Deathbound Duke’s Daughter: Volume 1

by Terasu Senoo

  And it was technically my brother who prepared it, not me. Erika never wasted an opportunity to deride herself.

  Claus pulled at the rope, dragging Erika closer and closer until she was under his umbrella. The three of them were finally together again.

  “What exactly was that?” Claus asked. “Another trap?”

  “Rather than a trap, I think it was a trap malfunction.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Presumably, while my brother and his friends fought monsters, the mechanisms along with the floor and pillars took heavy damage.”

  “Yeah, there were spots where I could see the gears. The labyrinth tried to shift, but it couldn’t withstand the movements, I guess.”

  Come to think of it, there were other peculiarities as well. So many monster corpses down here had been left practically untouched, yet a golem had been deployed to collect materials just one floor up. Perhaps her brother had decided not to station a golem here on purpose, knowing the floor might collapse if the labyrinth was activated.

  But Eduard, how was your hint supposed to tell me the whole place was going down?!

  The shaft made by the accident was surprisingly deep and wide. They had surely fallen a considerable distance by now, but the bottom was still nowhere in sight. The surfaces around them were filled with manmade slots for star crystal lamps. It was as if they were in a cathedral over a hundred meters tall.

  It took a while before they heard the echo of the crumbled floor hitting the bottom.

  “Ah...”

  “What is it, Anne?” Erika asked her.

  “Erm, no, it’s just kind of beautiful...”

  Before they knew it, the star crystals in the walls began to let off a faint light, reacting to their mana. With their arms linked in a ring, they slowly descended through the spectacle.

  “I’m sorry, I know now’s not the time.”

  “Oh no. It’s fine. I was thinking the same thing.” All things considered, this vertical shaft of star crystal alone was a wonderful experience.

  With no heed to their anxiety and wonder, the Feather Fall magic softly carried them down to the ruins’ deepest depths.

  ☆

  It took a while, but Erika, Claus, and Anne eventually reached the bottom of the Seafarer’s Ruins. The structure and ornaments resembled a temple from the old days of Aurelia.

  They had landed in what seemed like the nave, and an archway separated them from the inner sanctum. Along the sides of the arch—where a modern church might have its statues of Aurelia’s old kings and dukes—was the solitary sculpture of a legendary alchemist, who was said to have lived in the era before the Seafaring Tribe graced this continent.

  That was as much as Erika could recognize, but from what she could tell, the various bizarre bits and pieces marked this as the innermost room of the labyrinth.

  First off, the ceiling was an atrium several hundred meters high. There were no windows, of course. The walls by the aisles where windows would’ve been were carved with constellations that could not be seen from these lands—constellations with legacies that had been passed down from alchemist to alchemist.

  They formed the reliefs of legendary figures, monsters, animals, and tools for sailing. The points where the stars aligned to draw their shapes were set in star crystal, giving off a pale blue glimmer.

  The floor was a mess, scattered with the monster corpses and rubble that had fallen from the eighth floor. Erika saw this as beyond her control, but feared her ancestors would be angry at her.

  A number of magic circles that had been surrounding Erika and Claus dispersed into beads of light and were swept away. She took a glance at her pocket watch. It must have been the Wall-Phase spell running out.

  “Thankfully, the cave-in’s over,” Claus piped up. “My protection wouldn’t hold if another large rock came crashing down on us.”

  “This must be a precious place for the people of Aurelia. I wouldn’t want falling rocks to damage it any further,” said Anne, looking around in wonder.

  “Quite right. It has a rather solemn air. Is this a church, Erika?”

  “Yes, I’m pretty sure it is, but...” Erika carefully took a look around.

  At the inner sanctum of the temple, where there would usually be an altar dedicated to St. Breandán, stood a megalith of pure star crystal. It had a few cracks running down it now, thanks to the debris.

  Erika stared at it. “That should be an altar to the Seafarer’s god Brean, I think.” She tilted her head.

  While the material might differ, a large, upright stone should signify Aurelia’s god. Why did she feel that something wasn’t quite right?

  Aurelia’s ancient god, Brean, otherwise known as St. Breandán, was worshiped in the form of a menhir. Before, when the regions were still divided into kingdoms, the west had revered Brean as the god of stars, sailing, and alchemy. However, when the continent was united, Aurelia was converted to the same religion as the other three to form a shared sense of national identity.

  The religion of these united kingdoms was supposed to be the monotheistic faith Ignitia had brought from the southern continent. However, Ignitia’s religion did have some tolerance for other gods, and as a part of the unification, Ignitia officially welcomed them by making them angels and saints.

  Thus, Aurelia’s ancient god Brean became St. Breandán, a saint in service to Ignitia’s one true god. His worship continued to this day.

  But according to Liber Monstrorum, shouldn’t there be a seal for that old, evil spirit around here somewhere? All I see is a shrine to an old god.

  When she squinted, she could make out letters running down the megalith. They were from the ancient Aurelian alphabet, which was still used to enchant tools. Though she had trouble with languages beyond her own, Erika could still barely decipher it.

  “‘Here I lay to rest the one who crossed the vast sea of stars and who accompanied me on my long journey. Sleep at peace, my nameless friend. I pray this plentiful land may be your eternal cradle...’”

  As Erika read out the words, Claus and Anne took on the pose of prayer.

  “Perhaps it’s not an altar but a tomb,” Claus suggested. “I’m guessing it’s for a noble who passed right before the Seafaring Tribe reached Ichthyes.”

  “That’s quite a tragic epitaph,” Anne said.

  “Right. But why have my ancestors entombed him in the same way they would a god?”

  Without any ill intent, Erika brushed a finger against the stone’s inscription.

  Umm, is it just me, or did it just turn black where I touched it?

  A voice resounded from somewhere far, far away. Vibrations coursed through the temple air. Soprano and bass all at once, it was like a stringed and brass instrument playing over one another. It was like a whale’s song. It was like an infant’s cries. But no matter the tone, the voice was melancholic.

  Each time the voice rang out, the star crystal megalith was stained a darker shade from the inside. What had once glowed blue was now the pitch-black of a moonless night. Dark water flowed from the cracks on its surface. To Erika, it seemed like tears.

  Her hair swayed in a sudden breeze, which carried the scent of salt.

  Reacting to the surging mana, the light of the star crystals on the walls and ceiling grew. In no time at all, the overflowing blackness had covered the entire floor of the temple.

  Erika raised black ripples as she shifted her boots. Just like her, Claus and Anne were both looking around in a panic. The three of them were met with a spectacle that should never have existed at the depths of the earth.

  An endless black sea, stretching out to the horizon and beyond, and a sky full of stars overhead.

  Chapter 3: The Megalith Altar

  1

  A melancholic cry resounded from far, far away. The walls and ceiling were a galaxy of blue star crystal. At their feet was a volume of dark water that far exceeded the megalith’s capacity.

  The sound of crashing waves, a whi
ff of salt, the dampness of the breeze, and a hint of homesickness had snuck their way into the children’s hearts. It all seemed to be an attempt to delude them that they were not at the depths of the earth but instead staring out at a starry sky over the ocean.

  They were being forced to remember a faraway sea—the one the Seafaring Tribe once called home.

  Erika shook her head. I need to get a grip. I do not long for any seas!

  She concentrated on the fact that she had never once ridden a ship in this lifetime, and that she had only spent a few hours aboard them in her past life, to drive these fantasies from her head.

  “Claus! Anne! I have a bad feeling about this place. Let’s hurry and get out—”

  When Erika turned to face them, the Hafan siblings were writhing in pain atop the black tide.

  “It’s sad, so sad, so very sad... Oh, Claus, Erika... Save me... My head is...”

  “Get ahold of yourself, Anne! You need to focus on resisting the magic!”

  Anne’s face was pale as she trembled, mumbling to herself in delirium.

  Claus held her up, enveloping her in his protective circle barrier. He shoved a mana replenishing potion into Anne’s mouth and forced her to drink. After making sure she swallowed, he downed one himself and chanted a few spells to add more layers to his barrier.

  “Are you two okay?!”

  “Do you not feel it, Erika?!”

  “I managed to shake off the feeling. What even is it?”

  “Oh, I see, you Aurelians are dull—I mean, strong when it comes to this sort of magic.”

  He’d definitely said something just now about Aurelians being dull and therefore resistant to mind-altering magic. What’s more, Erika had her father’s seal of approval for being especially slow.

  “Right now, our minds are under attack by a very strong spell. This one overwhelms its target with feelings of sorrow and homesickness until it ultimately claims their very soul.”

  “I feared my heart would be stolen away by grief, and I would fade to nothing,” Anne croaked, still clearly in pain.

  “I see. We’re in quite a predicament.” Erika moved into Claus’ circle just to be safe.

  Before their eyes, the megalithic altar continued to change. The mass of star crystal melted, growing smaller and smaller as though the passage of months and years were eroding it away.

  Gradually, the monsters littering the floor of the temple were consumed by the black water. First, the soft flesh and organs, then pelts, scales, and finally bones dissolved one after the next.

  “Claus, are we in danger if we stay in this liquid?”

  “No, this magic doesn’t work on intelligent life.”

  “We would probably be done for if that psychological attack had managed to destroy our minds,” Anne added.

  The Hafan siblings were gaining this information from their Glámr-Sight. Erika envied the speed and flexibility of the magicians’ techniques.

  But thanks to them, I think I’m starting to understand.

  She compared the current situation to the events in Liber Monstrorum. Originally, Anne was supposed to fall victim to the eighth floor’s collapse all by herself. Naturally, she would’ve had neither a Feather Fall wand nor Claus’ powerful defensive circle to help her.

  Perhaps she’d used what faint mana she had left to erect her own defenses, but she wasn’t able to protect herself completely. She was already heavily injured when she reached the temple.

  What awaited Anne, as she was on the verge of death, was devastating, mind-altering magic and the black water that absorbed anyone and anything unfortunate enough to be caught in it. Assailed by these threats, Anne would subsequently be fused with the evil spirit.

  That means this black water is actually...

  As if to confirm Erika’s suspicions, the water began to move. It gathered around the spot where the star crystal megalith had been, swirling as it rose up from the ground and began to condense.

  “I knew it! That’s the evil spirit!” Erika cried.

  “The... what? Isn’t this an altar to your god? Are there any spirits that take on liquid form? Claus? Erika?”

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” said Claus. “But sure enough, the magic structure of this liquid is similar to that of a spiritual being called a wraith...”

  Erika’s sudden words had thrown the siblings into confusion.

  “That’s...”

  After a few moments of mulling over how she should tell them, Erika fell silent. She couldn’t talk about Liber Monstrorum in a situation like this, and besides, she was sure they wouldn’t believe her.

  But this being a wraith makes it even stranger.

  The evil spirit was supposed to belong to an alchemist who had been killed by his brethren because he had perfected the philosopher’s stone. If it was once a living person, shouldn’t it have been a ghost instead?

  Through repeated expansion and contraction, the mass of black water gradually took shape. Its slick, liquid surface was soon covered in stiff, sturdy scales.

  The creature had two curling horns like a ram, four limbs as thick as tree trunks with hooked claws growing out of them, and a spiked carapace of sorts atop its gargantuan body.

  It was like a dragon or a tortoise, but it was truly neither. Erika had never seen or even heard of such a creature in this life or her last.

  “GRRRRRRRAAAAAH!”

  The monster’s roar echoed throughout the temple with nearly enough force to burst their eardrums. Their legs gave out before they could so much as think about running.

  “What the heck is that?! You called it a spirit, but whether that thing is alive or dead, whether it’s a dragon or something else entirely, I can’t tell anything about it.”

  “It’s supposed to be an evil spirit who led the Seafaring Tribe to this continent and created the philosopher’s stone, which could turn any substance in existence into gold. This thing should be the legendary alchemist, Zaratan.”

  “Then why is someone so great an evil spirit now?”

  “Well, they were... betrayed by my Aurelian ancestors, and their grudge...” Erika trailed off, realizing something wasn’t quite right.

  A grudge? Is a grudge enough to change their form to such a degree?

  It was far too different from the spirit in Liber Monstrorum. It was impossible for her to believe that the monster towering before her was ever anything remotely human.

  As the black monster gazed at Erika, its lips curled, as if sneering at her.

  No, I must be imagining it.

  Its animalistic cry gradually shifted to something resembling a human voice.

  “You say... I was human? An alchemist? Bwahahaha... You have it all wrong, child. No, wait, you’re...”

  The beast’s great body began to quiver.

  It’s laughing? No, that’s not it.

  The monster was enraged. Its body was shaking with uncontrollable anger.

  “You... You’ve forgotten me, Aurelian?! I... I still remember... An eternity may pass, but I haven’t forgotten even for an instant! Your smell... and the pain you have caused me!”

  “Pain? It really is you, then.”

  “Aah, it brings me back... That face, the gold hair, those emerald eyes... And yet, it took only a few hundred years for you to forget! Forget me...! The one you murdered!”

  Something hard struck Erika’s entire body all at once, blurring her vision. The wind was knocked out of her, and her brain was cut off from its oxygen supply. She was overcome with the same panic she’d felt in her past life when someone had abruptly pulled her into a swimming pool as a joke.

  By the time she noticed it, Erika was being pressed into the stone floor by one of the monster’s massive forelimbs.

  “Bwahahahaaa! A gentle pat, and see what happens... Such weak life-forms you humans are! I see that’s one thing that takes more than a few centuries to change.”

  “Ngh...! Haah, haah...”

  “Bwahahaha, worry not, you c
oin-grubbing scoundrel. Oh no, I won’t kill you like this... An easy death is too good for you! You’ll get a full taste of it before you go. My pain, my regret, my loneliness, my... my...!

  “I believed in all of you! You were my friends! How dare you... How DARE you betray me!”

  Black droplets spilled out from the empty eye sockets peering into Erika’s soul.

  Yeah, that’s the one who was murdered. No doubt about it.

  The legend wasn’t quite what it had been in Liber Monstrorum, but this was certainly the same individual who’d been betrayed by her Aurelian ancestors.

  “Remember this... Carve it deep in your soul before the flame of your life goes out! Accursed descendent of gold-hungry pigs! Zaratan is not my name. I am Zaratan just as you are Human. I am but a single Zaratan, a nameless Zaratan. One who forever lost the chance to know its name... thanks to you treacherous Aurelians!”

  It was never truly talking to her. Every line it spoke was part of a monologue, heavy with anger, yet filled with such pain and anguish that it felt like her body was being torn apart.

  Erika offered it as much of a nod as she could in her position.

  Rather than the spell that had aimed to overwhelm her with sorrow and homesickness, it was, for some reason, the monster’s resentment which penetrated her heart. Just as her heart threatened to go out to the beast, a small explosion broke out before her eyes, and the Zaratan’s grip weakened.

  The next instant, a rope wrapped around Erika’s body, and she was forcefully yanked out of its clutches.

  “I don’t get it... Not a single word of it, monster. Stop talking like we’re not here.”

  The Hafan siblings stood at the entrance to the inner sanctum. Claus brandished a Fire Bolt wand and his staff at the monster while Anne had a tight grip on the end of the animated rope wrapped around Erika.

  I see, my bag... I must have dropped it when the Zaratan pinned me down. Erika finally realized she had been saved.

  “Erika! Are you injured?!” shouted Anne.

  “I... I’m fine. You two saved me.”

  “Well, I’m not fine,” said Claus.

  “Erm, what’s the matter, Claus?”

  “You expect me to be fine and dandy after you nearly went off and died just now?! Carve this into your soul deeper than anything that monster says: I’ll protect you, no matter what! So get rid of that damn look in your eyes like you’ve given up on everything!”