Published at 22nd of January 2024 12:08 pm

Chapter 344: Dreams and Romance Are Important, but It’s Even More Crucial to Translate Them Into Reality

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“Gu, it hurts… What’s going on?”

“Are you okay, Ed?! Oh, you’re turning red, it looks painful…”

“Why did the floor suddenly disappear? Strange things are happening, Gyo?”

Rubbing my throbbing forehead, Tia expressed concern, and Ginta seemed worried about the suddenly opened floor. From the looks of it, it seems like I was the only one who heard that voice.

Well, that’s convenient for me. Tia is fine, but explaining about the Demon King to Ginta was quite troublesome. But still…

(What’s the Demon King factor? Can’t be opened without a Demon King? So, this ruin wasn’t made by ‘Hill People, Eltartab,’ but by the Demon King? Or did Eltartan’ use the Demon King’s power…?)

Even though it was just a few words, they sparked so many questions. But, because they were so short, it only led to wild guesses. Hmm, I need more information…

“Hey Ed, what’s inside the hole? You won’t know anything if you stay in that spot!”

“O-oh, right…. This?”

The depth of the uncovered hole was about 15 centimeters. Moving my body aside to take a closer look, there was a black rod about 20 centimeters inside.

“What’s that? A sword? It’s an odd shape though…”

“Hmm, seems like a key.”

A five-centimeter handle with something resembling a guard, atop it, a 15-centimeter blade. Both were square rods, but the blade had irregular and numerous square indentations. Since the voice earlier mentioned ‘Gate Key Ω,’ surely there must be a door that opens with this.

“Key?! Like, a door that opens with the key hidden inside a secret vault, there might be some incredible treasure sleeping there, Gyo! Quickly! Hurry and find that door, Gyo!”

“Got it, got it. Well then, let’s search for it.”

Calming down the excited Ginta, I tucked the key I held into my waist pouch. And so, the exploration of the ruin resumed…

“Gyooo, can’t find the door…”

Though we’ve explored almost every reachable place, we couldn’t find a door that seemed to fit this key. We managed to discover several relics, so it could be called a partial success, but it’s hard to deny the feeling of incomplete accomplishment.

“If we’ve searched this much, could it be in a different ruin? Ed?”

“Hmm, let me check.”

Considering that the water had turned considerably red, further exploration wasn’t practical. It lacked romance, but I reluctantly activated the [Akashic Compass.]

“Manifest, [Akashic Compass]. The place to search is where this key opens a door.”

In response, a huge door was projected within a metal frame. After its disappearance, the normal compass pointed in a direction, but even with discreetly combining it with ‘Auto-Mapping of Travel Footprints,’ the location couldn’t be pinpointed. Since the area of this ruin had been almost entirely documented, it was confirmed that the door wasn’t here. However, there was one more significant realization.

“Hey Ed, didn’t that door just now have two keyhole-like things?”

“Yeah, it did. Which means there’s another key similar to this.”

The door, with a mysterious shape where white and black chased each other, had a hole in each respective part. Considering it was referred to as ‘Gate Key Ω’ and not just ‘Gate Key,’ it was expected that there was at least one more thing called ‘Gate Key.’

However, having just one more was fortunate. If there were three or four, it would’ve been challenging to find them. The last resort would be as extreme as during Nico’s world, slipping only the door through the [Mirage Shift] but this time, I genuinely wanted to investigate the ruin where the key existed.

“In that case… Ginta, about what’s next…”

“Of course, we’re gonna find another key, Gyo! Then we’ll open that weird-patterned door and get the treasure inside, Gyo!”

Responding with enthusiasm, Ginta seemed charged up. But even so, I couldn’t just agree like that.

“Is it okay? I mean, we know the direction of another key or door, but we have no idea how far it might be, you know? It could take months, or even years…”

“Ugh… I’d be seriously troubled if it took that many years, Gyo. I do want to be home for my coming-of-age day, Gyo. So, how about we search within a reasonable range? For now, let’s aim in that direction while conducting regular archaeological explorations. If it looks dicey time-wise, we can always return to Tulay for a bit… Is that not doable, Gyo?”

“Nah, if that works for you, Ginta, it’s fine. We’re not in a hurry, and besides, we could always come back and search properly as accomplished treasure hunters after you have become an adult.”

Oh, in that case, no problem at all, Gyo! Gyo, getting such a massive discovery and goal on my first archaeological expedition, this might truly leave a mark in history…!?

“Hahaha, that’d be nice.”

Depending on what lies beyond the door, there’s a real possibility that Ginta’s name might be etched into history. Ginta may only possess the abilities on par with an ordinary person, perhaps due to the long period of inactivity by the Demon King, but he’s still a hero. If there’s an opportunity, he definitely has the potential to shine.

“Well, considering it as a long-term goal, let’s call it a day and head back to the ship for rest.”

“True. Are we heading to another ruin tomorrow? Or returning to town for now?”

“Hmm, I thought the trip would take two or three days, but it ended in half a day. With that in mind, I think it’s okay to visit one more ruin. What do you think, Ginta?”

True, Gyo. We still have plenty of provisions, and if it’s a ruin we can reach in about three days, I think it’s worth visiting one more, Gyo.

“Then that’s the plan. It’d be really helpful if we knew the distance, though…”

“Everyone has things they can’t do. Besides, knowing just the direction is significant, right?”

“Right, Gyo. And the more we travel the world, the broader the range we can understand with that magical tool, Gyo? So, that’s another exciting aspect!”

“I see, that’s an interesting way to think about it.”

The more we travel, the more effective it becomes… It’s a perspective that’s not very familiar to me, who has been “banished” from worlds for a short time. But if that’s the case, indeed, traveling the world will become more enjoyable.

Even if it becomes meaningless once I move to another world, the memories engraved alongside the records will remain eternal within me as memories.

“Fufufu, in that case, I’ll travel the world with the aim of exploring every bit of it. Hey, Ginta, what’s at the end of this world? And are there places like ‘if you could reach here, it’s amazing’?”

“Huh? I don’t know what’s at the end of the world either, Gyo. As for a place like ‘if you could reach here, it’s amazing’… Oh, there’s a place called the ‘Bottomless Abyss,’ Gyo. It’s always dark in there, even during the day, and they say anyone who ventures in never returns, Gyo”

“Oh really? Exploring the bottom of that valley sounds exciting.”

“Gyo-ha?! What are you saying, Gyo! That doesn’t sound fun at all, Gyo!”

“What’s wrong with exploring unknown places? And there might be incredibly valuable relics there, don’t you think?”

“Sure, it might be romantic, but I don’t want to die, Gyo. I’m the type who wants to grasp the surface of romance safely and comfortably, considering reality.”

“Oh… Ginta, you’re more cautious than I thought?”

“Of course, Gyo. If you mix romance and aspirations with reality, you’ll end up dead in no time, Gyo. I want to leave a legend behind while staying alive, Gyo!”

“Alright, alright, enough with the nonsense. Let’s head back to the ship already, especially before it gets dark.”

Interrupting our conversation, Tia clapped her hands to get our attention. Led by her, we safely returned to the ship without any trouble and had our dinner before crawling into our sleeping bags.

And thus, our first serious exploration of ruins came to a successful end, creating new goals along the way.

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