Episode 366
Chapter 111: Traces (6)

[There is no plan. Only a purpose.]

What Sheila meant by “purpose” was clear.

To help Jin, the thousand-year-old contractor of Solderet, safely reach Temar’s fourth tomb.

[Myla… That child clearly resented me keeping the promise to Solderet. And the others too. They all think our fairy descendants are making pointless sacrifices. Or clinging to meaningless hope.]

“So that’s why you effectively removed Lady Sheila from the throne and Myla took control of the forest?”

[Exactly. Waiting for you was too uncertain, and the reward unclear… Meanwhile, there are those who say they’ll give us everything we want for just a little information. In that sense, betrayal was inevitable.]

“What exactly do the fairy descendants want?”

[To reclaim our true selves.]

Sheila’s voice grew somber as she added,

[…I’ll explain that in detail when the time is right. For now, our priority is to get through this situation and guide you to Temar’s fourth tomb.]

Prrrrrriii!

Particles of light shimmered from Sheila’s twin wings. The surroundings brightened, revealing the tangled surfaces of the trees. The dim cave felt like the innards of some colossal beast.

[Lulu, Miru.]

[Yes.]

[His fourth tomb is not in this cave.]

Sheila had long foreseen Myla and her kin’s betrayal.

That’s why she never revealed the true location of the fourth tomb. All the other fairy descendants, except Sheila, believed Temar’s tomb lay at the end of this cave.

[Then where is it…?]

[The Red Lake. The source of the Wantaramo Forest’s waters.]

The Red Lake was the largest water source in Wantaramo Forest, feeding into the outer Yulpi River. All life in the forest, including the fairy descendants, depended on it.

[We must get there as fast as possible. Before the trackers arrive, the contractor must reach his tomb first. Summon the Crimson Jade Shrine, Jin Runkandel.]

Sheila had learned from the tomb-dweller tribe that Jin was Shuri’s contractor.

Whoosh!

The summoned Shuri carried the entire group on its back and dashed forward. They had to reach the cave’s end first to slip out unnoticed and head toward the Red Lake.

The cave’s structure was far deeper than Jin and Valeria had imagined. Even riding Shuri at full speed, it took over thirty minutes to reach the end.

There, they saw a massive door made of magical energy.

‘It’s similar to the door in the secret archive beneath Stormhold.’

Like that door, it required powerful experts to break it without the activation phrase. This one was even stronger than the Stormhold door.

Sheila spoke the activation phrase in the fairy descendants’ language, and the door opened, revealing the interior.

[Myla believes beyond this door lie my crown, Temar’s fourth tomb, and the great legacy left by our ancestors…]

But beyond the door was only emptiness.

A barren scene of rough stone walls and a chilling wind blowing from nowhere greeted them.

[There’s nothing here. I planned to show this void to Myla when she grew up, hoping she’d realize how hollow our people have become.]

Though Myla was over two thousand years old, Sheila thought she was no different from a newborn fairy descendant.

Watching a younger sibling who failed to grow and made the wrong choices—and knowing she might have to kill that sibling—was naturally painful for Sheila.

Clack…!

The door closed.

[Ah, I got lost in thought for a moment. Let’s keep moving. From here, Lulu and Miru, we’ll need your abilities.]

Sheila referred to the tomb-dwellers’ unique dimensional powers.

[You want us to create a passage to the Red Forest?]

[Yes. If time allows, create a path to confuse the trackers as well.]

[How much time do we have left?]

At those words, Jin and Valeria exchanged the same thought.

‘Which is the closest mage tower in the Kiken Principality?’

‘The nearest one here is the Ziphl Mage Tower, right?’

The answer was the Third Mage Tower.

Located on Rachan Island between the Lutero Magic Federation and the Biment Sea, if Ziphl received the signal and sent reinforcements, it would be from there.

“About three hours.”

“Probably around three hours. Assuming Myla can send word to Ziphl within an hour.”

Jin and Valeria answered simultaneously, glancing at each other.

[You two are quicker than I am. I’ve been out of touch with human geography for so long, I was getting confused.]

[Three hours is enough to create the maze.]

Lulu and Miru said confidently, but Sheila shook her head.

[But there’s one thing your calculations missed. Do you know the staffs of the mage tower lords?]

The mage tower lords’ staffs.

They bore special rune inscriptions. Both Valeria in her past life and Jin in his current one had encountered those irritating runes.

“Ziphl carved rune inscriptions to summon the mage tower wizards in Wantaramo Forest?”

[Most likely. When Keliak came to ask the King of Songs for a favor, he gifted Myla a staff. I suspected it bore the same runes as the mage tower lords’ staffs.]

Myla’s betrayal had happened decades ago. Naturally, she would have prepared at least one device for immediate summoning.

[Two hours. That’s all the time we have left. Lulu, Miru. Can you manage it within that?]

[We’ll try.]

Lulu and Miru pulled out claw-like objects from their cloaks.

[Jin Runkandel, you really have to treat us well from now on.]

Lulu smiled slyly.

But Jin could read the disappointment behind that smile.

“…This is a divine relic, isn’t it?”

As Jin suspected, it was a claw bestowed long ago by the Cat God to the tomb-dweller tribe.

[Right. We used these relics to protect you and the small beastfolk even in their caves. Luckily, we still have two left.]

One was with Neru, the other with Lulu and Miru.

These relics were the tomb-dwellers’ only means of communicating with the ancient Cat Gods.

Most of their power was devoted to protecting Jin and the small beastfolk.

“Lady Sheila, can’t you just force your way through?”

Jin asked, frustrated.

The cave was mostly made of wood. There was no way Jin’s strength couldn’t cut through it.

[If I recklessly destroy the cave, we’ll lose our way because of the trees. Since Myla controls Wantaramo Forest, if the trees that make up the cave go berserk, even I would lose direction. Sorry.]

Sorry.

Jin hated hearing that every time. He couldn’t understand why those who had sacrificed for a thousand years kept apologizing to him.

But he knew that getting angry or sulking would only upset those who had sacrificed so much.

So he swallowed the frustration and put on a calm expression.

He vowed to show results worthy of their sacrifices, so they wouldn’t have to apologize.

Watching Jin, Valeria thought,

‘He was disappointing at first, but the more I see him, the more I realize he has some depth. And somehow, when he deals with me, it doesn’t feel like he’s just trying to use me…’

Valeria stepped closer to Lulu and Miru.

“I’ll help.”

[Huh? You mean creating the pocket dimension and forming the dimensional gate?]

“Yes.”

[Thanks, but that’s too complicated for humans.]

“Your spatial abilities are more like divine powers, but part of it is magic, right? I’ll just read the flow and assist where magic is needed.”

[Uh, well… it’s usually better to just wait. But how did you know our abilities involve magic?]

“Because you smell of magic. People who don’t normally use magic can’t carry such a strong scent.”

[Magic has a scent?]

“Just try it, and if I get in the way, tell me right away. I’ll back off quietly. Or are you worried I might discover the secret of the tomb-dwellers’ powers?”

[No, it’s not that…]

Valeria sat down cross-legged. Lulu and Miru glanced between her and themselves, shrugging. They looked like they knew she’d be a hindrance…

They even glanced at Jin as if to say, “Please stop her.”

But Jin wasn’t her superior, so he just shook his head.

[Fine. But if you get in the way, you have to stop immediately. We don’t have time.]

“Understood.”

Lulu and Miru carefully rubbed the Cat God’s claw relics, murmuring words in an unknown language.

Then, like when Neru opened the third tomb, a sacred purple aura spread everywhere, mixed with the magic Valeria had mentioned.

‘I had no idea, but Valeria recognized at a glance that the tomb-dwellers also use magic.’

Valeria truly was someone worthy of being called a ‘master.’

‘And she says she’ll just read the flow and assist, even though she’s never seen this magic before?’

For once, Jin couldn’t help but be suspicious of Valeria.

Even for someone considered a genius among geniuses, this felt like an absolutely impossible feat—so it was only natural to feel that way.

Yet Valeria, as if mocking their doubts, was reading the flow of magic that the Myoin tribe was weaving with astonishing ease.

Not only that, she was already infusing her own magic into it, accelerating the formation of the dimensional gate and the pocket space.

[Is this even possible?]

[H-hey, what on earth are you!?]

Lulu and Miru stared at Valeria in shock.

“I told you it was possible,” Valeria replied calmly, sweat pouring down her face like rain.

She was pouring every ounce of her energy into reading the magical currents.

Her robe quickly became soaked, but the heat radiating from her body was so intense it melted the dye in her hair.

Finally, Valeria’s red hair was revealed.

Sheila couldn’t take her eyes off that hair, her face lost in deep thought.