Magical User Aozaki Aoko Case Files Chapter 236

The Aozaki sisters, traveling through this land that seemed to be a borderland, naturally couldn’t rely solely on their feet. However, they currently knew nothing about the place, so they naturally wanted to thoroughly investigate the information in the environment.

Along the way, they eliminated some small fry (charred black, whether dead or alive, it was unclear), and finally arrived at a stone monument in front of the architectural ruins.

This stone monument was engraved with a large amount of content in an unknown script, as well as a map that was quite detailed for a medieval fantasy setting.

“Can you understand it?” Touko asked Aoko, “This thing looks like a landmark or a boundary marker?”

Aoko didn’t speak, but began to cast a spell, wrapping herself in a layer of Comprehend Languages, then began to carefully read the content on the stone monument.

“This is a map of the vicinity, and some introductions to the local situation,” Aoko said with a frown, “but these maps seem a bit outdated, not like recent information.”

“Completely obvious,” Touko pursed her lips and said, “Combined with the information obtained through mind-reading earlier, these horned people’s countries must have been attacked by other forces.”

“This area is called the Cemetery Plains,” Aoko said while reading, “Hmm… the ruins in front of us should be an outer checkpoint of a fortress called ‘Berett, Town of Towers.’ It looks like it was destroyed by another army… There’s a village on the high ground to the west, I don’t know if it’s still there, and there’s a church south of this village.”

“Hmm, this stone monument doesn’t seem as old as I imagined,” Aoko stroked her smooth chin and said, “because some of the landmarks on it should have been built in different eras. The invasion of these horned people should have happened before this stone monument was erected.”

“And Touko, haven’t you noticed that the text on this stone monument somewhat resembles Runic script?”

“It’s similar but not quite,” Touko said, looking at the stone monument, “The grammar and structure are completely different, it’s just text that has some similarities in appearance. If there was only this stone monument, it would probably take me a month to learn the writing system of this language.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Aoko pointed to a spot northeast of the checkpoint ruins on the map, “Beyond this large bridge, there’s a place called Ensith City, which seems to be a gathering place for mages. If we’re lucky, we can try to make contact with these local spellcasters to obtain local knowledge, after all, these people should be more inclined to be scholars.”

“Not very realistic,” Touko shook her head and said, “The previous horned person was already very unfriendly to us. Will the spellcasters among these horned people accept us?”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Aoko pointed to a piece of text and said, “It’s recorded here that Ensith City was established after the Town of Towers was invaded.”

“Oh?” Touko became interested, “So the people there are the invaders, or part of the invaders?”

“Yes,” Aoko nodded and said, “Although the area covered by this map is limited, it at least gives us some basic information about the surrounding area, which is still very valuable.”

After speaking, Aoko took out a notebook and used Scribe’s Art. Her fountain pen began to swiftly and automatically copy the content from the stone monument into the notebook.

“Let’s go, we’ll first go into the checkpoint ruins to see if there’s anything worth investigating.” After the copying was complete, Aoko closed the notebook and said to Touko beside her.

—Divider—

After a careful investigation, the situation of these ruins had been basically confirmed.

Undoubtedly, these dilapidated buildings were previously constructed as a checkpoint and watchtower, but due to extensive damage to the main structure and severe burning, their original functions were almost completely lost.

Inside the ruins, some charred “undead” (even charred “undead dogs”) roamed. After a thorough cleanup, not much useful information was found.

In a relatively intact room on the highest point of the eastern side of the ruins, Aoko found a short sword enshrined in a shrine. However, it seemed unusable, as some dark red bloodstains could be seen on the blade… but they couldn’t be wiped off and had seeped into the interior of the short sword along with the rust.

According to her judgment, this short sword should be a type used for sacrificial rituals, though she didn’t know whether it was used to slaughter livestock or humans.

Touko examined it with Runic magic and found that it was actually imbued with a considerable amount of resentment, and some remnants of the victims’ souls also lingered. This seemed to give the short sword a special effect, so after discussion, the two decided to seal it away using sealing magic for now.

Aside from this short sword, the two found nothing else in the checkpoint ruins. They had no choice but to stand in the upper corridor of the ruins, gazing at the scenery while discussing their next course of action.

“Should we go to the village first, or Ensith City?” Touko inquired, “Contacting spellcasters might carry a greater risk.”

“You’re right,” Aoko said, “but we might not need to decide so quickly. When first arriving in an unfamiliar world, being cautious is never wrong, especially since the first ‘local’ we met here wasn’t very friendly.”

After speaking, Aoko released Dazhuang from her familiar bag. The last time they went to Lina’s world was an accident, because she hadn’t expected to go to another world at all, so she left Dazhuang at home. This time, however, was different.

“Croak! I was suffocating!” Dazhuang chirped complaints as soon as he came out, flying two circles before landing on Aoko’s arm, “Is this another world? It certainly looks strange, croak!”

“Time to work, Dazhuang,” Aoko said, stroking Dazhuang’s sleek, oily feathers, “There’s a village on the high ground to the west, and a church south of the village. I need you to help me scout out the situation in both places.”

“Croak, no problem!” Dazhuang was full of energy, seemingly happy to receive a mission and fly around.

“Don’t get too excited,” Aoko warned, “We still know very little about this world, and I still have many things to confirm. You must be careful not to be discovered by the locals.”

After speaking, Aoko pulled out another human-ring-sized anklet from her pocket, opened it, and fastened it to Dazhuang’s leg, replacing the anklet Dazhuang originally had on.

“The enchantment on this anklet is Invisibility,” Aoko instructed, “If you’re discovered, remember to activate this spell and retreat quickly. If the situation isn’t right, notify me, and I’ll rush over to save you.”

“Croak, understood!”

Dazhuang affectionately rubbed Aoko’s hand, then flapped his wings and flew into the sky, heading towards the high ground to the west.