Chapter 550 – Clans and Records

000

Taking Amelia who woke up from a sound sleep that made her slightly heavy body feel refreshed, Cleon headed to Aaron’s tent.

Although Cleon himself had kept his mouth shut and did not inform Amelia that his physical condition was abnormal, Amelia could tell from the atmosphere that Cleon hadn’t slept at all.

However, she herself thought that it would be disrespectful to divulge what Cleon was trying to hide, so rather than asking him for details, she thought of helping him more diligently.

When I opened the curtain that covered the entrance to the tent and went inside, Aaron, who was drinking tea while leafing through papers on the desk for work, looked up at Cleon and Amelia and smiled slightly.

“You’re welcome, Lord Cleon.”

As soon as she saw her, the nakedness she had seen in her cave momentarily passed Cleon’s head her, but Cleon tried to forget such a scene by quickly shaking her head.

Her hair her was tied up, but unlike her her daytime her, when she saw her wearing short sleeves and a material that clung to her body her a little, Amelia turned her head as if she was starting to get confused about Aaron’s gender is her. She laughed at

“I won’t talk too much about it. The fact that the entrance to the dungeon is only open on nights when the moon rises means that you can’t come out when the sun rises after you’re inside.”

“Okay!?”

When Amelia raises her voice in surprise at the words of Aaron, who casually and calmly tells the dangerous truth, Cleon also says, ‘Is that so?’ Had the same expression.

Aaron laughed at Amelia’s reaction, got up from her seat, poured tea into a cup, and held it out in front of Amelia and Cleon.

From the hot steam rising from the tea, there was a slight bitter aroma coming up, and it was an oriental tea that both Amelia and Cleon liked.

When I slowly moved the liquid into my mouth and drank it, a warm energy was transmitted to the inside, and it seemed that my heart and breathing calmed down a little.

Of course, in the case of Cleon, after drinking that tea, the effect is only for a short time.

Soon, though, my heart started beating fast.

Aaron, too, enjoys the scent of the tea, takes a sip, takes a small sip, and exhales the warm energy accumulated in his mouth.

Then, with both hands clasped, put them on the desk and start talking quietly.

“First, this.”

She took out a black orb from a small jewelry box on the desk.

It had complex patterns engraved on its surface, and what material it was made of was unknown from the outside.

Stone or metal.

Either way, it must have been a very old item, so if Cleon looked closely at it.

Aaron gets up from her seat, approaches Cleon, and places a black orb in her hand as her if holding it.

An ordinary cold and slightly heavy marble that does not feel magical power.

“This?’

“It is a kind of… Key. They say that only some humans can use it.

When the word Lecia came out of her mouth, Cleon looked a little surprised.

“Why is that?”

“No… It was 30 years ago that Lesia came here? Were you the commander of this place back then? I couldn’t believe you were that old…”

At Cleon’s words, Aaron blinked for a moment and burst into laughter with ‘Ahaha!’

“No. That’s just what I was told. From the previous owner of the key- my father.”

“Father…? Was Aaron’s father also the commander of this place?”

At that, she smiled and went back to her seat.

“We’ll do it in order. Then… I’ll have to tell you about the ‘ghost’ that Prince Cleon saw.”

“A ghost? Did Cleon see a ghost?”

It happened after Amelia had already fallen asleep, so she looked back at Cleon as if surprised to hear what she hadn’t known, but Cleon quietly nodded her head.

“You said you heard that your subordinates asked you to solve the ghost situation. Did you say that it’s been about a month…?”

“Yes. At first, I thought that some of my subordinates were secretly drinking alcohol and seeing nonsense. However, if the same thing happened over and over and most of my subordinates went through the same thing, I had no choice but to believe it So, in my own way, things like I gathered information while investigating the area around the dungeon.”

She says she has looked through various historical events in the canyon, one by one, but nothing has come of it.

Besides, since there was no record of people living in such a barren land, only time passed without any clue as to where the ghost appeared.

A ghost appeared in front of her too.

“Wait, then… Have you seen her too? …It seems that both men and women appear.”

“That’s right. I am the only woman in this base, but it would be correct to assume that she is… Or, was she, like Prince Cleon, confused whether I was male or female?”

Aaron covered his mouth as if he was joking and smiling.

At those words, Cleon scratched the back of her head with a slightly troubled expression.

And Aaron, to such Cleon, he told her situation when he saw her.

As always, after writing the night’s report, she was about to go to bed herself.

Just before closing her eyes, she thought something was watching her and turned her head away.

Her translucent ‘her’ she stood still and expressionless, looking at herself.

The moment her eyes met her, the pounding in her heart her like never before, and the urge to follow her, driven down by her instincts her, filled her body her.

That’s all I remember.

When she came back to her senses her, it seemed to her that she was standing in the middle of the canyon, blankly.

The day she returned to her base her, supported by her men who had come to find her disappearance her, is said to be as embarrassing as her her childhood her, when she peed on the blanket for the first time in her life.

Both Cleon and Amelia look troubled at her self-deprecating analogy of her, but Aaron smiles bitterly at her.

“Oh, she was joking around a bit of her own. Anyway. What she felt seeing her in person was the certainty that she was not a ‘ghost’.”

“I’m sure she it’s not a ghost. Is that…”

Cleon nods her head as if he knows what she means.

“Yes. Originally, the soul of a life that died in this world is absorbed into the spirit vein and wanders in the spirit vein until a new life is gained. It’s like going back to my mother or my hometown, I don’t know because I’ve never died.”

“…However, souls that do not return to the spirit vein can remain in this world. If they gain a body, they become ‘dead’. In other words, they become ‘undead’. Or, without a body, only the soul can adapt to powerful magic or something.”

When Cleon says so, Aaron replies yes and continues the story.

“But… In order for the soul not to return to the spirit vein, it takes a strong will. Hatred for this world or for someone. Or, an obsession that you can’t leave someone you love. Without those things, it’s hard.”

Cleon closes her eyes for a moment at her words, and she recalls in her head the vision of Nemea, who was watching her earlier.

She did nothing, she only looked at herself.

No- I didn’t feel anything. It would be correct to say

She, from her, no obsession, no hatred, no anger.

It was just that she was reflected in her eyes like a mirror image of her, nothing was transmitted.

“If Prince Cleon had seen her, he would have felt her. That she is by no means a ‘ghost’.”

“Ah. Besides, I can guess from her appearance.”

The secrets of this world and the existence of the ‘Throne’ and ‘Throne Lord’ that cannot be reached without digging into the deepest part of history.

When Cleon says that, Aaron shuts her mouth for a moment before she speaks carefully.

“…Nemea, are you?”

“!”

Cleon looked at her, surprised that her name her came out of her mouth her.

‘As expected…’ She continued her explanation towards Cleon.

“Why am I guarding the base that guards this dungeon and canyon? I think I need to explain the reason.”

“Isn’t it because you’re an Eastern country commander… And you’ve been ordered to guard this place?”

At Cleon’s question, she shook her head from side to side.

“Of course there is that too – but in reverse order.”

“Order…?”

“Yes. This canyon was guarded after the previous war against the Empire. Until then, only eccentric adventurers came to this remote dungeon… I lost my life inside. The only person who was able to come back alive in this dungeon was ‘ Hero Lesia’.”

Being the first to conquer a dungeon that has not been conquered by anyone is a great honor for an adventurer and an opportunity to make a name for itself.

In the outskirts, the conditions of the unknown are gathered, so if you noticed the existence of the dungeon, you must have been anxious to find it.

However, considering the importance of the information in it, I did not think that the difficulty level of the dungeon would be low even with empty words.

That’s probably why, except for Lesia, no one was able to capture it.

While thinking about her, Cleon asked her a question.

“Then… Was it neglected until then?”

“No. From a very long time ago, there was a family that built a small house next to this canyon and guarded the entrance to this canyon. My father. And that father. From generation to generation. Of course, to keep people from entering the dungeon inside. But… It is said that impatient adventurers forced us into the canyon by threatening our clan.”

It wasn’t a pleasant story to hear, so both Cleon and Amelia naturally frowned, but Aaron thought about something for a while and continued.

“In the war… One of the biggest reasons the Empire invaded the East was to explore the dungeon inside the gorge. After finding out about that, a military base was built here. Just in case something happened. Just in case something happens My father was a soldier here at the time, but I have continued to train after becoming a soldier in my father’s footsteps. I have become a commander here.”

“…I’m glad the imperials didn’t come all the way here.”

At Cleon’s words, Aaron nodded his head. If it had been, perhaps her father would not have been spared either.

“But, why did your people protect this canyon? Does knowing the name Nemea have something to do with it?”

“My clan… In a country ruled by a king called the ‘Sun King’ in the past, we had a different faith than the rest of the people. We believed in a god called ‘Nemea’, the mother of life and stars. However, because of that, we continued to It is said that they ran away from that country in order to escape the persecution they received.”

At the word Sun King she put in her mouth her, Cleon flinched.

Because Cleon knew well where that country was.

What naturally comes to mind is a ‘desert’ that sucks in everything and a huge tomb.

And there were many things I saw in it.

“And our clan, in order to pass on their beliefs to posterity, created a repository to store all the records they had. But–what went wrong, many people were killed by the monsters that popped out as the place became a ‘dungeon ‘.And lost…”

“After that… I guess he stayed here and guarded the entrance so that others wouldn’t do the same thing again.”

When Cleon lightly organizes her words, she nods her head as well.

“That’s right. Considering that it’s not a ghost, and that those possessed are advancing toward the ‘dungeon’. I can’t help but think that the woman’s true identity is ‘Nemea.’ We could tell, but… We don’t know why such visions started appearing about a month ago.”

Of course, neither Cleon nor Amelia had an answer for that, so they couldn’t come up with a good answer.

A month ago… Cleon thought for a while about what might have happened that Nemea would react to.

Suddenly, if the timing was right, she herself cut off the reincarnation factor in Mercury’s laboratory.

When she realized that it was similar to that period, she couldn’t help but feel an unbelievable sentiment.

“I think it is. It is not an ordinary thing that this world and the ‘Throne Lord’, who maintains the existence of the stars, have begun to appear, albeit as a phantom.”

Aaron said that she was a little nervous, but she continued her words as if she was careful not to show that to Cleon.

“And this kind of information, because I can’t tell the general soldiers.”

“Ah…”

Something about the throne – or something about Nemea.

Knowledge that penetrates too deep can sometimes be poisonous.

“That judgment must be correct.”

Cleon nodded his head in agreement.

Aaron got up from his seat as if his heart was a little lighter at Cleon’s agreement.

“The black orb I gave you earlier is an item that can be used by a fit person to view the records hidden in the dungeon.”

Then, this orb must be a kind of magic tool.

When Cleon nodded and returned the sphere to his pocket her, Aaron, who got up, came towards him and held out his hand to Cleon.

When Cleon realized that it was a request for a handshake and held it together, Aaron spoke in a slightly embarrassed manner.

“This is the amount of information I can give to you all. Things related to ‘Nemea’… I was expecting that Lord Cleon might know something. As expected.”

“…That’s not the case. I was also not sure, but I was expecting it… But thanks to you, I was able to get it. Thank you for the key.”

“Nothing special. Please, I hope you can get the information you want.”

While giving thanks to Aaron, Claron spoke to Amelia, who was quietly listening to her.

“Let’s get going, Leah. As she said, if you don’t come out before sunrise, she’ll have to sleep inside.”

“Ah yes…!”

At Cleon’s call, Amelia gets up from her seat.

And as the two of them were about to leave the tent, Cleon turned her head towards Aaron as if he had suddenly remembered something and opened her mouth her.

“Since I’m in, I’ll try to find a way to solve the ghost situation.”

“Really? …If you do that, I’d appreciate it too…!”

After hearing Cleon’s words, Aaron bowed down and asked him.

“…Then, please, Lord Cleon. If I can give you anything in return…”

“Huh? I’m doing anything right now-“

When Schrödinger, who has been quiet, gets out of his habit and tries to poke his face out of his pocket, Cleon puts it in.

“…Buy me a drink or something.”

While Cleon said that, he went out of the tent with a slight smile.

Aaron muttered as he quietly looked at her from behind.

“I can really do anything…”

Is it because Cleon has a hard time seeing himself as a ‘woman’?

If that’s the case, if she herself works a little harder, it won’t work.

As the commander of this base, and also as a woman.

Thinking of that, Aaron hoped that they would return safely, and she prayed to the god she believed in.