Chapter 21: Marriage Must Be Cautious (1)

Holding a torch, moving through the narrow crevice between the rocks was an incredibly tiring and difficult task.

I kept wondering where it would end, if the crevice would narrow to the point where I couldn't move anymore, or if I would suffocate halfway through.

“Huff. Huff.”

Fortunately, the rough breathing from behind helped me push away the creeping fear, but it didn't make the task any easier.

“Huff. Huff. I hope they're both safe?”

“Phew... How much further do we have to go?”

“...”

Amidst the heavy breathing, Adria's voice kept coming through.

Adria, who was following behind me, was in a similar situation. Actually, with her slightly larger build, she was probably having a harder time than I was.

“A younger kid isn't even complaining, so try to keep going.”

“Hmph, you're just an old geezer...”

She grumbled, but it seemed like my words gave her some strength.

After some time, she seemed to get a bit more used to moving through the narrow cave.

Her heavy breathing decreased, and she started talking more often.

Was she scared?

“Do knights have to go through things like this? Watching Ugo and Bianca made me lose confidence.”

I strongly empathized with her words.

Well, in a peaceful country like in my previous life, where there was no war, being a soldier or a knight would be more like a civil servant. But this world was much more terrifying than I had expected.

In my previous life, political struggles were just about grabbing each other's collars in the parliament, but here, they didn't just cut off each other's heads; they even led armies to kill each other's daughters.

But in such a world, we had to become even stronger.

“If I hadn't learned how to use a sword, I wouldn't have been able to run away.”

“Is that so? But, Alex, you didn't have to come with me.”

That was because you dragged me along.

“More importantly, how did you know I was learning to use a sword?”

“Simon... The knight captain who came with the young master when he visited our estate told me he saw me training.”

Could it be that the 'hidden sword of the duke's family' was a story that came from the knight captain's mouth!

He always seemed to dislike me, and now he's spreading strange rumors at the viscount's estate...

I thought he had gotten better recently, but it seems that wasn't the case.

Once she started talking, Adria kept going.

“Suddenly engaged, and then not long after, I had to seek refuge at my fiancé's house, and now we're running away...”

Was it because the cave was dark? Her voice gradually sank.

“I learned to use a sword because I wanted to live differently from other noble ladies, but this is no different. No, is it even worse?”

As she kept talking, it turned into a complete monologue.

I understood, but I didn't want to keep listening to her monologue. I was a bodyguard, not a psychologist.

Just as I was about to try to shut her up,

Whoosh.

A small sound came from the front.

Rustle.

Then a gentle breeze blew through my hair.

The breeze was different from the stuffy air we had been breathing.

“Huh? It's wind!”

Adria immediately noticed.

“It must be the exit!”

Her voice, which had been dark, suddenly brightened.

The two of us started moving our feet eagerly.

The further we walked, the fresher the air felt.

We still couldn't see any light, but the fresh air gave us hope that we were connected to the outside.

A little later, we were able to get out of the narrow cave.

I raised the torch to look around.

“It's not outside, is it?”

As she said, we weren't outside.

But it wasn't a cave completely blocked by rocks either.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of rectangular stone blocks.

“An underground stone chamber?”

A large iron door was in the center of one wall, and in the middle of the chamber, on an altar, there was a large coffin.

Adria's eyes sparkled as she looked at the coffin.

“Is it a tomb from the old empire?”

I wasn't sure if it was from the old empire, but the presence of a coffin made it clear it was a tomb.

Since we had to pass by the coffin to reach the iron door, I carefully walked over with the torch in hand.

“Is this the first time anyone has found it?”

Adria asked hopefully from behind.

Indeed, she didn't fit in with the viscount's daughter.

Seeing Adria get excited about ruins and tombs reminded me of my previous life's game character, who would loot tombs with dual pistols.

“It's impossible to be the first.”

I shook my head.

There was no way such a fortuitous event would happen to me.

We were just following a path someone else had taken. There were no forks, so we couldn't have been the first.

The coffin lid was also pushed to the side.

It seemed someone had already broken into the tomb.

“Not a hero, but a tomb raider, I guess.”

Inside the coffin, there were only some clothes and bone fragments left.

“Really. They took everything.”

Adria sighed in disappointment after checking the coffin.

“It might have been empty anyway. The contents would have been useless after so long.”

While old artifacts could have been valuable, the state of the ruins during the Great War made it unlikely they would be worth much.

Especially during the Great War, they might have been more of a burden...

“Why would they be useless? The famous relics and weapons are all from the old empire. The relics used by heroes during the Great War were also from that time. After the old empire fell, they couldn't be made anymore.”

Lost technology, huh? Is this place where lost technology pours out from ruins!

Ugh, I need the internet.

Indeed, the books in the library and the lessons from the archivists were not enough for information.

“Oh, there's a keyhole here. Is there a mechanism?”

Adria, after looking around the coffin more, found a hole in the bottom.

It looked like a short gap about the length of a finger, with a small symbol drawn above it, similar to the one we saw on the door and cave entrance.

“It looks like a sword would fit perfectly...”

Adria examined the hole.

“Then, was the sword buried with the body the key? If you push the sword into the hole, the mechanism would activate and reveal a hidden treasure box, right?”

She kept spouting out the ideas that came to her mind.

“The person who came before us didn't see this hole because of the body, and over time, the body decayed, leaving the hole visible to us.”

Clap, clap, clap. I mentally applauded her.

Lady Adria, after being the tomb raider, is now a detective.

There were so many things I could have said in response, but I grabbed her arm and headed for the iron door.

“It's not the time for that. We need to hurry.”

“...Okay.”

She was talking brightly, but her hand was trembling.

The sacrifices of others, the events she was caught up in, and what was to come.

Adria, still a teenager, was clearly scared.

But we couldn't stop just because we were scared.

Creak.

Fortunately, the iron door opened easily.

It didn't seem like it was originally meant to open easily, but it didn't block us from going out.

“Originally, they must have entered from this side. The path we took was a side route formed by a split in the rocks.”

I said this deliberately, but there was no response. She seemed to still be trying to compose herself.

I decided not to push it.

The cave continued behind the iron door. Fortunately, this time it was a decently large cave, making movement easier.

Unlike before, the cave was home to various animals.

Large rats with no eyes, moles with big claws, and insects as thick as arms. They were all creatures I had never seen before.

Fortunately, there were no beasts that we couldn't handle, but this was the first time I truly felt like I was in a different world.

After a while, we finally reached a place with light.

We looked up.

Above the cylindrical vertical wall, the sky was visible.

“It's a well.”

“A deserted well.”

We immediately started climbing the well wall.

Although we were still young, we had the strength and skills of adults.

We climbed up, placing our fingers and toes in the gaps between the earth and stones.

A little later, we were able to get out safely.

We were covered in dirt, but we didn't care as we felt the warm sunlight.

The area around the well was full of trees.

Old house sites were visible here and there, but it seemed the village had been swallowed by the forest long ago.

“A forgotten village, perhaps.”

Whether it was a village destroyed during the Great War or one abandoned before that, it was clearly a place no one remembered.

Here, it would be difficult for anyone to know about the ancient tomb and the cave leading to it.

“One person must have known.”

But it would be hard to find out who now. I didn't even want to try.

Right now, we needed to join up with the estate army as soon as possible.

“If it's a forest near the fortress, it must be the Ons Forest. Since the fortress is to the west, we should head northeast.”

“Yeah! Let's go quickly.”

Adria responded energetically to my words. She seemed to have regained her composure.

We brushed off the dirt from our bodies and cautiously moved forward.

The estate army might have finished dealing with the enemies and be looking for us, but we still needed to be careful.

We considered hiding in the forest until the estate army found us, but we weren't prepared to spend the night in the forest.

Honestly, the chance of encountering enemies was almost zero, so it was better to get out of the forest as quickly as possible.

But, as they say, you can't always trust probabilities.

I had forgotten about the game where the bullets missed 99% of the time.

“Ha ha, I've got you this time.”

Seeing the mercenary suddenly appear, I cursed the god of dice.

“I was really surprised. There was a cave leading here. I would have missed it if it weren't for my ability.”

Oh, she tracked us with her ability? Then I take back my curse.

While she was talking, I looked around, but there was no way out.

The mercenaries had already surrounded us.

While I was looking around, the female mercenary was holding a handkerchief between her fingers and waving it.

“How did you get my handkerchief...”

Adria gasped when she saw the handkerchief.

Adria's handkerchief?

Was the handkerchief the medium for tracking? Chasing us with a handkerchief. What a dog-like ability.

“A lady close to you helped me. Thanks to her, I could keep chasing you.”

“I don't know anyone who would steal my handkerchief!”

“It can't be, she's the new head of the Iero Viscount's family.”

The female mercenary smiled as she told an unbelievable story.

* * *

The bodies of mercenaries and estate soldiers were scattered around the fortress.

The duke frowned at the sight of the battlefield, which he hadn't seen in a long time.

“Most of the external enemies have been dealt with. We are pursuing the few who escaped.”

A knight reported the situation to the duke.

“What about the underground?”

“The knight captain went in himself. We will hear the results soon.”

The duke nodded.

Simon was nowhere to be seen. The duke had sent him back to the mansion with the soldiers.

The duke looked at the fortress.

After the children were chased into the underground, everyone had given up hope.

The knight captain went in to take revenge, but it would be difficult to save the children.

The duke still held a sliver of hope, but his mind was preoccupied with other thoughts.

Why did they send almost a war-level force?

Why did they pour knight-level personnel into killing just one girl?

Fortunately, his curiosity was soon satisfied.

“Urgent news!”

A messenger on horseback solved his curiosity.

“The Iero Viscount's mansion was burned down. The family was wiped out. The Baron of Rapalma came with knights and set up the viscount's illegitimate child as the new head of the family!”

“So that was the reason to kill Adria?”

The duke frowned.

It wasn't just to stop an engagement.

They were planning to completely take over the viscount's territory.