The Indomitable Martial King Chapter 13

“Everyone, let everyone get some rest!”

They had barely retreated this far after fighting over twenty ogres just a moment ago. As it happened, there was an ogre village on the road. Even before that, they fought constantly against powerful monsters such as harpies, basilisks, and direwolves, so even the world’s best Altion Knights could not help but get tired. Both the wizard Toad and the priest Silan were covered in sweat and dust and were on the verge of exhaustion.

One of the knights looked around and muttered as if complaining.

“Why are there so many monsters in this small mountain range?”

‘Why, that’s because I just ignorantly went straight in the direction of the ruins.’

Since Stevan openly shouted, ‘Guidance is the only value of your existence!’, Leppenhardt also decided to respect his opinion. Originally, the rule was to take the road between the monsters’ habitats and arrive at the ruins, but I ignored that and went straight, so I couldn’t help but encounter various monsters.

‘I didn’t lie. ‘This is the fastest way.’

Of course, I paid no mind to the time delay due to fighting monsters. It is not the guide’s responsibility if something happens and you are late.

He was a wizard. Since ancient times, the wizard race has been narrow-minded and vile.

‘I never meant to bother you. ‘You worked hard and did as you were told, right?’

Instead of looking at the cackling knights with an accusatory expression, Repenhardt took a quick look at the condition of the orc slaves.

The orcs were equally exhausted, but unlike the knights, they had quite a bit of energy left. This was a natural result, as they did not take the lead in the battle but instead hid behind the scenes. Of course, under normal circumstances, they would all have died during the battle, but thanks to Repenhardt’s discreet care, they all came here without a single scratch.

Even the knights might have been surprised to see that the guides and slaves were fine while they were exhausted, but no one questioned it. This was a clear proof of how indifferent they were to slaves and commoners.

Meanwhile, Stevan was sitting on a rock and resting while being attended to by the elf Relsia. He was taking a breath with a pale complexion and looking across the valley.

“This is indeed the place where Sir Claude died. There were so many monsters living in such a small mountain range… … .”

I once again realize how important my mission is. It was a time when Stephen was once again resolving to bring glory to his great family.

“It will be just a little further from here. “Do you really need a break?”

Stephen gritted his teeth as he looked at this obnoxiously sane young guide. His tone is obviously polite, but it also sounds like he’s being sarcastic, saying, ‘There’s no way the knight of the world would be this tired, right?’

“Everyone stand up!”

Stevan forced himself up and shouted at his knights who were spread out here and there. The knights, wizards, and priest boys all stood up with tired faces. The young guide calmly pointed to the inside of the valley.

“It’s almost here. Now all we have to do is follow this frozen stream.”

Stephen started walking. Repenhardt smiled at that.

‘Then we should arrive soon.’

Anyway, there were no more monsters left around to attack.

Stephen and his group began to climb up the valley, looking very alert.

About 30 minutes later.

“Oh oh! “Is this here!”

Stephen shouted in excitement.

“Of course, Prince Stephen.”

Edward also added his voice with an touched face.

In front of them, in the narrow valley, was a huge, half-collapsed building. It was a unique form that was completely different from the current continental architectural style. A circular ceiling rested on the outer wall of the building, which narrowed into a diamond shape. The material is ordinary granite, and parts of the exterior wall can be seen peeling off due to long-term wind damage.

It was definitely true.

Their destination, where the great knight Sir Claude closed his eyes.

It was an ancient ruin, Palton.

After calming down his excitement, Stephen looked around the building. There was a half-ruined passageway on the left side of the building. Todd closed his eyes and used his magic for a moment, then spoke with confidence.

“This is the entrance.”

A rough search was conducted by sending a magical orb that shared the line of sight into the passage. Sir Edward urged Cilan. As the priest boy floated a sphere of light to brighten their vision, the group entered the passage at once.

Inside was a large rectangular stone chamber. There was moss between the bricks and the air was humid. Various incomprehensible patterns were embossed on the walls on all sides. It was quite large, and was about the size of a party hall at a noble house. Opposite the entrance we came in was another entrance, and beyond that was a long passage, filled with ominous darkness.

Todd and Sir Edward looked closely inside the stone chamber and reported.

“This place looks safe. Confucius.”

“Okay, everyone, get ready.”

We decided to use this as our base camp and everyone unpacked. Orc slaves constantly went in and out, picking up thick tree branches and installing simple wooden fences at both entrances. Relsia lit a bonfire and the knights also took out beef jerky to fill their stomachs and then inspected their equipment. Todd and Cilan also began meditation and prayer. Now that we have to enter the dungeon, everyone needs to be in top shape.

Reppenhardt, who was watching the scene indifferently, spoke to Stephen.

“Then I will wait here.”

“huh? “You can return to the village now.”

Puzzled, Stephen roughly waved his hand. At the point where we have guided the guide up to this point, the young guide no longer has any useful value. So it’s a hand gesture that means to get out of the way quickly.

Reppenhardt smiled servilely and rubbed his hands.

“No, I have no way to return to the village alone.”

If you think about it, they themselves went through a lot of trouble to get to this point. There is no way that a single traveler could pass through that. Stephen grinned. Even this big guy who seemed arrogant finally realized the greatness of knights!

As I felt better, I naturally began speaking kindly.

“Right. In that case, in return for guiding you here, I will protect you when you return.”

Stephen says this as a gesture of great kindness, but Reppenhardt is appalled when he hears it. Are you telling me to be thankful for that now? It doesn’t seem to have occurred to them that if it weren’t for them in the first place, the guide wouldn’t have come this far.

‘Then you weren’t going to take me there? ‘Isn’t that a natural duty as a human being?’

I was afraid that he might be suspicious if I told him I was going down alone after putting him through so much trouble when I came, but it seemed like there was no need for that.

As Reppenhardt stood still, Stevan frowned slightly. He, a knight, does not even know how to thank me for his mercy.

‘After all, those who do not know honor… … ‘Tsk.’

Clicking his tongue, Stephen turned away. With that, he completely erased the existence of this young guide. And he smiled happily as he looked at his knights, who had regained their bravery again.

Now, it is time to explore that cursed ancient dungeon with these brave knights. The image of himself retrieving the demon sword Altion and transforming it into a royal capital in a splendid manner came to mind.

Stephen drew his sword. And he shouted bravely:

“The great one sleeps there. “We are continuing his legacy!”

“Wow!”

I don’t know what’s so great about a nobleman who died because of his pride, but anyway, the knights were steadily responding to that speech.

“let’s go! “Brave knights of Altion!”

Stephen ran down the aisle. Relsia, Edward, and other knights follow with great vigor. Tod and Silan walked forward with indifferent faces, as if they were of that race, and the orc slaves also gathered the luggage they needed to explore the dungeon, put it on their shoulders, and headed to the stone chamber.

“Good luck~.”

Reppenhardt kindly saw them off as they entered the stone chamber. As the sound of footsteps grew further away, he straightened his back.

“Well then, I guess I should take care of my business too, right?”

☆ ☆ ☆

The ancient ruins of Falton were originally like a logistics base used during the Silver Age. Now that it is across dimensions, it has become a demon cave infested with various monsters and spirits, but in the Silver Age, it is just one of the ordinary military buildings. Of course, all the tools used in the Silver Age are miraculous artifacts when viewed at the current level of magic, so their value cannot be discounted just because they were ordinary at the time.

“Wow, it’s been a really long time.”

Looking around, Reppenhardt muttered with an emotional expression on his face. It was Leffenhardt himself who came up with the theory that this was a logistics base. This was the conclusion he reached after exploring this place and understanding more than half of his defense system using powerful magic.

In the past, he explored these ruins alone with Siris. It was a happy time. Even though I was nervous, I remember spending some quality time alone.

Suddenly, an illusion of a beautiful elf woman appeared before my eyes.

-Leffenhardt! Here’s a sylph whispering!

Her voice chirping like a small bird is vivid in my ears. While dealing with the wind spirit, she easily found a secret passage that appeared only as a wall.

-Well done, Siris! After all, you are my goddess!

-Wow, I’m embarrassed.

-I’m embarrassed. Come here, Siris. Well done, I’ll give you a kiss as a reward.

-Ah~.

“Umm… … .”

As I was reminiscing, I ended up moving into an area where minors are not allowed to view the film. Reppenhardt shook his head. Now is not the time to think like this. Ah, but what on earth did my past self do with Siris in the middle of this dangerous dungeon? You were a brave man, me.

‘Wait just a little longer, Siris. ‘I’ll come see you soon.’

Reppenhardt traced the stone wall with the pattern engraved on it.

‘Surely the seals of Aqua and Terra were mixed and encoded in reverse order based on the left side of the scale, right?’

This pattern engraved on the wall was a character called ‘Destin’ among the ancient languages ​​of the Silver Age. In the past, Reppenhardt had learned all the languages ​​of all races on the entire continent, and was able to decipher four ancient languages: Destin, Ralphin, Pestal, and Alcata. Of course, it took more than half a day to decipher it before… … .

‘It’s like holding an answer sheet now.’

Without hesitation, Reppenhardt moved the tile on the wall. Part of the pattern slides while attached to the wall.

‘Wow, that’s not easy.’

I remember everything, but it was difficult to move the tiles. Most defense systems in the Silver Age do not function easily without magical powers. I mobilize all my little magical power and make up for it with my strength, grunting for a while as I move the tiles.

After manipulating the tiles a few times, the tiles on the wall that had naturally formed a pattern became a completely new pattern.

“Ah, that’s it.”

Rumbling!

The walls shook and dust poured down. This was the passage to the real relics of Palton, the ruins discovered by Reppenhardt himself, which Todd was unaware of in the past.

He watched the scene with an expression of emotion.

“ha ha ha… … .”

A secret door that had been hidden for thousands of years was now opening.

☆ ☆ ☆

Standing in front of the aisle, Reppenhardt first took off his scarf and fur coat. He has to fight a battle in the future, so he can’t give the mountain ten pieces of silver and let the mountain wear rough clothes. You’ll soon be able to make as much money as you want, so it’s ridiculous to only focus on the price of the coat… … .

‘But there’s no need to throw away your perfectly fine clothes on purpose, right? Anyway, I don’t get cold just because I don’t wear it.’

He warmed up lightly wearing only a simple vest and pants. Now, it’s time to test this physical performance that I’ve worked so hard for for 6 years!

It was a car in which Reppenhardt was having a blast.

“Aaaah!”

Suddenly, a faint scream was heard from beyond the darkness. It was a sound that came from far away, so small that even he, now that his hearing has improved, could not discern it.

“huh?”

Repenhardt inadvertently tilted his head, wondering if he had heard wrong. Somehow the scream felt familiar. I think that’s Todd’s voice… … .

“Ahh! Ahh! “Ugh!”

Screams followed. This time it’s Cilan and that guy named Edward.

‘No, why can I hear the screams of the kids who went in there from this side?’

He was dumbfounded and stared blankly at the passage in front of him.

‘Wait a minute, what is this passage? Originally, this was a silver age logistics base. And this secret passage was a back door that led directly to the third basement floor, right? And the fact that the back door is open means that it is a kind of intrusion situation… … .’

I remembered. A logistics base means that this place was used for military purposes. And when an invasion occurs, Palton’s residual magic system mobilizes all means to repel the intruder. Yes, it was like this in the past too.

‘So all the secret traps in the ruins activated at the same time, I guess?’

“Omana?”

Only then did Reppenhardt realize what mistake he had made. It was nice to open the door just as I remembered, but I forgot that the current situation was different from then. At that time, I was alone with Siris, so it didn’t matter at all whether the traps on the first and second floors of Palton’s basement were activated or not. But isn’t Todd and his group there now?

It was clear that they had all fallen into a trap and fell to the second basement level together. Otherwise, how could their voices be heard in the wrong direction?

“this… … .”

Leffenhardt clicked his tongue. No matter how much you think about it, it doesn’t seem like the group’s full strength can deal with the monsters on the second underground floor.

Originally, the level of risk on the first basement level and the second and third floors of Palton was on a different level. And if what I remember from Todd is accurate, the area they explored was only the first basement level. He said he didn’t even see the shadow of the demon sword Altion and returned with only a few relics. After that, after several more expeditions were sent by the Marquis of Altion, the second underground level was discovered and the sword was found and recovered. That’s a story from 5 to 6 years from now.

“I made a mistake. Tsk.”

Leffenhardt scratched his cheek. My conscience pricks me secretly. Well, even though he had been called a devil lord in his previous life, Reppenhardt himself was proud of himself for having lived with some conscientiousness. He was not happy about the situation where he caused others to die.