I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 36

Tap, tap, tap.

Randel chased the mysterious figure towards the inner city.

After a while, they stopped in front of a large building.

When he looked up, he saw an unusually long silhouette in the darkness.

The place Randel saw from the cliff. The building with the bell tower, the tallest in the vicinity.

“Huff, huff…”

The other person finally stopped only after completely entering the bell tower building.

Randel stood behind, panting heavily.

The mana reflux hadn’t fully recovered yet, making it hard enough, but thinking about the terrifying golem chasing from behind made it several times harder.

“…Light.”

Randel, looking around for a moment, cast a small light spell. Just in case the golem might notice.

After a brief casting, a small light like a candle flame appeared at the tip of Randel’s index finger.

“Are you okay?”

A strangely emotionless voice was heard then.

Only then did Randel face the person in front of him.

“…You’re not a dwarf.”

“Yes.”

Randel had met dwarves a few times.

They were very exclusive to outsiders, so he couldn’t get close, but he knew what they looked like.

Thanks to that, he could immediately tell that the being in front of him was not a dwarf.

‘First of all, even if they’re short, they’re too short.’

It was well known that dwarves were short, but even the shortest ones reached a human’s chest.

However, the being in front of him only reached the waist of Randel, who was still a boy.

At first, he thought it was a young dwarf, but looking at the face, it wasn’t.

A bushy black beard covered the face below the nose and extended down to the ankles.

Only large eyes peeked out from between the beard, which his youngest sister would probably find cute.

“Yeah, it looks like that… Phew, but what is that? Why is there a golem wandering around the city?”

“Type 2. Active defense soldier. Height 7 meters. Total weight 14.1 tons. Detection range standard 150 meters. Precise alert at 100 meters when a hostile target appears. Drive system unobtained. Energy source mana. Affiliation…”

“Um, can you summarize it a bit?”

“Guardian. It tears enemies apart.”

“Tears apart?”

“Yes. So the responsible mage is sealing it.”

“Sealing? It’s roaming freely like that?”

“That’s unknown. The sealing rune. Seems to be damaged.”

“…Where is that rune?”

“Outside the city. At the entrance of the mine.”

“…….”

At those words, Randel fell silent.

Doesn’t it sound familiar?

That’s right.

The sealing rune was definitely one of the 72 runes Randel had seen at the entrance, embedded with mana stones around it.

He had happily extracted all the mana stones, thinking they would restore his mental world, only to find out they were sealing stones.

The person watching Randel spoke bluntly.

“Troublesome.”

“Indeed……”

“That’s not it.”

“……?”

Randel looked at him with a puzzled expression. But the other person just stood there, expressionless.

Eventually, Randel shook his head and instead listened to the movements outside the bell tower.

Thud… Thud… Thud…….

The footsteps of the golem that had been persistently chasing them were gradually fading away, now barely audible.

It seemed to have given up the chase and returned to where it should be.

“Phew, that was nerve-wracking. Anyway, thanks again. So… what should I call you?”

“Administrator.”

“Administrator? What do you manage?”

“This city. In the past.”

Randel found it puzzling.

Is this the state of a managed city?

No, he said he managed it in the past, but when exactly was that ‘past’?

‘This, could it be…….’

Randel suddenly turned around at the thought.

There was only one set of footprints in the thick layer of dust from the entrance of the bell tower to here.

“You… you’re not a living being, are you?”

“No. I move well. Memory is accurate. Alive.”

“Well, if unaltered memories define my existence, then I guess I am alive…”

“That’s right.”

The administrator nodded with a pleased expression and added,

“But it’s not entirely correct. I don’t have a physical body.”

“Ah.”

Randel had a thought at the administrator’s words.

There are weapons called Ego Weapons, which have a consciousness.

They are powerful weapons that can communicate with their owners.

They can independently use various auxiliary magic, teach their owners ancient swordsmanship, or give advice during battles.

Of course, they couldn’t be made in the present era.

All ten Ego Weapons were made in ancient times and have been passed down to the present.

The reason why the topic of Ego Weapons suddenly came up is because…

‘Ego Weapons are impressive, but… the dwarves take it a step further.’

Unlike humans, who put egos into weapons, the dwarves seemed to avoid such petty actions.

Instead, they seemed to have put an ego into the entire city to manage it.

Just like the administrator in front of him.

“Hmm, so you’re a kind of ego born from the hands of dwarves? Should I see you as a spirit?”

“Yes. But not a dwarf.”

“Then who made you?”

“I don’t know. I was stored in a repository.”

“And the dwarves woke you up?”

“That’s right. And they built the city above the repository.”

“I see. So when was that, roughly?”

“547,554 days ago.”

“547… what? That’s 1500 years ago?”

“Yes.”

Randel clicked his tongue.

1500 years ago was before the current kingdom was established.

It was a time when dozens of kingdoms were in chaos.

While humans were fighting over who was better with their half-baked magic and swordsmanship on the surface, the dwarves had built such a grand city deep underground.

“It’s a pity that such a city has disappeared. I saw earlier that the lava had solidified.”

“The magma, erupted.”

“Then, is every exit blocked?”

“Wait a moment… Out of 19 exits, there’s one.”

“Phew, it’s a relief that at least one is left. The place I came in from is blocked by a big stone door, so I can’t get out.”

“Do you want me to guide you?”

“Oh, I’d appreciate that.”

Randell sighed in relief and rejoiced.

He thought he might have to search every corner of this underground, but fortunately, he could find the exit right away.

“Please guide me.”

“……”

“……?”

But the manager didn’t move and just stared blankly at Randell.

Randell wondered why he was acting like this and asked just in case.

“…Do you want something?”

“Thank you.”

As expected, the manager responded immediately.

Although it was a short time, the conversation revealed that the manager in front of him was strangely passive.

If not asked, he wouldn’t answer, and even when he did, he wouldn’t say more than what was asked.

But what could he possibly want to be so proactive?

Randell asked curiously.

“What do you need?”

“Later. Can I tell you then?”

“Sure, well… Whether you say it now or later, it’s the same. But it has to be something I can do.”

“Okay. Follow me.”

The manager said so and climbed up the ladder in the corner.

He probably intended to go to the bell tower to show which direction the city’s exit was.

Clang, clang.

Randell grabbed the ladder and shook it.

Fortunately, the ladder was made of metal, so it remained intact despite the long years.

Thud. Thud.

“Hmm?”

Randel, who was climbing the ladder, suddenly stopped his arm at the sight of something suspicious.

He hadn’t noticed it when he was on the first floor, but now that he was climbing the ladder to a higher place, he could see it.

‘Is it an altar?’

It was a stone altar with a unique feeling.

Randel glanced at the manager, who was climbing slowly with his short limbs, and then descended towards the altar.

“Wind.”

Covering his mouth with his sleeve, he used magic, and a gust of wind blew away all the dust.

And the appearance of the altar was revealed.

On the clean altar were dozens of half-melted candles and a dried-up corpse.

‘This is… bloodstains.’

Near the corpse, or rather the mummy, were brown bloodstains that had dried up over many years.

Randel’s eyes followed the long brown trail that extended from the altar to the floor.

And on the wall where it ended, there was an inscription.

The letters were also brown. It was clear they were written in blood.

―We would rather choose extinction.

“Extinction…?”

If he had left a message with his own blood, it must have been something that was deeply engraved in his heart.

Usually, such things are filled with regret, resentment, or anger about the past… but this was an inexplicably strange resolve.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Oh! Got it. I’m coming now.”

At the manager’s urging from above the ladder, Randel turned his steps.

* * *

The bell tower was quite high.

It looked even higher to the dwarf, who was shorter than a human.

No matter how much of a bell tower it was, the idea of building such a thing in the middle of an underground city was unimaginable.

If it weren’t for the dwarves, it would have been impossible.

“Wait a moment.”

“Oh, got it.”

The administrator approached the bell, which was as large as his own body, and placed his hand on it.

And after a moment.

Daaang―

With the majestic sound of the bell, a bright light began to emanate from the administrator’s small hand.

The light, which wrapped around the entire bell that had oxidized blue, eventually spread in all directions, enveloping the entire underground city.

The bell itself became a large light source.

‘I thought it was just a bell, but it wasn’t.’

Normally, with such a bright light right in front of him, he shouldn’t have been able to open his eyes, but strangely, it wasn’t blinding.

Rather, it felt warm all over his body, as if he were basking in the sunlight.

Randell, who hadn’t been underground for long, already felt nostalgic for that sensation and thought.

‘So this is how the dwarves were able to live underground.’

No matter the species, all living beings must live with the sun above their heads.

But he wondered how they lived in such an underground place, and it seemed they had replaced the sun with the light of this bell.

“…….”

Randell stood atop the bell tower and looked around at the now fully revealed cityscape.

A city that had only been visible in silhouette with the light.

Now that it was bright all around, it seemed like a grand sight would unfold just by looking.

“Hmm.”

Reality was different from Randell’s imagination.

He thought it would be incredibly vast, but in reality, the city was covered in lava and pyroclastic flows, with only the edges barely exposed.

In the end, the place where Randell was standing was only about three or four times the size of the rural village he had lived in.

It was smaller compared to the city where the lord’s castle was.

Randell asked the administrator.

“How large was it originally?”

“50.84 times the current size.”

“Wow……”

“If you include the mines, 320 times.”

“It was really vast. Oh, I have one more question.”

“What is it?”

“Before we came in here, I saw a mithril mine. Do you know how much is deposited there?”

“I know. Do you need mithril?”

“Um… No. To be precise, it’s a nuisance.”

At those words, the manager asked with an innocent face.

“Why?”

“Because there are people targeting that mine. If they find this place, a war will surely break out.”

“Why?”

“Because of human greed, wanting to take it all for themselves.”

“Why?”

“I don’t really know. Maybe humans are just made that way.”

“Why?”

“…It’s just how it is.”

The manager nodded and said.

“It’s okay.”

“What’s okay?”

“The mine. Follow me.”

Tap, tap, tap.

The manager disappeared down the ladder.

Randell suppressed his curiosity and followed behind.