Ancient Beings (2)
As the plaque announced, visitors were actually allowed to open this tomb, which appeared to be a relic from the ancient era.
Only the chosen may open this coffin.
Go ahead and try it yourself.
A more detailed explanation was written beside it.
This tomb follows the style of burial sites reserved for the highest echelons of ancient humanity. It is believed to house great warriors, those chosen by the gods, or the Children of the Stars—the first humans.
That was the gist of it.
Elia rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward first.
“I’ll try it first, Kael.”
She gripped the stone lid and pushed with all her strength. As expected, it didn’t budge. It was sealed so perfectly it might as well have been welded shut.
That was when a museum staff member who had been watching from behind approached and explained.
“No one has ever succeeded. Not even the successive admirals of the South.”
“Is this even supposed to open in the first place?”
“It is. All the other tombs opened without issue, but this one alone remained sealed. There’s an old legend that only the qualified may open it.”
Just another common legend, exactly as the staff member described.
Elia grunted and strained until she finally ran out of breath. With a heavy sigh, she returned to my side.
“You try it, Kael.”
“It’s obviously not going to move. Why bother?”
“You never know. Maybe you’re qualified.”
I placed my hand on the lid with clear reluctance and gave it a light push.
Wait… why is this working?
And then, with almost laughable ease…
A low rumble sounded as the heavy stone lid slid open smoothly, like turning a well-oiled millstone—only lighter.
“Huh…?” A stunned gasp came from the staff member behind us.
The interior was revealed for the first time.
“Th-this can’t be. There’s no way it should open…?”
Ignoring the flustered employee, I peered inside the coffin.
Instead of the mummies or draugr I had expected, what lay there was—
“A girl?”
“What… is this?”
I was just as bewildered.
Inside a stone coffin with no air holes lay a girl in a perfectly neat position. She showed no signs of decay whatsoever. Even with proper embalming, there were usually traces left behind, yet here there were none.
“This is impossible… the state of preservation is like she’s still alive! I need to report this immediately!”
The staff member bolted from the room.
But she didn’t look alive. She simply appeared to be resting peacefully. After making sure no one but Elia was watching, I cautiously reached out and touched the girl.
My finger met her arm. It was supple, warm—like living flesh.
At that exact moment, one of the magic circles I had memorized earlier floated into my mind.
Oh right. I’ve been meaning to test that one.
It was a spell that allowed conversation with the dead—a supposedly useless magic developed by the Empire’s first archmage. I activated it immediately. Though it was my first time casting it, the spell succeeded perfectly.
A gray magic circle bloomed in the air, and I designated the target.
Then, like telepathy, a voice reached me.
“Hm?”
“Kael, what spell did you just use?”
“One that lets me talk to spirits.”
“There’s a spell like that?”
“Yeah. Seems to be a type of black magic.”
“But… I can’t understand a single word.”
“You can actually hear something?”
Elia looked at me with clear fascination.
Whether she did or not, her voice and the spirit’s overlapped in my head, leaving me the only one losing my mind.
Then…
“What the…”
The spirit’s voice gradually took on the shape of contemporary speech. I had no idea how she was doing it, but more and more comprehensible words began to appear until—
—it had become perfectly modern.
When I looked visibly confused, Elia watched me with worry. The next moment—
The girl’s form began to tremble. Was she trying to get up?
That was what I thought, but then—
“What?”
The moment those words ended, the girl’s form inside the coffin began to shake violently. At the same time, some kind of energy rose into the air and—
The energy was sucked straight into the grey sword at my waist.
At the same time, the girl’s form before my eyes began to collapse. It rotted away. Her skin split open. Her hair withered. From girl to elderly woman, from elderly woman to something resembling a mummy, until finally only clean white bones remained.
No more energy flowed into my sword.
“This is the place! The stone coffin has finally opened! The body inside is in excellent condition and—”
“It really did open! But… the state of preservation is… questionable.”
The staff member who had run out earlier returned with several colleagues. They peered into the coffin and their faces went rigid.
“It is surprising that it opened… but isn’t this just an ordinary ancient coffin?”
“The bones are in good condition, at least…”
“That can’t be right… I swear there was a living girl inside…”
“Maybe you saw a ghost?”
“Just in case it might turn into an undead, call a priest. And let’s move this coffin to the research facility.”
“I really saw her! Hey, you two guests over there. You saw it too, right? We all saw it together!”
“…”
Both Elia and I kept our mouths shut, not wanting to get dragged into the hassle. When we stayed silent, the staff member’s face twisted with injustice and he clutched at his hair.
“We’ll figure out the truth later… Shall we get going?”
“Sounds good, Kael.”
Elia had kept quiet, but the experience still seemed to fascinate her. Her attention naturally turned toward my sword.
“That sword… it’s the one you took from the draugr, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Did something happen to it?”
“Yeah. Looks like we’ve got a bit of a problem.”
A very minor issue had arisen in which a chatty, ancient spirit had taken up residence in my sword.
After finishing our museum tour, we returned to our lodgings. From then until the 10 p.m. curfew, we were completely free.
I stared at the grey sword that now housed the spirit and fell into thought.
Does she only transmit telepathy when I use magic?
It would be convenient if I could turn it on and off, but—
Unfortunately, there seemed to be no on-off switch. However, just as I could hear the spirit’s voice, she appeared able to read my thoughts like telepathy. There was no need to mutter to myself out loud.
Uh… right.
In the original story, there was almost no mention of the ancient era or the mythic age. The world’s history was barely explained at all. Since the main focus had been the romantic tension and emotional shifts between Maria and the male leads, all unnecessary details had been cheerfully cut.
But living in this world, I had realized the setting was far more meticulously crafted than I’d expected. Had that tag-scamming author really thought all of this through?
Honestly, I doubted it. Given the level of that writer’s brain, she couldn’t have been that clever.
So why exactly did you enter my sword?
I spent some time talking with the spirit who had introduced herself as Sepiria. After thousands of years, this era must seem fascinating to her.
She seemed to feel a little guilty about using my sword as her vessel for free, so she offered to repay me in a few ways.
What kind of help are we talking about?
Even after hearing her explanation, I couldn’t quite picture it. Well, I’d understand once I saw it in action.
Perfect timing. I happen to have a duel scheduled.
Tonight I had promised Avon a friendly match. He was probably already waiting by the shore.
Shall we head out?