Chapter 177

At Seiri’s words, I asked back in a dazed voice.

“…So, the Ancient Empire invaded another world?”

“That’s unknown. The contents written in this diary only mention that the Ancient Empire attempted it.”

“Is that even possible?”

“…I don’t know either. The only thing I can decipher from what’s written here is just this. The rest will likely need to be taken to the Alchemist Guild for restoration work.”

“If it’s restored, will we be able to read it?”

“We’ll have to try… But I think we’ll be able to read some of it.”

“Is that so…?”

Somehow, it feels like I’ve stumbled upon a huge secret, even though I came here just to casually explore the ruins…

Seiri and Arisa seemed to feel the same, their expressions completely frozen.

“But why wasn’t such a significant fact passed down to future generations and instead buried?”

“Right. It’s as if it was deliberately erased from history…”

This atmosphere is way too heavy.

Seeing this, I deliberately spoke in a lighter tone to lighten the mood.

“Well, don’t worry about it. It’s not even certain if the contents of this diary are true. For all we know, it could just be a novelist’s draft.”

“But even so, knowing such a shocking fact, how could we…?”

“Even so, it’s a story from thousands of years ago. It has little to do with us now. So instead of worrying about this, why don’t we continue exploring the ruins? We haven’t even seen half the artifacts yet.”

“Ar, artifacts…!”

As if my words had an effect, Seiri perked up, and Arisa’s eyes began to sparkle with interest as she noticed the items scattered around the ruins.

And so, we began to wander around the ruins to search for other artifacts.

.

.

.

After wandering the ruins for several hours…

Unfortunately, it seemed that the journal we found earlier was unusually well-preserved, as we couldn’t find any other documents that could shed light on the empire’s culture or history.

Well, to be precise, we did find what seemed to be such documents, but they were too old to read, crumbling to dust the moment we touched them, no matter how carefully we handled them.

But that didn’t mean we had no results.

Although most of the items were broken and few were intact, the ruins were filled with artifacts that, even excluding their inherent value, seemed historically significant.

To ordinary people, they might just be junk, but to Seiri, an alchemist deeply interested in archaeology, they were treasures. She carefully caressed the broken artifacts, her eyes sparkling as if they were gold and jewels.

Moreover, we found three artifacts that were still functional despite the passage of time.

Having finished exploring the ruins, we prepared to leave, each carrying our share of the spoils.

Seiri seemed like she wanted to stay in the ruins for days, but we couldn’t indulge her stubbornness and stay there forever.

If we gave her an inch, she’d probably set up camp and live there.

“Uuuu… There’s still so much I want to investigate…”

“Stop being greedy. We’ve already taken all the artifacts that seem valuable.”

“That’s right. If we linger any longer and the knights sent by the Astram territory come, how will we explain ourselves?”

“That’s true but… Uuuu…”

We forcibly dragged Seiri, who couldn’t let go of the ruins, back the way we came.

Seiri kept looking back at the deeper parts of the ruins with a sad expression, but objectively speaking, we had obtained quite a lot of spoils.

Although most of the artifacts in the ruins were broken, it also meant that some had survived the ages and were still functional.

I also got a spoil I liked.

The only regret was not obtaining any documents detailing the history of the Ancient Empire, aside from the journal we found earlier.

And so, we exited the ruins through the water pool we had used to enter.

.

.

.

We returned safely to Astram without encountering any significant danger.

“Thank you so much for today’s adventure. Thanks to you adventurers, we were able to safely explore and exit the ruins.”

“I, I didn’t do much. It was all Kurt.”

“No. If Arisa hadn’t brought Kurt, I would’ve surely been trapped inside and killed by the golems.”

“Right. You do know.”

“Ahaha… Sorry. I lose my senses when it comes to anything related to archaeology…”

Back in Astram, Seiri, now away from the ruins, seemed to regain her senses and scratched her curly hair with an embarrassed expression.

“Anyway, since we’ve saved you this time, stop fooling around and just stay holed up in the Alchemist Guild.”

“Don’t worry about that! Investigating the artifacts we found will keep me busy indoors for a while!”

“…Good. That’s a relief.”

I was worried she might sneak back to the ruins alone, but she answered with a sly smile while caressing the broken artifacts she had brought back.

I guess it’s a relief I don’t have to worry about that.

As I was thinking that, Seiri spoke up as if she had just remembered.

“Ah, by the way, once the journal is restored, I’ll let you know. Since we found it together, you have the right to know its contents, right?”

“Ah, that’s true.”

I’m not as interested in that old journal as she is, but I am curious about the rest of it.

Maybe I’ll go read it once it’s restored.

With that, Seiri said she’d return to the Alchemist Guild to investigate the artifacts and the journal, bid farewell to me and Arisa, and left.

As Seiri disappeared and I was about to return to the Adventurer Guild, Arisa asked me in a cautious voice.

“But are you really okay with this?”

“With what?”

“There are so many other artifacts, and you only got that one?”

As she said this, Arisa pointed to the artifact I had chosen during the spoils distribution.

“Ah, this? I’m satisfied with this.”

“But it feels like I’m the only one benefiting…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

As Arisa said, we had fairly distributed the artifacts we found in the ruins.

In fact, considering my role in the ruins, I could’ve taken everything, and both Arisa and Seiri knew that, which is why they tried to give me more of the spoils.

But I didn’t want to create any ill feelings over material gains, so I suggested they divide the spoils themselves, keeping only one artifact for me.

To me, aside from that one artifact, the rest were of little use, so it felt like I was just showing off by giving them away.

Still, the two happily divided the spoils.

The distribution of their spoils went like this:

First, Seiri took the largest share in appearance.

She decided to take 4 out of the 7 artifacts found in the ruins, along with the old journal.

The old journal was naturally hers since no one else could decipher it.

As for the 4 artifacts she took…

At first glance, taking 4 out of 7 seems like she got the lion’s share, but in reality, it was the opposite.

The artifacts she took were all broken and beyond repair, essentially junk.

Even if the mages of the Magic Tower and the alchemists of the Alchemist Guild worked together to restore them, it’s uncertain how valuable they’d be, and the cost would be enormous.

In fact, those 4 broken artifacts combined might not even be worth one intact artifact from the ruins.

So, while she took the most in quantity, they were the least valuable.

Yet, Seiri herself seemed incredibly happy.

To her, whether the artifacts were broken or not, they held immense historical value, so there was no difference.

As for Arisa, she took 2 out of the 7 artifacts.

A necklace that glows in the dark.

And a knife that, when activated, becomes as sharp as if imbued with aura.

Though only two, they were clearly valuable treasures that could fetch a high price.

They weren’t particularly powerful, but that made them versatile for daily life or adventuring.

But to me, they were of little value.

I can see in the dark without light, and I can use real aura, not just something that mimics it.

In comparison, the artifact I took was truly irreplaceable with the current world’s technology.

But Arisa seemed to think otherwise, constantly comparing her artifacts to mine with an apologetic look.

“If, if you’ve changed your mind, I don’t mind…”

“No. I won’t change it. Absolutely not.”

As if I’d steal someone else’s treasure.

“But you did the most work, and you only got that half-broken thing…”

As she said this, Arisa looked at the steel plate I was holding as if it were a gem.

.

.

.