The Library Genius Girl: The Book-Loving Novice Official Who Saves the Nation with Her Vast Knowledge!
“Martina! According to Guido’s memory, there’s a trap up ahead where water comes pouring down!”
“Yes. Based on everyone’s expedition records, I believe it’s about five minutes ahead.”
Just as Guido remembered, they followed a simple rule—always choosing the leftmost path at every fork. Nearly everyone had taken this approach, so there was plenty of information recorded in the expedition logs.
By referring to all of these records, Martina had access to highly accurate information for this route.
“I’ll take the lead!”
As Martina moved to the front alongside Roland and Sasha, Guido took on a more serious and cautious expression.
“Is this ‘rain trap’ really that bad?”
“Yeah, it’s more like a waterfall than rain.”
“That sounds awful if you get caught in it. I’d rather avoid it, but no matter how much we investigate, we can’t find any trigger mechanisms…?”
“Exactly. We have no clue where all that water even comes from.”
“This ruin is really mysterious, huh?”
With a cheerful smile, Arlette pulled out a cloak she had prepared in advance and declared,
“Alright, I’ll go ahead and walk a little apart from everyone. That way, we can pinpoint exactly where the trap is.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course! If you don’t let me do it, I’ll be upset.”
Amused by Arlette’s enthusiasm, the group entrusted her with the task of locating the trap.
Keeping a distance of over ten meters from the others, she proceeded cautiously. A tense silence filled the air as several minutes passed—then, it happened.
Shaaah!
Without any warning whatsoever, a torrent of water poured down on Arlette, drenching her cloak as if a waterfall had been unleashed.
Martina had been memorizing the details of the passage, expecting to notice a structural change when the trap was triggered. Yet, even before and after the downpour, she saw no difference.
(A trap with no visible changes…? Did the civilization that built these ruins possess such advanced technology?)
“That’s incredible…”
“Right? It comes down with absolutely no warning.”
As Martina pondered, the others also voiced their confusion. Though they discussed what had just happened, they gained no useful insights.
Soon, Arlette stepped beyond the trap’s range, and the rain stopped.
“That was amazing!”
Arlette, now on the other side of the trap, pulled back her hood with an excited flush on her cheeks.
“Did you figure anything out?”
“Sorry, nothing at all… Could you come back over here now?”
“Of course!”
She pulled her hood back up and retraced her steps. The moment she stepped into the same spot, the rain poured down again.
Yet, even after closely observing, Martina still detected no changes.
“It’s clear that stepping into that spot triggers the rain. But I couldn’t identify any trap mechanisms. The walls, ceiling, and floor didn’t move at all…”
After hearing the results, Guido looked slightly disappointed. However, he quickly refocused and pointed further down the path.
“For now, let’s keep going. If my memory is correct, this route will lead us back to the first plaza in about thirty more minutes.”
“Yes. That’s what most of the records say as well.”
“Alright, let’s move forward.”
With a confident grin, Arlette led the way, and the others nodded, following her lead. Using their cloaks for protection, they carefully navigated through the rain trap.
Throwing cloaks across from the other side didn’t trigger the rain, suggesting that the trap only activated when a person stepped into the area.
(Despite the amount of water pouring down, the puddles on the ground are surprisingly small…)
Martina had many questions, but she decided to save a thorough investigation for later. With everyone past the trap, they continued forward.
Thirty minutes later, just as previous explorers had reported, they found themselves back at the first plaza. Since they had taken only left turns, they had unknowingly looped back to where they started.
“What is up with these ruins? This place is so weird! The passageways all look the same, they twist and turn endlessly, and we have no clue why we ended up back here!”
“Exactly. No matter how you navigate, this always seems to happen.”
As Arlette and Guido exchanged excited remarks, Martina felt a strong sense of unease. Just a few minutes before arriving at the plaza, she had a strange feeling that the scenery had suddenly shifted.
However, since the ruins’ interior had a uniform design, with almost no signs of plant growth or soil intrusion, she couldn’t be sure.
(If I hadn’t been paying close attention, I wouldn’t have noticed anything at all. But it’s impossible to remember details of places I didn’t even look at.)
(One more time. This time, I’ll carefully memorize every detail as we approach the plaza. Maybe then, I’ll figure something out.)
Driven by an insatiable curiosity, Martina turned to the rest of the expedition team and raised her voice.
“Everyone, shall we take the same path once more?”
After she explained her reasoning, no one objected. They all trusted Martina’s abilities.
Even the representatives from the Hardy Kingdom respected her after she had successfully dealt with the Red Blight incident.
“Alright, let’s go!”
Encouraged by the possibility of uncovering something new, Guido’s steps were lighter this time. Arlette followed, and the rest of the group moved forward once again, retracing their path through the ruins.
