LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 15
Chapter 15 – Ruin Guard Request (2)
—–CROW—–
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could get a few shifts in and get promoted quickly? Since it’s a ruin, there might be something for a paper, too!”
With that kind of logic, I took on a ruin guard request.
─The interior of the ruin has been fully investigated by a Gold-class adventurer team. They said there are no risk factors inside.
The receptionist’s words also played a significant role in my decision.
Other guild members were busy hunting monsters in the newly discovered dungeon to build up their achievements. The Audhumla Guild must have thoroughly searched the ruin to keep up with them.
And since they concluded that there was nothing in the ruin, it must be incredibly safe.
Perhaps the previously dispatched party, as well as ours, had gone in with high hopes, only to return having reconfirmed that it was a dead-end ruin.
I felt sorry for the Gold-class adventurer party struggling in that small-time guild. The thought of their gloomy return brought tears to my eyes.
“Hehe. I’m hungry, I should buy some snacks.”
Actually, I wasn’t sad at all. If they had found anything in the ruin, I wouldn’t have gotten this easy request.
I packed my bag with items to kill time, fully utilizing my experience as a squad leader on duty in the military. I also packed camping gear. It was a shame there was no coffee in this world.
“Hey, Dorka. I’ll be back tomorrow and have a free breakfast the day after, so save my share.”
“We charge a fee after 1 PM, sir.”
“You Dorka-like bastard.”
I exchanged pleasantries and left the inn.
This time, the guild determined that there was little risk of encountering monsters, so a Bronze-class senior didn’t lead the party. It was probably a newbie like me leading the party.
We were to gather at 2 PM and arrive at the site by 4 PM. Four of us would guard the ruin for 24 hours, and then switch with the next shift and return.
With four people, we could take turns keeping watch and get some sleep. Wasn’t this a sweet deal?
—Hurry, hurry!
I rushed to the meeting place as the appointed time approached. This time, the meeting place was near the north gate of the city. And there, I saw a familiar face.
“Oh, isn’t that Ms. Francesca?”
“Oh! Mr. Nord! Hello!”
Short stature, long limbs, and bouncy breasts. It was Francesca, the half-dwarf rogue in a gray hood.
“Hello. It’s been a day.”
“Hehe. Yes, it has. Did you get back alright yesterday? I fell asleep before nightfall and woke up this morning.”
“Is that so? I woke up in the afternoon. I win.”
“Pfft. Is that winning?”
“I spent the whole day in a deep sleep, so yes, it is winning. I woke up, washed up, and came straight to work. …What about you?”
Next to Francesca stood a man with receding hair.
He looked like a neighborhood uncle, except for the lack of a belly, but I could tell at a glance that he was a priest because of his clothes.
“Nice to meet you. I am Paragon Pomona, a priest of the Goddess of Abundance.”
“I’m Nord. Pleased to meet you.”
The Goddess of Abundance was the goddess of agriculture, mainly worshipped in Romania, and her followers specialized in healing and recovery.
When they joined the temple, they all changed their family name to Pomona. They considered each other siblings or something.
I didn’t know why nuns and priests worked as adventurers, but I had seen a few adventurer priests during my time at Carmine University. I wasn’t particularly curious about the reason. I just assumed they needed the money.
“I’m the party leader today, so I came first! But the last person hasn’t arrived yet!”
“I’m glad I’m not the last one.”
I exchanged greetings and stood next to them. The clock tower showed that there was five minutes left until the meeting time.
And the last person didn’t show up until only one minute remained.
“…They’re not coming.”
Francesca muttered dejectedly.
Yes, that’s right. This is what newbie adventurers are like. Honestly, the last party was strange.
“Tardiness is most displeasing. The Goddess of Abundance says that those who are negligent and do not know the value of time cannot bear the desired fruit. Although lower-ranked adventurers waste their days, they should still have a minimum of conscience and strive for diligence and a proper mindset—”
One person was late, and the other was preaching next to me. This was already tiring before we even started.
“Oh. Everyone’s already here.”
At that moment, right at 2 PM, the last party member appeared before us.
It was a woman with a shield and a short spear on her back. She had blond hair and a cheerful expression, giving off a slightly athletic vibe. Her equipment was a full set of cost-effective leather armor, and she was tall for a woman.
But what the hell? This person was also carrying a short spear and a shield. Was she Old Man Gentrick’s alt account? Priest Paragon, who had been chattering next to me, frowned at her appearance.
“Are you the adventurers for the ruin guard duty? I’m Est Balkas. Let’s do our best today.”
“Huh… Shouldn’t you at least apologize for being late to the meeting?”
“Huh? Isn’t it exactly on time? Sorry. I should have come earlier.”
Est apologized surprisingly readily. Paragon still wanted to say something, but Francesca stopped him.
“You arrived exactly on time, so you’re not late. Paragon, couldn’t you let it go, for my sake?”
“…Alright. I apologize. I was a bit too sensitive.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
It was appropriate mediation. Honestly, I didn’t know how much longer it would have taken if I had let the priest continue his sermon.
“It takes about an hour to get to the ruin from here. It’s not a dangerous area, so we shouldn’t have any problems.”
Francesca said, taking out and unfolding a map.
“Let’s get going. I’ll lead the way.”
And so, we left the city and headed towards the ruin.
***
After traveling for a while, we arrived at a cave located deep in the forest.
Surprisingly, we didn’t encounter a single monster along the way. The guards here were doing a great job. Sardis’s security was top-notch.
“Here it is.”
The cave was indeed in a hard-to-find location.
With its narrow entrance and hidden by bushes, it would have been difficult to notice normally. We entered the cave as soon as we arrived.
Drip… drip…
Water droplets fell from the stalactites on the ceiling.
As I had heard beforehand, the cave was filled with hieroglyphs from the entrance. Est shivered and rubbed her arms at the sight, which felt almost obsessive.
“Ugh, what the fuck. Aren’t they crazy? Why would they do something so creepy inside a cave?”
“I-it is a bit scary. We won’t be cursed, will we?”
Francesca looked down anxiously. Although she didn’t say it out loud, I was honestly terrified. I was probably the most scared among everyone here.
“Shiiiiiiiiiit….”
Because out of everyone present, only I could decipher the picture-like characters densely carved on the walls.
The meaning of those characters was roughly this:
[Record. Remember. Leave behind. Atone. Record. Remember. Leave behind. Atone. Record. Remember. Leave behind. Atone. Record. Remember. Leave behind. Atone. Record. Remember. Leave behind. Atone. Record—]
“This is driving me crazy!!”
“Everyone, calm down. I don’t sense any evil magic.”
Paragon said, tapping the floor with his staff.
“A Gold-class adventurer team already explored this place. If you steel your hearts and have firm resolve, these inscriptions will appear as mere scribbles.”
“Your legs are shaking like crazy.”
“Shut up.”
Anyway, we moved forward at half the speed we had been moving at before. What a bunch of scaredy-cat newbies. As an archaeologist, I had experience exploring ruins, so I was getting used to it.
“Ouch! Est, stop pushing! Aren’t you the only one scared?!”
“I didn’t push! No, more importantly, are we really going to be okay?”
Est asked, firmly guarding my back. I was also scared by the eerie atmosphere inside the cave, so I responded to her words.
“We probably will be. Ruins abandoned in caves are usually nothing special.”
“Really? Why?”
Est’s face brightened at my words, as if a lifeline had been thrown down from hell. The other two also looked at me.
“Think about it. To us, it’s a ruin, but to the people who first built it, it was just a building they were commissioned to build.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Yes. To people from 2,000 years ago, a 2,000-year-old ruin is a building that ‘will be built.’ Why would they build a structure in a place where no one comes? If it was an important building, they would build it in a busy place like a city and show it off.”
“They might have wanted to hide the ruin.”
“Well, would it be a ruin worth hiding?”
I recalled the history of the area around Sardis that I had researched at Carmine University.
“Sardis has a long history and many ruins, but it’s not the former territory of an ancient civilization. Flourishing civilizations leave records in history, but there are no known records of such a civilization in Sardis. The possibility of this being a significant ruin is low.”
“What about the possibility of it being a temple of a crazy dark mage or cultists?”
“Well, neither our senior adventurers nor the priest next to us sensed any evil magic.”
“I apologize. I was half-bluffing.”
“I was hoping you’d keep that a secret forever.”
Damn priest.
“Oh, good. I see light at the end of the cave.”
Est, who had somehow moved behind me, said. Light?
‘Why is there light coming from inside the cave?’
I wondered as I continued inside, and soon I understood the reason. The ceiling of the cave was open. Sunlight was shining through, illuminating the interior.
“Ah, I guess the ruin was discovered because the ceiling collapsed.”
Francesca pointed to the inside of the ruin. The interior of the ruin was indeed covered in sand. Covered with fresh grass, it seemed like the ground above had collapsed.
“Really? What if it collapses again while we’re inside?”
“Hmm… The ground structure is sturdy, so we should be fine.”
“It’s reassuring to hear that from our dwarven party leader.”
“Hehe. I’m half-dwarf, though.”
I observed the interior while listening to the party members’ conversation.
The structure inside the ruin was peculiar. There were several large stone tablets in the center, surrounded by crudely erected square stone pillars. Nearly half of the pillars had fallen.
‘It looks like a collapsed dolmen.’
No, besides a dolmen, I remembered seeing a similar ruin somewhere. Not in this other world, but on Earth, where I used to live.
“I’ll lay out the mat. Heh. Should we build a campfire in the middle of the ruin?”
“Don’t. You’ll end up having to pay for the damages and become a beggar.”
“Before responsibility, shouldn’t we avoid damaging it…?”
The other party members started to lay out a mat in a corner of the ruin, discussing the best location.
“Someone might enter the cave. Let’s stay in a position where we can guard the entrance. Ah, but we can ignore the ceiling, since we’ll die if it falls, right?”
“That’s a good idea, but if we sit in front, and someone shoots an arrow from inside the entrance, one of us will die.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“Me neither.”
“Damn. Are you three ganging up against my idea?”
Our party spread out a mat in a corner and unpacked our belongings. Carrying a bag didn’t increase our combat power. We just needed to keep our weapons at hand.
“Okay, that’s done. I’m going to look around the ruin.”
Est, having spread the mat on the flat ground, patted the floor and walked towards the ruin.
She was faster than me, an archaeologist. She was quite enthusiastic about learning. I felt like asking her if she wanted to become a graduate student.
“I’m going to look around too. What about you two?”
“I’ll pass. I’m too old to walk around.”
“I’ll prepare the campfire. Will you help me gather firewood later?”
“Sure. I’ll be back.”
Rejected by everyone, I followed Est to look around the ruin.
Est was examining the ruin with a serious look. I was a little surprised by her diligence.
“Are you interested in history?”
“Huh? No way. I’m looking for anything that might be worth money.”
“I see.”
Typical adventurers. I wasn’t much different, so I understood. I got a master’s degree in archaeology because I needed it, but I wasn’t really interested in the history of this world.
—Sweep.
I looked up at a massive stone tablet. Three characters were inscribed on it.
They meant person, beast, and transformation, respectively.
‘…A person transforming into a beast? Is that what it means?’
Was this Yharnam, not Sardis? I had no idea what it meant.
‘I don’t even know why they’re hieroglyphs.’
Britannia had been using an otherworldly version of the alphabet since ancient times. The only country around here that used hieroglyphs was Narmer-Nile.
Hieroglyphs were a very primitive form of writing.
Naturally, the countries that used them had a long history. On Earth, China and Egypt were prime examples. But Britannia didn’t have that kind of history.
This place seemed like a ruin of a very ancient primitive tribe.
A ruin from the time when humanity was still grunting. A unique language used by otherworldly primitive people for such a short period that it wasn’t recorded in history.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue. Ruins of such ancient civilizations weren’t good for research papers.
Unlike Earth, archaeology here focused on a few flourishing ancient civilizations.
Even if this ruin was truly a trace of primitive people, the academic community wouldn’t be interested. On Earth, it would have been a hot topic, like “Traces of a Paleolithic civilization discovered in our country!”, but here, artifacts that weren’t profitable weren’t valued.
‘I don’t have the equipment to analyze it either… Should I just record the characters?’
There were several stone tablets. I found the one with the same string of characters as the one posted on the Adventurers’ Guild bulletin board and copied it into my notebook. I would look it up at the library or university later.
‘Bird, prey, hold a ritual, joyful, winter, hunting….’
It felt like a useless record. It felt like a record of the daily lives of the people who wrote these characters. Like discovering that the record found in a pyramid was actually an “excuse letter for an absent worker.”
“What are you copying that for?”
Est, seemingly having found nothing of value, came over and asked.
“I’m just writing it down. I might see similar characters while working as an adventurer. I’ll compare them with this notebook then.”
“Oh, that’s smart. Should I write it down too?”
“Do you have a notebook?”
“Give me a sheet.”
“Thank you for your patronage. 1 copper for 10 sheets.”
“1 copper?! You’re a rip-off! Forget it. I don’t want it.”
I chuckled as Est protested.
“I was joking. Should I lend you a pen too?”
“I said forget it. I was joking too. I can’t even write.”
Est clasped her hands behind her head and returned to her spot. She cooled down as quickly as she heated up.
—Scribble, scribble.
I was left alone among the pile of stones, copying all the way to the central stone tablet. It took a while to copy because they were in the form of pictures.
I returned to my spot only after copying the contents of all the stone tablets.
Or rather, I tried to.
—Twinkle!
“…What’s that?”
Something shone beneath the central stone tablet. It was the base, buried in the sand.
‘…Should I dig it up?’
—Glance.
I looked up at the stone tablet. The tablet, which would crush me to death if it fell, was tilted backward. It wouldn’t fall towards me and turn me into yellowskin cutlet even if I dug around the base. After confirming that, I knelt down in front of the stone tablet and squatted.
Scrape— scrape—
I dug out the sand beneath the stone tablet. I thought I might find something valuable, but to my surprise, it was a string of characters.
[I leave this writing to the descendants who inherit the lineage of Erin.]
“…What the fuck?”
They were familiar characters.
Ogham script.
A script rarely used in modern times—the script of Ulster.
‘Why is this here?’
The characters carved on the stone tablet were extremely primitive, looking like ordinary knife marks. Perhaps it would be easier to imagine if you think of knife marks carved into a tree to count the days while stranded on a deserted island.
It was easy to guess why the Gold-class adventurer team had left this untouched. These knife marks were under a rock with strange hieroglyphs carved on it. Moreover, they were faded with age and half-buried.
They probably would have dismissed it as a scratch even if they had found it. I wouldn’t have imagined it was writing if I didn’t know the Ogham script. It looked completely different from the hieroglyphs above.
‘Isn’t this… a jackpot?’
I felt my heart pounding. Ulster’s ancient civilization, Erin, was a prime example of an unprofitable ancient civilization, but it was more than enough for a master’s level thesis.
Erin’s script found in an ancient ruin of Britannia!
‘Three-part boom-boom paper, totally doable!’
Using 21st-century YouTube storytelling methods, I could even write a long epic novel with this material!
This thesis topic was mine! Just as I was about to dig around the base of the stone tablet like a dog digging in the dirt, filled with joy,
“What are you doing?”
“Eek! You scared me!!!!!”
“Kyah?!”
I was startled to death by the voice that approached without a sound from behind. It was Francesca. She had come closer to the stone tablet, intrigued by my dog digging in the dirt act.
“S-sorry. Did I surprise you by talking to you suddenly?”
Francesca, whose hood had fallen off, apologized to me. Francesca’s hair was black, a familiar color to me, but her blue eyes gave her a mystical look.
I calmed my heart and shook my head.
“I-I’m fine. I was just surprised. I was digging around because there’s a strange scratch under this stone tablet.”
“A strange scratch…? Oh, that’s an unusual mark.”
Francesca seemed to realize that it wasn’t an ordinary scratch after seeing part of the inscription revealed. I rubbed my hands and said,
“It caught my eye, so I got a little curious. It’s interesting.”
“Hehe. I see. I like these old stories too.”
She came next to me and squatted down. She looked even smaller squatting down because of her short height.
“I’ll help you dig. It looks fun.”
“Ah, would you?”
I didn’t refuse her offer. Even as a child, playing with a girl always felt more like a life win than playing with dirt alone.
Back then, other kids would tease me if I played with a girl, but now there was no one to do that.
—Rustle, rustle.
We joined forces and dug in the sand for a while. The inscription on the stone tablet was fully revealed.
“Oh, I think this is the end of it.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
I deciphered the fully excavated inscription with my eyes. Francesca looked at me with curious eyes.
But I was too focused on the inscription to pay much attention to her gaze. The text written in the ancient language of Ulster was that interesting.
[I leave this writing to the descendants who inherit the lineage of Erin.]
The short inscription began with that phrase.
[My name is Branwen Berch Lir.
I arrived here in search of the origin of the secret art passed down among the people of Erin, ‘Beast Regression.’
After a long journey and much hardship, I have found the answer I sought. My questions have been resolved, and only sadness remains. The ancient magic, the primal mystery, the druid’s secret art that grants humans the power of beasts was never a curse.
We betrayed our old friend with suspicion, but our friend did not do the same.
Those with Lir’s blood, remember this as your original sin. Swear on the twilight meadow the duty to atone for this transgression.
I record here the forgotten secret art of ■■■■.
Pray to the Sky God (yáǵeswō deiwōm dyēus).]
That was the end. The content was quite fragmented, as expected of a text written by someone from ancient times.
However, some of the characters in the middle were damaged and unreadable. And only the last line was in strangely shaped cuneiform. As far as I knew, it wasn’t Ulster’s Ogham script.
I unconsciously pronounced the words as I translated them into Britannic.
“…‘Pray to the Sky God (yáǵeswō deiwōm dyēus)’?”
That was the moment.
—Kuwahhhh!!!!!
“Huh?”
I felt something move inside my body at an incredible speed.
It felt as if the blood vessels in my heart, connected to my right hand, had swollen five times their normal size! It felt very similar to the “sensation of handling mana” I had only read about in books.
“Something… something is happening!”
“N-Nord?”
Francesca pointed at my shoulder, looking flustered. Since she noticed it, I naturally realized the change happening to my body.
Swoosh— swoosh— swoosh—
My right hand was glowing green, like fluorescent paint!
Mana, which looked like a viscous liquid, was enveloping my arm. Wondering what the hell this was, I kneaded the green mana covering my arm.
—Squishy.
The grass-colored mana covering my arm was tangible.
It felt squishy, like touching animal skin. I screamed at the incredibly ecstatic sensation.
“My arm has been wrapped in cat paw pads!!”
“W-what did you do?!”
Francesca and I jumped up and made a fuss!
“I chanted a spell, and my right arm turned into paw pads! Nord is now a Twinkle Beast Human!”
“M-magic?! Were you a wizard, Nord?!”
“I don’t know! Was I a wizard? I had no idea!”
What was this?
No, seriously, what the hell was going on? Unable to understand the situation, I flailed my arm, which had turned the color of a guinea pig. What the hell, why could I still feel my arm?!
That’s when it happened.
—Someone once said, misfortunes never come singly.
“Uwaaagh! Goblins!”
Whether I was confused or not, the situation worsened. Paragon, who seemed like the least likely to curse among us after Francesca, let out a string of expletives.
It was unavoidable, as a group of green monsters had suddenly appeared next to Paragon and Est, who were busy setting up.
“Kyak!! (Food!!)”
“Kyasuk!! (Nest!!)”
It was a language I could understand. It meant they were intelligent creatures capable of using language and communicating through it.
It was goblins that had appeared in the cave!
“Hey! Party leader and foreigner!! Stop standing around and come help!!”
Est shouted urgently. That meant a large number of goblins had appeared.
Goblins weren’t particularly strong monsters. They were small, so they were considered weak.
But they fully utilized their intelligence, which allowed them to use language, and each carried a crude stone tool. Their basic physical abilities were superior to kobolds, which were advanced rats.
Almost at the level of elementary school students!
It was a power that couldn’t be underestimated. Anyone who had been tormented by their nephews and nieces during holidays wouldn’t underestimate the power of children.
Goblins were equipped with weapons on top of that power. Knowing they were weak, they moved in groups.
And we were outnumbered. This was incredibly dangerous!
“Twenty brats armed with butter knives!”
Could you imagine how terrifying that would be?
Brats were truly ruthless and selfish creatures. The otherworldly green brats were no different. Against them, just two people would be instantly overwhelmed and killed!
Knowing this, Est and Paragon abandoned their mats and luggage, grabbed their weapons, and retreated!
“Don’t back down, hold the line at the entrance!”
“Easy for you to say!! Look at the difference in numbers!!”
If we ran into the open, we’d be surrounded and die! But I couldn’t ask them to hold the line at the entrance and be stabbed to death by butter knives!
“Kyak!! (Food!!)”
“Kyak!! (Food!!)”
“Kyak!! (Food!!)”
The goblins swarmed towards us, chanting. Francesca and I hurriedly ran towards our party members. Francesca also grabbed her weapon, and I drew my sword from my waist.
“Shit! My right hand feels weird!”
My right hand was the one that drew the sword. Est was horrified to see my arm enveloped in fluorescent mana.
“What’s wrong with your arm?! Are you a goblin too?!”
“Don’t say such horrible things! It’s not a curse!”
It was written on the stone tablet, so I had no choice but to believe it. Green Monkey Nord was too horrifying. We gathered in one place and formed a defensive line.
“W-we can win… We can win…”
Francesca muttered, trembling, as she held her long one-handed hammer. I nervously chanted along with her.
“Almighty Akarat, protect me with your eternal light, Almighty Akarat, protect me with your eternal light, Almighty Akarat, protect me with your eternal light—”
“Kyar-kyak!! (Give up!!)”
“Fuck!! Why does this happen every time I take a request!!”
The excited green brats charged!
A chaotic free-for-all chase suspense, with no formation or strategy! I saw a chance of victory in that chaotic mess!
“Grasshoppers are scarier than you bastards!!”
Not knowing the condition of my right hand, I swung my sword with my left hand.
Whoosh!!
The strength I had built up through Professor Brammaton’s PT unleashed a slash powerful enough to kill an otherworldly green brat.
But the brat dodged my sword, showing cunning wisdom. It even performed a Natragon maneuver, rolling on the floor to escape my attack trajectory!
“What the fuck?!”
“Kyak!! (I’ll kill you!!)”
Then came the next attack! A crude stone axe flew towards my feet! If I got hit by that, my mobility would be greatly reduced!
“S-shut up!!”
Panicked, I couldn’t even retrieve my sword and just threw a punch.
It was a weak punch thrown with only arm strength, with no power from my waist due to my posture. I didn’t think it would have any killing power or stopping power.
—Except for one variable: it was thrown with my ‘right arm.’
Boom!!!
—It was an incredible impact, accompanied by an explosive sound.
“Gak.”
Thud.
The goblin, hit by my right arm, died without even a proper scream.
Its head was shattered, and its contents splattered on the floor like a melon due to the immense destructive power.
Splat.
Ooze…
“…”
Silence fell. The charging goblins were horrified to see their soulmate turned into melon juice, as were my party members. So was I.
“What the…?”
Startled, I clenched and unclenched my glowing green hand.
It was truly an astonishing power. A single, carelessly thrown punch had put the excited brat into an eternal slumber! It was almost the strength of a bear.
“…Bear?”
Boom!!
As I muttered that single word, a powerful current surged through my mind. It was a sixth sense that should be called “discovery of truth” or “eureka.”
A sensation as if massive mana vessels, spreading from my heart, were permeating my entire body!
With a thrill, I realized the identity of this power.
“Ah, I see. I—”
A warrior who wields the power of a bear in a human body.
There was only one such warrior in the world.
“—I was Vectorman Bear.”
Vectorman, Earth’s hero.
I had become a warrior chosen by Planet Gaia, fighting for the peace of humanity!
Of course, a selfish and flawed person like me couldn’t be the true successor of that hero. It was a disgrace to the name of the great heroes to call myself Vectorman.
But at least this magic…
This magic must be a power on par with those great heroes.
Now I could understand the meaning of the characters drawn on the mural. Person. Beast. Transformation. The large hieroglyphs with three meanings were a text pointing to a single truth.
—A human imbued with the power of a beast.
The inscription on the stone tablet was a tribute to this power!
“Then—there’s only one thing I have to do.”
Even though I had awakened to my true power, my companions were still in danger.
Although they weren’t humans from Earth, they were still humans who fought alongside me and loved peace.
So I opened my eyes wide, twisted my limbs, and shouted,
“—Transform.”
As I whispered with a beary resolve,
My entire body began to glow with a green light.
—–CROW—–