It was now early morning of the next day. We gathered at the entrance of our lodging before the sun even rose. The horses we were using were all swift and healthy horses Viscount Rambouillet let us use. The saddlebag was full of food, water, blankets, and all sorts of medicines for India. We also gathered a lot of things that could work as weapons.

– Neeeeeeigh!

“Yeah, please take good care of me. Let’s both get back safely.”

I petted this horse I was meeting for the first time and looked out at the horizon. The other side of the sky was starting to get brighter with purple and orange lights. A gentle breeze passed by. The scent of dawn and sand filled the air.

We were originally planning on leaving last night, but the Viscount and his wife, who returned after the spices wholesale, pleaded with us not to go. They said that they understood our concern about the child, but that it was dangerous when the sun set. They would not stop us from leaving, but they advised that we leave at dawn because the ghosts became rowdier at night time.

But every minute counted thinking about the child in the ruins. Marian was the one who calmed us down when we were being anxious.

‘A lot of adults went with her. India would have stolen their food if she needed to do so. She would have even stolen their napkins and socks as needed.’

‘Marian.’

‘It’s true. The uncles and aunties always said that she was smart and the most tactful of all of the kids in the village.’

‘But we don’t know what kind of situation your sister may be in……’

‘What if such important figures as yourselves got injured going out when Mr. Sun is not out? India wouldn’t like something like that either. Neither would I.’

How could a child be so daring and mature? The girl who was dangling on my leg crying was gone, and this precious little girl seemed to have sprouted from somewhere.

The conclusive part was that Monica agreed with Marian. She said that it was reckless to head to the ruins when the day was over and for us to please think about the citizens of the Empire and the people.

We had no choice with everybody saying things like that. We slept early and decided to wake up early to go look for the child.

That was how we arrived at right now.

– Kiiiiiiiiiii, kiiiiiiiiii!

“Can I look forward to that? You’re going to be friends with the ghosts?”

– Cree!

“Oh dear. Our Demy finally knows what is scary.”

The divine beast seemed to have lost his mind in fear as well. I couldn’t help but laugh seeing him inside the basket. Christelle was hugging Tithé in a wrap while Rhea and Perry were taken care of by Sand and Joanne. Marian, who chose to come with us, got on a horse with Sir Johann. The Rambouillet family said that they would look after the sleeping Percy.

The Imperial Crown Prince elegantly got on a horse.

The first ruin we headed toward was the one you would reach if you continued south from the caravanserai. There were no other buildings or terrain, allowing anybody to easily go there.

However, nobody had such ideas. None of the neutral region’s villagers would go into a ghost-floating ruin like this on their own accord, unless they were crazy, drunk, or a tomb raider.

“Christelle, will you really be okay? Mommy is worried.”

“Please relax, mother. We are not going to steal anything and we have no plans on destroying any ruins. We won’t create any justification for the ghosts to attack us.” Christelle consoled Isabelle before getting on a horse. She offered up her right pinky to promise her.

‘Seeing them like this makes it look like they get along, but why were they like that yesterday and the day before?’

“According to legends, the ghosts sometimes sing to trick the souls of humans. Please cover your ears if you start to hear anything suspicious. You can be freed if you do not hear it until the end.”

“Yes, Lady Rambouillet. Thank you very much,” I answered with a smile.

Lady Marise Rambouillet looked at me and whispered something about her granddaughter this and son-in-law that, before shoving a ton of fruit and donuts into my bag. I guess she wanted me to return safely so that I could introduce someone to her to be her granddaughter’s husband.

‘Just leave it to me boss. I’ll do my best, boss. For your information, the most likely candidate is over there.’

“Your Royal Highness. Please do not pull out the Sword of Wisdom and please control your holy flame. Please just pretend like you don’t see anything. You must not make the ghosts angry.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Crown prince Cédric looked down at Viscount Clément and answered.

I always had this thought, but this guy was surprisingly respectful to the adults.

The old couple went last to Christelle and said many things to her before extending their hand to their granddaughter’s cheeks.

She flinched and pulled away. The two of them and I looked at Christelle in shock. She looked even more flustered than all of us. I peeked at Isabelle, who seemed quite shocked.

“Uhh…… Mm. I’ll be back soon. Please don’t worry because we will use the magic flare if anything happens!”

Christelle’s awkward greeting finished that segment. It was true that we did not have any time to waste.

Monica tightly grabbed Marian’s arm and the crown prince was the first to kick off. I pulled up my veil over my nose and energetically pushed forward as well.

“Huut!”

“Hut!”

– Clack, clack, clack!

Dust scattered around under the faint dawn light. We said a temporary goodbye to Zaum village like that.

*

The ruins were very close. It looked far from the village but it took only about thirty minutes once we rode here on our horses.

– Clack, clack, clack……

“Ugh! Is that the Dark Ember Bees or whatnot?” Joanne scowled and pointed at the sand around the time we arrived at our destination.

The Holy Knights didn’t seem to care but the two of our eyes opened wide!

“That seems to be the case, Baroness.” Sand also looked disgusted as he answered.

“Wow, that’s making my stomach churn.” Our artist shivered.

There were Dark Amber Bee corpses near the ruins. Most must have been buried in the sand, as there weren’t too many, but the ones we could see were quite damaged from the storm as well. They were called bees but these demonic beasts were basically as thick as an adult’s forearm. The scarabs of < The Mummy > series were cute in comparison.

I scowled and quickly turned my head. My stomach was not strong enough to thoroughly inspect such things. Sir Johann was covering Marian’s eyes.

– Neeeeeeigh!

“That seems to be the entrance.”

The crown prince stopped his horse and commented in a low voice, almost like the MC of an old western.

I quickly followed his gaze. Beyond the gentle morning glow, the traces of a vast history was in front of us.

“Wow……”

– Kiiiiiii……

Demy and I gasped at the same time.

There weren’t apartment-sized pillars like we saw at the entrance of the neutral region. However, large rocks were on their sides all around. We had no way of knowing how they initially looked, but it seemed as if there was an extremely large building here. The harsh winds and years cut away at the rocks but there definitely was the feel of an ancient civilization in this spot where tomb raiders had raided many times.

In spots with sand pits were large tiles made by sculpting rocks. Whether it was intended or a coincidence, I’m sure those things would have guided people along.

“Demy, look over there. How do you think they made things like this a thousand years ago?”

– Squee

“It must have been really heavy. Maybe the kingdom fell to ruins because they left the people under them to do this kind of construction,” Joanne sharply criticized in an annoyed voice. ‘An artist who was originally a commoner would feel that way.’

As for me, who was pretending to be a royal despite actually being far from it, just awkwardly laughed.

“Here we go.”

– Tap!

The group got off our horses as quietly as possible. The crown prince and Sir Johann tied their horses to a stone pillar that came up to our waist. The rest of us quickly followed them.

Then Gerrit’s daddy, who was helping Marian off the horse, quickly chuckled. The horses, who were quickly all gathered in one area, snorted as if they were amused.

Other than that, the rest of our surroundings were completely silent. We didn’t even hear the bugs or birds we frequently heard at the Imperial Palace. It felt eerie.

“It feels like I’m at the pyramids or something.”

Christelle mumbled the thought that was on my mind.

I barely managed to stop myself from nodding in agreement and cautiously entered the ruins while holding Marian’s hand.

Sand looked around before commenting, “I don’t see any ghosts. That’s a relief……”

“The sun is coming up soon. Ghosts are said to instinctively loathe the time when light defeats the darkness and becomes stronger. Of course, they do not get weaker from being in the sunlight. Around this time, they usually go hide deep in the ruins.” Sir Johann nicely explained.

‘I guess they aren’t vampires but the typical ghosts that prefer yin energy. It’s a good thing we came at dawn.’

“Over there, I see stairs.”

“Yeah. That is the entrance his Royal Highness mentioned.”

Marian bravely pointed somewhere. I gulped and continued to walk. The crown prince and Christelle stood to my left and right while Sand and Joanne were right behind us. Rhea pushed on the priest’s chest as if cheering him on.

As always, Sir Johann defended the rear.

– Step, step, step.

– Step, step, step……

The darkness opened its mouth and waited for us.

The path to the underground resembled a typical hallway. The walls were sturdy and the stairs down were not damaged either. I felt a cold breeze coming up from the bottom once we were right in front of it. I screamed internally.

“Eek, that.”

‘Aaaaaah!’ I almost had a heart attack because Marian jumped in shock. The child quickly ran over and crouched down in front of the stairs, not caring that I was clutching my chest.

Christelle ran over and hugged the girl. The crown prince looked down at me and clicked his tongue.

“When do you plan on having some decorum?”

“Please be quiet, your Royal Highness.”

‘Yes, I got scared and even my ether shriveled in fear. It’s not like you did anything to help!’

“It is! India wrote this message. She scratched it in there with white gravel. I’m sure because it is the code we always use.”

“I see. ‘D. G. REG.’ is written there.”

“What is that? Is it code for a swear word or something?” Joanne asked.

I quickly bit down on my lips. I heard you grow hair in weird places if you suddenly go from being scared to laughing.

“Dei Gratia Regina.” Sir Johann gave us the answer.

We all turned around. He smiled as gently as a spring breeze.

“‘The person who is king thanks to the blessing of god.’ That is basically what it means in the Holy Language.”

“Ah, it is something I read in some holy text in the past…… It was something India knew as well, so it ended up as our code. I didn’t know it held such meaning.”

“Holy Language is something only religious figures at the Cardinal level or higher get to learn. You know quite a cool phrase.” The Holy Knight’s drooping eyes curled up.

Christelle brushed back Marian’s hair and quietly asked.

“You learned such a hard thing? What a pair of genius siblings.”

“I just memorized what I saw in a book. India said she saw it on a stone tablet somewhere.”

“Stone tablet?” I whispered as I walked up to her.

Marian nodded her head and looked at us with sparkling eyes.

“We get some broken stone tablets around the village from time to time. She said she saw it written on them. They probably aren’t worth anything because even the Tomb Raiders did not take them.”

“……”

We quickly exchanged glances. Silence filled the area for a while.

‘Is it possible…… The King of ancient Únĭo is buried here?’

*

“Nobody knows that.”

Knows that, knows that…… Step, step, clack, clack, click, click……

The child’s clear voice and the group’s footsteps all echoed. Demy quietly ran around.

Anyway, it had been a while since we took the stairs down below. It seemed clear that India had headed down, and Sir Johann took a look around and said that nobody was nearby. He saw the corpses of some horses that probably belonged to the tomb raiders, but he said the Dark Amber Bees had eaten them all.

That left us with one option.

– Crackle!

The crown prince made a flame and led the way in this hallway without any light. Christelle walked next to him while holding her whip, prepared to fight any demonic beasts that might pop out.

The Viscount told us not to use the Holy fire, but we were already going against one of our elder’s advice. ‘My apologies, Viscount Rambouillet.’

“There are many talks about this being a tomb. But based on what I saw in books, it might not be one. India said the same thing. She said it may be a secret prayer room the villagers hid in during the Holy War…… Or an ancient tumulus. But I don’t know what an ancient tumulus is. My sister didn’t know either. I forgot to ask Grandpa Scottie.” Marian smartly explained.

I chuckled and shook the child’s arm. I was holding the Holy Staff from my teacher in my other hand. The air underground was as cold as a refrigerator and as humid as a rainy day.

At least the hand I was holding was warm.

“An ancient tumulus is a very old tomb.”

“I see. That must be why the adults in the village just call it a tomb.”

“Whose tomb do they say it is?”

“In the past, when Her Holiness, Pope Elene, was still alive, a lot of people in high positions visited to figure that out. But nobody pays any attention now that she has gone to the side of the Almighty God. The Vatican doesn’t tell us anything, so the villagers just continue to live without knowing. We studied hard but…… It is still very difficult.” Marian chewed on a Ma’amoul as she spoke.

I let out a sigh. The Vatican existing just in name only, the Vatican being gutted since the passing of the Pope, I had heard all sorts of stories like that. But still…… ‘Nevermind. No use talking about it.’

“Then this place is basically guaranteed to be a tomb,” I looked up at the ceiling and mumbled.

This old site seemed too grand to be a stealthy religious building.

‘Mm, the liege of a destroyed kingdom may indeed have a grudge……’

“No. Maybe it could have been a wealthy noble?”

“Oh, come on, your highness. Something this big must be for a virtuous ruler.” Christelle answered behind me.

I was nodding my head at her comment when I flinched. ‘Wait a minute.’

“……”

– Click, click, click.

Christelle was walking in the front. All of the hairs on my body instantly stood up.

—
Translator’s Comments

Oh sna….

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