21: Maritime Transport and Ruins Arc (Year 3457–3458)

Chapter 725: 21-37 What Lies Within

The morning of the 14th dawned with an urgent crisis hanging over them: what to do with the storage vessels?

The joint investigation task force gathered for an emergency meeting. Representing the Klein Kingdom were Captain Bernardo-dono and Vice-Captain Gloria-san. The Egeria Kingdom was represented by Captain Bruno-dono and the Magi Craftman, Jade-dono. Finally, representing the Shouro Empire was Major Fritz-dono. These five individuals sat face-to-face, locked in intense debate.

“Why don’t we first discuss how to divide the haul, and then let each nation decide its own policy on the matter?” Bernardo-dono suggested, breaking the ice.

Bruno-dono nodded, his expression strained. “Hmm, that makes sense… Speaking for Egeria, we’d prefer to just dig a hole, dump the contents, and leave them behind.”

“What a waste!” Jade-dono immediately interjected. “The fact that the ancient Leonard Kingdom sealed these containers away instead of discarding them means they must hold some kind of value. Throwing them away is out of the question!”

“He makes a fair point,” Fritz-dono agreed with a nod. “Alchemists would absolutely leap at the chance to study this.”

Gloria-san, however, raised a perfectly logical counterargument. “But if we do that, we won’t be able to repurpose the gold used in the containers. Wouldn’t that cut the value of bringing them back in half?”

Jade-dono quickly clarified his stance. “Please don’t misunderstand me. I completely agree that the liquid inside poses a threat. I am simply saying we must weigh this against the overall purpose of our expedition.”

“Hmm…”

The discussion ground to a halt, a consensus nowhere in sight. Their situation was likely being transmitted back home via the Magimonitor, but the complete lack of feedback from headquarters only added to their frustration.

Right then, a sharp cry shattered the silence.

“Whoa!”

Everyone turned toward the source of the commotion. One of the Klein Kingdom investigators was staring down at the knife in his hand, his face completely drained of color. Bernardo-dono and the other leaders immediately paused their meeting and called the man over to find out what had happened.

“Maltah, what’s wrong?” Bernardo-dono asked.

The knight, Maltah, straightened his posture and began to explain. “After that mysterious liquid spilled earlier, we washed the area down with water. But when I passed by that exact spot just now, I noticed a faint wisp of smoke rising, accompanied by a strange odor.”

Bernardo-dono nodded, prompting him to go on. “I see. Continue.”

“Yes, sir. The smoke was coming from a puddle, and thinking something might be submerged inside, I used my standard-issue knife to poke around. That was when this happened.”

Maltah held out his knife for inspection. The surface of the blade was corroded and pitted—it had visibly melted.

“This is…”

“Are you saying this was caused by the residual liquid left in the water after it was washed away?”

“A liquid that dissolves iron…”

The captains fell into deep thought.

“Is it possible,” Fritz-dono mused aloud, “that the old Leonard Kingdom intended to use this as a weapon?”

“Very likely,” Bruno-dono agreed. “If someone were doused in this liquid, even iron armor wouldn’t offer much protection.”

“But if that’s the case, why seal it away?” Bernardo-dono asked, raising a perfectly valid point. If it was a weapon designed to dissolve armor and seep through the gaps to inflict severe casualties, why hide it?

“Perhaps… because it was simply too inhumane?” Gloria-san offered quietly. She had witnessed the medical treatment earlier and had seen the horrific aftermath with her own eyes. “Both arms and the chest were blackened, charred like charcoal. The injuries were severe enough that mid-tier healing magic could barely keep up.”

“Hmm…”

It was the equivalent of a chemical weapon on modern Earth. It wasn’t just toxic gases they had to worry about; liquids like this posed an equally terrifying threat.

“To think it retains this much potency even after being diluted… Terrifying,” Jade-dono muttered, his complexion turning slightly pale.

“For now, before we reach a final conclusion, why don’t we inspect the contents of the adamandite containers?” Bernardo-dono proposed.

“Wait, shouldn’t we first consider why they used adamandite instead of gold?” Gloria-san countered.

“I agree. There’s a strong possibility that something even more dangerous is sealed inside,” Fritz-dono added, backing her up.

“True, but we’ll have to verify it sooner or later anyway. It’s far better to do it here than to risk bringing it back to the capital unchecked,” Bruno-dono argued.

“Exactly. We can’t guarantee an accident won’t happen during transport,” Jade-dono agreed.

With the vote split three to two in favor, the decision was made to inspect the containers. Neither Fritz-dono nor Gloria-san pushed back against the majority ruling.

“The question now is, how do we look inside?”

“Leave that to me,” Jade-dono offered. He intended to use engineering magic to open them. Even if the containers were made of solid adamandite, his magic would handle it without a hitch. “Understood, it’s in your hands. However, let us take every possible safety precaution before you begin.”

About two hundred meters away from the main camp, Goliath dug a hemispherical depression roughly ten meters in diameter and five meters deep. The adamandite containers were carried into the center of the pit. Jade-dono would open them using engineering magic while secured to a lifeline held by Goliath, who could pull him to safety at a moment’s notice.

In addition, anyone capable of using offensive magic stood watch along the rim of the pit, ready to respond to any unforeseen danger. All female knights, except for Gloria-san, were ordered to stand by at the rear just in case. Every step of the operation was transmitted live to the Egeria Kingdom via the Magimonitor.

By 3:00 PM, all preparations were complete. Jade-dono cast his engineering magic on the first adamandite container.

“Forming.”

The metal began to reshape itself at a painstakingly slow pace until a small opening, roughly ten centimeters in diameter, appeared on the lid. Jade-dono paused to inspect it.

“What’s inside?”

Peering through the opening, he saw a translucent, thick, viscous fluid. If Jin had been there, he probably would have remarked that it looked just like gyuhi.

Cautiously, Jade-dono poked at it with a stray tree branch, but nothing happened. Emboldened, he widened the opening. It was undoubtedly a bizarre, translucent fluid, but it showed no reaction even when stabbed with a branch or a knife. It appeared this one was not a hazardous substance.

Relieved, Jade-dono proceeded to carefully open the remaining containers. Out of the ten containers, nine held the exact same translucent substance. However, the final one made a distinct rattling sound when moved. It clearly contained multiple solid objects, and very hard ones at that.

“This one has a different content. Be extremely careful.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Upon closer inspection, this particular container appeared to be a fraction smaller than the rest.

“Forming.”

Jade-dono opened the container with the same meticulous care as before.

“What is this?”

Inside lay a collection of gray stones. They were jagged, unevenly shaped, completely opaque, and lacked any kind of luster. They looked utterly worthless.

“Why on earth would anyone seal something like this inside an adamandite container?” Jade-dono muttered. No matter how much he thought about it, it made no sense.

In the end, the group came to a collective conclusion: Over the course of more than two hundred years, the contents must have degraded and become harmless.

“At the very least, it means we can transport the adamandite containers without worrying about what’s inside,” Bernardo-dono noted. Even so, carrying hollow containers would be incredibly bulky.

“Why don’t we dig a hole, dump the contents here, and have our Magi Craftman use engineering magic to turn the empty containers into neat ingots?”

“That sounds like the best course of action.”

With no objections raised, they dug a hole in the center of the inspection area and emptied all the containers into it. Jade-dono examined the gray stones one last time, but finding absolutely no value in them, they threw them into the same pit. The stones slowly sank into the translucent, viscous fluid.

Before they knew it, dusk had begun to fall.

“Well, it looks like we’ll be spending one more night here,” Bernardo-dono announced, and the crew immediately began preparing camp for the evening. Since the tents were already pitched, their primary focus turned to preparing dinner.

“We have a feast tonight! Stone-grilled seepa meat!” the cook for the day shouted, drawing a small cheer from the camp.

It was the seepa they had hunted two days prior. While the meat hadn’t aged completely, no one in a place like this was going to turn down fresh game. They heated flat stones over the fire, laid the meat on top, and grilled it to their individual liking before adding seasoning. The seasoning consisted of nothing more than salt and a few wild herbs, but to the exhausted crew, it was an absolute delicacy.

They decided to dump the leftover organic waste, such as bones and hide, into the pit they had dug earlier.

“We’ll fill the hole back up tomorrow morning before we set out,” Bernardo-dono said.

“Understood.”

The winter night turned out to be unusually mild, allowing the men to fall into a deep, comfortable sleep without suffering from the cold.