Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Descendants of the Guide
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Four people were walking toward the plaza amid the banquet.
All four wore the distinctive magic beast hide armor of the underground dwellers, and their appearances were so similar they could have been twins or siblings.
Striking features formed refined faces, crowned with dark bluish-black hair and violet eyes.
Their eyes, gleaming like jewels, seemed less like those of living beings and more like something inorganic—thoroughly uncanny.
Arsen's eyes were a similar color, but they lacked that eerie luster.
‘Is that why they call them jewel eyes?’
As everyone watched, Timak approached them without hesitation and greeted them casually.
“Welcome, Shatia! It’s been ages. It must be at least five years since we last met.”
“That sounds about right.”
The woman at the front, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, nodded curtly in reply, her voice stiff.
Arsen felt an odd sense of familiarity looking at her face, framed by hair braided at the back. It was like he’d seen it somewhere before.
Surprisingly, not only her but all three behind her were knights.
Considering that other settlements usually sent just one or two knights, this was an impressively powerful reinforcement.
“Here’s Arsen, the leader of the surface folk. Ah, his name’s Arsen. They append ‘Knight’ to a guardian’s name up on the surface.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Arsen.”
“I’m Shatia. A pleasure to meet you, Arsen Knight.”
Arsen studied her polite greeting, trying to pin down the strange feeling that persisted.
‘What is it?’
Just then, he overheard Barkran, dangling from his backpack outside, mutter something—and that revealed the source of his déjà vu.
[What’s with those people? They look just like you.]
Her features and those of the other knights were strikingly alike, and so were Arsen’s. He hadn’t noticed right away because he rarely looked at his own face.
From a third-party perspective, others had caught on quickly; they were already glancing back and forth between Arsen and the jewel-eyed kin with confused expressions.
“I hope we get a chance to talk privately later.”
“...Me too.”
Leaving that subtle resonance behind, she led her family to a corner of the plaza. She exchanged light greetings with others but didn’t engage further.
Once they’d settled in the corner, Timak spoke in a low voice.
“I hadn’t seen them in years myself, so I wasn’t sure at first, but up close... they really do look incredibly alike. I’d believe it if you said you were family. Forgive me, but is one of your parents from here...?”
“No chance. It takes a full year just to get from my hometown to here.”
Arsen’s father, Lenoc, was a knight born and raised in Belluan, so any suspicion would point to his unknown mother’s side.
He had heard his violet eyes came from her.
But could a member of this underground tunnel clan really travel to Belluan—a place over a year’s walk away, as the saying went?
And not even a knight, but an ordinary person?
‘Through the underground tunnels to Belluan... No, that’s even less realistic than reaching the surface.’
Timak looked embarrassed at the firm denial and cleared his throat awkwardly.
“In any case, they’re a respected clan in this underground world. They’re reclusive, so people find them intimidating, but despite their small numbers, they’ve produced many guardians.”
Just bringing four knights was proof enough. With two more likely guarding their home base, that meant the clan had produced five or six knights.
Considering that even with ten children from a knight, only one or two might become knights, it was remarkable.
Then Timak patted Arsen’s shoulder lightly.
“How about enjoying the banquet for now? This feast is for you all, after all!”
* * *
Once the merry time ended, the warriors from other settlements dispersed to their communal lodging for rest.
The commune was so vast that accommodating over a hundred extra people was no trouble.
And at the time the underground folk designated as evening, Arsen was receiving a guest in the small house assigned to him.
Shatia, the knight leading the jewel-eyed clan.
“I hope you enjoyed the banquet.”
“I did, thanks to you.”
After the perfunctory exchange, she sat quietly.
Even on second glance, her face was eerily like Arsen’s. If he aged a dozen years and turned into a woman, it might look just like this.
Shatia glanced around as if checking for eavesdroppers, then posed her question cautiously.
“It might be rude, but doesn’t Arsen Knight’s mother look a lot like me?”
“I’ve heard she had violet eyes, but she passed after giving birth to me, so I never met her.”
“I see...”
She nodded knowingly, so Arsen added, as he had to Timak,
“There’s no way she was from here. Belluan, my hometown, is incredibly far from this place.”
Shatia half-listened to his explanation as she rummaged in her bag and pulled something out. It was a small bronze censer about the size of two fists.
“I prepared this after hearing about you, Arsen Knight.”
“What is it?”
“A treasure of our clan. A relic that confirms blood ties. Put two people’s blood in it, and it reveals how closely related they are.”
“As I said earlier...”
“There’s reason to think we should use it. If results come out, I’ll explain everything. Please.”
Shatia bowed her head politely in plea.
Arsen stared at her bowed figure for a long moment before signaling through his earring.
“Please wait a moment.”
“Pardon?”
[Eli. Come in.]
Seconds after Arsen’s request, Eloise, waiting outside, opened the door and entered.
Shatia’s face twitched slightly at the sight of her.
“I’m sorry, but this conversation... with others...”
“Don’t we need to verify an unknown relic before use? I hope you understand. I’ve nearly died from one before.”
Arsen added, looking at Eloise,
“Besides, Eli is the most important person to me. Whatever it is about me, I have no intention of keeping it secret from her.”
Shatia’s expression soured a bit, but she soon nodded in agreement, acknowledging the logic.
She seemed willing to endure this much if it meant getting Arsen to use the censer.
As Eloise placed her hand on the relic, her face briefly appeared on it, and Arsen whispered through the earring,
[Your face is a bit red?]
[Shut up.]
She grumbled, but it wasn’t hard to read the mix of embarrassment and pride on her face.
The shyness didn’t last; Eloise soon grew serious and cast an emotion spell.
Light flashed a few times, and she nodded, lifting her hand from the relic.
“It’s fine. No weird functions.”
“Thanks.”
With even its function verified, there was no hesitation. Arsen drew his dagger, pricked his pinky, and let blood drip in.
He handed the dagger hilt-first to Shatia, who did the same, and finally, their blood mingled in the censer.
Shatia closed the lid, placed her hand on it, and said,
“Now, close the lid and infuse mana...”
The censer trembled, and a hissing sound like boiling steam rose from within.
Soon after, blood-red smoke began leaking from the hole.
“...The result is coming.”
Shatia’s face was taut as she spoke.
Arsen lightly waved away the billowing smoke with his hand and asked,
“Red smoke, huh.”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”
Her voice was low and husky, laced with a faint tremor.
“It means very close blood ties. Specifically, aunt and nephew.”
* * *
After dabbing her eyes briefly, Shatia politely asked Eloise to leave.
To explain the result in detail, she’d need to reveal their clan’s secrets.
As Arsen pondered his response, Eloise stood first.
[You okay?]
[Yeah. If it’s something I need to know, Sen will tell me.]
With that show of trust, Eloise left the room without hesitation.
Confirming they were alone, Shatia began her careful explanation.
“I had a twin sister named Vitea.”
“Had?”
“Yes. She left this underground world long ago. She must be Arsen Knight’s mother. All my other relatives were born and died here.”
As if anticipating his question, she continued calmly,
“We’re the oldest commune in this underground world, and thus hold many secrets. One is an escape route out of here.”
It was the kind of thing that would floor Timak or the other underground folk.
Hadn’t they asked immediately how to escape upon learning of Arsen’s group from the surface?
“It’s precisely a relic that teleports the user somewhere. But it can’t be used again for a long time, and the destination is unknown. It’s meant for when the entire clan is in peril, so using it freely is taboo.”
The first thought was a transfer gate, but this seemed like a degraded version.
It eliminated the need for a gate on the other side and a space mage to operate it, but introduced other flaws.
Truly an ‘emergency escape’ tool.
“Did she use that to leave the underground?”
“Yes. Vitea always found this place suffocating. She’d say she’d rather die than live like cattle—and leave. I never thought she’d actually do it.”
One day, Vitea had secretly used the spatial transfer relic and vanished.
Leaving just a single letter for her twin sister.
“‘I’ll live freely under the warm sun. Longer and happier than anyone.’”
Arsen could guess that Vitea, his mother who fled the underground, hadn’t found that happiness.
A bold girl willing to part from family forever wouldn’t have dreamed of a future kidnapped by a knight, becoming his concubine, bearing a child, and dying.
“To die after bearing Arsen Knight... she barely lived after leaving... Was she happy in those few years?”
Arsen didn’t answer her question. He just slowly shook his head.
That sufficed as a reply; Shatia gave a hollow laugh.
“I believed she was living well somewhere.”
Arsen gave her time to compose herself. After a few minutes, a somewhat recovered Shatia shook her head.
“My apologies. I showed unbecoming behavior.”
“I understand. And please, speak comfortably. As you said, you’re my aunt.”
He couldn’t be certain until seeing the spatial relic, but her words held together.
They’d even confirmed close kinship with the relic.
“...Right. Understood.”
“Still, you, Shatia, and the others—even me—we’re alike to an uncanny degree. Blood ties don’t usually make everyone resemble each other that much.”
There were plenty of parents and children, siblings, who didn’t look alike.
By comparison, Shatia, the other jewel-eyed clan members, and Arsen’s looks were strikingly similar. Anyone could tell at a glance they were kin.
It was unnaturally so, which prompted the question—and Shatia nodded as if it were obvious.
“It’s a trait of our clan. We’re not ordinary humans; we’re descendants of Radus, the great Guide.”
“The Guide?”
To Arsen’s question, Shatia replied evenly.
“Legend says our ancestor could open gates between surface and underground. He led people here to escape the horrors above—the first Guide, our forebear.”
It wasn’t hard to guess this hinted at succession.
The passages into these underground tunnels were made by ancient civilization, and the ruins taught successors how to open the gates.
Meaning Arsen’s successor abilities came from this bloodline too.
“And we’re a bit more beautiful, intelligent, and physically robust than average. Easier to become guardians. Our blood is pure; it doesn’t dilute easily from mixing once or twice with others. Unless it overwhelms them.”
Pride thickened her voice as she spoke.
“We must tell the clan that Vitea’s son has returned. They’ll all be thrilled.”
“If I may, I hope this doesn’t restrict my actions.”
Shatia gave a small laugh and nodded at Arsen’s wish not to clash with newfound relatives.
“You even talk like Vitea. No need to worry; it won’t happen. I won’t allow it, and the others aren’t fools enough to cross someone commanding over ten guardians and dozens of mages.”
With that, Shatia gazed steadily at Arsen and said,
“You entered this place and that mage earlier... seemed unaffected. You have the Guide’s qualities too.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As Arsen admitted it boldly, Shatia smiled broadly, delighted.
“Visit our clan’s home, and I’ll lend you something immensely helpful for this fight. Usable only by the Guide. It’ll be a great boon.”