Chapter 163: Chapter 164: The Children And The Nymph Thieves (5)

Inside the pyramid.

Imagining what was inside, one would be prone to picturing cold stone walls and the skeletons of grave diggers strewn on the ground.

A labyrinth in which freakish scarabs appeared and ate away at people, or dog-headed monsters sprang out and cut up the body, ripping out the heart and putting it on a scale.

Or the appearance of some ancient pharaoh summoning a dark magician and the priest opposing him summoning a white dragon in a shadow game where they try to destroy one another?

That was the pyramid pictured in my head but the actual inside of the ivory pyramid we entered had a grassy terrain and the walls on either side were neat rows of beautiful marble.

It smelled nice of flowers or fruit and a BGM of a harp playing could be heard as well.

Just then, Brigitte pointed at something.

I opened the scroll that I got from Sultan Saladin and carefully compared the drawing of 「Margo’s Flower」 with the flowers growing on the ground.

“There’s a bunch of them.”

There were about ten flowers in bloom.

“Judas, look at this. There are footprints.”

At Cariote’s words, I noted the ground.

“They are nymph footprints. The Nymph Bandits must have passed through here.”

It was as Cariote said.

“They seem to have headed to the basement.”

Cariote calmly tracked the nymphs.

Come to think of it, didn’t the chief of the oasis village warn us by saying, “There is a terrifying monster within the pyramid!”?

“There’s something powerful in the basement.”

I lightly cautioned everyone.

An entity powerful enough to dry up an ocean.

Brigitte asked me quietly.

“What is it?”

“Who would win the fight between you and the thing in the basement?”

I see.

The me who defeated Nocturne was strong.

I was especially sensitive towards malice. That is, since I surpassed the wall that was Nocturne and became a new transcendental being.

As such, I was able to see through anyone who had darkness in their hearts, and I could easily notice if someone had bad intentions no matter how slight they were, no matter how they tried to hide them.

Speaking as such a person, the entity in the basement had no malice.

“Nobody’s here!”

That was Naru’s impression after wandering the pyramid for about an hour.

“Nobody is here. It’s just a big palace. It would be boring to stay here for a long time!”

It was as Naru said.

Although there should be a reason why they came here.

“This is….”

Just then, Hina halted as if she discovered something.

The murals had many pink-haired people.

“Are they Hina’s ancestors?”

As I tilted my head, Brigitte, who had also been observing the murals, offered a theory.

“They might be royalty. They’re the only ones with different accessories. Dressed up in sparkling jewels, too. The royal family of Marduk must have descended all the way from ancient Babylonian times.”

So there had been pink-haired people here in these lands since a long time ago.

The old kingdom of Babylon seeme to have worshipped the sun.

“Waaah—”

Who was that in awe?

“It’s like the night sky! It looks like stars shining!”

It was as Naru said.

“Can stars be plucked?”

Naru reached out her hand.

The children were very disappointed but all I thought was that it’d be nice if this moment became a nice memory for them.

The memory of the stars they saw today in the basement of a pyramid will probably be an unforgettable one.

Brigitte also murmured in awe as she looked at the sky.

Would she notice if I tried touching her butt just once?

“Are there any treasures? Anything?”

Salome was busy looking around for treasures. Stars in the sky must not be impressive to Salome who was greedy for gold.

“There is something up ahead.”

Cariote, too, was looking forward rather than the sky.

At last, Cariote informed us of finding the nymphs.

As Cariote had said, I could see close to ten nymphs gathered around a gigantic structure.

“Ahhh, Sifnoi has come…!”

The nymph thieves who came running welcomed us excitedly.

“The little kores are adorable…!”

The nymphs were especially interested in the kids like Naru, Cecily, and Hina, so it must be true that nymphs liked children and that naturally made them good nannies.

“Tywin.”

I called Tywin who had been scribbling on the floor with something amongst the nymphs. When I did, Tywin flinched in surprise and then looking my way, she slowly opened her mouth.

“... What are you doing here?”

“I came to find you. I’ve discussed with the family that you’ll be my fourth and oldest daughter. It took some trouble getting here.”

Tywin was going to be my fourth and oldest child. Of course, I didn’t know what the person herself would think.

The kid hesitated for a while, then she finally resumed writing on the ground again with the slate pencil in her hand.

It was an amazingly complicated formula.

“This is the formula of truth that will open this door. It proves that when n> 2, no positive integers x, y, z satisfy the equation xⁿ +yⁿ =zⁿ.”

A formula that opens the door.

On the door were many ancient texts that I couldn’t understand with how convoluted they looked.

“The answer I’m seeking is beyond this door-like wall. If I don’t obtain the answer… I won’t be able to become anyone’s daughter.”

Saying this, Tywin let out a deep sigh.

“Kore Tywin has already stayed up three days and nights solving this formula…! However, it is a most difficult problem so it is hard to solve…! It was fine when we distracted the Sphynx by throwing a Sugar Rock but we are completely stuck here…!”

I see.

“I already know the answer to this problem.”

“... Is that true? You can prove Archmage Fermat’s conundrum?”

“Of course.”

After I had Tywin step aside, I placed my hands on the large and majestic door. The strength behind the force and weight of it was immense.

“Hup—”

Kuuuooooo—

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1. Not sure how intended the different spacing from usual is, but it's no mistake.