Chapter 141 – Visitors to the Boundary City

There don’t seem to be any magical traps… Sheila inserted a metal rod into the keyhole of the treasure chest and seemed to struggle with the lock for a while, but she managed to unlock it quite easily.

Holding the lid of the treasure chest down from above, Sheila said:

“There’s a trap. Probably an arrow trap. It would be better not to stand in front of it.”

Following her advice, everyone moved behind the treasure chest. When Sheila removed her hand and stepped away, the lid of the treasure chest sprang open with force. Simultaneously, an arrow shot out with tremendous speed into the darkness beyond the Great Corruption Lake.

“Impressive. You can tell the type of trap just by looking at the keyhole?”

“I can tell by the unusual resistance when there are extra mechanisms. I can rely on Theodore to check for magical traps, so that’s reassuring.”

“Though sometimes it’s hard to distinguish when the contents are magic tool-related.”

“But it gives us a guideline. I was taught that when the lock’s difficulty is easy, we should suspect a magical trap.”

“I see.”

So if the contents have a magical reaction and the lock is easy to open, there’s a very high chance it’s a magical trap.

Now, for the important part—the contents… A metallic mass emitting a dark blue luster sat inside. It’s a metal I recognize.

“Valyus silver, huh…”

“It’s a heavy metal, right?”

Claudia said.

“Yes. It’s suitable for making heavy, sturdy weapons.”

Metal materials—we’ll need to think about how to handle them. It would probably be best to take it to the workshop and have Viola process it. If it’s a rare material anyway, rather than using it raw, it would be better to utilize BFO knowledge and process it.

I have accumulated game knowledge about which metal material combinations with which ratios yield what characteristics.

Back in the BFO days, I had a brainless friend who wanted to make full plate armor and a tower shield using Valyus silver as the base, so I helped gather various materials for him.

…Hmm. I remember the combinations and ratios. We can buy any missing materials.

Weapons and armor based on Valyus silver have limited applications. It’s too heavy for armor and doesn’t quite suit the party members.

“Grace, can you carry this?”

“May I see it for a moment?”

As she said this, Grace calmly lifted the lump of Valyus silver. …The fate of this metal lump is decided. Even if we apply weight-reduction techniques, more weight means higher magical power consumption. For practical use, it will probably become Grace’s weapon. The metal lump is too cumbersome to carry around as is. Let’s quickly transfer it to the workshop.

That said, we’ve just descended into the labyrinth, so we don’t have enough Transference Stones.

“For now, I’ll carry this using Levitation. Meanwhile, let’s gather Transference Stones.”

“If it’s about transferring items, I can help.”

Claudia said.

“That would be helpful. But what about your power consumption?”

“As long as we have a small amount of Transference Stones, it’s not a problem. I can’t be of much use in battles against labyrinth monsters anyway…”

I see… In that case, I’ll take you up on your offer. If we can minimize Transference Stone collection, we can allocate more time to exploration and combat. She seems to think she isn’t very useful herself… but having Claudia accompany us is actually quite significant.

That said… she doesn’t seem to draw monster aggro. In the previous battle, she stayed near Marlene and Seraphina, and if things get serious, she might intend to use her power to stop the monsters. Well… I’ll try to be careful not to waste Claudia’s power unnecessarily.

After finishing the exploration of the Great Corruption Lake, we returned to the temple.

Given the environment, everyone seems a bit mentally fatigued. Even though we can move at low altitude, the fact that falling below means landing in a poisonous swamp is quite burdensome. Moreover, when fighting, there’s no guarantee we won’t fall due to some mishap.

Being able to perform under the pressure of falling into a poisonous swamp is actually quite important. We’ll continue advancing through the Great Corruption Lake and hone our capabilities to match the day the Sealed Door is opened.

That said, the exploration itself is going well. It means everyone is growing.

Suddenly, I noticed knights and soldiers running around frantically. A considerable number of personnel were mobilized. Moreover, their expressions showed significant tension.

“Did something happen?”

“Ah! Your Excellency the Ambassador.”

When I asked a nearby knight, he stood at attention, saluted, and then answered in a low voice.

“…Followers of the Duoveris Cult have appeared at the south gate.”

So it’s those cultists. It seems Roy’s bluff wasn’t entirely baseless after all.

“Being on alert at the temple means they escaped, I assume?”

“No. That individual is no longer a problem. However, we don’t know if there are others who have infiltrated.”

So that means either they captured him, or he died in combat with the knights. Either way, at this point, it seems we haven’t obtained any information.

It would be too optimistic to assume that follower was the first and last. We should operate under the assumption that Termwills has already been infiltrated.

“I see. So that’s why the temple and Adventurer Guild are on alert?”

“Yes. The temple, the central part of the city, and the Eastern District are the primary areas to be cautious about.”

From the perspective of those demon worshippers, the Moon Temple, which can counter demon power with blessings, would be an enemy. Even disregarding the Sealed Door, if the labyrinth gets infiltrated, it could become a hiding place, so we must defend it. In short, it’s safe to consider the temple as a most important facility on par with the Royal Castle.

The central area is where the nobles live. The Eastern District is the sector where I, their primary target the Demon Slayer, have my house. Since Peresford Academy, which noble children attend, is also there, the alert level in this area would naturally be high.

Other places they might target that could be overlooked are—

“…The orphanage in the Western District as well.”

“Huh?”

“That orphanage is operated by the temple. The Duoveris Cult is a group that offers sacrifices to demons, so targeting the orphanage would make sense for them.”

“I-I see. That’s true indeed. I’ll report it to my superiors.”

Having children under the Moon Temple’s protection kidnapped during an alert would be a matter of disgrace.

The knight ran off with a tense expression. I should check on the knights’ security arrangements later.

Irmhild and Sheila had uneasy expressions.

In this case… it might be stirring up a hornet’s nest since it’s better if our deep connection with me, the Demon Slayer, doesn’t get conveyed to them.

“Regarding the orphanage, I’ll also think of countermeasures. We could send Caduceus for night patrol.”

When I told them this, their expressions brightened.

“Then I’ll make sure our home security is perfect.”

“That’s right.”

The two looked at each other and nodded.

…I should stop by the workshop. There’s the matter of the Valyus silver, but I also want to contact Alfred, urge caution, and think of some countermeasures.

“…Yeah. I’ve been contacted too. Sir Chester came to tell me. But an orphanage, huh? It might indeed be highly likely to be targeted.”

Naturally, it seemed proper communication had reached Alfred as well. The Eastern District’s alert level is quite high indeed. My house, the workshop, and the academy are all close by.

“I’ve thought of some countermeasures on my way to the workshop. Alarm devices.”

“Alarm devices?”

“Yeah. I was thinking we might be able to adapt the contract magic we set up for the communication devices. What do you think?”

At my words, Alfred blinked.

“Uh, you mean the one where if a third party uses the communication device, it automatically reports a contract violation from the device side?”

“Right, that one. The spell formula is already complete, and if we link that with barrier magic so that a contract violation—meaning an outsider without passage permission crosses the barrier line—activates wind magic to sound an alarm.”

When creating the equipment that serves as the exchange station, we needed to install safety features to prevent misuse by third parties.

The solution we came up with was to make the contract magic content more detailed so that if anyone other than the owner uses it, the server side is automatically notified.

On the other hand, we implemented safety measures so that if the administrator side arbitrarily checks the server’s communication logs, the terminal side is notified, preventing mutual misuse.

“…Yeah, I understand the mechanism. It could serve as a field test too.”

“If you engrave the spell formula on the alarm, I’ll handle adjusting the actual barrier magic we deploy. Then if we have barrier passage permits for the orphanage staff and children to carry…”

With that setup, I think we could create alarm devices not just for the orphanage but for other places too. However, for places with unspecified, large numbers of people coming and going, we’d probably need to make some adjustments.

For now, as a trial… it would be good to try it starting with the workshop and orphanage.

“I see. Since the foundation is already there, we can make it quickly. The permits can be really simple, right?”

“Given the time we have now, anything elaborate would be impossible. I’ll also immediately write down the barrier magic details on paper.”

“When you go to set up the barrier, it would be better for you to wear the ring and disguise yourself. I think you should use that ring for a while.”

“If we can capture them alive and extract information, we might learn what scale they’re operating on. Well, we’ll just have to endure until then.”

Alfred nodded, then looked off into the distance with a distant gaze.

“…This might be our biggest task since the Amulet of Evil Repulsion. Unlike back then, we have stamina recovery magic tools and wakefulness magic tools prepared.”

…Yeah. My apologies.

I think I won’t mention finding the Valyus silver lump for today.