Welikro had said that due to the terrifying rumors and legends surrounding Egret, not many people were willing to go there to gather and hunt. That was why there was a lot of game on Egret and it was much easier to hunt than in the mountains. That was also the main reason why Welikro's father brought him there during the winter holidays.
The deer they caught last night proved that what Welikro said wasn't a lie. Hunting a deer in the mountains would require a hunter's legs to break just to find traces of the herd. It would take at least half a month to find any results. How could it be as easy as lying in ambush beside a stream to catch a deer?
Borkal and Eriksson were filled with dreams of getting rich and were looking forward to a good harvest in the afternoon.
They also made preparations to gather. Even if they didn't manage to hunt anything good, they only needed to find a few rare herbs and they would be able to sell them for a good price at the apothecary in town.
Seeing his companions leave, Claude prepared to explore the ruins of the magic tower. Even though he was eager to head down to the basement to search for the item left behind by Landes, he calmly suppressed his urge. At the very least, he had to check his surroundings to prevent any accidents from happening while he was searching for the item.
Speaking of which, this was the aftereffect of reading web novels in his previous life. Anyway, every time the protagonist in the novels was searching for treasure, all kinds of accidents would happen. Either an enemy would suddenly jump out, or something abnormal would happen, causing the protagonist to lose everything, and he would have to go through life and death trials to escape.
Of all the web novels he had read, he had never read a single one where the main character managed to obtain the treasure without any accidents happening.
He had to learn his lesson. Even though the items left behind by Landes couldn't be considered treasures, he didn't want any accidents to happen. So, he had to search through the ruins of the magic tower and eliminate any threats that could threaten him.
Claude spent an hour combing through the ruins of the magic tower. Apart from the sound of the sea breeze blowing against the broken walls, he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Even insects like spiders and ants were rarely seen. Occasionally, a few seagulls and other seabirds would perch on a pile of rubble in the distance, pecking at something. It felt peaceful and peaceful.
The sound of gunfire could be heard from afar. It was unknown if Welikro and the others had managed to catch some prey.
However, Claude was making a torch at the moment. There were a few dried pine branches in the pile of firewood, which made for a good torch. He wrapped some hemp rope around it and dipped it in some kerosene. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about lighting the place up.
Claude had already found the three entrances Welikro mentioned. They were at the front, middle, and back of the magic tower ruins.
The middle entrance was the largest, the back entrance was closer to the cliff facing the sea, and the front entrance was at the edge of the ruins.
The middle entrance was the largest, the back entrance was closer to the cliff facing the sea, and the front entrance was at the edge of the ruins.
The diary mentioned that Landes lived in a small room near the stone staircase. From that, Claude could tell that as a four-ring rune magus, Landes didn't have a high position in the magic tower. Perhaps he was more like an apprentice or servant. Otherwise, he wouldn't be living in the basement.
Just like in a noble household, the master wouldn't live in the basement. Only hired servants, such as cleaners and kitchen workers, would live in the basement.
High-ranking servants like butlers, chefs, maids, coachmen, and the like wouldn't live in the basement either. Instead, they would be placed in the rooms beside the kitchen, dining hall, or storage room.
Thinking about it this way, it was obvious that the basement was not the entrance at the front, because no one would arrange the entrance to the basement where the servants lived next to the main entrance of the house. The simplest reason was like a guest entering the house from the main entrance, but seeing the servants going in and out of the basement next to the main entrance, it was very inelegant and impolite.
Therefore, Claude believed that the middle and back entrances were the ones he was looking for. Logically speaking, since the back entrance was very close to the cliff, it was very likely that the basement would have a few windows on the cliff facing the sea. This way, not only would it provide ventilation, but it would also provide a view of the sea.
Even though he would only live in the basement as a servant, a low-level magus was still a magus. Claude believed that Landes would be able to get that sort of treatment.
It was a pity that the cliff facing the sea protruded a little outwards. Even if Claude were to lie on the edge of the cliff, he wouldn't be able to see if there were any windows on the cliff. He couldn't go around the cliff just to see if there were any windows.
Not to mention, centuries had passed. Even though the cliffs facing the sea were constantly battered by the wind and rain, there were still many places covered in thick vines and short trees. He suspected that even if there were windows, they would be covered by the vines and trees.
However, Claude still made the entrance at the back his first target. He didn't have to search the entire basement anyway. All he had to do was check if there was a green stone slab at the bottom of the staircase.
If there wasn't one at the back of the staircase, he would look for the middle staircase.
He had six torches, so that should be enough.
Standing at the entrance of the basement, Claude realized that the basement of the tower couldn't be treated as a simple basement. No basement would be five or six meters tall. It was no different from an underground cave.
In addition, there was also the stone staircase that led downstairs. Normally, the stairs in a house would be folded to save the space that the stairs took up.
However, the stone staircase leading to the basement level of the three entrances was all straight down, so the light from the entrances only shone on a small part of the stone staircase.
Claude stood at the entrance and looked down. It was dark and devoid of light. He could also smell the stench of a sewer.
Welikro said that the basement was filled with mud about a foot or two deep. That was what his father told him. He didn't think his father would lie to him, nor did he have anything to lie about.
Claude guessed that it was probably the dust that had accumulated over hundreds of years. The snow melted during the winter and the rainwater that flowed into the entrance turned the dust into mud. It might even have blocked the drainage pipe below, which was why there was so much mud down there.
Claude was worried that the mud would produce methane. After all, it had been hundreds of years.
Even though he only smelled the stench of a foul drain, he lit a torch and tossed it into the drainage pipe to test it out. Nothing happened.
When he came to the entrance, he saw that the torch was still burning. However, the flame was very small. It was likely that it had fallen into the mud.
He checked his equipment once more. His hunting knife, shovel, short dagger on his hiking boots and his short musket. After making sure he didn't miss anything, he prepared to put down the rope ladder.
That's right, the rope ladder. Claude wasn't going to foolishly go down the stone staircase and go around the back of the stone staircase. That would be too much of a waste of time. Not to mention, he wasn't interested in the mud at all.
Who knew what kind of germs were in the mud that had accumulated over hundreds of years? If he got some strange skin disease when he returned, it would be his own fault.
Claude did some calculations. The height of each staircase was about 14 centimeters, 30 centimeters wide and less than 40 centimeters. The basement was about five to six meters high. That meant that there were more than 40 steps and the total length was about 13 to 14 meters. If he went down the stone staircase, he would have to walk back more than ten meters and go around the back of the stone staircase. That would be too troublesome.
So, he decided to go down from the top of the stone staircase to the back of the stone staircase and put down the rope ladder a little further down. There weren't any railings on the side of the stone staircase anyway.
Going down the rope ladder would only take him about four to five meters and going around to the back of the stone staircase would only take him about two to three meters. It would be much more convenient than going down the stone staircase.
The rope ladder was made while he was setting up the torch. The rope was a climbing rope he brought along just in case. It was about 20 meters long and was more than enough to make a rope ladder.
The crossbar of the ladder was made from firewood that was tougher the drier it was.
Claude had tested it before and found that it could support his weight.
The rope ladder was even simpler. All he had to do was tie a knot about 30 centimeters apart and stick the end of the firewood in. It didn't have to be too sturdy, as it was only for temporary use.
Before going down, Claude chopped some branches and tied them into bundles before throwing them down. That way, he would have a foothold instead of stepping into the mud.
After another half an hour, he threw down four bundles of branches. When he felt that it was more or less done, he lit the torch and climbed down the rope ladder.
When he reached the bottom, he used the torch to illuminate his surroundings. His surroundings were dark, so the space should be huge.
Beneath his feet was a bundle of branches and there were three more bundles beside it.
The mud at the bottom was rather damp, but it wasn't to the point where dirty water flowed everywhere.
The good news was that the corner of the stone staircase was less than a meter away. That corner was the back of the stone staircase.
The bad news was that the depth of the mud at the bottom was more than two feet. According to Landes' diary, the bluestone slab was at the bottom of the back of the staircase. That meant that Claude would have to dig through the mud to find out whether the slab was there or not.
There was no need to say anything and just got down to work.
He first moved a bundle of branches to the front so that it would reach the corner of the stone staircase. Then, he tossed another bundle to the back of the staircase and another bundle of branches a meter further away from the back of the staircase. Then, he lit two torches and placed them on the bundle of branches to ensure that there was enough light.
It was a pity that the back of the staircase seemed to be a huge gray rock without any gaps at all. He couldn't light the torches on it.
But there was one good thing about it. If there really was a bluestone slab at the bottom, all he had to do was dig through the mud.
The stench of the mud was unavoidable.
Claude used a small shovel to push the mud aside and soon, the bottom of the staircase was revealed.
Even though the bottom looked dark due to the silt deposition, it was clear that there was a rectangular silhouette at the bottom.
That magus Landes didn't lie … Claude felt incredibly excited. As he had expected, the entrance to the cliff facing the sea was really the residence of a low-level magus.
He carefully scraped the mud off the wall with the shovel and pushed with his hand. The rectangular shape shook a little, but it didn't budge.
He carefully recalled what the diary said. That's right, push hard.
However, Claude was crouching on top of a branch with a torch in his left hand. Since he couldn't move it with his right hand, he decided to kick it with his foot.
The rectangular shape was indeed the bluestone slab. The moment he kicked it, it tilted up.
With a flip of his hand, the bluestone slab was lifted up, revealing a square-shaped hole that looked like a drawer.
He shone the torch inside and saw a white box that looked like jade. It was about 30 centimeters long and 10 centimeters tall and looked rather heavy.
He looked to the side and wanted to find a place to stick the torch in. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to carry the box with just one hand.