Little Giant.
"I'll tell you the way to the ruins."
After saying that, Krnartash gestured with his chin toward an attendant. Responding to the signal, the gnoll servants quickly brought over a table and a rolled-up parchment scroll.
The parchment scroll was spread wide across the table. Seeing it, Woojin inwardly admired it.
'I was wondering what they suddenly brought over… so it was a map.'
It was a well-made item. A map that depicted in detail the forests, mountain ranges, and rivers of the Demon Realm.
It made him curious.
"Where did you get something like this?"
"It was provided by the Order Alliance. It's a map made just last week, so there shouldn't be much error."
The terrain of the Demon Realm changes rapidly. Because of that, the Order Alliance periodically updated the maps and distributed them for free to the allied forces.
Krnartash placed a hand on the map and personally explained the route to the ruins.
"Exit through the northern gate, then head straight north along the river. You'll come across a cliff."
"Was there originally a cliff here?"
"No. There wasn't… but a major earthquake struck recently, and the slope of this mountain collapsed."
Because of the earthquake, the terrain twisted and shifted, revealing the entrance to the previously hidden ruins.
As Krnartash said this, he pointed at the map. On a long stretch of cliff, a spot had been marked with a circle in red ink, as if to emphasize it.
"Here. The entrance to the ruins is here. If you follow the map, you'll find it quickly."
Take the map with you.
After finishing the explanation, Krnartash rolled up the parchment map and handed it over. Woojin accepted it somewhat absentmindedly and asked,
"Is it really okay for me to take this?"
"It doesn't matter. We have extra copies, and our tribe doesn't really use things like this anyway."
"Thank you."
Now that he had a good map in his hands, he would be able to easily explore the surrounding area without relying on someone else's help.
As he happily stored the map away, Krnartash suddenly gestured toward Claire.
"By the way, who is this human?"
Come to think of it, they had been so absorbed in talking about the ruins that they hadn't even properly introduced themselves.
Claire smiled and introduced herself.
"It's nice to meet you, Your Majesty. My name is Claire. I'm a mage from the Magic Tower."
"Ah, the human the Guardian mentioned a few times."
Krnartash repeatedly twitched the tip of her nose. Since it seemed they would be seeing each other often from now on, she appeared to be memorizing Claire's scent.
But then…
Krnartash tilted her head slightly, as if puzzled.
"…I don't know why, but this human smells very similar to Arwen."
A familiar scent coming from a strange human. At those words, Woojin answered casually.
"Probably because we've been traveling together."
Whenever the manticore flew roughly, the frightened Claire would tightly cling to Arwen beside her. Because of that, it seemed their scents had mixed.
Even though Woojin explained it…
Krnartash's curiosity only deepened.
"Manticore? What's that supposed to be, and why didn't you bring Arwen and Coco here?"
"Well, that's a bit of a long story."
He explained everything that had happened.
How they had been living comfortably in Elus like carefree wanderers, then left by sea and crossed into the tribe's territory. And the adventure of how they eventually met Manta.
Apparently liking the story, Krnartash listened with shining eyes and constant exclamations.
"My goodness! A lion that can fly and even fire beams?! That's absolutely incredible!!"
"Calm down a little."
He said that deliberately, but—
"I have to go meet it right now!"
Krnartash was already half out of her mind with excitement. And it was understandable. Manticores were rare creatures with several extraordinary abilities.
Like a hunting dog that had just seen a new toy, the gnoll queen became wildly excited. She suddenly bolted outside.
"You said the western gate, right?"
"Hey—hey!"
Thunk!!
A strange sound burst out. As if a mirage were swirling, the space twisted oddly for a moment…
Then the gnoll queen vanished without a trace.
At the same time, Krnartash reappeared again. She had moved forward about seven steps.
Blink.
The ability to warp space and move quickly over a short distance, almost like teleportation. It was the same ability she had used when fighting the dragon abomination in the past.
Krnartash ran while repeatedly using Blink. In an instant she disappeared from sight—
"…Kyaeng, kyaeng!!"
From far away came the scream of the manticore. It had been peacefully resting when the massive gnoll queen suddenly charged at it using Blink, apparently terrifying it.
Claire spoke as if offering a polite comment.
"I think I understand why Lady Krnartash was chased out of the ancient ruins."
"…Yeah."
They said she had been expelled for "slightly" breaking the ruins, but even without seeing it, it was obvious what kind of trouble she must have caused.
***
After resting for a day in the city of the gnolls, Woojin's group set out on their journey again.
Their speed was unusually fast. Perhaps because Manta didn't want to be tormented by Krnartash anymore, it flew with much quicker wingbeats than usual.
Their destination soon drew near.
"Let's go down soon."
"Grr."
At the command, Manta immediately descended toward the ground. Arwen, who was sitting in the back seat, spoke with some confusion.
"Jin-nim, aren't we landing too early? It seems like we still have quite a distance left."
"I don't want to attract unnecessary attention."
There would likely be many people gathered around the ruins. The Order Alliance and the Magic Tower were said to be cooperating to excavate the ruins.
If they flew in on a manticore and approached them, it would definitely cause a huge commotion.
"Let's walk from here. We'll hide Manta and Coco somewhere secluded, then head to the ruins."
"Indeed… that would be safer."
Arwen nodded readily, apparently convinced.
After that, the three people and the two magical beasts began walking briskly through the forest.
After traveling for about thirty minutes like that… a fairly large cave came into view.
Naturally, such a large and comfortable hideout had an owner. Woojin soon discovered large footprints stamped around the cave.
'A dire bear magical beast.'
It was quite enormous. A magical beast presumed to be one of the apex predators of this region.
It would have made good prey… but unfortunately the bear had sensed Manta's presence and quickly abandoned its lair and fled.
Dire bear magical beasts were generally quite cunning.
'Not a bad situation.'
He had missed out on a good prey animal, but gaining a hideout that could serve as a base was still a benefit.
Woojin made a suggestion to the group.
"It would be best if Manta and Coco rest at this base while the three of us head to the ruins."
Does anyone have a better idea?
When he added that question, Arwen—who had been looking around the inside of the cave—spoke up immediately.
"I'm a bit uneasy about leaving only the magical beasts behind. I'll stay here and take care of Manta and Coco."
"Are you sure about that? It feels like Arwen always ends up taking on the hard work alone."
"Come with us."
Claire made the suggestion, but Arwen shook her head, saying it was fine. The decision came from a very personal reason.
"I don't want to meet the priests of the Order Alliance. Honestly… I'm a little scared."
Arwen had once been a priestess of the dark side. Because of that, she wanted to avoid anything connected to the Order Alliance.
Woojin respected her wishes.
"If Arwen stays behind to manage the supplies, that's even more reassuring. Camp here, and if something happens, evacuate to another place."
"Where should we go?"
"Hmm… let's decide on a few candidate locations."
There probably wouldn't be any problems under normal circumstances, but it was best to prepare for the possibility.
He spread out the map and marked several places that seemed suitable. After memorizing their locations carefully, Woojin handed the map and the luggage bag to Arwen.
"I'll leave it to you."
"Yes. Please be careful."
"Piiit."
Coco, held in Arwen's arms, waved its front paw as if saying goodbye. Leaving their send-off behind, Woojin and Claire began walking again.
Even though they had left the map behind, finding the way wasn't particularly difficult.
'It's quite noisy.'
A large number of people had gathered to excavate the ancient ruins—priests of the Order Alliance, laborers, and even mages from the Magic Tower.
Following the traces and sounds of their activity, rows of tents soon came into view.
"The excavation team's base camp."
"Looks like it."
"Judging by it… if we steal some of those laborers' clothes, we could sneak into the ruins."
It didn't seem like infiltrating secretly would be difficult. At those words, Claire replied with a smile.
"That does sound fun, but we don't really need to use such a risky method."
"Right?"
Claire was a mage of the Magic Tower. There was no need for shady tricks—simply revealing her affiliation would easily grant them permission to enter.
Woojin and Claire headed toward the base camp. The two walked leisurely while chatting, acting as though they had always been members of this excavation team.
Then suddenly…
Claire stopped and looked toward a female mage sitting under a tree.
"Someone you know?"
"Yes. This works out perfectly."
They needed a helper anyway. Claire immediately called out to the female mage.
"Angelica. Do you have a moment?"
"…Huh, huh?"
The female mage looked up from the book she had been reading. Angelica blinked in surprise, clearly startled to see someone unexpected.
"Claire? Why are you here…?"
"I came to look around the ruins because I was bored. Where do I go to get an entry permit?"
"You just go straight over there to the left—"
Angelica tried to explain, but Claire cut her off midway.
"Could you guide us there yourself?"
"Uh… s-sure…"
Angelica closed her book hastily and stood up. For some reason, her attitude toward Claire seemed strangely stiff.
It was almost like the way someone might treat a difficult superior at work. From Woojin's perspective, it was puzzling.
'What exactly did Claire do at the Magic Tower to make the other mages react like that?'
He decided he should ask her about it later if the opportunity arose. As they continued forward…
He suddenly sensed a presence ahead.
The sound of someone slowly stepping forward while leaning on a staff. Someone was approaching. Before long, a man appeared.
He looked like someone who had just entered old age. His hair was half streaked with gray, and the wrinkles on his face were neither too deep nor too faint.
Up to that point, there was nothing particularly unusual…
'His height is astonishingly short.'
The old man's build was strangely small—barely over one meter tall. Yet the brim of his hat was absurdly wide, making him resemble a child holding an umbrella above their head.
A small and unimpressive appearance. However, Angelica was greatly flustered upon seeing him.
"M–Magic Tower Master!"
Since one could not dare look down upon a superior, Angelica hurriedly dropped to one knee.
Thanks to that, Woojin realized who the man was.
'Seated Duran.'
A nickname given because he was so short that he looked like he was sitting on the ground. But more famous than that nickname was the position the man held.
Magic Tower Master.
As the name suggested, it was the title given only to the mage who had risen to the highest position in the Magic Tower.
'Quite a big figure to appear out of nowhere.'
Should he kneel like Angelica and show proper respect?
But Woojin hesitated to act on that thought immediately. The reason was that Claire beside him was still standing calmly in place.
Claire soon muttered with a faint sigh.
"…Master. It's been a while."
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