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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Sealed Great Mage
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The expedition, with the slaves leading the way, began slowly entering the ruins.
'Did it get buried in a landslide or something...? Impressive that they found it.'
Before entering, it had seemed miraculous how they'd even spotted it—the ruins were already covered in dirt, blending seamlessly with the surrounding terrain.
From the outside, it was hard to tell this was even a ruin at all. But once inside, the feeling was completely different.
'It's cleaner and bigger than I thought...?'
The interior space felt distinctly artificial, nothing like the exterior view.
Moreover, even as Jeon and the other slaves crowded in without forming neat lines, the passage was so wide it didn't feel cramped at all. This suggested the ruins were enormously vast.
"Everyone! Keep the surroundings well-lit and advance forward!"
Amazed by the unexpectedly grand scale of the ruins, the slaves hesitated. The expedition members at the rear urged them on.
"...Fuck."
"They're scared themselves but barking orders."
The slaves muttered curses under their breath, out of earshot, lit the torches in their hands, and raised them high.
Jeon spat a quiet curse as well and lifted his issued torch aloft. His field of vision cleared noticeably, allowing him to make out the surroundings bit by bit.
'...This is impressive.'
Garon had said the ancient era was the golden age of magic.
True to that, the walls of the ruins—clearly aged by the passage of time—remained pristine, as if brand new. Their condition was on a level that would be rare even back on Jeon's original Earth; truly magical.
But there was no time to marvel at every detail.
Judging the slaves' pace too slow, the expedition members pressed their blades close once more.
"Hey! I said advance! Move it! Hurry!"
Faced with the blades at their backs, the slaves stepped forward with bitter resignation.
The silver lining was that no traps sprang up the moment they entered.
"...It's quiet, huh?"
"M-maybe it's not that dangerous."
Perhaps because of that, the slaves—who had been trembling at first—gradually relaxed as time passed, their steps growing steadier as they delved deeper.
"H-hey!? Over there! Something's there!"
How far had they gone like that?
A commotion erupted from the lead slaves, who seemed to have spotted something.
"...Wall paintings?"
It wasn't a trap in the ruins themselves.
Just a sudden section of murals amid the plain walls.
"Don't get worked up! Keep advancing!"
As the slaves who found the murals stirred, the trailing expedition members quelled the unrest with shouts and pressed onward.
But they weren't entirely indifferent to the wall drawings either. A few pulled out paper and began sketching the patterns—excluding the clear images of figures or objects.
'...Patterns?'
Seeing this, Jeon glanced at the patterns on the wall.
Swirling shapes, not depicting people or objects clearly.
Yet staring at them gave Jeon a strange itch in the back of his mind.
'Hm?'
At first glance, the engraved patterns seemed meaningless scribbles. But compelled by an odd sensation, as he kept staring, some began to reveal their meaning to his eyes.
'I... can read this?'
Some of the patterns weren't mere designs—they were characters with meaning.
Once he recognized that, the vaguely familiar script grew rapidly more legible.
'The great mage who led the kingdom's eternal prosperity and glory...?'
The text mostly praised some unnamed kingdom's mage.
But it wasn't neatly written; the script swirled flamboyantly, blending with surrounding patterns.
'Is this ancient script?'
Even accounting for the ornate style, the characters here differed completely from Imperial or Tuk language.
This was an ancient ruin, after all.
Which meant the writing was likely lost ancient tongue, unpassed down to the present.
'I heard most ancient languages were lost... Does the Korean Patch apply to this too?'
He recalled that the ancient era—called magic's golden age—had collapsed in a great war fueled by magic, losing much knowledge of spells, languages, and culture.
Who knew his Korean Patch would work on those too.
Curious, Jeon glanced at the expedition members copying the walls.
They seemed unable to distinguish script from mere patterns, copying indiscriminately.
'Really just me who can read it?'
He alone could decipher an unknown language.
He didn't yet know how to exploit it or what gains it might bring, but the exclusivity alone made his heart race.
'There might be more.'
Jeon walked slowly forward, eyes scanning the walls—not just text, but everything, hoping for other info.
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The ruins were far larger than imagined.
Even after Jeon and the expedition had walked a good distance, the corridor stretched on endlessly. It was impossible to gauge the full size or depth.
No major discoveries like Jeon hoped occurred along the way.
'...Feels like reading a biography.'
The wall texts were mostly about one mage.
How great he was, his victories in countless wars, and the kingdom's prosperity thanks to him.
"What is this, some tomb of an incredibly important figure?"
"Yeah... Every wall shows a bearded man."
"Could be a temple, not a tomb."
With numerous murals alongside the text, even the illiterate could infer the gist.
'The great rune mage who dominated runes, rivaling the empire's archmages—the kingdom's top archmage is buried here...'
Jeon knew exactly who was buried here and how impressive they were, beyond mere inference.
The problem: no real benefit.
'Still, must've been an incredible mage.'
Not royalty, yet granted such a grand tomb? Clearly, the "kingdom's greatest archmage" title fit perfectly, per the walls.
'If I could just snag something useful...'
But Jeon didn't mind much.
His goal: grab something decent and get out.
'...Tougher than expected, though.'
He'd hoped his exclusive reading ability would let him sneak something valuable, but with walls full of hagiography, that plan fizzled.
"Hm, ruins this quiet."
"Tell me about it. Almost embarrassing how tense we were coming in—too quiet."
"Tombs like this usually have defenses against looters... Think someone's already cleaned it out? If I'd known..."
"Enough. No traces of that. Probably just a dormant site. Best to keep going anyway."
Meanwhile, the expedition chafed at the eerie silence inside.
They'd brought slaves as meat shields, yet nothing happened—disappointing.
'Embarrassing for them.'
Jeon smirked inwardly at their talk, still reading the walls.
He held faint hope, and the content was engaging.
'But it's turning tragic as we go.'
Further in, the biography veered into novel-like tragedy.
To sum: The kingdom's top archmage fought an imperial army sent to halt the kingdom's rise.
That army included multiple imperial archmages, putting him at death's door. Desperate, he unleashed a trump card.
'His most-used rune magic.'
He slew the imperial archmages, but at the cost of becoming a near-invalid.
'Not a good end... Hm?'
Despite his state, the kingdom—honoring their hero—tried to care for him.
Issue: His magical power remained intact.
'...So they sealed him?'
His intermittent rampages caused casualties. Unable to endure, the kingdom sealed him.
To seal such power, they repurposed it: harnessing his vast mana and rune-etched body and soul.
'And this facility maintains that seal?'
It required immense infrastructure. To focus sealing power, they spread magic arrays as murals throughout this tomb-like structure, culminating at the end in...
"Wait, this is getting a bit...?"
Jeon sensed foreboding mid-read.
"Something ahead!"
"That's... a dais?"
"An altar for rituals?"
The endless corridor opened into a vast chamber, a single dais at its center.
Like enshrining something, a small coffer rested atop the empty pupil-like chamber's raised platform.
"Ooh...!"
"Doesn't look ordinary!"
"Stay calm! Check thoroughly—we don't know what's here!"
After the monotonous trek, this obvious treasure stirred slaves and expedition alike.
Leaders tried calming them, but hid their own excitement poorly.
'Don't rush in.'
Jeon alone stayed composed.
'The corridors were magic arrays sustaining the seal. At the end: direct measures to guard it.'
Knowing the purpose and construction, unease gripped him.
Ignorant, the expedition—emboldened by the safe path—approached with more thrill than caution, sidelining the slaves.
Seizing the chance, Jeon slipped back to the rear.
The situation felt off.
"What? Nothing weird..."
The moment a lead expedition member reached the dais.
⚠️ ANCIENT WARNING ⚠️
"Punishment awaits those who disturb the seal."
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
The chamber rumbled, the ruins shaking violently.