Atelier Tanaka

Book 5: Chapter 1 (3)

Dark Continent (1st)

One of the guards stepped aside but the other remained in my path and spoke.

“I-I used to be stationed in the castle in Tricklis….”

“Oh, you were?”

“That all suddenly changed when I was told I was to be stationed out here. All due to a decision some faceless noble made on my behalf….”

His hand holding the spear began to tremble.

“And now a new noble is here to give me more orders. Where will I be sent this time, huh!? To prison!?”

“Eh? No, I-I wasn’t planning….”

The soldier was getting more and more amped up.

As one might expect, being stationed at an isolated mine isn’t exactly the most luxurious position. I’m sure his mind has been filled with nothing but negative thoughts the entire time he’s been here and he’s had plenty of time to brood over them.

“What am I supposed to do about my family!? I was sent here and there, never having any time to spend with my family and do you know what happened!? My wife left me and even my daughter has become a woman I don’t even recognize….”

That took a dark turn.

I wonder if an orgy with his daughter and wife is possible.

“Oi, Baron, what more suffering can you even cause me!?”

“Oi, calm down.”

The other soldier tried to intervene.

He was physically trying to restrain him by holding him from behind.

“Get a hold of yourself! Think about who you’re speaking to!”

“What can he do to make my life any worse!?”

Is this what all career soldiers lives are destined to be?

Personally, I’d be happy just to have been married. I always regretted not getting married in the prime of my life. A midsummer love filled with passionate sex. But my previous life couldn’t have been further from that.

If I tell him my true thoughts, he might actually attack with that spear.

I have to say something to calm him down.

“Rest assured, you will not go to prison as long as I have a say in the matter. I’ll speak to Viscount FitzClarence on your behalf and see if I can get you stationed in the castle once more.”

“R-Really!?”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

“…I-I see.”

“But I’ll only be able to do that if I can pass through here. If I lose the Viscount’s trust, why would she listen to any request I have? Do you understand?”

I looked straight into the soldier’s eyes.

It didn’t take long for him to break.

He looked down at the ground before speaking to the guard next to him.

“O-Oi, I want to trust the Baron.”

“You changed your mind pretty quickly.”

The other guard gave a quick nod before turning to me. He was more calm than the guard that had his wife stolen from him. Is he happy with where he is in his life or has he just given up?

He took a seat to the side of the mine entrance before speaking.

“My request isn’t as personal as this guy. A little bit of gold is all you need to buy me off.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

I’m glad this guy was much easier to deal with.

I took a few coins out of my breast pocket and handed it to him with a smile.

“You may pass, Baron Tanaka. May we both continue to support the FitzClarence family to the best of our abilities. Long live Duke FitzClarence, long live Viscount FitzClarence, long live Baron Tanaka.”

“Thank you.”

***

I was now inside the mine after buying off the guard.

The inside of the mine was pitch black without any lanterns to light the way. I conjured a fireball to float a few metres in front of me so I could see. I cautiously proceeded down the dimly light shaft.

“….”

There could be monsters here.

I need to be careful.

My entire body was tense as I proceeded down the shaft, but after ten minutes without anything happening, I started to relax. The shaft just continued on without any sign of ending. There would occasionally be some side shafts, but there was no sign of life or anything of interest.

The combination of the dark passage and narrow walls made me feel uneasy. I could easily get lost down here. For now, I’ll melt parts of the ceiling with my fireball to keep track of where I came from.

“….”

It’s scary being all alone down here.

I wish I didn’t come alone.

I tried to imagine Sensei’s pussy in my mind to calm my heart. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her panties in a long time. She’s been locked in her room writing that book. Today was the first time we spoke in a while.

It was as I was lost in my thoughts that something happened.

“….!?”

The floor beneath me suddenly collapsed.

I immediately activated my flight magic and hovered above the hole. The floor crumbled beneath me and the rocks fell into the vast darkness below. After a few seconds, I could hear them clatter against something.

There’s an opening beneath this shaft.

“I’m getting nervous….”

I started to float down into the opening, still using my fireball to light the way. It would be bad if any monsters attacked me now. 

After descending for a few metres, a large room far different than the passage above came into view.

It was easily a hundred metres square.

The ceiling was about six metres high.

The passage above had been carved into the mountain with a few wooden supports, but this room was made by human hands. The walls were made from smooth stone as was the ceiling.

“….”

Oi, oi, oi, this has to be what I’m looking for, right?

Except for the hole I entered through, there was no other entrance I could see.

“What is this place…?”

A magic circle had been drawn in the centre of the room.

It was one of the largest circles I’ve seen.

The geometric figures were etched into the ground in fine lettering and they gave off a faint glow. It was beautiful to look at.

What is this supposed to do?

I’m not capable of looking at these figures and determining the type of magic they’re used for.

If only the noble mage were here.

“….”

What kind of magic is it? But, of course, no matter how hard I stared at the formation, I didn’t have the knowledge to understand it. 

I guess I’m just going to have to try a more direct approach.

I cancelled my flight magic and dropped to the ground.

As my feet hit the ground, a soft slapping sound resonated through the room, but nothing more happened.

“…what should I do?”

If this mine is the Prime Minister’s target, then this formation has to be what he wants.

But I can’t know for sure.

It’s possible this is unrelated to the Prime Minister.

“….”

I suppose there’s one thing left to try.

I can put some of my magic into the circle.

It should be similar to how I did it with the mana potions.

“…I suppose it’s worth a shot.”

I don’t know if there’s a proper way of doing this but I thrust my hands towards the circle in order to create the right atmosphere. Come forth mana, come on, respond to my power unknown magic circle. I poured my magic out in the hopes that something would happen.

I could feel a strange sensation take hold of me.

“Uwaa….”

I quickly activated my invincible mode as a precaution.

But after I had stopped pouring out my mana, everything returned to normal.

How much mana was that draining from me?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my MP drop that low just from healing.

It’s already recovered.

Which means that my mana was draining fast enough that my natural recovery couldn’t keep up. I may still have been far from completely exhausting my mana, but if I let it go long enough, I’d eventually be completely exhausted. This must have cost a considerable amount more than using recovery magic or fireballs.

While I was focused on this strange occurrence, the magic circle at my feet began to glow brighter.

What’s going to happen?

“…I probably shouldn’t be standing on top of it.”

I tried to take a few steps away, but as I did, the light began to glow brighter.

“Ah!?’

The dazzling light began to glow like a raging magnesium fire.

The blinding white light forced me to close my eyes.

At the same time, I felt the floor move beneath me. I activated my flight magic and tried to move as far away from the circle as possible.  I flew at full speed to the corner of the room.

I’m not sure what happened next.

I had my eyes set on the wall furthest from the corner, when suddenly it was right in front of me.

I overcorrected and slammed my head hard into the ceiling before hurtling towards the wall and crashing shoulder first into the wall. I finally collapsed limply to the floor.

“Ah….”

It hurts.

I could hear a loud popping noise coming from my shoulder as I tried to move.

I’m not used to travelling at high speeds with my flight magic in such confined areas. Before I knew it, I had reached the opposite wall and overcorrected hitting my head.

I healed my injuries and the pain quickly dissipated.

After the pain was gone, I looked around to take in my surroundings, but…where am I?

I was in a large room before of around a hundred metres square, but this room is less than half the size.

What is going on?

***