"Jin, what’s wrong?"
Reinhard, noticing that Jin was acting strangely, spoke up with a worried tone.
Jin spoke, a single bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "This place… it’s a massive Warp Gate."
"What!?"
"This? A Warp Gate?"
Reinhard and Elsa were stunned, but the one most shocked of all was surely Lucol.
"Wh-wh-wh-what!? This… this is a 'Warp Gate'? H-how could you possibly know that!?"
His face flushed red and then went pale as he finally managed to stammer out the question.
"How, you ask… I don’t really have an answer other than I just know," Jin replied.
Until now, Jin had been passing off the Warp Gates he used as artifacts to avoid suspicion, but here, an actual Warp Gate existed as a genuine ancient artifact.
"Mmm, mmm, grrr… You saw through it in a single glance? Something I couldn’t figure out in ten years of research!? That's impossible!"
"Uh, well, sorry about that."
Jin offered a vague apology to the man shouting in agitation.
"Look, over there, where the paving stones are peeling away—you can see part of a magic circle, right? Isn't that proof enough that it's a Warp Gate?"
Jin tried to point it out, but this only sent Lucol further into a frenzy.
"How should I know! Besides, no knowledge of magic circles for Warp Gates has ever been passed down!"
Since it seemed useless to say anything more, Elsa tugged on Jin's sleeve.
"Jin-kun, let’s go."
Thinking it best to leave him be for now, Jin moved away from the spot.
"So, if this really is a Warp Gate… it’s enormous," Reinhard remarked, his voice full of admiration.
"Yeah. I didn’t know such a large Warp Gate existed either," Jin said. "Well, it seems to be dead now, though."
However, Jin noted that the air conditioning seemed to be functioning, albeit imperfectly. It was cool in summer and warm in winter. While that was common in deep caves, in a shallow location like this, it made more sense to assume it was being climate-controlled.
Reinhard turned to Jin with a question. "Hey Jin, what do you think they used such a large Warp Gate for?"
"Judging by the size, either massive amounts of supplies or a large number of people."
Reinhard nodded. "I think so too. It was probably one of the forts from the Great Magic War, don't you think?"
Jin agreed with his speculation. "I see, that’s highly likely…"
At that moment, Lucol, having composed himself, cut into the conversation.
"You lot! You think so too? That is the same conclusion I reached after ten years! This must have been a regional fort during the Great Magic War!"
"I-I see."
Lucol's passionate lecture continued.
"The Great Magic War! It was a war where the survival of both the demon race and humanity was at stake! The demon race was strong, and humans were weak! And yet, humanity did not perish. Do you know why?"
Lucol looked at Jin for an answer. Jin offered a guess.
"Because of an Ether Stampede?"
Apparently, that was the correct answer.
"Exactly! An Ether Stampede. Because of it, the free ether in the atmosphere vanished, if only temporarily. The demon race cannot live without free ether. But humans—with the exception of powerful mages—can survive without it."
Hearing this, a cold chill ran down Jin’s spine. If an Ether Stampede were to occur again now, Jin, Reinhard, and Elsa would likely not survive. And Reiko would probably stop functioning as well.
"Are the methods for causing an Ether Stampede still known?" Jin asked.
"Hmm? No, no. Including that, almost no technology from before the Great Magic War has survived. That is precisely why I am investigating these ruins!"
Jin felt a momentary sense of relief. There seemed to be no immediate danger. However...
(I should probably think of a countermeasure for Ether Stampedes,) Jin thought to himself.
Reinhard asked Jin another question. "Say, Jin, if this is a fort, what else do you think is here besides the Warp Gate?"
"Hmm, a command room, living quarters, a medical bay, food storage, and…" Jin trailed off as he thought, hesitating slightly before finishing, "…an armory."
Reinhard nodded in agreement. "I thought so too. I suspect that weapons from the past are hidden somewhere in these ruins."
He continued, his expression darkening. "If those were to fall into the hands of the Unifilar, I…"
At this point, Jin finally understood the depth of Reinhard's concern.
"True. If they don't exist, fine, but if they do, we have to do something," Jin agreed. He looked around at the walls. "If this is the Warp Gate room, it’s basically the lobby. It should be on either the ground floor or the first basement level. If there are storage rooms like that, they’d be on this level or below."
Lucol interjected once more. "There's nothing, nothing. There are no other rooms. I may not look it, but I can use a bit of magic myself, and I've searched that much. But it was useless. There is no other space besides this room."
Jin started to argue, then thought better of it and remained silent. Instead, Reinhard spoke up.
"Is that so? Well, if that's the case, then that's fine. If there's nothing left to see, shall we head out?"
Jin and Elsa agreed, and the group left the ruins, leaving behind Lucol, who was still muttering to himself.
Outside, the sunlight was blinding. The old man who had guided them earlier was no longer there.
"Well, what shall we do until tonight?" Reinhard asked.
Elsa looked puzzled. "Eh? Aren't we going back?"
Jin soothed her. "Let’s head back to the carriage first. We'll talk about the details inside."
The group strolled back toward the carriage. It was a pleasant early afternoon with a spring breeze blowing.
"Now then, let me explain."
Once they returned to the carriage, they sat in the cabin and closed the door.
"Reiko, keep watch to make sure no one approaches."
"Yes, Father."
After Jin set up the final precaution, he prompted Reinhard to begin.
"Alright. Elsa, you heard about the Unifilar the other day, right?"
"Mm."
The explanation started with Elsa.
"The Unifilar is plotting the restoration of the Dinar Kingdom. In other words, they must be desperate to get their hands on lost technology."
"Mm, I understand."
Jin then took over.
"Supposing those ruins are the remains of a past fort, there's no way that room is the only one. I can guarantee that."
"Which means…"
"Yeah. An armory definitely exists. And so does the technology of the past."
Reinhard took over again.
"Normally, it would be proper to contact the appropriate department in the Kingdom of Egerea and have them investigate. But seeing as it's been left abandoned for decades, it seems the people in Uremlin, at least, are a bunch of incompetents."
Uremlin was the nearest regional city. Reinhard was being unusually blunt.
"And besides, that Lucol fellow is suspicious. Far too suspicious. Why would one room take ten years to investigate?"
Jin agreed. It was strange no matter how you looked at it. Reinhard summarized their position.
"For now, I want to take measures so that the Unifilar doesn't benefit from this."
Jin nodded. "Yeah. They're the kind of people who try to manipulate Reiko or golems made by others. There's no telling what dirty tricks they might use. I think we should pre-empt them."
Finally, Reinhard concluded, "Besides, I'm interested in that ancient technology myself!"
Hearing that, Elsa finally relaxed her shoulders.