Chapter 32: The Forgotten Temple (1)

Finding the ruins of the old temple was simple.

We just had to follow the flowing river.

The place where the ‘Lion River’, which runs through the heart of Stout, meets the eastern ‘Starlight Coast’.

The reason the Stareon Temple was built here, outside the city, from the very beginning was none other than because Stareon himself chose this place.

The reason this long coastline on the southeastern side of the Zodiac continent, stretching from Stout to Tiaria, was called the ‘Starlight Coast’ was because the sight of the countless stars in the night sky reflecting on the water's surface was so beautiful.

And Stareon, in his lifetime… or rather, during the time he lived in the human world, was said to have loved watching the starlit night sea from the cliff where his temple was built.

So much so that there was an anecdote that he always sat in a particular (cherished) chair, and a statue was erected right where that chair used to be.

The story of those days was written on the stone slab we found in the 「Drunkard's Tomb」.

“We decided to hide the secret under the chair that Lord Stareon cherished. For only the truly faithful will be able to move his chair…?”

Ibi took out a memo with Aqua’s deciphered text and began to read it.

Then she kept looking back and forth between the memo in her hand and the scene unfolding before her eyes, as if comparing them.

It couldn't be helped.

The text Ibi had just read was a record written when the temple was still standing intact on this cliff.

“……What the f*ck.”

Not like now, when only a single pillar remained.

Swoosh──

Silence flowed for a while, and only the sound of the gentle waves below the cliff echoed.

“Are you kidding me? This is a temple? This… what is this? A pillar?”

I already knew the old temple was in this state, but Ibi, who didn't, seemed quite dumbfounded.

She had heard it was destroyed, but she probably never expected it to be in such a state.

“P-Perhaps this isn’t the right cliff…?”

Miki, who had heard about the request we had undertaken during our camp, also seemed somewhat disappointed, though he still looked cautious.

Of course, it looked like a complete dead end to anyone.

“Ha, I knew it.”

Just then, Ibi, who had finally accepted the situation, burst out laughing in disbelief.

“I told you, didn't I? A wild goose chase.”

Trident, my ass.

In Ibi's muttering voice, there was something like…

“It’s always like this, with our gods.”

--

[Perception] Success

--

She says she knew this would happen, but is it just my imagination that there seems to be a hint of disappointment in her voice?

The ‘Voice’ was right.

Well, it was to be expected.

Because Ibi is the type to claim she doesn't believe in gods at all, and in fact, she doesn't, yet she inwardly hopes for the help of such a transcendent being.

Even if it's not the god himself helping directly, she would have at least expected to obtain power comparable to that of a transcendent being.

For example, like someone who loudly proclaims that Santa can't possibly exist, but still hopes for such a being to appear before their eyes.

Then they could receive a gift, or at least steal the bag of presents.

“Is it just my imagination, or do you seem a little disappointed?”

Sure enough, when I pointed this out.

“What? What nonsense are you talking about?”

Ibi vehemently denied it at first, but.

“You know what I'm talking about.”

--

[Persuasion]

Difficulty 22

Success

--

“Should I just take it my way and keep teasing you? Or will you be honest and feel at ease?”

“…Ha. This is ridiculous, seriously.”

When I pressed her again after passing a rather high difficulty of 22, she finally confessed her true feelings.

“Alright, fine. I had a little hope, happy now, f*cker?”

Then she continued in a tone that dared me to say something.

“Of course, I absolutely wasn't hoping that the prophecy about some damn god looking after us was true. But still, there could be some treasure, right?”

It was an opportunity to get a glimpse into Ibi's complex inner thoughts quite early on, but due to the rather high difficulty for the early game, it was an event that most people usually ended up seeing her hedge until the end.

Well, it was meaningless before my god-like charm.

“Then we could at least get a share, couldn't we? Or if it was a really good item, we could just stuff it in our bag and use it.”

Also, here, besides Ibi's complex personality, I could also find out in advance that if we really found the trident, she would propose that we just take it and run instead of giving it to Aqua as planned.

As befits an item said to have been used by the God of Water himself, the performance of the trident is quite good for an artifact obtainable in the early game, so it was a rather tempting proposal.

“Anyway, they're never helpful. Gods.”

Of course, if we did that, we would be breaking our promise with Aqua, so we would never be able to have the people of Stout as our allies in the future.

And if they even found out that we had taken the trident and run, they would become completely hostile.

So it was a choice between two options.

Return the trident and make the people of Stout our allies, or get a high-performance holy relic from the early game and use it ourselves.

“If we find the trident, we'll give it to Aqua as promised, Ibi.”

My plan was the former.

No matter how useful it was, I had no intention of giving up the help of the entire Stout Knight Division for the future Demon King conquest just to get a single item.

“Do whatever you want. Why don't you find it first before you talk?”

When I answered without hesitation, Ibi sneered and pointed at what used to be a pillar.

“Just bring him this, this pile of rocks or whatever. It looks like a remnant of a temple, so isn't it something like a holy relic to them? Who knows. If you talk your way through it, they might give you a few coins.”

The stone slab said that the path to the underground was under the statue's chair.

In essence, the chair itself was the door.

You know, the kind where you operate a mechanism and the chair moves, revealing a staircase to the hidden underground.

But as you can see, there was no statue or anything now, and the temple itself had completely disappeared, with only a single marble block, presumed to have been a pillar, left among the overgrown weeds.

That's why first-time players who come here are flustered, just like Ibi and Miki are now, but, “This pillar is enough.”

This isn't my first time.

“What?”

“At least it's proof that a temple was here, right? Just knowing we didn't come to the wrong place is enough.”

“So? Where the hell is that damn statue?”

At my words, Ibi spread her arms and gestured as if telling me to look around.

“Or what, are you going to dig up this whole wide area? Then go ahead. I have no intention of stopping you. As long as you don't talk nonsense about asking me to dig.”

The standard method was to roughly find the location of the door by doing something similar to surveying, based on the position of this pillar and using the riddle-like clues written on the stone slab.

“Now that you mention it, if you dig diligently and consistently, something might turn up, right? In about 50 years? Good luck.”

“There’s no need for that.”

Or

“Try to recall the size of the statue we saw at the great temple.”

Instead of such a complicated standard method, you could just roll a die.

“If it was a temple built in the Age of Gods, it would have been bigger than that, not smaller, right? And a statue of that size moved.”

Of course, there are cases where it's explained as some exquisite craftsman's technique or a mechanical device that transcends time.

But, in a fantasy world like this, things that make you think, ‘Is that even possible?’ are usually just brushed off as magic.

Why?

Because it's convenient.

What can you do, it's magic.

In fact, the 「Magical Travel Bag」 that Miki, who is looking up at me and tilting his head, is carrying on his back—it was originally Ibi's, but she passed it on to him as soon as he joined the party—is a good example.

It means that it magically defeats friends who try to seriously question, ‘How is this even possible?’ in an instant.

“In other words, it's highly likely that it was a magical device.”

And we happen to have a [Magic] expert.

“Rine?”

And one who, although she doesn't remember it yet, has directly experienced the magic of the ancient, divine age.

“Could you try to detect any traces of a magical device in this area?”

One who had invested in her Intelligence stat again upon reaching level 4, and on top of that, received a +2 Intelligence buff from the 「Staff of the Wise Old Tree」, for a total Intelligence modifier of 19.

And, as I said before, one who gets an advantage on checks related to this ‘Age of Gods magic’ because, although she doesn't remember it in her head, she remembers it with her senses.

“Understood.”

If Rine is in the party, you can skip all those complicated riddles and tedious surveys.

Rine immediately began to sense the surrounding magic, and I could see a faint light of mana glowing around the staff she held up with her eyes closed.

Then, not long after.

“Found it.”

Rine opened her closed eyes.

“It's faint, but there is a place where the flow of mana feels distinctly different.”

--

Eastwood

[Magic] Success

--

“It seems to be the trace of ancient magic.”

Although not as much as my charm modifier, with a modifier of 19 and an advantage, checks in these early areas are practically a free pass.

“──It’s here.”

And the place Rine led us to.

“…There’s nothing here.”

Had nothing but overgrown weeds.

“What? Is this some kind of magician's joke that normal people can't understand?”

On the outside.

“So at what part am I supposed to laugh?”

“…? What is a magician’s joke?”

“You're joking, right?”

There was no statue, not even a trace of what used to be a temple like before, but this was definitely the place.

“It's probably buried in the ground or something.”

If Rine, who had succeeded in the [Magic] check, said so, then it was so.

“Th-Then! Could you perhaps activate that magical device, Sister Rine?”

“Impossible.”

“Ah.”

“I can clearly feel the flow of mana here, but without seeing the magic circle itself, it is impossible to decipher what kind of magic it is.”

“I-I see…. I’m sorry….”

“…? Why are you apologizing?”

“What? Ah, that is… I think I got too excited and said something presumptuous…?”

“…? Why is it a presumptuous thing to say?”

“What? Th-That is? So……”

Miki looked very flustered as he looked at Rine, who was tilting her head with her usual expressionless face.

He seemed to be looking for a place to put his eyes, then soon began to look up at me.

It was a look that pleaded for help.

“You don't have to be so self-conscious around us, Miki. And Rine isn't trying to bully you, she's just genuinely curious.”

When I intervened, Ibi looked disappointed, as if a fun spectacle had ended.

Anyway, As Rine said, the problem now is how to activate the magic that is currently invisible, but.

“And, I know what kind of magic it is.”

There's a way for that too.

“What? How?”

“You read it earlier, didn't you? ‘Only the truly faithful will be able to move his chair’.”

This wasn't a metaphor or anything like that; it was a literal meaning.

What was here was a door that could only be opened by those who had ‘proven their faith’ to Stareon.

So.

“Come, let us pray together. Brothers and sisters.”

“Ah, don't be ridiculous, seriously.”

It was time to pray.