How to Live as a Knight After the Ending - Chapter 102



Only Noblemtl

Episode 102. The Guardian of the Old Place (2)

“It wasn’t a trap, it seems like you were taken advantage of by the guardian of the ruins.”

Balud had the same thought.

If it was a trap, it would have ended with a few people dying. If it was a trap that could kill this many people at once, there should have been traces left in the area, but there weren’t any.

“Well, maybe it was other people who attacked? I heard that kind of thing happens all the time in the ruins.”

Illua, who had calmed down a little, examined the body and asked.

Even though it must have been difficult for her, as a scholar, to see a corpse like this, she didn’t groan even once.

Is he naturally bold? It must be because he inherited a lot of his father’s explorer blood.

“That’s not it.”

Balud dismissed Illua’s hypothesis.

“Even if another party had launched a surprise attack, it’s strange that they were defeated so unilaterally. Since they’re not fools, they would have been on guard and prepared at the ruins.”

“Then, then it goes to the guardian who protects the ruins… … .”

“I think that’s highly likely.”

Guardian.

It refers to a being that guards dungeons and ruins, and usually refers to a living monster.

But it wasn’t just monsters.

The famous one is in the form of a stone statue, but there is a gargoyle that moves when an enemy appears.

Or it could be a golem that moves automatically, or a beast possessed by a curse or magic.

‘A guardian who is still functioning normally even after so many years… ‘

Ossian stroked his chin.

First of all, looking at the condition of the corpse, it seemed like it had been cut with something sharp.

‘Most of them couldn’t run far and were hit. And there aren’t many traces of battle. It was a one-sided trampling. That’s how strong the guardians are.’

The question was, who on earth would be the guardian who would leave such scars?

Even when I searched through Ossian’s memories, nothing came to mind.

‘Are they gargoyles? They have the shape of stone statues and swing huge spears the size of their own bodies. No, they can’t be spears. If they’re weapons swinging by guys over 5 meters tall, they don’t usually cut with such cutting power.’

There were also cases of beasts possessed by magic.

It was a wolf with blue manes, and its characteristic was that it would run wild while holding a sword in its mouth.

However, this also seemed a bit unlikely.

‘Even if it was consumed by magic, there’s no way the beast would survive for a long time, and it’s not like it just swings the knife in its mouth.’

Sometimes it would wag its tail and swing its claws, and it seemed as if it was consumed by magic and could use magic.

But the cause of death of the bodies was all cut by something.

Moreover, since these people had come into the ruins well-prepared, they were not so weak that they could easily be attacked by beasts.

‘What? There’s a guardian this strong? And I don’t remember it?’

Something was off. It may sound a little presumptuous to say this, but at least there was little in the game that Ossian didn’t remember.

It’s like a minor trap that exists in a dungeon. People’s memories have limits, but it was natural that a guardian this strong would have to remember it even if he wasn’t an old person.

But still, nothing matched my memory.

‘Yes. I can’t say that it has to be exactly the same as my memory. As time has passed, there is a possibility that changes have occurred here as well.’

Whatever the case, it seemed difficult to come up with an answer right away.

Ossian decided to keep his guard up and keep his options open.

“Are you going to continue like this?”

Balud asked Illua for her opinion.

In this situation, if Illua had said she would quit, they would have had no choice.

It was thanks to Illua that I was able to come this far.

“No. I will keep going.”

Illua did not give up. It was not that he did not feel fear when he saw the corpse. He just had a greater sense of duty that he had to do.

“Okay. Let’s raise our alert level and move slowly. Before we go, we need to search the bodies first.”

It’s a shame that someone died, but we had to take care of what we had to take care of.

Balud’s men searched the corpses for usable artifacts, tools, and materials.

I took the identification tag that the body was carrying separately.

In the case of ruins or dungeons, it is difficult to bury corpses, so people who enter carry identification tags like this. You can think of it as the soldier’s military number.

Carrying identification tags is the least we can do for the dead.

The group quietly closed their eyes and prayed silently as they stepped over the corpses and headed into the ruins.

Even Illua, who was often noisy, was quiet this time.

I saw a corpse, and I didn’t know when the guardian of the relic would suddenly appear.

As I was walking, I came across a fork in the road.

It was Illua who decided where to go, but this time, she was hesitant and couldn’t give a definite answer.

“Ugh. These are really old hieroglyphs. It’s going to take a long time to decipher them.”

Although we were able to get a clue from the inscription on the stone tablet at the center of the fork in the road, even that took time.

Illua took several books out of her suitcase and spread them out on the floor.

Illua flipped through the pages of the book, her eyes wide open.

‘It’s the language written on the ancient ruins. It’s possible that it’s a new type of language that isn’t even in the books here.’

This alone has outstanding academic value, but it was not at all welcome from the perspective of someone who had to find a way right away.

‘No. What should I do?’

Even in the archaeological materials that had been prepared in great quantity, nothing similar to the letters on the stone tablet could be found.

If things continue like this, we will have to take a path based on luck.

It was crazy to make a choice that had a 50% chance of killing me.

At that moment, Ossian, who had finished checking that there were no enemies around, approached Illua.

He looked at the inscription on the stone tablet and said to Illua nonchalantly.

“They told me to go left.”

“yes?”

Illua asked back in surprise.

Balud and his subordinates were equally surprised.

“Left? Why?”

“Because it says on the stone tablet that the path leading to the left leads further inward. Those who wish to face the truth should come this way. Don’t you get the feeling?”

“No, that means… … .”

Even though he thought it was absolutely absurd, Illua couldn’t help but ask.

“Can you read this?”

“… … .”

Ossian also felt strange about Illua’s remark.

‘I see. Why can’t I read it?’

The moment I saw the inscription on the stone tablet, I automatically interpreted in my head what it meant.

This was something that even Ossian hadn’t expected.

‘Could it be that this body is from an old person?’

The likelihood of that happening was significantly high.

“Can you believe that?”

Balud asked with a distrustful face. It must have been unfair to Ossian, who had said as written, but Balud’s reaction was perfectly normal.

One of Tirna’s troubleshooters read the text on the stone tablet that even archaeologists couldn’t? Does that even make sense in the first place?

It was more credible that Ossian had lied.

“Well, if you don’t believe it, that’s fine. I just said what came to mind when I saw what was written there.”

“How did you read it?”

“Didn’t I just say that? It said, [Those who wish to face the truth, come this way].”

The moment those words came out of his mouth, Illua and Balud both flinched.

Ossian was completely unaware of it, but when he spoke those words now, he was speaking a language they knew nothing about.

It was a language structure I had never heard of before.

“Wow, how on earth did you just… … .”

Illua pointed at Ossian with a trembling finger.

An ancient language written on ancient ruins unknown to oneself.

The person who could somehow use it freely was the problem solver he had hired out of curiosity.

It would be strange not to be surprised.

“that…….”

It was at that time that Ossian wondered how to explain this complexity.

Knock knock.

The ground shook with the sound of something pulling a lever.

At that moment when everyone was wondering what was going on, it was Ossian who moved first.

He stood next to his employer, Illua. The next to move was Balud.

I didn’t know what it meant, but something was definitely happening.

“Director!”

Then the North Blinders’ men shouted.

They too were running to join in, but at that moment something fell from the ceiling with a thud, creating a large wall between them.

Balud hurriedly approached the wall.

“This is… … .”

“It looks like the trap has been activated. And it’s a trap that changes the terrain.”

The terrain-altering traps weren’t immediately life-threatening, but they were vicious in that they blocked the path they had come from.

Getting lost in the middle of a ruin that might be as complex as a maze was practically a death sentence.

Ossian knocked on the wall. It was not made of ordinary material.

‘Can it be pierced by the light of the Holy Spirit?’

Even if you break through the wall with the Holy Light, the subordinates beyond it will have already moved to another place.

It would have been better to pray that they would get out safely and join us later.

The important thing is why the trap worked.

“We didn’t touch anything.”

“We didn’t touch it.”

But aren’t there other people besides them at this ruins?

“Huh? Who is this?”

A cheerful voice is heard from the darkness across the passage.

Illua’s expression turned pale and Balud frowned.

There was no way I didn’t know the owner of that voice.

Aaron, an explorer from the Archaeological League, appears leading his team.

“I never thought I would meet you in a place like this. Is there such a thing as coincidence?”

Coincidence? Is that really a coincidence?

Just by looking this way and using exaggerated language, I could tell who had set off the trap just now.

‘I don’t think I can use the traps of the relics I first came across today to this extent.’

Perhaps he was planning to send everyone here, including Illua, somewhere else.

However, because Ossian’s reaction was so quick, the three people and the other group ended up falling.

It was a situation Aaron had never expected, but it worked out for the better.

It would be dangerous if other members of the North Blinders joined in, but it was different when there were only three left.

Even if we kill them here, who will notice their crimes?

Aaron saw that now was the right time to show up.

Ossian and Balud stood in front, leaving Illua behind, who had collapsed in fear.

“Huh? Illua. What’s wrong? You seem wary of me. You too. Put away your weapons.”

“I keep listening to it and it feels like my ears are going to rot.”

Balud took a black glove out of his pocket and put it on his hand.

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you just kill me with your eyes closed and keep talking?”

“Hey, mafia guy. Don’t you understand the situation?”

Aaron sneered at Balud.

“The subordinates you brag about so much are gone now. Can’t you see? It’s just you, that troubleshooter, and that stupid girl?”

On the other hand, Aaron’s side had as many as 10 enhanced humans.

Although their numbers were smaller than those of other team members, they were still a tense opponent.

This meant that even 10 people could explore this ruin without much difficulty.

“You’re still holding your neck like that, young man, when you’re begging for your life. You’re going to break your neck like that.”

“We’ll find out soon enough whether my neck is broken or not.”

Balud rolled up his sleeves.

The runes were clearly visible on the muscled forearms.

“How presumptuous of a savage.”

Then one of the enhanced humans came forward and spoke.

It was the enhanced human who had stood between Ossian and Aaron before entering the ruins.

White skin and white hair. Her face was also beautiful, but she was so expressionless that she looked like a mannequin.

“Did you just call me a savage?”

“Yeah. You’re not only stupid, but you also have bad hearing. Even in a situation like this, you don’t bend your pride. That’s why you can’t be a low-level person.”

The enhanced human, who didn’t say much on the outside, stopped trying to hide his true feelings as the number of people watching him decreased.

“and you.”

The augmented human pointed at Ossian. Ossian asked curiously.

“Do you have any business with me?”

“I’ll pluck out your eyes, especially. I didn’t like the look in your eyes from the first time I saw them.”

Even though he suddenly declared that he would gouge out his eyes, Ossian was not afraid.

Rather, he smiled faintly as if he found it amusing.

“That’s interesting.”

Srrrrung.

The sword hanging from his waist was gently pulled out.

“I was thinking the same thing as you.”