Chapter 157

The Reincarnated Princess’s Worries

The sun was high up in the sky the next day . Since it was also sunny the day before, most of the snow had melted, and with that, we departed . We stayed the night at a village along the way, and by the evening of the next day, we were almost at our destination .

At this distance, we could see a forest lying downhill at the end of this road, and behind it were steep, snowy peaks . This mountain range positioned towards the south should encompass Raptor’s territory .

I only then realised how close we were to Raptor .

I checked my surroundings and opened my mouth when I was sure it was safe to speak .

“Speaking of which, I came across something new while combing through various folktales . It might not be directly related to this trip, however . ”

I looked back over my shoulder and spoke to Sir Leonhard .

Recently, I had been able to conquer my nerves while talking to him compared to before . It wasn’t like I got used to it or anything—my heart still jumped every time—it was only easier to keep myself composed on the outside .

“Please let me hear it . ”

“Sir Walter seems to have not only investigated Nebel’s folklore but also those of the neighbouring countries as well . Of course, there were far less in number compared to Nebellian tales, but they still turned out to be quite interesting . ”

Sir Walter’s proximity to the border likely netted him many opportunities to gather stories from travellers coming from Raptor . Luckily, they were conveniently sorted separately from the domestic pile, which made analysing them that much easier .

“They were remarkably similar to the ones in Nebel with only one major difference: their endings were the complete opposite . ”

“Opposite?”

“Yes . I previously said that ‘evil fairies’ popped up a lot, right? In Nebellian folklore, many stories had a common theme in that a fairy would force a child to drink something similar to a black flame . Those intoxicated children would then wander into the forest as a lost soul or be taken to the land of demons, and so forth . In any case, those stories always ended with a fate resembling death . ”

“And you’re saying that other countries lack that . ”

“The flow of those other folktales completely changed . There were stories of an old man finding eternal life in the farthest lands, or a child falling off of a cliff only to be rescued by a fairy . The only thing we have in common is the drinking of flames, but to those who do, they would be granted resurrection instead of facing death . ”

“Resurrection? Do you mean when a human comes back to life?”

“Hmm… There appears to be some sort of a misnomer when it comes to ‘resurrection’ in this case . It’d be more accurate to say that according to those foreign tales, taking in the black flame will heal all injuries and wounds, even capable of bringing back those on the brink of death . ”

“That certainly is quite the distinction . Even though they’re from different countries, that doesn’t change the fact that they directly border us . So how come they have complete polar depictions of the same thing?”

Sir Leonhard murmured, frowning in suspicion .

I also had a similar question in mind . Although we’re indeed different kingdoms, we still shared a great many similarities, even in our almost identical linguistics . It wasn’t as if relations between us were sour either, so the fact that we had a stark difference in the interpretation of the same idea was nothing but strange .

“Peculiar, isn’t it? That’s why I’ve spent some time thinking it over and what I’ll say next is purely speculation on my part and nothing more, so please listen to it with a grain of salt . ”

“Of course . ”

Sir Leonhard gave a slight chuckle and nodded .

“Why do Raptor’s stories seem to be actively encouraging its people to seek out something that never ends in a disaster? It’s because they believe that if a living human can harness that power, then perhaps there’s a chance it can be controlled . ”

Sir Leonhard’s eyes opened wide when he heard my ridiculous hypothesis .

I continued, “That said, I don’t truly see eye-to-eye with this notion myself; it was simply a matter of ‘what if’ . ”

Just as there are exceedingly rare and classified books only the kings of Nebel can inherit, there might also be books only the kings of Raptor inherit as well . Rural folktales themselves are also similarly passed down through generations like this, aren’t they?

But personally, I haven’t seen any evidence to indicate that controlling the Demon Lord was plausible .

After all, the existence that is ‘The Demon Lord’ would endanger the world every time he was revived . If it was truly feasible to dominate such a being, at least one of the many human vessels for the Demon Lord would’ve taken the matter of destroying the world into their own hands by now .

Well, it’s taking a shot in the dark . A mere unpolished conjecture .

Sir Leonhard appeared to be pondering in silence .

He had a difficult look on his face, but perhaps noticing my gaze, he softened into his usual expression .

“That was certainly an interesting hypothesis . However, we won’t reach a conclusion even if we discuss it any further here anyhow . We should revisit this more closely once we return to the royal capital . ”

Of course, I had no reason to object . Let’s focus on finding the Demon Lord for now .

When I gazed forward, I saw a glimpse of a small village .

********

By the time we’d arrived at the village, the sun had already set, so we decided to continue our investigation the following morning .

We stayed the night at an inn, and as the day proceeded, we easily found the target building without any help from the villagers .

According to our intel from Vice-Commander Walter, the temple stood quietly on the outskirts of the village as if it was carrying the whole forest on its back .

The building was more tattered than I’d thought; there was almost no roof left . On top of that, some of the walls had collapsed, allowing the floor to be carpeted with leaves .

If this temple is what we’re looking for, that means Michael tried to sleep here, didn’t he? Doesn’t seem like it provides much shelter from the weather, though .

Even though I haven’t taken a single step inside, just looking at its outer appearance made it clear there were no hidden rooms on the first floor .

The only place left would be underground… This doesn’t look like it’ll be an easy task .

“I will enter first, so please follow my lead . And, do be mindful not to get too close to the walls . ”

Sir Leonhard, who was about to enter the temple, warned me before stopping at the entrance . I stuck close to him .

“…It looks like someone has been here recently . ”

“Eh?”

“And they were looking for something . ”

My face went pale when I heard him .

That was because the first thing to come to my mind when I heard ‘someone was looking for something’ was of course, ‘The Demon Lord’ .

“Please do not separate from me . ”

Sir Leonhard said in a hushed tone as he unsheathed his sword .

We advanced with wary steps . The inside was dimly lit despite the fact that half of the roof was missing and an unpleasant, musty odour flooded my nostrils .

When my eyes adjusted, I took a good look at what was inside .

Thick stone pillars and sculpted walls stood . Exposed to the elements, they were now coloured a filthy black . Lining the back wall were two statues; the right one in crumbles leaving only its pedestal behind, while the left could barely pass for the shape of a human figure . Pieces from the ceiling, leaves, and mud scattered the floor . However, as Sir Leonhard said, there were traces that someone had been here .

Leaves were piled up and rubble had been moved around .

It was as if they were searching desperately for a hidden room, just like us .

“Who would…”

The question that flew out of my mouth was intended for no one, but I immediately reached a single possible answer .

“Though the chances of it being a thief is not zero, it is still rather unlikely . ”

The room is in such a desolate state . Anyone coming to rob this place must’ve realised something of value will either have been lost or stolen long ago . There was no reason to look for valuables by moving some rubble around .

‘Someone from Raptor has the same intel as we do . ’

‘And we’re about to walk right into them . ’

Just thinking about it made me freeze up in fear .

Sir Leonhard sheathed his sword back into its scabbard and gently tapped my back . With a, ‘Let’s look around,’ we began investigating the temple .

In the end, there wasn’t a single hidden door to be found . Even when I tapped the floor in search of a hollow chamber, it was ultimately no use . In the end, we had concluded that there was nothing there .

“Hey you! What are you doin’ here?”

As we exited the temple, we heard a voice .

An old man who appeared to be a simple villager carrying firewood warily stared at Sir Leonhard . But when he saw me hiding behind him, his gaze relaxed .

Just in case, I repeated the same story from before about how I liked ancient buildings and how I selfishly forced my brother to let me see them .

“I thought some weird guy be wanderin’ ’round here again . Sorry ‘bout that . ”

“…By that, do you mean bandits?”

“Oh no, no . It’s not like anythin’ was stolen . Just some rumour ‘bout a guy lurkin’ round here often, ya see . No one’s hurt, but it’s kinda creepy, ya hear?”

Although I kept a smile as the old man spoke, I didn’t listen to a thing he said .

Does this mean someone already investigated this temple?

We’ve fallen behind . That speculation of mine was beginning to take shape with each passing minute .