The Next Morning —

In the Marquess' estate, I plainly narrated the details to the key members assembled in the meeting room.

“So, in short, due to a completely unforeseeable and unfortunate *accident*... the second Steinberg — an absolute nightmare to deal with — was turned into mince meat. I would say it was no less of a miracle that I managed to escape alive."

A silence reigned in the meeting room once I finished briefing. They all collectively stared at the air—no, the void, their brows coming to crease. 

I dare say they must have been having a splitting headache after yesternight over drinking. At the peak moment of the festival, I could've cut the air and it would have oozed with alcohol. And boy, then there's was this pale blue alcohol being served on the jar near the end. You would've want to use mana dispelling technique at the same time as you drink it or you would drop like fly at a mere sip. Alcohol? Nah, I would prefer to call it poison. 

I heard it had 200% alcohol concentration. The result was expected; some started to throw up, and soon it was a common scene everywhere. 

 The silence was torn apart by the giggling of Fey, the only 'fine' person. 

"Pfft! Hahaha! No, this is... pfft... it's really something I would expect from you, Allen. You see, grandmother, this is the headache I have to face. And this is a regular occurence, you know?"

Perhaps out of a splitting headache, Meria rubbed her temple, her head jerking left and right. Honestly… drinking straight from the bottle at her age? She should know better.

"Anyway, Allen. Can you shed light on the present status of the secret laboratory of Moon Dragoon... specifically the one still active? Are they alright from the explosion? I mean, they're the important legacy of the past after all."

Tch. Cutting chase to what matters most, huh. Alas, I couldn't dodge the answer if she's that straightforward. I was sure they would learn in their investigation either way, so any attempt to lie would only worsen my standing when they found out. It was the common sense of working society!

"Could be blown to smithereens, I guess? I doubt you would see any trace."

I asserted with an air of conviction, tightening my core like I was bracing for a punch.

I had no doubt ruins should've survived the initial chains of explosion, since the tunnel ventilation path I had taken was still standing. However, everything turned south when a big explosion ensued at the end in the shaft. The airflow turne erratic in the aftermath, and ultimately came to a halt. 

I had been so worried sick about carbon dioxide poisoning—it was the basic 'candle inside a sealer jar' thing, with explosions consuming much of the oxygen while air draft had stopped—I barely managed to run out of the place.

"Hahaha!"

So I explained, earning another burst of laughter from Fey. Then, like her grandma in the next seat, she massaged her temple. For a while, no one uttered any word. 

"S-say, am I in some kind of deep trouble?"

The silence appeared so oppressive I decided to break the ice, inquiring gingerly. I had read that's how those 'overpowered protagonists' often act at the end of some common sense shattering incident. 

But that's the problem, neither I was overpowered, nor I was the protagonist! Oh, and I definitely wasn't someone blind to common sense. 

How could I not know what those ruins held within themselves? It was the discovery of a century. Its unveiling could've upturned the whole world, but my action blew it to smittheren. Deep trouble? I would have been fortunate if everything could have been summarised in these two words. 

This had been why I passed this as an 'accident', a coincidence overlapped due to the aggressiveness of frogs, omitting the part where I had been the catalyst to ignite the fire. 

"...If anything, the trouble is for me. I have no idea how to evaluate your explorer rank now. You have brought down one of the legendary monster solo, which took five heavily equipped knights, as well as support of high-ranking explorers from our end. Then topping it is the historical discovery you've made... it should—"

However then, I caught the murmur of Satowa. I immediately jumped on him, cutting him from his thoughts.

"Wait, no, seriously you shouldn't! I barely did anything. I would instead write it off as a mine incident, and that frog just overstepped its fate by sparking fire. And didn't you hear me? The tunnels are destroyed clean, so were ruins. There's nothing to my name."

Well, maybe one could find the remains of ruins at best, but right now, I just want to call everything a consequence of the explosion! So, can you all look at my face at least, please?! 

I insisted on my exclusion from any kind of achievement, my voice desperate. Unexpectedly, I received support from Ronfo-san, who apparently was some kind of bigwig from the knight order.

"......There's weight to Allen Rovenne's words. So we can only keep this information away from everyone else's knowledge, and I believe you would prefer that way, right? Marquess Dragoon." He reminded, his brows creasing.

Marquess placed her elbows on the table, her fingers still rubbing her temple, and asserted her decision. 

"That shouldn't have been a question! What do we have for a statement? —'Oh no, one of our explorer discovered a perfectly maintained and working laboratory of Moon Dragoon, but actually, it got wasted in a mining incident by a coincidence!'  Is that what we're going to say?! You should know better than anyone else that no nation would accept this explanation! They are definitely going to see it as an attempt to monopolise it. It might as well trigger a war! And we, the Dragoon state, will be the first in everyone's target! 

And much less of foreign, our own people, nobles of other states, would raise their eyes on us! It's fortunate I had you both stay in. Since the Exploration Association stands on neutral ground, and the Knight Order bow only to His Majesty, I can have you vouch for testimony. And damn... my head hurts like hell. I swear it's going to split apart at any moment!"

And at the end of her words, she glared at me, her eyes bloodshot. 

...Hey, I didn't ask you to drink till you get wasted, alright? 

Meanwhile, the wrinkle on Satowa's face deepen further, and he rubbed his chin. 

"Hmm... let's see, we certainly don't have any way to prove the existence of ruins. Allen-kun, did you happen to carry anything from the ruin?"

Ah, I completely forgot about that! I had nearly forgotten the souvenir.

"Oh, I actually do. I had hoped this would serve as a souvenir."

I placed the luminous ore on the table, remarking at the realisation. It immediately brought everyone's attention—even the eyes who had been gazing at somewhere distant.

"I-I always believed in you, Allen!" Fey's eyes sparkled as soon as I put that ore. Sheesh, and just a while ago, she looked so pale as if she's going to puke here.

"Well, I did cause you a lot of worry, so take it, Fey. It may look an ordinary rock at a glance, but  when you do it—"

I explained the nature of the rock, hitting it with an intense gust of mana with a broad smile, like I was performing a magic trick. 

The room had plenty of illumination, so it took a moment for the radiance of the stone to be captured. 

"Oh, this is, err, surely a firefly stone. They glow up in reaction to mana, and quite a common ore among the mining around here, though this one may have some unusual hue... Anyway, what's more?"

W-what the hell. So it's just some run-of-the-mil ore?

With how awkward I was now feeling, I was sure my smile must have been like a poor attempt to brighten up the mood. When the other caught Fey's words, their faces reverted back to grim expressions.

That old hag, in particular, clearly showed her dismay with her long sigh, once again massaging her head to get rid of the headache. 

Everyone displayed a resigned look, saving Fey. Her eyes gleamed with a sparkling curiosity, entirely confident that there was more to my story. 

But was it? Obviously not. I had only prepared this as souvenir. All that was left was...... *sigh* I hesitated briefly, and made a hard decision. 

T/N - Heya everyone, it has been a while since the update had been quite unacceptable. I hadn’t meant to, but a sudden situation messed up my schedule. A close relative went through chemo, but to no avail, and after a few months of struggle, they passed away last month. The mourning lasts for nearly two weeks here, and I just found myself back recently.

Either way, I should be maintaining a healthy schedule starting today. Presumably at a quicker pace.