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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Hwaji's Royal Mausoleum (3)
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Serena's mind went blank at the sight of not a sharp sword, but a sturdy wooden practice blade. Hanson confessed with a genuinely repentant expression.
"This is my gear from recruit training. I was working nonstop without a shift change and stopped by home for a bit. I accidentally grabbed the stuff I used back then. The weight felt the same, so..."
He explained that there was a storage spot for gear right at his house entrance, and he'd kept his old recruit equipment there alongside everything else.
He'd snatched it up in his rush, figuring it wouldn't matter since he never had occasion to draw his sword anyway.
"I figured the spear would be enough. And sure enough, I didn't need to draw it for two whole days..."
Her surging anger ebbed at the word "two."
'Yeah. If you're stuck working away from home for two days straight, that could happen. Especially after a whole month of it.'
"Did you at least bring your dagger?"
"The dagger... Well, I left the shield behind too."
There was no dagger at his belt. His back looked oddly bare without the buckler that was supposed to be strapped there—a piece of gear she'd never seen the soldiers actually use, so she hadn't thought to check.
"Hoo."
The princess let out a sigh, and the soldier staggered as if struck by a gale.
"Fine. What's done is done. At least give that wooden sword to Chrome."
"Yes, ma'am! Right away!"
Serena headed wordlessly into the corridor. With the highest-ranking member silent, everyone else shuffled after her in a bunch.
Hanson took point, followed by Serena, Philia, Chrome, and Lavenda. Lavenda pulled a sour face, muttering, "This is a nightmare. Gotta be a dream."
'A real corridor.'
The passage they'd emerged from was exactly as described—a proper hallway. The material differed from the lobby, but it was stone-built, wide enough for four people abreast. The ceiling was lower than in the lobby, but not so much as to hinder walking or swinging a spear. The walls would be the real issue.
'It's bright, but no lights in sight.'
It was lit somehow, though she couldn't spot the source.
Serena scanned the walls, ceiling, and floor intently for traps. She ordered no one to advance until she gave the okay.
"There weren't any traps on the way here, right?"
"Some activate based on your direction of travel."
"They really built this thing paying attention to details like that."
"Can't we just poke ahead with spears as we go?"
"Do that if you spot something suspicious."
"Don't keep bothering Serena while she's focusing!"
"Sorry!"
"My apologies."
"Ugh, this has to be a dream."
'Hmm.'
More than their chatter, something else was nagging at her focus.
'Hmm... Nothing?'
There were no traps.
Serena had thrown herself into the search with full effort, expecting to uncover something right away.
'This stretch should be crawling with vicious ones.'
The Hwaim family mausoleum was packed with deadly traps from start to finish. That was normal.
Yet there were none.
'Maybe none at the entrance? Or are they lulling us into complacency before springing one?'
Either way, it was bad news.
'Starting to get fidgety.'
Her limited attention span was hitting its limit. Her eyes ached from staring so hard, and the constant tension wasn't helping.
Her throat was parched too. Actually, it had been dry since she woke up—she'd just forgotten amid all the chaos.
'Really want to switch off. But I'm the only one who knows about traps. Too soon to call for a break.'
Checking floor, walls, and ceiling slowed them to a crawl. Forget tortoise pace—they were moving like snails.
'Score!'
They said no one dies without a fighting chance. Thankfully, Serena found her excuse to rest.
"Looks like the path splits."
It forked—not into two, but five paths! Five whole paths!
Visually, all five looked identical. Hanson and Chrome pointed to the middle one, the third path.
"That's where we came from!"
"My cart's down there."
Lavenda indicated the rightmost one.
"That's mine. I was thinking of trying another, but it looked brightest..."
"No one went deeper into any of them?"
"I followed the light like Lavenda!"
Everyone seemed to have woken up near the forks. Sure enough, approaching the center path revealed the cart.
"Oh nooo! My precious!"
Chrome bolted for the cart without waiting for Serena's permission. No time for anyone to stop her.
Fortunately, no trap triggered. Chrome came back grinning ear to ear, dragging the cart.
'This old lady.'
Serena clenched her fists, trembling with rage.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Huh?"
"I asked what you think you're doing."
"I saw my cart, and there were no traps..."
"I just said some traps activate based on direction! Lucky none went off this time, but what if one had? Fine if you die alone, but what about dragging everyone else into it? Do you really think that rickety cart is worth five lives?"
Her nerves were already frayed from the fruitless trap hunt, taxing brainpower she rarely used. Chrome's reckless dash poured fuel on the fire.
"I didn't mean it like that. This cart's my whole livelihood..."
"Won't do you much good if you're dead."
"Sorry. My mistake."
She wanted to chew her out more, but Serena held back. A scolding should be quick and done. Outside, maybe different, but right now it would just sour the mood to no good end.
"Don't let it happen again."
"Sorry. Won't happen again. Just a rash mountain bumpkin."
'She's saying that, but inside she's probably thinking there's no traps anyway, and the princess is just oversensitive and cranky.'
Suspicion sprouted in Serena's mind. She stomped it down before it could grow. Exhaustion bred weird thoughts.
"Let's take a short break."
At her announcement, everyone sighed in unison, relief evident. They'd been tense, and her anger had spooked them good.
"Gonna die..."
Hanson started to squat, glanced around guiltily, then leaned against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. The sealed stone above mirrored their moods.
Lavenda squatted and pressed pressure points—for relaxation or fatigue relief, from the looks of it.
Chrome seemed cowed for a moment, then opened the tarp on her cart to check its contents, ensuring nothing had spoiled in the interim.
Philia, naturally, stuck by Serena and chattered away.
"You must be exhausted. Want me to massage your temples?"
"No. Don't massage when hands and surroundings are dirty. Especially not around the eyes."
"Shoulders then?"
"I-I'll do it."
The masseuse jumped up at "massage." Serena waved them both off and stared blankly into space.
'Man, thirsty. Zero cola would hit the spot.'
Reborn as a princess, her diet was better than her past life, but cravings hit sometimes. Right now, ice-cold zero cola called to her.
'Poured super-chilled into a glass with that thin frost layer. Driving me crazy.'
Unable to bear it, she asked the group.
"Anyone have water?"
"Here!"
Hanson offered his canteen from his belt with both hands. It was empty.
'This guy, twice now?'
Sword? Wooden one. Thirsty? Empty canteen?
As far as she knew, sending an empty food box meant "go die quietly without bothering us." What did an empty canteen imply? "Shut up and die, you sensitive princess"?
"It's empty."
"S-sorry! I didn't realize!"
"At least we have canteens to fill. Can we drink from the fountains?"
"I got canteens too. Empty, though."
Chrome showed off the ones on her cart, plus a few bowls. There was a small iron pot too.
"We can boil water in that! But firewood..."
"Philia, boiling doesn't make all water safe. Fountains might be poisoned, and heavy metals don't boil off."
"Gasp, poison?"
"The pot looks usable, though. Leave it here."
"Here?"
Chrome set the pot where Serena indicated. Serena took a deep breath.
'First try since last summer.'
Scraping together her scant focus and mental energy, she pictured what she wanted—what she desired.
Clearer images worked best. Once the vivid mental picture solidified, she chanted.
"What I desire is cool ice."
As her incantation ended, a child-head-sized block of ice formed above the pot and settled inside.
⟨ Ice Creation ⟩
"Eek! The princess is a mage?"
"Whoa!"
"Wowww!"
"As expected of Serena!"
Everyone but Philia—who already knew—was stunned.
'Ugh, headache. Been too long.'
Swords rust without sharpening; books grow musty unread.
Using magic after so long brought backlash—a throbbing headache chastising her laziness.
But Serena kept a straight face.
"Nothing to be surprised about."
She only knew this one spell.
'Magic's just too hard.'
Fantasy world rebirth should've meant learning magic. But it turned out way harder than imagined.
The princess took a shortcut. Picked one spell and mastered only that.
Her tutors lamented wasted talent, but parents didn't care, and the student wanted to slack—who could stop her?
Talent talk was just flattery. Royalty studying? Standard praise.
'Learned light orb and ignition as basics, but never used 'em since—not sure if they'd even work.'
To learn 3rd-circle ice creation, she'd picked up some 1st- and 2nd-circle spells. Never cast them, though.
Ice creation—the one she used every summer—was practically her only spell.
Unaware of the truth, they marveled at ice from thin air, admiring the princess.
Serena had made it melt fast. They savored the chilled water with delight.
"So refreshing."
"Feels like living again."
"Didn't know water could taste this good."
"Delicious!"
They rested briefly, quenched their thirst with cool water, and morale soared.
"Let's head down the path where Chrome and Hanson woke up."
They'd leave the cart at the fork for now. Chrome cast longing glances back, lagging behind even Lavenda.
"Rats might chew it up."
"This is a mausoleum. Rats aren't allowed."
A proper mausoleum should've sealed out pests. Holes might've opened over time, but that was the intent.
"But I saw one."
"Really? Guess a rat hole formed eventually. Maybe the earthquake opened a path."
Serena brushed it off. Rats were common everywhere.
'Hope the crypt's okay. Don't wanna see anything gruesome.'
Rat horde-ravaged crypt. Coffins gnawed, corpses nibbled, floors shit-covered.
Skeletons might be fine, but mausoleum bodies usually mummified. Still, not a sight she wanted. Or even imagined.
"Rats?"
Lavenda recoiled alone. Seemed to hate them.
"How big? What'd it look like?"
"Huge one."
Chrome gestured its size in the air.
'Dog-sized?'
Like a rat the size of a pup. Bigger than a chihuahua, even.
Truth or lie—the debate ended fast.
Squeak.
"Gyaa!"
A black shadow dropped before them. The hefty dark shape startled the group from the ceiling, then skittered up the wall and back atop.
Coarse fur, eerie eyes, twitching whiskers, sneaky snout, long hairless creepy tail. Undeniably a rat. It sniffed, stuck to the ceiling, and fled.
Serena's jaw dropped.
'Nutria?'
How big can a rat get? She wanted to grab her complacent past self by the collar.
'No, seriously, this big?!'
Too big. Diseased sewer rat looks, but poodle-or-maltese-sized.
"Scared me!"
"That's the one I saw! No doubt!"
"That's a rat! First I've seen!"
"No, Philia. Rats come in kinds. That's... a really big one. Don't take it as standard."
"How'd you know, Serena? Rats in the palace?"
"Read about it in books."
"As expected, so knowledgeable!"
"..."
As they buzzed over the giant rat, Lavenda stayed silent. She chewed her lower lip, fidgeting. Her face darkened by the moment.
