Chapter 045. Ruins (1)

Every time Beatrice walked through the dark corridor, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

The term "unknown world" fits perfectly with this place called a dungeon.

Seeing Veris walk ahead without a hint of fear made her feel quite strange.

'Is it because I've been here before...?'

Having never witnessed Veris's power firsthand, Beatrice naively thought this way.

She had heard countless times from Gunther that he was a man who had long since surpassed the walls of common sense, but after all, he was still her fiancé, a student of the academy, and even a B-Class one at that.

Although it was unique that he was close to the top students of the first year, he must have less power than them. Of course, she had already heard from Gunther that his power was extraordinary, but it didn't seem particularly credible.

As her thoughts reached that point, Beatrice found herself unable to predict Veris's thoughts and actions. There couldn't be an academy student who didn't know the fear that a dungeon possessed, so what kind of confidence was that?

Clatter.

"Ugh."

As Beatrice walked, lost in her thoughts, her foot hit a crumbled bone. Those remnants, likely proof of necromancy based on magical power, had already lost their strength and filled the corridor.

'It must be them?'

Veris had said he had been here before. At that time, he had been accompanied by S-Class students from the first year and another B-Class student.

As she thought that far, Beatrice couldn't help but let out a pure sigh of admiration.

How many skeleton bones had she seen that made up the bodies of the skeletons they had encountered? Even more astonishing was the fact that endless piles of crumbled skulls were spread throughout this dark corridor.

It was truly extraordinary power. No matter how exceptional a first-year ace might be, it was certainly not ordinary to have defeated so many monsters with just a few people.

"We're almost there."

Whether he knew Beatrice's thoughts or not, Veris had already reached the end of the corridor and turned to look at her.

A violet light gently illuminated him from above. Behind Veris, a grand castle loomed.

"Is this... the place you mentioned?"

Beatrice stared blankly around her.

When she first heard Veris's suggestion to enter the dungeon together, she had thought of suspicion.

The bond they shared was merely a shell now, a promise made in the womb. If Veris knew that she was a key figure in the Magic Tower, the possibility of him harming her couldn't be ruled out.

However, standing here now and gazing at the violet sky, Beatrice's eyes couldn't help but blur.

It was wondrous, magnificent.

Such expressions were insufficient to describe the scene. The warm yet unique light, shining down like the aurora of the polar regions, illuminated this vast cavern.

Was that all? The fact that such a grand castle existed within this dungeon also far exceeded Beatrice's common sense.

"Ruins of the Age of Magic..."

Beatrice had no choice but to acknowledge it.

The man before her, wearing a playful smile, was not lying. It was she who had been indulging in her own imagination with her meager judgment.

"Isn't it beautiful? The other kids couldn't take their eyes off it either."

"Yes. It's truly... beautiful."

With a dazed look in her eyes, Beatrice turned her head to take in the surroundings.

She saw buildings with architectural styles from the Age of Magic that she had seen in books to the point of weariness.

After all, mages are beings who explore the truth. They are not merely those who hone their magic but those who study the past and future achieved through magic.

For Beatrice, who studied the history and magic of the distant past, the sight before her was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"Shall we hear our mage's opinion first?"

"...Opinion?"

"Why do you think I brought you along? I brought you to tell me what I don't know."

Saying this, Veris turned to look at the castle. His back exuded a sense of reassurance that felt cowardly. Beatrice thought it created an unparalleled uplifting effect in conjunction with the mysterious atmosphere of the cavern.

"I'm still not sure."

"Really? One thing is certain: the scene we are witnessing is absolutely not ordinary."

Beatrice nodded repeatedly.

It was something that couldn't be explained by common sense. The fact that such a space existed beneath the deep academy dungeon was information not recorded in any academic society, history, or literature.

Thus, Beatrice couldn't help but harbor doubts. The dungeon was an unknown space believed to harbor a will of its own. So why had it led this man here twice?

"Haah."

Beatrice let out a sigh.

For some reason, ever since she faced that beautiful yet eerie landscape, she couldn't shake the feeling of her heart racing.

What that meant, she didn't know. She could only express it as the awakening of the mage's, the scholar's soul that had been dormant deep within her heart.

"The undeniable fact is... we have to go inside."

"That's true. Standing around out here is meaningless anyway."

"But we must be extremely cautious."

"When I came last time, there were no threats."

Beatrice shook her head in response to Veris's voice. It was her first expression of disagreement towards him.

"Simply put, we can only think that we were lucky back then."

"...Why?"

"Do you remember the countless traces of skeletons from the corridor to the door?"

"I remember. Most of them I killed."

Beatrice closed her mouth. She thought it was an inappropriate boast for the situation.

"So you think there's a possibility that something more dangerous is lying in wait inside?"

But in Veris's following words, there was insight that perfectly captured Beatrice's opinion. Thus, she couldn't help but be surprised.

"...Yes, that's right. Even if they appear perfectly fine on the outside, if we trigger the awakening of other necromantic puppets, surely other formidable foes will appear."

"Trigger?"

"It feels like taking a precious item stored on an altar or activating the mechanisms of a heavily guarded facility."

Veris couldn't hide his discomfort at Beatrice's unexpectedly fluent speech.

"...Hmm."

It was a sad truth, but there were too many points that hit too close to home.

Who was the man who had no time to stay long in this city and simply followed his instincts into the tallest building, the tower?

And who was the man who activated the device in that tower to move to the top floor?

Moreover, who was the man who broke the box on the altar he encountered on that top floor and stole three rings to gift to Arwen, Cecilia, and Maria?

Regrettably, it was all Veris. Strangely enough, it was not necessary to mention how much that behavior resembled Beatrice's own.

"Could it be?"

Even if Beatrice's personality was twisted by the influence of the circle and mana, she wasn't oblivious. Thus, she couldn't hide her astonishment at Veris's scratching his head.

"No, it was just a really good ring."

"Is that... true?"

"Of course. It had the power to permanently increase the mana sensitivity of the wearer."

"No! That's not what I meant!"

Beatrice took a step forward to gaze at the castle.

Thanks to the long period without human touch, it was a level of condition that could not be called good even as a joke. Interestingly, in contrast, the tall building that rose high seemed to be in quite good condition...

Inside that place, which Beatrice and Veris were looking at, there was a possibility of something awakening that they had not encountered before.

That was Beatrice's judgment.

* * *

"Dean, you don't look well."

"Hmm? Is that so? I guess I've become more worried as I've aged. Haha!"

"Everyone respects and follows you, the dean who always leads the academy. Please take more care of your health."

Creak.

As the secretary left the room with warm words, the dean turned his chair to look out the window.

The weather had become distinctly close to summer. Soon, summer vacation would arrive, meaning a break for all students and staff, yet the dean's complexion remained dark.

"How strange it is."

The fact that a student who had far surpassed human levels had entered this academy, and that he had become his ally, should have been a reassuring matter.

However, the antics he performed were at a level that even the dean could not predict.

"To think he would enter a dungeon with someone from the Magic Tower." As he said this, the dean scratched his nearly bald head.

He had an informant, and he had just learned today that the representative from the Magic Tower was Beatrice von Haruen, and that she was engaged to Veris von Vitelbach.

Thus, he could alleviate some of his worries, but for some reason, the strange sensation that was arising only made him more tense.

"Haha! Surely he wouldn't kill me."

The dean had reached an age where he was considering retirement. Having devoted his youth and life entirely to the academy, Veris was a person whose temperament he could not grasp, so it was only natural for such worries to arise.

"Hmm..."

The dean fell deep into thought.

Perhaps he had been spending too much time in contemplation these past few days. However, the unfounded and inexplicable worries were ringing alarm bells in his mind.

"Haha! Surely he wouldn't just carelessly hand over artifacts to the Magic Tower!"

Having imagined the worst-case scenario, the dean let out a hearty laugh.

No matter how much they were bound by a promise made in the womb, he had a Saintess or a world-renowned elf by his side.

Moreover, he had heard that even Princess Maria, who was studying incognito, was showing great interest in him...

Surely that couldn't be the case?

[TL: If you can't wait on updates and want to read more, please support me to read the whole novel here: https://buymeacoffee.com/mythictranslations.]