Chapter 7: Ruins of Visitor (part one)

Yo~ Someone likened Klaus with Kaburagi from Kenkyo Kenjitsu, but really Klaus is way better than Kaburagi lol. He learns fast and has common sense. Anyway, for the next month I will probably focus on this series more than my other series. Just so I could finish the first arc soon. But still, for the next three days I will post this series along with MaguToro chapters.

Oh and I made a glossary for this series~

TL: clover

ED: clover, eristol, xtostos

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“Klaus-sama! Are you alright? You’re okay, right!?”

I rushed towards Klaus in spite of myself.

Having only seen the back of his specter for so long, I felt relieved from the bottom of my heart finally seeing him in flesh.

I guess, he too, felt relieved to find a familiar face in the middle of these dark ruins.

The sternness in his eyes gradually disappeared.

“Aah, I have no problem. I am surprised you came this far alone …You, what’s with that appearance?”

Uh, he got right to the point.

First of all, I thought about putting emphasis on practicality and more importantly, I was in a hurry.

Regarding my coordination, it is quite appropriate.

“I borrowed Eduard Onii-sama’s clothes, since it would be difficult to move around this place wearing a dress.”

“Oh, so that’s the case … you, this appearance suits you better than the one from before.”

“Oh, I am honored to have received your compliment.”

So men’s clothes fit me better than glamorous dresses? It seems it is still impossible for me to wear a luxurious dress after all!

I thought Erica’s face is delicate enough.

Is it the way I carry myself that lacks femininity?

No, it is good enough that practical clothing suits me.

Let’s feel good.

“I’m glad I found you, this is the most dangerous place in the Aurelia territory, you know?”

“I can see why. I never thought I would waste my magical energy to this extent after exploring so little.”

Klaus looks exhausted.

It is a dark and scary place, so I certainly felt like my spirits were about to drop too—

But have the passages so far really been so perilous as to spend that much magic on them?

“Klaus-sama, what do you mean by that?”

“You, have you noticed nothing on your way here?”

“I have not noticed anything at all.”

“…You are slow.”

“Western people are different from the Eastern people, there is nothing I can do about that.”

Being slow and meticulous is considered a virtue here in Aurelia.

I might not have noticed it because I lack efforts and talent though…

“A magical energy draining trap is at work in these ruins, even the activation of lower-tier magic has started taking a heavy burden on me since a little while ago.”

“Is there such a trap out here somewhere? Shouldn’t you be able to find out something if you use Glam Sight though?”

“I have already identified what I presume to be the source, but I couldn’t dispel it. I don’t know why this is happening.”

“Perhaps metals and jewels that impede magic are physically embedded somewhere. In other words, there is no magic to begin with for you to dispel.”

I heard that there are minerals with such effects in Lucanrant.

It wouldn’t be strange if there was some other metal out there that can absorb or obstruct magical energy. Perhaps some combination of materials can produce the same effect.

“That isn’t the worst of it, it seems that wide area magic is completely nullified, any magic with effect range of five meters or more in radius fails to activate.”

“Come to think of it, my brother said there are traps here that have already been sprung by accident, but he couldn’t tell their effects.”

“I see.”

Although to us, Aurelians, it is but a minor inconvenience, people from Hafan seem to be very ill-suited to this place.

Ruins of Visitor is like the culmination of the lost techniques of Aurelia of the West.

Perhaps, these missing technologies can be said to be ‘abandoned’ by choice, rather than being ‘lost’, due to being too problematic.

Like a trap that obstructs the magical energy is definitely not friendly to outsiders for example.

“Because of that…I’d like you to see this for a moment.”

Klaus spread out a large sheet of parchment.

The page had a thick, rectangular border and the names of the gods of the twelve winds listed in decorative script.

It is the most commonly used template in this world’s maps.

But, except for the frame and several lines of Hafan’s magic words, it was almost blank and there was nothing that remotely resembled a map.

“I tried to use Auto-mapping and put spell cards along the route. However, thanks to the troublesome trap, even though I cast the spell it didn’t react at all.”

“Oh, so that is why you left those cards.”

“Had I known a little sooner that Auto-mapping would be invalidated, I wouldn’t have come so deep.”

Klaus shrugged.

As it seemed Klaus was done talking for the time being, I asked what I was really concerned about.

“Well, Klaus-sama. Would you happen to know where Ann-sama is?”

“Wha—! Why are you bringing her up?”

Klaus jumped in alarm.

Huh, this guy, doesn’t his reaction feel like a small animal’s?

“I was using Urd Sight to follow you. Then I saw Ann-sama coming here as well …”

“But I have not brought my sister here.”

“It seems she was pursuing you then.”

“But, I am certain that I put my sister to sleep with a sleeping magic…no way, that girl, did she expect me to slip out and heighten her Magic Resistance?”

In his own way, he had taken precautions to make sure his sister doesn’t tag along with him to such a dangerous place.

I thought that he was cold to Ann, but he is a caring brother.

However, it seems that his sister was one step ahead of him this time.

The young Ann is also a gifted mage like her brother.

So, with her insight and effort, she successfully resisted her brother’s magic.

This, Klaus’ plan is backfiring, isn’t it?

The more someone says not to do something, the more they try to keep it a secret, the more it gnaws at their mind.

They truly are an inquisitive pair of brother and sister.

“I didn’t see my sister on the way so far, it seems that she has followed another route somewhere.”

I was under the assumption that I would find Ann with him so I gave my undivided attention into pursuing Claus and neglected to confirm Ann’s whereabouts.

I was also a bit reluctant to use the expensive wand of Urd Sight too much.

Perhaps I should’ve used it a bit more.

“Would you like to trace our way back again, Klaus-sama? Let’s go find your younger sister on our way back.”

“…That’s right. I am clearly not prepared enough to get around these ruins.”

Klaus glanced at my appearance and said that.

His gaze steadily flitted across my alchemist’s leather gloves, my bag stuffed to the brim with wands, and finally my thick-soled boots, which are fairly durable.

“If I am not cautiously equipped like you, I am likely to lose my way in the ruins.”

I was feeling a bit relieved at being obediently listened to.

I wouldn’t know what to do if he said, ‘I will absolutely not turn back!’

“If you have decided so, let’s search for Ann-sama immediately.”

“Yes.”

“If we can’t find a way to find Ann-sama, we’ll return to the Spring Palace at once.”

“Yes, this maze is too much for children to navigate alone.”

“Speaking of mazes, please dispel the Phantasmal Maze in the Spring Palace as soon as possible.”

I had to ask him not to forget about it.

It would be no wonder if many maids are distressed by now.

“Mmm, you noticed it, didn’t you?”

“If I didn’t notice, why would I bother coming to a place like this?”

“I thought you wre much more enthusiastic in exploring, so that is not really the case?”

“I assure you it is not!”

It would be troublesome if it is misunderstood.

I did not come to explore like Klaus. I came to stop Klaus from exploring.

If I don’t make it clear now, what if I get treated as an accomplice by my father and the Duke of Hafan?

“While tracing our way back, let’s use Urd Sight at each fork. That way, we can see where Ann got deviated

“Is that a wand of Urd Sight? May I use it as well? I have been continuously using Glam Sight until you joined, so it will take a while to recover my magical energy.”

“Of course. It would be more efficient with two people searching.”

Eastern magic cut not only mental stamina but also physical strength.

No matter how much a genius Klaus is, he is still a ten-years-old child.

The Ruins of Visitor has an intense magical energy obstruction and he has been maintaining Glam Sight since the beginning.

It is admirable that he has managed to hold out for this long.

Then, my next concern was about the amount of magic left in the wand of Urd Sight.

I have already consumed about 60 charges before finding Klaus.

The leftover is probably about 40 charges.

The wand of Urd Sight is a wand created from ash wood¹.

A yellow tourmaline adorns its tip, while the grip has gold etchings resembling weaved fabric.

Its most prominent feature is its core material.

A magnificent, ten-meter-long silk tapestry patterned with gold and silver thread.

It has been compressed with spatial magic until it was merely millimeters in size, and then underwent further processing through weight-reduction magic to make it light enough to wield.

On top of that, it is necessary to replace the core material when recharging the magic inside a wand.

What is my point?

In other words, this wand is incredibly expensive.

(Eduard-oniisama, I’m sorry…!!)

While apologizing in my mind, I opened my bag for the second wand of Urd Sight.

I wonder how many wands I will use overnight.

I am afraid of thinking about the cost of all of them even for a moment.

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¹ Ash is a type of tree. In this story, it refers to Fraxinus japonica, or Japanese ash.

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