Lynch didn't like this ending, but perhaps this was life—helplessly real.
Officer Natalie's earlier warning had indeed been spoken from experience; one really shouldn't invest feelings in people who only existed in memories.
Hearing the story's end, even though he had been mentally prepared, an inexplicable bitterness welled up in his heart, leaving his nose feeling prickled with sorrow. He tilted his head back sharply to suppress the weakness about to show on his face.
Letting out a deep sigh, Lynch tried to exhale the bitterness in his chest as he gazed at the murals on the wall, filled with emotion. It felt like hearing news of a long-unseen friend's passing years later—regret, reluctance to let go, yet utter powerlessness, leaving behind nothing but endless desolation.
Beside him, the young noble lady's eyes were already rimmed with red, and the female officer looked equally somber. The memories they had just experienced were still fresh before them, but alas... perhaps this was life.
An oppressive silence fell over the cave. Nikolai looked curiously at his three listeners, not interrupting their grief. Only after a long moment did the three break free from their sadness. Lynch let out a long sigh and whispered:
“To think it was actually her who instructed her tribe to pursue Mordiggian and fight him, specifically warning them never to let him awaken... Was that so we could find her tribe? But... how could this be?”
Sniffling, the young noble lady said softly, “Perhaps under the dual influence of the Dreamlands' distortion and the Lord of a Billion Radiance's power over time, fragments of the memory were transmitted back to the past and received by her as she was near... death. She left that charge behind just to fulfill her promise to us. Even at a moment like that, she was still remembering her promise to us.”
“It seems so.” Lynch's heart stirred. Looking at Elder Nikolai, whose expression had turned somewhat peculiar, he asked thoughtfully, “Besides her last words, she must have left behind something else, didn't she?”
“How could you...” Humanlike shock and disbelief flooded the old ghoul's hideous face. He pointed at Lynch rather rudely and froze for a long time before his expression gradually softened, his voice thick with realization. “So that's how it is! I understand now, I understand! Remarkable friends... Heh, so that's why! Wait here a moment, I'll be right back.”
Muttering to himself in a somewhat composure-losing blur, the old ghoul turned and hurried away, leaving the three standing in surprise. They could only pass the time by examining the murals. The murals were chaotic, complex, and extraordinarily difficult to understand. Fortunately, Lynch hadn't completely forgotten his archaeology studies; he still remembered bits of totem interpretation, allowing him to barely parse out a small portion of the content.
It was essentially a record of the tribe's major historical events: how they had matched wits against the indigenous inhabitants of Middle Earth, how they had established a foothold in these mountains, how they had ensured Mordiggian's slumber through sacrifices, and how they had encountered the ancestors of the Valente family to form a strategic partnership. In particular, the last mural depicted two stick figures thrashing Mordiggian—even while still weighed down by sorrow, the three couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
It was truly too ugly.
Nevertheless, seeing his own likeness depicted on the murals of another tribe brought Lynch a subtle feeling, alongside a sense of achievement that taking such great risks had not been in vain.
Nikolai's “moment” stretched for over ten minutes before he finally led them into another cave chamber. It was at least the size of two basketball courts and filled with all sorts of ancient items, clearly serving as a storeroom.
But the moment they stepped inside, the three were startled. The storeroom was in absolute disarray, looking like a parking lot wrecked by a tornado. The most fitting description Lynch could think of was that nothing was where it should be. Meanwhile, several unfamiliar ghouls squatted off to the side, panting heavily with tongues hanging out, looking as if they had just traded blows with Mordiggian for thirty minutes straight.
The only comforting sight was a familiar stone box sitting atop a rock in a corner of the storeroom.
In truth, it wasn't entirely familiar either. What they had seen back then was a stone box carved with strange patterns, looking ancient, heavy, solemn, and full of mystery. It was nothing like this present object, which was caked in ancient sludge and looked like a stepping stone freshly dug out of an ancient tomb.
Elder Nikolai explained, “I only saw it once back when I succeeded as High Priest. It was a bit hard to find, but we got it at last. This was passed down by that ancestor in her final moments. She said that someone might come to retrieve it someday in the future, and told us to take good care of it.”
Whoosh. The gaze of the three instantly turned strange. Their eyes darted back and forth among the wrecked cave, the battered stone box, and Elder Nikolai.
A canine face could actually show an expression of shame. With his infant-like crying voice sounding almost genuinely tearful, the old ghoul fidgeted with his claws and said awkwardly:
“It was indeed kept very well at first, but over several centuries and multiple successions of High Priests with no one coming to retrieve it, our predecessors assumed no one would ever come and slowly forgot about it. They merely kept it around as a keepsake. The ones our ancestor said would retrieve it must be you, right? Sigh, who could have guessed you wouldn't show up until two ages had passed? Just now, I was terrified I wouldn't be able to find it. Good thing we didn't throw it away—no, I mean, good thing it was preserved so well.”
Saying so, Elder Nikolai held out the box with both hands and offered it. “This is our ancestor's relic. You are her last friends, so we leave it in your keeping. Please take it.”
They had actually gotten it?
Lynch drew a deep breath. Even as he held it in his hands, he could hardly believe it. Wiping away the loose dirt on top, he could indeed vaguely make out the appearance he had seen two days ago.
“We only asked a single question and didn't even explain what happened—and you believed us so easily?” Lynch asked in confusion. “Aren't you afraid I might be tricking you?”
“Only a handful of people knew the ancestor's story, and even fewer knew of this relic's existence—and each of those was in direct contact with it. Therefore, the simple fact that you knew it existed is proof enough in itself,” Elder Nikolai said, staring at Lynch and Miss Diana. “More importantly, if it were anyone else, I would certainly be suspicious. But you are different. You were the ones who personally ended our thousands-of-years-long duty. That our ancestor's charge was brought to a close by you, and that her relic is inherited by you—isn't that perfectly reasonable? There are no coincidences in the world of the occult. Cause and effect are bound by invisible ties. Though I cannot fathom those links, there is at least no need to doubt your authenticity.”
The discernment of high-tier powerhouses really was far beyond ordinary people. Lynch nodded lightly and said, “Then we shall accept it. Do you know what's inside?”
“I have never opened it—I haven't lived long enough yet,” the old ghoul said with a forced laugh. “A High Priest once opened it in the past, and he died, taking dozens of our kinsmen with him. Ever since then, successive High Priests have never dared to be curious again.”
It seemed curiosity didn't just kill cats; dogs couldn't escape it either.
Lynch nodded and placed the box back on the rock. Skillfully pressing the hidden latch on the box, he opened the box he had finally obtained.
Rate on N.U.
