Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Tomb of the Eastern Conqueror
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My eyes were drawn to an ornate sarcophagus resting on a high dais.
Around it, numerous chests and unusual artifacts were lined up as if on display.
The murals and triangular symbols drawn on the walls of the spacious chamber were exquisitely detailed.
It seemed we had finally reached the end of the dungeon.
"Well done, treasure hunter. It seems what you found was a real shortcut."
Sophia smiled brightly and was about to run forward.
But she came to a sudden halt.
Because I snatched the hood of her robe.
*Yank!*
"Aack!"
The marquis’s daughter screamed and looked up at me, dumbfounded.
But, perhaps embarrassed by her clumsy fall, she quickly got up and straightened herself.
Then she confronted me with a venomous glare.
"How dare you lay a hand on my body!"
"You would have died. Would that have been acceptable?"
I gestured with my chin toward something emitting an ominous light from the corridor wall.
At that, Sophia's face turned deathly pale.
If she had run on ahead, her head would have been pierced by that trap.
"You should know you owe your life to me."
"Tch! I suppose I'm grateful."
"If you're grateful, then be grateful. What's with the 'I suppose'?"
"...Just lead the way."
Blushing, she feigned indifference, glancing back at the chamber where the death knight had been.
It seemed she had some sense of shame after all.
*Thwack!*
After triggering the trap with a throwing knife, I walked triumphantly through the corridor.
There shouldn't be any more danger now.
But, just as I was stepping onto the towering dais, taking the final step...
*Click!*
"Ah, come on."
It really isn't over 'til it's over.
As I quickly did a backflip, something silver flew past like a flash of lightning, grazing the tip of my chin.
If my timing had been a little earlier or later, I would have been impaled by that sharp spear.
Of course, the Black Dragon Divine Armor would have blocked it once.
But just as I was controlling my descent to land below the dais...
I caught sight of Sophia's horrified face.
'Ah... I forgot this woman was following me.'
*Crash!*
She collided with me mid-backflip and was slammed to the floor without even a chance to scream.
Though I’d fallen off the dais, my body felt little impact.
Because Sophia, who was underneath me, had absorbed most of it.
"Whoops! Are you alright?"
I acted overly dramatic as I shot to my feet.
But, surprisingly, she calmly got up, dusting off her robe.
Despite what must have been a significant impact, her expression didn't change at all.
It seemed her robe must have been enchanted with some kind of impact resistance magic.
The kind mages use to protect themselves.
*Glare!*
But in the very next moment, I felt a terrifying killing intent.
It came from Sophia, who was tilting her head and staring intently at my face.
"Hey, treasure hunter."
"Yes?"
"...You bastard, you're so dead!"
*Whoosh!*
She suddenly tried to whack my calves with her wand.
I hopped and skipped around, dodging the merciless barrage.
For some reason, I felt a wave of PTSD from being scolded by my mother as a child.
Unable to catch me no matter how hard she tried, Sophia could only glare at me, fuming.
"Hmph! I've calmed down a bit now. You can come here."
"You don't seriously expect me to believe that, do you?"
"You obnoxious brat. I'm going to kill you."
"See? How can I go near someone who looks ready to kill me?"
"Come over here and open this sarcophagus before I incinerate you with magic. I won't hit you, so get over here now."
"Yessir."
If I resisted any longer, she looked like she'd really blow her top, so I quickly went up to the dais and opened the sarcophagus for her.
While the heavy lid was opening, she examined the stone tablet in front of the dais with sparkling eyes.
She must have made a discovery great enough to completely quell her anger.
"Did you find anything?"
"Yes. This is a tomb."
"I could tell that just by looking at the dried-up corpse."
I muttered, gesturing with my thumb at the skeleton inside the sarcophagus.
Sophia, who had been scanning the ancient text, observed the dais carefully with an intrigued expression.
She seemed more interested in the characters carved into the smoothly cut stones than in the corpse itself.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I casually posed a question to her.
"Seems like he was a big shot. Whose tomb is this, anyway?"
"Alfonso Mancini, the Eastern Conqueror."
I knew who that was.
He was the most famous member of the Mancini family.
Without the Eastern Conqueror, the Mancini name would have likely been lost to history.
Because Alfonso had placed the family on a solid foundation, they were able to rule the eastern part of the continent for a long time.
Of course, after the Eastern Conqueror's death, the declining Mancini Kingdom was devoured by the Pennant Marquisate.
In any case, we had just unearthed the tomb of a great historical figure.
Sophia, forgetting that I had landed on her, began opening the surrounding chests one by one.
*Click.*
"Ooh!"
Then, from among the scattered pottery and ancient armor, a stream of golden light burst forth.
The chest was filled with gleaming gold coins that looked freshly minted, and all sorts of jewels.
There were as many as twenty such chests.
Even the marquis's daughter seemed not to have expected such lavish burial goods, her eyes widening in surprise.
It was more than enough to cover the losses from discovering the dungeon, with plenty to spare.
*Clink. Clank.*
Suddenly, Sophia tilted her head and looked back.
It seemed she had heard a strange noise.
She narrowed her eyes and observed me carefully.
"You..."
"Yes?"
"Why are you bigger?"
"...What do you mean, bigger?"
"Your body's all puffed up. You weren't this fat before."
"It must be your imagination. I've always been a big guy. Haha!"
I laughed awkwardly and tried to walk to the other side of the chamber.
But then, a clear sound rang out from under my feet.
*Clink! Clank!*
It was the sound of gold coins falling from my clothes one by one as I walked.
The marquis's daughter put a hand to her forehead with a weary expression and said in a growl,
"Take it all out, now! That's a breach of contract."
"Ah, damn it."
*Clatter!*
I poured out the gold and jewels I had hidden inside my martial arts uniform.
But Sophia's expression didn't soften.
Because for someone who claimed to have put back everything he'd stolen, my body was still a bit chubby.
"Are you going to keep messing around?"
"Ah, fine."
*Rumble.*
In the end, I had to shake out my clothes completely to prove there was nothing left.
Withdrawing her suspicious gaze, she walked around, meticulously checking the burial goods.
If I had just taken a few things, she likely wouldn't have noticed, but I got greedy and was caught.
'To think this is all a pie in the sky. It's truly heartbreaking.'
Just one of these treasure chests would be enough to buy several villas...
Staring at the gold and jewels, I felt a wave of sadness and began to wander around the dais.
Eventually, I perched on the Eastern Conqueror's sarcophagus and began to grumble.
"Hey, ancient corpse mister, honestly, don't you think the person who cleared the dungeon should be allowed to take a little treasure? Huh? What do you think?"
"..."
"You agree too, Mr. Eastern Conqueror? I knew you would. You have excellent insight."
Perhaps hearing me muttering, Sophia, who was recording a list of the burial goods, shot me a glare.
Wincing, I pretended to look for an exit, turning to the chamber wall.
Then, once her gaze shifted away, I glanced back at the Eastern Conqueror's skeleton and sneered.
"She's a bit venomous for a marquis's daughter. As someone older, Your Highness, please be understanding."
As I was chatting with the Eastern Conqueror's corpse, something peculiar caught my eye.
In the skeleton's hands, which were peacefully folded over its chest, was a black sphere the size of an egg.
I reflexively rolled my eyes toward Sophia to watch her.
Her inventory-taking was nearing its end.
With the stealthy hand movements unique to an assassin, I slipped the black orb into my sleeve.
Then I calmly walked over to the chamber wall and began searching for the exit.
'Even if I have to leave, one little orb should be fine, right?'
* * *
*Rumble!*
For someone with a keen eye like me, finding the dungeon's exit wasn't that difficult.
After all, wasn't I the one who found the shortcut in a dead end?
Though it was because I accidentally pressed the wrong thing while trying to show off a bit.
In any case, it was a fact that my contribution to this expedition was the greatest.
'Now all that's left is for the money to roll in.'
The exploration was already over, and the excavation was scheduled to proceed.
But I couldn't leave the camp.
Due to some follow-up matters, I had to wait for a while in the temporary barracks near the dungeon.
They were offering additional pay and rights to a villa, so why wouldn't I wait a little?
I happily passed the time lying on a cot in the barracks.
They provided plenty of food and a place to sleep, so there was no reason to be upset that the process was taking a while.
"By the way, is it true? The story about you defeating the death knight with the marquis's daughter."
Just then, one of the expedition's mercenaries threw a question my way.
Normally, I would have just given a vague answer and left it at that.
We weren't people I'd be seeing for long, so what was the point of chattering about trivial things?
But now, I had a reason to take control of this conversation.
"You need to get your facts straight. That petty wom... no, the marquis's daughter did not participate in the battle."
"Is that so? I heard there were traces of fire magic on the death knight's remains."
"With just a single Fireball? She shot it once and then ran away."
Perhaps because I was blocking its line of sight with my body at the time, the spell hit its mark perfectly.
But a death knight is an undead with very high magic resistance.
A single Fireball would have been nothing more than a tickle to it.
No, honestly, I did everything!
How dare she try to take credit?
"True, there's no way a death knight would fall to a single magic spell."
"Without a proper guard, a mage has no choice but to retreat. The young lady's judgment was sound. Ah, of course, I'm not trying to diminish your contribution. I'm just saying it's a possibility."
Anyway, a story closer to the truth was now beginning to circulate.
Only then did I lie back down with a satisfied expression.
'By the way, what is this thing?'
I put my hand inside my clothes and fiddled with the black sphere.
Since the Eastern Conqueror had been clutching it tightly, it was surely a valuable item.
I planned to examine it closely at my safe house once everything was over.
I couldn't take it out here, so I kept the item carefully tucked away.
Just then, the barracks door opened, and a knight burst in.
It was Sophia's escort knight, Jules Kaiman.
He looked directly at me and said in a blunt voice,
"The young lady is looking for you."
Uh... She didn't hear me bad-mouthing her, did she?