Chapter 4 - This Wasn't In The Original Story?

At the point where I decided to actively interfere with the story.

Let's move right away.

I had no intention of dragging things out. I was going straight to the ruins near here to become stronger. There existed a weapon there called the Spirit Sword, which the protagonist would obtain later.

I intended to get that weapon for myself. Even for someone like me, having such a weapon should make me considerably stronger, or so I thought.

Sorry to the protagonist, but...

Of course, I knew this meant taking something that belonged to the protagonist. If I took this weapon, the protagonist would surely struggle quite a bit. Even though the Spirit Sword was only meant to be used temporarily until obtaining the Holy Sword.

But I still thought it was right for me to take it. At this point, there was no quicker or easier way to become stronger than obtaining the Spirit Sword.

I have no choice.

For now, I was determined to get the Spirit Sword no matter what. Of course, I didn't plan to just steal the Spirit Sword without consequences. The protagonist might die before getting the Holy Sword if he didn’t get the Spirit Sword.

If that happened, the world would be doomed. So, regarding the protagonist, I planned to help him separately later. As long as I helped until he got the Holy Sword, there shouldn't be any major problems for the protagonist.

My thoughts were organized. I was ready to leave immediately.

I guess I'll have to leave the child.

But before that, I first planned to leave the child with someone. After some consideration, I headed to the church.

"Hello, Brother. How are you?"

The church was in the center of the village. A place with modest but neat white walls and a wooden door that created a peaceful atmosphere. Upon arriving, a gentle-looking woman in clerical attire who had been praying noticed me and greeted me.

"Hello, Sister Levia."

I greeted her back. The nun's name was Levia. We were somewhat acquainted. Not long ago, when I married Kailyn, we used this church as the venue, and she had helped us in many ways.

"It's good to see you again, Brother. Has it been three months?"

"That's right."

"You must have been enjoying a happy newlywed life for these three months. Hehe."

"..."

She said with a bright smile. It was her way of giving congratulations to a newly married couple. Of course, those congratulations were quite a curse to me now...

"What's the matter?"

"Something came up."

"Hmm..."

She seemed to be catching on that something was wrong. After all, it wasn't a normal situation for a father to be holding a baby alone without the mother. I wanted to explain, but there was no time for that now.

"Can you look after the child for a while?"

"Pardon?"

"Just for a short while. I have somewhere I need to go. I'll pay you for your trouble."

I handed her a gold coin and made my request. I planned to leave the child with her before heading to the ruins.

"..."

Levia hesitated for a moment at my request. She was probably a bit worried, wasn't she? Worried that I might not come back.

"Alright. I don't know what the circumstances are, but I understand. I'll look after the child for a while."

But she soon agreed to my request.

"I'll use the gold coin you gave me to help the church. May the Lord's blessing be with you, Brother. Please come back safely for the child."

"Yes. Thank you."

Levia smiled brightly as she received the gold coin and the child. I bowed to her and left the church.

To think I'd end up asking Levia for such a favor.

I thought as I left. It was a strange feeling to leave my child with my favorite character.

***

After leaving the church, I immediately hurried towards the ruins. At this point, when the protagonist should be training swordsmanship in the neighboring village, I needed to find the Spirit Sword before it was too late. For that, I climbed the mountain where the ruins were located.

It should be around here.

I knew where the ruins were located. Near a mysterious lake, hidden beneath a giant tree near that lake. Didn't the protagonist find it by chance while training his swordsmanship?

I searched diligently for the ruins, tracing my memories.

As expected, it was here.

A spot beneath the tree that looked slightly different from the surrounding ground. After carefully feeling around that area, I discovered a large stone door. A massive stone door with a handle—when I pushed it with all my might, stairs leading into the ruins appeared.

A place that clearly looked unusual. I lit the torch I had brought and entered the ruins.

This feels much worse than I expected.

As soon as I entered, ancient patterns faintly glowing were engraved on the walls. It was described as quite an unpleasant place in the novel, but experiencing it firsthand was far worse.

Let's be careful...

Moreover, it was also a very dangerous place. Magical devices visible throughout the path ahead. One wrong move with any of these could instantly lead to death.

Thank goodness I'm a reincarnator.

But I was a reincarnator. I had read in the original story how much the protagonist struggled in these ruins. I shared all the protagonist's efforts.

The protagonist had gone to these ruins about 5 times to conquer them, so knowing the protagonist's actions, it was as if I had been to these ruins 5 times as well.

If you know the strategy, it's not a big deal.

Therefore, these ruins were no longer dangerous to me.

First, avoid the first trap.

I had already avoided the first trap, hadn't I? A pressure plate trap hidden in the floor. If you stepped on certain floor tiles, large arrowheads would fall from the ceiling.

It was a trap that would turn one into a beehive if one stepped on it once, but knowing the safe path, I carefully moved my body to avoid the trap.

Avoiding the second trap, too.

After avoiding that, I encountered the second trap. Large, round spheres were installed on the wall. These huge spheres emitting an unpleasant purple light were magical devices that would detect approaching people and emit intense light, causing hallucinations.

In the original story, there was a scene where the protagonist got caught in this and wandered around, but I knew both its location and activation conditions.

Phew...

As expected, following what was written in the novel, the trap didn't activate. I safely avoided the sphere and passed the second trap.

Is that it?

Like this, although these ruins were very dangerous, if one knew the strategy, they weren't much of a challenge. For the third and fourth traps as well, I moved forward using the knowledge of a reincarnator. And finally, I was able to reach my destination.

The center of the ruins. The place was enveloped in a mysterious and overwhelming atmosphere. In the center, a huge magic circle was drawn, and a sword was placed on top of it.

The handle had complex patterns engraved on it. A faint blue light flowed through the blade. It looked very different from an ordinary sword at first glance.

That sword must be the relic called the Spirit Sword. I carefully approached the Spirit Sword.

"Heave-ho..."

And I pulled it out in one go. Perhaps because it had been stuck there for a long time, it felt a bit creaky, but pulling it out wasn't that difficult. The sword had completely come into my possession, and I gazed at the sword with its blue glow for a while.

Is this the Spirit Sword?

It certainly felt like a relic when I touched it directly. Should I say it felt like I, who had no mana at all, could sense mana? I knew the Spirit Sword had this effect from the protagonist's monologue in the novel, but experiencing it firsthand was fascinating.

Should I leave the ruins now?

Anyway, I had successfully obtained the Spirit Sword. The goal was accomplished. I was about to leave the ruins, but...

[This is really strange, isn't it?]

I heard a voice. I quickly looked around but saw nothing. I thought it might be an auditory hallucination, but it didn't seem to be.

[It's truly fascinating.]

The voice came again. I realized this voice was resonating directly in my mind. And I also knew that the voice belonged to the Spirit Sword I was holding.

[You don't look like you could overcome this ruin, so how did you do it?]

As the Spirit Sword kept talking to me, I thought.

Hmm... This wasn't in the original story.

A talking sword—no matter how much I racked my brain, there was nothing like this in the original story.