Volume 6 Chapter 11, Part 2 Who Thought Of This Troublesome Thing... It Was Me.
Everyone nodded except Catherine and the others at Randy's words.
"Most of what we have to do won't change, but when the sunlight is lost... does that mean a solar eclipse?"
What came to mind was the [Eclipse Altar].
This wall painting appears to signify a total solar eclipse with what seems to be a pitch-black moon.
"So, if we solve this, Lady Eleonora's body will──"
At Cecilia's hopeful comment, Randy shook his head in response.
With the surprising reaction, everyone but Ellie and Lucius was taken aback, as Randy fixed his gaze directly on Ellie and spoke.
"What do you think, Ellie? If I'm right, this mural is──"
"That's not the case. Even if we solve this, it won't lead us to my body."
All eyes gathered on Ellie as she sighed.
Ellie and Lucius had also examined the runes, along with the mural's magical power, and their opinion was...
"The magic sealed in this mural is similar to that of the previous one. However──"
"Its effect has long since faded."
Catherine, returning to the two's conclusion, furrowed her brows and asked, "What do you mean?"
"It's just that. This is simply a remnant of magic that has long fulfilled its purpose."
With a distant look, Ellie made Catherine involuntarily speak,
"So, um... Someone has reached your body──"
Catherine snapped her mouth shut, realizing too late.
Though Ellie likely didn't want to acknowledge this fact, if someone had broken this seal, it could only mean they had already reached Ellie's body.
Upon confronting this reality, everyone's expression darkened, but Randy alone stared straight at Ellie and spoke.
"It's too early to be disheartened."
At Randy's words, everyone raised their heads at once.
"By the way, Sir Randolph seems to have noticed something."
Cecilia continued, "You mentioned a hypothesis."
"Yeah. Just as I predicted, there was something hidden that points to Ellie's body..."
Randy took a deep breath, and everyone fell silent, their gazes focused on him.
"...it's just my guess, but this ruin is──"
"A ruin...?"
"A trap."
Serious Randy, but everyone looked puzzled.
"A, a trap... what kind?"
Randy smiled at Cory, who had recovered the fastest.
"To *capture the ancient king*, of course."
Randy's smiling comment made him laugh, saying, "So it's like an ancient king trap?"
"W-wait a moment!"
Flustered Cecilia exclaimed, "The ancient king? But he is here──" then closed her mouth suddenly and opened it slowly again.
"Here, he is sealed..."
Cecilia, coming to a realization alone, concluded that it referred to the trap Randy had mentioned.
"There are 3 points of discomfort."
All eyes were back on Randy as he raised a finger.
"First, the upper ruin. The principal mentioned it, but while it's said to conceal the underground, truly it serves as a clue pointing here."
Randy's explanation started with the contradiction that what is hidden is actually found for someone.
It can be perceived as a device to *lure out those searching for the hidden*.
Moreover, it is carefully embedded into the gadget that unlocks the seal.
"That's the ancient king, right?"
Luke tilted his head as Randy continued,
"Well, hold on. Next, these countless coffins. The reason for placing the terracotta warriors is undoubtedly to make it known that this is Ellie's tomb."
Randy's resumed explanation was a trick to firmly make those coming to search recognize, 'This is it.'
"Also, I'm not too detailed, but isn't there some kind of ritual for burning offerings?"
Randy tilted his head, and Annabelle timidly raised her hand, saying, "Y-yes, it exists in necromancy."
All the offerings inside the coffins were burning.
Moreover, with something resembling magic applied to the door.
Whether that is what Annabelle referred to as necromancy is unclear, but the possibility of it being part of some ritual has suddenly emerged.
"So, in the end... how did that man, the Ancient King, *get sealed*?"
Randy states that the Ancient King would be an opponent who could even outmatch Ellie at her peak.
Moreover, from what Catherine says, he can be considered a founding figure of this nation.
Who could seal someone with great power and even an army of their own?
"Initially, I thought it was Ellie's best friend, Lady Charlotte, who managed to contain him... depending on the situation, this could lead to a conflict greater than a war between nations. If this is the epicenter, then this purity is abnormal."
"Y-Yeah, that's true."
Nodding, Annabelle continues, saying that many undead can still be seen in places like the ancient battlefield.
The ruins above, of course, and even the forest showed not a trace of life.
"In other words, my guess is that this ruins, or rather the entire island, is a trap to draw the Ancient King, who used Ellie's body as a decoy, into a seal."
Ellie ponders over Randy's prediction.
"I definitely can't imagine that Charlotte could beat him with her skills. If the concealment magic placed on the door is just a bluff, and the true concealment was the mural of the seal..."
Knowing both their characters and skills, Randy's prediction begins to take shape in Ellie's mind.
"By the way, about the necromancy that Lady Ridley (Annabelle) mentioned, there are similar terrifying techniques that extract the soul of the target."
At Lucius's explanation, Randy shuddered with a "What is that, scary?"
"Don't worry, it requires various conditions, and it's not something a normal human can do. It would take someone as skilled as Lady Charlotte, who is well-versed in alchemy."
Lucius shakes his head with a smile, but thanks to that clarification, the contours of Randy's prediction started to become clear.
"The Ancient King trap..."
All eyes followed Catherine's gaze toward the stairs as everyone looked in that direction.
Coming down from there was a man.
Of course, he was not a real human.
He was a man from a shared imagined world inside everyone's minds.
At the same time, the entire room started to color... the walls brightened with decorations, and in the coffin lay a doll resembling a human.
The man who came down the stairs walked through Randy and the others, heading towards the coffin room.
The man snorted at a doll resembling a person but casually took out several of them.
He checked inside the coffin as if wary of something, but finding nothing, he returned the doll.
As the man continued to search the area, he smiled as if noticing something and directed magical power towards the wall.
The concealed magic was likely dispelled, revealing a door and a mural.
Time seemed to pass as the man flickered in and out, and finally, with a lewd smile, he inserted golden and silver orbs into the door.
Slowly, the door opened, and the moment the man stepped inside, the funeral goods burst into flames.
The man realized it was a trap, but it was already too late.
He struggled to hold back his soul, which seemed ready to escape from his body, but ultimately, he was drawn into the door and vanished... The door slowly closed, revealing the mural that had truly been hidden, and the area was once again enveloped in silence.
Someone swallowed hard.
"I-I saw something, though?"
"I-I did too..."
Catherine and Leon, with strained smiles, were nodding vigorously, surprising Annabelle and Cory like a rock band.
"...It aligns with the legend that the founder of this country vanished without a trace..."
Cecilia nodded and continued, stating that the founder of this country appeared from nowhere and then disappeared.
"A trap. So that's what it is."
Shivering, Cecilia stared at the door and said, "But..." as she slumped her shoulders.
"Then there are no clues about Lady Eleonora here, right?"
"No. There might be something."
All eyes turned back to Randy at his words.
"Perhaps, it's precisely because there are clues here that the Ancient King was ensnared in a trap."
"So, what about that information?"
"Who knows?"
With a wry smile and a tilt of his head, Randy made everyone sigh, "Yeah, right."
"Well, I don't know... Ellie, what about you?"
Ellie, being addressed, furrowed her brows and said, "Me?"
"The one who protected your body was undoubtedly your best friend. So, you should understand her thoughts, right?"
Ellie glanced up at the slightly glowing grand door, saying, "Charl's...".
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