Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: Doodle
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< Chapter 139: The Tulip Mausoleum (4) >
“The Tulip Floral Arts Guild was not founded simply for flower arranging. It serves as a sacred tomb honoring the ancestors who rest in this underground sanctuary.”
Ode took it upon herself to guide Theo and his companions through the guild.
By repeatedly stressing the sanctity of the place, perhaps these rowdy brutes would exercise a bit of restraint, uncertain of when or where a sword might be drawn.
Or so she thought–
‘These muscle-brained fools, seriously!’
They seemed to listen with one ear and ignore with the other.
Only Wellington nodded along quietly.
Ray yawned openly, while Selperd and Arin kept exchanging jokes.
Theo was entirely lost in his own thoughts.
In her heart, Ode wanted to make all four of them kneel and listen to her lecture for five straight hours.
「Give it up. Young people today hardly have any interest in historical sites like this.」
Upsurging Dragon read the ferocity in Ode’s gaze and sent her a telepathic message tinged with humor.
「Are you kidding! This is a place filled with the spirit and soul of the North!」
「Well, it doesn’t put food on the table. Nor does it bring in any money.」
「How can you compare history and tradition to mere sustenance or money!」
「Do you know what people call someone like you in this day and age?」
「What?」
「Old-fashioned.」
「You...!!」
Ode’s face flushed red, looking ready to jump up right there and then.
Upsurging Dragon chuckled.
「I understand how deeply proud you are of your work. I know it’s an important mission. But that doesn’t mean you can impose it on others. Young folks have completely different interests from ours.」
Ode pressed her lips together tightly.
「Come to think of it, when we were their age, weren’t we more focused on ourselves and those close to us rather than the affairs of our family? Isn’t that right?」
It was advice she didn’t particularly like, yet couldn’t deny.
Still, Ode pouted, unwilling to fully admit it.
「Please, don’t lump me in with you, old man. I’m from a different generation than you, remember.」
「This rascal, can’t even take a compliment.」
While the two bickered–
Theo recalled the conversation Lezé and Cassandra had shared a little while ago.
Can I become king?
Lezé’s question to Cassandra still echoed in his mind.
Even if one aimed for the throne, Theo hadn’t expected Lezé to ask a prophet outright.
‘An issue that sensitive could easily be seen as treason if mishandled.’
While Kyle was openly active, to speak of the “throne” rather than the “succession rights” was an exceedingly risky move that could easily give others an excuse to question her.
Still, Lezé didn’t seem to care at all.
Whether this confidence stemmed from self-assurance or from urgency was unclear.
However, the real issue lay in Cassandra’s response that followed.
-Yes.
It was a very short answer, but could there be any reply more definitive than that?
In fact, the atmosphere among the Reaper Division, who followed Lezé, had completely changed.
Conversely, Theo’s group deliberately acted as though they hadn’t heard it.
Initially, Theo had been deeply shocked, but he soon discovered a certain inconsistency.
‘Lezé ultimately fails. And it’s by Torkel’s hand.’
The clash between Lezé and Torkel.
And Lezé’s death in battle.
The social shock that the fall of one of the five main contenders brought about was so immense that Theo could recall it as if it happened yesterday.
‘Yet Cassandra claimed Lezé would become King… which means it has to be one of two possibilities.’
Either Cassandra’s prophecy was incomplete, or the history Theo knew had been altered.
If it was neither of those—
‘The Wheel of Time.’
It was a prophecy Cassandra had given before.
-The King of the dead rewinds the wheel.
The tarot card marked by the Wheel of Death kept resurfacing in his mind.
‘If she’s a King, she’s a King, after all.’
If Lezé had made any mistake, it was that her question had been too vague.
Had she instead asked outright whether she could become the King of the North, it would have left much less room for reinterpretation.
Of course, all this was nothing more than Theo’s speculation.
Yet Theo felt he wasn’t wrong.
And with good reason.
-The tablets of the heroic souls.
The very place where he now stood was the middle of a tomb where the dead lay at rest, wasn’t it?
Ode led the group to the central building of the guild.
A glass-covered greenhouse.
As they entered, the scent of tulips struck their noses, and gravestones scattered throughout the garden caught their eyes.
“In a distant past, so far back that it barely appears in history, a monstrous army beyond the Demonic Sea trampled over the North and descended to this very place, plunging the world into a crisis of extinction.”
Ode spoke as she looked at the gravestones, whose inscriptions were nearly erased by the passage of time.
“At that time, a band of 299 warriors was formed in Ragnar. They resolved to sacrifice their lives to block the monster army and its king. Right here, they confronted the monsters and died a heroic death.”
There were exactly 299 gravestones.
“According to the oral records, Ragnar barely managed to achieve victory. The King of Monsters retreated back to the Demonic Sea, and the world was saved. However, instead of honoring Ragnar's sacrifice, the world forgot them, and with the loss of its finest warriors, Ragnar began its decline.”
Selperd, Arin, and Ray, who hadn’t been paying much attention to Ode’s explanation, straightened up, sensing the growing heaviness in the atmosphere.
“Until Lady Aslaug, our ancient ancestor, appeared and rallied the collapsing family, the North endured a long and sorrowful dark age. But while we may be angry at that neglect, we must not regret it. This, too, is part of Ragnar's proud history.”
Feel anger, but harbor no regrets.
It meant that while Ragnar could feel anger toward the world for forgetting their sacrifice, they should never regret making that sacrifice in the first place, as if it had been made in vain.
Instead, they should feel even more pride.
After all, it was the decision of their ancestors.
‘The war with the Nameless Sovereign… the place where the fallen warriors were buried.’
Theo’s gaze remained fixed on the gravestones.
The words, king of the dead.
The prophecy kept spinning around in his mind.
* * *
“Did the heart serve you well?”
It was Upsurging Dragon who interrupted Theo’s thoughts.
He was referring to the Garuda’s Heart.
Theo quickly bowed.
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
“I see. Just from looking, it seems to have worked quite well.”
Upsurging Dragon observed Theo’s transformed muscles and bone structure, letting out a small exclamation.
Now, he truly looked like a swordsman worthy of representing Ragnar, no matter where he went.
His growth was rapid—almost too rapid.
“That’s a relief. Lady Hilda would be quite pleased as well.”
“How is Lady Hilda?”
“She’s doing quite well, indeed. She’s so vigorous that I worry she might live much longer than this old man. Ha ha ha.”
Upsurging Dragon chuckled with a curious glint in his eye.
“She’s so energetic that I had quite the struggle trying to calm her down when she declared she’d go find herself a disciple.”
Not a potential disciple, but simply a disciple?
It revealed just how Hilda saw Theo.
A cold sweat ran down his back.
“…But are you sure it’s alright for you to be out here like this?”
“Those at the top decided it was time for me to stop lazing around and start earning my keep, so here I am. When they say jump, I have to jump.”
Despite his words, it was clear his primary goal was to train his disciple Wellington in real combat.
And perhaps, his main objective was even beyond that.
As they discussed various matters, from recent updates to the progress of the war, time flew by, and it was soon night.
However, there was still no sign of Lezé anywhere.
‘Seems like she still doesn’t know anything about the Grim Reaper.’
Unless she was a Chosen, there was no way she could know about the Relic of the Primordial Dragon, so there wasn’t much to worry about.
The main point was that he needed to reclaim the Grim Reaper now that he had secured ownership.
For the time being, however, Theo decided to put that off temporarily.
He couldn’t risk a confrontation with Lezé just yet, especially since he had already retrieved the most important part of the relic, the <Ownership>.
Theo believed that when the time was right, he could reclaim it.
And once again, time passed, and it was the dawn of the following day.
“…You’re still keeping up your dawn training routine, even out here on an external mission?”
Wellington approached Theo, who was out in the backyard of the guild building, warming up, with a somewhat weary expression.
“If I don’t stretch my body regularly, my senses get dull.”
“Honestly, I think a little dullness on your part would be a blessing for those of us trailing behind.”
“But isn’t that why you’re out here training too, Wel?”
“When you’re behind, you have to work even harder than those ahead, or you’ll never catch up. But if those ahead keep pushing themselves even more, catching up feels nearly impossible.”
Wellington shook his head, stretching his legs lightly.
Seeing Wellington’s well-toned thighs, Theo could tell that, despite his complaints, he had been rigorously trained under Upsurging Dragon.
“Wel.”
“What is it?”
“How about a spar to loosen up a bit? It’s been a while.”
“Ho ho. Sounds good.”
Theo and Wellington each took up a training sword and faced each other.
It felt like a reminder of their first meeting.
Clang—
Their swords met lightly.
Whoosh!
In that moment, as they both prepared to move with full strength—
A chill!
Suddenly, something sent a cold shiver down Theo and Wellington’s spines.
“Theo!”
“Yes. Something is approaching.”
The problem was that the presence they sensed was coming from where Cassandra was located.
Theo and Wellington immediately went in that direction.
