Luna Village - 3

"Lord Taro, I've gathered those in the village with high responsiveness to magic stones. Could you please train them?"

It seemed Gram had rushed from house to house after returning from the ruin, collecting those with strong magic stone sensitivity.

Most appeared to be young people.

I had wanted to head out early today for another ruin excavation, but I had made a promise to Gram. Breaking that promise here wouldn't be right.

Demonstrating the same technique before the gathered villagers, just as Gram had done. They reacted in exactly the same way—eyes widening, instantly eager to try.

The villagers immediately asked about the method and began imitating it using low-grade crystals.

As Gram had predicted, the crystals showed high reactivity.

They should be able to master elemental movement within a few days.

I taught them the key points and instructed them to keep practicing, but not to push themselves too hard.

Everyone was eager, diving into practice with just the right amount of focus from me.

After finishing instruction on mana movement, we headed toward the ruins. The team remained unchanged—just me, Rilka, and Gram.

Since we knew the route to the ruins, we moved quickly, covering the distance at a good pace.

Thanks to that, even though we’d spent time on morning instruction, we still had plenty of time to thoroughly explore the interior of the ruins.

Today, let's focus our investigation on the hidden rooms located on the first basement level. For some reason, I have a strong feeling there must be hidden chambers here. I'd like to explore those hidden rooms as soon as possible, but we should first confirm there are no dangers before descending underground.

Inside the ruins, as usual, a few small animal-like creatures were wandering around, but they neither attack us nor cause any harm, so we can safely ignore them.

The real problem is the medium-sized beast-like creatures that appear unexpectedly. If handled improperly, they can cause serious injuries.

They must be dealt with thoroughly.

After surveying the first basement level, we found several small, separate rooms.

However, there was nothing new inside the rooms. Embedded in the walls connecting to the small chambers were magic stones used to control hidden doors, but all of them were deteriorated.

Inside the small room were numerous weapons resembling longswords, as well as knives or similar tools. Yet, each and every one was rusted beyond use.

There were also strange, unidentifiable remnants that might have once been food, along with mysterious holes in stones whose original purpose remained unclear—clear signs of past human habitation.

"Was someone living here?"

The thought escaped my lips before I could stop myself.

"I once heard from my father that churches and important facilities were built so people could live on-site. But I don't understand why they'd be hidden... "

"I see. Could that be why it's built this way—perhaps to conceal something valuable?"

"Then the thieves might have already taken everything. You know, Taro, haven't you heard? This area used to be a hideout for thieves back in the day."

"Yeah, I've heard that. If that's true, there probably isn't much treasure to expect."

"Master Taro, it's been quite some time since we entered the ruins. Wouldn't it be time to head back to the village?"

"You're right. We shouldn't push ourselves. Let's get back before sunset."

We decide to carefully exit the ruins.

"Hmm? What's this?"

Scattered irregularly across the ground were circular depressions, twisted and deformed. This wasn't along the extension of any moving wall.

"I don't know. But we don't have time to worry about it now. Let's hurry—investigation can wait for another time."

"Yeah, you're right."

We returned to the village without incident. Lilka still seemed cheerful as ever. It was good to see that the effort I'd made to expose her to the outside world was paying off.

Upon entering the village, I saw several people sleeping in the center of the village.

"What happened?!"

Graam ran over, and I followed, approaching the villagers who were lying there.

They were all breathing in steady, regular rhythms.

The villagers lying there were the ones I'd instructed earlier in the day to practice with the highly reactive magical stones. It seemed they'd overdone it, exhausting their own magical essence and collapsing from fatigue.

I felt relieved upon understanding the situation, though I couldn't help but be slightly astonished.

Depletion of magical essence could only be remedied by rest.

I escorted the hardworking villagers back to their homes and advised them to rest completely.

After delivering everyone home and catching my breath,

Mr. Tarou, I'd like to discuss something with you...

The village chief, looking apologetic, had somehow appeared nearby without me noticing.

What's wrong?

I've heard from Gram that Mr. Taro has been teaching us how to use rare magic stones, but as a result, our village's low-grade magic stones have run out. I'd like to go to Puetoji to purchase more, but might I trouble you to accompany me as a guard?

The village chief's gaze fell upon scattered magic stones—some partially degraded, others partially activated. It felt like a silent accusation: "Take responsibility for creating such things."

Indeed, I bear some responsibility for not warning them that imperfect magic stones would be produced during practice. And considering how few villagers there are, it's also true that we're relying on Gram, who has the highest combat ability, to accompany us on the ruin expedition.

From the village's perspective, they'd probably appreciate something along those lines.

There's no need to force a confrontation, and we still want to continue our excavation of the ruins. So, being asked to wait a day isn't entirely unreasonable.

"Understood. I also have a magic tri-wheel, so I can transport low-grade magic stones. However, I don't know where to buy them, so it would be helpful if someone from the village could come with me..."

"Of course, I'll arrange an escort for you. How about Rilka and Erin?"

"Sure, that's fine. Then I'll set off tomorrow without delay."

The next day, we left the village in the morning and arrived in Puetoji by late afternoon, just before sunset.

"I think we should stay overnight and head back to the village tomorrow after purchasing the magic stones. What do you think?"

"That's fine." "Sure thing!"

They spent the night at the guild's inn. Although Lirka wasn't an adventurer, she was allowed to stay in the same room as Elrin as an apprentice adventurer.

It was during dinner at the inn operated by the guild.

"Ooh, look at you, hands full of flowers—what a fancy status you've got. Where's your brother, Gram?"

Coil, holding a mug in one hand and slightly drunk, approached them.