I got chills and my teeth started to shake. I gulped.
‘Can’t turn around. Can’t respond.’
– Squee?
“Demy, please come here.”
The red panda was good and immediately ran over to dangle on my leg. He must have felt my anxiety and shock. I hugged him with the arm holding the Holy Staff. I then only looked forward as I walked. I focused only on Christelle’s hair that was fluttering a few steps away.
The voice had been too clear for me to have heard wrong or made a mistake. I was certain I heard it behind me. My neck felt cold and I was scared. I wanted to quickly go back. If my friends were not here, and if I wasn’t thinking about India, who should be here somewhere, I would have run out with all my strength immediately.
“What is it, your highness?”
Flinch. Marian, who was to my left, looked up at me. I must have looked serious even to a child. Her concerned side view was visible thanks to the Imperial Crown Prince’s flame.
I became certain after seeing the little girl’s reaction.
“……It’s nothing. Aren’t you cold?”
‘This child did not hear it. That thing just now really was a ghost! Mommy!’
“I’m okay, your highness. Anyway, that is how this place ended up as a discarded ruin. But apparently that is not that unique.”
“I see.” I barely managed to maintain a calm voice.
Crackle, crackle! Crown prince Cédric, who was walking in the front, brought out a few more flames. A fireball flew over to us and lit up the area.
The punk probably did it because it was dark, but I felt a bit better seeing the area around me light up. I could hear the rhythmic footsteps of Sand, Joanne, and Sir Johann behind us. I subconsciously took a deep breath.
‘Good job holding it in, Jung Yeseo. Let’s not act like a horror movie cliché right now. You know that’s the fastest way to die. You need to return home alive.’
“If it is not special, does that mean other ruins are discarded as well?” Christelle turned toward us and asked.
Her sparkling eyes and pretty face was exactly as I remembered. ‘As expected, that’s the real one. She was warmly chatting with the crown prince earlier too.’
“Yes, ma’am. Even the Vatican does not study the ruins in the neutral region anymore. They don’t protect them anymore either. It is difficult because of the ghosts, and it costs a lot.” Marian answered diligently. Sand sighed.
It was the frustrating reality, but it was understandable. The spot of their leader had been vacant for 100 years, and the Riester-Venetiaan break in diplomatic relations had continued for thirty years. The dignity of the Vatican was quickly falling to the ground as it stood in between them. There was Vicarius Generalis Ronald Rupert, who was taking care of things in the neutral region in place of the Pope, but he was just an administrator who was busy maintaining the status quo.
No. If you considered the fact that Archbishop Eugénie Kessié started working as a spy through the Vatican……
‘The decomposition has progressed quite a bit. Maybe he can’t even maintain the status quo.’
“Huh? Your highness. Please stop for a moment. Your Royal Highness and Pink princess too, please!” Joanne urgently called out to us at that moment. I immediately turned around.
She was looking at a wall, scowling. Sand must have already known what was going on as he was completely pale. Christelle and the crown prince quickly approached as well.
“What is it, Joanne?”
“This. This is the tulip I drew when we entered earlier. I marked the wall just in case. But it is here.”
“……”
“See, the charcoal is coming off on my finger as well.”
“……”
Christelle’s jaw dropped. I got goosebumps all over my body and my eyes reflexively shut. Marian and Demy stuck to me like sticky hands.
No wonder we didn’t see any signs of people until now and everything felt clean. We had been going in circles since earlier.
Tithé let out a quiet aarf. He was saying this was reality and not a dream. I opened my eyes again. My palm was so sweaty that the staff felt sweaty, but I had to be calm.
“……There has to be a path. Whether it is a path to the person’s resting place or to the exit… We at least came through a proper entrance.”
I couldn’t get stuck in such a place. There was no way the author would allow that. There had to be another route somewhere.
The crown prince seriously nodded his head and looked for his instructor. “Is there anything you confirmed in the rear?”
“……”
For some odd reason, there was no response. We immediately felt like something was wrong. Sand looked back, and we all slowly looked back as well.
“Ha……”
There was nobody where Sir Johann had been standing. I felt suffocated. I was certain that I heard three sets of footsteps behind me. But the Holy Knight was nowhere to be seen.
Marian, who was holding onto my waist, started shaking. I barely managed to hold myself together, thinking that I had to be the support for this child. I opened my mouth and my voice somehow managed to come out.
“Sir Johann?”
Sir Johann, Sir Johann, Sir Johann……? An eerie echo filled the corridor.
But I received no response back.
The crown prince silently moved to protect the group and Christelle guarded the rear. We were now looking in the opposite direction from where he had been walking.
I whispered to the young man despite not knowing whether he could hear me. “Do you not feel his ether, your Royal Highness?”
“The teach doesn’t usually reveal his power in front of us.”
‘This is new news to me!’
– Swooooooosh……
A bleak aura was blowing through the darkness. It only focused on one spot, which made it feel like the dark path was getting distant and close over and over. It felt like someone was whispering through the chilly wind.
We could tell even without saying anything. We could just tell. This breeze was not caused by Sir Johann.
“Should we wait here until Sir Geens shows up?” Sand slowly whispered.
Everybody (minus the male lead) nodded our heads like anxious parrots. That seemed to be the wisest decision. Continuing to walk in the hopes of finding him may lead us to get lost, and I felt too anxious to continue without him. The smart thing to do when you lose a family member in a crowded place is to just stay there and wait.
‘He’s a Cardinal so a ghost shouldn’t have been able to take him out…… Maybe it can?’
– Tap!
“Aaaaaah!”
“Aaaaaaaaaak!”
‘Something came out!’
‘Aaaaaaaaaaaah!’ We made all sorts of monstrous screeches as we hugged each other. Sand jumped up almost a whole meter. I couldn’t look in front of me because I was scared. Rhea and Perry flew into the crown prince’s arms as if they were flying squirrels.
‘Ahaha! Hahaha!’ I could hear the crown prince sigh as Christelle made a sound that was difficult to tell whether she was laughing or crying.
Being all huddled together made it difficult to remain balanced. As we staggered and ran into a wall…
– Boobooboooom……!
The inside of the tomb shook intensely. ‘Did we touch a security system or something just now?’
“Holy shit?”
“What the hell?! What was that just now?!”
“Please calm down, everyone.”
Sir Johann calmly addressed the group. ‘Huh……?!’
“Sir Johann, since when have you been there?”
“Are you really my teacher? Tell me what the first present I gave you was!” Christelle hugged my chest and shouted. I was scared, and embarrassed, so my face turned cold and then hot and back and forth.
Sir Johann tilted his head. He seemed curious why all of us (minus the male lead) ended up as ugly sweet potatoes.
“There was a low door hidden in the path we took. I think we need to go down that way for the burial room to appear. This place seems to be in the shape of a circle……”
“I don’t trust you! Tell me the present!” The MC shouted loudly. Gerrit’s daddy gently smiled.
‘What the heck? Are the both sus?’
“I remember clearly. Box seat ticket for the < Phantom of the Pas de Trois > opera.”
– Ruuuumble……!
The tomb started moving at that moment!
“Your highness.”
“Sir Johann!”
– Baaaaaaaang!
A stone wall that burst out of the wall blocked in front of me. We gasped and took a few steps back. The Holy Knight’s movements were so swift I couldn’t follow them, but the tomb’s attack was one level higher. We were now split apart from Sir Johann by a thick stone wall. And our side wasn’t safe either. The wall we were leaning against slowly pushed out as well!
– Babababang……
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
“Please dodge!”
I tightly hugged Demy as I shouted.
Sand, who had Marian, and Joanne, rolled toward Sir Johann’s direction while Christelle and I ran in the opposite direction.
A heavy stone wall fell where we had been standing. Boooooooom!
“Keep running, your highness!”
– Screeeech!
“Okay!”
Christelle shouted and the divine beast screeched loudly as if to urge me on. I ran with everything I had while holding him. All thoughts disappeared except for the thought that I needed to survive. Both the direction and speed were random. You would at least get a concussion if you were hit by those randomly bursting walls. And if you get hit directly? ‘You’ll be flattened like a pancake!’
“Ugh!”
– Baaaaang!
However, there was a limit to how much you could evade with a regular person’s stamina. While regular bodies slowly started to tire out, the tomb’s attack started to become faster. I jumped, rolled, and curled over and over in this dark path. I had to stop every so often to dodge the attacks that my distance from Christelle was getting larger as well.
She looked back at me and her eyes opened wide.
“Prince Jesse!”
She then clenched her teeth and pulled out her whip. Tithé, who she was holding in front of her, was moved to her back. Boom! Baaaaang! Her gaze seemed serious as she glared at the moving walls to find a pattern.
It looked like she was trying to pull me with her whip!
– Boooom!
“Christelle! I’ll run hard so save me!”
– Baaaang!
“Just trust me, your highness!”
‘This isn’t a matter of trust! The difficulty is too high! Ahh, this wall is moving too!’
“Ugh!”
I was pulled by my waist at that moment. My eyes opened wide as I could not figure out what was happening. My body instantly folded before being placed somewhere like a burlap sack. Demy quickly moved out of my chest area and crawled to my back.
‘How is this a person’s shoulder? It’s as wide as the Pacific Ocean!’
“My stomach hurts because its too stiff!”
“Do not resist,” a low voice warned me. My dignity was about to be gone as well.
“I can keep running, your Royal Highness. Please give me one last chance! A person, at least twice in their life,”
– Tap!
“Eek!”
The man shot forward like a bolt of lightning. The blood rushed into my head. While that was going on, Rhea, Perry, and Demy tied me down to the crown prince punk’s shoulder. They then dangled around his waist. ‘They learned how to use these vines so well!’
– Boom!
“Ugh! A bit more gentle!”
“Eek!”
I was giving 0 stars for this ride when I heard a familiar screech below me. I could see pink underneath my fluttering blonde hair.
“……Christelle?”
“It tickles! Eek! I run very well!”
“Quiet down.”
Our MC was being carried on the male lead’s side like a bag.
‘He’s carrying two adults and four divine beasts by himself?!’
– Booboboboooooooooom……!
“That must be the secret door teacher was talking about.”
His neck vibrated as he spoke. It seemed as if we went around in a circle again. I wanted to look as well but I could not see it at all. All I could see was this broad shoulder or a thick stone wall. All I could do was trust this punk. I had to firm my resolve. Forget pride, I clenched my teeth and tightly grabbed the crown prince’s clothes.
The punk must have taken it as a signal-
– Tatap!
“Eek!”
– Babang!!
He knelt down and slid like a bolt of lightning and…
“Isabelle!”
– Bababang!
He passed through a second wall while sliding, then turned while seated…
– Baaaaang!
And used the rebound to kick something hard!
– Kiiiiiii!
– Kiiiii!
– Squee!
The children’s reactions were amazing.
I was wondering what he did that made all three red pandas squeal in admiration like that but-
“Eek!”
“Aaaaah! Yyour highness! We’re falling!”
“Yes, I know!”
In this situation where the only seatbelt I had was the crown prince’s body, we were falling down somewhere.
– Shhhhhhhhhhhh! That unique feeling of free fall filled me from head to toe. Cold air, a damp smell, and the darkness that did not allow me to see anything came from all directions.
The fall did not end after a few seconds and our fall started to speed up. I clenched my teeth and tightly closed my eyes. I felt suffocated, thinking that I was going to die like this. We said we weren’t going to touch the ruins and we broke things and drew on things, so we really can’t say anything if we received the grudges of the dead……
– Plop!
“Ugh!”
“Ugh, I’m dying!”
“Ow!”
‘We survived!’ I rolled until I fell into something.
The scattered mess of Demy’s vines tickled my cheek and hair. My forehead and shoulder hurt from hitting things, but overall, I seemed fine.
‘Squeeeeee! Squeeee! Cree!’ A riled up Demy made all sorts of noises before kicking my tongue and then kicking my stomach with his feet.
‘Oh dear, a red panda is going to kill a person.’
“I’m going to get bruises. Ow.”
I barely snapped to my senses and used the gold near me to stand up…… ‘Huh?’
– Clang!
“What is this? Is this real gold?”
– Aaarf!
I was extremely anxious when Tithé let out an energetic cry from the other side. I quickly raised my head and looked around. Everybody seemed safe. The crown prince was already far away, looking around, with Rhea and Perry following him. Next to me was Christelle, who fixed Tithé around her as she stood with her jaw dropped.
I couldn’t help but have the same look. It really could not be helped. ‘This is……’
“Everything is golden,” I blankly mumbled.
There were countless numbers of gold coins on the ground and we had fallen to an area around the golden mine. Basically, it was an extremely unrealistic situation. Everything around me was glowing gold, making it blinding to look. A drinking glass made of gold, a five-colored treasure, and even armor was rolling around. The extremely high ceiling had gold on it as well.
At this point, I had no choice but to conclude it. 100%. No, 200%.
– Squeeeee?
“Demy, don’t touch that!”
This dangerous place was the ruler’s tomb!
—
Translator’s Comments
Gonna be gonna be golden~