Chapter 35: Mr. Box Golem

Author: Kurohitsuji
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2086fk/36/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

Nuaah… I’m still a bit unsteady…
I don’t know if it’s the recoil from just now or if I’m hungry, but maybe I should have rested a little more.
But I don’t want to hang around too long in ancient ruins.
You never know what will come out.

Almost at the entrance. Let’s go home already.

“—Ouka! That floor—!”
“…Heh?”

Ring’s voice, unusually hurried.
The next instant the floor goes buiin, and the view I was seeing changes.

Ha? What?

“—The warning was late. A transfer trap.
—Confirming present location. Numerous mana readings in the vicinity, caution.”
“…Anyway I get that it’s dangerous. Ring.”
“—Sakura-Drive Ready.”

“Ignition… they just keep coming, huh.”

Bones well up from the ground, boko boko.
Skeletons, but a lot of them. More than ten.
Every one is armed with sword and shield.
Anyway, shall I punch through them.

“Now then. Shall we dance together, you bones.”

I take my stance. Hips low, left hand forward, right hand reverse-grip with the elbow up beside my head.

A sword coming down. I bat it with a gun butt and shoot the wide-open head.
A sideways sweep. I sink even deeper and let it pass overhead.
I kick up as I rise, bat the shield, headshot.

A spin. I put momentum on it and smash a gun butt.
In the flinch I shoot the sword. I catch it flying out of the hand at the edge of my vision and kick the skeleton in front of me away.
The bones hit another one; I don’t miss the opening and finish it.

Downed skeletons turn to dust and fade.
But right away a different one crawls out of the ground.
No end to it. I think about what to do while I step in, sweep the feet, and put a shot into the collapse.

“—Present location confirmed. It appears to be a basement floor.”
“Ha. No wonder I could see the ground.”
“—There appears to be a control room ahead. Displaying the map.”
“Copy. I just head there, then.”
“—Affirmative: movement to the upper floors is possible from the control room.”
“Then let’s go. No point staying here forever.”

I run, punching through heads as they well up.
Long range is convenient. Close-combat power’s gone up too.

○○○○○○○○

I go as guided and there’s a stair.
I confirm the skeletons aren’t following and return the handguns to the holster for now.

I go up the stairs trailing remnants of pale crimson, and on the far side of the corridor I see something like a huge box.
It’s moving, katakata. What is that.

“—Ouka, caution. Mana reading, not a skeleton.”
“Nn, I see it. I wonder what that is.”

It looks like an iron box with four legs… it’s looking this way like crazy.
We’ve had eye contact for a while. Well, I don’t know if they’re eyes. Some kind of round light-points look like they’re staring at me.
An enemy, I wonder. I’m not that scared, though.

“Hnn. Ring, can you analyze that one?”
“—Unable to analyze: however, it is not a living organism.”
“Yeah, figured.”

It’s iron as hell, that one.
I wonder. Kin to a golem, maybe.

“Authentication complete / awaiting orders”

Ooh? It talked? Ring’s kin, maybe.

“You understand words?”
“Yes / awaiting orders”
“Uh. What do I do… geh, they followed.”

A pack of skeletons comes pressing from behind, clattering.
Uwah, what do I do.

“Hey you, can something be done about those skeletons for now?”
“Understood / eliminating”

Ooh. Four arm-like things grew. Those tips, muzzles?
The tube-like parts start turning slowly.

Chuiiiiin…
Dadadadadadadadadada!!

“Hey, you… that’s loooooud!”
“I apologize / sweep complete”

Look, the rain of rounds did wipe out all the skeletons. My ears are ringing, though.

“Muu. Anyway, thanks. So I want to go to the control room, do you know it?”
“Understood / will you ride?”
“Eh, ride you?”
“Yes / will you ride?”
“Well, while we’re at it, maybe I will.”

I clamber onto the box and sit, petan.
Wait? It isn’t that cold, this thing.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Oooh. Not much shake, and the ride isn’t that bad.
It takes out monsters on its own, too. This is good.
I’ll let myself be a little lazy.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Right, I’ll eat while I can.
It’s just portable rations of packed grain and dried fruit, but better than not eating.
Yep, this is pretty dry and pasty. Maybe I’ll look into tasty portable food sometime. Put honey in, or something.
Meals should be as delicious as possible.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Gashon, gashon, gasho—!

Oh? It stopped in front of a door?
Then this is the room, maybe.

“We have arrived / please watch your step”
“Thanks. That helped.”
“Should you have need / please call / Lord Type-0”
“…I don’t like that name much. Call me Ouka.”
“Lady Ouka / understood”

I get down from the iron box and pat its head.
Is this a head. Well, whatever.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Gashon, gashon, gashon.

Oh, it went back. What even is that kid.
Doesn’t seem like an enemy, but… I don’t get it.

“—Ouka. Shall we proceed.”
“…Yeah.”

I put my hand on the round place in front of the door, and it opens automatically again.
Uwah. There are lots of window-like things in the air.
There’s something like writing, but I can’t read any of it.
Wait, is this the same writing carved on the inside of Ring?

“Ring, can you read this?”
“—It appears to be the operational status of the ruins. Almost entirely shut down.”
“Hnn. I see?”

So it isn’t running right now?
But the doors opened on their own. Those are magic tools, maybe.

“—These ruins appear to have been a storage facility for artificial Heroes.”
“…I see. Hey, are there artificial Heroes besides me?”
“—They appear to have existed in the past, but there are currently no units in storage.”
“Ah. Yeah.”

I thought maybe, you know.
It’s old ruins, so of course they wouldn’t be left.
But there were others besides me, then.

“…Hey, Ring. Can you search for artificial Heroes, or anything?”
“—Unable: no mana patterns are recorded in the database.”
“This ruin doesn’t have those mana patterns left?”
“—The data has been destroyed. Restoration is in progress, but it will take time.”
“Destroyed, meaning someone erased it?”
“—Affirmative.”
“…Uumu. Well, what you can’t do you can’t do. So which way are the stairs?”
“—Displaying on the map.”
“Thanks.”

Can’t be helped. As planned, let’s go home quick.
The map is… ah, this way. Copy.

I go up the stairs and there’s an entry-exit right away.
When I go out, the place I came out of goes gacha and becomes wall.
A hidden door, I guess. A little interesting.
Well, I’ll probably come again, and look around all sorts of things then.
It was a pretty interesting place.

For now, shall I go home and eat something delicious.