The time Fernan was given wasn't very long, and he couldn't afford to cause a commotion.
The eyes of professors, TAs, and even the students—all posed restrictions. But Fernan resolved everything with money.
Using all kinds of artifacts and magical reagents, he erased as much of his presence and mana from leaking out as possible.
He went deep underground, moving cautiously, and even prepared for any unexpected scenarios.
Still, one major obstacle remained.
"How do I find the cave once I reach the lake?"
Fernan had already searched every lake once before.
It was clear that using conventional methods wouldn't reveal the entrance, and to make matters worse, it was uncertain how much longer Berrian could keep Aint occupied.
That's why Fernan thought long and hard.
How could he find the cave in time?
How could he avoid getting caught?
And eventually, he came to a conclusion.
"You can't have both."
If he focused too much on secrecy, he'd never find the cave before Aint arrived.
But if he rushed things, it was only a matter of time before he was caught by a professor or TA.
So Fernan chose to walk the line between the two.
First, he activated an artifact he had purchased from the Dragon God Cult. A translucent barrier spread out, encasing the lower part of the lake around him.
It was a device that prevented mana, noise, and debris from leaking out. Though not perfect, it was better than nothing.
"Better than having nothing at all."
He opened a subspace again.
Crack—
A giant hand burst out from the splitting rift. As the crack widened, a foot, a head, and then the torso followed.
It was an artificial giant—a golem—standing 5 meters tall.
A pinnacle of arcane engineering, built with every magical technique imaginable. The ultimate embodiment of both magic and merchant wealth.
The golem's eyes glowed as it moved smoothly even underwater.
Soon, Fernan placed his hand on the golem's body and activated a control ritual. As mana rippled, a link formed between them.
"Spreading mana to explore the interior was a no-go."
Using high-level magic to shake the entire ground would definitely attract attention, so that wasn't an option either.
That left only one solution.
"I'll have to use equipment to manually tear up the lakebed."
The golem's movements would stir up muddy water and sediment, but there was no denying this was the best approach.
Of course, this was only viable because the lake had no monsters. While controlling the golem, Fernan would be virtually defenseless.
"Let's begin."
Hoping that Berrian could buy him more time, he sat down and began piloting the golem.
With every movement of the golem, the once-calm surface of the lake began to ripple.
"If you want to get through, you'll have to go through me!"
— Heartless bastard! You're really going to just walk past after seeing him do all that?!
— How could a descendant of Armian be so narrow-minded?!
'…God, this is seriously pissing me off.'
Aint clutched his throbbing head.
In front of him, someone was blocking the path and whining, while the sword at his waist was vibrating and shouting noisily.
'If I could fight, I'd just knock him out and be on my way…'
A thought unimaginable before, but now it felt very real.
"Cut it out, Berrian. You know I can't fight, so stop acting like a child."
"Child? What the hell did you just say?"
Berrian's face twisted with fury.
"If you don't like it, then put that thing down. Do you know how many minutes I've been stuck here because of you?"
But Aint didn't back down and growled back.
"You think I'm enjoying this—!"
"Remember this, Berrian. You've got one hour. If you can't even hold out for one hour, the inquisitors will personally show up at your house."
Berrian bit back the scream that was about to burst out.
Being caught and tortured by the inquisitors was far worse than being insulted by Aint.
"…Fine."
"What?"
"I said I like doing this, you bastard! Come at me right now!"
"You little...!"
Aint summoned his aura once more and kicked off the ground. He shot off in the exact opposite direction of where Berrian was standing.
"Not so fast!"
But Berrian wasn't about to make it easy. In an instant, a slash from his sword tore through part of the forest, and the falling tree trunks blocked Aint's path.
Before Aint could change direction, Berrian was already in front of him again.
It was the same routine, repeated over and over.
"I told you, you're not getting past me without a fight, Aint. Do you not learn?"
"Shouldn't you be the one hearing that?! You've lost twice already—just get lost!"
Even if Berian had lost in previous duels, his skills were very real. Escaping his reach purely with speed, without using force, was incredibly difficult.
— Aint, go all out.
— Stop hurting him further with your damn coldness.
— If you're not going to fight him, then end it quickly!
'How is this my fault, seriously!'
Regardless, if Aint really wanted to break free, he'd have to use his full strength.
There might be unnecessary collisions along the way, someone could get hurt—but perhaps that much would be overlooked by the professors and TAs.
He'd already been delayed for about an hour. Surely they had seen all this unfold.
Golden aura shimmered like sunlight as it wrapped around Aint's body.
"If you're not going to move, then brace yourself. I'm not holding back anymore."
Without waiting for a reply, he charged forward.
Like a rampaging bull, unstoppable. Berian instinctively flinched. That tiny hesitation let Aint slip past him.
"…Ah."
Realizing his mistake a second too late, Berian simply slumped to the ground.
"Damn it, I did everything I could."
He checked his pocket watch and let out a long sigh.
"Well… at least I lasted over an hour."
He had held out for one hour and ten minutes. Thankfully, that met the minimum.
"How many more times am I going to have to deal with crap like this…?"
He trailed off, then slowly turned around, sword drawn with a shing.
There stood a monster reeking of rot.
Three meters tall, massive, with huge, razor-sharp claws and a menacing aura—it was one of the forest's apex predators: a Grizzly Bear.
"Goddamn it, can't I get a break…?!"
The Grizzly Bear lunged at him.
Meanwhile, Aint was trudging through the forest.
"We're not too delayed, right? If it weren't for Berian, I wouldn't be this late."
He had run blindly to shake Berian off and ended up farther from his destination.
Berian Kalburden wasn't someone who helped him in any way.
— It's fine. You have a whole week anyway. If someone was going to snatch it up just from a few hours' delay, it would've been gone long ago.
"True, that does make sense."
It was a setup that had been hidden for a thousand years. If it was gone, it would've disappeared ages ago.
— And besides, you still made it here in the end.
— This might even be better. No one else is around.
Gardner had a point. There wasn't a single trace of another person nearby.
Well, there was a TA around, but that didn't matter.
Even if he jumped into the lake, they'd probably think he was trying to catch a fish—not that he was here to claim an elixir.
As Aint dove into the lake, he tore the Breath Scroll he'd bought in advance.
The bottom was covered in uneven stones and gravel, faint murky sediment rising in plumes, and fish swimming all around.
To the naked eye, it looked like nothing more than a peaceful lake. Nothing about it suggested that a spirit herb placed there by the first emperor lay hidden.
"Are we sure this thing is actually here?"
— Are you saying I'm lying?
"Of course not."
— Then shut up and start combing the entire lakebed.
"Excuse me? I thought you knew where it was?"
— All I know is that it's somewhere on the lake floor. The mana traces have been erased so thoroughly that someone at your level has no choice but to search manually.
— That's why I told you to buy the Breath Scroll no matter what.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Now it made sense why he'd insisted on buying that expensive scroll despite Aint's tight budget—there was a reason behind it.
Still, if he could obtain the spirit herb, a little suffering was nothing.
Fortunately, it didn't take that long.
— There. That's it.
After about an hour of searching, Aint found a small crevice.
From the outside, it didn't look like the entrance to an underwater cave at all.
"You'd never find this unless you were really looking for it, huh?"
That's how well-hidden the entrance was.
— Obviously. If it were easy to find, it would've been stolen already.
"Fair enough."
A narrow gap between gravel and stone—impossible to guess it was an entrance. But Aint didn't hesitate to push himself through.
There was no reason for Sir Gardener Alpenfarsen to lie to him, and Aint had already experienced a similar dungeon back when he first acquired Sir Gardener.
Sure enough, the small crevice, contrary to its appearance, swallowed Aint in one go.
Before he knew it, he was inside an underwater cave.
"This is different from the place where I first met Sir Gardener."
— It's just a few overlapping concealment spells to hide the entrance. It's not an artificially constructed dungeon or anything.
After moving forward a bit and surfacing, a proper cave interior revealed itself. It was quite dark inside, but by reinforcing his vision with aura, Aint could see a straight tunnel stretching out.
— Looks like all the magic lamps are broken. Well, after a thousand years, that's to be expected.
— You're not going to complain about the darkness, are you?
"No problem."
Aint strode forward. It was dark, yes, but the path was linear, with no immediate threats.
After some time, he came to a stop.
"…Up ahead."
— You feel it too, huh?
There was a massive presence.
— Go. Suppress your presence as much as you can.
"Yes."
Aint stepped forward with heightened caution. When he finally reached the entrance to a large cavern, he saw it.
"…Jackpot."
It was a spirit herb.
Perched precariously on one side of the cavern wall, the herb glowed. The dense mana it emitted filled the entire chamber, and even without being told, Aint could sense its supreme quality.
"That's the one you mentioned, right—"
— Shh. Look below it.
Aint's gaze shifted downward.
There it was—a long, thick body wrapped in jewel-like, shimmering blue scales. The creature lay coiled with its eyes closed.
Scattered bones, still wet with fresh blood, and its steady breathing made it clear: it had just eaten and was now sleeping.
"…A snake?"
— A water wyrm.
"A… dragon?"
— Not quite. It's a mystical beast that lives in lakes or seas. It may have some divine authority, but it has no magical powers.
— It doesn't usually attack first…
Gardener clicked his tongue.
— But it's troublesome when a thief pretends to be the owner.
The reason the water wyrm had coiled itself here was obvious even without thinking.
It was after the spirit herb as well.
"Then what do we do? Can I beat it if I fight?"
— It's far beyond your level. Best to retreat for now.
— You'll have to come back later.
"If I leave and it eats the herb, it's over, isn't it?"
— So you're going to serve yourself up as dessert instead?
The blunt remark made Aint fall silent. Even he had to admit he probably couldn't win right now.
"…Understood. In that case—"
At that moment—
───!
A faint sound rang out.
And the cavern began to tremble.
"What the…?"
— An earthquake?
The subtle vibrations quickly intensified, shaking the entire chamber. The stalactites hanging from the ceiling couldn't withstand the shock and came crashing down.
Some hit the floor—and others struck the massive body of the sleeping wyrm.
— Listen carefully, Aint.
"…Yes."
Aint swallowed hard.
The steady breathing had stopped. The closed eyelids lifted, revealing bright yellow eyes.
— Run. Don't even look back—just run!
"I'm running!"
Aint turned on his heel.
At that same moment, the disturbed water wyrm let out a long roar.
Rumble—
The ground trembled violently, causing parts of the tunnel to collapse.
"Damn…"
As the shockwave rippled outward, Fernan swallowed dryly. He had accidentally triggered a weak section of the cave, and a portion of it had caved in.
Luckily, he wasn't hurt. But the vibrations were spreading beyond the walls.
'Was I found out?'
Fernan held his breath.
Then he heard faint sounds from beyond the wall.
Human voices—and a monster's screech. Pebbles and dust trickled down from the trembling.
"Good."
It seemed the others had encountered each other and begun fighting. That meant he didn't have to worry about being discovered. Aint wasn't strong enough to sense Fernan's presence while facing a water wyrm.
"Still, a mystical beast is a mystical beast. I fed it chunks of meat loaded with sleeping potion, and it's already up again?"
Fernan refocused on mining mithril. The collapse had made it a bit more troublesome, but it wasn't a major problem.
"Fight long and hard, will you."
Humming to himself at the thought of the radiant mithril and the magic lamps he'd harvested earlier, Fernan couldn't help but smile.