Chapter 75

Chapter 75

“The nearest one is here.”

At the question, the vice-commander pointed to a small door in the corner of the corridor where the members’ bedrooms were located.

The door was so small that one person had to crawl through it. And at the next moment, a brave member of the ranks stepped forward and pulled the doorknob as hard as he could, but the door wouldn’t budge.

Leonhard frowned.

The door was obviously suspicious, but he didn’t feel any strange aura, let alone a ghost, in this space. However, his head was confused to the point of dizziness.

“Are there many doors like this?”

“For now, there are only seven that we know of.”

“It is strange.”

“Right? As expected, a ghost…!”

“I don’t mean that.”

Leonhard raised his hand to stop the commotion among the members.

“I have heard that there’s a knight’s building built on top of the underground labyrinth. However, these doors are not related to the maze… Something is strange.”

“Isn’t it because it’s too precious to bury the maze itself forever?”

“Then, why are there seven doors? One or two would suffice.”

Saying so, he sat down on the floor and pulled the door open with his own hand. Leonhard could feel the tight flow of magical power.

‘…As expected, it’s strange.’

This magic was different from the magic of ordinary wizards that he was familiar with. Still, he did not feel the evil energy of black magic.

‘What is it?’

He decided to examine all the remaining doors as well.

“I must see the rest. Guide me.”

Leonhard got the clue when he reached the last, seventh door.

The last door was on the kitchen floor. As he pulled the doorknob gently, he could feel the energy of ghosts swirling behind the door.

“They were all gathered here.”

“What…?”

Bart groaned.

“Everything behind this is a ghost.”

Leonhard’s voice was so hard that it could no longer be stiffened.

“Commander Bart, your subordinates are right. This building cannot be used.”

“Lor-Lord Leonhard somehow…!”

“I’ve only killed ghosts twice. It was one each. Behind this… I can feel at least a dozen ghosts.”

This was not the first time for him, and certainly not the last.

When he decided that it was best to leave it alone, however, to the knights who worshiped him, it was no different from the sound of the sky falling. The faces of all members of the Knights of Paradiso, including Bart, turned pale.

“Th-then what should I do…”

“I’ll make sure to tell His Majesty about this.”

“Thank, thank you!”

As Bart thanked him deeply, the other members did the same.

Nonetheless, Leonhard realized that the situation was not so easy. Their original quarters were completely destroyed. There wouldn’t be any buildings of this size, especially for a Carpathia, left.

‘But, I can’t make them use this.’

If they stayed in a building like this for a little longer, he didn’t know how overwhelmed they would be.

“Does everyone have a place to stay in the imperial capital?”

“Yes? We were thinking of going back to our old building.”

Leonhard shook his head.

“You can’t stay there forever, can you? There should be a place to spend a considerable amount of time in the future.”

“….”

Almost all the members, even commander Bart, exchanged anxious glances with each other.

“It doesn’t look like it.”

Looking at them, he sighed.

Then, there was only one answer left.

“If you’re not uncomfortable, why don’t you stay at my family’s villa.”

“Yes…?”

At those words, Bart’s mouth opened blankly, and a dazed sound came out. Leonhard had a rough idea of their feelings, so he explained slowly.

“My family’s villa in the imperial capital is big enough to accommodate all of you. There is not a single servant, but you can tolerate that much inconvenience.”

“Yes…!”

Bart’s voice trembled when he finally grasped the situation. The expressions on the faces of the other members were varied.

Some people’s faces turned white from the shock, and others sat on the floor as their legs gave out. They even saw people shaking their heads and muttering something as if they thought they had heard nonsense.

However, none of them declined Leonhard’s favor.

‘I like it.’

Leonhard didn’t like those who kicked out the opportunities they were given.

“Pack up. I don’t think you need to stay here any longer.”

Training continued until the sun went down and the moon rose, but neither Rose nor Celine said to quit. The intense hunger she felt in the middle was soothed by hurriedly swallowing the emergency rations Rose took out of her robe.

“Celine, what is that?”

“Yes?”

Suddenly, she pointed at Celine’s waist. It was exactly where Ringzor was located.

‘…Well, it’s not a big secret.’

Anyway, even when fighting with the Knights of Paradiso, she used Ringzor countless times. Celine took out Ringzor without hesitation and showed it.

Rose’s eyes widened.

“This… it’s Ringzor. There’s no way His Majesty gave it directly. Was it a gift from Lord Leonhard?”

“Yes.”

Celine gave a short answer.

Rose studied Ringzor carefully for a long time. When she took her eyes off Ringzor, her face hardened.

“How long have you been carrying this without a scabbard?”

At the question, she frowned and thought back. Leonhard received her Ringzor just before going to the South and gave it to her.

“Uh… It could have been a month.”

“Why didn’t you make a scabbard right away?”

There was even anger in Rose’s voice.

“I don’t think I really need a scabbard. I even received a magic stone to use as a material…”

“I beg your pardon?”

Celine briefly explained to Rose, who was bewildered, that she had been given a quality southern magic stone, and that she hadn’t had time to make her scabbard yet.

“Anyway, that is…!”

Rose looked genuinely angry.

“Didn’t Lord Leonhard say anything?”

“Leonhard didn’t seem to care much about the scabbard.”

She was silent for a moment at Celine’s before slowly opening her mouth.

“The past cannot be changed. In any case, it seems to me that the scabbard for this should be made immediately. It’s fortunate that you’re next to Flua.”

“What’s the problem if I don’t make it?”

“…There will be frequent moments where you don’t know if Ringzor is you or you are Ringzor.”

Rose added in an eerie tone.

“Then, at some point, only Ringzor will be left.”

Celine and Rose returned to Flua.

This time they went down the stairs instead of up. There was also an open window near the passage leading down to the basement, and out of the window were a lot of glistening minerals.

“All of them are magic stones.”

“Then, is this a mine?”

“No.”

Rose smiled slightly.

“Everyone who sees it for the first time thinks that, but no. They are by-products of our research.”

“What kind of research is it…”

“It’s enough research to make Ringzor’s scabbard right away.”

Celine didn’t get it, so she didn’t ask anymore. However, she soon remembered that Leonhard had said that the boss monster’s core and the remnants of the warlock were sent to the Imperial Family for research.

‘It must be that research.’

That would make sense that the by-product was a magic stone. Since the material itself was the core of the boss monster, it was not surprising at all if it generated a huge magic stone.

After walking down for a while, they arrived in front of a massive door.

As Rose put her hands on the door, the seemingly massive door opened slowly with a dull sound to match.

“….!”

The blue-grey eyes widened.

In the last few months, Celine thought she had seen a lot of things she couldn’t believe, yet the space before her eyes felt more unreal than anything she had ever seen. She was in a high and cool space like a vast cave, and it was filled with all sorts of fantastic instruments.

She stared blankly at the balloon closest to the entrance.

Dozens of lamps emitting colorful lights were hanging in the air without any power and shooting light in all directions.

‘…It’s not that there’s no power.’

Suddenly, Celine realized.

A familiar object was stuck on the floor… it was the core of the monster.

“Studying the core of a monster… You weren’t studying the core itself, you were studying how to use it.”

“There is a team that studies the core itself. There’s not much result.”

Saying so, Rose grabbed her hand and dragged her, half ignoring Celine’s flinching response.

“Come quickly. I’m going to die of a heart attack if you don’t make a scabbard for that damn thing.”

Celine’s eyes rolled dizzily in all directions as she followed Rose.

‘It’s like… a real lab.’

Except that they wore long robes instead of white gowns, they looked like a lab in a research institute she’d seen on the news. Furthermore, excluding the fact that the power was not electricity, but the core of the boss monster.

Celine’s face darkened at the thought that almost all of them were cores that Leonhard had worked hard to extract.

Eventually, Rose stopped in front of the wizard with her back bent over. The wizard, who seemed utterly oblivious to their presence, was staring intently at something while wearing a robe from head to toe.

“Pearl. I have an interesting job.”

“…If it’s not fun, I’ll kick you out.”

A hoarse voice flowed from Pearl’s throat.

“It’s about making Ringzor’s sword scabbard.”

“What…?”

Pearl raised her head.

Celine was surprised by her shining eyes, glinting even under the hood, but she didn’t budge.

“Don’t play around.”

“Celine, show her.”

At those words, she carefully took Ringzor out of her arms, and Pearl’s gaze licked the blade of Ringzor.

“…The materials.”

“Here you are.”

When Celine spread out the handful of magic stones she received from Count Sharp, Pearl immediately snatched the magic stones.

“Pearl, how long will it take?”

“Wait…”

“It won’t take long.”

While Celine was dazed, like Rose, she sat down on the floor and watched Pearl’s work. She worked more like a blacksmith than a wizard.

The magic stones that passed from Celine’s hand to Pearl went into a huge furnace and heated up for a long time, then began to cling to each other with a rough hammer. After a while, she dropped the strangely shiny black scabbard, which had no trace of the magic stone, on the floor.

Celine swallowed a gulp.

The scabbard that Pearl had made was a familiar shape to her.

‘It’s similar to Rashir’s scabbard…’

Celine carefully put Ringzor into the new scabbard and put it around her waist.

“….!”

“You can see why I said you needed a sheath, right?”

Celine nodded her head. The sense of stability provided by the new scabbard exceeded expectations.

Soon, she got up to say thanks to Pearl.

Right at that moment, screams of astonishment echoed from all sides. Celine instantly sat down on the floor as well. It was because the entire basement floor they were in started to shake violently, as if it were about to collapse.

__