Chapter 106
The residence of Elder Alphondal was not far from the Royal Palace.
*Knock!* *Knock!*
Camille knocked on the manor’s door.
“Who is it?”
A young butler stuck his head out.
“The Young Lord of the Family is here to see Elder Alphondal.”
“Oh, the Young Lord!”
The butler bowed respectfully to Otto.
“Master Alphondal is currently working in the laboratory.”
“May we see him?”
“Of course.”
The butler led the group to Alphondal’s laboratory in the manor’s basement.
“Please go in.”
“Thank you… Ahh, it’s a ghost!”
Without thinking, Otto opened the door to the lab, stepped inside, and drew his sword in a panic.
The reason for Otto’s surprise was simple.
Some gaunt and bony figure had silently approached Otto as if sliding, and that figure was none other than Alphondal, one of the elders of the Kuntachi family.
“This is the Honorable Elder Alphondal.”
The butler calmed Otto with an awkward smile.
“Because of his advanced age, he is often perceived differently by those who meet him for the first time.”
“Yes…?”
“Well, I’ll leave you all to it.”
The butler left the room.
‘This is… Elder Alphondal?’
Otto turned to look at the gaunt, haggard old man standing before him.
He was skinny enough that it was questionable whether he could have weighed more than thirty kilograms, so it wouldn’t have been out of place to call him a desiccated corpse.
Additionally, his long hair was thinning so badly that it appeared to be barely attached to his scalp.
On top of that, his skin and lips were bluish from lack of blood, his eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils, which should have been black because of the severity of his cataracts, were instead white.
‘This is a corpse!’
Otto screamed inside, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.
After all, he’s an elder figure in the family….
‘Come to think of it, if my grandfather referred to him as an elder, he must be this old, right?’
Conrad too is an old man who has reached an advanced age.
However, considering that Conrad referred to Alphondal as such, it was only natural that his age was much greater than what Otto could have imagined.
“Are you the Young Lord?”
Alphondal asked Otto in a voice that bordered on gravelly.
He was so thin that there was little moisture in his vocal cords, and his voice would crack and crackle….
And his eyes were so badly clouded with cataracts that they had no focus.
He was probably already blind, for all Otto knew….
“Ah, yes. I’m Otto de Scuderia.”
“Don’t lie.”
“What?”
“If you’re Otto de Scuderia, I’ll take your life with my hands.”
“Well, what do you mean….”
“Hehehe.”
“……?”
“You even brought a big ghost behind you, huh?”
Alphondal tilted his head over Otto’s shoulder toward Kairos.
“Judging by the size of the spirit, you must have been someone formidable in your past life. Who are you?”
“Oh-Hoh.”
Kairos stepped forward with an amused smirk.
“Are you somehow able to discern me?”
“Just a glimpse into the essence of your soul.”
“I see we’ve come to the right place, Hahaha.”
“And there’s a virtuous soul next to him… What an interesting group.”
Surprisingly, Alphondal had a pretty good grasp on the nature of Otto’s inner circle.
‘No way?’
Otto was nervous.
It occurred to him that maybe Alphondal had figured out the secret of this world and his true identity.
* * * patreon.com/SchattenTranslations * * *
Alphondal had his butler serve tea to Otto and the others.
‘How can this be a person, it’s clearly a ghost!’
Otto was disoriented when he noticed that Alphondal isn’t walking, but is instead gliding around like a ghost.
“I… Do you happen to know how old you are this year?”
“One hundred and twenty-eight years old.”
“Eh?!”
“Hahaha. Are you surprised?”
“Honestly? yes, it is surprising.”
“I’ve been studying black magic and have found a way to extend my lifespan a bit.”
“Isn’t that great?”
“Well, I’m not so sure about that.”
“Why not? Living longer is a great thing.”
“It would be nice to stay young and vigorous for a long time, but what I’ve discovered is a way to slow down the body’s metabolism so that cell division is inhibited as much as possible.”
“….”
“Think of it as conserving energy. It’s not extending one’s lifespan, it’s just consuming it more slowly. Hence the skinny frame. Hahaha.”
With that, Alphondal settled down on a particularly fluffy-looking couch with a creaking sound of joints.
“I’m so skinny I can’t sit on anything but a padded chair like this. My hip bones are pressing down on my skin.”
“Well, I can see that, hahaha.”
“So, what brings you to me?”
Alphondal questioned Otto.
“Yes, old man. It is none other than….”
Otto pointed to Kairos.
“I’ve come to ask your advice on whether I can give flesh to the spirits that inhabit this armor.”
“Give bodies to the spirits, like the one that you’ve been carrying with you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m afraid it won’t be easy. The spirits in that armor have been wandering the mortal realm for so long that they can’t inhabit a human body right now.”
” Is there anything we can do?”
“Hmm.”
Alphondal thought for a moment, then answered.
“In order for wraiths who have been wandering this world for a long time to obtain human flesh… they must first be made into death knights.”
“A death knight, isn’t that an evil undead monster?”
“Usually they are… but if I create one myself, they won’t be so evil.”
“And then what?”
“After about three years as a Death Knight, the soul will gradually be purified and allow the body to change into a human body.”
“Oh!”
“The problem is, a proper Death Knight requires precious materials.”
‘Eh.’
Otto’s face took on an expression that implied, “I see”.
[Notification: The <Vessel for Souls> quest has occurred!]
The quest was as follows.
[Vessel for Souls]
Description: Obtain a vessel to turn Kairos’ men into Death Knights and bring it to Alphondal.
Progress : 0 / 1 (0%)
Reward: Creation of a Death Knight
Caution: If you don’t bring the ingredients to Alphondal within 3 months, he will die.
“To turn those wraiths into Death Knights, we need old armor, at least 300 years old.”
“An old armor….”
“The armor must also be made of a dark metal.”
“When you say dark metal… do you mean something like Obsidium?”
“You seem to know that, eh?”
[Obsidium] is also known as [meteorite iron], which was literally extracted from meteorites that fell from the sky and then was processed.
It has dark properties because it is imbued with the dark energy from outer space.
However, [Obsidium] was extremely difficult to obtain.
Moreover, does he need to bring in an antique that is more than 300 years old?
He doubted he could find it even if he searched nearly every antique shop, museum, or treasure trove on the continent.
“The problem is, as I’m sure you know, it’s not easy to find old armor made of Obsidium.”
“I know.”
“That’s why it’s so hard to make death knights out of wraiths who have been wandering the land of the living for so long.”
“Hmm.”
Otto thought for a moment.
‘Old armor made of Obsidium. At least three hundred years old. Is there such a piece of armor?’
Otto racked his brain, thinking of nearly every item he knew.
And then.
“Huh?”
A thought occurred to him.
“It seems… possible?”
“Eh?”
Alphondal tilted his head.
“You mean it’s possible to get such a hard-to-find ingredient?”
“It might be possible now…?”
“How?”
“Well, I could just ransack the tomb of the Great Emperor Argonne, hehehe.”
Otto smiled sinisterly.
* * * patreon.com/SchattenTranslations * * *
At the same time.
Julius.
No, the Great Emperor Argonne was attending to some business when he received a report from his brother and descendant, Gaius.
“I have found the Imperial Mausoleum.”
“What!”
Julius jumped to his feet.
The Imperial Mausoleum is a term of honor for the tomb of an emperor.
In this instance, the imperial mausoleum was referring to the tomb of none other than the Great Emperor Argonne.
“Is that really true?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Finally!”
Argon’s face lit up with anticipation.
It didn’t make sense that the Emperor wouldn’t know the location of his tomb, but there was a reason.
As soon as he had unified the continent, he had begun construction on the imperial mausoleum where he would be buried, and he was eventually buried there.
However, the problem was that 200 years later, a major earthquake struck the area where the mausoleum was located, causing a tectonic shift.
This meant that the terrain was completely changed, with the ground rising and falling, moving around, and diverging, making it impossible to determine the exact location of the imperial mausoleum.
So while Argonne the Great had a general idea of where his tomb was, he had no idea where it was exactly.
Furthermore, the tomb had been constructed underground from the beginning, so it could have been completely buried by this time.
But he didn’t waiver in his quest to find his tomb.
Why?
Because he knew that the tomb contained a treasure trove of immense proportions.
This is why for many years he employed archaeologists and explorers to locate the tomb.
“What did you hear? Is the Imperial Mausoleum safe and sound?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Although more than two-thirds of it was entirely destroyed, fortunately, about one-third of it appears to be intact, including the area where His Majesty’s remains reside.”
“Oh!”
“We have found the entrance to the imperial mausoleum, and now all we need to do is excavate it.”
“Excellent!”
The Great Emperor Argonne was overjoyed, but his face quickly changed and he turned to Gaius.
“What do you intend to do with the men who were involved in the investigation, and those who discovered my Imperial Mausoleum?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Once the excavation of the imperial mausoleum is more or less complete, I will quietly dispose of them. You needn’t worry about any secrets being leaked.”
“Well done. My descendant.”
“Is there any doubt?”
“What is the status of the Black Crusaders?”
<Black Crusader> is a secret society that has plagued the House of Krares for hundreds of years.
Even now, they are hunting down those with the bloodline of the House of Krares, which is why Argonne is so cautious.
Right now, the most terrifying enemy for him was none other than the <The Black Crusader>…….
“It’s been silent.”
“Good. When will it be possible for me to go to the Imperial Mausoleum?”
“Within two weeks at the latest, you should be able to descend in person.”
“I see. I’ll wait.”
Despite his words, the look on Argonne’s face showed that he was having a hard time being as patient as he should be.
It was natural for him to want to get there as soon as possible, even if it was only for a minute or two, since it was his own tomb, let alone the tomb of the first emperor who had united the continents and founded the Great Empire.
And since the imperial mausoleum contained something that had to be found, the Great Emperor Argonne could hardly calm his nerves.
“Wait a little longer. I’ll be right there soon, Empress.”
He looked north toward his tomb and muttered to himself.
Chapter 106
The residence of Elder Alphondal was not far from the Royal Palace.
*Knock!* *Knock!*
Camille knocked on the manor’s door.
“Who is it?”
A young butler stuck his head out.
“The Young Lord of the Family is here to see Elder Alphondal.”
“Oh, the Young Lord!”
The butler bowed respectfully to Otto.
“Master Alphondal is currently working in the laboratory.”
“May we see him?”
“Of course.”
The butler led the group to Alphondal’s laboratory in the manor’s basement.
“Please go in.”
“Thank you… Ahh, it’s a ghost!”
Without thinking, Otto opened the door to the lab, stepped inside, and drew his sword in a panic.
The reason for Otto’s surprise was simple.
Some gaunt and bony figure had silently approached Otto as if sliding, and that figure was none other than Alphondal, one of the elders of the Kuntachi family.
“This is the Honorable Elder Alphondal.”
The butler calmed Otto with an awkward smile.
“Because of his advanced age, he is often perceived differently by those who meet him for the first time.”
“Yes…?”
“Well, I’ll leave you all to it.”
The butler left the room.
‘This is… Elder Alphondal?’
Otto turned to look at the gaunt, haggard old man standing before him.
He was skinny enough that it was questionable whether he could have weighed more than thirty kilograms, so it wouldn’t have been out of place to call him a desiccated corpse.
Additionally, his long hair was thinning so badly that it appeared to be barely attached to his scalp.
On top of that, his skin and lips were bluish from lack of blood, his eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils, which should have been black because of the severity of his cataracts, were instead white.
‘This is a corpse!’
Otto screamed inside, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.
After all, he’s an elder figure in the family….
‘Come to think of it, if my grandfather referred to him as an elder, he must be this old, right?’
Conrad too is an old man who has reached an advanced age.
However, considering that Conrad referred to Alphondal as such, it was only natural that his age was much greater than what Otto could have imagined.
“Are you the Young Lord?”
Alphondal asked Otto in a voice that bordered on gravelly.
He was so thin that there was little moisture in his vocal cords, and his voice would crack and crackle….
And his eyes were so badly clouded with cataracts that they had no focus.
He was probably already blind, for all Otto knew….
“Ah, yes. I’m Otto de Scuderia.”
“Don’t lie.”
“What?”
“If you’re Otto de Scuderia, I’ll take your life with my hands.”
“Well, what do you mean….”
“Hehehe.”
“……?”
“You even brought a big ghost behind you, huh?”
Alphondal tilted his head over Otto’s shoulder toward Kairos.
“Judging by the size of the spirit, you must have been someone formidable in your past life. Who are you?”
“Oh-Hoh.”
Kairos stepped forward with an amused smirk.
“Are you somehow able to discern me?”
“Just a glimpse into the essence of your soul.”
“I see we’ve come to the right place, Hahaha.”
“And there’s a virtuous soul next to him… What an interesting group.”
Surprisingly, Alphondal had a pretty good grasp on the nature of Otto’s inner circle.
‘No way?’
Otto was nervous.
It occurred to him that maybe Alphondal had figured out the secret of this world and his true identity.
* * * patreon.com/SchattenTranslations * * *
Alphondal had his butler serve tea to Otto and the others.
‘How can this be a person, it’s clearly a ghost!’
Otto was disoriented when he noticed that Alphondal isn’t walking, but is instead gliding around like a ghost.
“I… Do you happen to know how old you are this year?”
“One hundred and twenty-eight years old.”
“Eh?!”
“Hahaha. Are you surprised?”
“Honestly? yes, it is surprising.”
“I’ve been studying black magic and have found a way to extend my lifespan a bit.”
“Isn’t that great?”
“Well, I’m not so sure about that.”
“Why not? Living longer is a great thing.”
“It would be nice to stay young and vigorous for a long time, but what I’ve discovered is a way to slow down the body’s metabolism so that cell division is inhibited as much as possible.”
“….”
“Think of it as conserving energy. It’s not extending one’s lifespan, it’s just consuming it more slowly. Hence the skinny frame. Hahaha.”
With that, Alphondal settled down on a particularly fluffy-looking couch with a creaking sound of joints.
“I’m so skinny I can’t sit on anything but a padded chair like this. My hip bones are pressing down on my skin.”
“Well, I can see that, hahaha.”
“So, what brings you to me?”
Alphondal questioned Otto.
“Yes, old man. It is none other than….”
Otto pointed to Kairos.
“I’ve come to ask your advice on whether I can give flesh to the spirits that inhabit this armor.”
“Give bodies to the spirits, like the one that you’ve been carrying with you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m afraid it won’t be easy. The spirits in that armor have been wandering the mortal realm for so long that they can’t inhabit a human body right now.”
” Is there anything we can do?”
“Hmm.”
Alphondal thought for a moment, then answered.
“In order for wraiths who have been wandering this world for a long time to obtain human flesh… they must first be made into death knights.”
“A death knight, isn’t that an evil undead monster?”
“Usually they are… but if I create one myself, they won’t be so evil.”
“And then what?”
“After about three years as a Death Knight, the soul will gradually be purified and allow the body to change into a human body.”
“Oh!”
“The problem is, a proper Death Knight requires precious materials.”
‘Eh.’
Otto’s face took on an expression that implied, “I see”.
[Notification: The <Vessel for Souls> quest has occurred!]
The quest was as follows.
[Vessel for Souls]
Description: Obtain a vessel to turn Kairos’ men into Death Knights and bring it to Alphondal.
Progress : 0 / 1 (0%)
Reward: Creation of a Death Knight
Caution: If you don’t bring the ingredients to Alphondal within 3 months, he will die.
“To turn those wraiths into Death Knights, we need old armor, at least 300 years old.”
“An old armor….”
“The armor must also be made of a dark metal.”
“When you say dark metal… do you mean something like Obsidium?”
“You seem to know that, eh?”
[Obsidium] is also known as [meteorite iron], which was literally extracted from meteorites that fell from the sky and then was processed.
It has dark properties because it is imbued with the dark energy from outer space.
However, [Obsidium] was extremely difficult to obtain.
Moreover, does he need to bring in an antique that is more than 300 years old?
He doubted he could find it even if he searched nearly every antique shop, museum, or treasure trove on the continent.
“The problem is, as I’m sure you know, it’s not easy to find old armor made of Obsidium.”
“I know.”
“That’s why it’s so hard to make death knights out of wraiths who have been wandering the land of the living for so long.”
“Hmm.”
Otto thought for a moment.
‘Old armor made of Obsidium. At least three hundred years old. Is there such a piece of armor?’
Otto racked his brain, thinking of nearly every item he knew.
And then.
“Huh?”
A thought occurred to him.
“It seems… possible?”
“Eh?”
Alphondal tilted his head.
“You mean it’s possible to get such a hard-to-find ingredient?”
“It might be possible now…?”
“How?”
“Well, I could just ransack the tomb of the Great Emperor Argonne, hehehe.”
Otto smiled sinisterly.
* * * patreon.com/SchattenTranslations * * *
At the same time.
Julius.
No, the Great Emperor Argonne was attending to some business when he received a report from his brother and descendant, Gaius.
“I have found the Imperial Mausoleum.”
“What!”
Julius jumped to his feet.
The Imperial Mausoleum is a term of honor for the tomb of an emperor.
In this instance, the imperial mausoleum was referring to the tomb of none other than the Great Emperor Argonne.
“Is that really true?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Finally!”
Argon’s face lit up with anticipation.
It didn’t make sense that the Emperor wouldn’t know the location of his tomb, but there was a reason.
As soon as he had unified the continent, he had begun construction on the imperial mausoleum where he would be buried, and he was eventually buried there.
However, the problem was that 200 years later, a major earthquake struck the area where the mausoleum was located, causing a tectonic shift.
This meant that the terrain was completely changed, with the ground rising and falling, moving around, and diverging, making it impossible to determine the exact location of the imperial mausoleum.
So while Argonne the Great had a general idea of where his tomb was, he had no idea where it was exactly.
Furthermore, the tomb had been constructed underground from the beginning, so it could have been completely buried by this time.
But he didn’t waiver in his quest to find his tomb.
Why?
Because he knew that the tomb contained a treasure trove of immense proportions.
This is why for many years he employed archaeologists and explorers to locate the tomb.
“What did you hear? Is the Imperial Mausoleum safe and sound?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Although more than two-thirds of it was entirely destroyed, fortunately, about one-third of it appears to be intact, including the area where His Majesty’s remains reside.”
“Oh!”
“We have found the entrance to the imperial mausoleum, and now all we need to do is excavate it.”
“Excellent!”
The Great Emperor Argonne was overjoyed, but his face quickly changed and he turned to Gaius.
“What do you intend to do with the men who were involved in the investigation, and those who discovered my Imperial Mausoleum?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Once the excavation of the imperial mausoleum is more or less complete, I will quietly dispose of them. You needn’t worry about any secrets being leaked.”
“Well done. My descendant.”
“Is there any doubt?”
“What is the status of the Black Crusaders?”
<Black Crusader> is a secret society that has plagued the House of Krares for hundreds of years.
Even now, they are hunting down those with the bloodline of the House of Krares, which is why Argonne is so cautious.
Right now, the most terrifying enemy for him was none other than the <The Black Crusader>…….
“It’s been silent.”
“Good. When will it be possible for me to go to the Imperial Mausoleum?”
“Within two weeks at the latest, you should be able to descend in person.”
“I see. I’ll wait.”
Despite his words, the look on Argonne’s face showed that he was having a hard time being as patient as he should be.
It was natural for him to want to get there as soon as possible, even if it was only for a minute or two, since it was his own tomb, let alone the tomb of the first emperor who had united the continents and founded the Great Empire.
And since the imperial mausoleum contained something that had to be found, the Great Emperor Argonne could hardly calm his nerves.
“Wait a little longer. I’ll be right there soon, Empress.”
He looked north toward his tomb and muttered to himself.
