The Cradle of the Dragon's Heart

"......Huh?"

I extended my hand toward her. Isabel Silver seemed to hesitate slightly, understanding the meaning behind my gesture.

"What? Is this something a member of the Veil can't do? If so, I'll go alone. Even you won't be able to stop me."

She stared at me for a moment before finally gripping my hand.

As her name appeared on the party list, I pulled her to her feet with a firm grip.

[Do we really need to bring her along?]

Black Eye asked me, clearly a bit displeased with Isabel Silver joining.

'It's not wrong that the Veil manages Geshutalt. If it's a hidden spot, it's likely related to elves. Unfortunately, I don't know much about elves myself—I've hardly ever encountered them. That's why I think Isabel, who knows Asera, might help investigate the hidden spot.'

[Hmmm... To me, it just looks like you're taking care of her.]

'Well, a little.'

[Your expression doesn't seem affectionate—it looks like you've got some ulterior motive...]

I gave a subtle smile in response to Black Eye's question.

"Let's go in."

The moment we stepped into the space behind the bookshelves, an instance zone was created, cutting us off from the outside world just like when we entered Kael's house.

"Instance zone? But it's not even a dungeon..."

Isabel Silver frowned slightly at the notification.

Even for hidden spots like Obela's Shadow Market, once found, they were usually open to everyone. But for the interior of a building—not a dungeon—to be an instance zone like this meant this place was exceptionally special.

"Hmmm, what is this place?"

Inside the building's walls was just a single small room. Aside from the door behind the bookshelves, it was surrounded on all sides by walls.

"Elves made this place too. It seems they built it along with Geshutalt..."

Isabel examined the patterns engraved on the walls as she spoke.

"Aineheri..."

I racked my brain, trying to recall if that name appeared in the ancient books from the Iron Kingdom report. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind.

"They wouldn't just hide an empty room. Plus, the first-entry notification suggests no one has found this place before."

Isabel nodded at my words.

"Then there must be something here."

I said to her, "Do you have a map of this forest by any chance?"

"Planning to use Observation?"

"Yeah."

"I'm using it now, but it doesn't seem very helpful... Hidden spots don't show on the map anyway, so it doesn't apply properly."

"Still, two heads are better than one. Hiding the map to Geshutalt wouldn't matter much since we can get there via Yeomhwa-ryeong."

She shared the forest map from her minimap info with me.

A worn sheet of paper appeared along with the notifications.

"Map Creation? What's your Cartography level now?"

"Cartography is level 12. Map Creation is still beginner, so even making one-time temporary maps has usage limits. Be grateful I made it specially for you."

I couldn't help but marvel once again at her talent as she smirked and spoke. True to her title of Hidden Eater, her abilities in exploration and quests were unmatched.

'The Memory Borrower title seems specialized in that area... But even so, her skill leveling speed is insanely fast.'

I was curious about her traits. But using Appraisal without having learned Insight yet would definitely tip her off.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Pushing my curiosity aside, Isabel and I began investigating the walled space again.

How much time passed?

"Hoo... Hoo..."

Isabel Silver breathed heavily, a bit labored.

"You okay?"

When I asked, noticing her fatigued look since entering the room, she just nodded instead of answering.

"Ahem..."

I continued searching the room afterward. But after a few more minutes, even after meticulously checking the stone walls enclosing the space, we found nothing unusual.

"...Looks like this wasn't the right time to come here."

Isabel Silver instinctively knew this wasn't an ordinary place, but shook her head, unable to find a way.

Her voice sounded exhausted.

"Every quest has prerequisite conditions. This is just a place we stumbled upon by chance. Probably needs another quest or condition fulfilled."

"Hmmm..."

She had a point. Quests were pre-programmed, so prerequisites definitely existed. But since players were human, the order sometimes got mixed up.

"But it says we need other conditions to re-enter, which could be a hassle..."

Tsking in regret, I scanned the area once more.

"We met the conditions enough to enter this room, even if the order was off. Did you acquire any items related to this place?"

"...I need to get out first."

For some reason, despite her Hidden Eater ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moniker, Isabel seemed ready to give up easily.

"You really want to leave?"

Thud—!!

It happened then. As I turned at the sudden noise while examining the wall, I saw her collapsed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the floor, face pale.

"...!!!"

I hurriedly pulled her up.

"Hey! Wake up!"

I was baffled by her sudden collapse.

"...Poison?"

She was poisoned, but her HP on the party window was still over half. That wasn't enough damage to knock her out.

My own HP was lower, sustaining Yeomhwa-ryeong.

"...What the hell?"

I shook her and slapped her cheeks, but she only breathed faintly, unresponsive.

"Damn..."

As I prepared to leave the room, Yeomhwa-ryeong's voice rang out.

[Master, I found a group of humans crossing the forest.]

Whoosh—!!

She appeared before me in a small whirlwind of flames.

Then—

[...Huh?]

Yeomhwa-ryeong looked at me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in surprise, surrounded by flowing lights.

A black box appeared in the previously empty room.

[Master, what is this place? It's not like a god resided here, but the divine power is so thick... A normal human would be crushed and corrupted in seconds.]

Yeomhwa-ryeong said, glancing at the collapsed Isabel.

[You might not notice as a quasi-divine being, Master... She's impressive for holding out this long without dying. Hurry and get her outside.]

Bzzz... As if responding to Yeomhwa-ryeong, the Black Circle on her wrist trembled violently.

"Black Eye, can you take Isabel outside?"

[Ahem... Understood. I'm the only one who can take her out. But be careful. Unlike Yeomhwa-ryeong, I have no divine power, so I probably can't re-enter once I leave.]

I nodded at his words.

[Hey, little one. Help him properly. Don't forget your duties as a familiar.]

[Hmph, worry about yourself. This is nothing for the great Yeomhwa-ryeong! Hurry and check the box, then go chase those guys, Master.]

Yeomhwa-ryeong stuck out her tongue at Black Eye.

[Don't be cheeky.]

Black Eye shook his head at Yeomhwa-ryeong.

[Then...]

After he left with Isabel Silver, I stared at the newly appeared box.

"So the entry condition was divine power..."

More precisely, the presence of a god itself was the key to unlocking this room's secret.

Sending Yeomhwa-ryeong to chase Mutsa must have prevented the conditions from aligning perfectly, so the room hadn't activated.

"A being with divine power as the condition... Who made this room?"

Geshutalt was built by elves to store the Fairy King's knowledge. But even the Veil leader, Asera Tanubiel—with the closest ties to gods among existing elves—likely knew nothing of divine power.

'Gods don't exert direct power until oracles descend and avatars appear.'

Even oracles were just voices transmitted to the continent; direct contracts like mine were exceedingly rare.

In other words, it was made by someone who knew about gods and divine power.

'That means it was created much earlier...'

The ancient books in the Iron Kingdom report said the gods' presence was strongest in the ancient era, when there was only one god, not many.

But that was all. No stories of the ancient era or the continent's sole god remained.

'Could this be from the ancient era?'

I frowned slightly, scanning the surroundings. But the histories said Geshutalt was built after the continent's unification in the ancient era, when territories began forming among races and tribes.

The timelines didn't match.

"No..."

I thought, gazing at the black box.

"If this place called Aineheri was built first, and the elves constructed Geshutalt on top with the purpose of hiding it from the start..."

It made sense.

'Why would the elves hide this place?'

Click—

As I placed my hand on the black box, it opened automatically.

"...What the hell is this?"

Peering inside, I couldn't help but frown. Contrary to the tense atmosphere, the box contained only a single worn stand.

Clank—

The stand was fairly heavy. Upon taking it out, I saw it was like a wide tray with protrusions to secure something in place.

"What is this?"

[Hmmm... What could this be?]

"You don't know either?"

[Haha... It's from before I was born...]

Yeomhwa-ryeong scratched her head sheepishly.

I let out a hollow laugh at her reaction.

"Doesn't seem like junk..."

Alteman from the box's name seemed to be the creator, but no such name was in my memory.

'If it's from the ancient era, not much literature survives...'

Tilting my head, I examined the stand. Then—

Even if the relic seemed useless, the notifications confirmed it was from the ancient era. Great for the achievement, but a mystery item was still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠junk.

"...Hm?"

Then, something faintly inscribed on the protrusion on the wide plate caught my eye.

As I focused on the traces on the protrusion, the skill activated—but only a red failure warning appeared.

"Hoo..."

After countless failures—though Appraisal didn't consume stamina—I felt dizzy from the intense focus.

[Master, we might lose those guys at this rate.]

Nodding at Yeomhwa-ryeong, I stored the stand in my inventory with regret, giving it one last Appraisal before leaving.

Then—

"Huh?"

The final Appraisal just before leaving succeeded, and the worn stand in my hand emitted a pure white glow.

Notifications followed.

"...What is this?"

With eyes full of questions, I read the notifications and pressed confirm.