Chapter 259
“Ugh, seriously! Why is it so long?”
Meliana couldn’t stand the endlessly continuing passage and grumbled. I secretly agreed.
It’s been a while since we’ve agreed on something.
“They say they don’t get along with the elves, so is that part of it?”
“That could be the case.”
“I’m not curious about that…… Look! A door! That’s a door, right?”
Meliana shouted, pointing ahead with an excited voice. At the same time, a bright light illuminated the front.
Half of it was still covered in deep darkness where the light didn’t reach, but from the remaining half, it looked like a door.
Something wrapped in thick green vines inside a hardened tunnel looked somewhat out of place.
Meliana was already rushing ahead before I could even answer. Her steps were so fast they were almost a run.
We couldn’t fall behind and followed, quickly reaching the door.
‘Smaller than I thought?’
The door was of a very ordinary size. It seemed I could easily enter, but Isaac and Reno would probably have to stoop slightly to get through.
Having expected a giant gate like a castle entrance, the ordinary-sized door felt small.
“It doesn’t seem to be made of wood.”
“Really?”
“Listen. If it were wood, it wouldn’t make a sound like this.”
Reno lightly tapped the door and replied. Just as he said, a dull thud and vibration, incomparable to tapping wood, resonated.
‘Not wood, huh?’
It looked like it was made of wood to anyone.
“There’s no doorknob either, how are we supposed to open it?”
Meliana frowned after examining the door for a while. But we also couldn’t find a doorknob.
There were metal pieces attached to parts of the door, but no doorknob was visible.
“It seems it’s designed to be opened only from the inside.”
“So if we look carefully, there might be a way to interact with the inside?”
“The probability seems high.”
“What do you mean, ‘there is’? There’s nothing here.”
Meliana inserted herself between me and Killis and gestured.
“Fabian, Zabern.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Break it.”
What?
Before I could stop them in surprise, the twin guardians drew their swords. The blue-tinged sword blades slashed horizontally across the door.
Clang!
For a moment, a loud clang resonated, loud enough to deafen my ears. It was a sharp sound that gave me goosebumps all over.
Fortunately, the door was unharmed. If it had been broken, we might have been able to intrude, but we certainly wouldn’t have been welcomed.
This time, I felt annoyance rising. They had already caused trouble by setting fire to the Nex habitat without warning, and now this again.
“What are you doing?”
“Maybe this is a way to communicate? Look closely. There are scratches here too.”
Meliana pointed to a long scratch on the door.
“They were there before Fabian and Zabern scratched it.”
Looking closely, there weren’t just one or two, but many. Does that mean it’s a reasonably reasoned inference? But somehow, I don’t think this is the way.
‘Elves don’t use swords much.’
When I first met them. And having lived in the elven village, I felt that they mainly used bows rather than swords.
Some used swords, but mostly daggers. I hardly saw any longswords…….
“These are not sword marks.”
Meliana retorted to Isaac’s reply, “No way?”
“If these long marks aren’t from swords, then what are they?”
“Couldn’t the Nex have scratched them?”
Reno guessed, looking towards the door.
“At this height, and this length, it seems plausible? Plus, here, there are small bits of moss stuck. And vines above. Doesn’t that mean it’s old?”
“Right. They said the Nex couldn’t come out for twenty years due to the spirit’s protective barrier…….”
“Plants would have plenty of time to grow.”
“Th-then I was wrong again?”
“Not yet. Fortunately, the door wasn’t broken.”
I swallowed a sigh and looked at the twin guardians and the other guardian. Observing and feeling, it wasn’t just Meliana who was the problem, but her guardians too.
If you only consider their absolute obedience to their master’s orders, there would be no one as excellent as them. I had never seen them contradict Meliana before.
However, thanks to these individuals who followed without their own will, Meliana seemed accustomed to acting as she thought was right.
‘Morris Futurum and Duke Futurum must have created such an environment.’
I had no intention of interfering, but it was troublesome if they caused disruptions or problems like this.
“When we’re together, let’s coordinate and move. If a problem arises, we’ll all get caught up in it.”
“……Okay.”
Surprisingly, she accepted it so readily again?
I didn’t expect it to be fixed immediately, but separately, my mind felt at ease.
“Your Highness, could you come here for a moment?”
Killis called me. Unexpectedly, he was looking not at the door, but at a corner far from it.
‘Did he find something?’
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