It's really here, the ruins!

　In the midst of us standing there, the first one to reactivate was Solstice.

　Illtimina-san hurriedly caught her sister by the neck as she tried to run away.

　Then.

What can I do for you, Quilt?

　I asked the leader, a silver-haired beauty, to make a decision.

'Hmm.'

　As he said it, Mr. Kilt looked up at the sky.

　Large, unstoppable drops of rain continued to fall from the gray sky.

''I'd keep firing luminescent signal rounds if I could, but...''

　Ah.........

　That muttering reminded me.

　The magic light of a luminescent signal bullet is vulnerable to rain.

　If it's sunny, it shines like the sun in the sky for about 10 minutes, but if it comes into contact with moisture, it disappears in about 30 seconds.

It would be useless in this rain.

　Iltimina said.

　Solstice, held in his arms, appealed greatly.

'There's no need to hesitate. We don't know when the rain will stop, and that doesn't mean we can't choose to leave these ruins alone!

　buzzing

　The girl's arms move up and down.

　BOOM!

　Whether he understood or not, Poe next to me was imitating him.

(Hmmm.)

　I'd like to examine the remains, too, if I could.

　I stare at Mr. Quilt.

　When he notices me, he ruffles his silver bangs in the rain.

　And then.

No choice. There could be a trap or two. We'll be careful and cautious.

　I admitted.

　Soltis said, "Yes! And clenches his fist.

(Haha.....)

　We chuckle at the Solstice-like appearance.

　Then we decided to explore the ruins of this forest.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　The ruins were pyramidal in shape, about 30 meters high.

　The above-ground portion is about 100 meters long.

　The stones are piled up without any gaps.

(Amazing technology...)

　There was another staircase to the middle of the pyramid, and at the end of it, there was a hollow space that we could go into.

　We climbed up the stairs.

　After the entrance, it was completely dark.

　We lit our lanterns and summoned the magical "light bird" and headed for the back.

　Click, click, click.

　It's a pitch-black passage.

　It's wide enough for two people to line up, and it's about three meds to the ceiling.

(Hoe~)

　I look at the interior of the unknown ruins with great emotion.

　After a while.

The stairs.

　We found the stairs down.

　Quite steep.

　Carefully, one by one, we descended down.

(Don't miss a step...)

　The soles of our shoes were wet from the rain.

　We walked down the stairs one by one, being even more careful than usual.

　At the end of the stairs, there was a stone door.

'Hmm?'

　Mr. Kilt held up his lantern and stared at the door.

　There were no branches of the passage so far, and the only room in this ruin seemed to be the one beyond.

　Kirt-san's hand is on the door.

''Mmm.''

　Gogo..........

　His tremendous arm strength pushed open the heavy-looking door.

　We entered.

　It was a large room, fifty meters square.

　The floor was lined with many sarcophagi.

　I gasped.

'....The graves.

　I muttered.

　This pyramid-shaped ruin was a tomb that buried a lot of people.

　There are more than fifty sarcophagi.　

　In contrast to me, who was turning blue, Solstice's eyes were shining.

'Huh?'

　Then, holding up the lantern and looking at the sarcophagus, we move deeper into the room.

　We follow the girl.

(Hmm...?)

　At the back of the room, there was a raised area, one level higher than the others, where a sarcophagus, one larger than the others, was placed.

　Behind it, there was a large mural.

(.........what is this?)

　In the center of the painting was a kingly figure standing on top of a pyramid.

　She has breasts, so I wondered if she was a queen.

　Underneath the pyramid, people are kneeling.

　What I don't understand is that many people's hands are growing out of the ground where those people are.

　The people grabbed by those hands were lying on their sides.

(............)

　It's a spooky picture.

"Merle.

　Unexpectedly, Mr. Quilt called me over to him.

'Can you paint this mural for me to report back to you?
Uh-huh.

　I nodded.

　Quickly, I took the paper, brush and ink out of my backpack and ran the brush through it.

　Sara Sara.

Is this okay?

　I show him the finished picture.

　Mr. Kilt nods.

'I'm still good at it,'

　He laughed at that and patted my head as if in praise.

(Ehehe.....

　I'm kind of glad to be helpful.

　Iltimina nodded, 'Yeah, yeah,' with a look on her face like a mother whose own child had been praised.

'Hey, Marle?　Can you draw this one too?

　This time, Solstice called me over.

　I looked and saw that the girl was near the largest sarcophagus.

　Her tiny fingers were tracing the lid of the sarcophagus.

　I walked over to it.

(Huh...?)

　I noticed what looked like letters engraved on its lid.

''Is this ... the Thanatos script?''

　I mutter.

　Solstice looked at my profile.

'Does it look like that to you?'
Yes.

　I nodded honestly.

　The letters carved here look exactly like the 33 ancient letters I know.

　But...

Not all of them. The letters over here are ones I don't recognize.
Yeah.

　Solstice laughed.

'About twenty percent of them are Thanatos characters. But the other eighty percent are characters I don't know.'

　A bouncy voice.

'What does this mean?　The unknown civilization must have had something to do with the ancient Thanatos magical dynasty. But what kind?　Could it be that the original Thanatos civilization was located on this dark continent?

　Her crimson eyes sparkle and her voice as she speaks seems to be very happy.

　............

(An unknown civilization related to the ancient Thanatos civilization, huh?)

　It's magnificent.

　I'm starting to get a little nervous.

"Can you make a note of this area?
Yes.

　I nodded at Solstice's words.

　Sarah.

　Run the brush.

　Solstice also checks the letters from the side to make sure they are correct.

(Okay, done.)

Yeah, that's good.

　Solstice seems to be happy with it.

　Kilt-san, Illtimina-san and Poe are watching us.

'Good.

　Solstice then put her hand on the lid of the sarcophagus.

(.........what?)

Okay, I'm going to look inside. Help me look inside.

　Huh?　Huh?

Wait, what?　It's a grave, right?

　I panicked.

　Solstice looks at me in dismay.

'So what?'
You will be punished, won't you?

　Fearfully, I tell her.

　When the girl heard that, she laughed at me like I was an idiot, "Haha.

''How can I investigate ancient ruins if I'm afraid of punishment?''
..........
That's enough. --Poe, please.

　At Solstice's words, the honest Poe nodded and put his hand on the lid with the girl.

　Gully.

　Before you can stop it, the lid is shifted off.

(Geez...)

　I shudder a bit.

　Solstice looked into the sarcophagus.

'Hmmm, it's human?'

　I muttered.

　Lying there were human bones.

　From the weathered clothes and ornaments, it could be seen that he was quite a person in a respectable position.

　I noticed that Kilt-san and Illtimina-san were also looking in.

　Solstice nodded, "I see.

(.........what's 'I see'?)

　He caught my eye.

'I mean, the people of this unknown civilization were 'humans'. They are not elves, dwarves, dragons, or demons. It's a civilization created by humans.

　Oh.....

(I see. There are many races in this other world.)

　Solstice stares at the human bones.

'He's big-boned, but he's not particularly different from us.
..........
"There are injuries to the ribs. There are several other fractures that have healed. Could this man have been a warrior?

　I muttered.

　...........

'Great. Can you tell that much from the bones alone?
"Huh, you respect me?
Yes.

　I nodded honestly.

　Solstice laughed happily, "Yeah," she said.

　Then the five of us clasped our hands together and closed the lid of the sarcophagus.

　And.

So much for exploring.

　Kilt said, looking around the room.

　Solstice nodded.

'Right. We've gotten a lot of things out of it, and that's good.　... as for me, I'd like to open all the sarcophagi.

(Huh?)

　Glancing at me, she glanced at me.

Merle's complexion is turning blue, so I won't do it.

　I smiled at that.

(...thank you, or should I say thank you?)

　I have a complicated look on my face, and everyone laughs except Poe.

　Then we leave the room.

　Gogon.

　Mr. Kilt closed the stone door.

(I'm sorry to interrupt.)

　I apologize in my heart for disturbing the place of quiet sleep.

　Then we went back the way we came and went out of the ruins.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　When I stepped outside, the rain had stopped.

　There was a break in the sky where the gray clouds had been gathering, and the sun was shining through it.

(.........beautiful.)

　I squint my blue eyes.

　As it was, we tried to go down the stairs.

　Kushan.

(Huh?)

　I stepped on something.

　When I lifted my foot, I saw a few wilted flowers placed there.

　.............

''Eh.........flowers?''

　I realize what that means.

　The other four people stopped in their tracks when they noticed me freeze up.

'What's going on, Merle?'

　Illtimina asks me.

　I silently pick up the flower at my feet.

'What's that?'
They put it right here.

　It was raining when I went in, so I didn't notice.

　People didn't react to my words.

　But soon, Illtimina understood what I meant.

"No way.

　You look very surprised.

　So, Mr. Kilt, Solstice seemed to understand.

　There was a flower placed here.

　Yes, someone put them there.

　A flower for the grave.

　And recently, too.

　Quilt picks up another flower that had been placed here.

"Hmm. "Hmm," he said, "it's wilted, but it can't be from the Third Frontier," he said. It's only a couple of weeks or a month old at the most.

　I guess so.

　Solstice's eyes were sparkling again.

　No doubt.

　I nodded and said strongly.

'There are locals near here who come to hand flowers to us.