Sinielle, Sunset Tavern.
Inside a room on the top floor of this underworld-linked brokerage, Riezel and Lizbeth appeared.
By rights, Riezel should not have been here.
He had known since his very first day in Sinielle that the master behind Sunset Tavern was connected to City Lord Sigmund. Yet now, as the outsider who had gravely injured the City Lord and even leveled the City Hall, he brazenly chose to stay in an inn tied to the City Lord—an act nothing short of contemptuous.
However, after leaving the City Hall, Riezel had nonchalantly picked this place as his temporary stop, as if deliberately practicing the principle that the most dangerous place was often the safest.
Of course, upon moving in, Riezel had cast illusion magic to alter both his and Lizbeth's appearances, ensuring the people of Sunset Tavern would not recognize them.
Even though this ruse would not hold long against an establishment that also dealt in intelligence, suspicion would sooner or later fall upon him, prompting them to notify the City Hall, so Riezel had no intention of staying long.
By the time Sunset Tavern realized something was wrong, he might have already walked out openly with Lizbeth at his side.
Just like that, the two were now in the room—Riezel seated, Lizbeth standing beside him in the manner of an attentive maid.
"Master."
Lizbeth handed Riezel a thick stack of parchment.
"Is this the information you found in the City Hall's secret library?"
Taking the stack, Riezel asked as his eyes moved over it.
"Yes." Lizbeth nodded repeatedly, her expression full of relief at having fulfilled her mission. "I skimmed through them, and without exception, every single one of these documents contained the words 'ancient ruin of Sinielle,' so I brought them all back."
"Good." Riezel smiled gently. "You've done well."
"N-No, it wasn't hard..." Lizbeth twisted her fingers shyly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Honestly, the one who really worked hard was you, Master..."
What she said was not wrong.
She had only slipped into the secret library and taken the parchments, which required little effort. Riezel, on the other hand, had fought alone against the entire City Hall—including Sigmund himself.
No matter how one looked at it, it was Riezel who had borne the burden.
Fortunately, Riezel had emerged unharmed, or else the little princess might have been drowning in guilt and tears.
Unaware of Lizbeth's thoughts, Riezel chuckled and picked up one of the parchments to read.
Seeing this, Lizbeth did not disturb him and quietly slipped into the small tea room, fumbling a little as she brewed tea for him.
As a result, the room fell silent, save for the rustle of parchment as Riezel turned one after another.
As his eyes swept quickly across the text, skimming line after line, Riezel soon realized most of it was actually useless.
As Lizbeth had said, every single piece did mention the 'ancient ruin of Sinielle.'
Still, the contents were either records of people secretly exchanging information about the ruin—only to be eliminated on Sigmund's orders for violating the taboo—or reports of the City Hall's knights arresting those who had done so.
Although none of this held much value for Riezel, a few parchments carried significance.
For instance, the weathered parchment he was reading now detailed the entire process of when the ancient ruin of Sinielle first appeared.
—On XX day of XX month, in XXXX year, an ancient ruin emerged from the desert near the borders of Sinielle's territory.
—At first, passersby thought it was a mirage and paid it no heed, but as time passed, someone eventually drew close and confirmed it was real, not an illusion.
—In the end, the matter was reported to City Hall that very same day, spreading swiftly into the lands of Jinas and Reiburg.
—Half a month later, City Lord Sigmund Bayard personally led an expedition, bringing ten Oasis Knights and a hundred elite knights into the ruin.
—One day later, Sigmund Bayard returned alone. Not a single knight came back—all had perished.
—Seven days later, Jinas dispatched knights and court magicians as a delegation to Sinielle.
—On the same day, a delegation from Reiburg arrived as well.
—City Lord Sigmund Bayard met both delegations, and after an hour-long meeting filled with heated conflict, he firmly rejected their request to explore the ruin. Talks ended without agreement.
—However, the following day, as the two delegations left Sinielle, instead of returning home, they found the ancient ruin's location by other means and went into the desert, ignoring Sigmund Bayard's objections.
—Ten days later, both nations sent new delegations, claiming their previous delegations had vanished.
—A second round of talks was held, but this time, Sigmund Bayard had no choice but to agree to an exploration. He ventured into the desert alongside the two nations' delegations.
—However, the very next day, Sigmund Bayard returned gravely wounded. Only a handful from the two delegations survived.
—A third round of talks followed, where all three parties agreed: the ancient ruin would belong solely to Sinielle. Jinas and Reiburg would no longer interfere.
—After the two delegations left, Sigmund Bayard immediately declared the ancient ruin forbidden, banning anyone in Sinielle from speaking of it.
—He then sealed off the site, layering magic barriers until the ancient ruin vanished from sight within the desert.
Reading through the records on the old parchment, Riezel frowned.
'Hmm... was the ancient ruin really that dangerous?'
Sigmund had ventured inside twice—once losing all his men before fleeing, and the second time returning badly wounded, nearly dying within.
Both Jinas and Reiburg, two of the four great countries of the Akasha Continent, had sent their people as well, but just like Sigmund, the first group vanished completely, while the other was nearly annihilated.
After that, whether it was Sinielle, Jinas, or Reiburg, all quietly abandoned the ancient ruin, avoiding it as though it were cursed. Especially Sigmund, who, perhaps traumatized, sealed all related records and declared the ruin a taboo no one could touch.
All of this pointed to one truth—the ancient ruin that had appeared out of nowhere was no ordinary place.
Even Sigmund, a veteran Sword Saint on the verge of reaching Level 8, had entered twice, only to retreat in disgrace each time, which alone proved the ancient ruin hid something terrifying.
If Riezel chose to head there, he could easily face threats even he could not overcome.
And yet...
'Well, this only makes me more curious...'
Instead of hesitation, Riezel felt his excitement rising.
How could he not?
Danger?
Adventure?
Deadly crisis?
All these were exactly what thrilled someone like him.
'I really wanna see what's inside.'
Suppressing the rush of exhilaration in his chest, Riezel kept reading through the remaining parchments.
He was finally rewarded when he came across a map among the last few parchments.
It was a detailed map of the area surrounding Sinielle.
Every feature was carefully marked, with paths drawn out, and a bold red line stretched across one path, ending with a large crimson 'X.'
Needless to say, such a mark, blood-red in color, seemed to scream that something was terribly wrong there.
'Lizbeth really did well finding something like this.'
Riezel clicked his tongue in amazement.
Nowhere on the map was the term 'ancient ruin of Sinielle' written, so to ordinary eyes, it would never be linked to the ruin.
Yet Lizbeth had brought it back anyway.
As for why, it was simply because the map had been stored deep within the library, sealed in the same box as the record he had just read. Lizbeth had reasoned that if it was kept together with the record, then it must have some connection to the ancient ruin, and so she had taken it.
'Well, well, so this is the place, huh...'
Staring at the red X, Riezel memorized the route before carefully folding the map away.
"Master, please have some tea."
By then, Lizbeth had finished brewing and had set a cup of black tea before Riezel.
"Thank you."
Riezel came back to himself, thanked Lizbeth, and picked up the cup.
"Mm, there's no need, it's my duty."
Lizbeth beamed, clearly delighted that her master had accepted her tea without complaint.
Riezel, however, almost wanted to point out that this was hardly the duty of an attendant.
What were a magician's attendants?
They were warriors bound by contract to magicians, not servants fetching tea—their role was to act as protectors, not maids.
Yet Lizbeth treated such things as her proper duty, which was baffling.
However, with Marilyn as precedent, Riezel could not dismiss it entirely, so he just let it go.
"I know where the ancient ruin is now." Riezel said calmly.
"R-Really?" Lizbeth's smile faded.
"You going?" Riezel looked at Lizbeth and asked casually.
Lizbeth hesitated for a moment before finally nodding with determination.
"Yes!"
===
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