With a RUMBLING sound, the heavy stone wall beside them slowly shifted, leaving a gap.
Gami used the steel tentacles of the vehicle to forcefully push the stone door open, releasing smoke and a strange odor, revealing the space inside.
A faint, milky white light emanated from within, so bright that Alka didn’t even need to use the light reflected from his Mirror to illuminate it.
"Is it a Holy Artifact?" Jason couldn’t help but ask with surprise upon seeing the light. After all, in such circumstances and in such a location, seeing such light inevitably led one to that conclusion.
Gami shook his head. "How could it be? Holy Artifacts are generally reserved and wouldn’t be so flamboyant as to broadcast their existence."
Saying this, he steered the vehicle inside, comnting as he went, "It should be so Magic Item, infused with the power of the Holy Mother or the faith of the believers."
When they entered and saw the glowing object, Gami nodded, unsurprised. "Sure enough, it’s this."
It was a stone platform, and on it, the object emitting the milky white glow was a Wheat Ears Headband. It quietly floated above the stone platform.
"These items are typically found in the Church’s Silence Rooms," Gami explained, extending a few tentacles to retrieve the Wheat Ears Headband. "They are placed beneath the head of a statue and used for communication with the Divine."
He examined it for a mont and then handed it to Jason.
"For ?" Jason asked, pointing to himself, puzzled. This obviously should be returned to the Church, right? Compared to its practicality, it seems to have more symbolic significance.
"Of course, it’s not *for* you to keep, just for you to wear for now. You’ll need to return it to the Church when we go back." Gami clarified. "Didn’t you say before that you touched a Treasure that resembled a wheat ears wreath?"
"That thing is the prototype of this item. Wearing it temporarily increases your Magic Power, endowing you with more Divine Attribute, which is quite useful in a place like this." After explaining, he pointed at himself and Alka. "If we wear it, at most our minds beco a little clearer; there are no other effects."
Hearing this, Jason nodded with an expression of understanding and placed the Wheat Ears Headband on his head.
The mont he put it on, the milky white light instantly converged and flowed into his body. Originally, Jason’s Magic Power had a faint, pale hue, but now it was completely suffused with a milky white radiance. The Divine sense could be clearly felt.
After all, the orthodox Treasure of the Church was what had made him a "Toucher," stimulating the Magic Power within him to beco active.
"Now, if I run into that Evil Spirit again, I’ll take them down with one punch each!" Jason said smugly, clenching his fists.
The other two shook their heads helplessly and ignored him, heading directly outside, preparing to climb the stairs and return to the church. They also carried the carefully wrapped priest’s remains. Outside the church, they dug a pit and reburied the bones.
After finishing all this, they returned to the church, found an undamaged section of a long bench, and sat down to rest.
"Given the size of this island, this church beneath our feet is likely the only one," Gami said, looking at the two. "If there are no Holy Artifacts here, there probably aren’t any on the entire island. Should we still explore other places?"
Hearing this, Alka turned his head and said without hesitation, "Of course, we should explore! There must be many places hiding valuable items. We are Treasure Hunters; we can’t abandon our primary duty. Besides, Andre and the others might not have finished exploring their targets yet, and we’re just idle anyway."
"Haha, you’ve got a point there. Let’s rest a bit then get going," Jason said, patting Alka’s shoulder and laughing.
「A short while later」
Once rested, they set off again. Alka intentionally led them towards the spots that flickered with light, as only those places were likely to contain valuable items; searching elsewhere would just be a waste of ti. If the location of these white specks seed obviously difficult to find, Alka would give up on them directly.
However, their haul wasn’t small. In a dilapidated farmhouse nearby, they found a pure golden staff. They could feel its substantial weight just by holding it.
On the island, completely shrouded in darkness, only the area imdiately surrounding the three of them was illuminated.
Jason stroked his chin with one hand, deep in thought as he followed the other two.
"What’s up? What are you thinking about?" Alka asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Hearing Alka’s words, Jason lifted his head and stared at him. "Perhaps... you truly are a natural-born Treasure Hunter." His expression was one of utter certainty.
"Oh, get out of here," Alka said, waving his hand speechlessly.
Jason turned his head, patted Gami’s cockpit, and asked, seeking agreent, "Gami, don’t you think so?"
"I’ve always thought he was more professional than you."
"...You could’ve just replied, ’I think so too.’"
"But don’t you think so yourself?"
Jason silently closed his mouth and quickened his pace. "Let’s speed up. We should at least give this whole island a once-over."
Alka and Gami chuckled and quickened their steps to follow. They proceeded onward, eventually arriving at a manor situated on a hillside.
Alka looked around and couldn’t help but remark, "This place is really grand, or at least it would be if it weren’t abandoned."
The manor covered a far larger area than they had anticipated. The distance from the main gate, along the stone-paved path, to the buildings at the rear was over a hundred ters. Evidently, a large garden had once surrounded it, but now it was overrun by weeds, with only a few resilient flowers still visible among them. The few buildings at the forefront, however, remained relatively intact. There were no large-scale collapses, rely so sections of the external walls peeling off.
Jason looked at the smashed-open door before them and couldn’t help but curl his lip. "Looks like there won’t even be scraps left for us here."
On their journey, they had witnessed just how thoroughly the previous group had scoured every location. They had truly turned these places into aningless ruins. Basically, nothing valuable could be seen, unless it was hidden very deeply.
Alka went up to it, gave a light tap, and then stepped into the manor first. "Stop complaining and let’s see if anything was left behind. After all, we’re a bit more professional, aren’t we?"
"Not necessarily. Maybe the previous group found so much that they couldn’t carry it all and were too lazy to search for the hidden stuff," Gami retorted.
Ignoring Gami’s words, the two silently walked inside.
As they stepped in, Alka adjusted his Mirror’s angle of reflection, illuminating the interior of the entire building. He glanced around.
Sure enough, places that might have once held valuable items were now empty. Various cabinets and drawers had been violently yanked open, their contents, like shredded cloth, scattered everywhere. Alka also spotted so broken chairs; the empty indentations on their backs suggested they had once been inlaid with valuables.
"This place has been picked cleaner than a whistle," Jason couldn’t help but quip, looking at the dining table where only a few broken plates remained, with no cutlery in sight. "I don’t know if their treasure hunting was professional, but that previous group certainly had a strong knack for scouring." Families this wealthy usually had gold or silver tableware.
But Alka wasn’t concerned about these things. He had co here mainly because the remaining blue dot on his map was located within this manor. According to his distance calculations, it was within the very building they were standing in.
"Let’s spread out and take a look. Maybe there’s still sothing valuable left," Alka suggested.
After saying this, they separated to search various parts of the manor, occasionally calling out to each other to confirm their safety. Fortunately, while the building covered a large area, its interior was drafty and exceptionally bare, so it didn’t hinder their communication.
Alka walked around, observing his surroundings, occasionally stomping his foot or tapping on the walls. In this era, basents and hidden passages within walls were the simplest and most direct places to conceal valuables, a thod used by both the poor and the wealthy.
"Alka, there’s sothing under your feet emitting fluctuations. I can detect them," Lucilia’s voice suddenly chid in his ear.
Alka imdiately stopped. "Emitting fluctuations? What kind?"
"I’m not sure, but it’s so distinct that I can feel it even from within the Magic Mirror."
Hearing this, Alka looked down at his feet. This ans there must be an underground space beneath , he thought. For Lucilia to detect it so clearly, it can’t be too deep. Unless, of course, the item itself is emitting incredibly powerful fluctuations. So, the question is, where is the switch to open it, or where is the passage leading down?
Thinking this, Alka got down on the ground. He retrieved a palm-sized, round plate from his waist, placed it on the ground, and infused it with Magic Power. Invisible ripples imdiately began to transmit downwards.
Soon, a strange sound reached Alka’s ears. Following this sound, he began to move slowly, all the while controlling the round plate to continue transmitting ripples downward. A very simple Spell was engraved on the round plate. Upon encountering a void, it would send back a peculiar sound, used to detect where hidden spaces were located. Naturally, it was only effective for detecting larger voids, as the sound differences from smaller ones would be imperceptible. It also couldn’t probe too deeply.
Before long, Gami and Jason rejoined Alka, as they had finished a quick search of their assigned areas. Seeing Alka’s actions, they imdiately lightened their steps. It was clear Alka had found sothing, and any loud noises might disrupt his investigation.
Finally, Alka stopped and stood up.
"There’s a space underneath?" Jason walked over and asked him.
Alka nodded. "Yes, but I don’t know where the chanism to get down is."
"’When it cos to chanisms, I’ll find them!’" Gami interjected eagerly from the side, his mont to shine finally at hand. As he spoke, the vehicle Gami piloted extended four tentacles, which began to probe the ground and surrounding walls. The tips of the tentacles glowed with a faint blue light, clearly employing so unusual Spells. Then, the tips of the tentacles split into four segnts, pressed flush against the wall, and twisted slightly.
With a CLICKING sound—
A few ters away, a section of the floor vibrated, sending up a puff of dust. A stone slab slowly began to move aside but got stuck halfway.
"The chanism is broken," Gami announced. "But it doesn’t matter; we’ve found the entrance."
The group hurried over.
Jason knelt on one knee and, with a heave, pushed the half-moved stone slab completely aside, exposing a dark, gaping space below.
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