Chapter 215 – Division

000

The authority of the royal family, which had created a mighty kingdom in the past and boasted absolute royal power, was slowly falling due to the slowly drying rivers and land, and the rushing sandstorm.

The fact that his father, a former king, was poisoned, and his mother’s mysterious death were all due to that effect.

As a child, the first thing I did when I inherited the throne was to purify all my subjects, except for the vassals who had sworn allegiance only to the royal family.

After that, I did everything with the mindset of trying to raise a country that was on the decline.

They brought a mysterious priest to perform ancestral rites, and tried to migrate to a place with fertile land.

However, the people had already lost almost all of their resistance to magic, and only found out that they could not live even if they went to other lands.

Now, the fall of this country was nothing but certain.

Brilliant glory was to be buried in a sandstorm like a faded copper coin.

But before that, there was work to be done.

Heterogeneous monsters… A disaster that suddenly appeared from the tombs of the royal family and struck the kingdom.

It wasn’t until after hitting the heads of three of the researchers who discovered that these were the beings that appeared due to the exhaustion of the spirit vein that I felt relieved.

If these things are left unattended, not only will the country perish, but innocent people and neighboring countries will suffer great damage.

If that happens, the name of our kingdom will forever remain in history as the kingdom of fools who brought calamity to the world.

I swear to my ancestors, I had to stop that.

However, since there were no humans who could use magic, what was left was science and technology that eventually brought monsters.

Black steel made using technology obtained from the excavated ancient black armor.

The only way was to use it to create a living ‘automata’ powered by the human soul itself.

As the desertification of the ground accelerates, the kingdom’s researchers have been advising me to move the facility to the safest place.

Stupid things… If it hadn’t been for that research, this disaster wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

The guys who said they had received revelations that they couldn’t even see the burden of governing this kingdom were gradually ignoring my orders and trying to act.

Even though I felt anger about that fact, I couldn’t help but nod my head and grant their request.

The designated place was the tomb prepared for me.

It was made by the king.

“Whoa…”

When I let out a sigh like that, he turned to me and talked.

“If you sigh that loud, your lifespan is shortened.”

A warrior whose whole body is wrapped in steel armor and covered with a white cloth over it.

My faithful servant, my most trusted subject.

The head of the royal guard, Mejai, and the king’s guardian who has protected me since I was a child.

“I want to drink beer…”

When I mutter that, he looks at me for a moment and then sighs.

“You’re still at work.”

“I know. But isn’t it okay to say that you want to drink? There is a cold beer that I ordered from the attendant yesterday and prepared for you. I want to drink it now.”

It must be painful for you too to wear that armor in this deserted place.

I said that because I thought of him, but he stamped the ground with the golden staff he was holding in his hand.

“Yes. I know. The attendant told me too. The King has told me to prepare far more than the amount of beer permitted in a day.”

“Ugh… That guy… Dare to tell me…”

I thought he was a cute guy, but he must have been close to the enemy.

“Aren’t you a loyalist? Considering His Majesty’s health His, originally, you should refrain from even drinking.”

“Physical health is the same, but the only thing that can fill the mental health is, of course, beer.”

At my answer, the guy sighed.

“Why don’t you try something different? Like the King, you enjoy music.”

“Music is boring. I’m sure I’ll fall asleep while listening to it.”

He answered, remembering that the previous king had fired all the palace musicians.

“Then… Enjoying fishing like grandfather-“

“The ponds across the country are drying up. Are you saying that we should follow the foolish ancestors who built artificial ponds in the royal palace for fishing as a hobby?”

By the way, the pond has already been covered with soil.

“You’re being stubborn…”

“I have a right to do so. I am the king of this country.”

At my attitude his, he put his hand on his helmet and shook his head, as if his head his was hurting.

Suddenly, remembering what happened last night, I shut my mouth for a while and twisted the corners of my mouth.

“Ah, there’s one more thing besides beer. It’s the massage you give. It feels good, the stiff shoulders and fatigue go away.”

“…It’s fortunate. I was confident because it was something I often did to my grandfather. His Majesty, who is still young, likes it.”

Yes. As he nodded, he noticed something strange about what he was saying.

“Did you indirectly call me an old man?”

“No way… Huyu. Then let’s take a little rest. Lie down on the bed and we’ll give you a massage like yesterday.”

Seeing him say that and take off the gauntlet he was wearing on his hand his, I nodded and replied in a happy mood.

“Um ♪ I beg you. Ah, and one more thing.”

When I get close to him and put my hand on his helmet his, he grabs my hand in bewilderment.

“What…”

“Yesterday I felt better because I was able to see your face for the first time in a while. Can I show you today?”

When I said that while looking at the gap in his helmet, he hesitated with a puzzled expression as expected.

“…But, Mezai…”

A guy who usually speaks directly to me casually.

“It is the king’s order.”

“Ah, I understand… Your Majesty.”

He looked at the guy who couldn’t help but nod his head and put on a satisfied expression.

He slowly, carefully removes the cloth he was wearing and puts his hand on his helmet-slowly turns his face to me-

001

“Quon… Are you out of your mind?”

Hearing a voice calling out to him from the darkness, when Quon slowly raised his head, he could tell that he was buried deep underground.

Since he could n’t protect himself with magical power, he had to receive the shock purely with his body his, but after all, Quon’s body his was not trained compared to Cleon’s.

Even if it slipped along with the floor she was on, it would have been enough to knock her out of her.

“Yeah… I’m sorry, Cleon. How crazy have I been?”

“It’s about three minutes. It’s okay, I’ll take it off if it’s hard to move.”

At Cleon’s suggestion, Quon shook his head and moved his body as if he was okay.

Seeing Quon’s actions, Cleon sighed as if he was relieved.

“Verastor and Medjed stayed upstairs. I told them not to follow me because it’s dangerous…”

When Cleon got up and looked around, the floor was also full of sand, and the surroundings were full of scrap metal and the remains of collapsed buildings.

“Why are these things in the tomb…”

In particular, the moment I tried to touch it while frowning at the bad feeling I felt from scrap metal-

“Hey, Cleon! No!”

Quon raised his voice and stopped Cleon from doing that.

Cleon also heard her voice and involuntarily stopped her hand her and looked back at her.

“…Quon, do you know what this is?”

“Yeah…Probably, it’s something Cleon knows too.”

At Quon’s words her, Cleon inspected the surface of the scrap metal, suddenly realized its true identity her, and had no choice but to back away from her.

“Soul Eater Metal…!”

“Yeah… As expected, that’s right…”

A chill so severe that it froze the pitch-black surface and the air around it.

And, an unknown scam that stirs the heart just by looking at it.

It was the same material used in the production of ‘Enkidu’ – the prototype of the armor Humbaba the Witchbeast had seen before at the academy.

It takes human life to make, and the special alloy produced in this way is an evil metal that either absorbs the soul to strengthen itself or traps the soul itself.

The manufacturing method was lost, but Cleon, who had dealt directly with Enkidu, fully understood its heinousness.

“I almost touched it… Thanks, Quon. But, how did you know?”

“Actually… I had a dream while I was losing my mind… There, I saw someone’s memory instead. There was a story about Soul Eater Metal and a research facility in it…”

She could n’t use magical power, but her temperament her as a priest might have read the traces of the soul left in this tomb.

It was a system that was possible because it was Quon, who had a divine affinity high enough to qualify as a saint, but thanks to that, Cleon was able to escape.

“Did you not know who the owner of the dream was?”

“Um, I think it’s probably the ‘Sun King’ who is the owner of this tomb. It was certain that it was the king, and since he was talking about ‘disaster’, it’s probably certain. During his lifetime, he built a research facility that could counter disasters in his tomb. I think it moved.”

Cleon nodded at Quon’s words and looked at the scrap metal from Soul Eater Metal with disgust.

If you look closely, you can see that it is shaped like a part of armor that humans can wear.

“…Then, is this a result of that relationship… Or a waste of failure?”

Fortunately, there was no longer any trace of the soul in this place.

“…But it’s fortunate. It’s not just a trail of rubble. If it’s a place where the waste is collected, there must be a way out.”

At Cleon’s words, ‘I see!’ Quon nodded and looked around. She was blocked off on all sides, but in the middle of one wall she saw something like a huge entrance.

“Probably. I think they were disposing of these scraps by pushing them down from there. The upper ceiling collapsed and we fell down.”

“Wow – that’s pretty high… 7m… No, maybe 9m…”

Cleon nodded at Quon’s measurement.

After measuring the distance at which he could run, Cleon quietly opened his mouth after looking alternately at the target entrance.

“It’s not a distance that I can jump up to.”

“…Then, how do I go up? I don’t even have a rope…”

After looking at Quon for a while, Cleon goes closer to the wall and pulls out Galatea and Caliburn.

Then, holding the two swords in reverse—he stabbed them straight into the wall.

Kwajik! The wall made of iron plate was pierced with a sound, and it was confirmed that the two swords were inserted without any problems.

“…Okay. If it’s this…”

“Is there something, a way?”

Cleon nodded at Quon’s words and crouched down in her seat with his back to her.

“…?”

Quon had no choice but to question his actions his, but Cleon spoke up.

“Get up. Quon. You’re going to climb the wall.”

“…Yes?”

Did you hear me wrong? Thinking the same thing, he unconsciously asked himself that question, but Cleon continued.

“I think I can climb it somehow if I alternately drive Galatea and Caliburn with the tips of rock climbing.”

“No, it’s impossible, Cleon! It’s okay if I’m alone, but… Carrying me on my back…”

Quon himself, perhaps aware of his own complex his, his weight his, tried to stop Cleon from talking recklessly.

“What, are you shy? Certainly, the last time I was carried, I was a bit shorter…”

“It’s not like that…”

Unsure of what to do with Cleon’s words, Quon worked hard to see if there was another way to do it, but soon he lowered his head.

“Sorry…If only I had trained more.”

“Don’t talk like that. Quon is working hard enough. Leave the use of your body to me.”

Seeing Cleon’s kindness his, Quon, who was wondering if it was okay to act a bit childish, quietly approached Cleon’s back his and put his body his on his back his.

Naturally, her soft breasts her clung to Cleon’s back her.

Calming her mind by singing the only hymn he knew from the previous Esca, Cleon raises her body her.

Fortunately, she didn’t feel that heavy.

“When you start climbing the wall, you have to keep your arms tight because I can’t support you with my hands, okay?”

“Well, if you end up strangling Cleon…”

“Do not worry.”

Saying that, Cleon, who reassured her kuon, took a deep breath, put one foot on her wall, and drove her galatea.

002

Berastol said ‘Pat’ and opened his eyes and got up.

Apparently, after being freed from the mist monster, it seemed that Cleon lost her mind at the same time as she let go of herself.

‘Such insolence… That guy and Quon…’

Verastol looked around, but as he last remembered, the two were nowhere to be seen.

`Did he fall underground? As it is, I can bury Quon, so it doesn’t matter – the problem is Cleon.’

What kind of reaction will she have on the day that even one of her family members her, ‘Cleon’ and ‘Lesia’, dies?

She didn’t want to imagine it as Vera Stoll.

As for Cleon, even though she was the second one her, even if he died, he had to find her corpse her and return her.

So that-

“Oh, it’s awake. Crusader.”

Then, she hears a voice calling her and Vera Stoll turns her head.

There stood a girl with healthy brown skin and indigo hair—a girl who looked like Quon, about 17 years old, holding a staff in her hand.

Vera Stall could tell at once that she was ‘Me Jed’, but she frowned.

The problem was her clothes that were too revealing.

It was because the clothes made of what appeared to be black fabric covered only her private parts her and the top of her chest her.

In addition, her moderately fleshy body, huge breasts, and fabric dug into her hips accentuate that area.

The white robe that covered her entire body until now had taken off her hood her and was wrapped around her like a mantle.

Seen from the front, she was no different from a prostitute.

“What, what. Why are you looking at me like that…”

“What’s with that crazy outfit…”

“Uh, crazy outfit!? It’s definitely Mejai’s battle outfit!”

Respect for the cultures of other lands is the teaching of the Church, but Vera Stoll, whose head ached, raised her hand between her brows and shook her head, feeling that there was a degree to it.

“No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem to have any defense.”

“There is armor for decoration, but that kind of armor gets in the way when fighting in a sandy area. Lighten your body with a cane and minimal armor. Men fight wearing a single piece of undergarment.”

“Maybe Mejai was not a guard, but a group of exhibitionists… “

Vera Stoll is dumbfounded, and after answering her words like that, she gets up.

“Ah, it’s not a guard or an exposed group, it’s a ‘Guardian’…”

“What kind of wind blew and took off your white rags?”

To Vera Stoll’s question, Medjed nodded and answered after stamping the ground with her staff her.

“Until a while ago, I was Mejai as a `guide’. But from now on, I will stand by you as Mejai as a `Guardian’.”

“… I guess he changed his mindset and changed his outfit too.”

“Well, that’s how it feels.”

“…That’s nice. To be able to change yourself that way by changing clothes. I’m envious of its simplicity.”

When Vera Stoll muttered that, Mehjed heard her and blinked her eyes two or three times.

“Is that… A compliment?”

“Well. So. What are we going to do now? Should we jump down the hole after Cleon and Quon, who have fallen underground?”

When Vera Stoll, whose teleportation ability was sealed because she couldn’t use her magical power her, said that, Medjed shook her head.

“No. That’s too reckless. Perhaps the two of them fell to the ‘waste disposal room’ in this tomb. With that in mind, it would be better to move to a place where you can join them when you escape from there.”

“Where is it?”

When Vera Stoll asked that question, Medjed answered by pointing her finger her right under her feet.

“This is a research facility inside the tomb.

Machine Guardian… It was a place where forbidden technology was researched.

The thought of stepping foot in such a place makes Verastol upset a little, but he continues talking while acting calmly.

“…Is Galatine there too?”

“No. Galatine is enshrined in the deepest part of the king’s tomb – the king’s coffin and altar. It’s better to think of it as meeting the two of them.”

At the girl’s words, Vera Stoll nodded.

And the first thing that came to mind was Cleon’s face her.

That guy, he has been worrying as if he were a real co-worker even after he saved himself.

She must have known that she hated him.

“… What is the reason. What is the purpose. Cleon…”

Verastol said that in a voice only he could hear, then he looked at Mejed.

“Then guide me. I want to complete my mission as soon as possible and get out of this cursed place.”

“Uh, wow… First of all, it’s the legacy of our ancestors, and it’s a tomb… As expected, the priests of the Gentiles are scary…”

Medjed speaks quietly again.

Vera Stoll decided not to ask her again the content of that quiet voice.