Chapter 159: Opening the Box

“What happened?”

“...”

After finishing his private conversation with Ledios and sending him off, Kamma returned, making Karl curious.

“...”

He had expected Kamma to rave about the latest developments, but instead, he wore a serious face and seemed deep in thought, which puzzled Karl even more.

What’s up with him? Normally, he would’ve called me over and made a fuss about it...

“Karl,” Kamma said eventually.

“Yes? What is it?”

“You said you knew where Mikhail was, right?”

Karl nodded. “Yes, Mr. Suan told me. He said to go there if anything happens... But he told us to wait for as long as possible.”

“Well, we can’t wait any further. This is no ordinary situation. We need to leave this place and go there right away. It’s no longer safe to stay here.”

“What’s going on?”

“A war is about to break out.”

At Kamma’s words, Karl smirked, as if he had expected this.

“Oh, are we talking about that again? You’ve been saying that all along, haven’t you? You’ve seen it yourself, right? You’re the one who’s been singing about how all of Fran’s warships are gathered.”

“You idiot, that’s not it! It’s the opposite. Tuli Lurein made the first move.”

“...What?”

“Everyone thought Fran’s forces gathered in Cove would head north to attack the White Bunker. But Tuli is actually coming down to attack Fran.”

That was certainly unexpected.

“That makes no sense,” Karl responded, bewildered slightly. “The White Bunker is an impenetrable fortress. Why would they abandon it and risk coming down to Cove?”

Kamma glanced around and beckoned Karl closer with a finger. When Karl leaned in, he whispered, “Duke Lachiel has betrayed us.”

“...!!”

Karl Mack looked out the window. Behind the Iron Fleet anchored in Cove was the Silverwing Fleet of Duke Lachiel.

“No way...”

“When the war starts, Cove will be completely plunged in chaos. We might see the Iron Fleet in flames before the war even begins.”

Karl couldn’t even imagine Fran’s proud fleet engulfed in fire.

“So why did Ledios come to us? Didn’t he consider the possibility of us warning Fran?”

“It must’ve crossed his mind. The only thing in Cove that doesn’t belong to the principality is the Ravat Guild. The city can be rebuilt even if it burns down, but if we leave, we may never come back.”

“Hmm.”

“According to Ledios, Tuli still wants to trade with us. After ending this civil war, she plans to advance to the center. He came to save us because he wants us to be his bridgehead.”

Karl snorted at Kamma’s words.

“What a pipe dream. Doesn’t he know there’s a master in the center? They’ll be devoured as soon as they arrive, and he wants to trade with us?”

“Well... My gut tells me Ledios might not be acting on Tuli’s orders.”

“Then who’s?”

“Who else? It’s the Wooden Cloud. Tuli might naturally aim for conquest when advancing to the center, but the Wooden Cloud means something different.”

Kamma stroked his chin thoughtfully.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Get ready. We need to head to the White Bunker immediately. There’s a lot we need to figure out.”

Somehow, a travel bag was already packed and ready in the corner of the room.

“You seem a bit excited.” Karl smiled as he watched him.

“Of course. I have a knack for shady dealings.” Kamma pointed at himself with his thumb and lifted his chin slightly.

“...Not exactly something to be proud of.” Karl chuckled, but he knew Kamma’s intuition for bad situations was remarkably accurate.

“Let’s go,” he said to Kamma with a determined look.

***

“What... what is this?”

Gordon was the first to speak up after checking inside the box. However, his words didn’t really elicit a reaction from the others.

“Nothing at all. Who the hell put an empty box inside the Bone Dragon's stomach?”

Gordon stared at the Ghost Castle.

“Are they messing with me? I ought to grab that lich by the neck and ask him myself.”

“Wait a moment.”

It was Aidan who stopped him from marching toward the castle.

“It’s not empty.”

“Hmm?”

“Look at this. There’s no way an empty box would be this empty. There must be something inside.”

“But I don’t see anything.”

“Not everything is as it seems. If you look closely... doesn’t it seem like the bottom of the box is higher than it should be?”

“No way...”

Karyl seemed to catch on to what Aidan was saying and watched him closely.

“It’s a simple trick.”

Aidan wedged his dagger into the edge of the box’s bottom.

Swish!

About half the blade slid into the gap between the bottom and the side of the box. Twisting the blade, the false bottom popped open with an audible click.

“Raiders exploring ruins and dungeons often fall for simple traps like this, even though they’re on the lookout for magical or mechanical traps.”

Gordon, feeling somewhat embarrassed, rubbed his chin. It was understandable. Who would have expected a simple trick like this in a box hidden inside the corpse of an SS-rank Bone Dragon?

“Ahem, so what’s inside?” Gordon asked. Despite everything, he was still curious about the box’s contents.

“Just a moment.”

Before reaching into the box, Aidan showed it to Karyl.

“There’s no detectable mana. There’s no special spell on it. It should be safe to take out.”

“Understood.”

“Haha...”

Gordon watched with newfound respect as Aidan proceeded carefully. Karyl’s decision to pick Aidan seemed more justified than ever.

Managing to open the box and remaining this composed all throughout... He’s quite something.

“Don’t get any ideas. Aidan is

my

valuable subordinate.”

“What? No, that’s not what I meant.”

Karyl’s casual remark made Gordon a bit flustered.

“I was just joking, but judging from your reaction, you really thought about it, didn’t you?”

“Nonsense. Just tell me what's inside.”

“Well...”

All eyes were on Aidan as he pulled out an old, circular object.

“It’s a medallion?”

Clink—

The fabric decorations around the small medallion had worn away, leaving only the emblem in Aidan's hand.

“A medallion...?”

The false bottom of the box had been strange enough, but now everyone was puzzled by the seemingly random emblem inside. Gordon took the medallion from Aidan’s hand and examined it closely.

The design wasn’t from any known kingdom on the continent. Initially, the symbol on the medallion seemed like a large ladder, but upon closer inspection, it was a tall tower with multiple levels.

“Is there a family crest with a tower symbol?” Aidan asked.

Gordon shook his head, but the moment Karyl saw the symbol, his shoulders tensed up.

Pharel...?

The tower from his previous life instantly came to mind; it was the tower he wanted to forget but never could. He shook his head, perplexed.

Why...?

It wasn’t just because the emblem featured a tower symbol. Despite the medallion’s age and shabby condition, Karyl immediately recognized Pharel’s design on it.

“This... is from the Magical Era,” Gordon said while examining the medallion.

“The Magical Era?”

“Yes. I don't know why something like this is here, but this symbol belongs to a group called Blader.”

Although the name was unfamiliar to most, Karyl’s heart sank at Gordon’s words. Seeing Karyl react in such an unusual manner, Aidan approached him cautiously.

“Master, are you alright?”

But Karyl seemed more focused on Gordon’s explanation.

“Blader? Are you saying that tower symbol is theirs?”

“What? You know about them too? Are you really just fourteen? Even the elders in the imperial palace have forgotten about them.”

Gordon looked at Karyl with a mix of surprise and resignation.

“They’re the group that created the Five Great Artifacts. The staff, Infinite Breath, which is stored in the palace, is their work.”

“That's right.”

“And my sword, the Freezing Talon, is another one of them.”

“...!!”

Aidan and Miliana looked at the sword Karyl held out with shocked expressions.

“No wonder. I thought it was an extraordinary sword, and now I find out it’s one of the Five Great Artifacts... This is getting more unbelievable by the moment.”

Gordon seemed more accepting than surprised at Karyl’s revelation.

“So you’re the one who conquered the Gray Training Ground of Azor.”

“How did you know?”

“That’s the only place that could hold such artifacts. I heard about it in the palace corridors. The court sorcerer, Kadin Luer, was making a fuss about wanting to recruit the conqueror of the Gray Training Ground.”

So, he was there with him...

Karyl briefly thought about Tiren as he listened to Gordon.

“You should be careful. If the empire learns that your sword is one of Blader’s Five Great Artifacts, many will come after it.”

“If they think they can take it away from me, let them try.”

“Your confidence is infuriatingly likable.”

Gordon chuckled at Karyl’s confident response.

“But the main issue is why Blader’s medallion, which disappeared during the Magical Era, was inside the Bone Dragon... Even finding a hidden item raises more questions.”

“Hmm...”

“Indeed. What could it mean...”

Miliana and Aidan looked at each other, puzzled.

Rumble...

But then, the Ghost Castle seemed to growl, as if urging them to leave. Karyl glanced over at the distant structure.

Ghost

...

For some reason, he thought of the missing Allen Javius at that moment. He stared at the medallion in Gordon's hand.

He was one of Blader too.

Moreover, like Zarka Hochi, the owner of this place, Allen Javius was of an era long gone, dead but still lingering in the present world.

In addition, the Assembly of Seven Elders, to which Allen Javius belonged, was closely connected to the Platinum Dragon. There was also a theory that the wall surrounding the Ghost Castle had been created by dragons.

Before Karyl knew it, a chilling thrill coursed through his body.

“And both of them are from the same Magical Era.”

He thought there could be much more to the Ghost Castle than he had initially expected. Perhaps...

If Zarka Hochi is also part of Blader...

There was a chance Karyl would discover the whereabouts of two of the missing Five Great Artifacts of Blader.