Chapter 462
Chapter 462
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 462
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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“…Konji?”
The face he had seen her with before was full of life, but now it was hollow like a withered weed.
“I'm hungry… Me… It's been two days since I ate….”
Travelers sometimes faced food shortages. The natives of this world, who were not Transmigrators, packed their bags—which were at best the size of a backpack—with travel necessities and camping gear, and finally squeezed in food and water.
Any traveler with a decent level of skill could procure food locally, and carrying too much only led to it spoiling anyway.
However, travelers had to be aware that a food shortage could strike at any time. Failing to hunt or forage for even a few days could leave them starving half to death, or even put their lives at risk.
Konji glanced around before her gaze stopped on Tansia.
Tansia was walking around in her baby dragon form for the first time in a while.
“D-Dragon. But… Me… Food….”
Chuuuuk…
Like a drunkard, Konji slumped entirely against Kang Seol.
She began snoring as if she had passed out.
Kang Seol looked at his companions, and they all shook their heads.
In the end, he had to treat her to a meal without even getting to ask his important questions.
Clatter…
Clatter…
Since she had been starving for a while, Kang Seol whipped up a simple porridge in no time. Ever since tasting spirit meat from the ogres of Triem, his cooking skills had been improving by leaps and bounds day by day.
Kang Seol propped up her neck and infused a bit of energy to restore her consciousness before spoon-feeding her the porridge.
Drip…
At first, Konji let most of the porridge dribble from her mouth, but once she took a liking to it, her eyes snapped open and she devoured it.
“Hot… Haa… Hot….”
Seeing her wolf it down so fast that it burned the roof of her mouth, Kang Seol regretted not letting it cool first.
“Yahaaa! I feel alive! Thank you!”
“Your condition hasn't fully recovered yet…”
Konji sprang to her feet and started stretching.
“Ha! Feels refreshing. Still a bit weak, but whatever!”
Squeeze…
She demonstrated her flexibility like a mollusk, stretching her arms down to her toes or spreading one leg wide and lifting it overhead.
It was good news that she had recovered so quickly, but there were still unresolved questions between Kang Seol and her.
“Konji.”
“Yeah!”
“I have some questions. Can you answer them?”
“For me?”
Konji's already large eyes widened even further as she pointed at herself with her index finger. Then, as if she understood something, she replied.
“I have to answer anything for my lifesaver, right? Go ahead! I'll answer everything!”
Kang Seol posed his question calmly.
“Last time I saw you, it seemed like you were wandering the North. Is that right?”
“Yeah! Wandering the North.”
“…Why?”
“Because I'm an archaeologist!”
“Archaeo…logist?”
Kang Seol made an unexpected expression.
- Surprisingly, this person knows about troll archaeologists.
- Troll archaeologists are fine, but Konji, archaeology doesn't suit you!
Konji muttered sullenly.
“Me being an archaeologist weird?”
“Oh, no.”
“It's the only thing I know how to do, so I'll keep living like this.”
“I see.”
Before straying too far from the topic, Kang Seol followed up with another question.
“Why did you become an archaeologist?”
“Important?”
“Quite.”
“I was abandoned. Grandpa picked me up. Grandpa was an archaeologist.”
“May I know your grandpa's name?”
“Grandpa? Grandpa's just Grandpa. No name.”
“…….”
“It's true? Just call him Grandpa.”
“Are you traveling with Grandpa now?”
“No, Grandpa died.”
“…I'm sorry.”
Tap tap…
Konji patted the thick book.
“Book Grandpa left. Trying to fill it.”
That was the reason for her travels.
“But… why the North specifically?”
“Obviously? A meteor's coming.”
Flinch!
Everyone listening flinched at that moment.
“W-Why? Did I say something wrong?”
“Where did you hear that story?”
“Grandpa said before he died. A meteor's coming, and a king of a new era will be born.”
Razin had said there were hardly any who knew of the Star of the Era in this current age. And yet, he ran into one right after setting out.
“Doesn't it make your heart race? Who'll be the king?”
“Konji… last question. Why did you come to this ruin?”
“Didn't I say? I'm an archaeologist.”
“The location…”
“I could find ruins blindfolded. Why?”
“…Konji, what do you want?”
“Want? I don't need anything else. I just…”
Konji's eyes sparkled brightly.
“Want the truth.”
The party exchanged glances.
“Alright, Konji. Would you like to join us?”
“Really? Is that okay?”
“Yes. I want to verify the ruin's info through an archaeologist's eyes too.”
“Then… you'll give me food?”
“As much as you want.”
Konji hugged Kang Seol.
“I'll do my best!”
Jian pointed at the sight.
“T-That… her!”
Konji seemed to remember something and looked around.
“Huh? Gone?”
“What do you mean?”
“Dragon! I definitely saw it. Weird?”
Tansia had reverted to her human child form.
“Must've been a mistake. Guess I was seeing things from hunger… Alright! Now that I'm rearmed, let's go!”
Konji wasn't the most reliable, but as a self-proclaimed archaeologist, she would make excellent firepower the moment they entered a ruin—just like any archaeologist or ruin hunter.
Konji pulled out something like a magnifying glass and peered at the faded murals scattered across the walls.
“You know this?”
“What do you mean?”
“The technique for carving murals is ancient. Not a recorded style… And this texture—it's close to antiquity!”
Konji poured out ruin-related knowledge without pause. Kang Seol, who had often thought it would be great to have Mael by his side during past ruins, found this moment quite satisfying.
She was an oddball, but Konji was an archaeologist nonetheless.
“Ooh… This part. Blood used? That's why it's erased.”
Jian approached her.
“Ahem… Mind telling me too?”
“Pervert! Get lost!”
“…….”
Konji brushed Jian off harshly, then turned to Kang Seol.
“Look at this, Kang Seol. The mural arrangement…”
Jian stood there stunned, and Sindio patted his back.
“It's okay. Some days are like this.”
“Don't console me…”
Kang Seol's party moved along the maze-like paths, looking around.
“No monsters, it seems…”
“Me too! No evil energy!”
Fortunately, there were no signs of the undead or monsters commonly found in ruins.
“But you know, Kang Seol. Grandpa said.”
“What?”
“Ruins without monsters are more dangerous.”
“…Interesting. Why say that?”
“Could be ruins even monsters fear.”
“The ruins?”
“No. Normal ruins were places worshiping cults, demigods, or evil beings—so they fear the object of worship itself!”
“In other words, they might fear the worshipped one so much they didn't defile the ruin?”
“Exactly! You catch on quick!”
As Konji and Kang Seol conversed, Tansia shouted from a corner.
“Found it!”
“Tansia! What?”
“Stairs! Stairs here!”
As Tansia said, there were stairs leading deeper underground.
Kang Seol's party nodded and descended the stairs.
Whoosh…
“Cough… Cough…”
“It's dry…”
Konji spoke up.
“Dry means a good ruin! If it's damp, mold grows or wet-loving monsters nest, and it stinks!”
“Haha… Quite a day for learning about ruins.”
Karuna said quietly.
“As we go deeper underground, doesn't the ruin's scale seem to be growing somehow?”
“…Yeah.”
Kang Seol agreed.
The scale of structures, the extent of murals, miscellaneous clues—all pointed to the ruin's size.
From the moment they went underground, the murals started growing larger.
“Konji, what do you think the ruin's true nature is?”
“No idea? Most murals are erased, meanings faded. Probably hiding secrets underground, so we'll learn bit by bit? Come on! My archaeologist senses say—just a bit further down, something to pinpoint the era…”
Thud-!
Something fist-sized dropped onto Konji's head.
“…Huh? Eeeeek!”
She burst into tears and clung to Kang Seol.
“Get it off! Get it off!”
Smack-!
What had landed on Konji's head was a spider that had misjudged its landing. Its appearance… was enough to make her wail immediately.
“Fuuu…”
Sindio steadied her breathing.
Jian poked her.
“What's wrong? The spider?”
“She got a bit startled, I guess. Her heart…”
“Want me to carry you?”
“No need!”
“Suit yourself.”
Sindio scratched her hair and said.
“If… it gets harder, I'll let you know.”
“Okay.”
The party finally reached the bottom of the underground.
“Here!”
Konji spread her arms wide as if introducing her home. An incredible sight unfolded before them.
“Statues…”
“What an enormous scale!”
The sheer size made discovering this ruin a major find in itself.
Statues stood in perfect rows, stretching endlessly. Each one was of remarkably high quality.
[Astonishing discovery! Traces of something ancient confirmed.]
[Wisdom increases by 2.]
[Fatigue reduced for one day.]
“You lot! I'll excavate you!”
Konji excitedly dug into every detail of the ruin.
Kang Seol tore his gaze from her back and surveyed the ruin.
‘Something… off.’
Not that the ruin itself was strange. As Razin described, it seemed to hold secrets of the one presumed to be the next era's king.
It was just… the statues felt awkward somehow.
“Feels off.”
“It's weird, right?”
“Not just me? Right? Everyone thinks it's weird?”
Yes.
An eeriness palpable to all.
The statues depicted various lifeforms.
Fairies, dwarves, wyverns, beastkin, and countless heteromorphs.
“Why are they all… crawling on the ground?”
“No proper postures. All crawling on the floor.”
All with hands and feet on the ground, facing forward.
Exactly… like sculpted beasts.
Konji muttered.
“Hmm… Expression of hierarchy?”
“What do you mean?”
“All sculpted beings are bipedal races, right? But carving them crawling means they hoped no one mistakes them.”
“…….”
“Don't mistake slaves or livestock for soldiers or allies.”
Jian and Sindio's body hairs stood on end.
“…Does that mean this place's worshipped being treated all other races like slaves or beasts?”
“Probably? We'll know more as we go. Look over there.”
A colossal door.
A truly colossal door stood at the end of the statue rows.
Opening it was a foregone conclusion.
The party stood before the door, waiting for Kang Seol to open it.
Hnnng…
‘Hm?’
No matter how much strength he applied, the door wouldn't budge.
“…Won't open alone.”
“Push! Push!”
Konji urged the party to cling to the door.
Rumble…
Ruuuuumble…
Soon, the door began to open.
And through the opened door appeared giant statues of a scale incomparable to before.
“This is…”
“Hu…man?”
“No, no.”
Konji stated firmly.
“Giants. This is… a Frost Giant ruin.”
Armed giant statues lined up on both sides in formation.
An immense sense of pressure.
Step…
Step…
Kang Seol's party crossed between them and advanced.
“Konji, do you know much about giants?”
“Just what I heard from Grandpa? From the colors and earlier statues, definitely Frost Giants. Beings who conquered the North in the Era of War and eyed the Center.”
They finally reached the end of the rows.
Three massive thrones, and three giants seated upon them.
The walls were filled with the giants' language.
Konji read one of the bold sentences.
Kang Seol followed along in his head with the ones she caught.
“Last Giant Kings. Mum, Jam and…”
Kang Seol squeezed his eyes shut.
“Home.”
Sindio and Jian's eyes went wide.
“Home? No way…”
“If Home…”
Konji, seeing Kang Seol read along, continued dazedly.
“Uh, yeah. Home. The three giants… shall return? The rest is all flowery rhetoric…”
“Uwaaaaa!”
Veins bulged on Jian's face.
“Uhuhu… Uhuhuhu…”
“Jian!”
“Hehe… Uhehehe… So it was these guys?”
“What's wrong?”
Jian spoke with drool spilling.
“This moment, freed from the oath. I can say everything now.”
“…What?”
Names poured from Jian's tongue as if he couldn't hold them back a second longer.
“Gregory… the servant. Highwing Tribe Chief… name unknown, and one troll bastard.”
Kang Seol muttered.
“…Hekina.”
“What?”
“Coward Hekina. Highwing Tribe Chief.”
“How do you know that name?”
“…More?”
“Sky Dragon Azanik…”
As expected.
The corruption that erupted in the North was undoubtedly his doing.
One mystery remained: why he allied with the Council.
“Is Azanik their leader?”
“No… The Council's head is someone else. All equal on the surface. The leader's name is…”
Kang Seol heard a name he had forgotten.
“The Great One, Agras.”
The cursed sorcerer who played a massive role in birthing the Yaksha.
Agras was still alive.