Book 16 Chapter 28
Science VS Superpowers,
Ain's technology is the best in the world (1)
This story will be about Nils and Link.
Ah, my friends…
Even now, if I close my eyes and listen carefully…
It feels like I can still hear the laughter of Link, who used to laugh while thumping his chest, and Nils, who would clack his wrench…
This story was a definite turning point in those relationships, and it was also the point where my mindset, which had always focused solely on my self-cultivation (修身), slowly began to change.
"Hey."
The journey to find the Archmage's cave was anything but easy.
First, there was the geographical problem.
Though the Kingdom of Hosen was said to have many wetlands and dense forests, this was beyond excessive. The 10th Archmage, Huke, must have been a tremendous pervert.
"How many times are we circling this place?"
Fride, whose complaining was arguably the best in the world, repeated that exact phrase for the 57th time, but I didn't point it out.
"I don't know how many times, but this cave-finding expedition is exactly on its 4th day."
"Hey, let's just go our way. Archmage's book or whatever, they can just eat shit."
"Eat shit, eat shit, eat shit."
Pipi conjured flames above its wings, creating a shape similar to a human raising their middle finger! Master!
"Don't give up────!"
Just then, Lista, who was walking ahead, suddenly grabbed Fride's shoulder tightly and shouted.
"────Don't, give uuuuup!"
"???"
"It's only natural for an adventure seeking treasure to be full of trials and hardships! Aren't hardship and the value of treasure directly proportional?"
"?????"
"Stop whining! Now, hold onto the hope and courage that we will surely reach the goal someday, and advance!"
Then Fride, sniffling with tears, grabbed Lista's wrist.
"Did you think that if you said that, I'd go 'Wah, I'm sorry, Lista! Courage was what I lacked! Yes, I get it, Let's gooooooo!' and be filled with renewed courage like that? You crazy cheer-theory fanatic!"
"Gasp, that's too harsh, Fride!"
"Let's leave that fanatic alone and examine the map more closely. The map says there's a mine somewhere around here. Kies! Do you see anything?"
In response to Lin's question, Kies, who was sipping beer on a tree branch, shook his head.
[(ㅇㅁㅇ)…]
"Ugh, that useless drunk bastard, he truly does nothing, nothing at all! Every day, his liquor expenses drain enough for 30 people, leaving our party fund utterly destitute!"
[(ㅠ-ㅜ)…]
While Fride was unleashing his anger on Kies, Lin spoke to Pipi.
"Pipi, do you see anything?"
"?"
"Wow, this is driving me crazy. Folks! Look at Pipi here, pretending not to understand just because it doesn't want to work!"
Lista waggled her index finger in front of the exasperated Lin and Fride.
"You're both too impatient. If it were easy to find, would it truly be a treasure?"
"Hearing you say the same thing for four days straight, it seems like you're the first one to lose your mind. If you're sane, couldn't you help us find the way too?"
"Don't worry. I was just about to do that."
Suddenly, Lista gazed intently at the bushes on the other side, and picked up a fallen twig near her feet.
"What are you going to do?"
As soon as Lin asked that, the bushes parted on both sides, and villains in dark blue attire appeared.
"We found you. Lin, the arch-traitor of the world!"
Lin's eyes widened.
Could there be such a moving moment?
He tried to hide his identity again and again, but his true identity was exposed to everyone, and so [The Strongest Mage] became a hunted man.
"Because of your ugly selfish desire to marry the Princess of Hosen, you defiled the Great [Seven Souls]! We shall judge you."
"Hmph, heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh!"
"Laughing? You scum! Let me tell you in advance, we won't be easy at all. We are the Black Church's──!"
The rest of his words were cut off. They would never be continued, not ever.
"──Time-Space Slash!"
"Gah──!"
The torrent of magic unleashed by the twig swept away dozens of Black Church ruffians in an instant!
"You?"
Deliberately ignoring Lin, who was glaring at her with small, sharp eyes, Lista wiped the sweat from her forehead with a relieved sigh.
"Phew~ judging the minions of the abyss is always refreshing. But what did these Black Mages just say? Something about [Seven Souls]~ I completely missed the next line. Fride, did you happen to hear it?"
Fride was startled by the mention, and shook his head frantically! Pipi did the same!
What a frantic shaking of the head!
A miracle born of the instinct for survival, 24 head-shakes per second!
"What about Kies?"
[(ㄴ_ㄴ);;;]
"So you're saying nothing was said! Alright, then shall we start looking for the cave again? Let's go, Lin!"
As Lista grabbed Lin's wrist and energetically moved forward, Fride let out a sigh of relief.
"Lately, am I the only one who finds her scarier than the abyss?"
The journey to find the cave was usually like that.
At the time, even journeys that seemed trivial, and thus useless… how, oh how, could they remain so vividly clear… in the faint light of memory…?
Now that that realization has come, 300 years later, there is no way to make that journey more joyful and happy.
Thinking about it now, it's incredibly regrettable, but back then, to our great joy, the end of that trivial journey arrived.
"Take another look at the map, Lin."
Hmm…
Lin was quite directionally challenged; map interpretation was not his specialty.
"No need to look at the map."
To Lin, someone extended a helping hand.
"If you exit this forest to the northeast, you'll find a mine, and if you go a bit further past that mine… you'll find the next marker."
What instantly soured Lista's expression was none other than Nia, the Princess of Hosen! Her name when she worked as a mercenary was Leonia.
"Why on earth did you follow us? Your Highness should stay cooped up in the royal castle, as a princess should, and just boast and brag!"
"Hmph, who do you think you are? Only two people can enter that cave: the heir to the royal family and the one promised in marriage to them."
"Don't talk nonsense."
"Hmph, I came to help Lin because I was worried he'd struggle to get in there. It's clear you haven't been able to find the way properly, just by looking."
A vein throbbed on Lin's temple.
"Hmph, if such a barrier is spread out, I'll just smash it with my holy sword, so shall we go?"
"What? Why are you trying to recklessly damage our kingdom's treasure! Are you really a hero? A hero without any ethics or morals!"
"Are you really a princess? How can a princess have no manners at all? Stop being a bad influence on Lin and just disappear!"
Grrrrrrrr… Leonia and Lista ground their teeth while pressing their foreheads together.
"Roar, roar, roar!"
Circling around the two women, the lionesses that approached Lin rubbed their heads against his thigh.
"I don't know who the real animals are."
Lin said.
Fride raised an eyebrow.
"Pipi says it seems these lionesses are telling us to follow them?"
"Let's go then."
"What about them?"
"Don't pay attention to wild animals. They'll pick up strange habits."
The lionesses led the way through the wetland, guiding them.
Even though it was a place they had circled many times, when the lionesses stopped at a certain point and pressed a footplate, the swamp parted on both sides, and a door leading underground appeared.
Fride was dumbfounded, and could only let out a hollow laugh.
"Wow, that's insane. They hid the door like this? I don't know why all mages are such perverts."
Leonia, upon seeing it, was shocked!
"Ah, Horu and Senru, what are you doing! How could you reveal that! I was planning to lure this stupid hero towards the mine, and then secretly enter with Lin alone!"
Just then, Lista seemed to place her hand on the hilt of Shirphen's sword, and as if time itself fragmented, she vanished from the spot with Lin.
To be precise, if you were skilled enough to follow their footwork with your eyes, you would have seen them both enter the cave.
"This, this cowardice! To abuse the power of a hero like this! Stop right there! Wait for me!"
Leonia was appalled and tried to immediately pursue them, but couldn't.
Gurgle…
From various parts of the swamp, something large and mighty began to rise.
"Th-this is…!"
* * *
Thud, bang!
The cave built beneath the swamp had a steep incline, so Lin bounced his head and back against the earthen walls several times before he could finally regain his balance.
"As expected of a true lunatic, what are you doing? Do you want to die? Why are you slaughtering my brain cells?"
"Lin, look at that."
"It's dark, I can't see anything."
"Then light it up a bit. There's some writing, but in the dark, only the consonants of the first word are visible, so I can't read it."
Lin grumbled and used 1st-tier flame magic to illuminate the inside of the earthen wall. Then a sign came into view.
[A room that cannot be entered without ㅋㅅ]
* The swamp continues to rise every 3 seconds.
* My grimoire is inside.
The swamp that covered this cave covered the entrance like a tide, and flooding (沈水) was progressing moment by moment!
Escape was also impossible!
The swamp water merged into a bizarre form and blocked the entrance. Lin's eyes sparkled.
"Wow, it's Undine! The 4-star water-attribute summoning magic said to have been created by the 10th Archmage, Huke! To think it can still be activated even 100 years after his death! What kind of runes and mathematical formulas did he use, I wonder?"
While Lin was exclaiming in admiration, Lista trembled all over, recalling Leonia's words.
- Only two people can enter that cave: the heir to the royal family and the one promised in marriage to them.
Could it really have been because of this?
A kiss, this is truly a sacred… act between a married couple; to force someone to do it like this, something is terribly wrong with this place, even if it's wrong.
"Hyah!"
To eradicate this social malady as a hero, Lista powerfully swung her fist, which could even crumple rebar, against the outer wall!
But even the hero's fist was blocked by the outer wall without a single crack! Crazy master!
As if mocking Lista's actions, a new message appeared!
[Warning: Foolish acts will make it rise faster.]
The sticky liquid (水液) at their feet literally 'suddenly' rose to their ankles. Lista cried out in a voice close to tears.
"Tell me those things quickly! Hyah!"
To judge this lewd state of affairs as a hero, Lista powerfully kicked the outer wall with a kick that could even shatter stone masonry! Master!
But even the hero's kick was blocked by the outer wall without any damage! Crazy master!
As if sighing at Lista's desperate struggles, a new warning message was added.
[Warning: Foolish acts will make it rise faster (this calculation is multiplicative).]
The squelching swamp water that was at their ankles instantly rose to below their knees.
"10th Archmage, you're not dead, are you? You're alive and watching from somewhere right now, aren't you?"
If it comes to this, I'll have no choice but to use Shirphen's power…
But, but can I really do that?
Lin wanted to read the 10th Archmage's grimoire so badly, what if I destroy all of that… and Lin gets disappointed and leaves the party?
- I can't travel with such a violent and savage hero anymore. I'll marry the wealthy Leonia and settle down here. Thanks for nothing.
Ughhh… While Lista's struggle continued, Lin was playing with the Undine.
As a master of magic, he was engaging in magical exchanges, examining runes and mathematical formulas.
"Wow, can I really use the water attribute magic that the Archmage used before, just like that? Will this block it too?"
Lista simply couldn't believe Lin's relaxed demeanor, so she asked this.
"Lin, you should be thinking about how to somehow overcome this situation right now. Where do you have the leisure to play with that?"
Then Lin counter-questioned with utmost confidence!
"What's so difficult about it?"
"?"
"You can do it easily, can't you?"
E-easily?
Lista's face turned red.
Could it be that I seemed like such an easy woman?
"Wh-what are you talking about? H-how can I do that easily? Huh? I don't understand Lin's basis for judgment."
"I've seen you do it so many times by now, so why can't you do it?"
"You've seen me do that, that thing, many times? What are you talking about! I've never done it before!"
"No way, you're trying to lie in this situation. You've done it with me countless times!"
"?"
"?"
"???"
"??????"
Lista felt her eyes spin dizzily.
'Could it be that Lin… liked me?'
Is that why he had such dreams and mistakenly thought it actually happened? It makes no sense, but it might. Lin is still a baby!
"Now that I've seen that Undine, I want to see the Archmage's grimoire even more, so can't you do it quickly?"
However, Lin's thoughts were different. He had interpreted it differently from the start.
'ㅋㅅ' means 'rapid' (快速)!
Moving rapidly was simpler for Lista than picking her nose. He just couldn't understand why she wasn't doing it.
"D-do it quickly?"
"Yes!"
"Ah, no! No no no no no no! This, this is a matter that needs to be decided after careful consideration! Why is the North so open-minded?"
In the meantime, the swamp water rose to mid-thigh.
For Lin, it was waist-high!
The number of Undine already exceeded ten!
"No, what are you hesitating for?"
"I'm telling you, it's something I *have* to hesitate about!"
"No, you can do it!"
Lista's head was about to explode!
Lin had given up on Leonia and chosen her.
If so, shouldn't I at least once respond to that feeling?
'Lin is only fourteen anyway, so he might not understand the significance of this action. It might just pass as a childish mistake…'
Between her moral ethics and loyalty to her companion, Lista, who was agonizing 188 times per second, finally clenched both fists, firming her resolve.
"Ah, alright! I'll finish it quickly, like roasting beans in a flash of lightning! S-so… Lin, close your eyes for a moment!"
"Why?"
"I'm embarrassed, alright!"
"What's there to be embarrassed about?"
"Aren't you embarrassed, Lin?"
"It's almost a year since we first met, what's there to be embarrassed about?"
Lista was bewildered again!
Lin's expression as he looked at her was utterly calm and unconcerned. Perhaps the boy was completely serious!
"No time! Come on, quickly!"
In the meantime, the swamp water rose to Lista's chest. The number of Undine already exceeded twenty!
"Ughhhhhh… Aaaaah! Spirit 300x!!! Here I gooooooo!"