Chapter 59

"Mr. Blantark. I believe this ruin...?"

"It's a ruin that the Academy's academic investigation has already concluded long ago."

From the capital, it takes about half a day in total, using instantaneous teleportation magic and walking. My party, the new adventurers 'Dragon Busters,' and Mr. Blantark had arrived at the ancient ruins in the Parzenia grasslands where Grade Grand was defeated a few years ago.

In the past two and a half years, the Parzenia grasslands have been bustling with many people who have been continuously developing large-scale farmland. Additionally, the construction of roads, towns, and villages has progressed, and the economic benefits have been immeasurable.

This ancient ruin exists in a relatively capital-side location within the Parzenia grasslands. It looked like a temple ruin with several slightly weathered stone structures.

"The upper part had already become a tourist spot."

Mr. Blantark, who said he was familiar with us and found us uninteresting, was answering Elise with a friendly attitude. Upon closer inspection, his gaze occasionally went to her chest, so it seemed that women were indeed judged by their chests.

I don't deny that point, but I don't want to see other people's fiancées' chests being stared at. Although he wasn't looking directly, I would also look if I met a woman with large breasts.

As a fellow man, I thought it was inappropriate to complain.

"One of my friends also went on an academic investigation to this ruin before."

"It's apparently a kind of gateway for newcomers."

This place was a safe ruin where students from the archaeology department in the capital would come on field trips to write reports. However, a student casually touched a stone in the ruin, and the entrance to the underground ruin suddenly opened. There was a rule not to touch the ruins, so the student violated the rule. However, thanks to this, the path to the underground ruin was opened, and the student received neither praise nor punishment.

"From that moment, the ruin became what you see now."

There was no guarantee that monsters wouldn't come pouring out of the open entrance, so now multiple soldiers are guarding the area around the entrance.

"Of course, the Adventurer's Guild immediately sent a party they could contact."

Two highly skilled parties were combined and sent, totaling eleven people.

"Um... They didn't come back, right?"

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have received a forced request, would we?"

"..."

Mr. Blantark was right, but naturally, all the party members, including me, were emotionally unable to accept it.

If it was such a dangerous ruin, more experienced adventurers should have been sent.

"The Adventurer's Guild should have learned from the first failure."

The Adventurer's Guild was apparently afraid of the kingdom sending Master Armstrong. According to Mr. Blantark, the guild's pride was severely damaged by the fact that adventurers couldn't defeat two dragons two years ago.

"But, weren't the masters adventurers in the past?"

"They're different now. By the way, I was an adventurer too."

Moreover, in the case of Grade Grand, I was a half-fledged apprentice adventurer at the Breichburg Adventurer Preparatory School, participating as a noble. This apparently greatly irritated the guild. However, they couldn't upset me by saying that, so they sent a second combined veteran party out of stubbornness, only to repeat the same mistake.

"Because of the first failure, they sent a party with even more achievements this time."

Three parties combined, totaling thirteen people. They were all top-tier parties in terms of achievements.

"Could it be?"

"No one came back."

Apparently, the loss of more veteran adventurers couldn't be overlooked. The Adventurer's Guild reported to the kingdom that the exploration was impossible. In response, the kingdom dispatched soldiers to guard the ruins for several weeks to prevent people from entering.

"Sending amateurs to such a dangerous underground ruin..."

"You're not entirely wrong."

The missing adventurer parties were among the best in combat skills within the guild. If multiple such skilled adventurers couldn't return, it led to the conclusion that there might be a monster.

"At the very least, a dragon that has passed the larval stage."

To defeat a dragon, at least one intermediate-level or higher mage with considerable magical power is necessary, and the other members also need significant combat skills.

"The combined parties didn't have any intermediate-level or higher mages."

Due to the low probability, there aren't many mages, and it's considered a lot if a person encounters a few in a lifetime. Moreover, having three mages in one party, like me, Louise, and Elise, is almost impossible, according to Mr. Blantark.

"They thought it would be easy to handle even if a dragon appeared."

Moreover, with Mr. Blantark around, it was even more so. Although I felt a bit uneasy without Master Armstrong, he was the best in the kingdom in terms of combat skills, despite his usual behavior.

"My appointment as your mentor was decided by our lord and the king. As a court servant, I can't say anything."

He was afraid that an unknown self-proclaimed veteran adventurer would be assigned to us newbies and might not return. After discussing it, they decided to temporarily bring Mr. Blantark back into active duty.

Naturally, the guild was not pleased. They felt their authority was being violated, which is understandable.

"I'm not part of the upper echelons of the guild. They seem to dislike me."

Mr. Blantark, who had been an adventurer for a long time, had many acquaintances at the field level. Many mages had received short-term guidance from him. Some of the guild's middle management were also on good terms with him, and his information sources were from there.

However, he had a very poor relationship with the current mainstream middle management. Apparently, they felt threatened that Mr. Blantark might take their positions after retiring and tried to expel him from the guild.

"That's why I don't like the main office of the capital's guild. I'm fine with the non-mainstream members and those from other branches."

Around that time, his master met an untimely death, and he considered it fate to become a retainer of the Breihlader Margrave.

"Is it okay to have such people?"

"There's no problem with ordinary people hunting in the monster's territory."

However, in emergencies like this, the flaws become apparent, Mr. Blantark said. In short, they are bureaucrats. Unlike when he was a young newbie, the guild's middle management, who have become conservative due to having something to lose, are like executives in a large corporation from my previous life.

"Talking here won't solve anything..."

"You're right, let's go in."

Despite feeling a bit unreasonable, there was no way we could slack off here. We showed the king's order to the soldiers guarding the entrance to the underground ruin and proceeded inside.

"Are there no monsters? Vel, did you sense anything with your detection magic?"

"No, not even a single low-level monster."

We entered the underground dungeon with six people, but upon actually entering, there were no traps, and not a single monster. When asked by Iena about the results of her detection magic, she didn't sense any monster's presence. We were just moving through the stone-built dungeon and creating a map.

"Are there any traps?"

"None."

"I see, none..."

It seemed that even Mr. Blantark couldn't understand why the adventurers had gone missing in this underground dungeon.

"There's a square ahead."

"Square?"

After about thirty minutes of advancing through the dim underground ruin with almost no turns, we emerged into a vast space.

"It's spacious."

The square was several hundred meters long and wide, and about fifty meters high. It was neatly covered with stone walls and floors, with nothing else inside.

"Ah, but..."

Louise, who had the best eyesight among us, seemed to have noticed something at the back. After walking for a while, we found an entrance at the very back, confirming that this underground ruin was mostly a straight path. However, it was blocked by a large object.

"It's a large metal dragon statue, Mr. Vendelin."

Elise looked up at the dragon statue with admiration. However, Mr. Blantark's face showed a look of caution.

"Everyone, step back."

"Mr. Blantark?"

"Vel, get ready for battle."

"Huh? Isn't this just a statue..."

Mr. Blantark calmly ordered us to step back from the dragon statue and prepare for battle. We were skeptical, but his words were soon proven correct.

Suddenly, the dragon statue let out a roar.

"A relic of the ancient magic civilization. A metal dragon golem created for base defense. I've only seen descriptions in literature, but this is the first time I've seen the real thing."

"Mr. Blantark, isn't this a bit too much?"

"Yes, it wiped out two high-level combined parties. El, you should be prepared."

"This is a terrible debut battle."

The moment we were all ready for battle, the metal dragon launched a powerful breath attack at us.

"Ugh... This is a problem..."

After about an hour of battle, we were completely stuck in a stalemate.

"The outer shell is made entirely of mithril."

As Mr. Blantark said, the dragon golem's outer shell was entirely covered in mithril, making our magic completely ineffective.

Moreover, it could continuously unleash powerful breath attacks, and we were all huddled together, protected by Mr. Blantark's magic barrier.

"The breath attacks and physical attacks like the tail can be blocked by Vel and Mr. Blantark's magic barriers, but what should we do next?"

As Iena said, we could block all the dragon golem's attacks, but it seemed dissatisfied that we wouldn't die. It relentlessly attacked with breath and tail, preventing us from launching a counterattack.

"Still, it's impressive how it can continuously unleash breath attacks."

"It probably has a very good magic crystal inside."

In response to El's question, Mr. Blantark began to explain. Dragons, except for small wyverns, can breathe fire. The source of this breath is the vast magical power they possess.

"Even fire-attribute dragons don't store flammable substances in their bodies. It's similar to a human mage skilled in fire magic."

As long as their magical power lasts, they can breathe fire indefinitely. Moreover, if a dragon rests, its magical power can be fully restored in about two days.

"The dragon golem was created using this mechanism of the dragon's body."

"The magic crystal inside is the key."

"That's right."

"But, how can it last so long?"

For a living dragon, magical power can be restored with rest. But how does the dragon golem replenish its magical power?

"Probably with those strange mirror-like devices."

Upon closer inspection, there were solar panel-like devices on the dragon golem's forehead, ears, back of the neck, and back.

"It's probably collecting magical power from the air."

This was also mentioned in the literature. It was known that a small amount of magical power floats in the air, but the current magic technology has not yet established a method to collect and utilize it.

So, the dragon golem is indeed a relic from the ancient magic civilization.

"But, is such a small amount of magical power enough?"

"Even in the ancient magic civilization, it would have been impossible to develop a device to replenish the dragon golem's magical power so quickly. After all, the amount of magical power floating in the air is very small."

"If it's only for intruders who come once every few years, it's sufficient."

Indeed, as Mr. Blantark said, the veteran adventurer parties, who were all skilled, were wiped out by the dragon golem.

They were undoubtedly wiped out by the initial breath attack. Upon closer inspection of the ground, small remnants of burned equipment were scattered here and there.

"Still, what a breath attack. The bones of the humans were turned to ash."

"Only a mage skilled in magic barriers could have entered the battle."

"So, what do we do now?"

"There's nothing we can do. We just have to keep blocking the breath attacks in shifts."

"Aim for the depletion of its magical power."

"Of course! It's pointless to fight this monster head-on!"

Fortunately, Mr. Blantark and I could nullify all the dragon golem's attacks with our magic barriers. However, our magic attacks on the dragon golem were deflected by its mithril armor. Iena tried firing a magic-enhanced spear, which penetrated the mithril armor but was deflected by what seemed to be a second layer of armor underneath.

According to Mr. Blantark's theory, there was probably orichalcum armor under the mithril armor.

A mithril-orichalcum composite armor. It might be an interesting setting in a robot anime from my previous life, but it was a nuisance when it was the enemy.

"Still, it's a troublesome ultimate tactical weapon."

Even so, it was better as a tactical weapon. It was sturdy and had top-tier firepower, but its mission was limited to stopping intruders. Whether its fuel efficiency was good or bad, its replenishment method was weak, so it was expected to stop operating soon.

"By the way, Mr. Blantark."

"What is it?"

"How long will this thing keep moving?"

"Who knows? I'd like to know too."

"..."

About half a day later, the dragon golem finally stopped moving.

"Even if it stops, there's the fear that it might recharge its magical power from the air and restart..."

"It's fine, Vel."

"Why is that?"

"Well, there was a switch on its underside. I turned it off."

"Isn't this thing more like a toy..."

After about half a day, Mr. Blantark and I used magic barriers to defend against the dragon golem's attacks. It finally stopped due to a lack of magical power.

If this were a light novel from my previous life, the battle would have been so uneventful that readers might have complained. But this was a real-life situation where we were risking our lives. Taking a safe and sure approach shouldn't be criticized. Such flashy battles should be left to Master Armstrong.

There was a risk that it might recharge its magical power from the air and restart, but that concern was alleviated when Louise discovered a stop switch on the underside of the stopped dragon golem. We decided to proceed and open the door it was guarding, as we were curious about what it was protecting.

Since it was a defensive combat golem, it was expected to have a stop switch. The switch could be toggled between on and off. Louise immediately switched it to off, and we decided to enter the area the dragon golem was guarding.

We were curious about what the dragon golem was protecting.

"Is it safe?"

"The magical power in the air is infinite, but the amount is minimal. It would take at least a few weeks to gather enough to restart."

Even if the stop switch was a lie, it would take time for the dragon golem to restart. It had used up its magical power quickly by continuously using its breath attack on unexpected enemies like us.

Still, it was a truly malicious weapon, capable of attacking at full power for half a day.

"Until now, it probably only needed to unleash a powerful breath attack once for occasional intruders. It would only take a few days to recharge enough magical power for one breath attack."

Moreover, the investigation after the dragon golem stopped revealed that the only casualties were the adventurers who had gone missing. The ruin was completely hidden, and the student who found the switch to open the entrance had hit the jackpot. The dragon golem had likely been inactive for thousands of years, with its magical power nearly full.

From the amount of burned and charred equipment of the unfortunate victims scattered on the ground, it was clear that this was an unexplored underground ruin.

"Well, the problem is the room beyond this one..."

After stopping the powerful breath attack of the dragon golem in the large hall, we might have let our guard down a bit.

Upon learning that the missing adventurers had met their end here, we became complacent and assumed there would be nothing beyond.

"Is there a treasure or something?"

"Maybe because it's guarded by a dragon, even if it's artificial?"

Even El, who is usually serious and cautious, didn't seem to be on high alert as she and Iena opened the door behind the dragon golem.

At this point, the fact that nothing seemed amiss with the two of them might have been a bad sign.

"You two, be more careful and look for traps!"

Mr. Blantark followed the two of them through the door and went ahead. Then, I and Elise followed, and finally, Louise entered the room, keeping a watchful eye on the rear.

"Huh? A dead end?"

The room was a ten-meter square space, completely made of stone, with