Gawen wondered if this little girl was smacked in her head during the fight before and was suffering from brain damage. He held onto his temper nevertheless,”I’ve been ‘staying’ here for many years …I’ve been dead all these years! Tell me, after dying will you even know the length or shape of your tomb?”
Rebecca thought for a moment and recalled that the tombs of her Ancestor and Founding Emperor had already been designed when they were alive. Even the King himself participated in the designing. However, after carefully considering her options, she felt that if she spoke again, she would most likely be killed by Aunt Heidi on the spot. Thus, she could only force the words down her throat, then reveal an awkward smile,”Hehe……makes sense….”
“We can’t return the way we came from.” Heidi let out a sigh before calmly speaking,”The courtyard and the tomb’s entrance has already fallen into the hands of monsters. Going that way is suicide.”
“We have to find another way,” Gawen recalled the memories he’d inherited while speaking,”Seven hundred years have passed. I’m afraid this castle’s structure is no longer the same, no?”
“The upper floor has been renovated several times, but the basic structure is still the same,”Heidi hurriedly said,”The passage you mentioned should still be there.”
“Good, that will do.”Gawen said and extended his hand towards the soldier beside him,”Lend me a sword.”
Taking the sword, Gawen drew a basic outline of the castle, then drew the side view of the three layers. Although it was a rough sketch, the division of the different regions was quite clear.
“This is the entrance- in the second layer underground, near the wine cellar and food storehouse; well, wine cellar and food storage from back in the day. There are two ways, but both these ways have to be accessed from outside. Thus, they aren’t of much use.”
Rebecca curiously looked at the sketch,”Wine cellar and food storehouse are still there, but I never knew there is a third room between them…”
“It’s not a room, but kind of a loft, hidden between walls and support pillars with a little ingenious construction technique.” Gawen faintly smiled,”in those days, this territory was not that peaceful. Monsters and the crazed army of the empire knocked at our doors in every ten-fifteen days. In the earliest days, Cecil Castle was established only for the purpose of holding the line. Therefore, secret passages and tunnels were an indispensable part of the construction- to escape or ask for supplies in case of entrapment.”
Knight Byron gravely observed the simple map for a few moments, then took out his own longsword and drew underneath the map,”So we should head to the second layer’s entrance…..and we have to avoid any passage leading to the courtyard above. This is our current position. The Ancestral Tomb is in the southeast, and it takes almost a third of the castle’s foundation….”
“Then there should be a way in this one-third region,” Gawen interrupted the knight,”This castle was created seven years ago. The artisan lot back then mostly made strongholds. These constructions are also according to the rules and standards of that time. There has to be a reserve passage.”
Saying these words, he looked at Rebecca a little strangely,”You really don’t know any of this? These things should be passed down through generations.”
Rebecca lowered her head embarrassed,”I…”
“Ancestor, we failed to live up to the glory you brought to the clan,” Heidi bit her lip and spoke with difficulty,”Many things have happened in Cecil Clan after seven hundred years…”
“Alright, I understand.” Gawen waved his hand. This was not the time for stories,”I’ll have you properly explain what happened in these seven hundred years after we leave this place. But first, we have to find a way out of the tomb.”
Rebecca, Heidi, and Byron squatted beside the crude maps and began to study them. Although they knew the castle, they were not clear on the structure inside the tomb. The ancestral tomb was not a tourist attraction that you could visit every few days. Even a hundred years ago, when the tomb was not off-limits, the heirs of the clan could only visit the tomb a few times in their lifetime. Moreover, they were still not allowed to disturb the resting place of their ancestors.
Who knew where the secret passage was!
In the face of this problem, Gawen’s memories were also useless. After all, back when he died, he could not have imagined that he would have to look for a way out after crawling out of his coffin…..
However, just as they were at their wits’ end, Amber, who had been standing without making a single sound, said,”Um…i might know the way…”
Everybody immediately turned their gazes towards the little half-elf thief.
Amber’s neck suddenly shrunk.
Heidi frowned and said,”How do you know?”
“I……” Amber was a little scared, but seeing Gawen looking at her with an encouraging gaze, she gathered her courage,”I entered from there… the direction is almost a perfect match. I think it’s the secret passage you’re talking about.”
Gawen faintly nodded,”Good. Lead the way.”
Amber patted her chest,”It’s fine as long as you don’t bring up the matter of me robbing your Ancestor’s grave…”
Heidi shot a glare towards this blabbering half-elf. She then raised the wand in her hand, turned around, and headed towards the burial chamber’s gate. However, Gawen, who was walking beside her, suddenly stopped.
“Ancestor?” Rebecca curiously looked at him.
“I need a weapon too.” Gawen said. Although he was no legendary Duke from seven hundred years ago, he had enough common sense to look for a weapon in such a situation.
His gaze swept through the burial chamber, and one of the soldiers offered the sword on his waist. However, Gawen politely rejected his offer. According to his memories, he arrived before the steel coffin and reached out inside.
He found a pitch-black heavy longsword. The sword’s blade near the crossguard was giving off a faint red hue.
As soon as the sword entered his hand, an inconceivably familiar aroused in his mind, as if every grain of the hilt matched with his finger lines. Gawen subconsciously waved the sword a few times, feeling as if he’d practiced these movements infinite times.
He knew that this was due to the memories left behind for him. Even though the soul had changed, every muscle of his body still remembered how to use this sword.
Although it was a pleasant surprise, it was not too surprising.
Apart from the memories, his mind also had experiences of Gawen Cecil’s fighting styles. He not only possessed sword skills and horse-riding skills, he also had Gawen Cecil’s almost mystical superhuman strength. It was certainly enough to make one moved, but this was not the time for experiments and trying things out.
It could only come after escaping this mess.
The moment Rebecca saw the black sword, her eyes wide opened. Her voice trembled as she spoke,”This is…the legendary Founding Sword?”
Hearing Rebecca’s words, Heidi, who had reached the gate, instantly turned around. She unblinkingly stared at the sword in Gawen’s hand before speaking in a deeply moved voice,”Founding Sword?”
“Currently it’s nothing more than a pretty sharp sword,”Gawen sighed,”Seven hundred years……Even though a weapon blessed by elves will not erode, the magic power inside has emptied long ago. Who knows how much time it will take to replenish it again.”
While speaking, Gawen turned his gaze to the short stone stand before the coffin. Seeing that there was nothing on the stand, Gawen frowned,”Hold on, there should be a shield as well. What happened to my shield? How can such a big shield disappear?”
Heidi’s face instantly turned unsightly,”Ancestor…. your descendants have disappointed you again. A hundred years ago, your descendant Gruman Cecil took the shield from the tomb … then lost on the battlefield…”
Heidi stuttered non-stop while speaking, clearly not daring to speak much. Perhaps she feared that if she told that huge event from a hundred years ago in detail, her ancestor would immediately pass away in heatstroke, though taking care of funeral would be quite easy since the grave was already prepared and right here…
Gawen could feel Heidi’s hesitation. However, he didn’t point it out and merely spoke with a frown,”Imprudent black sheep…. Fortunately, the sword was inside the coffin. That Gruman wasn’t enough of a degenerate to open his Ancestor’s coffin, how fortunate!”
Heidi and Rebecca could only listen with their heads lowered and cold sweat on their forehead. Their ancestor walked out from his grave and cursed their grandparents. It could not get any more exaggerated than this. As the young generation, they couldn’t even breathe properly.
Fortunately, Gawen was only feeling a bit resentful at the loss of a shield that could have come in handy. After spewing a few curses, he didn’t continue and led everybody out of the burial chamber.
Arriving in the stone hall, Rebecca looked around then waved both of her hands,”Betty! Come out, it’s safe!”
Gawen curiously looked over and spotted a petite little girl, who seemed even younger than Rebecca, timidly walking out from a dark corner. The girl was dressed in a coarse dress; her face had a few freckles, and her flaxen hair was draped around her shoulders. She was tightly clutching a frying pan in her hands.
Upon seeing Gawen, the little girl’s face clearly turned hesitant and tensed. With her brain, she had no chance of guessing where did this stranger pop out from…
“This is a maid of the castle. We also don’t know how she was left behind by the first group and instead followed us clueless.” Rebecca gave a simple introduction,”Betty, this is…”
Faint tremors coming from the surface cut off Rebecca’s words.
“We have no time,” Gawen raised his sword and looked at Amber,”Lead the way, now!”
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