Soaring Firebird (3)
Soaring Firebird (3)
The route had taken a long time to traverse underground, but above ground, it didn't take long at all.
Less than an hour after we left the road and entered the forest, we arrived at the abandoned village.
The village was just as I remembered it from my previous life.
The houses were collapsing into the forest, and not a trace of the vegetable gardens remained.
The well was unchanged, too.
The well Adria and I had escaped from in my previous life was still half-collapsed and overgrown with weeds, just as it had been back then.
Even at a glance, it was obvious that no one had set foot here in a very long time.
First, I tied the rope we'd brought to a tree beside the well, then turned to Juan.
"As I mentioned before we came, Juan, I'd like you to stay here and keep watch."
We didn't know what might come out, and the fewer people who knew the secret, the better.
As expected, Juan knew his place.
"Yes. Understood."
His brief reply was just what I wanted to hear.
Even today, he didn't ask why we'd come here or how I'd gotten to know the Firebird Hunter.
I couldn't be sure whether it was because he trusted me or because he saw me as the benefactor who'd paid for his mother's medical expenses. Either way, he was a reliable man who knew how to keep his mouth shut.
Still, even he seemed to have something he wanted to ask.
"Then, how long should I wait?"
He wanted to know the absolute latest he should wait until.
"Until sunset."
"Understood. If you do not return by sunset, I will inform the estate immediately."
I nodded.
Since we weren't heading underground from the fortress but entering through the exit, that should give us plenty of time.
Juan and I tied my sword to the rope we'd secured and lowered it into the well.
Clank.
A moment later, the sound of the sword striking the bottom of the dry well echoed up, and...
Whoosh.
I jumped into the well first.
"Ah! If you go down without holding the rope..."
Juan's startled voice drifted down from above, but I kept kicking off the walls as I descended.
In any case, in my previous life, Adria and I had climbed up this well without any auxiliary equipment.
My skills were better now, and I was in better shape than I'd been back then. There was no reason I couldn't make it down.
As expected, the Firebird Hunter leaped down after me.
Unlike me, slowing my descent by bracing my feet against the walls, she plunged straight down.
Whoosh!
She shot past me and landed on the dusty floor.
Bang! Splash!
With a loud crash, the water pooled on the floor splashed high into the air.
Thud!
A moment later, I landed on the floor as well.
We were drenched by the splashing water and thoroughly soaked, but the cave connected to the well was right there, unchanged from my previous life.
"We just have to go that way, right?"
"Yes."
She pulled a lantern from her breast pocket, lit it, and held it in one hand as she stepped into the cave.
The closer we drew to our destination, the more clearly I could feel her excitement growing.
She grew quieter and hurried ahead, just as she was doing now.
She must have been curious about how I'd found this place, too, but she didn't ask.
I untied my soaking-wet sword from the rope and dragged it behind me as I followed her.
As we made our way through the cave, we encountered several cave creatures, just as we had in my previous life.
They weren't monsters, but they looked quite different from the creatures on the surface.
Many of the insects and animals with degenerated eyes scurried away at the sight of her lantern, but some lunged at us.
Even so, they couldn't slow us down in the slightest.
She swung her sword vigorously as she led the way, so I didn't even need to draw the dagger tucked into my breast pocket. I simply followed behind her, dragging my greatsword along.
After walking for a long while, we reached an iron door blocking the cave.
A large crest—a soaring bird—was engraved on the door.
'Ah, so that's why I didn't see it last time. I came from the opposite direction.'
The Firebird Hunter gently caressed the crest engraved on the iron door.
I, on the other hand, took a step back.
Last time, I'd approached from the other side and opened the door easily, but I didn't know how to get in from this side.
'She has a sword with the same crest. She must know how to get in.'
Even if we couldn't get in, I could slip alone through the underground passage in the fortress and open the door for her, so I wasn't too worried.
Fortunately, there was no need to go to all that trouble. She knew how to open the iron door.
'Is she channeling mana into the door?'
She wasn't simply caressing the crest.
Her hand, glowing with mana, traced the crest in a specific pattern.
Starting at the feet, she moved to the outstretched wings, then to the head and the two eyes.
The moment she pressed both eyes with her hands, a metallic clack echoed from the door.
Then she pushed hard against it.
Click.
The iron door slowly creaked open. I stepped beside her and helped push it.
The door swung wide, and musty air wafted out.
"It really existed..."
The woman beside me stared at the ancient tomb chamber, looking half-dazed.
The tomb chamber was just as I remembered it from my previous life.
Stone walls formed a square around the empty chamber, and a large coffin rested atop the altar in its center.
As the Firebird Hunter approached the coffin, I glanced at the crack in one corner of the wall.
It was just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
But I knew the cave connected to the crack grew narrower the farther in it went, so only someone young and small, like me or Adria, could barely squeeze through.
As I recalled the events of my previous life, a sigh echoed from the center of the chamber.
"Ah..."
The Firebird Hunter had reached the coffin.
She'd groaned when she saw that it was empty.
Staring into the coffin, she suddenly snapped her head up and looked at me.
"Was there really nothing here when you found the tomb? No, how did you even know about this place? Who did you hear it from?"
Now that she'd realized the tomb was empty, the questions she'd been holding back finally seemed to surface.
She also seemed to have half-expected the tomb to be empty.
As expected, she was descended from the grave robber who had plundered the tomb long ago.
That was why she knew how to enter the tomb and possessed the sword engraved with the crest.
Oops. I must have been lost in thought for too long. Suspicion flickered across her face.
I quickly spoke before she could break the contract.
"I didn't hear about it from anyone. I was exploring the underground of Majorka Fortress when I discovered a narrow passage connected to this place."
I raised my hand and pointed to the cracked wall.
"Ah... There was a gap? I never heard anything about that..."
Perhaps the story hadn't been passed down properly, or perhaps the passage had been hidden on purpose.
"When I entered, this place was exactly as it is now. I just confirmed it was empty and went home. Then, by chance, I saw your sword in the Marquisate territory and noticed it had the same crest engraved on it."
Since I'd visited this place in my previous life, no traces of my passage remained in the cave we'd just walked through or in the tunnel connected to the fortress.
If she examined it closely, she'd realize I was lying, but there was no way she'd go to such lengths to check.
"So there really is nothing here..."
See? Even now, she believed me without question and immediately grew dejected.
She hung her head, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
Was she really a mercenary? Her skills were undeniable, but seeing her like this, she didn't seem like a jaded, battle-hardened mercenary at all.
It was an amusing sight, but if I wanted to get things moving, I couldn't just leave her like that.
"I didn't get a proper look last time, but is there really nothing inside the coffin?"
"Nothing. Just scraps of clothing, bone fragments, and bone dust. It's all that remains of the tomb's owner."
"Is that so?"
I stepped up to the coffin as well.
Inside, it was exactly as she'd said—and just as I'd seen in my previous life.
'Back then, Adria was the one who found it first...'
Unlike Adria, the Firebird Hunter didn't dare touch the inside of the coffin recklessly.
I leaned over and swept my hand across the bottom of the coffin, brushing aside the bone dust.
Whisk, whisk.
"Ah, if you touch it so carelessly..."
As I brushed away the bone dust, she cried out in alarm, but before she could finish, her jaw dropped.
On the newly swept bottom of the coffin, the crest of a soaring bird and a keyhole came into view.
"Oh? What is this?"
I put on a surprised expression, as if I were seeing it for the first time.
'Hmm, was that a little awkward?'
It was a poor performance, but she was so shocked that she didn't notice at all.
She looked from the crest and the hole to her own sword.
It seemed Adria's prediction had been right. Judging by her reaction, I didn't think I'd even need to guide her.
Shing.
She drew her sword.
In the light of the lantern in her other hand, the bird crest engraved on the blade seemed to burn brightly.
She held the sword and stared intently at the hole.
Left to her own devices, she looked ready to plunge the sword straight into it.
Before she could, I spoke up.
"I've told you everything I know, so before you thrust that sword in, could you at least tell me the story behind this tomb?"
"Ah!"
She let out a startled gasp at my words.
She seemed to have finally come to her senses.
"Ah, sorry. I lost my head for a moment."
She sighed and began to speak.
"I never dreamed I'd find it like this. This was originally where our family's ancestor gained their power. They were one of the Heroes, but unfortunately, they died during the Great War, so very little of their legacy was passed down. Only fragments of the story about this tomb were handed down orally, and the other details weren't fully preserved, either."
She gazed at the sword with sorrowful eyes.
"I suppose this sword is the only thing that was properly passed down."
She gripped the sword tightly once more.
"The rest of my family gave up, but I couldn't. I had other duties entrusted to me, but I couldn't stop searching for the lost legacy. There wasn't much time left, so to think I'd find it like this..."
As expected, she was no ordinary mercenary. A descendant of a Hero... No matter how much of the legacy had been lost, if they were descended from a Hero, they had to be nobles.
She seemed to work herself up again as she spoke.
Seeing her flushed face, I subtly poured cold water on her excitement.
"There might be nothing there."
"No, there must be something left. The lore also mentioned a door opened by the sword."
If that was true, then it meant this wasn't a dead end—which was excellent news for me, too.
"Then, may I open it?"
I nodded and subtly stepped back.
Even if a secret door appeared, I had no intention of entering right away.
The message hadn't appeared yet. At the very least, I planned to move only after hearing it.
But she raised her sword without hesitation and plunged the blade into the hole.
Shunk. Clank.
The sound of a mechanism unlocking echoed.
And then...
The entire altar collapsed downward.
Boom!
Both she, standing in the center of the altar, and I, who had stepped back, plunged downward with the collapsing altar.
I'd taken precautions and stepped back, only to get caught up in it again!
There's a world of difference between a door opening and an altar collapsing!
I had no idea why the part about the legacy not being properly passed down had to prove true right at that very moment.
And Murphy's Law continued to hold sway even in this world.
As I fell, a message appeared right before my eyes.
[The crisis has ended. A new 'Save Point' has been set.]
Damn it! It seemed this was the exact moment I'd died alongside my prospective sister-in-law, Adria.
The god of this world was definitely out to get me.