U N K N O W N

When the paralysis gauge was about to run out, the Skeleton King has finally died.

Its gigantic body made of bones began collapsing as it rattled out.
A large amount of the debris from the collapsing bones began scattering about.
The mixture of human and monster bones began to spread out on the floor.
It’s as if I’m looking at the result of some mass genocide.
My level still haven’t gone up.
Now that I think about…

[………….]

I’m certain that the strength of the monsters here in the ruins were in another level.

I understood it with just a glance.
However, I immediately knew that monsters in this ruins were weaker than the monsters from the Disposal Ruins when it couldn’t respond back towards my attack.
It may have been because I’ve already struck a tougher bridge, the Soul Eater, and already had experienced fighting a tougher monster than the Skeleton King.
Is it because I’ve listened to Mist’s explanation about this monster being too strong and I just thought too much about it?
No— I don’t think it’s good to blame Mist.
If I can’t even properly determine the strength of others…

[The monster that Hati-dono was looking for, is it perhaps the Skeleton King?]
[Yeah.]

Pekkkiinnn…

Stepping on the thin bone fragments on my path. I got closer towards the head of the Skeleton King.

[The purpose of my arrival in the Mills Ruins is because of this monster.]

Mist held the sigh that she’s about to exhale.
I quickly take out the Encyclopedia on the Forbidden Arts and checked the corresponding page that refers the Skeleton King.

“The bone meal from the silver bone.”

Okay.

[It seems that there’s no mistaking it.]

I close the book and returned it back into my bag.
When the officer was checking my luggage, I had just explained to him that the “Encyclopedia of Forbidden Arts” is just an old book.
Well, the person in charge places more importance on treasures that have been brought back from the ruins.
Basically, I don’t really to go into the details about what the contents of my luggage were.
Even the mercenaries also dislike being asked about the details of their belongings.
As a result, it was just cast aside as they didn’t even try to “pilfer this treasure” of mine.
That’s what the officer that I had met explained towards me.

[The material that I needed was the weak point of this monster huh…]

I take out the small hammer from my bag.
Is it possible for me to just separate the silver bone part from the others?
I crouched in front of the silver bone.

Klang!

I try hitting another bone beside the silver bone with my hammer.

Pishhii!

I was able to make a small crack on it.

[Hmm? Isn’t it unexpectedly brittle?]
[Well, boney monsters that were classified under the Skull-types seem to lose their toughness after their death.]

Mist, who’s standing behind me, explained.

[I see.]

Mist looks like she has this reserved atmosphere surrounding her right now.
It seems like she wants to know various things.
You could realize it through the atmosphere around her.
However, she knows that we’ve come to an agreement that we won’t ask questions that would intrude the other’s privacy.
She’s probably being thoughtful about that.
She’s an honest person.
I stood up and turned towards her.

[After we returned up to the above grounds, I could answer the sensible questions that you may ask.]

Mist faintly smiled.

[Am I really that obvious?]
[Well, I actually have a little something I wanted to talk about with you. It’s just that, I don’t think I want to talk in a place like this where a monster could randomly pop out. Let’s quickly finish things in here and go back.]
[I understand. At any rate, I was really astonished with your power. The Skeleton King was well-known to be a really strong enemy. An example of this is when one of them were found deep within the Magic Bone Ruins back then in the Alion. Well, I’ve only heard about it before.]
(T/N: It’s the same Makotsu Ruins, I honestly don’t understand why can’t they just call it Mahone Ruins. I’m going to stick it with Magic Bone Ruins since the monsters there look like they indeed were skeleton-type monsters.)

Magic Bone Ruins?
Speaking of which, that place was written down under the Mills Ruins.
I prioritized in going towards Mills Ruins because I didn’t know the location of this Magic Bone Ruins.
So, it’s a ruins that’s located somewhere near Alion huh…

Mist looks toward the head of the King of Bones.

[There was once a really brave hero, whose skills were a cut above the rest. He challenged the Skeleton King with great resolution within his heart and fought face to face with it… Well, that story was being circulated down into the future generations.]

I also looked towards the head of the Skeleton King.
The head still remains spotless even now.

[Piii~]
[Hmmm? What is it, Pigimaru?]

Pigimaru’s protrusion held out and pointed towards the head.

[Is there something in there?]
[Pii.]

He turned into an affirmative green.
I tried getting closer towards the head.
The inside of the skull-like head seems to be hollow.

[Hati-dono? What’s the matter?]
[Ah, it seems that he noticed something in here.]

I illuminate what I’m looking at with the leather bag.
There were several human bones inside of the head.
The bottom of some torso-like bone seems to have assimilated with the interior of the skull.
It’s probably a human being that was swallowed by the Skeleton King.
It was quite an eerie sight.
However, I felt that I’m already used to seeing human bones since I’ve seen them multiple times back in the Disposal Ruins but…

[Hmm?]

There’s something hanging on the human bones that were deep inside the skull.
It’s somewhat wrapped inside a cloth.
This thing was tightly tied around the bones beside it.
I began breaking the surrounding bones around it.
I grasped it within my palms and gently put it on the ground.
I could feel the roundness of this thing from above the cloth.
Is it something like a head?
I wonder if it had just been a skull all this time…
Keeping my vigilance towards this unknown object, I began unfastening the cloth off of this thing.

Powwwaaan…

[What the…?]

The cloth that was used to wrap whatever this thing is began to emit light.
I check the part where the light came from.
There was something on the surface of this cloth that has began to stand out.
I immediately took my distance and watched out if that thing was going to explode.
However, the light immediately disappeared.
It looked just like a common cloth you could find anywhere but…
Was it some kind of magical cloth or something like that?

[Pii.]

When we’ve fully unwrapped the cloth, the contents within finally appeared.

[This is— an egg, right?]

It looks like an egg because of its shape.
The size of this thing is quite close to an ostrich egg that I’ve seen somewhere on the net.
The characteristic that particularly stood out was its color.
It’s a gradation of red, black, and white.
It’s the color that you would often find in the art works back in my previous world.

Klink, klank~

I tried lightly knocking on it with the back of my hand.
It’s quite hard.
How should I say this… it’s unusually hard.
It kinds of reminds me of the skin of the monsters back in the Disposal Ruins.
On the other hand though, it’s weight is kind of…
Well, it’s not even as heavy as my luggage…

[Piii!]
[What is it, Pigimaru? Are you interested in this egg?]
[Piii~]
[So, you want us to take this egg back home?]
[…….Pyu?]

“Is it no good?”

I feel like he would pester me further if I refused.
It is rare for Pigimaru to insist on something.

[Let’s see… If that’s what you want, then let’s bring it back.]
[Pyyuuu~♪ ]

He seems to be saying his gratitude.

[You have to be the one who will look after this while we’re still in this ruins.]

I held the egg of rare colors under my arm.
I also put aside the head of the Skeleton King.
Mist who was standing behind my back suddenly asked.

[Did you find anything inside it?]

Her sword was already prepared to strike.
It seems that she has become vigilant after that light show from before.
And, Mist’s eyes became wide after she saw what I’m holding.

[That’s… an egg?]
[It seems to be an egg that was once owned by a human that it had swallowed before. It is also wrapped inside this unusual cloth.]

Well, it has just become an unremarkable cloth right now.
There’s nothing happening even after I tried injecting magic energy into it.
Was it just a magic tool that you could only use once?

[Do you have any idea what this colorful egg is?]
[No… This is the first time I’ve seen an egg of that color. If it was being wrapped in a cloth, I don’t think it would be the egg of the Skeleton King but…]
[Well, I guess we just have to pray that this is not a dangerous egg, right?]
[Pyuuu~…]

Pigimaru looks like it’s somehow apologetic.

[Don’t worry about it, Pigimaru. However, you should understand that when I’ve judged that this egg is dangerous, we would leave it aside. Are we clear on that?]
[Pii.]

He turned into an affirmative green.
When I finished talking about the egg, I went back and crouched down in front of the silver bone again.
I started crushing the silver bone with my hammer.
Crushing them into an appropriate size, I then wrapped it within a cloth.

[Alright.]

I neatly placed the bag of silver bones into my bag.

[Well then, should we head back towards the ground above?]

v

Before leaving towards the ground above, I decided to part ways with Mist.

[I don’t want to stand out as much as possible.]

If someone was to bring back the Dragon Eye Sakazuki, they would surely attract everyone’s attention.
This is the reason why I dared to give out that thing.
Mist accepted this proposal.
If she were to be asked, she would also like to avoid getting everyone’s attention.
Still, it seems that Mist prioritizes rewards over inconspicuousness.
Well, there should be no problem as long as her Illusion Technique works.
I also don’t have to worry about Monk causing a ruckus right now…

I called out towards Mist before parting ways with her.

[I said this before, but I have something to talk about when we went back to the ground above. Can you meet meet us later?]

Mist smiled without even a hint of vigilance.

[Of course, I will.]
[I also would like to talk to you alone but…]
[Alone, is it?]

Mist ponders a bit.

[I understand. Where are we going to meet?]
[How about in one of the rooms in the inn that we’re staying at?]

I’ve reserved a room in that inn for three days before I started raiding the ruins.

[Umm, I already don’t have my previous room in the inn so—]
[In that case, is it okay if it’s in my room? I’ll talk to the inkeeper about you.]

Mist’s eyebrows blinked as she looked to the side and smiled.

[That’s quite an skillful play, Hati-dono.]
[I’m just being overly worried. Well then, see you later.]
[Umm, Hati-dono—]
[I know. I will not say a word about your power.]
[No, it’s not that.]

Mist held my hand with both of her hands.
Her sky-blue eyes gazed at my eyes without a hint of cloudiness in them.

[Thank you again, for the Dragon Eye Sakazuki. Thank you very much.]
[That’s not something you especially to be thankful about.]

v

I returned back to the ground above a little behind Mist.
As expected, there was bit of a fuss that sprung out.
The mercenaries that has been hanging out near the entrance of the ruins were really surprised.

[The Dragon Eye Sakazuki!?]
[Is that the real thing!?]
[Eh!? They’ve found it!? Already!?]
[A- Aren’t you even worried about that unusual incidents in the ruins!? Eh? Or are you just wagering it into an all or nothing!? Wow~! You have that much bravery under your beautiful face!]
[This is quite a great deal!]
[Oi! There doesn’t seem to be that much of problem even with this so-called abnormality. Let’s immediately dive into the ruins and have those treasures for ourselves!]

I couldn’t see the figures of the Drunken Sword Party.
As far as I could see, the checking officers began flustered with all the commotion.

[G- Go report back to Creed-sama! Quickly!]
[However, I still have other luggage to check—]
[That doesn’t matter! We need to report about the Dragon Eye Sakazuki first! We also need to check Mist Barkas’s other items properly! I will permit it!]
[Haa!]

I immediately switched to my normal mode and went towards the officer in charge.

[I safely went back from the ruins.]
[Ah, it’s you! Let’s see, checking, right!?]

I went towards the same officer who handled my things before I dove into the ruins.
He took out the ledger and began flipping through its pages.

[No problem! No problem! No problem!]
[Ah, I’ve also found the raw materials of some kind of bone-type monster and a colorful egg-shaped stone inside the ruins—]
[Hmm? Ah, you can just take those materials back just fine! The marquis would also buy these jewels and ornaments you’ve found if you want! He would also buy it five-times more than the normal price! Well, you should do what you want with the raw materials! Alright, the check is finished now with this! I’m sorry, okay?! With the discovery of the Dragon Eye Sakazuki, we really don’t have much time to waste here! Oi, you!]

The officer stops one of his colleagues.

[Go towards the mercenary guild that have been recruiting, and let them know about this discovery!]
[I- I understand!]

It seems that the Dragon Eye Sakazuki has been properly dazing their eyes away from other things.
My luggage check ended without a hitch.

[Anyways—]

I look towards the plaza outside the ruins that has suddenly became boisterous.

[With this, we’ve finished our business in Mills Ruins.]