Chapter 217: East, Hwaseong (5)
Hanzo Tomb it’s a sizable dungeon, filled with traps, challenges, and wooden golems called wood soldiers.
[I see you’re hearing things. I didn’t realize my apprentice was so skilled in the art of deciphering.]
Sierra’s voice rings out as she watches me unlock the tomb.
Sierra let out an exclamation, but I couldn’t hear anything. It wasn’t like something you’d see in a movie or an anime.
No, she should be able to hear it, but maybe this door was special. I turned the dial to the correct number and tried my luck, but it didn’t give me any information.
‘Was this a five?’
Even I couldn’t remember all 16 digits.
I could remember everything else, but I couldn’t remember a single digit. I leaned my ear against the lock and scratched my head.
“Do you want to go in?”
I whispered, nudging the door to Sheddie, who looked up from my feet curiously.
“Who are you talking to?”
There was no way my whisper could have been missed in the silence of the cave, where the only sound was me turning the dial, and one of the grave robbers turned to me, squinting.
“Since I’m blind, I sometimes see things… ghosts… Spirits…”
“You’ve brought a madman with you…”
The grave robbers were not strange, but I suppose it’s inevitable that when you’re in the presence of someone who’s about to die, your tongue becomes lighter.
“Kerung.”
Sheddie ducked under the shadows on the floor and tried to reach the doorway.
A tiny shadow lodged itself in the door jamb and struggled to break through.
‘I guess that means there’s no way around it.’
I’d hoped so, but it looks like there’s something stronger at work.
“Kerung…”
Sheddie stepped out of the shadows, a few bumps on his head and a sullen expression on his face.
It was unnecessary, but he’s a good one.
“Failure again today.”
“What’s the point of bringing your gear? The door won’t open.”
“Consider it a field trip. We’re all new here.”
The grave robbers gave up early, and I was spitting out my frustration.
-Bam!
As I turned the long-awaited 13th dial, I heard a pleasant sound.
‘Seven, not five.’
With a heavy scraping sound, the giant door that separated us from the tomb was opening.
“The gates are opening!”
“Are you crazy…You unlocked it…?”
“See, I told you.”
The grave robbers went wild with excitement at the unexpectedly good news, and I stepped forward, leaving them behind.
‘What dust…’
As I ran my hands through the years of dust, a hand grabbed my shoulder from behind.
“Hey, trying to get ahead.”
It was the voice of one of the more vocal members of the group. The next thing I know, he’s holding a chillingly cold sword to my throat.
“Get lost, I don’t need your help anymore….I’ll give you a few gold nuggets for your efforts.”
“I’d be grateful, but I’ll give you the right of way, you go ahead.”
If he wants to die so badly, I won’t stop him.
“It’s Hanzo’s tomb!”
“We’re rich now!”
The excited grave robbers run up the massive passageway.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll make sure you get your share.”
The woman who brought me to this group taps me on the shoulder.
‘Well…’
It’s just my personal opinion, but this place didn’t smell like the gold they were looking for.
“Hmmm…”
One of the grave robbers ahead of us stared uselessly at the huge passageway, questioning.
Thud.
He stomped on one of the scaffolds.
Greedy grave robber, you’re going to cross that river after all.
“Hey, what are you talking about?”
“I… stepped on… There’s a trap here…!”
The grave robber’s cries soon turn to screams.
-Boom!
A giant iron spear protruded from the wall and pierced his abdomen without any effort.
“Aaahhhh!!!”
The grave robber’s skin quickly turns a sickly color as he struggles against the spear.
He was poisoned and it didn’t take long for his breathing to be cut off.
“…Damn it! What was his name again?”
“I just met him today, how would I know?”
The grave robbers begin to realize what’s going on.
“Everyone, watch the floor…”
It was no one’s tomb, but Hanzo’s.
It had dawned on them that even if there was treasure there, it wouldn’t be designed to be taken so easily.
In fact, Hanzo’s tomb was a dungeon, one of Hanzo’s tests.
The traps near the entrance are simply to see if you’re worthy of the test and the test is for ninja who want to become Hanzo’s successor.
Therefore, the difficulty level would be very high for a simple grave robber.
“Then I’ll go first.”
“Hey, it’s full of traps up ahead! Do you want to kill yourself?”
Well, if a blind man wants to run into a field of traps, who cares who stops him?
But traps don’t bother me.
‘Is this the first time since the Labyrinth?’
These traps were a bit more elaborate than the ones in the Labyrinth, but that didn’t stop me.
“I don’t mind you following me, but please don’t get in my way. If I may give you a piece of advice, you might as well turn back now.”
I walked through the trap field at a leisurely pace, strangely untouched by any of the traps, much to the surprise of the grave robbers who stopped and watched my back.
They are no longer needed, for they have fulfilled their role as guides to the location of Hanzo’s tomb.
[Hanzo, the first ninja… could there really be treasures in his tomb?]
Sierra, who had been walking down the passageway across the trap field, squinting her eyes and scanning her surroundings, asked.
“Do you know anything about Hanzo?”
[Every ninja I’ve ever met has died saying something along the lines of “Glory to Hanzo”. Even if it wasn’t that, you’d have to not be an easterner not to know.]
“Were you ever chased by a ninja…?”
[When I was a girl, I heard that one of the two spirits was skilled with a sword, so I crossed swords with him once, and after that ninjas often came to visit.]
“They’re very narrow-minded.”
He was angry that he had lost to a young girl, so he ordered ninjas to bring him her head.
[I wonder if he’s still alive? From the looks of it, he’s got a long life ahead of him.]
As far as I know, none of the current Ten are skilled with a sword so he’s either dead or retired.
There is one younger one, Kakubo, who is a swordsman, but maybe he’s related.
As I walk along, chatting with Sierra, I come across another door.
The only difference between this one and the massive gate at the entrance is that it doesn’t have a lock.
[There’s a sentence on it. Hmm…A ninja must not be misled by the tempting fruits in front of him…? What does that mean?]
Sierra read the sign above the door for me and shook her head.
It was the first gateway, the Door of Deception.
“We’ll only know what’s inside when we open it.”
Behind the gate, a blunt-armored guard waited.
The gatekeeper tempts those who enter by disguising himself as the one they love most but death is the only thing that awaits them after they’ve been seduced.
[Let’s take a look.]
With that, Sierra moves to pass through the doorway, only to hear the clear sound of something hitting something else.
[ …… ]
Sierra hit her head on the door.
“Master, are you okay…?”
I asked as she rubbed her forehead in embarrassment.
“There seems to be a seal on the outside wall of the building.”
[Why are you saying that now…!]
“You saw how Sheddie couldn’t get in…”
[…I thought she was different.]
Sierra shrugged her shoulders once at the muttering and pushed the door open.
[I’m glad, though; I don’t think my apprentice would fall for something like that.]
“Haha, is that so…”
I honestly didn’t feel confident as I pushed the door open and I could skip, I would.
I wasn’t sure what lay ahead and if I could resist the temptation but contrary to what I thought, I could see right through it.
‘They came out of nowhere and……’
Unintentionally touched by a terrible imagination, I unnecessarily fixed the bandage over my eyes and stepped fully into the gateway.
[That one…]
A woman was standing there.
She looked familiar, with peach blossoms in her hair and blue sky in her eyes.
[Kaen…?]
Similarly, the first thing that came to my mind was Kaen, but something was different.
She wasn’t Kaen.
Her hair was shaped differently, and she was not the mature woman I knew, dressed in those eastern clothes and exuding a dignified air.
Then her lips parted.
“Mr. West…?”
I was stunned, and Sierra was even more baffled than I was.
[What does she mean…?]
“I don’t know.”
“Have you forgotten about me already…?”
[I’m calling out to you in a plaintive voice, and you’re trying to play games?!]
“But I don’t remember getting married at all…”
“Didn’t you propose to me first, you said you wanted to have children…”
[Oh, a child…?]
“No, because I’ve never had children.”
“Well, sure…You haven’t had kids yet.”
The woman who looked just like Kaen blushed and twisted herself into a ball.
“Then perhaps today is your chance…?”
She took a slow step toward me.
“My moon. My West.”
She cupped my cheek.
[My, my……]
And just like that, Sierra and I were stuck at the first gateway, unexpectedly
***
By the time Zetto entered the first gate, the Door of Deception, the three women who had been secretly following him had arrived at the entrance to Hanzo’s tomb.
“Hanzo?”
Aizel questioned, reading the sign above the massive open door.
“Hanzo… I believe he was the first ninja, and this is his tomb.”
“Why would Cadet Zetto be in a place like this?”
“I don’t know, and I’m not surprised. Zetto doing things behind everyone’s back is kind of like Crank eating bread all the time.”
“Hmm…”
Kaen grunted as she stepped through the door and looked around at the passageway almost as large as the door.
In it were two corpses, impaled on spears protruding from the wall, and two living people.
“People…!”
“Other grave robbers? Don’t come! This is a trap field!”
“”……””
The three women scratched their heads at their cries.
“Didn’t a man with a bandage over his eyes just pass through here?”
Kaen asked them as they stood still, unable to move a single step.
“Bandages…? The handsome blind man? If so, he’s already passed by, walking casually and not stepping on any traps…”
“Of course Zetto wouldn’t step on a trap.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s Cadet Zetto.”
“Kaen, are you good at avoiding traps?”
“I don’t have any problems.”
“And Aizel?”
“As long as I’m faster than the traps can reach me, I’m good, but there might be traps that trigger faster than my speed, so I’m not gambling on that. In the Labyrinth, maybe, but here, I’d actually get my head blown off.”
The three women shrugged off the grave robber’s comment and went on amongst themselves.
“Hey, Kaen… Can’t you make way for us…?”
Yuri, who wasn’t so confident in avoiding the traps, asked Kaen.
“Then it’s better if Kaen, who is more confident in traps, leads the way here.”
“…Why are you all like this?”
Kaen glanced at the two of them in disbelief.
“Ugh…”
She sighed, shook her head, and stretched.
Feeling sufficiently warmed up, Kaen took a step forward, only to have her body shudder and immediately pull back.
“Haa… Haa…”
Kaen is breathing heavily.
“…Kaen, are you okay, or is it a trap already?”
“No, it’s not that…”
A flushed Kaen struggled to explain.
“…Cadet Zetto it’s in front of me, and I entered his range for a moment.”