Chapter 67.1

It was just like Erna had said. The site they were in was just like the structure of the Grand Castle. Erna wondered for some reason if the two were similar, but that was further proven upon seeing the similar structure and the furniture inside.

A chillness also traveled down Kalion’s spine, who was on the rather bold side, and goosebumps rose on his exposed skin.

It was the ancient ruins. A building from an era where many records—no matter how short they were—techniques, and magic had been lost well over a thousand years ago. It was clear that the Grand Castle, which had been built hundreds of years ago, was modeled after this place.

The Grand Castle was the largest building in Hessenguard. If such a place had been modeled after such a specific site, Kalion would have definitely heard an explanation of the origin of its form at least once… but he had never heard of such a thing.

He struggled to turn his stiffened neck to stare at the huge door next to him. If this place had the same layout as the Grand Castle, then this was the couple’s bedroom. There was no way ancient ruins needed such a place. But… there hasn’t been anything revealed to show why the ruins had been built in the first place.

Evidence of people living there had been discovered, but this place wouldn’t have been built for general residence.

Kalion stared at the stone door for a long time, then he raised his hand. If this place really was exactly like the Grand Castle, there would at least be one bed inside. Before he mustered up the strength to push it open, Erna pulled his sleeve and whispered in a low voice, “Don’t open it.”

As soon as Erna, who had been silent up until now, spoke, he felt an even bigger wave of tension.

“Why not?”

“Look at those decorations.”

Kalion looked in the direction where she was pointing. Decorations were carved on the stone door. A statue of a lion’s head. Kalion knew exactly what that was: something seen only on buildings in Hessenguard. A piece of decoration that informed people outside whether the owner of the room could come in or not.

If the lion’s head was looking straight ahead it meant that you could enter, but if it was turned to the side, it meant otherwise. And the one they were looking at right now was smashed and turned to the side.

“…I don’t think we can enter.”

Kalion nodded at Erna’s frightened whisper. The stone decoration hadn’t only been smashed to pieces.

When looking around, there were traces of sharp cuts here and there. It was clear that it had been struck hard with something blunt. Seeing that the traces were persistent, the person who had done it seemed to have done it with lots of passion.

What on earth had happened to the owner of this room? More than that, who in the hell was the owner of this place? Kalion recalled back when they’d first entered this place.

The significantly different type of passage from what had generally occurred so far; their names which had been written above the door leading inside; the structure similar to the Grand Castle; the Grand Castle’s stuff which had not been around that long. This site had so many suspicious points.

And on top of all that, Erna’s body being carried by Kalion was gradually getting hotter. Kalion passed the door of the couple’s room and looked around somewhere else.

“Let’s take a rest here for a bit before we continue.”

According to the structure of the Grand Castle, there was a bed in the maids’ room. This place wasn’t all that different from the Grand Castle. Kalion, after setting Erna down onto the bed from his back, put his cloak around her shoulders.

Perhaps she was having body aches now, Erna moaned when her body touched the hard bed. Kalion felt around the top of the bed with his hand.

Until a few decades ago, someone obviously stayed here, deduced Kalion. There was also furniture in this room, and there were quite a lot of pieces of furniture in other places as well. It wasn’t a place for only one person. Several people—that is, people associated with the Grand Castle—had stayed here.

Who in the hell were they? He rummaged through the room. Thankfully, in the room, there were dusty glass bottles and glass cups.

“Erna. Sorry but can you use your magic on these?”

“Yep…”

When he lifted a bottle and glass, Erna, recognizing his meaning, summoned a magic orb in the air. Then, a large mass of water the size of a human head appeared above the glass bottle and floated around.

After Kalion washed the dust off of the bottle and glass, he poured water inside of the bottle. Soon, the glass bottle contained water, and he put it in the cup and brought it to Erna.

“Are you all right?”

“My head… hurts a little.”

This was the same Erna who habitually said, “I’m fine.” But the pain was enough for her to admit it; it meant she was in real pain.

Water flowed down her chin. Her hand, suffering from high body temperature, was not holding the cup properly. In the end, when Kalion, who couldn’t look at her that way anymore, lifted it for her, and she drank the water, barely spilling any.

She would have never thought his handing her water when she was tired and lying down after s*x would help in a case like this.

Having drunk all of the water in the cup, she weakly laid down on the bed, curling up her body. Seeing her like that made Kalion upset for no reason. Should we go to the next room? he thought. If this was like the Grand Castle, then the next room was his. Of course, even though he didn’t know who the owner of the ruins was, it was an important room in the center. There was a sign saying ‘Do Not Enter’ but it wasn’t the room next door, so I think it’ll be okay.

On top of that, anything was fine to get out of here, so he had to get a clue. Kalion lifted Erna from the bed. He wanted to let her rest, but he’d be in trouble if he were to leave her here alone.