Proofreader: Xemul
It did not take long for Lapis to return from the compounding room holding thin ceramic containers filled with clear, colorless liquid in her hands.
They drank up the containers Lapis offered and took a sigh of relief; even if the parasites had entered their bodies, this drug would make it difficult for them to survive and reach their brains
“I’ve done some examination on the equipment, but things aren’t looking good.”
Ivy said as she returned the empty container to Lapis.
Lorren wondered if the situation could be any worse, but the news Ivy gave him was indeed terrible.
“The devices themselves are damaged because they were manipulated improperly. Specifically, if a human body were to be built, some functions would have to be omitted.”
“Be more specific.”
“It won’t have the ability to grow and reproduce.”
Ivy said it without hesitation, but the news was fatal.
In other words, even if they tried to create a body for Shayna with the equipment at the site, they would only be able to create a functionally defective body, which would be meaningless.
“Furthermore, due to the fact that most of the materials had been left dripping, it seems that there is no longer enough material left to build an adult body.”
“That’s not going to help.”
Even if they used the devices to build Shayna a body, she would never grow up and would be a child forever. The only thing Loren could say after knowing this was that there was no way he would put Shayna in such a body.
“There are some parts that automatically restore themselves, so I think they will eventually be repaired and replenished over time.”
“I guess there are no other choices… Shayna will have to put up with it for a while longer.”
[‘But onii-san, I don’t really feel like I’m having to put up with anything.’]
As if to comfort Loren, who sounded depressed, Shena conveyed such a thought to him.
“It can’t be helped… We’ll have to leave this ruin behind for now. As long as the drugs and materials are replenished, it will be possible to build Shayna’s body, right?”
“Yes. And if we have enough time, we might be able to come up with a way to implant the soul of an undead into a living body.”
There was no point in worrying about what couldn’t be done, Lorren thought to himself. The facilities of the ruin themselves were intact, and if the materials and medicines lost in this incident would be replenished over time, then there was nothing to do but wait. And Shayna hadn’t said that she wanted to leave Loren’s body immediately; it wouldn’t be bad for her to have some more time to think about it.
“It feels like such a waste of effort though…”
“I don’t think so. The Adventurers’ Guild will pay you, and by having a stale commission solved, my experience and reputation in the Guild will rise.”
“That reminds me, you were saying something about dealing with stale commissions in the beginning, weren’t you?”
Suddenly having a strange feeling, Loren asked Ivy, and she nodded.
“I don’t think it’s been that long since I chopped off Magna’s arm.”
While it was true that a certain number of days have passed since due to travel and other things, Loren thought that it had not been long enough for this commission, which should have come around sometime in the middle of all that, to have a reputation of being stale.
In response to Loren’s question, Ivy tilted her head.
“The devices themselves show signs of having been operated several times, but I don’t know how long they have been dripping chemicals and other materials. The site, at the time I used it, had a substantial amount of materials and chemicals in storage, and the fact that they were empty suggests that they had been leaking for quite some time, though.”
“Is this the first time they have been used to enhance someone’s capabilities?”
“That too is unknown. It’s just that the parameters are set to maximum, but we don’t know how long they’ve been in use or when they were used.”
“I’m checking just in case, but-“
Loren scowled at Ivy, albeit lightly. Ivy tilted her head, wondering what in the world she had done, and Lorren asked.
“Is there any chance that you caused the leakage when you made your body?”
“That’s a rude question to ask a technician. I would not use them this way.”
Ivy glared back at Loren. He held her gaze for a moment, then eventually looked away.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have doubted you.” “It can’t be helped. The only people who seem to be using this ruin are me and the Dark Elf earlier. From your point of view, that is something to be confirmed.”
Ivy’s expression softened for a change.
“It’s more believable that it was the work of an Evil God rather than a mistake made by someone who had no idea what they were doing.”
With no hesitation, Loren poked Lapis, who was spouting nonsense, on the head. It made quite a solid sound, and Lapis reflexively pressed both hands to the site of the poke and bent back. Loren asked Ivy.
“So, I guess this commission can be considered more or less completed? You won’t start saying something like we have to solve everything, will you?”
“It’s a little beyond what an individual or a party can handle, so I think it would be unreasonable to ask you to do so much.”
The situation had progressed to the point where the city of Suest could be considered lost. Most of the city’s inhabitants must have fallen prey to the parasites, and the parasite number must have reached over a thousand, or even close to ten thousand, at least according to estimates. No matter how much the Guild was asked to do something about it, the situation had reached a level where the government had to deal with it.
“Then let’s get the hell out of this town, report to the Guild, and let them deal with the rest.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Lapis agreed, but Gula, who was standing next to her, spoke up as if she had suddenly realized something.
“But if we make a report like that, won’t they find out about the existence of this ruin?”
“Leave that to me.”
In response to Gula’s concern, Ivy tapped her own chest.
“It depends on how you report it. It’ll be all right; we’ll keep this under wraps. I’ll put the general cause of the trouble on Miss Dark Elf and her master, and I’ll talk to the Adventurers’ Guild to make arrangements.”
Ivy smiled wickedly as she said this, and Gula and Lapis began to back away and try to distance themselves from her as much as possible. But from Loren’s point of view, the fact that those two would be pursued by the Adventurers’ Guild was not a bad story, and he did not understand why the two of them would back away.
“Alright… For now, let’s get out of the ruin. There’s nothing more to be gained by staying here.”
“How are we going to get back to the surface?”
Lapis’ question was an expected one.
The fact was that the hordes of centipedes and zombies that had been chasing them were probably still waiting outside the entrance then had entered through, and it would take a lot of effort to go through them to return to above ground.
Normally, here they would turn pale thinking about being trapped, but Loren answered the question in a matter-of-fact way.
“Originally, there was a way to get to the surface in this facility, right?”
“Yes, but it’s been destroyed…”
“Why don’t we use Gula’s magic to remove the earth and sand that’s crushing it? If there were normal residents above, we would have to worry about collateral damage and this place being discovered and such, but it seems that there is no need for that.”
Ivy, who was just now catching on to Lorren’s words, clapped her hands together. Although it was a rough measure, Lapis and Gula had no objection, as it was much better than returning to the sewers to face the smell and the swarms of insects.
“Let’s quickly get this over with and leave this town. Ever since knowing about the parasites, I’ve been thinking that I don’t want to stay here too long.”
At Lorren’s direction, Ivy immediately led the group to the stairs that originally led to the ground level. The stairs were indeed buried halfway up, and Gula muttered a small whisper after some confirmation.
“Well then, >.”
A ball of bright red flame the size of a child’s head appeared at Gula’s fingertips. Controlled by her consciousness, it landed on the earth ceiling blocking the stairway. It then exploded, sending a large amount of earth and smoke toward them with a shock. Lapis, who had realized the consequences of the magic just one moment earlier, pulled Lorren away from the scene and escaped, but the two Evil Gods stood there and were covered in dirt and sand from head to toes.
A huge chunk had been gouged out from the earth burying the stairs, but even with such damage, they still had not reached the above ground.
“I think we should focus on the piercing power rather than explosive power…”
According to Lapis, the power and range of effect of the > magic were perfect, but it was not suited for destroying thick layers of sand and soil or bedrock. If destruction and penetration were important, it would be much more effective to pour stronger magic into the legal > or elementary > and increase the number of bullets.
Before Lapis could say anything, Gula and Ivy, with dust still on their heads, pointed their palms at the half-destroyed ceiling.
“I’ll smash it no matter what! >!”
“Let me help you! >!”
Two balls of flame, larger than the previous one, landed on the ceiling, and at the same time, a deafening explosion sounded.
Black smoke covered their vision and crumbled earth and sand rained down on them from overhead. Lorren tried to keep the smoke from drifting up to where they were by flapping his hands, and Lapis, coughing a little in the dust, looked toward where the two Evil Gods were standing.
“Yes, we smashed it!”
“This is what we can do.”
Gula and Ivy, who were covered in even more dust than before, pointed to the ceiling with triumphant looks on their faces.
Although it was impossible to determine whether the earth and sand that had broken off the staircase in the middle fell inside the ruins or was blown out, there was still a gaping hole leading to the outside.
“If the result is the same, what does it matter what happened?…”
At any rate, the exit to the outside was now open. Lorren, thinking that there would be no problem even if he turned a blind eye to everything else, urged everyone to go up the stairs.
That was the moment it happened.
A figure suddenly fell through the hole that had just opened into the ruin where Loren’s party was. Without even a single movement of trying to catch itself, it slammed back first into the floor from behind with a rather loud sound.
“What is it?”
Lapis thought that it might have been a resident of the city who had fallen into the hole that had suddenly opened up, but her expectation was betrayed when they saw the fallen figure rise up, shivering and shaking and bleeding considerably from the head.
It was a young man dressed in clothes that made it clear that he was a resident of the town at first glance, but he rose up without wiping the blood that was pouring from his head. And as he turned towards their party, they saw that both his eyes were moving crazily and independently of each other just like the left eye of Mills, who had taken his last breath at the ruin entrance, had done.