The Spirits of the Mausoleum (5)
The place the ghosts guided me to was a place that appeared only when I went deep inside the tomb.
A dark cave that you would never find unless you looked closely, as it is located beyond 299 coffins.
At the end of it there was a very small cavity.
A ray of light came in faintly from the slightly open ceiling, illuminating the stone tomb.
Instead of a tombstone, there was a single red tulip sitting there, swaying.
“Was there another tomb?”
-Oh, you recognized me right away?
-That’s right. There were originally 300 of us.
-There is only one tombstone that was not left behind.
Ghosts circled the tomb.
Theo could easily see that this was why ghosts remained in the world.
“May I ask who is buried there?”
-None among us.
-No one is buried here. You can just think of this as a family grave.
“Family grave?”
-Yes. He was our leader, our lord, our lord… …and also Ragnar’s former chosen one.
selector.
Theo’s eyes widened slightly at those words.
-■■■! That friend’s grave… … !
In that moment, the face of the ghost who had been saying the name suddenly distorted.
-Shit! My name isn’t coming out again? This is driving me crazy! At this rate, I’ll completely forget it!
-I’m also a bit hazy these days. I can’t even remember faces.
-That’s because you’re old.
-What, Inma?
The sight of ghosts grumbling when they were bored was no longer a concern.
“You are someone who has access to the secrets of the world to the extent that I cannot hear your real name with the <level> I have.”
-Probably so. We don’t know for sure. I heard that he was so entangled with the <Nameless Monarch> that it was almost difficult to even leave his presence here.
Theo was aware of Lordbroke’s channeling.
“That guy is right.”
‘What was the connection with the <Nameless Monarch>…?’
『It was so secretive that even Ragnar’s legend barely remained. As a Chosen One, you could say that he was one of the few children who came close to its origin.』
‘… … He was a great person.’
『Understand that I cannot tell you more. As a chooser, as my companion, if you continue to delve into the secret, you will eventually find out on your own.』
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‘Yes, I understand.’
Lordbroke’s voice was now filled with sadness.
『I had no idea that the grave of my former partner, who had not even left any remains, was in a place like this… … I guess I am not qualified to be a partner.』
Theo was silent for a moment, as he did not seem in the mood to speak to Lordbroke.
‘A being who lost his name due to the curse of the <Nameless Monarch>… … .’
A name is the definition of existence.
It is the way people remember the beings living in this world, and if they are recorded, their names become widely known and their presence spreads.
Sometimes they are worshipped as gods and dedicated to the pantheon.
But the name was erased?
It means the immediate annihilation of existence.
For a swordsman of Ragnar who had strong ambitions to leave his name forever in history, there could be no greater dishonor than this.
Ragnar remembers the 299-man suicide squad that fought against the <Nameless Lord> who crossed the Great Wall.
But they don’t remember the being that led them.
Even though he was their leader and the head of Ragnar’s family.
This is probably the reason why the suicide squad members remain as ghosts.
‘The reason they remained in this world without any particular attachments… was because they didn’t want to lose their leader.’
But they are dead people, not living people.
Holding on will end someday.
But I guess we should see that as a kind of struggling.
“So, do you want our ancestors to find the remains of our deceased ancestors and build a real tomb?”
-Huh? Is that how the story goes?
-Hahaha! I guess that makes sense. Well, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, either.
-Is there anything wrong with the fact that the inspector can’t leave a grave? It’s our fate to never know when we’ll die on the battlefield. Even if only the spirit and will remain, even if there are those who remember, that place is our grave.
-Yeah! That’s right!
It meant that it didn’t matter because they remembered their leader.
“then……?”
-We want to restore the captain’s sword.
Something I never expected.
Theo’s eyes widened.
299 ghosts were all laughing together.
– Didn’t I tell you? A grave is a place where there is even one person who remembers our spirit and will.
-We already have a grave. There are fewer people coming now, but there is still a graveyard like that.
-But what happens after we leave?
-No. Of course not! That’s why we need a ‘grave’. Someone who will remember our leader.
“That’s what ‘Gumbo’ is for.”
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-yes!
-If the vision of the captain remains in this world, it means that there are people who honor him, so the tomb will not disappear and will remain.
-Of course, it’s not like the captain had no descendants at all.
-Most of the seasons were lost, so they were only half-living, so it was difficult to call them true descendants.
Theo had a flash of insight.
“Was that vision the advice you gave me?”
Detective Ghost nodded.
-That’s right. The captain’s vision was made by sharpening Ragnar’s sword, so I thought your sword might have been made by touching it too.
-We don’t know the captain’s vision. We ‘forgot’ it.
-But the enlightenment I gained from seeing it and the mysteries I glimpsed remain in fragments.
“If I could just rearrange those misaligned pieces and fill in the missing parts with my sword.”
-That is the captain’s vision.
-Of course, it may be a bit different from the captain’s real vision. But wouldn’t that be better for you? Rather than learning a sword with exactly the same characteristics, it would be better to continue the vision that has been cultivated as an extension.
Theo nodded.
And I was quite impressed inside.
Easier said than done, because you can guess how great their abilities are.
And this was an opportunity for himself too.
Ancient vision.
If that is the vision of one of the few chosen ones that Lordbroke acknowledges, then its value will be enormous.
‘I’ve only had a taste, but I’ve already reached a level where I’ve reached a new level.’
Theo’s desire to restore the vision was greater.
‘But I don’t know how long it will take. I can’t stay here forever. Is there any way I can help?’
Hatchling Synchro also doesn’t work unless you have the old selector’s item.
Then suddenly, the thought occurred to Theo that meeting the ghosts was similar to a quest.
Only one method came to mind.
“I know of a way to quickly restore your vision. Would you like to try it?”
-what?
-There is such a method?
Theo opened his mouth as he looked at the ghosts staring at him.
* * *
“Huh? Where did Theo go?”
“Really? It was there a little while ago.”
“Ray, do you know anything?”
Dori dori-
Ray shook his head at Shelford and Arin’s questions.
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She was also so focused on her breathing that she couldn’t pay attention to anything else.
Shelford was about to move to find Theo, wondering if something was wrong, when he suddenly turned his head when Cassandra stirred.
Cassandra slowly raised her upper body and blinked her eyes.
“Here… … .”
“Are you feeling better, Cassandra?”
Arin looked at Cassandra with concern, and Cassandra stared at her for a moment without answering.
Even though I clearly can’t see ahead.
His unfocused pupils seemed to be watching her.
“Cassandra?”
“You’re the negative one, Arin. You’re famous for your wind sword.”
“what……?”
Arin felt a strong sense of discomfort.
Because it wasn’t Cassandra’s way of speaking.
It was as if someone, an adult, had possessed Cassandra’s small body.
“You are Shelford Gardner. You are the illegitimate child of the Gardner family, nicknamed the White-Haired Sword. I see you are doing well ‘here’.”
“……you.”
“And this is Ray Ragnar. You are the daughter of Princess Suseon. Although you have the attribute of frost, your heart is warm. As expected, it’s all thanks to Theo.”
“Who are you?”
Shelford drew his sword and aimed it at Cassandra’s chin.
Cassandra wasn’t surprised by the cool feel of the blade, and pushed the sword aside with her hand.
“If you ask me who I am, I will answer ‘Cassandra.’”
“what!”
“But if you ask me, is this young Cassandra?”
A faint smile appeared on Cassandra’s lips.
“I guess I have no choice but to say no.”
What on earth does this mean?
Cassandra is right, but not young Cassandra?
Shelford believed that the unknown entity that had taken over Cassandra’s body was playing a terrible prank.
“No. This is absolutely not a joke. I think it’s natural that you have difficulty understanding what I’m saying. If I were in your shoes, I would have reacted the same way.”
‘Are you reading my mind?’
“I think it would be better if you thought of it as ‘looking ahead’ rather than reading the mind.”
“… … !”
Shelford’s spine stood on end.
The entity that possessed Cassandra not only predicted his and his companions’ actions, but also saw right through them.
A completely absurd situation.
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As Shelford was about to say something, Cassandra’s gaze suddenly turned to one side.
“Theo will guarantee that I am Cassandra.”
The place where the group that followed her also turned their heads.
Theo was walking towards me.
“… … I think everyone can lower their guard for now.”
“Theo.”
“I can guarantee it. The Cassandra here is Cassandra.”
Theo looked at Cassandra.
Cassandra smiled without answering.
“Yeah… … . If you say so, then it must be true.”
Shelford eventually backed down.
He had already guessed that Cassandra had special abilities.
Now, Cassandra’s appearance has been considered as one of them.
“I’m so glad it ended without incident. But more importantly, did you need me?”
Cassandra’s gaze turned to Theo.
Now, the people here didn’t get the feeling that Cassandra was blind.
‘This is giving me a headache. Is this kind of trance state even possible?’
Meanwhile, Theo narrowed his eyes as he realized what Cassandra was going through.
I already knew that Cassandra would act strangely while giving <Prophecies>, as if she had received a trance.
It was exactly like this when I read Leje’s future.
The only difference is that he has a calm attitude?
It was as if the future Cassandra had possessed the young Cassandra by borrowing the prophet’s powers…
“Can you help me?”
“Yes. Where should I go?”
Cassandra slowly got up from her seat and followed Theo.
After the surroundings became quiet.
“Ugh… … !”
“What the hell is going on?”
Only then were Shelford and Arin able to take a deep breath.
“Hey, hey, did you see that?”
“You’re not the only one with eyes.”
“What the heck? What on earth happened?”
I was also taken aback when Cassandra first opened her eyes and reacted so adult-like.
Theo’s appearance, whose atmosphere had changed dramatically, was equally shocking.
‘I couldn’t… read it.’
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From the moment he obtained the mystery from the Floating Islands Autonomous Territory, he already knew that Theo had surpassed the two of them in skill.
But even so, since there wasn’t much of a difference, I was able to ‘guess’ the extent of the gap.
Now, what should I say, I couldn’t see anything.
Just as you can’t tell exactly how high the mountain on the horizon is.
Now, I only thought that Theo was ‘high’, but I had no idea to what extent he was.
After coming here, he asked for some time to himself. Did he gain some insight in the meantime?
But can you suddenly grow like this just because you’ve achieved enlightenment?
Many questions and thoughts swirled around in my head.
‘Especially the eyes. I couldn’t tell how deep they were.’
The eyes were so deep red that it seemed like they should now be called crimson instead of bright red.
But now one thing was certain.
Even if Theo has already reached the rank of a <master>, it is by no means inadequate.
Senior Inspector
Or, it could be said that it was at the level of the beginning of the Yongmun Inspection.
At the age of just sixteen.
“If I want to be treated as a senior even just a little bit, I really have to work hard and practice… … .”
While Shelford and Arin sighed as the ground gave out.
Ray looked at Amro, where Theo had disappeared, with a strange gaze.
At that time,
“What, where did everyone go?”
Odd, who had said he would go and check the situation outside, returned and tilted his head.
The group weakly pointed towards Amro where Theo and Cassandra had disappeared.
“What? You went there?”
At that moment, Odd’s eyes sank deeply.
As if the emotions had been removed.
* * *
“The ‘real’ Cassandra will be okay, right?”
“I see, Theo, you know exactly who I am.”
“I was confused a little while ago, but now I understand.”
A faint smile appeared on Cassandra’s lips as she walked leisurely.
“Are you the Empress of Magic?”
How the bastard of the Return Sword Family lives
