The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

I stood in the center of the safest exploration team and had a thought as I passed the entrance to the ruins.

It’s a relief that it wasn’t discovered that three of my escorts are dolls.

I was worried that if not others, a transcendent like Rotulus might notice, but fortunately, he didn’t notice and let it pass.

If he had noticed, he would have informed Amelie, and Amelie would have tried to add holy knights for the dolls’ share.

Unless they were completed beings like magical lifeforms such as Sylua, the dolls I controlled weren’t caught by the defense magic, so there was no need to register them on the permit.

Well, it’s a relief that it wasn’t discovered they were dolls.

“It’s interesting, isn’t it? Right, young master?”

Jade joked, calling me young master as he took notes on something in his notebook.

Although it was a natural way to address me as he was nominally my escort mage, being called young master after calling me by name for so long felt somewhat like teasing.

Well, it was better than accidentally calling me by my real name while calling my name.

“Indeed.”

I vaguely agreed and looked around.

As we entered the ruins located in the center of Vahanad, the Labyrinth of Constellations, a long corridor with various hieroglyphs appeared.

It had an atmosphere reminiscent of an Egyptian ruin, but that was only at the beginning, and the environment would change as we went deeper inside.

“I wonder what it says?”

At Precia’s question, I lightly shrugged my shoulders.

“Who knows? Probably some kind of warning.”

In the case of such ruins, the characters at the entrance were usually one of two things.

The intention of the creator who made the ruins, or a warning that it was dangerous, so don’t enter. Whichever it was, it was likely a warning to intruders.

At my words, Jade, who was scribbling something in his notebook, also nodded.

“Yes, it seems to be a warning as you said, young master. It appears to be the Teher-Chatan script from the middle period of mythology, and the eye shape looking down below has meanings such as ‘to look down,’ ‘to contemplate,’ ‘to see through.’ The hand shape supporting the top and the hexagon that immediately follows…”

At Jade’s hieroglyph interpretation, an archaeologist nearby showed interest and approached.

“It’s rare to find someone who knows the Teher-Chatan script, and it’s surprising that a young person knows it. Ah, I’m John Yorkshire, the archaeologist participating in this exploration team.”

“I’m Jay. I’m the escort mage of Young Master Ian.”

Arcana’s archaeologists, explorers, and mages who were interested in Jade’s knowledge approached one by one to talk to him.

Everyone knew there were no traps of the ruins yet as we were still close to the entrance, so their expressions were still leisurely.

Rotulus, who was leading at the very front of the exploration team advancing forward without hesitation, raised his magic lantern and said,

“We’re about to leave the North Pole. Stay alert from now on.”

The Labyrinth of Constellations periodically changes its internal structure.

However, there is a place that never changes, and that is near the entrance.

As befitting its alias, the Labyrinth of Constellations, the area near the entrance was called the North Pole.

It meant that we were now leaving the safe zone.

After passing through the long corridor, stairs leading down and stairs leading up appeared.

The appearance of the ruins revealed to the outside was a large single-story building.

But from the fact that there were stairs leading to the upper floor from the beginning of the building, one could guess how greatly the space of these ruins was distorted.

“From here, the path will split into the Seven Stars and the Five Stars. Mr. Ian, which do you think would be better?”

Amelie, the leader of the exploration team, smiled brightly and asked for my opinion.

Rather than simply accommodating me, it seemed like groundwork to coax and appease me later since I had a permit and was planning to go deep into the ruins.

She would pretend to respect my opinion and follow along now, and later, when I said I would return, she would insist on moving according to her own opinion, saying we had moved according to my opinion until now.

I can see right through you, you damn religious fanatic.

If the bus driver is kind enough to pretend to respect me for a change, it’s only polite for me to make full use of that favor.

“If it were just us, we would have chosen the safe path, but seeing the might of the exploration team, the short path doesn’t seem very dangerous either.”

The path of Ursa Minor was long but safe, while the path of Cassiopeia was short but dangerous. (TN: look up her greek mythos)

“That’s a good choice. Especially since it has good compatibility with our church, which has been granted the power of the sea. Let’s go down.”

At Amelie’s instruction, Rotulus at the lead and the holy knights went down the stairs at the fork without hesitation.

After descending for about ten minutes, an underwater cave path that couldn’t be thought of as a ruins building appeared, and right next to it, seawater with an unknown source, giving off a salty smell, crashed in waves.

If we had taken the path of Ursa Major, a wide forest would have appeared.

Of course, my companions who would follow naturally were instructed to take the path of Ursa Major, as there was a Saint of the Earth Denomination.

I had marked for them to collect the gems hidden there, as they were suitable for holding the divine power of the earth.

“It’s getting bothersome from the start. Holy knights, prepare for battle!”

At Rotulus’s shout, the holy knights silently drew their swords.

Not long after, from the seawater, a hideous hand with fishy-smelling claws popped out and gripped the ground, then began to crawl up, sticking out its ugly head.

If I grilled and skewered the shrimp-like thing from the beginning, it would taste like honey.

-Kyaak!

-Kyaak!

The holy knights crushed the heads of the reverse mermaid shrimps with the pointed bottoms of their kite shields before they could fully emerge from the ground.

Then they kicked them, sending them back to the bosom of their homeland.

Bye-bye! Shrimps!

However, the shrimps longing for human company began to swarm out of the sea like a zombie horde in World War Z.

“Break through quickly! Everyone run!”

At the lead, Rotulus and two holy knights spewed flashy sword auras and pierced through the swarming shrimps, turning them into sashimi.

Then the holy knights in the rear pushed the chopped-up shrimps with their shields, creating space for the people behind to run easily.

-Kyaak!

-Kyaak!

An all-you-can-eat shrimp buffet was set up by the excellent chef Rotulus.

However, the not-so-wide path wasn’t blocked by shrimp corpses.

Most of the chopped-up corpses were pushed back into the sea by the holy knights’ shields, and the ones remaining on the ground turned to powder and disappeared over time.

The monsters appearing in these ruins could be said to be beings from the past in the records.

To be precise, as space-time twisted, beings that existed in the Mythical Era materialized.

In other words, no matter how much I grilled the shrimps, they would respawn in the respawn area like mobs in a game after some time.

Of course, as it was a magical phenomenon, they didn’t simply respawn.

“Rami.”

-Beep!

At my call, Rami slipped out from between my clothes and went into the sea.

Just as monsters imbued with mana had magic stones that served as their power source, those shrimps also had crystals containing the mana of the ruins.

Fortunately, those crystals didn’t turn to powder and disappear like the chopped-up shrimps.

It was just damn hard to pick them up due to the monsters swarming in hordes.

Rami, who went into the sea, gathered the fallen crystals, fused and compressed them into one, then held it in his mouth and returned to me.

“Well done.”

-Squeak Squeak!

I put the fist-sized shrimp crystal into my pocket and tickled the chin of Rami, who was strutting around in high spirits.

The fishy smell coming from all directions and the frantic running made me pant heavily, but being a short path, the entrance to the next area was in sight.

The entrance was a door with an antique sculpture, firmly closed.

Rotulus at the lead stuck five shrimp crystals, which he had obtained at some point, into the central disc of the door in a ‘W’ shape.

Then the door opened, revealing a large cavity. As the exploration team went inside, our reverse mermaids tried to follow.

Whoosh- Kwaaang!!

However, the defense magic laid out by the court and tower mages activated and roasted the shrimps.

If there were no defense magic, we would have had to push back the monsters swarming like a pack of dogs, close the door, and then deal with the remaining ones to rest.

If not, there would be no such empty space at all, making rest impossible.

“Wow, so that’s what happens without a permit.”

It was clearly an excessive attack. It was so crispy that it was overcooked, and the burnt smell pierced my nostrils.

You have to save to live well, but mages are friends who don’t know how to save.

But honestly, the burnt smell is better than the fishy smell.

I could understand the feelings of the mages who set up the magic circle.

“Which constellation shall we go to?”

At Rotulus’s question, Amelie smiled brightly and asked me again this time.

“Which of the three places should we go?”

Depending on the angle at which that disc attached to the door we passed through was rotated, the connected area changed.

There were three places connected to that door.

According to the latest map of the Twilight Company, they were Lacerta, Cepheus, and Draco.

In the novel, they were Canes Venatici, Ursa Major, and Boötes, but since the time period was different, the locations were also different.

“Let’s go to Lacerta. Draco is dangerous, and Cepheus is a trap.”

Even if we went to Cepheus, the constellations that opened after breaking through that path were only Lacerta and Draco.

So most exploration teams didn’t go to Cepheus.

Of course, my companions who went to Ursa Minor would head towards Cepheus.

There were always hidden things in places people rarely went to.

“That’s a good choice. Actually, if you had suggested going somewhere else, I was going to dissuade you.”

Amelie urged me to turn the disc, and I turned the disc without hesitation to open the door leading to Lacerta.

*******

Abassael examined the map, which could be called a map book, and headed up the stairs. Then, a wide open sky and a forest appeared.

“Huh? Did we come out of the ruins?”

When Gilbert asked in surprise, Abassael answered with a smile.

“No, this place is also part of the ruins. Ruins imbued with mythology distort space even in the form of buildings, creating such an environment. Of course, ruins with such severe spatial distortions are extremely rare.”

The forgotten temple on Mount Matterhorn, which Abassael had visited to lift the curse, also had a wide open field despite going underground.

These Labyrinth of Constellations operated on the same principle, but on a larger scale.

“The Lord said there are herbs and ingredients that can only be obtained here while passing through this place, so let’s dig them up as much as possible as we go.”

As Abassael said that, he glanced at Sophia.

As a Saint who received the favor of the Goddess of the Earth and possessed the extremely rare transcendent intuition, there was no one better than her at finding rare herbs.

“Ahem!”

Noticing that gaze, Dailhorg coughed uncomfortably, but Sophia stepped forward as if it was natural and began to find and dig up herbs.

“Ah, Miss.”

Dailhorg sweated profusely as he watched Sophia digging herbs together with Sylua and Gilbert.

Who would have made a Saint do such work?

Her actions, having received respect from all, were only startling, but Sophia herself was satisfied, humming a tune.

Compared to sitting like a doll as a symbol of the Papal Palace of the Earth Denomination’s headquarters like a borrowed broomstick, it was a joyful task.

*****

“Over there is the Royal Artifact Management Office.”

In the center of the forest, there was a government office that stored the ruins’ entry permits and appraised and managed artifacts from the ruins.

Although it was a ruins that constantly changed its interior, it had immutability as it was attached to the entrance corridor.

In addition, thanks to the advantage of the entire Ursa Minor region being a safe zone, a building was built and managers resided there.

“The magic ingredients the Lord asked me to obtain are there, so I’ll drop by for a moment and be right back, so please wait here for a bit.”

Yard took out a royal knight badge and an order with the prince’s seal made by Yuan from his pocket and headed towards the office.

The manager’s job was not only to manage artifacts but also to supply rare materials only found in Ursa Minor out of the ruins.

Naturally, as they resided there, there were also materials they exclusively supplied, so Yuan instructed them to legally plunder by shoving the order in their faces.