Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Brothers' Tomb
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The bonus stage known as the Brothers' Tomb was a complex puzzle that perfectly mirrored its somber theme; it was a challenge that required no crude display of force to overcome.
Instead, it demanded keen powers of observation and a meticulous memory—traits that could be supplemented by taking careful notes if one lacked the natural aptitude.
'Right oval, upward triangle, second candelabrum from the left, the trumpet positioned below...'
Shiron gripped his pen and paper, recording every minute detail of the cave's interior with a clinical precision as he pressed deeper into the darkness.
His eyes darted back and forth, double-checking for any potential oversights, a display of focused intensity that naturally raised questions in those following him.
Yet, Lucia and Berta simply watched him in a heavy, expectant silence, their own thoughts kept strictly to themselves.
Berta was dying to know what kind of prize Shiron was hunting, but with Lucia’s cold, predatory gaze fixed on her back, she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.
The jagged wound on her neck still burned fiercely, serving as a constant reminder of the lethal consequences of any further missteps.
With his back turned to the pair, Shiron gnawed on a strip of pre-packed jerky, his mind already calculating the steps of the trial ahead.
He had worried that the bandits they encountered might have tampered with the mechanisms, but he found to his relief that the magical wards remained untouched.
The intricate carvings scattered throughout the cave were treated with a subtle magic, remaining invisible to the naked eye unless one possessed the specific intent to find them.
Finally, after an exhausting search that felt more like a game of hidden objects in a pitch-black abyss, Shiron wiped the sweat from his brow and dotted the final period on his paper.
He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the page crammed with notes, cross-referencing every symbol against the memories etched into his mind from his past life.
'I was concerned for a moment, but everything is exactly as it should be.'
Relieved that the path remained clear, Shiron lifted his head to face a massive wall of smooth, cyan stone.
Unlike the rugged paths they had traversed, this wall possessed no distinguishing features, making its presence in the depths of the cave feel like a deliberate impurity.
'In the game, bringing a cursor over this stone would make it flash with a guiding light, but here, I must rely on my own senses.'
Without the luxury of a status window, he pressed his small hands against the cold stone, slowly stroking every inch to find the hidden trigger.
He considered asking for assistance but soon found a section where the texture felt subtly, almost imperceptibly, different from the rest.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed forward with all the strength his young body could muster, and the earth itself began to shake in a dramatic, thunderous display.
Rumble...
"......!"
"Te-teacher?!"
Lucia’s eyes went wide with shock at the sudden tremor, while Berta staggered unsteadily as she called out to Shiron in a voice filled with panic.
"Lucia, do not open your eyes until I tell you it is safe to do so, and do not move a single muscle," Shiron commanded, his voice echoing with an authority that brooked no argument.
"I understand," Lucia replied, closing her eyes without a hint of complaint, trusting his judgment despite her growing curiosity.
She decided then that there was no point in prying into how he knew these secrets; she would find her answers once they reached the heart of this mystery.
"Teacher? What about me? What am I supposed to do?" Berta asked, feeling slighted that she hadn't received specific instructions.
"......Do whatever you like; if you are truly curious, keep your eyes open and see what happens," Shiron replied indifferently.
"I-I'll close them! I'm closing them right now!" she squealed, terrified by the implications of his tone.
Once he confirmed that both were standing blind, Shiron lowered the hand he had pressed against the wall, and the stone before him vanished in an instant.
There was no clichéd crumbling of rock; instead, the very scenery around them began to shift and warp with every blink of his eyes.
Once.
Twice.
The scenery flickered from an endless blue meadow to a sun-drenched beach, the abrupt shifts in reality inducing a wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him.
'I tried to brace myself for the transition, but the sensory overload is still incredibly queasy.'
"Urk."
The sound of retching came from behind him, but Shiron didn't stop his eyes from cycling through the illusions; he had to reach their destination as quickly as possible.
Dozens of locations flashed by until they reached a point where reality finally stabilized, and Shiron let out a deep, steadying breath before turning around.
"We have arrived; you may open your eyes now."
Lucia cautiously opened her eyes to find herself standing in a vast, foggy graveyard, the sudden shift from a dark cave to this eerie open space leaving her stunned.
"......An illusion palace?" she whispered, sensing the dry wind and the sharp scent of grass through her heightened instincts.
"Ugh... Hack. Was that... a teleportation spell?" Berta groaned, her voice thick with misery.
"I warned you not to open your eyes, yet you chose to peek anyway," Shiron said, regarding her with a look of genuine pity.
The source of the foul smell now permeating the air was Berta herself; while her actual vomit had been teleported away during the shifts, the stench had unfortunately remained clinging to her.
Lucia immediately took two steps away from her, her face twisted in a look of pure, unadulterated disgust.
'What kind of idiot becomes an inspector for the Special Forces? What the hell has happened to the standards of this Empire in the last five hundred years?'
Lucia felt a sudden, strong urge to simply dump Berta in this graveyard and leave her to rot.
As they traversed the fog-shrouded graveyard, it was Lucia who finally broke the silence.
"Shiron, this woman is going to need a change of clothes immediately; she reeks so badly it's becoming unbearable."
"......We shall see about that later," Shiron replied, his focus elsewhere.
"Te-teacher? I swear on my life that I won't do anything stupid again! Please, I beg you!" Berta pleaded, her voice thick with desperation.
She truly couldn't take it anymore; the entire situation had become a living torment that had shattered her carefully constructed persona.
As the 'Mad Dog' of the Special Forces, she was used to the stench of blood and filth, but being defeated by children and treated like a common nuisance was a humiliation beyond words.
Her own restraints, which she always carried with her, were now caked in the remnants of her own sickness, and her captors were mere children who barely reached her chest.
It was an abyss of shame that threatened to swallow her whole, made worse by the constant jabs about her smell every time someone opened their mouth.
"Cut it out already," Shiron said, pausing his work of arranging objects atop the ancient gravestones to glance back at her.
"Inspector Berta, you lied to me."
"......"
"You promised to keep your eyes closed, yet you peeked anyway; you are lucky I didn't end your life right then and there for breaking my trust."
"Think of this stench as your punishment for holding a knife to my throat earlier," he added coldly before returning to his task.
'I truly need to master some magic; this lack of utility is becoming far too inconvenient for my liking.'
After seeing Lucia’s sword aura, Shiron had realized that magic would be a versatile tool for dealing with the mundane annoyances of travel—like the smell of a disgraced inspector.
He carefully twisted a dolphin sculpture and an angel blowing a trumpet clockwise, solving the final layer of the graveyard's puzzle.
Moments later, the surrounding coffins began to fade away like shifting mirages until only a single, solid stone casket remained standing before them.
Shiron approached the lone coffin, his heart pounding with a quiet anticipation as he read the forlorn inscription: Brothers' Tomb.
He slowly opened the lid, and Lucia sidled up beside him, her gaze filled with a sudden, sharp curiosity.
"A sword?" she asked, seeing the weapon resting within.
There lay a single blade with a pristine, snow-white blade that seemed to draw in the very light of the stars.
"Not just any sword, Lucia," Shiron said, his voice dropping to a reverent whisper as he drew the gleaming weapon.
"This is the Holy Sword."
"......"
At the mention of that name—a name she both loved and loathed with every fiber of her being—Lucia’s fingertips began to tremble uncontrollably.