It had been a bit more than a month since Edrick had begun his training in Eltysia, and today, he awoke to discover something most bizarre.

A structure had appeared a distance away from his camp. It had definitely not been there before–And yet, an old, dilapidated village had sprouted out of nowhere from the looks of it.

He was a bit reluctant to check out what was up with this at first. He wouldn’t want to anger the guardian if this place were like the monument he dearly guarded. However, after a while of circling around and watching the place from afar, Anoteros took one step inside.

After several minutes, since the Blutgar was nowhere to be seen, the scion guessed that it was not a restricted area. He knew well that the Red Guardian was never very far. The orcish-looking fellow always kept a close eye on him, and if he had yet to show a reaction, then it had to mean that this village was not under his protection.

The place was not quite in ruins… The various structures were still holding up just fine, except for a few holes in some of the tile roofs.

Everything was built from solid brick, but from the looks of it, the inhabitants had not had access to any form of glass.

It was strange. The architecture was more advanced than that of the Underwood Elves, but they didn’t have access to glass, while the elves did? That did not seem to line up… Especially since various items were lying about–Tools, equipment to put onto beasts of burden, large structures intended to store grains, and, in general, the houses were tall and wide.

There were even ruins of what looked like had once been shops. The signs were weathered, but Anoteros felt that he recognised an alchemy store, and even a blacksmith. The style was not at all similar or reminiscent of that of the Underwood Elves. These ruins had to belong to someone else… But who?

‘I was only told about one species capable of building homes like this… It looks like this was done by human hands…’

Edrick had put Shu to work to gather intel on Eltysia, letting her use much better contacts and avenues to get her information. Still, nought had mentioned a thing about what this village could be about, where it had come from, or who could have lived within it.

More importantly, there was no explanation whatsoever as to what could have caused this village to just pop out of thin air like this… The noble had gone to sleep without anything being there. Yet, in the morning, the village now stood in place, bearing the passage of time as if it had always been right where it currently stood.

Investigating the interiors did not yield much result. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, with forsaken cobwebs littering the corners and underside of furniture. Every drawer, chest, and closet was also completely empty.

There weren’t even any insects, mice, or rats around. It was all utterly desolate and hollow. There were no traces of the people who had supposedly lived here, either. There were no clothes or shoes to give the scion any idea what they had looked like. There were no paintings depicting anyone… The best clue Edrick had in guessing what the inhabitants had looked like was the beds. They were all made and ready to be slept in if one ignored the dust covering the sheets and pillows.

The beds were… Of varying sizes… Neither too small nor too big. The previous owners had probably been human-sized, but that wasn’t really much to go off with. The village had clearly been built using techniques only a humanoid species could have employed. The way everything was made screamed that.

Though for all Anoteros knew, they could have been humans, as well as they could have been elves, beastfolks, or something else entirely. Humanoids weren’t exactly that hard to come by. Even some monsters were humanoids.

Frankly, Edrick was starting to believe that this exploration had been nothing but a big, fat waste of his time that could have been better spent training.

That was until he reached a house that was somewhat a distance away from the rest. It was a nice house with a heavy wooden door reinforced with steel. The occupation of its previous owner was obvious the moment the noble made his way inside.

Leaning against a wall near the entrance–Like it was an umbrella placed here for convenience–Was an Executioner’s Axe… The old tool of capital punishment. It was rusted and weary, but its edge still looked as though it could perform its duty without much problem.

Glancing around, there was also an Executioner’s Sword mounted on the wall, along with a large variety of rusted tools of torture laid about on a large wooden table. Clearly, the previous owner had been an executioner.

This was probably why this home was a distance away from the rest. The other villagers did not wish to closely associate with such a grim figure.

Apart from this, Edrick found this place to be as mundane as the rest… There was a top floor, and a sort of elevated point that could serve as a watch tower, but nothing truly of interest.

The noble was about to leave and return to his usual affairs when his attention was brought to a chair. It was just an innocuous chair, which just so happened to be angled to the side instead of neatly tucked in under the table like the rest. That alone shouldn’t be worth concern, but Anoteros couldn’t help but frown looking at it.

…Something felt off. The instant he began paying attention to the chair, it was like his instinct woke up. He sat down in the chair, finding himself staring at the wall. For several minutes, he stayed where he was, feeling like he should be seeing something.

‘Oh, wait…’ 

He slightly lowered himself so that his eyes would be at the level of a more average-sized person, and immediately, he noticed a reflection hidden in between a small gap in the brick wall.

Walking up to it, he didn’t bother himself with decorum and punched right through the wall, pulling out a small shard of a mirror.

He instantly knew where to put it. When in the bedroom, he had quickly wondered how there could be a mirror, but no windows. It seemed odd that the people here would figure out how to make glass for mirrors, but nothing else. Even the alchemy shop had been filled with ceramic vials instead of glass ones…

Ascending up the stairs once again, the scion pushed the piece of glass that was missing into the mirror. It was one of those mirrors mounted onto a piece of furniture. The sort that were intended for someone to look at themselves whilst they put on make-up.

Placing the shard seemingly added enough weight for the mirror to swing backwards a bit. The new angle caused it to reflect something hidden in the ceiling–Which was made of wooden planks.

‘What sort of puzzle is this?’ 

Edrick did not mind playing along, but it was a bizarre experience.

The item revealed itself to be a piece of paper with a rough drawing on it. The idea was easy to understand… There was a hatch hidden under a piece of furniture on the first floor.

Anoteros sighed.

‘This smells of a trap. I really hope I didn’t solve a puzzle–As easy as it might have been–Just for some contraptions to try to murder me’

He took the stairs back down. As much as it might look like a trap, Edrick was still very much curious as to what may be hidden down in the hatch…

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