Defense specialization and ruin exploration.

The item acquired in this battle was, first and foremost, the book.

And three medals.

This was quite fortunate.

A player holding three medals will avoid combat with high-level players at all costs.

Sally would have escaped even with ordinary equipment.

Five medals—more than the three held by the defeated players—succeeded in robbing three of them of their composure.

They could not resist the temptation of tripling their medal count at once.

"Like the rat catcher becoming a rat..."

Sally pulled the worn book from her inventory.

"Shall we read it?"

"Yes! Let's do it!"

The two sit cross-legged on a large stone brick, leaning close to examine the book.

The pages were torn and illegible, but as they flipped through, one page alone revealed readable fragments.

"【Ancient Heart】— guided by springwater, within淡light, its form appears. Brave one, cast away the demon, to the blue still sea."

"What does that mean?"

"The Ancient Heart is linked to springwater... perhaps that means we can enter the dungeon? It sounds like combat awaits."

"...Springwater, so it must be a fountain?"

After searching, they found four fountains among the ruins.

A large fountain stood at the center of the ruins. A smaller one lay apart.

The fountain's peak was made of a rhomboid red crystal. It was beautiful.

No trace of water remained. It had dried.

"Let's try the central fountain first."

"Alright. Let's do that."

They walked a short distance and reached the central fountain.

Sally stepped onto the basin where water once pooled.

"【Ocean】!"

Water spread from beneath Sally’s feet.

It filled the basin.

The fountain began to glow faintly blue.

"Oh!?"

"Is it working?"

The light faded gradually.

The water in the basin vanished, drawn into the fountain.

They listened closely. No sound indicated activation.

"Hmm... nothing happened?"

"...Looks like it. But I think this fountain holds something."

"Yeah, I think so too. Let’s try the others."

They tested the other fountains in the same way. Each glowed faintly, but no further change occurred.

"Sally, we hadn’t finished reading that book yet, had we? Let’s read it properly one more time?"

"...Yeah, let’s. There might be more clues."

The two, at a loss, began reading the book again, slowly. From the first page, no readable characters appeared.

They reached the passage where they had stopped before.

"A faint light— that must be the glow from the fountain. The spring water is fine as it is..."

They thought on it. Nothing new came to mind. They set it aside and turned to the next page.

"Hey?"

"Is this… a drawing?"

The final page.

Though worn and frayed, a drawing remained.

"A jar? No… a water jug?"

People placing something resembling jars around each of the four fountains. Above the drawing, a round object floated. It was painted red.

"Is this the [Ancient Heart]?"

Maple pointed at the red circle.

...maybe. Hmm... maybe we need to put it in a water vessel and place it around? Don’t know...

They hummed and pondered, but the information drawn from the image was too vague to lead to any clear idea.

"Let’s take a short break. We’re not going to think of anything if we keep going like this."

"True enough."

They sat cross-legged in the center of the ruin, relaxing.

Being in an open space, rather than hiding, gave a better view. It was easier to notice someone approaching, and easier to relax.

"This event has only three days left, including today..."

Sally murmured.

The event had already passed its midpoint. Only a little remained.

"Really intense four days, I think? Maybe even more packed than all our previous playtime!"

"Aha, yeah!"

They defeated the goblin king. Spent one night in the haunted forest. Defeated a monstrous bird of overwhelming strength in the snow mountains, and gained Shiroppu and Kasumi as allies. Then they explored the bamboo grove.

In the ravine, they fought a false one. In the desert, they fled from a snail while exploring with Kasumi.

At sea, they met Kanade and forged a new bond. They acquired a medal as well.

As Maple said, they had lived through a period of intense events.

"This ruin... and one more dungeon explored, and we’d be done."

"Spending the entire fifth day on the ruin?"

"Yep. That’s the plan. It might take that long."

Without rest, they resumed their exploration of the ruin.

This time, unlike the first, they took their time, searching the basement, hidden rooms.

The reason was the old painting they had seen earlier.

They had expected, somewhere within the ruin, a water jug as depicted in the painting.

A water jug would be necessary to recreate the scene from the painting.

The painting was not certain proof, but it was the only lead they had at this moment.

They searched—sometimes splitting their efforts—yet by the time the sun began to set, they had found nothing.

“Let us find shelter beneath a roof.”

“Agreed.”

They ate, shoulders drooping from lack of progress.

“Nothing at all.”

…Something might change when night fell. Perhaps we should take turns exploring, alternating shifts?”

“Yeah, okay!”

They did not search together at once. One rested while the other continued. They had not finished their work. The next day still waited.

They had learned from their escape from the snails: only with care and restraint would mistakes be avoided.

After dinner, they spoke for a while. Then Sally set out to explore.

"Be careful."

"I'm off."

Maple called Shiroppu and played with her. There was nothing else to do.

Even so, rest could be a proper task at times.

Having decided together, breaking the promise to explore was not an option.

After a while, Sally returned.

Her expression suggested no success. She did not look cheerful.

Then, after a little time, Maple set out.

This repeated several times. On the turn of the seventh or eighth attempt, it was Maple's turn.

"I'm going."

"Yeah. I hope something shows up…"

Maple explored the ruins.

First, the great fountain.

As before, it had always begun with the great fountain.

She circled the area, checking each small fountain.

Maple looked up at the sky.

"Beautiful moon…"

The full moon hung in the sky, casting a quiet, pale light upon the earth.

In the real world, flooded with electric light, such a brightness from the moon would not be felt.

Maple walked along the path toward the great fountain.

—Hmm?

Maple halted.

The great fountain had changed, as she had awaited.

It glowed faintly, even though neither of them had done anything.