Ch.123The First Emperor’s Tomb (4)

# Ella’s Spectacular Performance

Ella, who had performed spectacularly, simply stood in front of the door without entering.

“Ella?”

When Ruide asked with confusion, Ella bowed her head with an awkward smile.

“My duty was only to open the door. I can’t go any further.”

‘Victoria also promised to only go as far as the door…’

But he didn’t expect her to say it herself. He knew better than anyone how tremendous Ella’s desire for experimentation was.

Surely exploring this mysterious ruin would be something Ella would find hard to resist.

Anyway, Ruide nodded.

“Miho.”

“Kyaeng!”

“Escort Ella back. Then return to Hersy’s side.”

Miho moved her short legs and jumped onto Ella’s shoulder.

The area was covered with Windsor knights, so there shouldn’t be any monster seeds left. But you never know what might happen.

“Be careful on your way back.”

“Yes, sir!”

Ella gave a precise salute.

‘…Like a knight.’

Then she turned around and walked away without hesitation.

“Now I understand why she was bragging so much.”

Victoria softly murmured as she watched Ella’s retreating figure.

“She knows her boundaries and acts accordingly. It seems easy, but it’s actually very difficult. She’s a smart child. Above all, her thinking ability is truly exceptional.”

“Right? Ella is amazing.”

Ruide was happy that Victoria recognized her worth.

Victoria smiled warmly.

“Yes, that child would be quite helpful if she came to the North. Our family is, after all, lacking in intelligent children.”

Ruide pointed to himself.

“I’m here, aren’t I? I’m smarter than Ella.”

Victoria gently smiled as she grabbed Ruide under his armpits and lifted him up.

“Of course. Our son is the smartest in the world.”

She carefully held him and began walking.

From the elevated view, the “First Emperor’s Tomb” was visible at a glance.

Red flags symbolizing the empire and silver flags symbolizing the imperial family were crossed and placed between the wide corridors.

It was so well preserved that it was hard to believe it was a ruin created a thousand years ago.

Ruide continued walking in Victoria’s arms. The scale was so large that if he had walked on his own, he would have gotten tired and needed a nap before long.

However.

“…Or not.”

“This feels familiar.”

Ruide got down from Victoria.

He took out a short wooden stick from his pocket.

A wooden stick too simple to be called a staff.

Ruide pointed it straight ahead.

“Show me everything you’re hiding.”

Whoosh-!

A blue light slowly extended from the tip of Ruide’s staff.

The blue light lingered in the air, briefly illuminating the surroundings.

As the light faded, a change occurred.

The width of the enormous corridor, which seemed endless, expanded on both sides.

However, its length suddenly shrank to about the size of a single room.

“This is…”

A throne appeared at the end of the red carpet.

The throne was far from luxurious.

A skeleton sat on that simple throne, resting its chin on its hand.

‘Ugh.’

Staring at those empty eye sockets gave him the feeling that his soul might be stolen.

“Are you alright?”

Victoria asked with concern. Ruide nodded.

“Yes.”

“That… seems to be the remains of the First Emperor.”

“It looks that way.”

‘I never expected the tomb of the first emperor to be this simple.’

He spread his mana widely, but this was all there was. There were no hidden rooms.

Ruide was a bit disappointed. He had expected an exciting adventure waiting for him. Or perhaps some amazing treasure. After all, the more money, the better.

Still, he thought it was too early to be disappointed. Since he was here, he might as well check everything.

“May I take a look?”

“Do as you wish, Rui. I don’t plan to inform the imperial family about this anyway.”

“You don’t?”

Victoria’s eyes calmly settled.

“Windsor’s duty is to protect this land and its people. Nothing else matters. Remember that, Rui.”

In other words, she wouldn’t cause unnecessary commotion.

“Okay.”

Ruide slowly walked toward the skeleton.

Next to the skeleton was a table with a book and a blue heart on it.

-Thump, thump.

And that heart was still beating.

‘What kind of artifact is this? I can’t tell just by looking at it.’

He decided to read the book first.

Victoria also watched the contents of the book from beside him.

She frowned.

“Hmm… this is a language I don’t know. Can you read it, Rui?”

Looking at the book, Ruide nodded indifferently.

“Yes.”

He couldn’t help but recognize it.

Actually, he had thought ‘maybe it would be like this’ from the beginning.

Because it was written in Korean.

Ruide kept his mouth shut and quickly read the book.

The content was long. It was a diary. A diary where the First Emperor had written down memorable days.

No, it was a novel about a possessed person becoming an emperor, establishing an empire, and ruling it.

That’s right.

The reason why the ideology of ‘democracy’ was strangely dormant here and there in the Prime Empire was all because of this.

Because the absolute ruler who founded the empire was a possessed person from 21st century Korea.

“What does it say?”

“It says ‘Tell me the answers to the test.'”

“…It seemed quite lengthy.”

“Well, I can’t read anything else.”

Ruide lied without even wetting his lips.

Victoria immediately realized that Ruide was lying.

However, she smiled warmly and stroked his head.

“Tell me someday.”

Ruide slightly bowed his head and answered in a small voice.

“…Okay.”

Ruide shook his head to shake off the gloom and closed the book. He threw it into his subspace and went in front of the emperor.

In fact, there was no phrase like ‘Tell me the answers to the test’ in the diary.

He had just read the magic formula inscribed in this space, like Ella did.

Ruide looked straight at the emperor and said:

“First test. A procedure to confirm imperial lineage. Because you didn’t want anyone but your descendants to discover your tomb.”

Since Ella had already solved everything, he didn’t feel any difficulty.

“Second test. A procedure to confirm wisdom. What you want is a wise descendant, not a foolish one.”

The second test was surprisingly difficult. Rather than the question itself being difficult, the knight statue itself was the test.

As far as Ruide could guess, that knight statue wasn’t strong. However, if you carelessly destroyed it, you couldn’t enter this tomb.

It was a test of wisdom, to see if one could detect hostility or other intentions.

“Third test. A procedure to see if one has the ability to penetrate strong illusions.”

Ruide continued:

“Fourth test. The intention to confirm exceptional intuition by making one find the answer without giving any clues.”

‘How malicious. If it weren’t for me who can use the 5th Magic, or a genius like Ella, passing all these tests would be impossible.’

Lucius certainly couldn’t do it, and even Damon couldn’t pass the third test.

At that moment, the emperor’s head lifted.

“Rui.”

Victoria, sensing something unusual, pulled Ruide back.

Powerful mana could be felt from the blue heart.

The skeleton, having absorbed the mana, rattled.

And then—

The emperor’s body began to fill in.

“It’s black magic. Rui. Prepare yourself.”

Victoria said sharply as she half-drew her sword.

Ruide held Victoria’s hand while keeping his gaze fixed on the emperor.

“No. This is.”

The emperor, whose body had filled in, was so robust that it was hard to believe he had been a skeleton just moments ago.

He appeared as a young man.

Victoria probably misunderstood it as black magic because it showed a flow that defied nature, but this wasn’t black magic.

Ruide twitched his eyebrows.

‘The 5th Magic.’

Among them, it was magic related to ‘space’.

As far as Ruide knew, the only magician in human history who had even come close to the 5th Magic was ‘Dellin’.

So this was the magic of ‘Dellin’, the greatest magician in history and the most important figure in the world Ruide had possessed.

“This is an illusion.”

As soon as Ruide finished speaking, the emperor said:

“Welcome, my descendants.”

**

“Thank you, Miss Fox!”

Ella crouched down and stroked the fox.

Purring, Miho enjoyed it.

‘Being petted by humans always feels good. Why did I only realize this now?’

In fact, Miho was a somewhat arrogant spirit.

Being one of only three Great Spirits that maintain the balance of the world, it couldn’t be helped.

Until now, she had rejected anyone’s touch.

But in this current amusement, she really enjoyed being petted.

It was the influence of her master, Ruide.

Miho, connected to Ruide, could read emotions to some extent, and whenever she received such affection, her master’s mood was always good.

“Ugh, I’m sweating from the tension. …Why do I sweat even in this cold?”

Ella sighed and said to Miho with a bright expression.

“Ruide doesn’t like it when I don’t shower, so I’ll go take one now. You’re going to Hersy, right?”

Miho silently turned her back.

‘Hmph, human. I’ve gotten what I wanted, so I don’t need you anymore.’

Miho ran across the vast snowy field.

The cold wind blew, but the arctic fox’s double coat deflected it all.

Rather, the wind that gently entered deep into her fur felt pleasant.

Perhaps because of the arctic fox’s body, this climate was to Miho’s liking.

She quickly traversed the snow and stopped somewhere.

She shook her body left and right to remove the snow that had accumulated on her.

Miho stuck out her tongue and panted. She calmly stared at something.

This was the First Emperor’s tomb from earlier.

At the entrance of the stairs, she could see a woman with a grin from ear to ear, doing something.

Sophia Queensberry, a first-year student in the magic department of the Imperial Academy.

She noticed Miho’s presence and looked at her.

“Oh, oh? Hello… fox.”

She seemed a bit flustered but asked in a timid voice.

Miho slowly approached her.

Sophia smiled roundly and tried to pet Miho.

But-

“!”

Sophia’s eyes widened as she stepped back. A black barrier of mana, symbolizing black magicians, was raised.

Miho’s paw tore through the barrier like paper. As it became blurry, Miho’s body gradually grew larger.

Miho, who had been small enough to be held in Ruide’s arms, grew so large that it was hard to take in at a glance.

She had nine tails, and the gravity became so strong that it was hard to breathe.

Crunch-

The high piles of snow around all sank at once.

Miho looked down at the trembling Sophia and said coldly:

[Foolish human.]

Miho was a spirit.

Spirits never forget what they’ve seen once.

That’s why she could tell.

That the soul of Sophia in front of her had changed, and what was inside was an evil human.

[What are you plotting on my master’s land?]

“Ugh… so I’ve been caught.”

Lilith no longer showed the timid behavior from before.

She scratched her head as if it was a bother.

“My goodness, using a Great Spirit as a familiar. …As expected, Ruide is amazing. Ah, I wish he would tame me like this in bed too.”

Miho’s face contorted.

[You… how dare a mere human!]

Miho showed great displeasure and raised her front paw toward Sophia.

Lilith’s face was shadowed by Miho’s enormous paw. She smiled brightly and waved her hand.

“Well, goodbye. We’ll be comrades later, so don’t make such a bad impression…”

Crunch!

Miho mercilessly crushed Sophia.

Her white paw was stained with blood, but Miho was still angry.

[She escaped.]

She decided not to chase.

Destroying the soul would be simple, but doing so would use too much of her master’s mana.

She didn’t want to be caught. She wanted to remain a pure fox in front of her master.

But—

[…I’ve remembered your soul.]

If she disturbed her again, she would eliminate her then.