Chapter 353 - Episode 345: An Unexpected Discovery ②
From the ducal capital of Noeina to Lagara Village, there is a simply maintained road used for the movement of people and the transport of agricultural products. Traveling by carriage along this road, which was slightly rougher than a main highway, Noein and his party entered the village about an hour after their departure.
"Your Excellency Grand Duke Arqvist, Your Highness Grand Duchess, and all your close aides. Welcome, we are honored by your visit."
The Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess, Close Aide Baronet Granat, and Close Aide Knight Schoenberg had arrived at a small, remote village. In a situation that would normally be impossible, the villagers bowed their heads with nervous expressions to welcome Noein and his party, and the minotaur village chief spoke the greeting on their behalf.
"Thank you all for welcoming us."
"I apologize for the sudden commotion. Please, raise your heads."
After receiving words of appreciation from Clara, and then receiving permission from Noein, the village chief and the villagers raised their faces with hesitant looks.
"I heard about the ruins. I understand that you immediately kept the villagers away from the site upon discovering the ruins and reported it to the military. That was a good judgment. As expected of the village chief who protects this village."
"N-no, I could not possibly deserve such praise."
"And where is the boy who first discovered it?"
"It is that child over there."
The village chief pointed to a human boy around ten years old. Noein walked over to the boy, who was standing apart from the other villagers, and met the eyes of the boy's stiff expression.
"You've made a great discovery; it's a fine achievement. Also, I heard you got lost in the forest, but I'm glad you were able to return without any incident."
"T-thank you very much."
For a child of a farming village, Grand Duke Arqvist was an existence who had spoken to him once during the migration, and after that, was someone he only saw from a distance in the plaza of the ducal capital Noeina during ceremonies at best. Due to the tension and excitement of being spoken to directly by Noein, the boy answered with his voice cracking slightly.
"I heard you spent a night inside the ruins; did you see anything inside? Did you pick anything up?"
"I-inside, it looked like an ordinary stone room... there were desks and shelves... and there was some tattered parchment with strange patterns written on it. That's all. I was scared, so I didn't pick anything up."
"Can you swear that to God and your family?"
"Y-yes... I swear to God, my father, my mother, and my little sister, it's the truth."
"I see. What is your name?"
"It's Otts."
"Otts. You have made an important discovery for the Grand Duchy of Arqvist. I will see that you receive an appropriate reward later. On top of that... you must not tell anyone about what you saw inside those ruins. Even if you didn't fully understand the meaning of what you saw. If you fail to keep this, as the Grand Duke, I will have to punish you, and depending on the situation, your parents as well... If you are reliable enough to return from the forest on your own at your age, you understand what I mean, right?"
"Y-yes. I will absolutely never tell anyone, not even my friends or family, about the ruins."
Noein smiled, patting the head of young Otts, who answered with an even stiffer expression.
"Good boy. I'm glad it was a clever child like you who found the ruins."
Then, tightening his expression, he turned back toward the village chief.
"Now then, please guide us to the ruins."
.....
The ruins in question were about five kilometers further southwest from Lagara Village. Naturally, there were no maintained roads, so everyone had to move through the forest on foot.
"Clara, are you alright?"
"Yes, this much is fine. I am standing the whole time when I give lessons, so despite how I look, I have surprising stamina."
"I see, that's good then."
Caring for Clara and bringing one of his own golems for the first time in a while, Noein walked through the forest while being protected by Matilda, Yuri, Pence, and the Guard soldiers.
"Still, only a few kilometers from the village. It's surprising it wasn't found until now."
"I-I am terribly sorry. The villagers fear monsters, so they only enter the western and southern forests to a very shallow extent... As the village chief, I had also strictly ordered them not to enter the depths of the forest in that direction."
"Ah, no. I have no intention of reprimanding you."
Since the village chief, leading the way as the guide, answered in a slightly frightened voice, Noein replied in a gentle tone to reassure him.
Shortly thereafter, they noticed alien artificial structures lined up within the forest.
"...Is that it?"
There, exactly as reported, were several buildings that appeared to have been some kind of workshop and its warehouses.
"Your Excellency Arqvist."
"Good work, everyone."
While being greeted by the Guard soldiers who had arrived as the advance party and the guiding villager, Noein looked around the ruins.
The building thought to be the workshop was a single-story structure, but its area was about the size of a small mansion. There were three warehouses in total, each about the size of a house. The reason they still maintained their shape was likely because they were all made of stone.
"Clara, what do you think?"
"I'm sorry, based on the exterior alone, I can't say..."
"I see, well, that's expected. Shall we go inside then?"
Ordering the village chief and the villagers to wait outside, and instructing the Guard soldiers to investigate the warehouses, he entered the workshop-like building with Matilda, Clara, Yuri, and Pence.
There was no knowing what was inside. Yuri and Pence stood at the front with swords drawn, followed by Noein and Clara, with Matilda guarding their side. Finally, Noein's golem followed at the rear. The entrance to the workshop was wide enough for even the golem to pass through with room to spare.
"...It's almost empty."
"It looks as if the facility was abandoned intentionally," Yuri agreed with Noein's muttered impression of the interior.
The inside was divided into several rooms of various sizes, and no significant items remained in any of them. Only a few things held their shape, such as metal shelves, desks, and tableware. The decayed wood fallen on the floor was likely wooden furniture that had collapsed over the passage of years.
In the largest room, it was evident that forging equipment had once existed, but everything that remained had been completely destroyed, perhaps to prevent others from using it. The thoroughness was such that marks of attack magic could be seen on the metal equipment.
"...Your Excellency, this."
Pence, who returned from another room clutching an old piece of parchment, placed it on a desk that remained in the center of the room.
The letters on the parchment were faded in places due to deterioration over time, but it still maintained the form of a document.
"...Classical language? Which means this really is a facility of the Ancient Great Nation."
"Yes, these characters... they are from the late, no, the final period of the Ancient Great Nation. I can understand the meaning of this to some extent," Clara said, peering at the parchment with interest alongside Noein.
"What does it say?"
"It begins with, 'Siegfried Zeetsgard, the first emperor of the West Zeetsgard Empire, hereby acknowledges'..."
Noein, who possessed a certain amount of historical knowledge, recognized that name.
The Zeetsgard Empire, commonly called the "Ancient Great Nation," eventually split into the regions where the current Lordberg Kingdom and Pallas Empire are located.
Among them, the West Zeetsgard Empire's imperial rule collapsed completely in less than twenty years, entering an era of warring small states. Incidentally, while the East Zeetsgard Empire barely managed to keep its national form, it entered a civil war and likewise fell into great chaos; it is told, including speculation, that much of the culture, technology, and knowledge of the Zeetsgard Empire was lost at this time.
"The first emperor, huh. Siegfried, when he wrote this, probably didn't think he would be the first and last emperor... So, can you read the rest?"
"Yes. According to this text, this was a workshop under the direct control of the imperial family. This seems to be an official document declaring that."
"Which means they were making something extremely important."
"That explains why it was built as if to hide it in a forest like this," Pence added.
"That is likely the case. The thing they were making... it seems to be a kind of alloy. If I were to translate it... 'Jet-Black Steel,' perhaps? However, the manufacturing method is not written here."
As she spoke, Clara casually flipped the parchment over.
"Oh, there's something on the back too..."
"This side looks like it was scribbled in a hurry."
There were rows of characters that were clearly rougher compared to the document on the front.
"...'To the violent,' no, 'to the barbaric traitors, a trial,' no, 'judgment' perhaps? ...'Long live the West Zeetsgard Empire'... that is what seems to be written."
"The barbaric traitors probably refer to the ancestors of the current kingdom nobles, who destroyed the empire to create their own countries... The person who wrote this chose to remain an imperial citizen until the end."
Words carved with raw emotion by someone who lived in this land hundreds of years ago and chose the path of sharing a fate with a short-lived empire. Among Noein and his party, who by chance lived in the same land hundreds of years later and received those words, a strange emotion akin to pity drifted.
"The destroyed forging equipment was probably for making that alloy."
"Yeah, they probably broke it to maintain secrecy. And then, for some reason, they abandoned the workshop."
"Seems so. Whether they fled or moved their base to another location... either way, it doesn't look like anything of practical use remains."
After that, Noein and the others explored the interior of the workshop again. However, as expected, no visible results were obtained. Reports came from the Guard soldiers who had been investigating the warehouse-like buildings that nothing remained inside.
"Yuri, Pence, it's a shame, but as I thought, there's nothing here... what's wrong?"
To wrap up the exploration for now, Noein went to call the two who were in the innermost room of the workshop, only to find them staring intently at the decaying shelves lined up against the back wall.
"...The dimensions don't match."
"Considering the size of the workshop seen from the outside, this room should originally be wider."
"...Does that mean..."
Yuri turned toward Noein, who had gasped.
"Your Excellency. I intend to move these shelves and examine the wall; would that be acceptable?"
With Noein's permission, Yuri and Pence worked together to knock over the shelves. Noein watched this along with Matilda and Clara.
Eventually, behind the shelf on the right end that had been moved, there was a section where the color differed from the other walls.
"It appears only this part was made at a different time than the other walls. There was likely an entrance here originally."
"Both of you, step back. I'll try breaking it with the golem."
Since they didn't know what was there, Yuri and the other two stood in front of Noein and Clara as a precaution. Then, Noein operated the golem and lightly struck the differently colored wall.
The first hit only caused some cracks on the surface, but after several strikes, the cracks spread and parts chipped away, eventually opening a hole. Once the hole was widened enough for a person to pass through, there was a space beyond that was clearly a hidden room.
"We hit the jackpot," Noein said in a voice laced with tension, moving the golem away from the passage.