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CHAPTER 199: THE ARENA BOMB ②

CHAPTER 199: THE ARENA BOMB ②

~ Kinu’s Point of View~

(This is Nelfie. I have found the Arena bomb.)

After receiving this telepathic message, Cinque and I immediately ran out of the arena ring and into the adjacent passageway, responding to the information that was related to us.

(As expected of Nelfie, you found it faster than I initially expected.)

(Ah, it’s not like that at all. I just had roughly guessed where it could be. And Fernando did not seem to want to hide it all that much.)

(What do you mean by that?)

(The bomb itself was placed in the basement of the arena as expected. But this was such a big building, you know. If they had really wanted to hide it, there must have been other places that would have been way better for that task. However, it was actually placed in a place that was just begging for people to find it, even by accident. However, if it actually explodes, it would also be the most efficient place if you wanted to destroy the entire arena.)

(Hmm, alright. We will head there right away. Where exactly is it?)

(It is located underground. There is a water tank that stores rainwater on the first basement floor, and a nearby sewer that runs underground through the city on the second basement floor. The bomb was placed on the floor of the water tank on the first basement floor.)

(Alright, got it. Please tell me the route to get there.)

(There is a passage right next to the third waiting room, and at the very end of it there is a door locked with a Magical Tool. If you open the door, you can enter the stairs leading to the basement itself. The unlocking code for the Magic Tool is “0325-0129-0803”.)

「Roger that. We will head there right away.)

(Understood. I will continue to monitor the bomb while I wait for you two to get here, Kinu and Cinque.)

(Mhm. But be careful.)

I think it was Michael who told Nelfie about this particular route and the unlocking code for the door. Michael, who was assigned directly to serve the King, should know pretty much everything about that particular arena.

In any case, it was nice to be able to meet up with Nelfie so smoothly. Plus, if we could just go through that door, the number of patrolling soldiers should greatly decrease.

We took the shortest route out of the third waiting room and arrived at the locked door. When we entered the unlock code, a small magic circle appeared and the door opened slightly with a quiet click.

Together with Cinque, we entered the stairs leading to the basement. When we closed the door behind us, the magic circle appeared again and the door locked automatically. I then wondered for a short moment who could have made this Magical Tool in the first place. Aun had told me before that Ruzarc had made the giant Magical Tool that created the arena’s defensive barriers. This made it highly likely that Ruzarc had also made this Magical Tool himself.

Not only had he studied arithmetic, history, imperial studies, politics, and economics since childhood, but Ruzarc was also at the forefront of the country when it came to Magical Tool studies, so he must have been a true genius.

As I was thinking about this, we arrived at the first basement floor and our view suddenly opened up.

「Kinu-sama, where are Nelfie and the others?」

「Hmm. Probably near the water tank itself.」

「This is…… But why would they be there?」

「Nelfie said it was an “easy place,” to find, right? This underground water tank must be pretty huge. And if an explosion were to occur there, the force of the explosion, plus a huge amount of water that would flood right in, would overflow and break many of the pillars supporting this entire arena. If that were to happen……」

「It is really scary just thinking about it. Even we would not get away with it……」

「That’s right. Fernando is a really clever bastard.」

If he judged that he could not win by the use of force, he would thoroughly do his best to avoid combat while firmly stalling us for time. I wonder if he used that “thing”, a bomb, instead of a “person”, to reduce the discrepancy in his predictions…… Fernando was rational and efficient to a fault, and cold-hearted enough to only think of people as mere pawns. His actions showed that he was that kind of man. His personality was so opposite that I wonder if he was really related to Ruzarc.

As we continued walking, we spotted Nelfie and Michael near a huge water tank.

「Sorry to keep you waiting, Nelfie. What do you think?」

「This is something I alone can handle. It’s not a simple bomb, it’s made by combining various kinds of Magical Tools together.」

「Do you think it would be difficult to remove it from the water tank itself?」

「It’s best not to mess with this sort of thing if you don’t know exactly how it works. Even if we did touch it, we would need a Magical Tool expert to handle it……」

…… That being said, our options were naturally quite limited.

The only person we knew who knew about Magical Tools in greater detail was Ruzarc. It would be difficult to find someone else fit for the job, and we could not trust them to touch a literal bomb…… In that respect, Ruzarc had the best knowledge and skills in the Magical Tools field in the entire country, and was a trustworthy person at the same time.

However, it would be best to consult with Aun before taking any actions here.

「Hmm, Alright, I get it. I would like to hear Aun’s opinion first. I will connect telepathically to him right away.」

「Understood.」

It’s been about thirty minutes since we separated from Aun and Drake. I hope they are not in the middle of a fierce battle right now…… But I guess Aun and the others would still be okay if that was the case.

(Aun, is it okay for you to talk now?)

(Yeah, sure thing! I just so happened to defeat Bride and meet up with Drake. Has there been any progress over there on your side?)

≪As expected of Aun, I should say. Nelphie found a bomb on our side. But it seems that it would be impossible to defuse it unless you are well versed in Magical Tools.)

(In that case, Ruzarc should be……)

(Hmm. What do YOU think?)

(To be honest, I would rather not call Ruzarc to the royal capital right now…… But there’s no other option left for us……)

(I was thinking the same thing.)

(If this thing explodes, what is the estimated damage to its surroundings?)

(Considering where it was set up, this arena will probably collapse on itself. There’s no place to evacuate the people here, and there’s no guarantee we will have enough time to do so. The damage will be unimaginably great.)

(Yeah, that’s true…… Oh well, I guess there’s no other way. Then I will connect to Ruzarc right away.)
As soon as he connects to him, Ruzarc will definitely come here.

Considering that Ruzarc had a Subordinate Contract with Aun and could return to the Alline Dungeon, if I send Cinque to pick him up and come back here, he should arrive here in about twenty minutes or so.

However, Aun and I were concerned that Fernando’s goal was to have Ruzarc come to the royal capital at this chaotic time. From Fernando’s perspective, now would be the best time to summon Ruzarc to the royal capital. If that was really the case here, then he would once again be one step ahead of us…… But there was no other choice left for us, so there was nothing else that we could possibly do.

For now, let’s have Cinque return to the Alrain Dungeon and ask him to bring Ruzarc back here safely.