Nighttime, in a room of an inn.
While the ordinary citizens—unaware of what had transpired tonight—were deep in slumber, Riezel, having removed his cloak, sat at a table in a room lit by a single magic lamp and had not gone to sleep.
Lizbeth, on the other hand, had already gone to bed in the adjoining room.
Originally, the little princess had intended to remain by his side when she saw he had no plans to sleep, but seeing the exhaustion on her face, he had not allowed her to stay and had sent her straight to bed instead.
Riezel was lost in thought for a moment before taking out the box he had seized not long ago and setting it on the table.
"All Appraisal Magic Item."
As the appraisal magic activated, information about the box before him surfaced in Riezel's mind.
'Just as I thought, this box isn't ordinary.'
Riezel tapped the box on the table.
It was neither wood nor anything wood-like, neither iron nor anything iron-like, neither gold nor anything gold-like, neither silver nor anything silver-like.
According to the appraisal's feedback, the box was forged from a rare magic metal known as 'Quatro.'
It possessed exceptional hardness and durability, where even if a Sword Saint were to strike it with the highest-ranked magic weapon, not a single mark would appear.
It was one of the primary materials used in crafting many high-ranked armors and high-ranked magic items. Any item crafted from this magic metal—be it a weapon, armor, or magic item—would never be of low quality.
If using the terms from YGGDRASIL, if this magic metal were placed in the hands of a master blacksmith, the final product could well be a legendary-class item—perhaps even a divine-class one.
'No wonder it's hard to open when it's made from such a precious magic metal.'
Riezel fiddled with the box but couldn't find any way to open it, as it had neither a lock nor a keyhole where a key could be inserted. If not for the thin seam across its surface, one might mistake it for a solid block of metal rather than a box.
Riezel had also tried forcing it open before, but even when exerting his full strength, he could not widen that seam by even a millimeter—which was surprising.
It should be noted that with Riezel's current STR, he could twist the front of a truck clean off, yet he still could not pry open this box.
Such a fact alone was proof enough that the box's origin was extraordinary.
'Of course, extraordinary is only to be expected.'
Feeling that familiar throbbing sensation in his chest, Riezel ultimately decided to use a bit of force.
He extended a finger and pressed it against the seam of the box.
"Reality Slash."
Riezel unleashed the 10th-Tier Magic capable of slicing through even space itself to open the box.
A tiny blade of spatial energy formed at Riezel's fingertip and slid along the seam.
*Swish!*
Soon, with a faint sound like leather being cut, the lid of the box came free.
Before magic that could cut through space, no matter how hard or sturdy the box was, the outcome was inevitable.
*Clang!*
As the rare magic metal lid dropped onto the table, the contents inside were exposed to the air, falling into Riezel's sight.
"..."
At once, that familiar throbbing sensation within him grew even stronger.
Just like the time he had first come into contact with Lizbeth's animal skin, the intense throbbing sensation compelled him to reach inside and lift out the object lying quietly within.
It was, unmistakably, a rolled-up piece of animal skin.
'Another animal skin?'
Riezel was both surprised and suddenly enlightened.
Surprised, because he hadn't expected the box to contain an animal skin.
Enlightened, because it was an animal skin—after all, the last time something had stirred this same throbbing sensation within him, it had also been an animal skin.
If that was the case, then it was no mystery why the same sensation had arisen now.
In the end, after a brief moment of thought, Riezel unrolled the animal skin and spread it open.
It was completely blank, giving one the distinct feeling of being swindled, yet Riezel did not grow impatient.
Instead, Riezel kept his gaze fixed on the empty skin, and sure enough, before long, something incredible happened—countless lines began to take shape, slowly forming a picture.
'Just as I thought…'
Riezel retrieved Lizbeth's animal skin stored in the Dimensional Magic Cube and laid it beside the one before him.
At first glance, the two appeared almost identical—aside from a few slight differences along the edges, they were the same in material, texture, size, and color.
However, the pictures depicted on them were entirely different.
For the animal skin Lizbeth had entrusted to Riezel, it showed an altar surrounded by countless kneeling figures. At the forefront stood a queen wearing a crown and royal robe, holding a gleaming golden sword, leading the masses in worship of a cube-like object upon an altar.
As for the animal skin taken from the metal box, it depicted a different scene.
Even though it also featured line-drawn human figures, they were no longer worshiping at an altar. Instead, they had journeyed into a desert, led by a single figure.
Who was the leader?
It was still a crowned and robed queen—unmistakably the same figure.
However, this time the queen was stabbing her golden sword into an altar, while those around her carried building materials or wielded tools, busily constructing something around it.
'An altar to insert Moslow...'
Looking at the picture, Riezel's mind was flooded with a multitude of thoughts.
He still remembered that when Yuri had told him about Sinielle's ancient ruin, she had mentioned there was a place inside that seemed designed to allow the insertion of Moslow.
'So, this drawing is depicting the scene where the people of the Hero Clan brought their followers here to build that ancient ruin?'
By now, Riezel already knew that the queen holding Moslow was Lizbeth's ancestor—someone once acknowledged by the Dimensional Magic Cube, capable of dimensional travel, and regarded as a hero during the era of the ancient magic civilization.
Moreover, her status in that era had been extraordinarily high.
Since the dawn of humanity, the Hero Clan had single-handedly protected the entire human race, standing against the monsters that endangered mankind at the time.
For that reason, they were both heroes and kings—great leaders who commanded the entire human race.
Such figures...
'Why would they bring people into a desert like this to build a structure capable of inserting Moslow?'
Riezel felt as though he had stumbled upon yet another secret from the era of the ancient magic civilization.
Even Maya, who resided within the ancient ruins hidden inside the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon, had spoken of the Hero Clan with unreserved praise, maintaining a respectful attitude toward them from beginning to end.
Just what had the Hero Clan done in the final days of the ancient magic civilization?
Riezel considered many possibilities, but they were all merely guesses—none of them could be deemed the certain, correct answer.
'Forget it. No point thinking about it.'
Unable to figure it out, Riezel simply gave up.
'Either way, I came here for that ancient ruin. I'll be going there sooner or later. Perhaps, once I'm there, I might just find the answer.'
With this in mind, Riezel put both pieces of the animal skin away, storing them in the storage space of the Dimensional Magic Cube.
Afterward, Riezel rummaged through the metal box again but found nothing else inside, which puzzled him.
'Hmm, there's only that animal skin in here?'
It didn't make sense to him.
'When that short swordsman grabbed the box and was about to escape, he shouted that he was about to become a Sword Saint...'
Because of those words, Riezel had assumed there was some sort of treasure inside that could greatly increase someone's strength in a short time.
Yet all that was inside was a single animal skin?
'Seems like there's still some secret here I don't know about.'
Riezel thought for a moment, then picked up the cut-off lid and placed it back on the box.
"Over Magic - Complete Repair."
As the magic was cast, a burst of magical energy flared across the metal box, covering it completely.
When the glow faded, the box—once split apart by Reality Slash—was restored to its original state, looking as if it had never been damaged.
Only then did Riezel put the metal box away, stand up, and prepare to go to sleep.
However, just then, a sudden disturbance shattered the silence of the moonlit night.
"Hm?"
Riezel paused mid-step on his way to the bed, raised an eyebrow, and walked over to the window to look outside.
What he saw was an unexpectedly lively scene.
On the street that should have been silent and empty, a group of people had appeared at some point.
They all wore the same style of uniform, each with a standard-issue weapon at their waist—clearly part of the same group.
They were surrounding a building in a tight formation, and the building being surrounded was none other than the inn Riezel was staying in.
'Oh, they're quick.'
Riezel was not surprised in the slightest, since he had not gone out of his way to conceal his movements. Even though both he and Lizbeth wore cloaks, it wouldn't have been difficult for someone with intent to track them down.
Not to mention, both of them had been moving around together—a man and a woman, tall and short, an obvious pair who had walked through bustling streets without restraint—so anyone determined enough could easily find them just by checking their characteristics, making their arrival at this place only a matter of time.
Of course, the reason Riezel had not bothered to hide was that he assumed the enemy would at least wait until the next day, giving them a night to rest—but who would have thought they would arrive this quickly?
'Are they the people from the so-called City Hall?'
Riezel felt he might have guessed the truth.
*Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!*
Just then, the door to his room was knocked on forcefully.
===
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