Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

“W-Woah…”

“T-This is…”

“Waaaaaah…”

Seran, Urza, and Lieze all let out a dumbfounded voice, and stared at the sight in front of them in absolute awe. After breaking through the outer wall of the treasure room, the four stood inside a room about ten-times the size of their own home, filled to the brim with goods—or more accurately, a mountain of endless treasure.

Rings, bracelets, necklaces created out of gold and silber, cups decorated with jewels, crystals the size of a human, tapestry embroidered with faint metal lines, animal statues made out of thin and transparent glass that shone with the colors of the rainbow, a portrait of a smiling noble lady, looking as if it was alive, and much more…

A lot of these handicrafts seemed impossible to recreate with today’s skills, most likely costing more than any mere travelling merchant or noble, yet alone king could afford. These were all buried inside another mountain of gold coins that seemed to belong to the Ancient Kingdom era, reaching up to thousands of them, even millions. It was hard to see and count with the mere eye.

Besides that, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, opals, amethysts, pearls, these jewels formed another mountain of their own. Not to mention that there were even ingredients for magic medicine, rare herbs, branches of the World Tree, horns of a unicorn or dragon that would be impossible to get right now.

Most likely, [Preservation] magic was cast on these items to preserve them, as they still looked fresh and unused even a thousand years after. In the corner of the room was a mountain full of ingots, as well as magic metal mithril. With its lightness and intensity, as well as resistance towards magic, it was often used for swords of defensive objects, but because of the low amount available, and difficulty to clean, only dwarves are using it for their smithing. It’s value ran up to several tens of gold coins, and yet was barely affordable.

No matter which country, which Empire you may talk about, you couldn’t expect to see such scenery in their treasure room. This treasure in front of Kyle and the others most likely would allow them to buy entire countries all-together. However, this much treasure had to be expected as well.

Back during its full glory, the Magic Kingdom Zaales reigned over half of this entire continent. It possessed three quarters of the entire human folk territory, and was believed to hold the demons completely at bay as them alone. The ruler during this prime was the [Magic King] Shildonia Zaales, who had left behind this Great Labyrinth, and the treasure inside. Thinking about that, this scenery wasn’t all too unrealistic.

No matter how benevolent and devoid of any desires you may be, if you were in front of such a surreal sight, you would most likely fall for its charm. Needless to say, not only Lieze, who grew up in a commoner town like Rimarze, even Urza, who was an elf not known for their desires, were staring at this sight in disbelief.

The only person who remained calm in the face of this endless treasure was Kyle. As Lieze walked towards the mountain of jewels, Urza’s eyes drifting towards the mithril, Kyle called out to the two, calmly, and full of conviction.

“One moment, you two.”

The two, having started moving towards the mountain, came to an abrupt halt, and then turned around towards Kyle in shock.

“Hear me out. I came here to get this treasure for my goal, so this money is nothing but a tool. The more I have, the better, and I will use it carefully. But, you cannot be influenced and used by money, you understand.” Kyle was worried that he phrased it a bit too extreme, but he figured he had to say it at least once to make sure.

There have been many who ended up giving in to the money and its charm, ruining themselves.

“That’s why…take a look at that!” Kyle pointed in a single direction.

“Hyahahaha! Money, so much money! I can live in luxury thanks to this!”

Seran had previously jumped into the mountain of treasure, swimming around, and screamed in joy.

“…This is the path of someone who couldn’t resist the charm of being rich…”

“So much moneeeeeeey!” Seran threw up a shower of coins, which rained down on him again.

His pupils looked like they had changed into gold coins.

“That sure is…um…”

“I don’t want to end up like him…”

At the same time, the two girls looked at Seran in disgust, able to freeze the surroundings with their cold gazes. Kyle felt relieved at this, and then ran his gaze over the treasure again.

Thanks a bunch, Seran. Thanks to your sacrifice, I don’t have to worry about the two of them losing themselves. I’m really glad I took you with me…

Kyle gave him a kind, almost empathetic gaze, as Seran continued to scream ‘Money, money!’ until his lungs gave out.

In terms of Kyle’s perception, he came to this location about two months ago. Back then, the economy and traffic of currency had already come to a halt, so there was barely any use for all this treasure. During that time, more important than some gold or silver jewels was simple bread to feed the masses. Though, with the use of the mithril and some dwarven artisans, they could create weapons and defensive armor, and the alchemists could create magic medicine. Without this very treasure, their final attack most likely would have failed as well.

However, there was something more important here than this treasure. As the other three were focussed on excavating the most crucial objects, and securing the money, Kyle moved deeper inside the treasure room. The most crucial treasure of this room was located at a position behind a giant statue, unable for the three to see.

A sword was stabbed into a stone pedestal. It was a so-called bastard sword, which allowed you to hold it in one hand or both hands. The thick blade shone like a mirror, with Ancient Magic letters engraved into it. At the guard of the sword shone a blue jewel buried inside, emitting strong amounts of mana. It was most likely made with mithril as well. It offered a great balance, and everybody would be able to tell that it was a famous sword, or even one that made its name in a legend. Even with its tip inside the pedestal, it possessed beauty and presence enough to stand out from all the other treasure.

Kyle took a deep breath, and approached the sword. Right after, a faint light enwrapped the sword, which eventually dispersed into particles, and gathered in front of the sword. Shortly after, Kyle could see a single girl standing in front of him. Judging from her looks, she seemed to be around twelve or thirteen. She possessed white hair, with a mystical atmosphere around her, seeming like she was out of this world. Wearing a long robe, she had her eyes closed. Eventually, she opened these, and spoke with a dignified voice.

“I welcome you. You have passed all the trials I prepared to stand in front of me. I shall prai—Mmguh!?”

She couldn’t finish her sentence, because Kyle covered her mouth, and pulled her to the corner of the room.

“Don’t talk that loudly, the other two will catch on!” Kyle glanced at his three allies, and sighed in relief as they didn’t look over at him.

The girl tried to break free of his arms, and spoke up, her voice filled in anger.

“I-Insolent fool! Who do you think I….Mgh!?”

“Again, don’t scream. I know who you are…You’re [Magic King] Shildonia Zaales, right?” Kyle continued in a quiet voice. “Or more accurately, a copy of them. But, the jewel at the guard of the sword contains the personality and a part of Shildonia’s knowledge. It’s something created with mana, like a phantom of your former self.”

“H-How do you know about that!? Only me or my main body should have this knowledge!” The young girl, phantom of Shildonia, spoke with a quiet voice as she complained.

“Yeah, and I also know all the answers to the questions you’re going to ask me, so can we skip this?”

“No, this is my show-off scene, and the reason why I’m here in the first place…Wait, why do you know of them?”

Because they had this same conversation before, at least in Kyle’s experience.

“Alright then…on the second layer to the East is the dragon, on the third layer to the West is the wolf, on the fifth layer to the North is the demon, and on the sixth layer to the South is a wall painting of a human…Seriously, having people run around the entire place just for some stupid question.”

“Ohh, so you indeed went around. I praise you for your hard efforts…Wait, why did you know what I was going to ask!?”

“Well, I took a shortcut, so I didn’t exactly go there before.”

“Shortcut?”

“We dug a tunnel through the back of the labyrinth, and got to the treasure room directly.”

“What are you doing to my labyrinth!? I created this, you know?!”

“Well, there were some important circumstances I needed to consider. Just please get on with the last trial. If so, then you should be able to tell…I’ll hold the sword in a second.”

“…You even know of that?”

“Yeah, you’ll understand it all soon enough.” Kyle stood behind the sword stabbed into the pedestal, grabbing its hilt.

At the same time, Shildonia’s shock ran even deeper.

“Wha!? Who are you?”

“Just hurry up and read it. If you’re satisfied, then you can spare me off the final trap, right?”

“!? …Ahh, for crying out loud! Pull me out, then!”

Shildonia’s body turned into particles of light again, and they were sucked up into the jewel. At the same time, Kyle pulled out the sword of the pedestal. The jewel shot off light again, covering Kyle’s body, only to disappear again. Shildonia’s phantom appeared, but her face was pale and confused.

“…Time travel…are you serious?”

“You should be able to tell with [Perfect Reading], right? It’s exactly as you saw it. And, I have the ‘Heart of the Divine Dragon’ on me right now.”

[Perfect Reading] is a supreme grade magic that has been lost over the passage of time, which allows you to read a person’s memories and personality. Thinking up lies or trying to hide anything wouldn’t work, and even if the person in question may have forgotten, [Perfect Reading] allows you to see these forgotten memories.

This magic activated as soon as you grasped the hilt of the sword, and whenever someone came here to receive the treasure, Shildonia would judge if they were worth or not, which is the final trial.

“…It’s not that convenient of a magic spell, you know? I can pick up your thoughts and memories to a certain degree. But, it served as a good bluff.”

“Huh!? It was a bluff!?”

“However, lies won’t work with me, and I know everything…Not to mention that your soul proves everything.”

“Soul?”

“…Hasn’t your amount of mana gone up after you came back to the past?”

“You know the reason why!?” This was something even Kyle didn’t understand.

Since he had no way of finding out why that was, he just left it aside for now.

“Hm, so the hypothesis my real body came up with before turned out to be true…I didn’t think I would meet a living example though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Explaining to you would take some time…Not to mention that there’s people approaching us. Your allies?”

“Ah, not good…I almost forgot about them. These guys don’t know anything, so play along, alright?”

“You haven’t told anybody of this?”

“Circumstances ask for it, and I can’t just tell them about something like this, you know? I figured you’d get where I’m coming from.”

“Well, you are right. Human folk as a whole is in danger of falling to ruin after all…It cannot be helped.” Shildonia sighed. “I shall assist you.”

“Let’s go, then…Ohhh!? A talking sword!? You’re Shildonia Zaales!?”

“What horrendous acting…”

“Yeah, sorry about before. The excitement got the better of me.” Seran laughed to his heart’s content, trying to hide the shame that resulted from his previous actions, but neither Lieze nor Urza were listening.

Who could blame them, an existence far more interesting than Seran’s empty words was in front of them. A king that had existed a thousand years ago, now in the shape of a young child, stood in front of them, leaving them baffled. Kyle’s group decided to take a quick break here inside the treasure room, eating some simple cooked sweets made by Lieze.

“Hm, adequate taste, I’d say. It appears as if the food in this era isn’t as bad as I had imagined. Did you make this?”

“Ah, yeah. I used honey and fruit juice…But, more importantly, are you really the [Magic King]?”

“More accurately, I am a part of such. A part of the main body, a fraction of the soul, was transferred to the jewel inside the sword, and became something like a magical entity. Thus, I am Shildonia Zaales, but a different version from the one you might know.” Shildonia explained, sounding like it wasn’t even her problem.

A magical entity, or life-form, is brought forth through alchemy, possessing a temporary or transient life, with homunculi or chimeras being famous examples. Back in the era of the Ancient Magic Kingdom, these had been created more frequently, but as time went on, knowledge and technique of such had been lost, which made it difficult to even research.

“Ahh, the food and drinks turn into mana for my own energy, so I won’t even grow fat…Hm, not bad, after not having eaten for a thousand years.”

Or so she said like it was nothing, but turning food directly into mana is something that is practically impossible to achieve with alchemy. This certified the high magic skill that reigned during the era of the Ancient Magic Kingdom.

“But, why do you look like a child?”

“This was the real appearance of Queen Shildonia. Because of the mana overflowing in her body, she stopped aging all-together. That’s why she looked like this before she died.” Shildonia explained.

“Huh…I never heard about that though?”

A wide variation of legends revolving around Shildonia had been passed down for ages, but her looking like a young girl was not a part of that.

“A thousand years had passed since, have they not? It would make sense for these stories to vanish. Not to mention that my main body rarely showed herself in front of others…” Shildonia continued. “That must be the reason for that.” She said, not even bothered too much.

“But, why would you leave behind a clone of yourself…” Urza voiced the most obvious question.

“Naturally, there’s a proper reason. To protect the location of this treasure. All of this treasure is utterly unrelated to the royal family, but instead my very own funds.”

“So this is your fortune…Well, this surely could lead to a large dispute.” Seran commented, observing the treasure around him.

Let alone a dispute, this amount could lead to the outbreak of war.

“Indeed. Now that my main body has died without leaving behind any official successors, or assigned anyone to protect this treasure, I have to take care of it myself. Thus, when I found this hidden labyrinth, I decided to offer my fortune to those who pass my trails.”

“That’s why this place is riddled with traps…”

“No, that is but a simple hobby of mine. I always had a doubtful personality.”

“Is that so…”

“However, as barely anybody reached this labyrinth in the first place, I’ve been waiting all the thousand years for someone to even appear in front of me.” Shildonia shook her head. “I thought of putting a trial on those who managed to reach me, and give them my fortune if they satisfy me. If they didn’t, then I had a final trap prepared.”

“Final trap?”

“Destroying this entire labyrinth. I can activate that in a mere second, and it would bury everyone currently present.” Shildonia spoke indifferently, but excluding Kyle, Seran and the other two grew pale.

“Wouldn’t you get buried all the same!?”

“Right now, I am a sword, so I won’t suffer any injury from getting buried alive. I just have to sleep for another thousand or two thousand years. As for the person who finds me then…Well, I’ll think about something once that time comes around.”

Listening to Shildonia’s calm words, the other three grew even more worried, looking up at the ceiling.

“Normally, I shouldn’t even hesitate to bury the fools who dug a hole directly into my treasure room, but…” Shildonia glanced at Kyle, but he just took a sip of his tea, not bothering to respond. “No need to fret, I have accepted you folk, since you seem quite interesting. However, I have one condition. I’d like to observe your future course of action, so I would like to tag along. I’ve been in here for a thousand years after all.” Shildonia said, and looked at the group.

The three excluding Kyle frantically nodded, as if they were terrified to be buried alive if they said no.

“…By the way, why did you choose a sword? Since you’re the Magic King, wouldn’t you have chosen something…more related to magic?” Seran said, as he looked at the sword in Kyle’s hand.

Since he was a swordsman himself, he must be quite interested in such a legendary sword.

“I haven’t heard of that myself, you see. Was it some kind of clairvoyance, or was it just on a whim…Now that my real body is gone, I have no way of knowing.” Shildonia commented, with a distant gaze in her eyes. “Anyway, now that I am a sword, I’d like to be used as one. I need to choose a user for that, but…I guess Kyle over there will do.”

“Yeah, looking forward to working with you. You’re of such quality, I’d have to be the one asking you.”

“Indeed, I will help you out greatly.”

Kyle knew that Shildonia’s confident words weren’t just for show. They had fought together for barely a month, but she saved him many times. And, it was the case even during their final battle.

‘For crying out loud, now that my user is putting his life on the line, I need to follow along…until the very end.’

While saying these words, she used her final ace in the hole, and managed to defeat the Demon Lord. However, that resulted in the annihilation of Shildonia all the same. Yet again, Kyle was allowed to be reunited with a person he had lost. Watching Shildonia happily munch on the snacks, Kyle deeply thanked luck and destiny for this second chance.

“Hey, I’m using a sword as well, so why don’t you choose me instead?” Seran grinned, and showed Shildonia a wink.

She at the same time closely inspected Seran’s body, sighing.

“…No can do. I can’t accept you, physiologically.”

“So even the people from a thousand years ago had similar standards about people, huh.” Lieze nodded.

“Well, I understand where you’re coming from. I guess these values never change.” Urza agreed.

“Don’t worry, the world is large, and there must be someone who will accept you.” Kyle tapped Seran on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up.

“I wanna cry…”