Volume 5, Chapter 32 – The Mysterious Facility

Beyond the door the General had kicked open, a swarm of Undying Beasts came leaping out, as expected.

“Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!”

Despite the narrow corridor, the General skillfully swung his spear-axe, annihilating the beasts. I provided support with Purification Magic, but the other three had nothing to do because the passage was too cramped.

“By the way, Shizuku-san.”

“What is it?”

“Shizuku-san, can’t you create light with Foxfire? I think it would be easier for everyone to fight if we had those flames.”

“…My apologies. I certainly possess the Skill, but I have absolutely no idea how to use it.”

“Eh?”

What does that mean? I thought you just… thought about using a Skill and it happened.

“Look, you were producing pale blue flames back in the Dragon God Cave. Ah, Purification.”

I continued the conversation with Shizuku-san while casting Purification Magic.

“Fiene-dono, I am sorry, but I—”

“Ah, that’s right. You don’t have your memories. I’m sorry. But since the Skill is there, shouldn’t the flames appear if you just concentrate on using it?”

“S-So that is how it works? Mmmmmm…”

At my words, Shizuku-san began to groan, her face twisted in deep concentration.

However, the pale blue flames I had seen back then did not appear.

Seeing this, Chris-san offered me some advice.

“Fiene-sama, perhaps it is necessary to learn the correct incantation, as one does when using magic?”

“Eh? I don’t use incantations.”

Rеαԁ on КatReаԁіոɡСαfе

“That is because you are Fiene-sama. Ordinary people must perform the correct incantation. That was written in the books you gave me. It is said that unless one possesses an incredibly deep understanding of the magic, it is impossible to use it without an incantation. Therefore, it states that the first and most important step is to memorize the incantation correctly.”

“…I see.”

That was news to me. It seems even this is one of the side effects of having a MAX Skill Level.

Wait? But I don’t use incantations when I use other Attribute Magic either. How does that work?

“Hey! Finish them off already! This is the last one!”

“Ah, yes, yes. Purification.”

Interrupted by the General’s roar mid-thought, I used Purification Magic to turn the beasts attempting to regenerate into dust.

“Let’s move.”

“Yes, yes.”

We followed the General through the door he had kicked in.

What greeted our eyes was an utterly bizarre sight.

Desks that were clearly not for office work—likely once arranged in neat rows—lay in ruins.

Shards of broken glass and pottery were scattered about, along with bones that appeared to belong to animals or some such creatures kept in small cages.

Everything was strewn about in total chaos.

There were broken shelves along the walls, but no documents were to be found.

Looking at this scene, the words “animal experimentation facility” came to mind.

“What a horrible sight…”

Shizuku-san frowned.

Rеαⅾ oո КаtReαԁіոgСαfе

“Hey, Saint. Make the light stronger. In this darkness, you’re the only one who can see.”

“Ah, okay.”

I couldn’t help but wonder how he could walk without bumping into anything despite claiming he couldn’t see, but I suppose I just have to accept it because he’s the General.

I intensified the light of my Purification Magic.

The ruins of the animal laboratory (tentative) were illuminated by a white light, exposing the full extent of the carnage.

“What! This is…!”

“Horrible…”

Chris-san and Lu-chan let out cries of shock. In contrast to the two of them, the General didn’t so much as bat an eye as he began inspecting the area.

“I wonder what on earth this place is?”

“Onee-sama, this place feels very unpleasant. And, it’s been strange since that valley, but there isn’t a single spirit here.”

Lu-chan spoke to me with an anxious expression.

I see. So that was it. It seems I had made her endure quite a bit of fear.

To Lu-chan, who can see spirits, the fact that there wasn’t a single one despite being in a forest must have been incredibly unsettling.

And she had endured it just to stay with us.

I gently pulled Lu-chan close by the shoulder and spoke softly to reassure her.

“It’s okay. If anything happens, I’ll protect you properly with a Barrier.”

“…Yes, Onee-sama.”

After waiting for Lu-chan to calm down, I searched the room. However, I found absolutely no documents or clues.

Rеαd oո ΚαtRеаԁіnɡСαfe

“There’s a staircase going down. There’s nothing here. Let’s go.”

With that, the General strode forward.

“Ah, wait a moment!”

We hurried after him and descended the stairs. At the bottom, a massive number of cages were piled up.

And inside them, of course, remained the corpses of animals.

“…This is horrible.”

“Hey, Saint. What is this? Those strange beasts aren’t supposed to leave bones behind.”

“I suspect, perhaps, that they were conducting some kind of experiment on animals here.”

“Experiments?”

“Fiene-dono, are you suggesting that those Undying Beasts were created by someone’s hand?”

“Yes. I believe so. And seeing as no documents were left behind, I think they abandoned this facility.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps the Undying Beasts they created became uncontrollable, or perhaps they moved to another location.”

“Who created these things?”

“…General, there’s no way we would know that.”

“I see…”

The General began searching for anything useful. We followed suit, but we couldn’t find anything that looked like a lead.

“Hmph. It seems this is all there is.”

Rеаⅾ оn KatRеaⅾіոɡCαfе

“It appears so. General, I would like to perform a Funeral Rite for those animals so they don’t become Undead, and then purify this place. Is that alright?”

“Do as you wish.”

I thought he might tell me to leave evidence, but the General gave his permission readily.

Having received permission, I performed the Funeral Rite and cast Purification Magic on the animal remains.

Then, imagining the Purification Magic spreading through the entire facility, I released it.

“Purification!”

The light of purification expanded greatly, cleansing the facility and the cave of something sludge-like clinging to the walls.

“Ugh… there’s quite a lot of it.”

I continued to emit the light of purification for about five minutes, stopping only when I no longer felt anything left to purify.

Then, I spoke in a voice I tried to make sound cheerful.

“Now, let’s head back.”

“Fiene-dono, it is far too dark.”

“Eh?”

How insulting. I thought I had spoken in the brightest tone possible.

“Onee-sama, it’s too dark to see without a light!”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Scratching my head in embarrassment, I lit the way with Purification Magic. And so, we retraced our steps.