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“Hmm… this is a remarkably well-crafted golem.”
“Oho! O wise elder of magitech, so you do understand the romance behind it!”

Mr. Arnitta let out thoughtful hums as he examined the frozen spider-robot, while the king beamed proudly.

They’d been going on like this the whole time. Mr. Mintark, who had been helping extract the core next to them, looked completely fed up.

“Hey, Arnitta! We’ve taken the core out, haven’t we? That thing’s served its purpose—let’s get moving!”
“What are you saying? Do you not see the refined elegance of this design?! Listen—this golem doesn’t just have a main core, there are sub-magic stones embedded in the joints as well—”
“Ahh, that makes sense. I was wondering why the joints seemed bulky… Wow, the person who made this must’ve been a real perv—er, I mean, an eccentric genius!”
“Oho! The bespectacled young lady understands! And then look at the barrel mounted on its back…”
“Umm! Guys! I really think we need to move on now!”

I wedged myself between them, doing my best to physically drag the three of them away from the spider-robot.

If I didn’t stop them now, things would spiral completely out of control. With Mr. Arnitta and the king feeding off each other and Ms. Hoshikawa joining in, they’d be at this for another three hours easily.

Master had already given up on us and started heading down the corridor alone.

“You know, Momo, you can leave them. If they want to be buried alive, let them.”
“Fuhaha! Always so kind, White One! But there’s truth in your words—yes, as fascinating as unknown golems may be, sometimes one must choose to move forward!”
“Mmh… mmgh… fine. Besides, Kyodaigorou won’t fit through this next part anyway.”

Even as we stood here talking, I could feel a dull rumbling through the ceiling now and then.

What in the world was happening up on the surface? Whatever it was, if we wanted to find out, we had to keep moving—just like Master said.

“…Teach, if you walk, you’ll fall again.”
“Stell, I think you’re underestimating my stamina. If you’re going to call me ‘teacher,’ then show at least a little respect…”

✦✧✦✧✦

“Momooo! I’m tired, carry me on your back!!”
“Incredible, Master—you lasted a full ten minutes this time!”
“Lady Momose, I believe you’re praising her far too easily.”

Today might be a day worth remembering. Master actually managed to walk on her own for ten whole minutes without floating.

Her daily sit-ups (zero reps) and endurance runs (gave up at 50 meters) weren’t in vain after all. I would never forget this historic achievement.

“Ugh! Just how big is this workshop?! Too many little rooms, it’s maddening!”
“Don’t panic, White One! Let’s try that room next!”
“You’re the one slowing us down! Do you not realize the situation we’re in?!”

Every time we made progress down the dimly lit, narrow hallway, the king would throw himself into every door he spotted, searching the rooms with childlike excitement.

Most of the rooms were empty or buried in sand, so he’d quickly return—but now and then he’d find something interesting, and that’s when he’d stop. Master’s patience finally snapped.

“Ahh, I kind of get how he feels, actually. I can’t relax unless I’ve filled out the entire dungeon map,” Ms. Hoshikawa said.
“But seriously, what is this place? That spider-robot from before… what was Mr. Valka trying to show us?”
“We still do not know. But there may be a clue. Look at this, little one.”
“Hmm… paper?”

What the king handed Stell was a bundle of brown, discolored sheets.

It probably used to be a book, but by now it was so worn and tattered that the text was almost unreadable.

“It’s almost entirely weathered… which means an enormous amount of time must have passed.”
“That’s not all. This is *plant* paper. You know what that implies, don’t you?”
“Uhh… that it’s regular paper?”
“Lady Momose, plant paper is a technology brought by the Outlanders…”
“Mass production only really took off recently. The timeline doesn’t add up.”
“…I seeee?”
“Momo, say it takes about a hundred years for paper to decay this badly, okay? But in this world, the kind of paper we know only started circulating twenty or thirty years ago.”
“Oh—so it must’ve gotten worn out really fast?”
“Fuhahaha! That could be it! Very amusing, pink-haired one!”
“What he’s saying is that this facility had the technology to make paper with quality on par with what we have now.”

Seeing that I wasn’t following, Master—still riding piggyback on me—stepped in to help clarify.

Now that I thought about it, yeah… the explanation about the paper falling apart super quickly made less sense than the idea that this place had incredibly advanced tech… probably… maybe…

“Wait wait wait—so you’re saying this building is super high-tech?!”
“You saw the multi-legged golem at the entrance, didn’t you? The farther a golem’s design strays from the human form, the harder it becomes to make it move properly. Yet that spider-type—broken as it was—had been functioning autonomously until just moments ago. That kind of magitech is well beyond what we can manage today.”
“S-So then…”

“I don’t know for sure either. But I’m starting to understand what the fire dragon wanted to show us. Earlier we assumed it took a hundred years for the paper to decay—but what about the golem? How long would it last?”
“Judging by a rough inspection, I’d say it was built to be extremely durable. Easily 100 to 200 years.”
“With the extent of degradation we saw, it’s likely even older. It could go back 500… or maybe even close to a thousand years.”
“A thousand years… Master, you don’t mean—!”
“Yes, Momo. That’s exactly what I mean. This building may very well contain the answer to the ‘Thousand-Year Blank’—a period I know nothing about.”