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Davion, Nubes, Latia, and Liber sat around a large table.
Liber took out a magic lantern and lit the area.
Then, he took out a large map and spread it on the table.
It was a map of Elton Academy, easily obtainable anywhere.
"What is this? You had such a serious expression like you were pulling out a secret map."
"Wait and see. First, let me explain the structure of our Elton Academy. This building is divided into nine sections. Each grade, from 1st to 7th, uses a different section, so we rarely run into each other."
Latia folded her arms and looked at Liber.
"Hey, are you sure you know what you're talking about? The Elton Academy building is divided into eight sections. That's something every student at the academy knows."
"Ah, just wait a second. Listen."
Liber took out a thick fountain pen and drew lines on the map as he continued his explanation.
"This is the area where we are. You know? And this is 2nd grade, this is 3rd grade..."
After dividing all the areas up to 7th grade, he pointed to the empty area in the middle.
"This is the common area. It's the only place where you can meet other grades when there's an event at the academy. It's also the space where we'll hold the spring festival after the midterm exams."
Nubes looked at the map and counted on his fingers.
"Latia is right. It's eight."
"Ugh. You guys are just like regular people who only see what's in front of them. That's why information is important."
Liber took out another piece of paper of similar size.
It was a map that was similar to the one they had just seen, but slightly different.
"This is a map of the first Alkancia Royal Palace. It was hard to get. Let's divide it into sections, just like before."
Liber began to divide the map, following the shapes of the terrain and walls, just like he had done earlier.
"How is it? Similar to before, right?"
Nubes replied.
"Of course, it's the same building."
"Is it really the same building?"
"A thousand years have passed, so there must have been a lot of maintenance. But I heard they tried to maintain the original shape as much as possible."
"I thought you didn't know anything? Not bad... Okay, it's all done. Divide it into sections like this, right? Count again. How many are there?"
"One, two, three, four, five... Huh? Nine?"
"Correct. The original Alkancia Royal Palace had a total of nine sections."
Liber overlapped the two pieces of paper and handed one end to Nubes.
Nubes held one end, and Liber held the other, lifting the maps up.
The magic lantern on the table illuminated the paper, showing the two sections Liber had drawn overlapping.
Davion pointed to one side of the map.
"It's there."
"Correct."
The ninth section, connecting a part of the 1st grade area, a part of the 2nd grade area, and a part of the common area, was visible.
Latia, who had been watching with narrowed eyes, opened her mouth.
"The center of the ninth section of the royal palace map coincides with the meeting point of the three sections of the academy map."
"Oh, Latia. Sharp. Correct! The ninth space is a space created by Erium I, the first king, to commemorate the Stone of Enlightenment. And that place Latia mentioned, the point where the three sections of the academy meet now, that's the entrance to the underground where the Stone of Enlightenment is kept."
"Then why did the sections of the building change like they are now?"
This time, Liber's tone wasn't very confident.
"Well... maybe they moved the location of the Stone of Enlightenment to keep it a secret from others when they moved? They would have had guards stationed there when it was the royal palace, but they couldn't manage it that way after they moved."
This time, Davion asked.
"One more question."
"Yeah, go ahead."
"But why did you come to us specifically to talk about this? You have your own group of friends."
Liber gestured for everyone to come closer.
Even though they were already gathered in a secluded, empty secret place at night, Liber lowered his voice even more.
"As you know, there's a spy in the academy. It could be a teaching assistant, a professor, a janitor, a guard, or even a student like us."
"And?"
"We can't hand over the Stone of Enlightenment, a sacred object of our Alkancia Kingdom, to a spy, can we? But you guys are the ones who ruined the spy's plan. That means you're not spies, at least. Besides, you're skilled, too."
As Liber said, in a situation where they didn't know who the spy was, approaching Davion and his friends, who had defeated the Gray Witch and ruined the spy's plan, was the result of some careful thinking.
"Okay, let's go. But you've got a plan for getting in there, right, Liber? We can't enter anywhere except the 1st grade area."
"Uh... since there's a passage to the underground near the meeting point of the three sections, if we're lucky, that door might be inside our 1st grade area, right?"
"And if it's not?"
"We'll have to figure it out when we get there."
"...It was too much to expect that far. Let's go for now."
Nubes picked up Liber's large backpack with one hand. When Nubes held it, the big backpack looked like a kindergarten bag.
"I'll carry this. Leave the heavy lifting to me."
"Thanks, Nubes."
The four friends slipped out of the fitness room.
"Be careful not to get caught by the janitor or the guards. Crouch down."
The four students crouched down and began to move into the darkness, avoiding the lights.
The academy was so large that it took a long time before the main buildings of the 1st grade area disappeared and a forest appeared.
"Can we straighten up a bit from here?"
"Yeah. We just need to get over a few more hills and we'll be there. The intersection of the three sections."
It was just a few hills in name; it was a distance that ordinary people wouldn't be able to reach even after running for hours.
But there wasn't much time before sunrise.
Even if they didn't succeed in finding the Stone of Enlightenment today, time was running out if they wanted to complete the first exploration and return before sunrise.
"We'll be late at this rate. Let's go with the original plan."
Latia asked.
"What's the original plan, Davion?"
"Nubes carries Liber and runs."
"Carries and runs?"
"It'll take too long at a normal person's pace. We need to increase the speed of crossing these hills if we want to go and come back before sunrise."
Unlike Nubes, who had trained both internal and external strength since childhood, Liber, a mage, couldn't run fast.
The same was true for Latia.
"Th-Then, what about me?"
Davion turned around, showing his back.
Then, he awkwardly adopted a posture.
A sign to get on his back.
Latia grabbed her opposite shoulders with both arms and stepped back.
"I can't! I can't do it!"
Davion just turned his head and looked at Latia.
"Really? Then you go back from here. The three of us will go and find the Stone of Enlightenment."
"I-Is there no other way? Like using a magic circle. Or finding some other means of transportation."
"I was planning to draw a magic circle nearby when we go this time. The exploration might not end in one go. But today is the first day."
Latia looked at Davion's back with a troubled expression.
"But..."
Davion sighed deeply and straightened the back he had been awkwardly bending.
"That's right. Go back. The three of us will go. There's no time. Let's go, guys."
Liber was already clinging to Nubes' back like a cicada.
"I can't help it. Let's go with just us then."
"We're leaving then. Hold on tight, Liber."
Latia shouted urgently.
"W-Wait a minute!"
Davion, now openly making an annoyed expression.
"What is it, again?"
"I'm going too. I've come this far. I'll ride... on your back."
"Haa, then get on. Here."
Davion took up the stance again.
Latia carefully approached and leaned her body against Davion's back.
"I'm only riding on your back because I can't help it."
"Who said anything? Just ride properly. Unless you want to fall off backwards on the way."
"I'll do well on my own, so let's get going."
"I'm warning you."
Nubes leaped forward first.
Following him, Davion's body shot out like an arrow.
"Kyaa!"
Latia, surprised, grabbed Davion's neck tightly.
"You're choking me. Hold on gently."
"Kyaa!"
Liber took out the map and looked around.
"This is the 2nd grade area on the left. The common area on the right. We've arrived properly. The point where the three sections meet."
Davion also looked around and asked.
"But it's completely blocked by a wall. I don't see anything like an entrance to the underground."
"We have to look carefully. Let's split up and look. If we can't find the entrance here, we'll have to figure out how to get to the next section. It probably won't be easy to cross into another section."
Liber looked up at the blocked wall.
The expression "mountain fortress" was more fitting than "wall."
It seemed to be dozens of meters high.
"The wall is higher than I thought."
"So how are we going to find the entrance?"
Liber replied.
"Diligently?"
Davion clenched his fist.
"Do you want to get hit?"
Liber hurriedly began to rummage through the bushes with the stick he was holding.
"Alright! Let's split up and look."
There was nothing else they could do.
"Since it's an entrance to the underground, it's likely to be on the ground, right?"
"That's right. Let's look carefully at our feet."
Then, Latia staggered out from behind a tree.
Davion turned his head and asked.
"Did you throw up?"
"Wh-What? Don't say such things to a lady."
"If not, then never mind. You find the entrance quickly too."
"How do I find it?"
"Diligently?"
"..."
The four friends spent a long time rummaging through the bushes and wandering around.
"Hey, Liber."
"Huh? What is it, Davion?"
"This wall, I mean. We can't jump over it. How thick do you think it is?"
"Why? Are you going to break it?"
"Well, if we can't find the entrance on this side, we'll have to cross over to another section and look."
"It'll be really thick, probably? Maybe you or Latia could break it, but if you do, the academy guards will come running because of the noise."
"That's probably right?"
Davion stroked the bricks of the fortress with his hand and walked slowly.
"Huh?"
Davion suddenly stopped.
He could feel the flow of the wind changing slightly as it passed through his fingers.
He immediately placed both hands in front of the wall and manifested his mana, grabbing the mana felt at his fingertips.
It was the method of reading mana that he had learned in the telekinesis magic class.
'There are bricks with a different flow of mana!'
He moved slowly again, scanning the wall.
With both hands on the wall, he read the flow of mana within the stones.
Latia had approached his side before he knew it.
"That's amazing, Davion."
"What?"
"You're looking for bricks with a different flow of mana right now, right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you find them all?"
"This one, this one, this one. And this one."
Davion pulled one of the bricks with telekinesis magic.
Drdddddd.
The brick slowly came out.
Latia also activated telekinesis magic and tried to pull another brick.
"Huh?"
When Latia pulled on another brick, the brick that Davion had pulled out went back in.
"Davion. You two. I two. Let's pull at the same time."
"Alright."
"One, two, three!"
Drdddddd.
The four large bricks began to be pulled out little by little.
How much had they been pulled?
Kudddddddd.
The six bricks between the four bricks began to sink into the ground.
Sensing something unusual, Liber and Nubes also approached.
Liber asked.
"Wow, is it a door to another section? If it's this way... the 2nd grade section?"
Davion shook his head.
"No."
"Then?"
"I think we've found it. The entrance to the underground."
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