Kapitel 104: She Finds a Piece of the Past
Robin stared into the darkness underneath the lush green vines dotted with wisteria flowers. The opening was veiled in shadows. It was difficult to figure out if there was danger within.
"Master, what are your looking at?" Skye swooped down to ask. Skye had been checking out the surrounding area. But, now that Skye was finished, naturally, the flying squirrel returned to sit on Robin's shoulder.
"We found a secret entrance." Robin told the flying kitten, as she scratched behind Skye's ears. "But, I can't tell if there are any traps or not."
"Let Skye go! Skye can see in the dark! Skye can tell you if there are dangers in there!" The cat volunteered.
"Are you sure?" Robin asked.
"Leave it to me!" Skye jumped off Robin's shoulder and glided in through the dark entrance.
"Where's he going?" Christian asked.
"He's scouting out the area in search of hidden dangers." Robin answered.
"Is that so?" Christian asked.
"All clear!" Skye's voice came back to Robin.
"It seems I was worried for nothing." Robin said with a sigh, as she stepped through the entrance.
"Better safe than sorry." Christian chuckled as he followed behind Robin into the hidden room. Robin had Christian light some torches for them as they examined the room.
It could not be called a small room. The room was more than large enough to hold twenty to thirty guests aside from them. Yet, it also could not be called a large room, as many countless tomes and records lined bookshelves, and made stacks upon the floor.
Several spells to keep away rodents, snakes, and book worms could be seen painted on the walls in a uniform manner, similar to a rudimentary form of wallpaper. Another spell to keep away the damp could also be seen on the bookshelves.
From the amount of books, it seemed to be the hideout of a Grand Magician, or Scholar. Robin immediately began storing the books on the ground away in her storage bracer. Christian moved to the desk at the back of the room, but leapt back with a sudden cry.
"What is it!?" Robin rushed over, asking Christian. Christian pointed to a large black tarantula with sinister red markings climbing on the skull of a skeleton, slumped in its chair. It hissed at them.
Robin lifted an eyebroy, and looked at Skye.
"I thought you said it was safe." She scolded Skye.
"Well, that's what the spider said!" Skye retorted.
"Did you try asking the spider if he is venomous?" Robin asked.
"Oops. I forgot since I'm immune to most poisons." Skye dipped his head, shyly. "I'll ask him now!"
After a brief silent exchange, Skye nodded and turned to Robin. "He says yes, but only to noisy people. He likes his sleep, after all."
Robin nodded.
"Christian?" She said in a low voice to the prince. "Skye says it bites only people that make loud noises." Christian turned his head, catching her smile that wasn't a smile.
"So keep your mouth shut, or else..." She glanced at the spider. Christian swallowed, and nodded fiercely.
"Skye, can you ask the spider if we can take the books here?" Robin asked.
"Sure!" After another brief exchange, Skye turned to reply.
"He says yes, but leave the bookcases behind, and leave the door open. He wants to venture out to eat something good after such a long time."
Robin nodded. "Will do." She replied.
Then the sinister looking spider hopped down off the skeleton, and quickly ran out the door.
"...Huh." Christian uttered curiously, looking in the direction the tarantula had gone. It turned out that there were venomous beasts with such mild tempers? Truly amazing.
----
Outside the cave, the tarantula looked back towards the entrance and shuddered. After such a long time, to see people with such monstrous auras, had shocked it to the core. Even more frightening was their pet, which was as powerful as a beast deity that the tarantula had only heard of in small tales whispered among other beasts on nights of a full moon.
Surely, if he had tried pulling anything funny, that beast deity would have squashed him flatter than the floor.
Hopefully, they would finish, and leave soon. that den was now the spider's safe place. It would hate for that room to be taken away from it...
----
Robin looked at the skeleton's clothing. The buttons were silver, precious metals had been sewn into the clothes, and there was gold braid along the edges. It was too bad that the cloth was torn in several areas.
"Do you know who this is?" Robin asked. Christian shook his head.
"The last time anyone was in this area was over 15 years ago. Since the war, there were a lot of influential people that went missing, so there's no way to tell simply from his clothes."
"Then I shall have to work from what I know." Robin sighed. "Though the man was somewhat affluent, he preferred an efficient lifestyle. Either he like reading, or collecting books may have been his job. Also, his name was Toby."
"Hmm...wait, what!? How did you know his name?" Christian asked, completely confused.
Robin tapped the desk in front of the skeleton.
"Because he signed his name, of course. This is not a book that he was reading, but a book that he was writing, his diary, I think. If you don't believe me, the remains of a feather quill pen should be loosely grasped in the skeleton's right hand." Robin replied, as she picked up the diary, flipping through it.
It seemed the skeleton used to be the son of a famous general in the war. Due to the fact that it was dangerous, he was hidden in that room, in case a demon would use him to force the general to surrender.
His father had promised him that if he became a great mage, he would be allowed to come out of hiding. So the young man applied himself very hard towards studying. Food came through a fake offerings altar placed upon the hill above his hiding place.
After a particularly violent battle, the general stopped coming. Toby kept waiting, but the general didn't visit anymore, nor did food arrive. He had provisions stocked up in case of an emergency, but, as the days grew more, and the food grew less, he began to worry. Just what was keeping his father from visiting?
Soon enough, Toby ran out of provisions. But, when he tried to open the door, he realised, to his horror, that the inner mechanism to open the door from the inside had somehow broken. He was trapped in there. Poor Toby's last words that he wrote were: 'Surely, father will come and save me...Father...why didn't you save me? '
"What do you think of this?" Robin asked.
"Toby, huh?" Christian murmured. "Any tomes from before or during the war are considered priceless. Father would be pleased if you gave them to him or Jasmine for safe keeping. Our scholars are ever eager to unearth new facts about the prewar era. So, if this were known, they might shamelessly
mob you with requests to borrow with no intention of returning."
"That bad, huh? Well, this is not a bad treasure to find." Robin finished gathering all the books. "It will give me something to do other than sleeping, cooking, and fighting."
"Hey, leave some for the historians! You're gonna make them cry." Christian pointed out, jokingly.
"No need to bring up past hostilities so soon after its end. That will only stir up discontent. The books will still be here fifty years later, when tempers have completely cooled." Robin replied, sagely.
"It's been fifteen years! Surely the people have forgotten by now?" Christian asked.
Robin sighed. "While I wish that were so, it seems both humans and demons are creatures that are very good at holding a grudge for long periods of time. Until the current generation has become old, the pain of the past will always hover in the back of their minds."
She turned to Christian, and poked him in the chest. "That's why, I'm counting on you to make your country a place which can harbor, and protect its people's smiles. Be productive in peace, and defensive in war. Spread kindness, justice, and prosperity to all its corners. But, be watchful, lest the power-hungry seek to corrupt it to ruin."
Christian's eyes widened as he heard Robin's words. Robin smiled sadly for a moment
"Perhaps..." She said, before turning to face the sunshine streaming in through the doorway. As she made her way out, her silhouette seemed a bit lonely when cast against the gleaming sunshine.
"...Perhaps, one day in the future, your kingdom will be able to say, 'There is no need for us to summon heroes anymore.'"
Christian found himself unable to say anything as he watched Robin, memorizing, and pondering over her words in his heart. Then he also stepped out into the sunshine.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein