The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 87: Ancient Document

Episode 87: Ancient Document

“You came back quicker than I expected.”

“Yeah, thanks to some luck. He hadn’t actually made a weapon out of mithril before, but we were able to find a blacksmith who has a furnace capable of forging mithril.”

“Is that really okay!?”

I unintentionally looked at the two of them in surprise. Jill was smiling happily, while Ardan had a wry smile on his face.

Ah, I see. He couldn’t stop Jill.

“You should’ve had Elise go with you.”

“That’s too bad,”

Ardan shook his head from side to side. And Elise raised both her hands in response. A sign of giving up. If Elise had gone with them, she probably would’ve been dragged around all day. But now that Jill seems to have calmed down, maybe it’s better to consider that a good thing.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of sword will be made.”

“As expected of Lilia, you get it!”

Jill replied with a happy, wide grin. It is something to look forward to. But when I glanced at a weapon shop earlier, there were a lot of unfamiliar swords displayed. I think they were called “katana” or something. Is this really going to be okay? I’m starting to get a little worried.

Ardan is probably feeling uneasy too. With his awkward smile still on his face, he looked at the goods in the market as if to distract himself.

“By the way, when will that sword be ready?”

“They said it’ll be done in about ten days. It’s just one sword for Jill, after all.”

“Oh? I thought Ardan ordered one too.”

I can understand why Elise would say that. He didn’t show it on his face much, but Ardan also seemed like he wanted a mithril weapon.

“I’ll have Rugald-san make mine once we get back to the royal capital.”

“I think that’s a better idea.”

We all looked at the excited Jill. Maybe he didn’t notice, but he kept picking up random items and putting them back.

After rejoining Ardan and Jill, we continued touring the sightseeing spots of Kikyou Town. Not just the market — we also visited mansions with grand gates and gardens. Apparently, you can experience “wabi-sabi” there. I didn’t really get it, though. Lilia, who was sitting on my shoulder, tilted her head in confusion too.

—

We couldn’t get through all the tourist spots in just one day. Well, we’ll probably be staying in this town for about ten more days. So we should be able to visit all of them eventually. After returning to the inn, we had dinner there. The rest of the time until bedtime was free time. I’ve been waiting for this moment!

“Fel, what are you looking at?”

Ardan seemed to notice that Pii-chan was huddled with me and Lilia, and we were doing something.

“Oh, this? This is that ancient document Lilia found during the day. It seems like there’s some kind of secret in it~”

“That’s right! After all, in that book lies the love between Aniki and Boss lady… Guh!”

Pii-chan tried to say something unnecessary. And it was then choked by Lilia. Maybe it’s because we found out at the mithril mine ruins that Pii-chan is immortal — she showed no mercy. Pii-chan’s head changed from red to blue and it tapped frantically with teary eyes. So I finally stopped her.

“A-Aniki~!”

Pii-chan cried out clinging to me.

“If you’ve learned your lesson, stop provoking Lilia.”

“But I just wanted to help Aniki and Boss lady get closer~”

I secretly patted Pii-chan. I appreciate the thought, but it’s not good to do that in front of Ardan and the others. If you’re going to do it, at least wait until it’s just us. Who knows when that opportunity will come. Doesn’t seem like it’ll be any time soon. I’m already starting to want to return to the royal capital.

Once we’re back in the capital, we’ll be in separate rooms from Ardan and the others. That alone gives me more chances.

I flipped through the ancient document. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly suspicious. The writing was unreadable, and it seemed like there were a mix of various kinds of letters in it. Truly incomprehensible and unintelligible.

And then, I came across a blank page with nothing written on it.

“What’s this? Why is there no writing on just this part?”

“You’re right. That’s strange. All the other pages are completely filled with text.”

Lilia held the blank page up to the light and examined it. But her “Lilia-chan Eyes” didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary. Eventually, Ardan and the others gathered around too.

“There’s probably some kind of secret.”

“Maybe it really is a genuine treasure map.”

“Could be the location of a legendary sword!”

A legendary sword… Jill still wants a sword? I just hope he doesn’t suddenly say something like “let’s go find it.”

I stared hard at the blank page. But it didn’t seem like I was getting anywhere. And just then—

“Could this possibly be… invisible ink!?”

“You know something, Pii-chan!?”

Everyone’s attention turned to Pii-chan. Pii-chan quietly nodded in response. It seemed confident. It slowly stood in front of the ancient document, almost as if trying to be dramatic.

“This is most likely a trick where some kind of writing will appear when it’s heated with fire.”

Pii-chan stated confidently. I thought I heard someone gulp. While everyone watched, Pii-chan spread both of its wings.

“Burning Feather Attack!”

Pii-chan’s body, which was already burning red, flared up even more. It got hotter and hotter. When did it learn such a spell!?

“What’s that magic? I’ve never heard of it. You just made it up, didn’t you?”

“……”

Despite Lilia’s sharp, squinty eyes, Pii-chan kept generating heat. It probably was just raising its body temperature. Since I’m merged with Pii-chan, I could tell exactly what was going on. You just wanted to look cool, huh, Pii-chan?

“Hey, look! Something’s starting to appear!”

“That’s not just a pattern. It’s a map! A treasure map!”

An excited Elise shouted. Just like she said, it looked like some sort of map. And in the center, there was an “X” mark. Could it be? Could it really be…?

Once the page stopped changing any further, Pii-chan returned to its normal temperature. It looked refreshed, like it had just accomplished something big. Good job, Pii-chan. Well, it’s my magical energy you’re using though.

“Could the treasure be here? If we believe the shopkeeper’s story, then there should be gold and silver treasures in this place?”

“Gold and silver treasure!? Let’s go treasure hunting!”

“That’s fine, but first we need to figure out where this map is pointing to.”

We all stared at the map. Since we hadn’t been in this country long, we couldn’t tell where it might be. There was also a strong possibility that it wasn’t even in this country. And to top it off, there was always the chance it was a fake.

“Hmm, this part looks like the sea, doesn’t it? Then maybe this part is the coastline?”

Lilia pointed at the edge of the map. That area looked like it was shaded in.

“That could be. It looks like it’s been shaded past this point.”

“If that’s the case, maybe we can find a similar coastline if we search along the shore.”

“Yeah. Let’s try looking!”

“Let’s just hope that shopkeeper wasn’t messing with us.”

Ardan had a point. There was a good chance we were being fooled. Still, even if we were, it would be a good way to kill time while waiting for Jill’s sword to be finished.

Everyone seemed to agree — no one objected.

“First, let’s go to a bookstore. If we can find a map of the coastline and compare it, we should be able to figure out where it is.”

“I hope it’s somewhere close to this town. It’d be nice if we could get there quickly and come back just as fast.”

“Things never go that conveniently, though~”

With conversations like that, we went to bed, preparing for tomorrow. Lilia’s eyes really are amazing. It’s like she can see through anything. Since that map caught her attention, there must be something there. It probably isn’t just a prank from that shopkeeper. I’m getting excited to find out what’s there.

The next morning, after finishing breakfast, we headed straight for the largest bookstore in Kikyo Town. A place like that was sure to have maps.

We asked the shopkeeper for permission and started looking at the maps. Just as we expected, the store had maps in all sizes — not only of the surrounding area, but of the whole country. And even a map of the entire continent.

“Since we’re here, maybe I should buy a map of the continent.”

“Sounds interesting. We’ve got money, and the price isn’t a problem.”

Maps of a whole continent weren’t cheap, unlike regional maps. This one was no exception — it was expensive.

Auto Mapping may be convenient. But it can’t cover very large areas. If you want to view the whole continent, a big map is necessary. We hadn’t paid much attention to that before. But now that we were Platinum Rank adventurers, our range of activity had expanded. Getting a world map would definitely come in handy later.

“Hey, look here! This coastline looks exactly like the one from the ancient document!”

“You’re right. It’s not a perfect match, but it’s almost the same.”

“It seems like there’s no mistake… which means, the place shown on the map is somewhere around here.”

Elise pointed at a specific location. It appeared to be a forest not too far from Kikyo Town.