should bring in a decent bonus reward.”

“This must’ve been what powered that airship. But why was it taken out? Maybe they built it but never intended to fly it?”

“I don’t understand what the ancients were thinking. Let’s leave this as it is and move on.”

If it’s a magic stone this size, it should easily fit in a magic bag to take home. But even if we did, the only place we could sell it would be the country. It seems they judged there’d be no use in bringing it back.

If it had been a large gemstone or something, a big merchant would’ve bought it. I hope there’s gold and silver treasure at the next location. There are still rooms being guarded by Guardians. There’s still a chance.

We continued exploring, and the ruins investigation was completed. As a result of the investigation, there were no gold or silver treasures. The Guardians had been guarding four rooms.

One room that seemed to house some kind of power source. One room filled with unknown machines whose purpose couldn’t be understood. One room resembling a library, scattered with many wooden fragments and papers. And one particularly luxurious room, likely used by someone of importance.

In the luxurious room, there was a metal desk. It still maintained its shape. What looked like a painting that had once hung on the wall had decayed like a rag and lay on the floor.

A metal model of an airship seemed to belong on a shelf. But it was now lying quietly on the floor, still retaining the shape of its body.

We finished our investigation while being careful not to touch those things. After Ardan compiled the results of the ruins investigation, we returned to the royal capital. It had taken about twenty days to complete.

“We’ve come to report the completion of the request.”

“Completion report, understood. Please present the request form.”

As soon as we returned to the royal capital, we headed to the Adventurers’ Guild. I wanted to finish the request quickly and rest. Even though the base was safe, it wasn’t the same as being in a city. The mental fatigue had built up. The other members seemed to feel the same way and looked tired.

Lilia and I were probably the better off. When we ran out of food, we could fly through the sky to town to buy more. The other three had been stuck there the whole time. They seemed pretty worn out.

While we waited at an open table, Ardan came back.

“Welcome back. How was it?”

“The official reward will come later. For now, we just get the payment amount written on the request form.”

Saying that, he placed a bag of money in front of us. It was a large bag, so it seemed to contain a decent amount of money. Let’s use this to eat something delicious.

“Well then, let’s go back to the inn and take a good rest.”

“I second Jill’s opinion!”

Lilia raised her hand and jumped up.