episode_0166
by fnovelpiaSomewhere in the permafrost zone of Isenggar.
An unexplored territory that has remained undiscovered for hundreds of years.
However, when you arrive near the kingdom with all the treasures in your possession, it will emit light to indicate your location, and only allow entry to the chosen ones.
A snow storm that suddenly stops as if it had never happened once you pass the mirage-like area.
It was a beautiful kingdom that seemed to come out of a fairy tale. It was a winter kingdom buried in history along with snow, and it was the home of Assis.
The party arrived in the Kingdom of Prysian.
The two walked around the streets and looked around the kingdom. It was as if time had stopped, and the houses and objects were frozen, just as they were in the past.
“I’ve been to many cities, but this is the first time I’ve been to a place like this.”
The scenery was peaceful and beautiful beyond comparison to any other city, but there was an eerie atmosphere that was difficult to describe.
That was why there was no sign of people anywhere in this great city. Where people should have been, there were only blunt pillars of ice.
Although they differed in size and details, their overall shape was similar.
Assis, who was constantly moving his head to look at the city, had a look of confusion and bewilderment in his eyes, though it was not clearly visible.
“Nobody, there is none.”
“Because too much time has passed.”
As hundreds of years pass, it gradually wears out.
Both body and soul.
Even if it’s frozen.
Unless you receive special treatment like AS.
“Do you remember anything?”
Assis shook his head.
“Let’s go into more detail.”
The two went further inside.
We walked through the city streets and entered the palace.
The first one to welcome them was the garden.
The garden was also frozen.
Assis did not just pass by. He turned around and walked around the garden as if possessed.
A garden filled with various flowers.
Assis walked around the garden, examining each flower.
“Does anything come to mind?”
I don’t know.
As always, two conflicting feelings, unfamiliar yet familiar, that should not exist, seeped into the flower.
The ice flowers are exactly like the roses that Assis once froze. They are beautiful to look at, but they have no scent or life. The moment you pick them up, the stems become limp and crumble.
The petals that fell to the ground shattered into pieces with a loud noise. All that remained in my hand was an empty feeling.
I went into the castle.
Cool hallway.
Ice chandelier.
Ice decoration.
A lump of ice of unknown meaning.
And a block of ice.
Another chunk of ice.
When you open the frozen knight’s helmet, there is a lump of ice inside.
Assis flinches his hand.
It takes my breath away when I look at it.
My walking speeds up for no reason.
As if trying to pass by as quickly as possible.
I looked around each and every room.
While there were rooms decorated in a cute and cuddly manner, there were also rooms with a thick, musty smell that had not disappeared over hundreds of years.
And which room.
It was a more luxurious room than the other rooms.
Assis stopped in front of the picture frames.
It was a family picture.
A couple sitting side by side.
A little baby between them.
The couple are smiling brightly, but the baby has a blank expression.
The picture next to it.
The baby has grown up.
She took a picture sitting on the sofa with a woman who looked exactly like her.
The baby is still expressionless.
Next to it.
The baby grew into a full-fledged woman.
She still has a blank expression.
“The princess, king, and queen of the Kingdom of Frisian, I see. This must be the princess’s room.”
This was Snow White’s room.
“Do you remember anything?”
“… … .”
To Assis, memory was merely a vague existence, an illusion floating in a distance that was out of reach.
It was not visible as if it was foggy.
Memories that scatter and disappear like a dream when you try to reach out.
The voice that seemed like it was about to come to mind never came to mind.
But now.
Fantasy began to take shape.
It was as if something that had been hidden for a long time was reaching out to her. When she took that hand, forgotten memories came floating to the surface bit by bit.
What is forgotten is not gone.
The memory was still inside her, just waiting for its time.
A time when even if you reveal yourself, the curse will not disappear.
Assis, who was staring at the painting without any rest.
“… … Yeah.”
He opened his trembling lips and muttered faintly.
I remember.
Without missing a single one.
A soft smiling face, warm hands,
And a gentle voice lingering in my ears.
And, all the tragedies that happened in the kingdom.
The moment he realized that, Assis ran out of the room.
“Haa, haa… .”
For some reason my breathing became rapid.
It wasn’t like I was moving violently.
It was a joke that made me think of the ‘ice chunks’ that were everywhere in the kingdom.
The place where Assis arrived was the Great Hall, the last place in his memory.
The hall was a particularly chaotic mess.
The ceiling was shattered, as if it had been bombed.
The items were in pieces and it was hard to find anything intact.
Among them, Assis stopped in front of two ice blocks. It looked like it was curled up with its arms outstretched as if it was wrapping itself around something.
There were sharp ice peaks on its head that looked like horns, so at first glance it looked like a crown.
Assis knew them.
Even though the shapes were so blurred that they were indistinguishable.
The ice cubes were the king and queen that the stepmother had taken from Snow White.
***
The princess’s room decorated with snow and ice.
Assis, the owner of the room, sat on the bed and hugged his knees. He must have been quite shocked, as his eyes lingered in space and he didn’t move at all.
It had to be that way.
Frozen people.
The passage of time has destroyed my body and soul.
They were no longer frozen people. They were just insignificant lumps of ice. The king and queen were no different.
What came with the reunion was an eternal separation.
It was a harsh reality that would not be strange for him to sit down and cry, but Assis was only slightly shocked.
Asies, who had just begun to learn emotions, was not yet able to accept intense emotions.
In some ways, you could say it’s fortunate.
I decided to leave so that Assis could be alone. I thought he would be confused by the memories and emotions that had flooded in, and that he would need time to sort things out.
There’s nothing to do.
While waiting, I walked around the inside of the palace.
It was not a walk without purpose.
In a castle of a kingdom, there are bound to be priceless treasures. Perhaps there are treasures similar to, or even better than, the Lazurite or the Holy Grail?
‘This is not theft.’
As the sole survivor and sole royal of the Kingdom of Prysian, Asies is my slave, and I am her master. Naturally, the things of the Kingdom can be said to be mine.
I’m just looking around my stuff.
This will soon lead to Assis’ investment.
‘I wonder what’s going on.’
First of all, the library.
The value of modern libraries and libraries of this era are on a different level.
A rare book of magic or a history book.
If you find just one thing, it’s a jackpot.
As expected of a royal library, the bookshelves were filled with countless books. I couldn’t help but laugh, but unfortunately it didn’t last long.
‘The books are all frozen?’
Every single sheet was frozen.
When I tried to open the book, it broke with a crash.
If it goes on like this, there’s no point in melting it.
Because the moment you melt it, water will seep in and the ink will spread.
All the books here are trash.
“Ugh.”
I threw the book carelessly.
A book that breaks into pieces rather than breaking into pieces.
I left the library, my mouth watering.
It’s okay.
Because the really expensive ones are separate.
I purchased the item.
[Dungeon Map]
This is a dungeon map.
500 point piece.
This is the map I used when exploring dungeons with Mirabelle.
You might wonder why there is a dungeon map in the castle, but the Kingdom of Frisian is strictly considered a dungeon.
It is a secret kingdom where no monsters appear, but you can only enter if you meet special conditions. It is the so-called hidden dungeon.
Items don’t lie.
The structure of the castle began to appear on the map.
If you click on the arrows on the map, you will be taken to another floor. There really is no such thing as a magic map.
The place I’m going to is, of course, the basement.
There’s no better place to store treasures than underground.
With the help of the map, I found a secret door leading underground.
I lit a torch and groped along the wall as I went down the narrow stairs to the basement.
Is this what it felt like for grave robbers who invaded the pyramids?
Thrills, anxiety, fun.
It’s very exciting.
El Dorado, full of countless treasures, is waiting for me!
“Huh?”
After going down for a while, a treasure trove appears.
But something was strange.
‘The door is broken?’
The huge arched door was shattered into pieces.
It’s been hundreds of years, so it wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed. But why was the door to the treasure vault broken while everything else was intact?
‘Crystal Serpentine?’
The snake that swallowed the treasure.
His previous role was as a watchman who protected the treasure vault from intruders.
Perhaps the door was broken while escaping with the dangerous Holy Grail as the kingdom fell? That seems like the most reasonable guess.
Well, thanks to that I was able to get in comfortably.
It’s hard enough to get through a locked door.
I entered the treasure house with refreshing steps.
As expected, it was filled with countless gold and silver treasures. The treasures were also unable to escape the influence of Skadia, as they were all frozen, but that was okay.
Because it’ll just melt.
It won’t be damaged like a book.
‘With so many of them, moving them would be a lot of work.’
However, I was reluctant to let outsiders in and let them run wild. I went deeper inside, thinking I would just grab a few expensive-looking items.
The more valuable an item is, the more likely it is to be kept hidden.
“AC. I came here thinking it would be fun, but it’s not fun at all. If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have come.”
At that moment, a sound was heard from inside.
The clear syllables did not belong to a monster.
‘Outsiders? No, were there any survivors?’
The voice was a child’s.
I don’t know the gender since it’s neutral, but I was sure of one thing.
That’s a very mischievous voice.
Above the treasures.
A small shape was flying around.
Human. But the large black wings on its back told me that it was no ordinary human.
A race classified as demons.
It was a demon tribe.
0 Comments