Chapter 45: A Great Empire’s Legacy

It was late into the night when the middle-aged lady finished her work. And, once her workers left, she sent her daughter, Kalluto to sleep while she walked towards the corner of the inn, seating herself on the table.

Pouring a warm drink into a cup, she pushed it towards the old man, "Please."

The old man took a sip, relaxing as he let out a breath of air, expressing his delight, "This warmth is heavenly."

After taking a couple of sips, he began to speak all of a sudden, "Grister and I had a past that we never shared with anyone."

He paused, trying to speak further as he noticed that he was hesitating, failing to articulate his thoughts into words. He sipped the warm drink, remaining silent for a minute as he stared at the cup, finally lifting his head to make eye contact with the middle-aged lady, "Kerriel, it was difficult hiding the truth. Grister tried to speak about it with you many times in the past but was unable to say it in the end. Even at this point in life, I am still struggling to say it."

Taking in a deep breath, he sighed grandly, "The two of us are the remnants of the Great Megwest Empire."

"What?" The middle-aged lady, Kerriel was unable to control her shock, blurting out loud, "But, wasn't the Great Megwest Empire destroyed 120 years ago?"

"Yes, it indeed was." The old man, Parlut nodded, "To the world, it seemed as if the cause for the Great Megwest Empire's destruction was the Dungeon Break that occurred to their Level 5 dungeon, Mohart Dungeon. But in actuality, that wasn't the case."

"Then, what was it?" Kerriel asked.

"A forbidden experiment," Parlut said, "An experiment revolving around turning monsters into Puppets by making use of the Darble growing on their foreheads as a Darlac Connection Point."

"Did the experiment fail and cause a disaster?" Kerriel asked.

"No, the Great Megwest Empire was too advanced for something like that to destroy them. Even if a Dungeon Break had occurred in a Level 5 Dungeon, they would have been able to survive the disaster." Parlut shook his head, dropping a bomb in the end, "The Great Empire's collapse was thanks to the experiment's success."

"It succeeded?" Kerriel was shocked. She was aware of the power a Puppeteer possessed. But, they had to expend a lot of Darlac to move the Puppets. It was because the Puppets were inanimate. But, everything would change if the Puppets turned out to be living beings.

The Puppeteers wouldn't need to expend Darlac to move the monsters. The monsters would move by themselves while all the Puppeteer needed to do was give commands to it. It would completely change the structure of the world's power scale if that happened.

"So, what led to their destruction?"

"Based on the records, it seemed that when they formed a connection, the minds of the Puppeteers were sucked into the monsters while theirs were occupied by the monsters. This swap was strange as it automatically caused all the Puppeteers to form a connection with one monster or another, creating a strange conundrum." Parlut sighed, "In the end, it seemed like this was their actual goal."

"To leave their mortal human bodies and inhabit the bodies of strong monsters that lived longer." Parlut shuddered, "Every Puppeteer in the Great Megwest Empire had swapped places with monsters of their choice. And, to prevent news of this from reaching other Empires, they had caused a Dungeon Break simultaneously in every dungeon in their Great Empire."

"With every authority turning into a monster, the soldiers didn't have anyone to command them. And, as all the dungeons were located in the centre of a city, when the Dungeon Break happened, the city walls acted as their cage, preventing the people from leaving." Parlut shuddered, "Very few managed to escape in the end."

"Among them, one of the families belonged to those that had been involved in this research. As they weren't Puppeteers, they were unable to swap with monsters and had to flee to survive." Parlut pointed at himself, "That was my ancestor. Me and Grister hail from the same ancestor. We are the cause that destroyed an entire Empire for our greed."

"Ten years ago," Parlut spoke, preventing Kerriel from speaking, "The two of us had set off towards the barren lands of the Great Empire in an effort to put an end to everything so that our successors could live guilt-free. But…"

Holding tears in his eyes, Parlut's voice trembled as he spoke, "We failed at the final step. We were inflicted with a multitude of ailments by the monsters that discovered our identity. Even though we managed to kill most of the monsters, three of them still remained. But we no longer had the power to pursue them."

"We fled from there, returning to our homes, or at least, that had been the plan," Parlut said, showing his arm, causing Kerriel to almost scream in shock. For, it seemed to be rotting.

Heaving a forlorn sigh, Parlut said, "I began to rapidly age overnight. And by the time we approached Peckle City, I was already like this. So, I bode ways, intending to continue on my journey. As for Grister, he was dying internally with the passing of each day. He wished to spend his final days with his family."

"Thankfully for his good deeds, he managed to live for seven more years," Parlut said with a tone as if he was praying.

"But, Grister died from a stab wound." Kerriel said as her mouth dropped, agape as she looked at Parlut's sorrowful smile, crying as she muttered, "So to hide the truth until the end, he…"

"We were afraid that you'll be burdened with everything." Parlut said, coughing vehemently once as he lifted the bag he carried with him, pushing it towards Kerriel, "It contains a scroll with a map and the truth about the incident 120 years ago. This is the final legacy we have."

With a serious expression, Parlut said, "Whether it is your generation, or your daughter's, etc. when there is someone ambitious enough in your family, they can use this. I don't think there even exists any bloodline of the Great Megwest Empire's bloodline apart from Kalluto. Whether you wish to treat it as a curse or a treasure, it is up to you. If you wish to give it to someone trustworthy, you can do it."

"I'll pass over our once Great Empire's legacy to you now, Kerriel."