The Invaders of the Great Tomb

by Kugane Maruyama

  Roberdyck sounded bothered. “I’ve heard talk of narcotics as well. Drugs are wonderful if used effectively, but when people make them into products that prey on the weak, I can only feel disgust.” He couldn’t help it that his voice rose slightly.

  “Okay, we’re done speculating about baseless rumors and chatting about things that don’t have to do with the job at hand. Besides, when Arché looked him up, she said he didn’t seem like the type who would do something likely to get himself purged, right?”

  Hekkeran reminded everyone of that, ignoring Arché’s murmured protests of “I didn’t have enough sources. He could have been sneaky and concealed things.”

  “Well, I think you all know this, but—”

  “Of course we do. We shouldn’t talk about it in front of the other teams. Some workers might even take smuggling jobs from the Eight Fingers. As long as some of the other teams might have connections to them, we’re not gonna say a thing. Not until the job is over.”

  “Yeah, we have no idea what a filthy, tear-stained reward this might be.”

  “Even if the money’s dirty, a reward’s a reward, and we can live on it,” snapped Arché.

  Roberdyck shot a glance at her and took a deep breath as if to cool down his overheating insides.

  “Sorry, that was rude.”

  “No, I nearly spoke rather impertinently myself. Please forgive me.”

  “Never mind that. You didn’t even say anything. But I would like you to remember that that’s what I think. I’m after material wealth more than spiritual. That said”—Arché raised a hand to signify that she was still talking—“I want to avoid anything that could be a disadvantage to my teammates. I’ve seen my share of people destroyed by greed.”

  “We believe in you, Arché.”

  Arché nodded, and no one said anything else back. Their feelings were conveyed without words. Their past arguments had cultivated trust.

  “So? What do you think? There’s a good chance something is ruling this tomb…” Hekkeran was examining the well-pruned undergrowth. The statues of angels and goddesses here and there were extraordinarily beautiful, and it was clear at a glance that they, too, were given regular care.

  On the other hand, the branches of the huge trees towering around the graveyard were all drooping and bent, giving the place an atmosphere like gloom itself. The gravestones weren’t in straight lines and looked more like a witch’s uneven teeth. They combined with the more neatly kept parts of the area to create severe discord.

  Someone is taking care of the graveyard. They just aren’t sane. Hekkeran arrived at this thought through gut instinct, and it made him cold.

  He turned his attention to the huge building to shake off his chills. The grounds of the graveyard contained a mausoleum in each cardinal direction, plus a gigantic, magnificent one standing in the center. Eight fairly large warrior statues surrounded the large mausoleum, and their imposing presence made it feel as though they would turn away all calamity and fools who dared approach.

  “The undergrowth is trimmed so neatly. There’s not even any moss. Someone pretty particular is taking care of this place. I wonder what kind of person…”

  The teams present—minus Tenbu—had felt something strange was up from the moment they learned the nature of the request was a survey.

  Then they arrived, and the area was rolling plains as far as the eye could see. It was the most unsuitable place for a tomb.

  For starters, it was strange to build a tomb of this grandeur in such a remote place if anyone actually planned to use it. The location was too inconvenient.

  It was somewhat understandable if it was meant as a monument to convey the achievements of the deceased to future generations rather than a place to deify the dead. It was possible the tomb had been built at the site of some great deed as well.

  But in that case, it was strange that there was no historical evidence of that immortal achievement. With no clues emerging even after all the teams pooled their information, there was a good chance that it had been wiped from history.

  It didn’t make sense. The alien feeling that something was stuck in his throat caused Hekkeran to furrow his brow.

  “This could end up being a huge incident, depending on who is in here. What’ll we do about that?”

  “I’d hate if it was some innocent person’s house…”

  “The members of each team in charge of gathering knowledge discussed this, but the guild didn’t have any information about ruins in this area, and since it’s so far from the nearest village, the chance that a normal person is living here is really slim. That leaves either some kind of illegal squatter who can’t be out in the open or a monster. Since there aren’t any tracks outside the tomb, either it’s someone who doesn’t need food or water or the inside is made in a way that someone who lives here can sustain themselves. But we don’t have enough information. Speculating any further will just lead to stereotyping and narrowed thinking. So that’s why we’re going in.”

  Information about ruins flowed from the Adventurers Guild to the government. The discoverer retained the right to first survey for a set amount of time. If neither the state nor the guild had information about some ruins, killing an illegal squatter would be overlooked.

  In other words, a “when in doubt, kill” policy.

  Maybe it was a violent way to do things, but humans were weak in this world. They couldn’t have some unknown building a nest right next door.

  Actually, twenty years earlier, great harm had come by way of the organization Zurrenorn, which performed horrifying experiments while occupying some ruins. As people did nothing because they didn’t have enough information, an entire—albeit small—city was destroyed.

  The guild had created their policy so that nothing like that would ever happen again.

  “Well, if it fits the usual pattern, it’ll be undead. If the tomb is occupied by undead, we need to mop them up and bless the place to get rid of the negative energy, right?”

  “As you know, yes, it’s very important that we do that. If you leave undead alone, there is a chance stronger undead will spawn. That’s why you often find powerful undead inside ruins.”

  “It’d be nice if it was just an abandoned tomb and all that was in it were golems whose master had ordered them to keep the place tidy. That would be so much less trouble… What’s our strategy?”

  “I think you should have gone to the meeting instead of me, Hekkeran.”

  “Don’t worry about it. None of the other team leaders were there, right? Everyone fulfills the role they’re best suited for.”

  Arché sighed conspicuously in response to Hekkeran’s wink.

  “Once night falls, all teams will begin operations. We’re going to invade from all four directions and meet at the huge mausoleum in the middle.”

  “I see. It’d be easy to spot us in daylight.”

  “Yeah.”

  The area was open, and they couldn’t see any lookouts or travelers. It should have been fine to invade right then, but there was no telling what might happen. It would be a little safer to make their move in the dark.

  Also, if they continued observing the ruins, even only until night, it was possible they might learn something. This job had a time limit, but the brains of the teams had concluded that it wouldn’t be a waste to spend some of it observing.

  Really, they probably wanted to observe for a few days.

  “Wouldn’t we be able to scout safely if we used Invisibility?”

  “We did consider that, but given the chance something goes wrong, we figured it would be better to go in all at once. We’ll still be able to investigate at least a little bit.”

  Invisibility wasn’t a perfect spell; there were plenty of ways to see through it. If someone or something—who knew what was in there—guarding the ruins discovered a worker approaching with magic, the security level would increase as a matter of course. If they had bad luck, it was possible they wouldn’t make it into the to
mb at all.

  The plan must be to all move at once to avoid heightened security. Having understood that, Hekkeran nodded. It had some holes, but it managed to balance danger and duty to the minimum acceptable level.

  “So we’re on a break for now?”

  “Yeah. Raven Black and Screaming Whip are on guard, but just in case, and to stay sharp for later, each team will take turns keeping an eye on things. The lineup is the order in which we reached the count’s house, and we’ll switch every two hours.”

  “I see. So we’re last, then?”

  “Yeah. We still have a while to go.”

  With those words, she rotated her neck and scrunched her shoulders up and down.

  “You seem tired.”

  Arché nodded at Roberdyck. “I am. It took so long because that horrible guy proposed we storm the place. It was so hard to convince him we shouldn’t. The word cooperation is not in his dictionary.”

  “Oh…the fencing genius?”

  “You mean ‘piece of shit bastard,’” Imina sneered, full of killing intent.

  Hekkeran smiled awkwardly in response and made an effort to change the subject. “So how about we go back to camp and take it easy until it’s our turn?”

  “I approve of that idea. I don’t think it will rain anytime soon, but we’d be sorry if we didn’t take precautions. Miss Imina, that means we need you, so please don’t keep that scary face on forever.”

  “Aye-aye. Agh, that guy pisses me off so much I just want to stab him to death. We’re definitely pitching our tent nowhere near them.”

  “I have no problems with that as long as we’re inside the planned campground.”

  Really, it was problematic, but he wasn’t interested in pitching in their vicinity and then ending up in a fight.

  The four of them turned their backs to the ruins and set off walking.

  “The more you think about it, the more mysterious it gets. And it makes sense that a count would make this request.”

  When Hekkeran turned around, Arché had stopped and was staring at the ruins.

  “You can’t read anything about the era or background of these ruins by looking at them. It’s like they just appeared here out of nowhere, that’s how alien they seem. I feel like those statues somewhat resemble the statues of this region from before the evil spirits rampaged, but that one over there seems to be way more like something from the east. And considering the cross grave markers… Nope, I give up. I have no idea.”

  Listening to Arché expound, Hekkeran held back a grin; he could barely contain his excitement.

  “In other words, it means we could find some pretty neat stuff in there?”

  “Without a doubt. I’m sure there will be some surprises.”

  “…But remember, everyone, the chance we encounter terrifying undead is also high.”

  “Ahh, that’s scary!”

  “You’re so bad at this, Hekkeran. That didn’t sound like me one bit. Actually, thanks to your forced imitation of my voice, I’m creeped out for real.”

  “Ah, sorry.”

  “Even so…I am kind of looking forward to this.”

  “Yeah. What is this tomb for? Who’s buried here? It’s the kind of stuff that really piques my intellectual curiosity.”

  “Right. It is kinda exciting to experience the unknown.”

  “Know what else is exciting? Money! I hope there’s a pile of it.”

  Seeing the ear-to-ear smiles on his teammates’ faces, Hekkeran felt satisfied. They’d all gotten their hands dirty for one reason—money—or another, but not because they wanted to. Really, they preferred the type of jobs that adventurers did.

  He didn’t know if Arché would be able to go adventuring once she took on the task of raising her sisters. If she left, it would take some time to find a new member, and even once they found one, it would take more time for them to get used to working together, during which they would have to take lower-level jobs.

  Maybe this job was the perfect final adventure for this group with these members.

  From now on…more jobs like adventurers would take. Or…maybe it wouldn’t be bad to go in search of the unknown…

  Hekkeran looked up at the sky. It seemed to go on forever.

  Once dusk had begun to envelop the world, the workers all came out of their well-camouflaged, low-to-the-ground tents. It was time for them, engaged in clandestine jobs such as they were, to go to work.

  The adventurers had begun preparing dinner.

  They set fire to white solid fire starter and lit the charcoal, but the light was concealed using Darkness. Darkness could only cancel light, not hide the flames. With the flames blazing in the dark, they boiled water from a Bottomless Waterskin.

  They poured the boiled water into wooden bowls. The portable food inside lost its shape before their eyes and began giving off the pleasant smell of soup. That plus crusty bread was their communal meal.

  Anything else was each person’s preference.

  The bowls contained the yellowish soup workers loved for its emphasis on nutrition and shelf life. Some people added shavings of jerky, some tossed in thinly sliced bits of meat, some sprinkled seasonings, while others just filled their stomachs with it as it was.

  Everyone finished up after eating a single bowl. Considering the strenuous work they were about to do, it was definitely not enough food, but eating anything too heavy wouldn’t be good for performance. Still, it would be dangerous to eat nothing at all; they weren’t sure when they would be able to have their next meal.

  It wasn’t as if they had infinite emergency rations of portable food sticks, and carrying too much would slow them down. They needed to make a good compromise.

  After handing their empty bowls to the adventurers, the workers picked up the bags they’d been packing.

  The adventurers saw the workers off, and all the teams began operations. The adventurers would guard the camp, not participate in the raid.

  First the workers went around the hill to encircle the ruins. If they were attacked on the stairs, they were to send a signal into the sky.

  Many of them were wearing full plate armor, so one would think that between the noise and their sluggish movements, a covert operation would be impossible, but that’s because common sense only goes so far. To those who used magic to defeat common sense, it wasn’t impossible at all.

  By first casting Silence to eradicate all sound within range, the creaks of their armor and their footfalls as they raced across the ground became inaudible.

  Next, Invisibility. Using this spell made it extremely difficult for someone with regular vision to detect them.

  To be extra careful, rangers observed from the sky using Invisibility, Fly, and Hawk Eye. In order to deal with any incident as it arose, they had arrows enchanted with Paralysis at the ready.

  With this double-tiered formation, the parties reached their destinations.

  Now it was go time.

  They climbed the hill and then descended a few yards to the ruins.

  Each team would search the ground level along their way and meet at the central mausoleum. To the extent possible, they needed to accomplish this while their Invisibility spells were still in effect.

  They also needed to align their pace so that part of the group didn’t rush on ahead of the others, but it was difficult to pinpoint everyone’s locations at night, especially when they were all see-through.

  Luckily, they’d planned for that.

  Suddenly, strange rods around a foot long appeared on the ground. Then they floated into the air as if the invisible humans had picked them up. When they bent, they began to glow.

  These special rods—Fluorescent Sticks—gave off light via an alchemical reaction that occurred when the rods were bent and two special liquids inside mixed together.

  The reason the workers had temporarily dropped them was that Invisibility spells affected everything one was carrying. In order to make them visible, they needed to be briefly separated from
the items in their inventory.

  The lights moved side to side a few times, and then the rods were destroyed, as if they had performed their function. When the shining alchemical mixture was poured onto the ground, all trace of it disappeared as it hit the dirt.

  This was confirmation that all the worker teams were ready to go.

  Though the teams were spaced out and couldn’t see one another, four ropes were lowered to the surface level of the Great Tomb of Nazarick almost simultaneously. They were climbing ropes with knots at perfect intervals.

  The ends of the ropes were attached to pitons driven into the ground, and they swung from them, creaking.

  If someone with the ability to see the invisible had been present, they would have witnessed the figures climbing down the ropes.

  Even workers like Arché who built up their magic skills and knowledge more than their bodies, who hadn’t acquired skills that required nimble movements, could manage this level of exertion. That is to say, worker or adventurer, it didn’t matter—this level of physical ability was required.

  Their daily training and the knots in the rope served them well, and all the workers reached the graveyard without falling.

  Each team had one of the four smaller mausoleums as their first objective.

  Their Invisibility spells wore off, and everyone appeared. Each team went sprinting toward their assigned mausoleum.

  They ran in a crouch through the gloomy graveyard, attempting to conceal themselves with gravestones, trees, and the statues. The Silence spells were still in effect, so they didn’t make a sound. Even the warriors in full plate armor did their utmost to stay behind cover as they ran. Their brilliant maneuvers made them like shadows running across the earth.

  As the leader of Heavy Masher, Gringham, approached his team’s mausoleum, his eyes widened slightly.

  It was an even more splendid building than he’d expected.

  The mausoleums in each cardinal direction were only small in comparison to the huge central one. Up close, it was clear they were breathtakingly large and solemn.