Chapter 26
The collapse that began in the food storage room only stopped after swallowing almost the entire passage.
Jake and Jessica were finally able to catch their breath after escaping the corridor.
Jessica dropped to the floor and spent quite a while teasing Jake.
The sense of distance she had felt after seeing him use such impressive magic had completely disappeared thanks to his mistake.
"Rookie. You're such a rookie."
Jessica snorted smugly.
"What's the point of having amazing magic when you're still a rookie? Hmph, hmph."
Jake could only shake his head at her cheerful humming.
The mistake had been too serious for him to make excuses.
"It's really safe now, right?"
Jessica carefully listened around them.
"There's no shaking anymore, and I don't hear anything."
"Yes. It should be safe now."
"I remember you saying exactly that a little while ago..."
Jessica looked suspiciously at him.
"Well, whatever. Does that mean all we have left is getting out?"
"It would be troublesome if we went straight upward and ran into the expedition team."
Jake pointed back the way they had come.
"We'll return through the mage's dungeon."
Jessica's face immediately fell.
"Don't tell me we're swimming through that water again."
"That's exactly what we're doing."
Jake nodded.
"There's no other way out."
Jessica looked miserable, but there truly was no other exit.
There had been one other path.
The tunnel created by the Burrowing Scorpions.
But that tunnel was now buried deep underground.
Jake gave the collapsed passage one final look and turned away.
The emotions he had carried for an entire year...
And his revenge...
Ended here.
He had achieved what he wanted.
Now it was time to move on to the next stage.
"Before that, there's somewhere we need to stop."
"What?"
Jessica groaned.
"Where are we going now?"
Before leaving the enormous dungeon, Jake changed direction again.
Jessica followed behind him while grumbling.
But the instant they arrived at the storage room...
All of her complaints vanished.
She simply stared ahead with a completely entranced expression.
"This is the research facility's magic item storage room."
Jake gestured toward the items around them.
"We came all the way here. We can't leave empty-handed."
"We obviously can't carry everything, so let's take one item each."
"Aaaah!"
Jessica screamed in delight and hugged Jake tightly.
"You adorable little thing!"
Then she immediately began treasure hunting.
"Hehehe."
She looked from one item to another.
"Which one of you is worth the most money?"
Brooches giving off faint light.
Beautifully decorated staffs.
And many other kinds of magic items filled her vision.
"Don't choose based on how much money it'll sell for."
Jake stopped her.
"Pick something you can actually use."
"Huh?"
Jessica blinked.
"I'm not a Mana User. I can't use any of them anyway."
"I already told you."
Jake placed his hand on a sword in front of him.
"I'll turn you into a Mana User."
The sword glowed blue beneath his hand.
"And even before that, you can use magic items to some extent."
"I'll teach you the trick as soon as we get out."
"So for now, choose whichever one you like."
"I'll tell you what kind of magic is inside each item."
Jessica stared at him for a long moment.
Then she pointed at him seriously.
"You promised."
"I'm trusting you."
"Yes."
Jake nodded.
"Trust me."
One by one...
He began explaining the spells contained in the magic items.
Of course, Jake himself could not identify every single spell.
Fortunately...
He had an excellent narrator named Fatima.
When Jessica picked up a brooch...
-That brooch contains cold-resistance magic.
-It was often worn under thick formal uniforms.
Or when Jake examined a sword...
-That sword has a Light spell.
-It would probably be useful as a replacement for a torch at night.
Perhaps because of what happened with the Burrowing Scorpions...
Fatima diligently explained every magic item.
A short while later...
Jessica finally chose a pair of leather boots.
They were the same item she had used inside the replicated world.
A strange smile appeared on Jake's face.
"They aren't going to fall apart immediately because they're ancient, right?"
"They're protected by preservation magic."
Jake shook his head.
"They should actually be more durable than many metal items."
Fortunately, the boots fit Jessica perfectly.
She immediately put them on with a satisfied expression.
"My god."
Jessica stomped her feet several times.
"I never imagined I'd actually own and use a magic item."
While Jessica excitedly tested the boots...
Jake selected several rings.
He could not take everything after what Amber had told him...
But taking this much should be fine.
Jake was not yet skilled enough to create proper magic items himself.
He planned to use magic items to compensate for the abilities he currently lacked.
"All right. Let's go."
Jake stood.
"We don't have anywhere else to visit."
"Hey..."
Jessica reluctantly looked around.
"Can't we look a little longer?"
"No."
"We need to get back before the expedition team returns."
Originally, they had considered returning separately.
But now that they had a chance to go back with the expedition team...
There was no reason to make things harder for themselves.
"Will I ever see such a beautiful sight again?"
Jessica looked mournfully at the magic items as Jake dragged her away.
You will.
Jake answered only in his mind.
I'll make sure you do.
With that final thought...
The two left the enormous dungeon.
They passed through the underground chamber containing the magic circle and returned to the pool they had originally entered through.
"You're not seriously suggesting we swim while carrying these heavy backpacks, are you, Mage?"
Jessica looked at Jake suspiciously.
Jake chuckled.
Then he took one of the rings he had collected and slipped it onto Jessica's finger.
"Huh?!"
Jessica's face turned strangely red.
"Why does this suddenly feel weird?!"
While she fanned her flushed face with one hand...
Jake explained how to sense mana.
"...If you do it like that, you should be able to activate a magic item even if you aren't a Mana User."
"It's really that easy?"
"Not exactly."
Jake shook his head.
"It's a shortcut. You'll need to maintain your concentration the entire time, so it isn't very practical."
"But it can still be useful in an emergency."
The ring on Jessica's finger began blinking with blue light.
"And stop talking."
Jake continued.
"Focus."
"I'll go first, so just follow me carefully."
The treasure chest from the mage's room had already been thrown into the water.
Naturally...
Its contents were now inside Jake and Jessica's backpacks in place of most of their food.
Jake took Jessica's hand.
Then the two walked toward the pool.
Soon...
They disappeared beneath the water.
One hour later.
Jake and Jessica lay on the riverbank below the valley, breathing heavily.
Strangely enough...
Neither of them was wet.
But they both looked utterly exhausted.
There was a simple reason.
They had walked all the way here across the bottom of the valley river while violent currents rushed above them.
Using Jessica's magic ring and Jake's spell...
They created an air barrier that prevented the water from touching them.
Then they simply walked along the riverbed.
Walking itself had not been particularly difficult.
But Jessica had been forced to maintain the ring's mana continuously...
While Jake had to keep the air barrier from being swept away by the current.
By the time they emerged...
Both were completely drained.
"Haah... Haah..."
Jessica gasped.
"Wasn't there another way?"
"Why does every spell you use somehow make us suffer in some awkward way?!"
Jake scratched his head.
He had only been a mage for one year.
As an ancient mage, he could use a wide variety of creative magic...
But his absolute magical power was still below that of mages who had trained for many years.
-Still, I've never seen a mage improve this quickly.
Fatima immediately objected to Jessica's complaint.
-Normally, proper mages develop more slowly than magical technicians.
-But Master is growing far faster than that.
Jake did not relay Fatima's defense to Jessica.
Instead...
He was slightly surprised that Fatima had called him Master.
It seemed she had finally accepted him as the owner of the Ego Wand.
Since they had synchronized, it had only been a matter of time before she accepted him as her owner.
Still...
It had happened much faster than inside the replicated world.
Jake smiled faintly.
He felt as though Fatima had finally acknowledged him as a real mage.
After recovering some strength...
Jake and Jessica put on their heavy backpacks and took a long route around the valley before returning to camp.
It felt as though far more time had passed...
But they had only been away from the expedition team for three days.
Fortunately...
The people who entered the dungeon still had not returned.
Jake and Jessica explained their three-day absence by saying they had been swept away by the valley current and gotten separated.
Nobody seemed to believe them.
Still...
No one questioned them too deeply.
The other people who remained at camp had spent those three days wandering all over the area too.
Now that a large dungeon had been discovered...
They had searched everywhere for another entrance or perhaps some treasure that had been dropped nearby.
Naturally...
No one had found anything.
So everyone simply assumed Jake and Jessica had been doing something similar.
One soldier stationed at camp warned them that he would report their disappearance to the knights.
But neither Jake nor Jessica was frightened by that.
The day after the two returned to camp amid everyone's teasing...
The expedition team finally came back.
The people emerging from the dungeon looked exactly like defeated soldiers.
Their faces were pale from lack of sunlight.
Their clothes and equipment were ruined.
And the knights and other members refused even to look at one another.
"Everyone will rest for today."
One knight spoke after leading the soldiers toward one side of the camp.
"We'll discuss the next schedule tomorrow."
One of the Rangers sighed and dismissed the mercenaries.
It was still afternoon...
But the mercenaries who had just emerged from the dungeon immediately began preparing dinner.
Jake and Jessica had waited, hoping to hear what happened inside.
Eventually...
They had no choice but to prepare their own meal too.
After the early dinner was over...
Amber approached them.
"Do you have any black tea left?"
Amber looked utterly exhausted.
Jake took out the last of his tea.
"Ah..."
After taking one sip...
Amber's expression finally relaxed.
"I feel alive again."
"More than anything else, I was desperate for a single cup of tea."
She took another sip.
"You two must be curious about what happened inside."
"So I'll tell you in exchange for the tea."
Her reason was slightly different from what she assumed...
But Jake and Jessica really were curious about what happened in the dungeon.
"At first, we went down without much trouble..."
With knights, Rangers, and even a mage in the expedition team...
The exploration had progressed smoothly at first.
But that easy progress did not last long.
"The thief mercenary guiding the expedition wasn't very skilled."
Amber sighed.
"He had trouble finding the correct routes."
"So we spent a long time wandering around the lower levels."
"The knights became extremely angry."
Jessica clicked her tongue.
"I should've gone with you."
Jake, who knew the true circumstances...
Could only smile bitterly inside.
In the replicated world...
Amber had told him everything.
The conflict between the Imperial Family and Lutetia Territory.
How Amber and the Rangers had bribed the thief to deliberately lead the expedition in circles.
It was their private matter, so Jake had never told Jessica.
Watching the two women sitting beside each other now made the situation strangely amusing.
Eventually...
While the expedition was wandering around...
They encountered a growing number of Burrowing Scorpions.
They fought the monsters while continuing deeper.
Then...
A sudden earthquake forced everyone to evacuate the dungeon.
"The sudden increase in monsters was already a problem."
Amber's expression turned serious.
"But the earthquake was completely unexpected."
"It sounded and felt like some part of the dungeon was collapsing."
"Everyone rushed out."
Jake and Jessica exchanged glances.
Both incidents Amber mentioned...
Had been caused by them.
"So we're planning to make another attempt with a smaller group."
Amber continued.
"The exhausted knights and soldiers can rest here."
"I was thinking that only I and the Rangers would go."
Then she looked at Jessica.
"Would you be willing to come with us?"
As expected...
Amber had not approached them merely because she wanted black tea.
Jessica looked toward Jake.
Amber watched that exchange with a strange expression.
Jake sent Jessica a Message spell.
-Our business is already finished.
-We might as well help them finish theirs quickly too.
Jessica nodded.
"All right."
"Jay and I will both guide you."
Amber tilted her head slightly when Jessica added Jake.
But a moment later...
She smiled and thanked them.
Jake knew exactly what Amber and the Rangers were planning.
Still...
He tilted his head innocently.
"What about the payment?"
Jessica's jaw dropped.
Their bags were already full of treasure.
They had even stolen magic items.
And Jake was still negotiating payment.
Ignoring Jessica's stunned expression...
Amber and Jake immediately began discussing the terms.
