Chapter 1913 – 1913. Dark Moon
Even Professor Hemmington wouldn’t openly tell someone to die. He couldn’t afford to turn the entire expedition team against him.
I focused my mana into my ears, temporarily enhancing my hearing to eavesdrop on Professor Hemmington’s conversation.
“According to my interpretation of the inscription on that stele… I need your help.”
“My help?”
“More precisely, the help of a young woman. This ancient ruin desires a young, pure woman. It’s not uncommon. Since ancient times, virgins have been considered sacred…”
“Y-yes, that’s true. There are many stories involving virgins in folklore… Even Divine France is obsessed with pure virgins.”
“I’m grateful you understand.”
Clara’s expression didn’t ease. She cautiously asked,
“Does the ruin perhaps want a human sacrifice? A pure virgin is the perfect offering for a human sacrifice, after all.”
“No, it’s nothing like that, so don’t worry. The ruin wants a young woman to dance for it. It would be much better if that person were a virgin. …So, are you a virgin?”
Clara looked around. After confirming that there was no one listening except Professor Hemmington and Cleve, she blushed and nodded.
“…Yes. I’m a virgin.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. Maintaining your purity is something to be proud of. Too many people in this day and age disregard purity…”
Still, Clara’s flushed cheeks didn’t return to their normal color.
‘It doesn’t seem like she kept her purity because she wanted to.’
Clara was not a woman one could call pretty, not even as a polite gesture. Her hair was dry and her skin wasn’t clear. It was obvious that she had suffered from traveling around as an explorer. And her build was so sturdy that if she were dressed like a man, she wouldn’t look like a woman at all.
“What exactly do I have to do?”
“You just need to dance and sing in front of that stele.”
“Uh, those are two things I’m not good at…”
“You don’t have to be perfect. What matters is your heart. Oh, but be careful with the singing. Even if the pitch is off, pronunciation is important.”
Professor Hemmington started speaking a completely foreign language, saying he would teach her the song.
“That’s a language I’ve never heard before. Is it an ancient language?”
“Yes. It’s the pronunciation of an ancient language. It’s a song related to blessings.”
It was all a lie.
That wasn’t an ancient language, but a language of a small tribe somewhere at the end of the continent. The meaning was to offer oneself. The dance was also a dance for human sacrifice.
‘It’s going according to the original story.’
Thirty minutes later, Clara stood in front of the stele, under everyone’s gaze.
Clara performed the dance that Professor Hemmington had taught her in a crash course. It was a dance that grotesquely bent the joints of her arms and legs. Her lack of skill made it look like a clumsy dance. Then, she sang with a cracked voice.
The dance was awkward and the song was unpleasant. More than half of the expedition members frowned. But it had an effect.
The stele glowed faintly.
And then.
Rumble!
A door opened in the floor, and tentacles shot out, grabbing Clara and pulling her down in an instant.
“Kyaaaaaaak?!”
Bang!
The floor closed.
It was only about two seconds. None of those gathered there could react. The expedition team belatedly shouted.
“Clara?!”
“W-what is this?!”
“A trap? Why did a trap suddenly activate?!”
Amidst the commotion, Professor Hemmington stared intently at the stele. The stele split in half and opened to the side. Inside the stele was a path leading down. Hemmington momentarily smiled, but returned to a blank expression.
“It was a trap in the stele. It’s unavoidable. You all must not let your guard down. Ancient ruins are full of the unknown, and the moment you let your guard down, you will face death.”
Professor Hemmington spoke in a calm voice. The expedition members grimaced but calmed down. They were used to the death of their colleagues. Ancient ruins were mostly dangerous, so there were quite a few casualties. Besides, this world itself was closer to death. But that didn’t mean they accepted death easily.
The expedition members whispered among themselves.
“To think Clara would die like this…”
“We confirmed there were no traps. Why did it suddenly activate?”
“Could Professor Hemmington have made a mistake? Misinterpreted the ancient language or something…”
“That’s not possible. Professor Hemmington is such an amazing person. If it weren’t for his knowledge at the last ancient ruin, we would all have died. You know that. The real problem is the mercenaries. We hired them for situations like this, but… they’re not doing anything.”
“That’s right. If the mercenaries had reacted properly, Clara wouldn’t have died so meaninglessly.”
“I heard they spent almost 100 million credits to hire those mercenaries… Isn’t it just a waste of money?”
The atmosphere quickly turned hostile towards the mercenaries. They were being blamed for the incident.
Naturally, the mercenaries who were listening felt wronged. No matter how strong they were compared to ordinary humans, it was impossible to react to an unexpected event that happened in an instant. At least if they had more time, maybe.
‘Well, I could have, though.’
I knew this would happen. If I had used telekinesis, I could have saved Clara.
‘It’s a necessary step to go down.’
I tried to think of a reason why I should save the expedition member named Clara. There was none.
Could it gain the expedition’s favor? Professor Hemmington would hate it, saying things had gone wrong. And in the end, I was planning to kill them all. I had to monopolize the treasures of the Edinburgh ancient ruins.
The hostility towards the mercenaries was palpable. Jin frowned and glared at the expedition members, while Josh and I remained expressionless.
“Stop the chatter and pay attention.”
Professor Hemmington stood in front of the path leading down and looked around at the expedition team.
“It will be more dangerous below. If anyone wants to quit here, I won’t force you to come.”
“Professor, how can you say that? We’ve come this far, how can we quit? That’s an insult to our Hemmington expedition team.”
“We have already prepared ourselves for everything. Clara would have too.”
They couldn’t turn back because it was dangerous. If they gave up here, they would only be left with a mountain of debt.
“Indeed! I knew you would say that! Our Hemmington expedition team has overcome all sorts of adversities. Clara’s death is unfortunate, but mourning can wait until after the exploration is over. We must move forward as we always have!”
“That’s right!”
“The Hemmington expedition team cannot stop here!”
“The more dangerous the ancient ruin, the sweeter the reward will be!”
Professor Hemmington, having boosted the morale of the expedition team, took the lead and moved forward. Jin followed right beside her.
I moved along with the expedition members. As I was walking quietly, I felt a breeze in my ear.
-It’s Josh. What just happened… No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. I was watching Professor Hemmington from the very back. Professor Hemmington didn’t even seem flustered. It was as if she knew this would happen.
Josh had a good sense. But I didn’t react much.
Rather, I was curious about how Josh had transmitted his voice to me.
‘The mana is very faint. It’s not magic, for sure. I don’t feel any incantation at all.’
It felt like he had carried his voice on the wind. In other words, he had manipulated the wind. There was a technique called “telepathic voice transmission” in martial arts, but… it didn’t feel like that. I felt the wind in my ear.
‘Is it an ability to control the wind?’
That would make sense. Unlike magic, abilities could be controlled meticulously. It meant they had excellent adaptability.
‘If this wind entered my head through my ear…?’
It was a perfect ability for assassination.
‘It would be difficult because I have resistance, but… it’s not impossible. I need to be careful.’
A stele appeared. And behind the stele, the path was divided.
Everyone looked at Professor Hemmington. She was the only one who could interpret the ancient language written on the stele. Hemmington crossed her arms and stared at the stele. She must have interpreted the ancient language as soon as she saw it. Now she was probably thinking about what to do.
-On the right is life, and on the left is death. Life and death are one.
Simply put, if you go to the right, you live, and if you go to the left, you die. However, you cannot choose to go to only one side. You have to go to both at the same time.
‘A malicious ancient ruin.’
The reward would be just as sweet.
“It says that the path will open only if there are two fates,” Hemmington said.
Frankly speaking, only one person needs to be sacrificed here. Sending one of the mercenaries to the left path was the most reasonable thing to do. The reason would be to send them to scout. If the mercenary didn’t want to go, they could send one of the expedition members with them. Then they would have to go even if they didn’t want to.
Professor Hemmington was planning to divide the group in half. She was going to kill half of the expedition team. Why? To monopolize the treasure at the end of the ancient ruin.
“I think we have no choice but to split in half and advance separately.”
“That’s an unusual ancient ruin.”
“I will give you a choice. Will you go to the right, or will you go to the left?”
“Which way are you going to go, Professor?”
“My opinion doesn’t seem to be very helpful here. I’ll choose last.”
The expedition members’ eyes became uneasy.
“Can’t we all move together?”
“You all know that ancient ruins of this kind are safer if you follow the rules. I think we’ll rejoin later. Don’t think too seriously about it.”
After about 30 minutes of discussion, the expedition members split in half. Professor Hemmington also spoke to the mercenaries.
“You guys should also discuss and divide your numbers.”
“……”
The mercenaries frowned. But they couldn’t refuse. It was the mercenaries’ job to escort the expedition team.
“I’m going to the right.”
I said immediately. The right path was the path to life.
“Right.”
“…You want me to go to the left? What should I do? My gut feeling is also to go to the right.”
Jin laughed.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and looked at Jin and Josh.
“It doesn’t seem like our opinions will be easily coordinated. What are you going to do?”
Crack. Electricity sparked on my right hand. Perhaps my intention to fight was conveyed, as their eyes also became heavy.
“Mage. Your attitude has been a bit off since yesterday… Do you know something?”
