Skeleton Knight, in Another World Volume 7 Chapter 7-8

Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「The Pope’s Power」

Before long, the sky above Soulia began to darken and eventually transitioned into the night of the seventh and last day of the siege.

I was standing atop a building that was taller than those around it, taking in the view.

Gently tapping the 『Holy Thunder Sword』 against my shoulder, I sighed.

Beneath me, I could see several divisions of soldiers searching the cityscape.

Thanks to my widespread use of 【Dimensional Step】 I was able to preemptively deal with the spider-chimeras, keeping the causalities among the soldiers minimal.

Taking the high ground allowed me to easily spot the large bodies of the spider-chimeras.

Also, since Palermo had been the control tower for these guys, it was easy to dispatch them after he was gone.

I think I’ve slain a majority of the spider-chimeras, but it might be a couple of days before the inner wall’s gates could be opened.

Soulia was a rather large area, with thousands of buildings covering the ground within the outer walls. The guards and soldiers didn’t have enough manpower to search all of them and destroy the undead.

It was unlikely that the cleanup process would be completed quickly, even if the citizen were allowed to take part in a human wave tactic.

“Ky〜un……”

I heard Ponta’s miserable cry atop my helmet while I had been scanning the streets below and watching over the soldiers.

It was almost dinner time.

With that thought, I decided to put today’s search efforts on hold.

“You wanna go and see what Ariane-dono and Chiome-dono are doing?”

“Kyun! Kyun!”

Ponta’s tail became lively when I told her that we were going back.

Bonfires had been lit along the city’s inner wall, so I used those as a landmark to make my way back with 【Dimensional Step】.

Once I was close enough, I dropped to the streets below and walked the rest of the way to the gate.

The soldiers on guards froze when I walked up and greeted them.

Was that a good or a bad reaction?

I passed them by and entered the small door next to the gate, two people were waiting for me once I made it past the wall.

“You’re a little late, aren’t you?”

“Good evening, Arc-dono.”

Ariane and Chiome.

“Well, the city was larger than I expected, it might take several days to finish the job. How did things go on your end, Ariane-dono? Did you find anything in the church?”

After joining up with them and explaining how the search for the undead was going, the two shared a look and shrugged their shoulders when I asked them how things were going.

“We didn’t find any other undead amongst those involved with the church. It’s just……”

Ariane’s somewhat tired voice trailed off before Chiome spoke up and continued where she left off.

“……It’s just that some of the church’s members can’t be found. Either they’d been killed during the siege or went into hiding after Palermo’s death…… the details are unclear.”

While a few church officials had vanished, only one of them had probably been an intelligent undead.

“Our actions here, as well as in Tajiento, have probably been leaked to the Hiruku Theocracy by now……”

The two of them nodded in agreement with my conclusion.

Palermo had a description of the person who killed Charos on the Southern Continent.

By now, we were under the careful watch of the Theocracy’s eyes or they were already planning a way to remove the obstacles in their way.

Although it was by my own doing, I became a famous person without even knowing it.

A crease appeared between Ariane’s eyebrows, which she started massaging with her index finger.

“The Pope of the Hiruku religion…… What exactly is his objective? Normally, a small group like us shouldn’t have caught his atten……”

Ariane let out a sigh when her golden eyes fell upon me.

I shrugged my shoulders and chuckled as I watched Ariane’s response.

“That would normally…… be the case.”

The three of us were in possession of extraordinary strength…… we would need to be dealt with eventually.

“Kyun!”

…… Okay, three plus one.

While stroking the fur under Ponta’s chin…… I vaguely thought of a few situations that three people couldn’t handle alone.

Although the three of us could deal with the problems at hand, we were extremely short-handed.

As I thought about such things, I looked down at Chiome. She’d been quiet for a while and judging by her expression her mind was far away right now.

“Something wrong, Chiome-dono?”

Her cat ears immediately reacted to my question and she returned to her usual blank expression as she looked up at me.

“No… Its nothing, really……”

Ariane quietly gazed into Chiome’s blue eyes after she gave an evasive response.

Their eyes were intertwined with one another, and eventually, Chiome spoke up again.

“Were my captured brethren among the undead soldiers I’ve slain?”

Ariane and I shared a look when she said that.

The majority of the undead soldiers appeared to have been skeletal in appearance, like me. It was possible that they’d been entirely composed of human bones…… which had probably been collected from corpses.

Although humans were the most numerous race, I couldn’t say that elf and beastman corpses wouldn’t be used if there were an abundant number of them available.

The Hiruku doctrine demanded the removal of elves and beastmen from human countries.

What became of the removed people…… didn’t need to be said.

“I don’t mean to say anything offensive, but if someone is turned to an undead, it might be for the best to put them to rest, rather than let them endlessly wander the world.”

Chiome’s eyes moved down to her hands after she listened to what I said.

She was probably thinking of her brother Sasuke.

He had been turned into a tool of the Hiruku Theocracy, and she had been forced to cut him down herself…… so the Hiruku religion might be her archenemy.

Ariane placed a worried hand on Chiome’s shoulder, but while her ears twitched, Chiome said nothing as she looked up at Ariane.

Ponta’s ears also moved in sync with Chiome’s ears.

There was a moment of silence, but then someone chuckled and the tense atmosphere was lifted.

It came from Zahar, one of Lille’s royal guards.

“What are you doing here? We have yet to truly show our gratitude for your help today. Although it’s rather modest, the royal cooks have prepared a meal for all of you. In accordance with Ariane-dono’s request, your meals had been taken to her room.”

Ponta began puffing her chest in anticipation when she heard what Zahar said.

Ariane had a bit of a smug face when I turned towards her.

In order to have dinner with other people, I would need to drink the spring water to rid myself of my skeletal appearance, but that ran the risk of wearing off halfway through the meal.

I would have to decline the invitation in that case, but now I could thoroughly enjoy the meal made by professional royal chefs.

It felt as if I could hear the phantom growls from my absent stomach when I imagined a good meal after a long day’s work.

“I’ll arrange for someone to come fetch me once your meal is done. Since the king has agreed to your first demand, permission to browse the treasury has been granted. Pardon my question, but are you really satisfied with merely having a look?”

Zahar couldn’t seem to comprehend our ´choice, but Chiome vigorously nodded her head, and Ariane spoke on behalf of her friend.

“Thank you, but merely looking is not a problem. We’re just searching for clues……”

Zahar simply said “Is that so?” and nodded at her brief statement.

He probably thought that there was no need to get involved any further, and called out to the soldier who had been standing behind him.

“This guy will show you to your room.”

After finishing his business here, Zahar marched off as the soldier rigidly saluted him.

He must have a lot of things to do, considering his position.

We followed behind the mechanically moving doll that was our guild to our room and my mind wandered back to a certain topic.

Just who in the world was the Pope of the Hiruku religion?

Based on what I’ve seen, he appeared to be a necromancer.

Was it ironic that the pope was a necromancer, or was it a witty setting that had been chosen intentionally? In any case, a skeletal Heavenly Knight like myself shouldn’t be calling the kettle black.

Moreover, if the Pope was like the necromancers in the game, they wouldn’t be much of a direct fighter. Instead, they used their magic to create undead who fought in their stead. If someone used it correctly, it would be a power that could conquer the world.

It would be great if the undead that attacked the capital had been the entirety of his army, but that was unlikely, considering what happened in Tajiento.

……there were so many unreasonable existences in this world.

With that thought in my heart, I sighed.

Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「Browsing the Treasury」

Leaving the bread aside, we ate the majority of the meal.

It was a rarity for Chiome and Ariane to enjoy meals that were usually reserved for royalty, so they tried a variety of new things.

Ponta was already sleeping at the end of the table with a full stomach.

The one who ate the most must’ve been me.

While my skeletal body lacked any flesh, it conveniently allowed me to enjoy the sensation of eating with my fourth-dimensional stomach.

After an hour or so, once I finished enjoying the after-meal tea, the soldier who would lead us to the treasury arrived.

“I will lead you.”

The soldier’s movements were rather jerky as he saluted us.

Ariane released the kind of satisfied yawn that accompanied a full stomach.

She carried a sleeping Ponta in her arms, whose belly steadily rose and fell as her paws occasionally twitched.

Chiome had her usual blank face, but she rubbed her stomach as if she had eaten a little too much.

The soldiers lead us through a complex maze of passageways and corridors within the palace.

At the beginning, I had assumed that with every turn to the left or right we would be going towards the higher parts of the palace, but halfway through we began descending a flight of stairs and Ariane began to question our guide.

Apparently, for security’s sake, a complex network of passageways had been built into the castle. Since we were talking about the national treasury here, I guess it would be inconvenient if invaders could find it easily.

Moreover, our guide had been replaced at certain sections of the trip, so not even the guards were fully aware of the entire castle’s layout.

It was a simple but effective security measure.

(Sasuke-dono was able to find the treasury in this place……)

Chiome puffed out her chest beside me when I whispered in amazement at the fact that Sasuke had managed to break into this place.

In fact, I was starting to doubt it was even possible to traverse this labyrinthine maze, avoid being detected by the various guards that filled said maze and escape undetected.

Had it been me, I would’ve definitely been detected by the guards and only manage to gain access to the treasury after being forced to deal with every single one of them.

Spying and sneaking around were completely uncharacteristic for me after all….

When we arrived at the door leading to the treasury, I remembered that it hadn’t been that long ago that I’d been pursuing a thief.

We were probably in the palace’s basement.

The echoes of our footsteps created by the thick stone walls and pavement meant that the guards stationed at the treasury’s doors knew we were coming before we arrived.

The passage must have been designed this way to act as an early warning system.

After being urged by our guide, the door guards opened the and we were lead into a slightly wider passage than the one we’d just been in.

At the center of the passage was a person I was becoming very familiar with.

One was Princess Lille.

Instead of the simple dress she wore when we first met, she was now wearing an extravagant sky-blue outfit one would expect a princess to wear.

Her golden curls were held up by jewel-encrusted clips, exposing more of her neck as a result.

Her two guards, Zahar and Nina, stood behind her.

Unlike the basic military uniforms they had worn throughout our journey, the two now wore decorative sashes adorned with medals and badges over more pristine uniforms.

It appeared that they were to be our supervisors while we were in the treasury.

However, I still had to ask Lille why someone important like her was here.

“Lille-dono, whatever are you doing here?”

“I was the one who hired Arc-dono and the others. Thus, it is my responsibility to see that you receive the compensation promised! Father has already approved of this!”

She puffed out her chest and spiritedly answered my question.

When I looked at her two guards, Zahar had a slightly frustrated expression. I could tell that she must have stubbornly worn down the King until he allowed her to come.

“Besides, there has never been a situation where guests were allowed into the treasury, therefore father determined that having a member of the royal family accompanying you will set precedent for future occasions.”

I found myself nodding along to her words.

After all, there were various origins for royal customs.

Although this situation was a part of the reward the princess had promised us, wouldn’t it be rather troublesome if they needed a precedent to allow outsiders into the treasury in the future?

A commoner like myself couldn’t comprehend that logic, but Ariane on the other hand, who had been raised in an elven village, showed them a degree of understanding.

“So, we will promptly show you the treasury. I doubt any of you will steal anything, but we’d appreciate it if you remain within our sight as much as possible.”

The three of us nodded along with what Zahar had said.

I had no desire to steal anything, besides nether Ariane, Chiome or I were armed at the moment, while Zahar and Nina were armed and probably had the means to deal with anything that came up.

Normally, one wouldn’t think of stealing in this situation.

After nodding, it seemed that we were finally able to enter the place where the country’s treasure was held.

While our main goal was to retrace Sasuke’s footsteps, for some unknown reason I found the prospect of venturing into a treasury executing.

The treasury’s actual door was located at the back of the passage.

With all its metallic reinforcements, the gate-like door looked more like something you would expect to find in a fortress instead of on a treasury.

Six guards stood in front of the gate, the narrowness of the passing causing them to stand side by side, with no gaps between them.

The guards bowed their heads to Lille before she handed them two keys, which they proceeded to insert into lumps of metal on the door.

Two shutters snapping open echoed through area before guards started prying the large gate open.

I was truly impressed by both such an airtight security systems and Sasuke’s ability to get past all of it. However, Zahar and I shared a look and he seemed to pick up on my trail of thoughts.

“The security has been improved since the incident with the intruder.”

It was an understandable situation.

They hadn’t been as thorough with their security before.

Probably due to a history of no issues, they had assumed that no thief would ever be able to break in, but one ninja had forced them to reevaluate their entire system.

…… It must have been a terrible time for the guards that had been on duty then.

One of the guards entered the dim treasury and probably used a magic tool of some kind to illuminate the room.

“Please.”

Upon Zahar’s request, Lille was the first to enter the treasury.

Gorgeous pieces of artwork and luxurious sets of jewelry lining the walls of the room…… wasn’t what we found.

Instead, there was a sculpture, probably chiseled by some famous sculptor, whose only visible part was the base because the rest of it was covered by a large cloth.

The paintings had all been packaged and arranged side to side, so there was no way to see the paintings themselves.

Jewels and coins weren’t simply left out in the open since the shelves that lined the walls were filled with wooden chest of various shapes and sizes.

The room itself was built out of beautiful and sturdy stone, crude light-emitting magic tools were wrapped around pillars across the room, and there was a distinct lack of decorations.

It looked more like a large warehouse instead of a treasury.

The hidden room of Diento’s lord had felt more like a treasury than this place.

After gaining permission, I began looking through the chests and confirmed that they were indeed treasure chests.

The contents of the chests were quite varied, some were filled with gold and silver coins, others had jewelry and decorative items wrapped in cushioning material, one had a twisted root whose value I couldn’t begin to guess, and some even had black coconut-like fruit.

“Hmm……” “Ky〜uh.”

I went around the warehouse trying to trance Sasuke’s steps, but I haven’t come across any clues yet.

I couldn’t expect an on-the-spot inspection in this world, and it wasn’t like I could find some trivial item and start making wild but somehow accurate inferences as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

In that regard, it was a stroke of luck that I came to this city and crossed paths with Palermo.

When I took a quick break, I noticed that Lille had been staring at me with a strange look on her face, as she watched me wandering through the treasury.

The act of merely browsing a treasury must have been incredibly strange to her, and I had no idea what I was doing myself, so I didn’t know what to tell her.

Halfway through the search I checked in with Ariane and Chiome, but they hadn’t found anything either.

The treasury was filled to the brim with items, but since no dust had built up there were no footprints to follow.

Even when I ran my finger along a shelf it came away clean.

“Quite clean, isn’t it……”

Zahar had been watching my behaviors before he provided an explanation for the question that had been forming in my mind.

“After the break-in had been discovered, inventory was taken to determine what had been stolen, and it appears that the treasury was cleaned at the same time.”

I stared back at him for his casual answer.

“Do you have the list of the treasury’s contents?”

While a bit confused by my question, Zahar nodded his head and led us to a bookshelf in the corner of the treasury.

I thought they were prohibited spell books at first, but most of the books were item catalogs and entry logs.

They were quite a lot of documents and there wasn’t enough time to go through them all. As I flipped through one of the book’s pages, Lille shared something really interesting with me.

“I heard nothing was taken from the treasury, but that some of the inventory records had been meddled with. Now, which one was it again……?”

One of the guards stepped forward and hand me the book that Lille had started searching for on the shelf.

“If I’m not mistaken, the beginning of this book was damaged because of improper handling.”

I scrolled through the book I received until I came upon a familiar image.

“Chiome-dono.”

Chiome stopped what she’d been doing when I called for her, and her blue eyes bulged when she saw the image.