"Maybe you should reconsider."

That night, Nidouble, Reiko, and Belials were conferring inside <>.

"There can't be no way in or out of the <> facility, I think that's a good idea."

"Yes."

Even if it's not in use at the moment, it's extraordinary that we can't even find a clue.

"Even if <> has an automata body and doesn't need to eat, Archelle and her homunculus can't afford not to eat."

Such a statement by Nidouble was thought up by Jin himself, who was thinking together with the old man on Horai Island.

* * * *

In Horai Island, Jin and the old man were discussing. Erza is also participating in this discussion.

, didn't it? >>

"......Oh, I see, is it possible that it uses transfer magic to get in and out?"

<<

"But that's not quite right. <

"Hmmm, I see."

"That's what I mean. Either he entered the basement from somewhere, or there is a place where he can make contact with the ."

"That seems likely. The question is, where is it?"

"I wish I had some clues. ......"

While these conversations were going on, there was one point that made Jin's head spin.

"By the way, Jin, did you pay for the eladite you dug up?

"What?　............Ah, ah!

Jin realized after Erza told him.

In case you are wondering, the Elrudo mine is under the control of the Kingdom of Selroa and the like, and the Elrudolite extracted there is supposed to be bought by the government.

Leaving aside whether the law is appropriate or not, Jin mined without permission.

"...... I'll have to go say no to King Cesar later."

<

"Okay. I'll do that."

And so it was decided to apply for the discovery of Eladrite as soon as the Archel case was over.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I wonder where and how Archel met ..."

Hearing Nidaburu's troubled mutterings, Belial showed a shocked look on his face.

"...... she has always liked to climb mountains. ......Maybe he has climbed Mount Elrud."

In this environment where the free magic element (ether) is thin, Tomohito thought, it may be difficult to strengthen the body, but if you simply move your body, it is likely to adapt to some extent.

"Or, it is also possible that he was found by a mysterious follower when he was lying on the ground," he said.

Reiko pointed out an unexpected possibility.

"Anyway, let's check Mount Elrud tomorrow.

That was the decision.

The next day, Conlon 2 left the ruins and moved to the northeast side of Mt.

They decided that if Archel was coming south from the demon territory and was going to attack the mountain, it was most likely to do so from this side.

There was still some lingering snow on the northeastern slope of Mt.

We climbed up the slope in the order of Nidouble and Reiko, with Belials in the lead.

The average slope was about 20 degrees.

The low concentration of free magical element (ether) makes it somewhat difficult for Belialus, but he does not show any concern for the purpose of searching for Archelle, and continues to walk silently.

The snow had disappeared, and we could see that plants were sprouting in the areas where the snow had disappeared, indicating that the season was moving toward spring.

However, as we climbed higher, the amount of remaining snow increased, and from an altitude of around 1,500 meters up, the world became a world of snow and ice.

"It's still hard to walk."

Although we had prepared ourselves for this as we had seen it from Conlon 2, the reality was much more difficult than we had imagined.

"It's no use, let's go around to the south side.

The remaining snow on the sunny south slope became much less.

The group traversed the slope and turned around to the south slope.

However, the slope on that side was getting steeper. Nidouble and Reiko were fine, but Belials, who could not strengthen his body, seemed to be having a little, or maybe a lot, of trouble.

He was sweating profusely and breathing heavily even though the temperature was around 5 degrees Celsius.

Nidaburu, in reference to this, makes it look as if he is breathing moderately.

"Let's take a break."

The temperature on the south side rose to about 8 degrees Celsius. It was fairly warm as long as we stayed in the shade of the rocks out of the wind.

We decide to eat the dry bread that we brought with us.

Reiko does not eat, but Nidouble has to pretend to have eaten.

Belialus, on the other hand, seems to be hungry and eats the bread with relish. He also drinks Persica juice, and seems to have recovered both his physical and magical strength.

"Now what shall we do?

Mt. El-Lad is a long mountain stretching from east to west, and its southern side has a steep slope. The rocks are also highly weathered and brittle, probably because they are exposed to the sun so much.

On the other hand, there is a lot of remaining snow on the east slope.

"I guess we have to go around to the west side.

Generally, if the amount of solar radiation is the same, the snow on the west side is more likely to melt when the sun shines after the temperature rises.

So the group continued around the slope to the west.

"Well, I think we can make it this way.

Unlike the east side, which was covered with snow and ice, about 40% of the rocks were exposed.

"Okay, let's go."

Without any argument from Beliales, the group began to climb the west slope cautiously.

The difference in elevation was about 300 meters. If we climbed 100 meters per hour, we could reach the summit in three hours.

"It would have been faster to take Conlon 2 down to the summit," muttered Nidouble.

Nidaburu muttered, but Belial denied it.

"No, there could have been clues along the way, so it's not a waste of time.

Belialus, who should have been the most physically active, said this, so Nidaburu did not say anything more.

"How about ...... for a start?"

"How about over there?"

Nidouble looked at the place that Reiko pointed at and muttered to himself.

"Chimney or ......."

Chimney" originally means a chimney, but in mountaineering terminology it refers to a vertical groove in a rock wall. Jin had heard of such a term through TV programs featuring celebrities climbing mountains.

"Chimney climbing is a pain in the ass. ......"

It is a way to support yourself by propping your arms and legs up against the wall on either side of you. Or sometimes it is your back and legs.

"Jin-don't worry about it!

While Nidaburu was struggling like this, Belialus seemed to have found something.

"The rock has been cut away..."

The place had obviously been artificially modified. And it was still new. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a staircase, or perhaps a ladder due to the strong slope.

Anyway, there were grooves in the rock wall where we could put our feet.

"It seems to go on forever.

Beliales said, looking up toward the summit in the distance.

"I'll go up there."

"Right. Reiko and I will look around a little more, and if we can't find a good spot, we'll follow you.

So Nidouble and Reiko decided to look around a little more.

Reiko continued to observe the surroundings, using her eyesight to the fullest, but there was no other place where we could climb.

"So this is it.

"Let's go."

The two men (two bodies) followed Belialus 15 minutes behind.

The tireless automata's bodies continued to gain altitude, and within 30 minutes they had caught up with Belialus.

"Jin-dono, it seems there was no other way.

"Yes, this seems to be the only route.

That leaves us with the question of who did this processing.

"Who it was for is also a mystery."

Reiko continues to climb the mountain as if it were a simple task.

"We are almost at the top."

Within five minutes, the group was standing at the summit.

The summit of Mt. It was, however, large enough to be seen at a glance.

"Nothing or ......"

But the three of them began to search in groups for clues. And then...

"Take a look at this."

Reiko pointed at something. It was a piece of a precious stone so small that it could not be recognized without a closer look.

"Is it a ruby ......?"

Nidouble placed the piece, which was less than half the size of his pinky fingernail, on his palm and observed it.

"They might be rubies from ...... Archelle's hair ornament!"

Belialus said in a voice that was filled with suppressed excitement.