'-and Mr Magnus is an ancient ruin?　Are you going to explore the

　Aria said this as she savored the aroma of coffee, after her meal.
　Today was my "day off" and I had taken the "Towngate" back to Laxter.
　We were having a lunch date at a restaurant with a relaxed interior and a relaxed clientele.

　Anyway, I answered Aria's question.

I'm not sure what to expect. There are an amazing number of ancient ruins in Alavana, as well as many unexplored areas. This is where the 'magic item' I want to find is hidden.

　Most of Alabama is now a desert country.
　However, according to documents, until five hundred years ago, the land was very lush and green.
　I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it.

　However, it is not long since that it has been a proud one.
　It is said that the entire country challenged the grand magic ritual by the order of Emperor Alabana at the time - and failed.
　The purpose of the ritual is lost, but in any case, the vast amount of magical power that erupted in the ritual ravaged the area and turned the fertile land into a desert overnight.

　The towns of that era were buried under the sand and have been preserved to this day.
　These are collectively called "ancient ruins".
　If you explore them, you can see the remnants of an advanced magical civilization.
　Naturally, the magic items that were used in those days are also lying around, and among them you can find things that have not yet caught up with modern magical technology, or things that are difficult to produce.
　I'm not going to be able to get the same kind of information from you.

　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that most of the items I own, such as the Staff of the Great Magic Way and the Guardian Angel's Ring, are rank A and higher items that were excavated by someone in the ancient ruins of Alabana and then sold or sold on the market.

"And in a nasty way, the current Alabarna Empire is a group of people who came in after the old Alabarna magic empire buried in the sand.

　Moreover, during the founding period of the dynasty, the entire country explored and excavated ancient ruins, and invaded neighboring countries with the best "magic items" they could get their hands on. They expanded their territory beyond the desert.
　But again, they were never too proud to do so.
　Before long, they had unearthed all the magic items that were on the surface of the ancient ruins, which were relatively easy to search for.
　All that remained were the magic items that lay dormant in the depths of the ruins, which only a very high-level person would be able to touch.

　At this point, the new Alaverna Empire is at a standstill.
　Without the benefit of the old magical empire's magic item, they would be nothing more than a poorly built nation with a meager economic base, built on a barren desert landscape.
　After five hundred years, they had become a small and insignificant country with only the first desert left in their possession, as the land they had taken was reclaimed and their swollen territory quickly shrank.
　Alabarna and Leanhalter are the only two of the eight great powers that call themselves 'empires' today, but compared to the latter, which is the unquestionably the greatest power in the world, Alabarna is the last of the eight great powers, and is sometimes derided as a 'small empire'.

''Ha. Magnus-san, you know everything, don't you?
'I'm a wizard. Like scholars, he's just a right of intellectual inquiry.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about it.
　You don't need to look through a "strategy book" to know this much, and anyone with a passing interest in history would know that.

Alavana is on the decline, and with your father being a white-powdered bastard, I would have thought that he wouldn't be around much longer. The prince and the princess actually seemed to have a lot to offer.
'Of course!　You've helped Mr. Magnus!
Yeah.

　Me nodding.
　Thanks to that, I didn't have to do anything illegal like breaking out of a prison with magic.
　Moreover, he also gave me a First Class Permit to Explore Ancient Ruins, so I could legally unearth the magic item.

''That's the thing, but without a permit, am I not allowed to explore?
Yeah. Yeah. They don't even allow people to enter, let alone take home the magic item. Every ancient monument is guarded around its entrance by Alabana's soldiers for twenty-four hours a day.

　The reason Alavana goes to such lengths to manage the ancient ruins is because they are the only resources in that country anymore.
　They sell permits to the adventurers, Alavana's unique profession of exploring ancient ruins for a living (or, in a mean-spirited way, the pilferers), who earn high tax revenues every year from the sale of permits.
The higher the grade of the permit, the more the area of the ancient ruins allowed to be entered, and the more tax they had to pay, the higher the tax.
When it came to the Special Grade, or my First Grade, they were not normally issued. These were now being used as diplomatic cards for other countries.

I'm not talking about the jail, but can't Magnus-san just magically break through it with a bang?
Haha, if it's a fairy tale, it's still painful.

　I slap my knee at Aria's joke and laugh.

　But in reality, there's no way that such lawlessness will ever go away.
　I'm not going to be the only one who's going to have to use magic to break through, but at the end of the day, I'm going to be blacklisted as a sinner and hunted all over Aravana.
　So how about hiding your identity and breaking through?　Nonsense. As it was repeated, Alabana's army was "Unidentified Ruin Vandals Out!　We must be on high alert! This will be a situation where the security of all the ruins will be heavy.
　There aren't just one or two ancient ruins I want to explore.
　In the end, it would be a terrible story of how many guards I would have to kick around, how many guards I would have to kick around. They are just innocent people who work hard and support their families on the government's payroll.
　So why not use the Sleep?　No, not even that. The soldiers who allowed the ruin vandals to invade the site just because they wouldn't be directly harmed by my hands would get a big eyeball from their superiors. They would be punished with a pay cut.

　I'm certainly traveling to save the world in order to kill the Demon King.
　What will I be allowed to do for that cause?
　No. Absolutely no.
　What difference is there between that egoistic justice and the invasion of humanity that the Demon King is doing - which he is willing to suffer for the sake of a noble cause without having to choose the means to achieve it?
　A new Demon King is born to kill the Demon King.
　How can there be such irony?

　........but I'm not a by-the-book guy either.
　If it doesn't bother the innocent at all, I may engage in illegal slippery acts.
　Borrowing an old man's walking stick from a lonely old man without permission, or robbing a bunch of scoundrels.

'Well, it's not an easy journey. Well, it's not an easy journey, but at least I'm going with my heart on my sleeve.
I'd like to thank Their Highnesses for giving me this license, for being so knowledgeable. By the way--

　Suddenly, Aria's eyes settled quickly.

''-- That Princess Farah must be a very beautiful person, right?
There's no denying it.

　I met her, though, in a stone prison, with only moonlight shining through.
　She was a beautiful woman, full of supremacy and flamboyance, as if the desert sun had appeared there.
　Also, Alavana is a hot country. Women dress indoors, and their skin is exposed. It's not a bad idea to dress in your underwear.
　It's not an exception, even for the Princess of Wales, who is dressed in a sheer silk cloak that can be seen through the top. It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.
　It would be a lie to deny that charm, wouldn't it?

Oh. Really? Hmm.

　Aria's lips twitched as she kept her eyes set.
　She's pretending that she's jealous that I've become acquainted with a beautiful woman - she's pretending that she's jealous. This.
　If it had been me just a short time ago, I would have been truly dismayed by this.
　But recently, I finally understood.
　Aria isn't jealous over a trivial matter. She believes in my single-mindedness.
　So I'm just faking it.

"The only person I love is Aria.

　I just want you to say that to me.
　It's not in my nature to be able to say the most frivolous lines.
　I don't want to give Aria a lot of trouble.

"Are you sure, Mr. Magnus?
Oh. Do you doubt it?
I'm not kidding. Say it again in a more audible voice.
What, another round?

　I looked around the store quickly.
　I carefully checked to see if people around me could hear me, even if I had to raise the volume of my voice a little.
　I mean, frankly, I was a bit of a scaredy-cat.

　Okay, I'm going to say it.
　I'm going to say it.

"The only one I like is Aria.

　Oh, he bit me!
　I don't have any training at all!

　I almost put my head in my hands, but I couldn't.
　I couldn't, because Aria, who had set the cup down, took my hands gently from across the small table.
　Then, in a whispered voice, but more clearly than me, she said.

'It's just me too, Mr. Magnus.'

　　　　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

　After lunch, we walked down the street without any particular guesses.
　We held hands and laughed the whole time.
　But we only talk about my trip.
　I wish we could have a more moody conversation, but I'm not that adept, and more importantly, Aria wants to hear about it.

''I understand about the Princess's Highness, but what kind of person is Prince Heydar?''
He was a wimpy guy, and he had such a prissy attitude that I didn't think he was the Crown Prince.
'Heh!　You're the opposite of your sister.
Don't go over the edge...
What?

　I was surprised to see Aria, and I told her as if it was nothing.

"The bandits--the ones controlling the 'Unguarded Volunteers' behind the scenes--are the Heydar.