Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 596 - 594 I Just Want to Be Alone

Richard strode to where Gro stood and gave the area a few earnest glances before crouching down, one hand pressing against the ground.

The soil churned, animated under the influence of the spell, as if it had a life of its own, actively receding from where the palm touched. Thus, in just a moment, the buried object below was revealed, and it was quite evidently a relatively well-preserved skeleton. Perhaps because the soil was dry, the bones hadn’t completely decomposed; the rough outline of a human form was discernible. In the surrounding layers of earth, traces of collapsed buildings could be seen.

After a brief inspection, Richard rose and gestured around, saying, "Unless there’s been an error, there should be a small village ahead of us. Let’s clear it out together, and then we’ll truly understand what’s going on here."

Gro, who had just rested for half a minute, thought: "..." Ah, isn’t this too fast? Don’t be in such a hurry! I really can’t do this anymore; can’t Nancy take over for a while?

While thinking this, Gro felt a sharp gaze, like a knife on his back, sweeping over him relentlessly, as if chopping him into mincemeat.

Gro felt deeply wronged in his heart and wanted to tell the other: after all, none of this was his fault! If the other hadn’t suddenly recognized Lord Richard, there would have been no need to work here!

However, since things had progressed to this stage, he figured he might as well do whatever he could; by working hard, the other might cool off a bit and perhaps not hit him as hard in the future.

Sigh, why was he so miserable?

With infinite sorrow in his heart, Gro walked heavily to Richard’s side and, sword in hand, began digging again.

...

Time passed, and another hour went by.

Compared to ordinary people, Wizard Apprentices possess astounding combat strength, so their work capacity was naturally strong, especially when they had a clear goal. A job that would take ordinary people several days to complete, a Wizard Apprentice could finish in an hour.

Now, a corner of an ancient village had been cleared.

Although there was still a significant amount of work to be done to excavate the entire village, plenty of information had already been gathered.

Gro, tired like a dead dog, leaned against a rock, resting for a long while before he had the energy to speak, gazing at Richard and asking, "Huff, huff... Lord Richard, have you found anything? This village must be the one you were looking for, what’s-it-called village, right?"

"Yadisi Village," Nancy, sitting on a stone nearby, clarified with an eye roll.

"Oh, right, Yadisi Village."

Richard observed the cleared area intently, studying the numerous skeletons for a long while before responding to Gro’s question with a shake of his head, "It’s not."

"Ah, really? How can you be so sure?" Gro’s cry of dismay echoed, "Why are you so certain?"

"Because according to my knowledge, the people of Yadisi Village partook in an ancient nature worship and every individual carried a special vibrant green stone bracelet from birth to death, which even in death would be placed in their coffin. This is also one of the reasons why the founder of the Jungle Hut named the Wizard Organization after it.

However, around the excavated skeletons, no bracelets have been found. Perhaps bracelets could rot away, and the adornments could disintegrate, but the stones shouldn’t disappear so easily. Therefore, this is definitely not Yadisi Village."

"So you’re saying..." Gro struggled to articulate a harsh reality, "you’re saying... we’ve been digging for so long, and we dug in the wrong place?!"

"Right," Richard nodded.

Gro: "..." Suddenly, the thought of dying seemed appealing.

Just then Richard suddenly added, "Although we dug in the wrong place, it’s not without any payoff. Look at these buried bones, there are no signs of injury or defect, they all seem to have died naturally."

"So?" Gro asked weakly.

"Aren’t you curious, not at all curious about what caused these people to suddenly die?" Richard glanced at Gro and inquired.

"Not curious, not the slightest bit curious," Gro shook his head, sliding down from the stone he had been leaning on, lying on the ground in utter despondency, "Right now, I just want to rest for a while, I just want some peace and quiet."

"Suit yourself then," Richard shrugged and said no more.

At this moment, Nancy, who was sitting on a nearby rock as if she had rested enough, jumped off the stone, approached Richard, looked at the many bones that were uncovered, and asked proactively, "You were telling that idiot just now, that there’s something abnormal about these deaths, there must be some reason, do you know what’s really going on?"

"Not exactly knowing, more like a conjecture," Richard said thoughtfully, recalling the information he had noticed earlier from the Deep Blue Castle Library, then turning his head to look in a certain direction behind him, "If I remember correctly, this village isn’t far from Taklamakan Lake."

"Taklamakan Lake?" Nancy’s eyes flashed, "That lake, I know it, I’ve passed it a few times on horseback with that useless guy over there, and Teacher Macbeth. They say that lake is also called the Sea of Death. At that time, the idiot next to me was wondering, since it’s called the Sea of Death, why there would be any plants. Humph, the Sea of Death is clearly an old name, what’s that got to do with now."

"Actually, it’s not absolutely so," Richard said, "The Sea of Death, it’s a name, but also a meaning, much like a nickname for a person.

A person’s name might not correspond to their nature: for example, a skinny person named Bernie (meaning as strong and brave as a bear), a prisoner in the dungeons named Kent (implying a handsome and great leader).

Nicknames, however, tend to describe a particular trait of a person: for instance, someone nicknamed ’Madman’ definitely has a crazy side, while ’Blind’ means the person’s vision or insight is certainly not great.

Therefore, the name ’Sea of Death’ I feel might conceal some information, something that people from the past wanted to pass down. But later generations did not pay attention, or those who did died out from some peculiar accident en masse, so no one understood the specifics anymore."

"So, what do you want to do?" Nancy asked.

"Quite simple, I want to have a look at this ’Sea of Death,’" Richard said. "I’ve already checked it out once before, and now, I’m preparing to investigate more thoroughly to confirm a theory of mine." After speaking, without any further ado, he took a leap and started rushing towards the south.

Nancy hesitated slightly, then quickly said, "Wait for me, I’m coming with you!" And with that, she chased after the figure of Richard, already distant.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Finally, Gro, who had wanted to rest in peace and quiet down on the ground, did find his peace. After about ten or so seconds of silence, Gro suddenly jerked upright, looking around bewilderedly, "Hey, what’s going on, where did everyone go? Hey, wait! Wait for me, what’s happening? Tell me, don’t leave me behind! Huff, huff..." Gro, without having rested for long, summoned his last bit of strength and followed, panting.

At that moment, he was like an abandoned child of over a hundred and twenty pounds.

...

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