Every room in the hallway was thoroughly searched, though the eerie atmosphere and the consuming darkness caused reluctance to many soldiers having dealt with something near paranormal.
Kaya, utilizing her five specters whom she bowed to see the end of their revenge against Count Othenwald to report anything suspicious, turned to look at her brother and asked, "Brother, what do you think?"
Out of place, everybody stayed in the hallway with things they had secured from each room—several journals, some ropes, and adorable-looking yet worn-out children's toys.
Because of the journals' durability, they carefully brought out the wooden desks storing them that seemed to be made from high-quality materials. After all these years, they didn't break down on their own.
Hearing my sister's query, as I inspected the items that were too mundane except for the dilapidated ropes, I replied thoughtfully, "If you notice the size of the bed in each room, everyone that sleeps on them seems to be at a young age."
'I couldn't just say that the system translated these for me. One curious look about my resolve in this expedition was enough.'
"Now that I think about it, the beds were different in sizes, but all particularly tailored for small builds," Beatrice said.
Being a maid, even before everything turned upside down in Eshu County, one of her jobs was overseeing the former lord's master bedroom.
However, the beds in these rooms of unknown abode were something that one could likely see in military camps rather than in a proper noble house.
"These children were adopted by the White Princess, it seems."
That's what the records in some journals said. Because of the White Princess, Yuridika's heart of sympathy, she adopted twelve (12) children.
She fed them, clothed them, saw through their progress in their education, and provided them with everything they needed to live as human beings.
However, the emperor was immensely opposed to her actions.
After all, if these unfortunate children were adopted and received unmatched welfare, what would the unfortunate ones say?
[Why are they mad with Miss Yuridika?]
[Did we do something wrong?]
[Why they were jealous...? Why couldn't they be happy?]
[Should they be the ones to receive Miss Yuridika's generosity?]
[Miss Yuridika's friend said he would help us... But I can't remember his face...]
'Life's fairly unfair to everybody.'
It was a quote I lived by after what happened to my previous life—before she encouraged me to read stories to ease and live my purposeless days.
Reading these curiosities from children ranging from seven to twelve years of age, I could easily surmise that 'envy' consumed the hearts of some people, leading to the mentality of—"If they could receive such love and care, why couldn't we?!"
It might not necessarily be from the other unfortunate children, but from the poor citizens living in slums of the forgotten empire that saw the White Princess' actions as favoritism.
Amidst the silence, as my mind was greatly occupied by the possibility of 'that existence' being here, I glanced at another commodity secured—another map.
It was not the map of the buried empire, but rather a blueprint of this annex castle.
Why it was in one of the children's rooms, I had an idea. But there was no point in dwelling on it right now as I carefully inspected it to gauge our current location.
"It really is a castle... There are names on the map but we can't understand-" Kaya interjected.
But I quickly cut her off as my finger pointed at one section of the map—which was something also brought outside through a study desk since it would be destroyed just by a mere touch.
"We're in this place."
Thanks to the system's continuous assistance and my real-time translator, I figured out our location—named Little Twelve Bedrooms.
Since this was an 'annex' and not the main palace of whatever empire this was, the size of the establishment was not particularly grand.
The map showed five places.
The White Princess' master bedroom—located at the opposite end of the Little Twelve Bedrooms.
The maids' lodging—a place of rest atop the kitchen, besides a tiny library.
The guests' rooms—situated near the main gate of the castle.
The Little Twelve Bedrooms—where the twelve children were kept.
Lastly, there's something in the middle of it all known as the Grand Hall.
Seeing it, I mumbled inwardly, 'A grand Hall in an annex castle? That's the most important place—it's where the castle ruler sits.'
But why there's one?
At the back of my mind, such a question was born.
After all, grand halls presumably always contained a lofty throne.
'Since I don't know the true history of this place, there's no need to do this a roundabout way. Let's proceed with the most important one.'
"We will explore this—the castle's grand hall."
The leaders of the divided company glanced at where my finger was pointed.
In the blueprint, a massive rectangular and blurry architecture was drawn, where the word 'Grand Hall' in an unknown language was written.
"Now, as I said before, only remember that the possibility of danger is a hundred percent. Do not let... Do not ever let your guard down."
I brutally told them the truth before all of this—that casualties would be inevitable at one mishap.
No, even if there's no mishap, one encounter with a formidable visage of the past could turn things south very, very fast.
Every one of them listened to my words. Even after all the training I made them do, I was certain it would not be enough without true experience.
That's why I added before we proceeded, "This will be the final test of the Warbody Program—survive the unknown."
*
Even if the annex castle was lofty, it was not that wide in terms of area size. That's why, after merely a few minutes of descending the zigzagged stairs from the Little Twelve Bedrooms, we found ourselves in another hallway on the ground floor.
According to the blueprint, there were four hallways leading to different places, and the one in the middle was the grand hall.
It meant that after treading the path from this tunnel-like hallway, we would arrive at the grand hall of all places.
But even from here, we could already see with our naked eye a massive yet open door and numerous towering pillars supporting the entire castle's interior.
Taking a deep breath, I led the way as the soldiers scattered in my rear, with weapons in their hands, ready to strike or defend at a moment's notice.
Then, as we neared the grand hall, the system notified me of something.
Even though we had been in the same place since we set foot in here, it was the first time the system recognized it.
[Ding!]
[You have arrived at the heart of the White Princess Labyrinth.]
Now, as the message echoed and understood, we were faced with a broken throne, almost split in half, and cracked stairs before it.
Strangely, there was moonlight penetrating through the gaps above, showing the grand hall its ancient majesty as if the heavens were watching over it.
Then, amidst it all, my eyes bore witness to the unmistakable sight that was previously a mere possibility.
The man...
The friend...
The entity mentioned in the twelve children's journals to have repeatedly conversed with Yuridika, the White Princess...
Kneeling in front of the shattered throne, bathed under the moonlight manifesting through mysterious power, and cloaked with a veil that covered his entire being.
If not for the system, I wouldn't dare believe it!
[Warning!]
[You have encountered the "Apostle of the Unseen!"]
[The power of the Unseen God temporarily manifests through the surroundings.]
The next thing I knew was...
Every breath nearby disappeared.
I, alone, stood motionless.
That was not all—
[The power of the Unseen God shuts off the system(?) and has been temporarily concealed.]
[Soul connection lost...]