“That’s one large statue~” Rosa sang as their group crested the last ridge, treading along the craggy path that trailed the hillside.

Before them stood a tall rock statue of some kind of knight—at least thirty meters in height—that held up a giant shield in front of it. The head had broken off and there were several large nicks and gashes in the bare stone that made the statue’s age apparent, but it was an impressive sight nonetheless. This place probably didn’t see much traffic, considering how out of the way it was, but it was at least notable enough to be marked as a minor on the map that Scarlett had bought.

Her gaze scanned across the nearby landscape. It was nothing but rolling hills, covered with clusters of rock and yellowing grass. Even with the statue being as tall as it was, trying to find it would have taken a while if they’d had to search through the entire region. She was lucky they found as good a map as they did. Following its directions, they had been able to cover at least three-quarters of the way on the carriage. The rest had only taken about two hours on foot. With the stamina boost afforded by the [Mark of the Staunch], a trek like that wasn’t an issue for Scarlett anymore.

As they made their way to the foot of the statue—which sported several haphazardly spread stones that might have once been part of the statue itself—the others in the group stopped. All of them looked around.

“What now?” Allyssa asked.

Scarlett turned to the girl.

Right. Discounting the Zuverian outpost near Fynn’s old home, none of them had actually been there the last time she found a Zuverian ruin. They wouldn’t know what to expect.

She threw one last look at their surroundings, searching for any movement. Not that she was expecting to spot any. If anyone were following them, she’d be the last to notice. Fynn had already checked if there were others nearby, though, and she was confident enough in his abilities. Whatever tail the Cabal was bound to have placed on her probably wasn’t around at the moment.

The fact that they’d traveled through the Kilnstone from Freybrook to Darkshore so suddenly might have helped with that. Then they’d immediately left Darkshore to find this place, so it was highly unlikely anyone would catch up to them.

And, well, even if someone was hiding nearby, they probably wouldn’t stay an issue for long.

Scarlett walked closer to the statue, stopping slightly in front and beneath the large stone shield it was holding. The shield had eight circular designs etched into its face, arranged in a rupee-like shape. Lines connected all the shapes, but it didn’t look like much more than decoration on the stone.

Let’s see if she could remember this correctly or not.

She raised her hand and conjured five small Aqua Mines in front of the etched circles. She detonated them in a set order, then waited a few seconds.

Nothing happened.

Okay, that wasn’t right.

She pulled up her notebook from the [Pouch of Holding], tracing her finger over the page as she used her pyrokinesis to strike out the first of the sketches she’d made. Then she looked over the sketch next to it.

She repeated the process, conjuring more Aqua Mines and detonating them in another order.

Once more, nothing happened.

“You having fun?” Rosa’s voice rang out from behind her.

Scarlett glanced back at the woman, then back at the statue. “I ask that you do not disturb me while I am occupied with this. It is uncertain how much time this will require.”

She looked down at her notebook and the third illustration on it. Worst-case scenario, it would take a few thousand tries to figure out the correct order. She couldn’t remember much of high school maths, but with eight different ‘buttons’ and a five-step sequence, there were a lot of potential combinations.

She had thought she remembered the right one—or at least something close to it—but she hadn’t known for sure.

Continuing onto the next sketch, she struck them out one after one as she moved down the list of alternatives. She had filled a few pages with the combinations that aligned closest with her memories.

After trying out about a dozen of them, she shook her head and put the notebook back into the pouch with a frown.

Clearly, she had overestimated her memory. There wasn’t any point in spending any more time on this. There was another alternative open to her now.

It just wasn’t as satisfying.

She pulled out the book she bought from the shopkeeper in Darkshore earlier.

Tales and Accords of Darkshore — The Old Ways.

It was a gathering of old tales from the region, mostly told to children from the looks of it. Scarlett had been rather surprised to see it in the store, considering it was a book in the game. One of many minor lore records that could be found here and there. In the game, they served both to further flesh out the world and to—on occasion—reward those players devoted enough to read through them.

She flipped through its pages until she found the one relevant to her.

The Warden of the Vale and his sentinels, read the text at the top. Beneath was a short story about a great warrior who was once said to watch over the region around Darkshore along with five of his sentinels. It recounted how, together, they had beaten back a vast army of giants coming from the northeast, ensuring peace in the land. Along with the story were a few simple illustrations, where each sentinel had a sign linked to them.

Scarlett had no idea if the story actually held much truth to it. It was an old folk tale, after all. But there was, without doubt, one part that wasn’t taken out of thin air.

She raised her eyes, examining the circular symbols present on the statue’s stone shield. Some of them resembled the signs in the book. She held up her hand once more, conjuring another set of five Aqua Mines. Each was positioned in front of symbols shown in the book. Then she detonated the mines in the order in which the sentinels had been introduced in the story.

There was a brief lull, then a loud grinding sounded out. Scarlett took a quick step back as the shield suddenly slammed down into the ground, sending pockets of dirt and grass into the air. Allyssa coughed to her side, spitting out some dirt that seemed to have gotten into her mouth. Shin stood next to her, dusting away some from her cape.

“What was that!?” Allyssa shouted with a grimace.

“I’d call that flair.” Rosa smiled as she stepped out from behind Fynn where she had been hiding. The young man’s white hair had a large patch of soil stuck in it. “These symbols… Zuverian, right?”

“That is correct,” Scarlett said, patting away some of the dirt that had gotten on her with a frown. She hadn’t been expecting that.

“And I thought those old coots didn’t have it in them.” Rosa walked up and trailed her hands over the shield that was now cutting into the ground, examining it for a few seconds. Then she turned back to Scarlett, gesturing at the statue with her thumb. “Now all that’s missing is him bursting into dance.”

“I doubt the Zuver would have added such a feature.” Scarlett paused as she noticed Fynn raise his right hand. The [Mark of the Gale on it] lit up a soft green as the wind around him soared. His hair rippled as the dirt suddenly blew away, and Scarlett blinked as the same happened to her.

That was convenient.

“Thank you, Fynn,” she said, then walked up next to Rosa to study the shield.

It really wasn’t as satisfying to solve puzzles like these if you could just check what the right answer was. Still, she wasn’t about to waste several hours just because of her stubbornness. Finding this book should be considered a stroke of luck, and it meant they had so much more time to spend on other things. Besides, she couldn’t even imagine how annoying it would have been if she actually had to trial-and-error her way through it.

She moved around to the other side of the shield. There, carved into its inside, was a rectangular gateway with a deep black surface that seemed to absorb all the surrounding light. It looked much like the Kilnstones did as they prepared to teleport people.

“There is our entrance,” she said, and pointed at the gateway.

Allyssa followed her behind the shield and eyed the entrance closely. “…A bit elaborate, isn’t it?”

“Not if it’s not supposed to be found,” Shin said. “I imagine this place was hidden for a reason.”

“Astute observation, Mister Thornthon.” Scarlett watched as Fynn came around and was the first to walk up to the gate. The young man glanced back at her, and she gave him a nod. He placed his hand against the black surface and disappeared.

Scarlett waited for a few seconds, then followed. As she touched the gateway, her surroundings warped. A moment later, she found herself at the top of a stone staircase. Small sconces with dark green crystals hung from the walls, illuminating the space with a dim light. Fynn stood a few steps down from her, and the rest of the party joined them soon after.

“So this is a Zuverian ruin…” Allyssa mumbled after she arrived, looking around.

Shin had stepped closer to examine one of the Zuver faces that were carved into the stone walls.

Scarlett started walking down the stairs. “While one could call this a ruin, it is in actuality a crypt.”

Well, technically, the last ruin she’d visited had been a crypt as well. But this one had it in the name.

“What’s the difference?” Shin asked.

“I suppose it would be the location. We are currently underground.”

When Scarlett reached the bottom of the stairs, they opened up into a wide chamber. She held up an arm to block the others from entering as they moved up beside her.

At the center of the chamber was a hulking construct of a dull grey steel with faintly luminescent blue lines running along it like veins. Its limbs were an interconnected set of large, bulky blocks, with its fists resting on the ground and the protruding knob that passed as its head turned downwards. The blue lines that ran along its body followed it all the way to the floor, where they ran from the construct to the walls of the chamber. There, they connected to four different crystals at each end of the room.

She raised a hand and conjured four Aqua Mines next to each crystal. Cracks formed in them as she detonated her mines, and the blue light passing to the construct immediately faded. She creased her brows. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why such an obvious design flaw would exist outside of the game. Still, it saved them a lot of trouble.

“Ehm, did you just turn that thing off?” Allyssa asked.

“It would appear so, yes.” Scarlett looked at Fynn. “Would you care to confirm?”

The young man stepped forward without hesitation. The unmoving mountain of steel didn’t move an inch as he walked up to it, reaching out a hand to touch its surface.

Satisfied with that much, Scarlett walked out into the chamber as well. She quickly went past the construct, towards the other end of the room. There, on top of an elevated platform, was a small stone altar. Scarlett climbed a set of stairs to the altar, where a small hand-sized object shaped like a rounded triangle rested. It had several intricate lines and symbols across its face and looked like it might have fit together with two other pieces.

[Seal of Thainnith (1/3) (Unique)]

{A third of a whole. A seal upon that which cowered}

She paused. That was an…odd description. She wasn’t sure what it meant with “cowered” in this context. That didn’t really fit in with what she knew from the game. Or maybe it did, in some way she wasn’t aware of?

She shook her head. Being confused by the system wasn’t exactly something new.

Turning her gaze upward, she took in the wall behind the altar. It was absolutely lined with the same kind of symbols as the seal, the language of the old Zuver. Beyond that, however, was also a large map that seemed to have been etched into the center of the wall. It looked like a topographical map of the empire and its surrounding regions, with several locations marked on it.

Eyeing it for another moment, she soon shifted her attention back to the altar. She didn’t really care about what the map was saying. That was for megalomaniacs and crazies.

She picked up the seal, placing it inside her pouch of holding.

[Quest completed: Assemble the Seal of Thainnith (1/3)]

{Skill points awarded: 4}

Oh? She got points for getting just one piece of the seal? That was nice.

“We are done here,” she said, turning back to the others.

They gave her surprised looks.

“That’s all?” Rosa asked.

“It is, yes.” Scarlett walked down from the altar.

“I was expecting a bit more after that grand entrance.”

“The purpose of this place did not extend beyond safeguarding its prize. It does not need to have more than this.”

Rosa looked a bit disappointed at that, but it wasn’t as if there was much to do about it.

Scarlett was about to cross the room to leave, but stopped as she passed the magical construct at the center. She eyed it for a short while.

Certain mages and wizards would, without a doubt, go crazy over the possibility of getting their hands on something like this. Unfortunately, she couldn’t exactly bring it with her. And revealing this place to outsiders might not be the best of ideas. While it wasn’t a certainty, such an action could provoke the Hallowed Cabal.

She glanced around the room and at the sconces that were spread around the walls. The same couldn’t be said for all of those, though.

“On second thought,” she said. “Before we leave, I want you all to collect those crystals and place them inside the storage bag.”

Those sold for a pretty penny, if she was remembering it right.

Only after having ensured all the lights were gathered—which included the magical crystals that had powered the construct—did Scarlett leave with the others.

Exiting through the same gateway they had entered through, all of them stepped out beneath the large stone statue.

[Quest completed: Cleared the Crypt of Osen Allanar]

{Skill points awarded: 5}

Scarlett read through the quest completion message. It was more than she had been expecting. Maybe it was because it was a dungeon related to the game’s main questline?

“Oh?” a refined, mature suddenly voice spoke from nearby. “Not quite who I was expecting. That’s disappointing.”

All of them turned around.

A short distance away, next to the stone foot of the statue, stood a woman. She was tall and had a lithe figure that was mostly covered by a golden yellow robe with a stark red showing on its inside. Its hood wrapped around her head, with the upper half of her face hidden by a white marble mask that had thick golden inlays tracing along the edges and the front, with deep scarlet rubies obscuring the eyes. Her skin under the mask was pale, almost white, and a small smile played across her deep-scarlet lips.

Fynn let out a low growl as he lowered into a fighting stance.

“Now, now,” the woman said. In her right hand, she held a long grey staff, its head a winding arrangement of curled bronze with a small azure gem in its crown. “Down, boy.”

As she spoke the words, the gem lit up a light blue. Fynn froze, his teeth bared as he was locked into place.

Allyssa stared at Fynn’s unmoving figure. “What…!?”

“Those Grehaldraels really are all the same, aren’t they?” The woman shook her head. “All that thin air. It must be doing something to their heads.”

Shin pulled out his sword and stepped up next to Fynn. He held his shield up to cover the rest of them.

The robed woman gave him an amused look. “Oh, what do we have here? Next is the Kereq. I’m sure that’ll go much better than for your little friend.”

The crystal on her staff lit up once more. A moment later, a pale white sheen enveloped Shin’s shield as the young man was pulled to the ground like a sack of stones.

“Shin!” Allyssa exclaimed.

Scarlett held the girl back with a hand on her shoulder. Kneeling on the ground, Shin tried—and failed—to pry his hands loose from the shield.

“Anyone else feel like testing their brilliant ideas?” the woman asked. “I’m more than happy to oblige, really. Perhaps I’ll even throw in a surprise or two this time.”

Both Rosa and Allyssa had their attention fixed on the woman, but neither spoke.

“No? Shame. I was starting to hope I didn’t get out of bed this morning for nothing.” The woman turned her attention towards Scarlett. “Now, who might you be?” There was an almost alluring undertone to her voice as she appeared to look over Scarlett. “I was expecting someone a bit… More. Not a…” She moved her free hand in the air. “Well, maybe I’ll keep that to myself. I have a modicum of decency, at least. I’m sure.”

Scarlett held an impassive expression. Look at this woman, acting like she had no idea who she was and as if this was the first time she’d seen her. But that’s about what one could expect.

“I am Baroness Scarlett Hartford.” She gestured to the others. “And these are my retainers.”

“A noble, hmm? Wasn’t expecting one of those around here. Especially not meddling with my plans.”

Scarlett pulled out the Seal of Thainnith from her pouch. “I presume you are referring to me acquiring this?”

“Yes, yes. That.” The woman waved her hand. “Not that there’s much else left in that dreary old cellar, other than that sorry excuse for a guardian and its afterlife tagalongs.”

Scarlett frowned. Afterlife…? Oh, right. There had been ghosts present when you fought that boss in the game. She’d completely forgotten about that part.

“Now, be a good little noble and hand me that seal so I can erase your memories and return it to where it belongs.” The woman held out her hand. “I’ll promise I won’t jumble things about too much. I’ll try, at the very least.”

…She wasn’t sure if the woman was serious or not.

“I have another proposal.” Scarlett returned the seal to the pouch.

“I’m sure you have. And I happen to have a craving for poached dragon egg with a side of grask. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of that flying around.”

“I believe this proposal is something you will welcome.”

The robed woman studied her for a few seconds. “Why, aren’t you a confident one? I’m sure it’d be terribly fun, and usually I love myself a woman with a bit of aplomb, but I’m far too stingy for charity. Now, will you give it to me? I’d prefer it if you didn’t make me do all the work.”

“You have the Essence of Zenthas, do you not?”

The woman paused. A smirk grew across her lips. “I take it back. Maybe I can afford a smidge of generosity, just this once. Consider yourself honored.”

Scarlett glanced at Fynn and Shin. “Before we proceed… Is it truly necessary to treat my retainers in this manner?”

“They’re spry young men. I’m sure they’ll be fine. Don’t leave a girl hanging and go changing subjects,” the woman said. “You’ve got at least a finger’s worth of my curiosity raised, you know. That’s more than about any other noble I’ve met in this dreary place.” She turned quiet, eyeing her for a moment. “You’re not one of that old miscreant’s people, are you? I wouldn’t take a Grehaldrael to join up with them, though. And I’d be disappointed now if you were.”

“I am no one’s person.”

“Mmm, yes. It’s dreadfully drab, isn’t it?” The woman gestured at Scarlett with her hand. “Now, out with it. Tell me whatever trifling ploy you’ve got cooked up here. Don’t worry, it can’t be much more banal and crude than what I am accustomed to.”

Scarlett stared at her. In the game, this woman had been an entertaining character. She wasn’t quite as charming when you were at the receiving end of her personality, though.

“It is simple. You will hand me the Essence of Zenthas, and in return, I will give you the seal.”

“Ah, I spoke too soon.” The woman’s tone turned flat. “And here I was, going around catching expectations. One would think I’d know better at my age.” She raised her staff. “Now, I’ll take a quick look into that dimensional bag of yours. I won’t pry too much, though. A lady’s privy to her secrets.”

“I believe you misunderstand.” Scarlett looked into the rubies that hid the woman’s eyes. “I did not say I would give you a piece of the Seal of Thainnith. I said I would give you the seal.”

The staff paused, held aloft above the ground. “…That is one large claim you are making. Surely you should know better than you make promises you can’t keep?”

“That is true. Perhaps I should clarify.” Scarlett pulled out the seal piece once again. “In truth, this is the only piece I can give you. But what I am offering is not the seal itself. Rather, I am offering the location of another piece, and the possibility of retrieving the third. This should not differ much from your own plans, no?”

The woman slowly lowered her staff. “You do seem to know a lot, don’t you?”

“I make it a priority to be informed before I undertake any meaningful pursuits.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do. And I do so love working with competent people.” The woman stayed quiet for a while. The crystal on her staff lit up as Fynn was suddenly released from his stasis.

He stilled for a moment, then growled at the woman.

“Say, poodle-boy, what do you say of this master of yours words?”

He blinked, gawking at her.

“Well?” She placed a hand against her hip. “I don’t have all day. Some of us have matters to tend to. Or at least pretend to tend to.”

Fynn glanced at Scarlett, who gave him a nod.

“…She’s telling the truth,” he said.

“Is that so?” The masked woman returned her attention to Scarlett. “Hmm. Well, I suppose that’ll do for now. Fortunately for you, I’ve always had a penchant for striking deals that would be better left alone.”

“So you will hand me the Essence?” Scarlett asked.

“Not like I have much more use for that rotten thing anymore. But that will have to wait for a while.” The woman seemed to grimace under her mask. “If I knew I’d need it, I wouldn’t have thrown it into that place.”

Scarlett wasn’t sure where ‘that place’ was, but she suspected she didn’t want to know. “After you have retrieved it, I will fulfill my end of the bargain. Until then, I presume you will not oppose me keeping the seal? It should not pose an issue for you to retrieve it, would you so wish.”

The smile returned to the woman’s face. “You know just what to say to pique my interest, don’t you? I’m dying to pick your brain.” She turned quiet, looking to the side for a moment. “That will have to wait until another time, unfortunately. The chicken coop is calling.”

She tapped her staff on the ground, and a shimmering gate appeared in the air beside her. She threw one last glance at Scarlett and the others. “Until next time.”

As she stepped through the portal, it disappeared along with her. The next moment, Shin fell onto his back as his shield clattered to the ground.

The others stared at the space where the woman had been.

“…Who was that?” Allyssa eventually asked.

Scarlett returned the seal to the pouch. “My contingency.”