Eavesdropping on Davey and Alyssa’s conversation, Illyna slowed down and asked while holding Caldeiras in her arms. “Then, does that mean that we’re not going to the third floor?”

“That’s right, Your Highness. We are exploring the first and second floors. I heard that we are exploring for four days,” Alyssa explained.

“I guess there are a lot of dangerous evil beasts on the third floor?”

“That is… It’s something that I’ve only heard, but…” Alyssa looked around cautiously before whispering to Davey and Illyna, “Apparently, there are no evil beasts on the third floor.”

“There aren’t?”

“Instead… There are other very dangerous things there.”

“Dangerous things…” Illyna’s expression slightly tensed up as she became lost in thought.

“They aren’t living things. They might be golems, from what I hear.”

Davey wondered how Alyssa had obtained this kind of information, and it would only be polite for him to ask and express his curiosity. “Where are you getting this kind of information from?”

“To be honest… I’m a light sleeper.” Alyssa winked cutely as she whispered in Davey’s ear. Then, she said earnestly, “Hehe. But is it of help? I thought that you would be interested in this piece of information since you are a golem controller.”

“It is. Thank you.”

“Hehe!”

It seemed like Illyna was a little displeased by Alyssa’s delightful giggling, but Davey didn’t bother pointing it out.

Just like Alyssa Patrick had said, the first floor of the ancient ruins had nothing other than basic and unfamiliar evil beasts. However, the new evil beasts wouldn’t be difficult to get rid of if they all paired up and took action with careful consideration.

“Manifest by my will! Wundinae!”

“Huyyah!!”

With Shayir Renda’s shouts, Heg charged in with his warrior giant like a truck and split the strange-looking evil beasts in half. The evil beast was named ‘Large Stump’. It looked like a giant tree stump with a large eye in the middle and weird twigs or tentacles on its head.

“There are three more stumps ahead! Don’t let down your guard!”

The stumps were strong, but their lack of speed made them less of a threat. Still, their strength was threatening enough. Going up against them, the children couldn’t let down their guard.

There were enchanted golems on the third floor, and there were some on the second as well. The Pandora Region was covered with permafrost. As such, Davey thought that the climate of was cursed like hwo it was in the Heins Territory.

“Davey.”

Whirr!! Crack!!

-Kahhh!

‘Or perhaps there’s something that much valuable hidden away.’

Whirr!!

-Kyahh!!

“Davey!”

Davey, who was watching the stumps while lost in thought, looked over with wide eyes. He heard someone urgently calling upon him. “Hm?”

“You…”

When Davey turned to see what was going on…

-Kahhh!!

Davey saw the Megatron viciously crushing the stumps. The other pairs of trainees were taking one aside and attacking it with caution, but the Megatron was grabbing four or five stumps at a time and beating them to a pulp even without Davey’s command.

The Megatron grabbed a stump, which was trying to run away while letting out a strange scream, by its tentacles and ripping it apart or shredding it up with the electric chainsaw. It also made a stump skewer by puncturing the monster in the eye and swinging it at the other stumps. It was difficult to tell which one was the malicious monster in this situation…

“Davey’s golem is really…”

“Too strong… We have to be careful even when going against one of them…”

“Are golem controllers usually that strong?”

Davey shook his head firmly when the trainees asked him in bewilderment. He was sure that no other golem in this continent was more powerful than the Megatron. It wasn’t just his wishful thinking, because this was a fact.

“Ahem! Trainee Davey. I like that you are driven, but you have to cooperate with your partner.”

Davey had to manage the Megatron’s power level, but he failed to see that it was running wild because he was engrossed in the ancient ruins. Thanks to that, Illyna was staring into space with nothing to do.

“Ah… Sorry. I was thinking of something else. May I rest for a bit?”

“Ahem! Alright, you can.”

The battlefield, which was being overwhelmingly dominated by Davey, started to become head-to-head as soon as he left.

-Davey.

“Hm.”

-You don’t really want this situation to end, right?

Davey didn’t deny Perserque’s speculation.

-Although it cannot recreate a real school-life experience, it must be new to you since you are experiencing something similar. That’s why you are intentionally lowering your skill level to match their’s and helping them in different ways.

“To be honest…”

It was dangerous for Davey to spend time in the knight order, since danger could arise at any time. However, the little peaceful life he had found here was quite shocking. It was refreshing because he hadn’t experienced it before, and it was true that he wanted to enjoy it a little longer.

-However, Davey, you have to remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Don’t do anything that you will regret at least.

“You don’t have to worry that much.”

Perhaps it was childish for Davey to say this.

-Didn’t you always say that it was foolish to boast one’s power when it wasn’t necessary?

‘That is true.’

-However, if some sort of danger threatens them…

“I have to make sure that kind of situation doesn’t happen.”

If a sword would allow Davey to only take one step when alchemy would help him take two, he would swing his sword without hesitation.

-Everything is fine if you don’t regret it.

The currently incomplete Megatron would reach its limitations if something much more dangerous appeared. Davey would have no choice to show what he was hiding if that time actually came… Even if they were going to regard Davey as a completely strange being at that point, he had no intention of foolishly playing around when it was important. They probably didn’t intend it, but he was grateful for being able to enjoy himself among them.

“…” That was when Davey’s gaze, which was trained onto the battlefield, became focused on one part of the dark ancient ruin.

-Davey?

“I’m probably just imagining it.” Davey focused on what was past the empty hallway for a while.

* * *

Pitter… Patter… Someone’s footsteps were heard on the lowest floor of the ancient ruins.

“Pace.”

“My, I wondered where you were hiding out, but you were here?”

The surroundings were quiet and only the man’s calm question could be heard. The man was Pace, a vampire who had recently joined forces with Carlus, the Second Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.

“Recently, I heard you found something new to play with.”

“A toy? Oh, you are talking about that greenhorn human.”

“I heard he won against Shari.”

“How could you compare me to that useless bitch?” Pace smiled coldly. “Well, it seems like he is just doing business in his territory, but I am waiting.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Well, doesn’t it exhilarate you just thinking about how one would feel if they saw everything they had worked so hard for burn down in one day?”

“You have a nasty hobby,” the woman quietly mumbled and glanced at Pace. For a while, she stared at Pace, who looked cold yet relaxed, like she was examining the details on his face.

“Why are you staring at me?” Pace asked the woman.

“It’s nothing. However, you never know what’s going to happen when you’re so confident.”

“He’s nothing but a human. Well, he seems to be a little talented, but he’s still a human.”

“I heard that your subordinate whom you gave the power of immortality to died.”

“It’s just a replica. It is a weak power that will disappear if he were killed a few times.” Pace shrugged and murmured in intrigue. “Although, I honestly didn’t expect the human to corner him and kill him…”

Pace’s relaxed gaze suddenly turned cold. “Wouldn’t it be useless against me, who is truly an immortal being? It’s boring if a toy breaks too easily. That’s why I’m waiting.”

“Our power is also destroyed with continued deaths; it is just a matter of how many times.”

Pace remained at ease even as the woman criticized him while clicking her tongue. He then asked, “Anyways, what did you discover that brought you to this cold place? Do you know about the monster living on top of us?”

“Shandra, was it? It looked a little sensitive because someone had bothered it, but there aren’t any problems here,” the woman replied. Pace remained silent at her calm answer.

“Go away, since I have to take out the things locked in here.”

“Are these the treasures that are hidden in the lowest floor of the ancient ruins?”

“Well, for now… I’ll know for sure after I take it out, but… It’s no use with my strength.”

There were hundreds of test tubes glowing a light green color in front of Pace and the woman, and there were two tubes that were filled. One of them contained a small heart made of machinery.

“Now, what’s this? Did you make it?”

“Deus Ex Machina?”

“What is that?

“It is a created ego. It’s hard to believe, but it’s the heart of a golem that develops on its own. The study of golems has this when the study of homunculus has the Stone of the Sage.”

Unlike Ego, where the soul was absorbed, the heart was a living thing created.

“Hm.”

The woman nodded. “It will self-develop past its normal limitations even if it is put into a golem made of wood.”

Pace glanced at the one in intrigue. “And the other…”

“I’m not sure. It’s not awakened yet.”

There was a small girl beside the mechanical heart. However, the big, white-feathered wings on the girl’s back were showing off its presence. She was clearly distinct from humans.

“Isn’t it already dead?” Pace asked the woman.

“Even if it is, it will be valuable to study the body of a new species.”

“Do whatever you want since it’s time for me to have some fun like you said. The stupid prince I signed with was nagging incessantly about when would I resolve this.”

“That human. Are you going to kill him?”

“Well, I’m thinking I’ll just see how it goes.”

The woman, who looked completely emotionless, quietly let out a sigh when she saw Pace disappear into thin air. Then, she turned over to the test tube that was emitting a faint light. “The ruins will move if I wait a little…”

Fine pieces of crumbled dark blue stones were scattered messily on the floor.