Chapter 498: Shadows of the Past
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 498: Shadows of the Past
"Found it!"
Muen’s eyes snapped open, gleaming with sharp intensity. However, as he tried to stand, his face suddenly went pale. His body swayed, and he nearly collapsed.
Right then, a cool, soft touch accompanied by a faint fragrance reached him. Celicia had appeared by his side at some unknown moment, reaching out to steady him.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her expression as impassive as ever.
"I’m fine. Just overexerted my spiritual power," Muen sighed, letting his body go limp and sinking into Celicia’s embrace as if he truly lacked the strength to stand. "Sigh, the deficit is too great. At this rate, I’m afraid I won't even be able to walk."
"Then what should we do?"
Celicia frowned slightly. She had magic stones to replenish mana, but she possessed no items to restore spiritual power. Moreover, aside from a few bizarre ancient artifacts, there were very few ways in this world to quickly recover one's spiritual strength.
"Don't worry, it's a small thing." Muen waved a hand dismissively, acting as if there was no need for alarm. "I once came across a folk remedy. It said that when one is low on spiritual power, all they need is a beautiful girl’s lap pillow... Oof! That hurts! I said lap pillow... not a knee to the—"
Celicia silently withdrew her knee—a move she had clearly become expertly proficient in. She looked down at Muen, who was currently curled up like a shrimp, her gaze icy.
"At a time like this, you still have the leisure to crack jokes?"
"...You looked too tense. I was just trying to lighten the mood," Muen said with a sheepish grin, using Celicia’s arm for support as he stood back up.
Celicia’s face remained cold. She initially wanted to shake off this scummy bastard’s dirty hands, but a casual glance revealed that the pallor on his face was genuine and had yet to fade.
In the end, she didn't pull away.
"You found it?"
"I found it." Muen’s lips curled into a smirk as he looked toward the depths of the dark corridor. "They hid it quite well."
If he hadn't been able to extract information directly from a soul, the two of them might have searched this place for a lifetime without ever discovering the location.
Having pinpointed the spot, they didn't linger. Following the images in Muen’s memory, they headed straight for the end of the corridor.
Along the way, they encountered two more patrolling sentries, who were once again dealt with silently.
Finally, they reached the end of the hallway.
The path took a sharp turn to the right. If one were to keep walking, they would find themselves going in a complete circle, eventually returning to where they started. It was a circular corridor, likely designed for oversight to prevent workers inside from slacking off, with only a single entrance.
"Here?" Celicia asked, looking at the seemingly empty surroundings.
"Here," Muen nodded.
He let go of Celicia’s arm and walked toward the wall.
In truth, with the spiritual power he had tempered through long sessions in the Black Book, that slight stinging sensation had long since faded. But since Celicia was being kind, he hadn't said anything; the touch of a tsundere, ice-beauty was indeed exquisite.
Muen slowly crouched down against the wall, feeling around. His brow soon twitched.
A faint glimmer condensed in his palm, forming a tiny spotlight that shone on the area he had just touched. Under the concentrated light, a crack—nearly invisible to the naked eye—manifested.
"A secret door?"
"Seems so. There’s also a camouflage spell on it. Without intense light, it’s impossible to find."
"I see. It is indeed well-hidden. As for opening it... a frontal assault is definitely out of the question." Celicia’s elegant brows knit together. If they forced the door, they would surely alert the enemy, and they hadn't discovered anything useful yet. "Do you know the mechanism or have a key?"
"I don't," Muen replied. "But I have a way."
"A way?" Celicia was somewhat surprised. "You don't know the mechanism, and you don't even know if there's a key... how are you going to open it?"
"Heh, as long as it's a door, I can open it!" Muen let out a confident chuckle.
"As long as it's a door?" A hint of oddity flickered across Celicia’s cold, beautiful face. No matter how she heard it, that didn't sound reliable.
However, it wasn't long before even she was stunned.
She watched as Muen asked her for an incredibly thin needle made of ice. He inserted it into the crack of the secret door, tapping lightly while pressing his ear against the surface to listen. After a few casual adjustments—taking less time than it would to brew a cup of coffee...
The secret door creaked open.
That practiced technique, those nimble movements, and that professional attitude of leaning against the door with his rear sticking high in the air while listening intently... It was hard to imagine how he could be this skilled unless he had spent a long time immersed in such "arts."
If he could open this secret door so easily, even the vaults beneath the Imperial Bank probably couldn't stop him.
"You are the son of a Duke. How do you know such a skill?" Celicia’s eyes narrowed. "Is this another skill meant to facilitate your peeping?"
Invisibility, breath concealment, lockpicking... For the son of a Duke, why were all this guy's skills tailored for sneaking around? It was hard not to let one's mind wander to the gutter.
"It’s a misunderstanding, truly," Muen sighed helplessly. "I didn't want to master these skills either. I was forced into it by the 'all-encompassing' collection of books at home."
Celicia: "???"
She became increasingly puzzled. What did a library have to do with this? Was the Duke’s collection filled with books on lockpicking, theft, and livestock breeding?
Muen didn't elaborate. Instead, he turned and pointed, sending a wisp of light into the secret passage.
The interior gradually brightened, revealing a set of stairs leading downward. Muen poked his head in, observing cautiously before looking back.
"Let’s go. It doesn't look like there are any traps."
"Mm." Celicia gave a barely perceptible nod, though her icy gaze remained fixed on Muen’s back.
...Whatever.
There would be plenty of opportunities to ask about these things later. For now, the mission came first.
After temporarily resetting the secret door, the two descended the stairs, which seemed to go on forever.
The light was dim, and their footsteps were silent. Although there were no traps or alarms on the stairs, as Muen’s investigation had suggested, their vigilance reached its peak.
"What is this mist?" Muen stayed fully alert, cautiously eyeing the layer of gray fog at the bottom of the spiral staircase.
The staircase behind the secret door was already unnaturally long; this gray mist appearing in such a place seemed even more abnormal.
"Gray mist... it looks a bit familiar..." Celicia rested her chin on her hand in thought. With a flick of her wrist, a small mechanical bird appeared in her palm.
The bird’s gears turned as it flapped its wings and took flight. It circled the mist, dipped into it briefly, and then returned to Celicia’s hand.
Celicia examined the mechanical bird closely and nodded. "It’s not toxic, and there are no other dangers."
"That’s good." Muen breathed a sigh of relief and continued forward.
But this time, after only a few steps, he stopped again.
"What now?" Celicia asked, her tone unfriendly as she nearly bumped into his back.
"The path ends here." Muen pointed ahead.
"Ends?" Celicia looked past him. Sure enough, in the direction Muen was pointing, the staircase had broken off for some reason. There was no longer a path for them to descend.
"How can there be no path?"
"Did we take a wrong turn?"
"No. If you ask me, we’ve found exactly the right place." Celicia’s cold eyes scanned the dark space around the staircase once more, not missing a single clue.
But there was truly nothing else here. In the empty space, there was only this downward staircase and the...
"Gray mist?" Celicia murmured again, a strange light suddenly flashing in her eyes.
She seemed to understand something in an instant.
"Jump."
"What?" Muen was stunned. He looked down into the bottomless darkness, thinking he had misheard.
"Jump," Celicia repeated, her tone brook no argument.
Muen looked back at her. Her expression was as cold as ever, showing no emotional fluctuation. He was only taken aback for a second before he nodded with a smile.
"If you tell me to jump, I’ll jump."
With that, he actually leaped straight down without a moment's hesitation.
Watching the spot where Muen disappeared, the corner of Celicia’s mouth twitched slightly.
"Idiot."
Her faint voice drifted into the breeze. Holding her parasol, she followed him and leaped into the void.
...
Everything was chaos.
His senses were blurred.
Vaguely, it felt as if countless grand bells were tolling in unison by his ears.
In that moment, Muen felt like he had been stuffed into a washing machine; he had the illusion that his flesh and soul were being spun apart. Or perhaps it was like a giant hand from hell, dragging him down, down, and further down.
After an unknown amount of time, Muen finally felt solid ground. He rolled clumsily across the floor, taking several deep breaths. It took a great deal of effort to regain some clarity in his dizzy consciousness.
He looked around. He seemed to be inside a dark building. He couldn't see the layout clearly yet, only catching glimpses of eerie silhouettes. However, when he looked up, he could see a massive expanse of black mist churning like a sea of clouds above him.
Whoosh.
There was movement behind him. Celicia descended gracefully, her posture hundreds of times more elegant than Muen’s as she drifted down with her parasol. Looking at her, it was as if... she had experience with this sort of thing.
"Where are we?" Muen asked. "You seem to recognize it."
"This place..." Celicia also looked up at the churning gray mist. She fell silent for a moment, her voice carrying an indescribable weight. "This is the Shadow of Belland."
"Shadow of Belland?" Muen frowned. This was the first time he had heard the term.
"It’s normal that you haven't heard of it, because this isn't something that originally belonged to Belland."
"Then it’s..."
"This place... was a false land, a shadow city constructed by the Silent Moon using its own Authority during its invasion, intended to swallow Belland. It is the place of shadows that reflects the light of Belland. That is... the Shadow of Belland."
"Silent Moon..."
Muen’s pupils shrank. The "false land" or "shadow city" wasn't the main issue—it was the words "Silent Moon" that kept echoing in his mind.
What the hell?
How was it something related to that bastard moon again?
An ill omen began to circulate in Muen’s mind. Ever since the Silent Moon kicked the bucket, every time he encountered its remnants, nothing good ever happened!
A certain case of "Being Screwed Over PTSD" flared up again!
"Isn't the Silent Moon already dead? Why does this Shadow of Belland still exist?"
"I don't know. I also thought this place would have dissipated with the death of the Silent Moon, but it seems it still exists, though it may be incomplete."
"But none of that matters. What matters is that this place has actually fallen into the hands of those people."
Celicia gazed at the grotesque silhouettes in the distance and whispered, "No wonder... everything else was just to hide the entrance. This place doesn't need any sentries or guards, because it is the most isolated place in all of Belland!"