Chapter 6 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Amber, the great stealth user, professional manipulator of shadows, grave digging enthusiast girl, had a wise saying. “The path is right there. The door is nothing more than an illusory ornament. Once you put aside your mental inhibitions, even a mere celery stalk would be enough to open the door to the royal treasury.”

Okay, perhaps celery did not exist in this world, but to Amber, opening the gate to the ancient tomb was something that did not even require celery.

With a little shadow magic, some understanding of the ancient seals, and a tiny bit of luck, the half-elf thief easily broke the seal to the Cecil Clan’s ancestral tomb. Then, a passageway that even Herti and Rebecca did not know about appeared in front of everyone.

Everyone then followed Amber into the passageway.

The passageway built with rocks and spirit subduing bricks was more spacious than expected. Even Gawain and Byron, who were almost two meters tall and wearing their heavily clad knight armor, did not feel cramped in the passageway. The infusion lamps embedded in the walls on both sides of the passageway had already been expended. But after Herti cast several basic spells, the 700-year-old lamps lit up one after another, lighting up the path ahead.

“I’m really just a little bandit trying to get by,” Amber said modestly as she walked in front of the group, “I’m a descendant of the forest elves. I honor the spirits of those who lived before. Why would I do such a thing as digging their graves?”

Gawain expressed his scorn at her claim, “You still have the cheek to say that when you’re so well-versed at this?”

Perhaps it was because she was sure that she would get to keep her life that the half-elf had skin as thick as the door that she had just opened. “Picking locks and breaking seals are basic skills for our class. Is it wrong for me to be proficient at my basic skills?”

At this time, Rebecca, who was walking in the middle of the team, suddenly asked, “Are you a resident of the Cecil territory?”

Amber’s brow furrowed as she pondered. “I lived here for several years, but I haven’t applied to become a formal resident, but according to the rules of the Cecil territory, if you live for more than three years here and pay taxes on time, you’re counted as a resident… So do you think I’m a resident?”

Rebecca shook her head. “If you didn’t apply, then you’re not a resident.”

“Ohhh” Amber dragged the syllable. “Why do you ask then?”

“I’m the Lady of Cecil territory,” Rebecca said seriously, “So if I’m your Lady, it’ll be my responsibility to protect you.”

Amber: “…Well you should have said that earlier! Is it too late to correct myself now?”

With a straight face, Rebecca replied, “Too late.”

Gawain looked at the serious-looking Rebecca, then at the unscrupulous Amber, and he shook his head in amusement.

Though he had woken up to such a mess, the feeling of being a human was much better than being in that damned state previously.

He looked at Herti walking behind him. This lady, his granddaughter of who knew how many generations after him, had taken furtive glances at him several times already. He was waiting for her to start talking, but seeing as she did not seem like she was going to talk anytime soon, he went ahead and asked, “If there’s any questions you have to ask, shoot.”

Herti was a little startled. but she quickly took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Staring at Gawain’s face that looked exactly like the portrait in her clan, she carefully worded, “Ancestor… I still can’t believe that you really are… ”

“Indeed, I’m that Gawain Cecil, that pioneer from seven hundred years ago. I can recite the thirty years of everything I experienced in my life, or would you like me to tell you about the times during the Second Settlement? But to be honest, I’m afraid all these wouldn’t be much proof. A good historian might be able to talk about all these things and be more convincing than me. After all, I’m not that eloquent.” Gawain shrugged. “You wanted to confirm that I’m the real person, right?”

“Please forgive me for having doubts,” Herti said anxiously. “But it is indeed quite… Although there have been stories about resurrections since ancient times, it is quite another matter to see it with my own eyes. I heard that there are some paladins and moon elves that could go into suspended animation for years and even up to decades, relying on the power of the Holy Light and the secrets of elven arts to preserve their soul and life force, but I’ve never heard of human knights capable of doing that. Besides… you were dead for seven hundred years.”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s going on as well,” Gawain said, shaking his head, although he felt a great urge to fabricate an intricate and logical theory just to scare his great great… great granddaughter, but he could not come up with such a theory from his own knowledge or Gawain Cecil’s memories. Thus, he bluntly admitted that he had no clue how this could all be explained. “Perhaps it has something to do with what I’ve been through in the past. You know that I’ve received blessings from the elementals back when I was leading pioneers to venture into the wilderness. It probably did something to my body.”

“Oh…” Herti remarked incredulously before suddenly looking up at the path ahead.

“There is airflow,” she said in a low voice, “And the magic feels different. We’re probably close to the end of the tomb.”

Gawain nodded, grasping tightly in his hand the Sword of Pioneers as a vague feeling of uneasiness heightened his guard for danger that could lie ahead.