Teacher Caught up in Class Summoning, Repairs Mechanical Girl With Unorthodox Skills

C18: Investigation of the ruins

The next day after eating breakfast at the inn, I came to the adventurer’s guild.

“Hey, Seiji, you’re late.”

“I’m sorry, I mean, Wade’s early.”

“Well, it’s the last day…….”

“Yeah…….”

Yes, today is the last adventure with Wade and his friends. We’re going to investigate the ancient ruins of the Temple of Pholus near Ledar town.

It’s not like we’re being asked to investigate. There are archaeologists in this world as well, and their purpose is to investigate and excavate the ancient ruins that exist in various places, and to understand the ancient culture.

“I never thought Seiji would want to be an archaeologist.”

“No, that’s not what……is about.”

“Then what’s Seiji’s job as a teacher? Just because you can choose your occupation when you register, doesn’t mean you can’t be a teacher.”

“Come on, it’s the last day…….”

“I’m going to miss you.”

Today would be the last time I would hear Wade’s light-hearted comments, Michelle’s tweets, Meena’s words of appeasement, or Berg’s stern voice. It was my first time organizing a party, but I was glad it was this one.

Michelle and Meena often talked to Brunnhilde. I would like to think that Michelle’s frank talk and Meena’s calm talk stimulated Brünnhilde, perhaps because they were both girls. Now Brunnhilde is more human……I’d be grateful if she’d take an interest in being a “girl”.

“All right, last job of the party, let’s get fired up!”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

I replied cheerfully to Wade’s shout.

◇◇◇◇◇◇

The ruins were about a two-hour walk from the town. According to what Wade had told me, the Temple of the Pholus used to be a temple where rituals were held. Nowadays, it’s a home for F-class monsters.

I got permission from the guild to investigate the ruins, and came here for the last task with Wade party.

“——Seiji, what are you doing here?”

“Research, test my cheat.”

“You’re going to test your cheat?”

Berg and Meena wondered. They know I’m a ring bearer, but they don’t know what kind of cheat I have. Among adventurers, it’s bad manners to ask what kind of cheats a ring-bearer has. I’ve only lightly mentioned that it’s usually a useless cheat. I guess it’s normal for them to be curious.

“This place is only two floors below ground. But be careful, there’s a lot of worm monsters here.”

“Okay.”

“Isn’t Seiji cheat for combat?”

“No, it’s useless in combat. Brünnhilde has always been the one to do it.”

“Hmm——“

This is the first time I’ve fought with this party. Up until now, we’ve only done requests in town, and we haven’t encountered any monsters when we’ve gone out to collect herbs. So, let’s start investigating the ruins.

◇◇◇◇◇◇

The inside of the ruins was decayed. There were holes in some places, letting in light from outside. I don’t need a lamp in this case. Now, let’s get on with it.

“For now, a reasonable wall.”

I put my hand on the wall and reminded myself——but nothing happened. In the first place, this rock wall—–looks nothing like the ruins that existed in the Ostrode Kingdom. The temple itself may have been built as an afterthought. I asked Wade and the others, but all four of them shook their heads. They seemed to have no interest in ruins. So, I guess it’s all up to Brunnhilde.

“Sensei, it’s possible that this is an android facility.”

“Is that so?”

Yes. I’m picking up a faint signal from underground. Based on the signal pattern, it’s most likely an android weapon.”

“Weak signal?——I haven’t done anything yet.”

“It’s possible that some of the equipment is operational.”

“Is that so?——awesome.”

The equipment was 100,000 years old and was working, showing how advanced the technology was in the past. No monsters appeared, and we found a staircase leading to the basement. As we descended the stairs, the floor and walls were made differently from the temple.

“——This is similar material to the remains of the ruin in Ostrode.”

I touched it with my hand, but nothing special happened. I thought it would be dark because it was underground, but a strange dim light illuminated the surroundings and it was bright enough that I didn’t need the light from the lamp. Apparently, the walls were slightly luminous.

“Hey, Seiji, what’s the point of looking at this place?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“What? You don’t know?”

I’m tapping on the wall and picking up rocks, which must look suspicious.

Wade and the others are tilting their heads.

“Come on, let’s get to the bottom. I’ve got something interesting for you.”

“Interesting?”

“Okay, everybody, let’s go!”

Wade and Meena pestered me, and I headed down to the bottom level, wondering. They didn’t seem too interested in the ruins, but suddenly they started to get excited. Maybe there is something ancient that lies in……these ruins.

After descending the stairs at the lowest level, there was only a long corridor. The passage was dimly lit, and there was no sign of any monsters. We slowly made our way down the passage and at the far end of the passage, we noticed a semi-circular space.

There was nothing in the space, just a blur. But from my point of view, it’s a very suspicious room. Maybe it’s because of my cheat.

“Don’t move.”

Something cold was thrust at me from behind.

◇◇◇◇◇◇

It was a joke, I thought. When I slowly turned around…..Wade was laughing and holding a sword to my neck.

“What’s up………?”

“Sorry, Seiji. Give me your bag.”

” ……?”

“The bag. You got a lot of money in there, don’t you?”

“No…….”

Why? 200 gold coins I redeemed at the armor shop. I spent it on a sword, so I have 140 coins left. Only me and Brünnhilde know about this…….Why?

“Bu, Brunnhilde…….”

“Don’t move, the little girl is over there.”

“She never moves, so it was a piece of cake. She’s as cute as she looks.”

“……………”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.

“You know……right?”

There was Michelle hugging Brünnhilde from behind, Meena holding up her cane and laughing, and Berg with his arms crossed and laughing condescendingly.

Michelle put her arms around Brunnhilde’s neck and placed the knives in her hands on Brunnhilde’s neck.

“Seiji, give me your bag. You don’t care what happens to your little girl, do you?”

“Oh……wait! Don’t touch Brünnhilde, I’ll give you the bag!”

I hand my shoulder bag to Wade. Wade snatched the bag, threw it at Berg, and kicked me in the stomach. I rolled over and heard Michelle and the others laughing at me.

“Just give it to me, you idiot.”

“……Why?”

“Of course I know you got a lot of gold from the armor shop. Collect the sword from the little girl, I’ll sell it later.”

Berg took up Brunnhilde’s sword, which did not budge. Wade approached me and took the sword from my belt.

“The newcomers are good suckers, you know. If you put on a good face for a while, they are easy to fool. And you’d have to be an idiot to walk around with this much money.”

“Wade……! Why, why……?”

“I’ll tell you something, dude, you’ve been a target all along.”

“What……?”

“I should have approached you with a sweet face and taken your money, when you were gathering herbs, but you’re a ring-bearer. I’m not sure what kind of cheat you have, so I had to proceed cautiously. But……this investigation of the ruins has made it clear.”

Wade thrusts his sword at me as I’m falling on my butt. Who is this? Wade doesn’t have this ugly smile on his face. Michelle, Berg, and Meena don’t laugh like this.

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to die here. You probably don’t know this, but the ruins here are only open to F-level adventurers and above, but no one’s been investigating for years. So even if you’re freshly minted F-level adventurers and you die here, no one will notice.”

“Wade……why, why did you ……when I thought you were one of us?”

“All we ever wanted was your money.”

“…………Wade.”

From the very beginning, it was all about the money. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had found a friend in this world. We drank together, ate together, and had a lot of fun together. They were all……lies. I forgot about the sword in his hand and hung my head.

“Hey, Wade, let’s get the money and move on!”

“Now I can get a new wand.”

“……Oh, man.”

Michelle, Meena, and Berg were all laughing. These guys don’t know anything about me…….”

“I have a question.”

Brünnhilde’s voice echoed through the space in a strange way.

◇◇◇◇◇◇

All eyes, including mine, were on Brünnhilde. I could see that Michelle had put a lot of effort into her hands gripping her twin swords, but Brunnhilde continued without regard to that.

“Weren’t you all friends of sensei? Wasn’t the reason you were so kind to him, to form a bond with him?”

Brünnhilde asked about my lesson. Wade and the others laughed at the unexpected question.

“Hahahahaha! Aren’t you crazy? Being friends with this newbie adventurer?”

“You have a cute face, but you’re a total idiot. No, a bond can only be formed with an equal partner. Our relationship is ……one of exploitation”

“How does it feel to have…..been betrayed by someone who has been so good to you?”

“This is all very foolish. As long as I get my money, I have no use for you.”

Brünnhilde muttered in a whisper.

“Ridicule, betrayal, lust. The negative and ugly emotions of human beings. So this is human, too.”

“Brünnhilde……?”

“Sensei, I have completed my homework.”

“What? Hey, little girl, don’t be silly…….”

In the next moment, Brunnhilde’s back fist crushed Michelle’s face.

◇◇◇◇◇◇

“What?”

Michelle could not react to the back fist that was so sudden. In fact, Brunnhilde was moving so fast that Michelle could not understand what had happened for a moment.

“G-……gob!”

And then there’s a powerful jolt to the abdomen. Brünnhilde gave her a powerful elbow strike, and Michelle’s body snapped.

“I’m going to disable you.”

“What the hell is……?”

As soon as she turned around, she delivered a powerful uppercut that shattered Michelle’s jaw. Michelle’s teeth were shattered and her body spun in the air at high speed due to the impact, then she was slammed face-first into the ground and stopped moving.

Everyone was stunned. Then, Brunnhilde caught the two knives that Michelle had let go of in midair. Brünnhilde, who has unparalleled arm strength for an android, threw her knife at Meena with all her might.

“What the…..?”

As her thoughts overheated at the sight of Michelle’s devastation, Meena didn’t realize that the knife had pierced her right shoulder and palm, blowing her up and sewing her to the wall.

It was so powerful that her shoulder was twisted and almost severed. She was oblivious to the fact that all the fingers on her right hand had disappeared, and finally understood through the massive blood loss and intense pain.

“Aaahhhhhhhh!”

Tears, snot and drool soaked Meena’s face, and she heard the buzzing sound of the flesh on her shoulders tearing. Berg finally realized that Brunnhilde was no ordinary person, and raised his fist to intercept her as she headed toward him.

“You little bastard!”

Berg’s pride and joy is the fist that comes out of his well-trained left arm. He may not be able to break rocks, but he will be able to someday. That’s how proud he was of his body. Berg’s left fist, his pride and joy, collided with Brunnhilde’s fist and caused a mess of destruction. Skin tore, bones shattered, and muscle and blood splattered. Berg’s left arm disappeared, spraying a shower of flesh and blood.

“Gyaaaaahhhh!”

Berg’s heart was easily broken by the reality of the loss of his body. He screamed like a child and rolled around on the ground. Michelle jerked around with her face still attached to the ground, Meena pulled her right arm, which was about to be severed, and Berg cried while holding his missing left arm. Without looking at them, Brunnhilde’s eyes went to Wade.

“You were never a friend of sensei.”

“…..get away from me, you monster! I’ll kill him right here!”

“……!”

Wade’s sword is pointed at me. But Brunnhilde’s expression did not change at all.

“When people are nice to you, you’re nice to them.”

Brünnhilde says softly.

“Sensei was kind to you and said you were his friends. To you, sensei was not a friend.”

Brünnhilde took a small step forward.

“This is betrayal, a negative human emotion. It remains in my memory, and is one of the reasons why we, the War Maiden type, were created.”

Brünnhilde’s figure disappeared.

“What?”

Wade’s dumb voice rang out, and I looked. Wade’s arms had disappeared from the elbows down. So, Brunnhilde pulled out my sword that Wade had on his waist in an instant and cut off both of Wade’s arms.

Wade stared at the missing arms as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Humans will betray you. This is the final answer to my homework.”

Brünnhilde muttered quietly.