[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 70
Wheeik!
Zeke and Felix were heading to Agamemnon Castle.
As the Syndicate branch manager had said, all the roads leading to the castle were blocked, so they had to get off the carriage midway and walk towards the castle.
"M-Master, this place is so creepy."
The path to the castle was overgrown with strangely shaped trees, and thorny vines were tangled here and there, making it impossible for people to pass through.
In the end, Zeke and Felix had to cut through the thorny vines with their daggers to make a path.
After struggling to climb the desolate hillside, the two finally stood in front of Agamemnon Castle.
Zeke nodded, and Felix knocked on the castle gate.
Thump! Thump!
Dust fell from the gate, showing how long it had been since it was last opened.
When there was no response, Felix shouted while knocking,
"Sir Zeke Draker, the pure-blooded awakened of the Draker clan, the continent's youngest blue-rank knight, and the youngest to receive the official knight status, has come to visit the Agamemnon clan!"
After Felix knocked a few more times, they finally heard a sign of life from inside.
Creak!
The gate opened, and an old woman in a maid outfit emerged. She had ashen hair, cloudy eyes, and withered skin like a tree bark.
"Cough. Did you say Sir Zeke Draker?"
The old woman spoke in a voice that sounded like nails scratching on a steel plate.
Felix was slightly frightened by the eerie appearance of the old woman.
Zeke, who was behind him, stepped forward.
"I am Zeke Draker. I wish to meet the head of the Agamemnon clan."
The old woman approached Zeke and caressed his face with her long, dry hands.
Felix tried to stop the old woman, but Zeke raised his hand and stopped him.
After a moment, the old woman let out a strange laugh.
"Hee hee hee hee!"
It was a sound like a donkey about to breathe its last.
The old woman said to Zeke and Felix,
"Hee hee, come in."
Zeke and Felix followed the old woman through the castle gate.
Inside the castle, dust was piled up thick, and cobwebs were everywhere, as if it hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
All the furniture was covered with cloth, giving it an eerie feeling.
Felix, seemingly getting goosebumps, clung to Zeke's side and whispered,
"M-Master, there's something strange about this place."
"I know. But Felix, I'd like it if you would walk a little further away from me."
The old woman lit an old lamp and went up the narrow spiral staircase.
Zeke followed the old woman, observing the structure and materials of the castle.
'This is a very old castle. It seems to be at least a thousand years old.'
Perhaps it was even older than that.
Following the old woman up the stairs and through a narrow corridor, they came to a door.
When they were led inside, they saw a large room with a long dining table, where faint figures were gathered.
Old people with white hair, pale faces, dark circles under their eyes, and vacant eyes were sitting at the table, dressed in old aristocratic clothes.
Felix, seeing them, was startled and tried to step back.
"M-Master, g-ghosts!"
Zeke stomped on Felix's foot to make him stay put.
Zeke approached the old people and greeted them.
"Zeke Draker greets the elders of the Agamemnon clan, the masters of Mycenae."
Even at Zeke's greeting, the ghost-like old people remained silent.
Then, the old maid with the candle brought something.
Clank!
The old woman began placing a strange-smelling soup in front of the ghost-like old people.
Then she placed portions for Zeke and Felix at the empty seats at the table.
The old woman said to Zeke,
"Hee hee hee! Hee hee! Please enjoy your meal."
Zeke looked at Felix, who sat down with a terrified expression, unable to refuse.
When he stirred the soup the old woman had prepared with a spoon, he saw that it was a thick mixture of unidentifiable ingredients.
The ghost-like old people silently ate the soup.
Zeke also picked up his spoon and started eating the soup.
Felix looked around, then slowly scooped up some soup and put it in his mouth.
"Ugh!"
It was a taste he couldn't swallow.
He looked to the side and saw Zeke diligently eating the soup with a straight face.
Seeing Zeke like that, Felix reflected on himself.
'This too is an ordeal to become a great knight.'
He steeled himself and took a large spoonful of the soup.
'Ugh.'
It still tasted awful.
After Felix also finished the soup, the old woman came back and took the bowls away.
The elder sitting at the head of the table looked at Zeke with vacant eyes.
Zeke spoke to the elder.
"I have a request for the head of the clan."
The elder remained silent.
Zeke continued,
"As a direct descendant of the Agamemnon clan, I would like to receive your support."
At those words, the eyebrows of the elder at the head of the table and the other ghost-like elders twitched subtly.
Then, a bizarre laugh came from the old woman behind them.
Hee hee! Hee hee! Hee hee!
Suddenly, the elder at the head of the table abruptly stood up.
"Gasp!"
Felix was startled by the sight.
The ghost-like elder was much taller than he expected.
He stared intently at Zeke with vacant eyes, then turned around and walked away.
Zeke also got up from his seat and followed the elder.
Felix followed behind Zeke, trembling.
The tall, ghost-like elder walked through a dark hallway and entered a room at the end.
Zeke followed him inside.
Perhaps magic lamps didn't work here, as oil lamps and candles were lit.
The room seemed to be used as a study, as it was filled with an enormous number of books.
Just then, Zeke spotted a painting hanging on one of the walls of the study.
"Felix, shine the lamp on that wall."
At Zeke's words, Felix shone the lamp on the wall.
"Gasp!"
Felix was so startled by the painting on the scroll hanging on the wall that he almost dropped the lamp.
It was a gruesome depiction of countless people vomiting blood and dying.
The dead were piled up like a mountain, and in front of them, people writhing in agony were kneeling.
To hang such a painting in a study was quite the macabre taste.
Then, the tall, ghost-like elder appeared before Zeke.
But in his hand was a long, sharp skewer.
Felix was startled and stood in front of Zeke.
"M-Master! I-I'll block him, so please run!"
Felix's trembling figure, standing in front of Zeke, was pitiful.
Zeke patted Felix's shoulder and stopped him.
"Felix, it's alright. Step aside."
The ghost-like elder approached the scroll with the gruesome painting, holding the skewer.
Then, he used the skewer to pick up the scroll and flipped it over.
Another painting appeared on the back of the scroll.
Zeke carefully examined the painting.
'What's that?'
It seemed to be a scene of people dumping corpses by a lakeside.
The lakeside was red like blood.
And someone was depicted holding something to their chest and throwing themselves into the lake.
The lake was bubbling around that person.
The ghost-like elder, flipping the scroll back over, looked at Zeke with vacant eyes.
He suddenly opened his mouth wide.
A dried, black tongue was visible inside his mouth.
Wheeze! Wheeze!
A wheezing sound came from the elder's mouth.
At the same time, a bizarre, tearing sound came from his throat.
"clan symbol! Gone! Cursed! No qualification to inherit! Curse! Everyone dies here! Die!"
Felix's legs gave way at the eerie sound that didn't seem human.
The ghost-like elder glared at Zeke and Felix, wheezing.
Zeke looked at the elder and said,
"Are you saying that the clan symbol is gone, so I have no qualification to inherit?"
The elder nodded as if affirming Zeke's words.
Seeing that, Felix's eyes widened.
'How did he interpret those words like that?'
Zeke, as if realizing something, left the study with Felix.
"M-Master, this place really seems cursed. Let's just go back to Atlas..."
Just then, the old woman appeared in the hallway.
"Hee hee hee! Hee hee!"
Zeke asked the old woman who was making strange noises,
"I have one question. Did the clan symbol sink to the bottom of the lake?"
The old woman, who had been making strange noises, nodded.
Zeke opened his map and checked the locations around the castle.
He found a large lake behind the castle.
'Lake Nahuel. This is it.'
"Guide me to the lake."
The old woman's expression changed.
From a hee hee hee-ing, laughing expression to a stiff one like a plaster statue.
Zeke said to the old woman,
"It's alright. Don't worry and lead the way."
The old woman stared intently at Zeke's face with a stiff expression.
Then, at some point, a strange sound came from her mouth.
"Cough, cough! Hee hee hee! The child with black eyes will hee hee hee! Restore the clan to its former glory hee hee hee!"
The old woman abruptly turned around and walked away.
Zeke said to Felix,
"Let's follow her."
Felix followed behind Zeke, sweating.
After walking for some time through the maze-like corridors, following the old woman, the three of them stood in front of a small door leading out of the castle.
The old woman opened the door.
Zeke said to her,
"I can find my way from here."
The old woman bowed her head to Zeke.
As Zeke and Felix went outside, the door slammed shut.
"Ugh. Master, this place is really strange."
Zeke quietly replied, checking the map for the way to the lake,
"Stop nagging and follow me, Felix."
Zeke, looking at the map, led Felix through the rough terrain covered with bizarre-shaped bushes and thorny vines, and climbed up the hill.
After climbing for a while, they saw a huge lake above.
Felix's jaw dropped at the sight of the lake.
"Wow, I've never seen such a big lake before."
He hadn't expected to find such a place on the hill.
Zeke bent down and examined the lake water.
The lake water was foul-smelling and murky.
Zeke recalled the painting he had seen earlier.
And he remembered the image of the person holding something and jumping into the lake in that painting.
Since the elder had specifically shown it to him, Zeke guessed that there must be some connection between the painting and the curse of the Agamemnon clan.
'I'll have to go in and see for myself.'
Zeke thought for a moment and opened the item shop.
And among the potions, he purchased 'Breath of the Whale,' which allowed him to breathe underwater.
Zeke said to Felix,
"Felix, I'm going into the lake. It might take a while, so wait here."
Felix was terrified and tried to stop him, but he couldn't change Zeke's mind.
Zeke gave Felix camping equipment from his inventory, drank the potion, and jumped straight into the lake.
The lake was as deep as it was vast.
Zeke used his Dragon Eyes skill to secure his vision.
'Let's see what's there.'
Zeke swam deep into the lake.
The lake was so deep that he couldn't see the bottom even after swimming for a long time.
Only when he was surprised by the depth of the lake did Zeke finally reach the bottom.
'Whew, it's deeper than I thought.'
As Zeke began to walk along the bottom of the lake, he found something.
'Skeletons.'
An enormous number of skeletons were submerged at the bottom of the lake.
Zeke examined the condition of the skeletons.
'It seems they've been here for quite a long time. At least fifty years, it seems.'
Zeke passed through the skeletons, carefully searching for anything that stood out.
It was then.
He saw something shining white among the skeletons.
'What's that?'
Zeke slowly approached the light.
The light was emanating from between the piled-up skeletons.
Zeke moved the skeletons aside and examined the area.
Surprisingly, there was a skeleton, still intact unlike the others, holding something shiny in its two hands.
It was a delicately crafted golden mask.
'Is this the symbol of the Agamemnon clan? It doesn't seem like an ordinary artifact.'
He took the artifact from the skeleton's hand.
Then, the skeleton's body suddenly shattered into pieces and turned to dust.
At the same time, the light emanating from the artifact disappeared.
'What is this?'
At first, he thought it was just something related to the Agamemnon clan, but the energy he felt was somehow familiar.
Zeke carefully examined the mask, now devoid of its glow.
And he found a sun-shaped symbol drawn on the forehead of the mask.
'It's similar to the Holy Kingdom's insignia.'
It was then.
Rumble!
Something approached Zeke from behind at high speed.
A message window popped up in front of Zeke.
[Ancient dragon species corrupted by tainted energy detected.]
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]