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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Hwaji's Royal Mausoleum (1)
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The soldier thrust his spear forward the instant he sensed their presence. If they'd been any closer, he really would've stabbed.
Serena released her hold on Philia. Philia shot in front of Serena like an arrow and berated the soldier.
"How insolent!"
"Eek! Witch? Spirit?"
The soldier's eyes and spear tip shook as if tremors had struck again, stunned by the sudden appearance of the stunning beauty.
"This is Grand Duchess Parkling, the sole granddaughter of His Majesty King Harold II and the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Kiban! Show some respect!"
"I deserve death!"
"Princess? For real?"
"Princess, you're safe!"
Serena wasn't actually a princess yet—just a princess-to-be. But with the royal family numbering so few and her the only woman among them, to commoners, princess fit just fine.
Most nobles called her "Princess" too, and even King Harold II—who was just biding his time to depose his junkie youngest son—always addressed her as princess or royal daughter. Princess it was.
"Let's sort out the situation first."
In a stratified society, status was the law. The confused group gathered at the princess's command.
An unfamiliar space upon waking. Strangers assembled there. The massive earthquake witnessed just before blacking out.
It was enough to shatter anyone's sanity. Serena decided to start by clearing up who everyone was.
"Name, occupation, and everything you remember from right before and after arriving here. Confess as best you can. You first."
Serena pointed at the one man armed with a weapon. His job was obvious at a glance, but she wanted details anyway.
"Yes, sir! Capital Guard soldier Hanson Hanson reporting! During the proud Founding Festival of the Kingdom of Hwaji! No shift changes! Day and night without rest! Serving with every ounce of my strength! End report! No abnormalities!"
Soldier Hanson Hanson bellowed it out. Already tense, and now a princess had shown up—he seemed even more wound up, his speech utterly bizarre.
"You should lower your voice. First name Hans, family name Hanson?"
"No, sir! It's Hanson Hanson! The village chief messed up on my birth registration!"
'Village chief?'
Hwajichen was a city. No village chiefs there.
"So you're not from Hwajichen."
"Yes, sir! From Kizen!"
Hanson named a region near Hwajichen. It wasn't important, so Serena listened to the rest of his story.
"Proud Hwajichen Guard! Day and night! No shift changes, serving diligently!"
'No shifts. Must be desperately short-staffed.'
Even the knights tasked with royal protection had been pulled for city watch, so the Capital Guard's overwork was no surprise.
'How exhausted do you have to be for your speech to turn out like that? Overwork really does ruin people.'
Her aversion to labor grew stronger.
"Got into a scuffle with an unlicensed peddler when the earthquake hit! Woke up in a strange corridor! Walked on high alert, ran into the peddler, headed toward the bright light, and ended up here! End report!"
Serena observed Hanson Hanson.
A narrow-brimmed iron helmet like a shallow pot, brigandine armor, spear, and longsword at his belt. A dagger tucked out of sight in his bosom. Standard Capital Guard kit, common in Hwajichen.
A fancier uniform and halberd would make him palace guard.
The face revealed beneath the narrow brim was younger than expected. Soldiers had to be of age, but he looked about Serena's brother's age. Freckles dotted his forehead and cheeks, making him seem even more boyish.
'Baby-faced.'
His downcast gaze gave him a gentle impression too. Dressed as guard, yet not intimidating. Mild features plus youth probably made tough work harder.
'Not important. Next.'
"Well heard. You next—speak up."
Serena pointed at the peddler.
"I'm Chrome. Big sawmill round here throws out wood scraps, so I carve 'em for a living. Heard the capital's throwin' a huge festival this time. Never seen the capital, so came to gawk. Dang thieves, pure bandits. Sit anywhere and they chase ya—'That's someone's spot, got a permit?' Barely snag an empty one, and they track ya down to fold up shop."
"Festival period: unlicensed vending prohibited!"
Hanson barked it out. He'd only done his job, yet treated like a bandit. Sounded like a machine reciting festival orders.
"Chased so much, didn't wanna lose that hard-won seat. Chatted a bit, then the ground went boom-boom-boom. Woke up in some weird place. Then this."
Chrome pursed her lips at Hanson before continuing.
"Ran into the soldier and came here. But this soldier threw a fit, so I left my cart and goods behind. That's my whole fortune. I introduced myself—can I go fetch it now?"
"Wait until everyone else has introduced themselves."
"Shouldn't scold a mere whelp..."
Chrome grumbled under her breath. She knew Serena was a princess but didn't seem overly cowed. Less disregard, more the status gap feeling unreal.
Scarves wrapped for wind and sun, wrinkled face and hands. Carver hands especially—thick calluses and scars galore. Definitely over forty, but pinning it down was tricky.
'Forty? Or sixty?'
Serena tsked inwardly. Couldn't guess her age range.
Sunlight accelerates aging. So does malnutrition. Unlike her past life where malnutrition tied to dieting, this was a welfare-free Western fantasy world.
"Prosperous nation" just meant fewer starved to death.
Nobles who ate and lived well looked roughly their age like in her past life, but commoners aged fast after adulthood—impossible to guess.
See commoners often and you'd know, but who was Serena? Castle-raised princess. Barely any chance to see ordinary folk.
"Lavenda. Your turn."
Serena pointed to the next one. Lavenda's lavender eyes (probably named for them) went wide as she nodded vigorously.
"Yes! I'm Lavenda Puri. From Vieta. Here's my passport... Lodging house has my entry and massage business permits. Shop has copies."
"Vieta? Came all the way here? Gutsy young'un."
"Vieta—the far-east one?"
Chrome and Hanson gawked at her hometown.
To repeat: Hwaji sat at the continent's far west, Vieta at the far east. A trek even seasoned travelers or adventurers struggled with.
"Walked the whole way?"
"Of course not—took a ship. Sea route's way faster and safer. Cheaper too. Boss who pitched the partnership gig covered my fare."
"Hmm."
Lavenda's life-altering adventure: fleeing Vieta's cutthroat massage market for Hwaji's untapped scene!
Would've listened rapt if mid-massage.
But five souls trapped in weird space.
Serena's faint sound made Lavenda clam up. Chrome and Hanson, jolted by the foreign tale, settled down too.
"Like I told the soldier: closed shop early, heading to lodging when the ground shook. Leaned against a wall, but the floor gave way. Fell screaming, woke up here. Followed the bright light, found the soldier."
The rest everyone saw, so skipped.
Three intros done, plus before/after tales.
Before having Philia go, Serena double-checked with the trio.
"You woke in a corridor?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Different material and structure from here, but a stone corridor. No windows... lighting? Sorry, Princess. Too freaked, didn't look around proper."
"Yeah. Corridor? Thought basement. Not one?"
"Where we woke was a cave."
Serena pointed the way she and Philia had come.
"Different landing spots, makes sense."
Philia rushed to answer her lady's query.
'Falling from height, even slight angle shift changes landing far...'
Odds of everyone surviving unscathed?
'Not doing that math. Skip.'
Her direction: cave. Theirs: stone corridor. Serena noted it.
"No windows. Ceiling... seemed sealed... but bright..."
Lavenda bit her lip, straining to recall. Serena let her while eyeing Philia.
"Countess. Your turn."
"Yes, Lady Serena! Your head maid, Philia Landry here. Countess Landry works too. Served you over five years—will serve lifelong."
"Countess. Just what I instructed."
While Serena cut off Philia's infomercial, the others fixated elsewhere.
"Countess? So you're married?"
"Husband's one lucky bastard. Green with envy."
"Married young."
The trio reeled that Hwaji's top beauty was hitched.
First time beholding a spirit-like beauty beyond human—now married too. Deeply shocked.
"Walking with Lady Serena when we fell and fainted. Woke here."
True, but too skimpy. Serena stepped in.
"You heard the countess, but let me reintroduce. I'm Serena Parkling Hwaim. Granddaughter of King Harold II of Hwaji and daughter of Crown Prince Kiban. Properly Grand Duchess Parkling, but with so few royals and me the only girl, everyone calls me Princess Serena."
The group looked deeply honored.
"Left Lavenda's massage shop, took a narrow shortcut—narrower than an alley—to the carriage lot. Countess was with me. Spotted Hanson and Chrome arguing en route, then earthquake. Shook so hard we bounced into midair as the ground sank. Fainted mid-fall, woke in strange cave. Walked a bit, found the fainted countess, woke her, came here."
With that, a sudden thought struck Serena. She asked the group.
"Anyone see a knight? My guard was between me and Hanson and Chrome."
"No ants besides the soldier."
"On duty! No abnormalities!"
"I didn't see anyone else."
No knight sightings. Maybe he got lucky and avoided the fall. Knightly reflexes let him grab something nearby first.
'Or died unluckily alone...'
Grasping the situation trumped hunting a missing man.
"......"
Silence hung after intros. All unsure, exchanging glances.
Chrome broke it.
"Can I fetch my cart now?"
"Wait a bit longer. Anyone know this place or have a hunch? Even trivial details."
Serena's question drew matching looks.
We wanna know too.
Serena sighed softly and scanned their space.
Vaster than her cave—playground-sized.
Ceiling higher than cave but sealed. Passages aside, stone walls solid, no gaps.
Floor: patterned tiles of varied colors, regular like mosaics. Center: fountain.
Mini-plaza or mall lobby, minus open sky.
'Lobby. Yeah, lobby. Bit small for one.'
Unknown purpose, but artificial interior fit lobby.
'Water's flowing—where to?'
Fountain gushed endlessly. Water stayed in basin, no overflow. No visible drains or filters.
'Wanna wash so bad.'
Sight made her desperate to clean, but she held back. Couldn't here, and who knew if clean.
As Serena eyed the lobby, the other four stirred. Correction: the three excluding Philia.
"What's that fountain? One here is so weird."
Philia glued to Serena's side, chattering about it. Meanwhile, the trio headed to Serena and Philia's passage.
Checking if really blocked.
'Yell 'How dare you doubt me!' and it'd kill the mood.'
Urgent times, urge to verify with own eyes was human instinct. Totally normal.
'My flower-trash brother would've. 'Dare doubt me?!''
Brother worry flickered, but Serena thought positive. Insulted plenty, he'd live long.
Soon the three returned, faces deflated.
Hanson gripped his spear till his hands hurt. Chrome inspected the statue like Serena had. Lavenda poked the walls.
Serena gave them time to scout the lobby. They returned even more crestfallen.
"Not a basement? Big buildings got big basements."
"Yes, sir! Guessing it's the legendary secret royal passage!"
"Uh, I dunno..."
Chrome pegged big basement, Hanson secret passage.
Lavenda dodged, no clue. Her face especially grim. Swept into disaster far from home, outlook bleak.
"Secret passage? I agree with the soldier!"
Philia cast her vote for Hanson.
'Secret passage.'
Serena—who'd have to use it—never heard of it. Palace had secret outs to city, but no fountains.
"In my view, this place is..."
All eyes locked on Serena.
