What Could Not Be Destroyed

We opened the door and entered to find ourselves in a large room.

Raising the candelabra to illuminate it, I found torches placed at regular intervals along the walls.

They seemed quite old, but when I tried lighting one, it worked without issue.

… Strangely, this place didn't have the unpleasant feeling the other areas had.

If anything, it even felt calming.

With each torch I lit, more of the room was revealed.

Inside the large room, many weapons were either thrust into the ground or lying on the floor.

Weapons without owners—like a graveyard.

"It's like a mausoleum."

The words slipped out.

A solemn atmosphere dominated this room.

Iefuda and Jill looked bored.

But when Jill tried to touch one of the weapons, Iefuda quietly stopped her.

I sensed he was paying some kind of respect in his own way.

When we reached the far end of the room, a middle-aged man was pinned to the wall.

His hands had been pierced and fixed in place with stakes.

His upper body was bare, and countless marks of torture were visible.

But he still seemed to be breathing.

"Are you all right?"

I approached and called out to him.

There was a chance it was a trap, but it might also be another survivor.

"Ugh… who's there?"

He slowly raised his face and looked at me.

His expression showed agony, but remarkably, there was still strength in his eyes.

Despite being pinned to the wall in tatters, the man somehow didn't seem pitiful.

"My name is Yohane. I was suddenly brought to this world and have been investigating various things."

"Was there no one else here?"

"No, only you."

"I see… so everyone's scattered."

"In any case, let me remove these stakes."

The hands pierced by the stakes were still bleeding.

If left like this, he would be in critical condition.

"You don't mind, right?"

"You'd go to the trouble? Do as you like. You'll be the one in trouble when the time comes."

"I know."

With Jill's help, we pulled out the stakes.

He fell toward me, so I supported him, but he was surprisingly light.

His hands had painful wounds.

I used the potions I had and wrapped bandages to treat him.

"Please, have some water."

I slowly poured water into his mouth.

Our supply had dropped considerably, but there was still enough to quench one person's thirst.

Having come this far, saving a small amount wouldn't make a difference.

"My apologies…"

The man slowly drank the water.

Then I fed him an apple.

When I wiped his body with potion, I found he was emaciated, nothing but skin and bones.

It was a wonder he was still alive.

"I would like to repay you, but I have nothing left. I've even lost my weapon."

"It's fine. We help each other in times of trouble."

"You really do love playing the good guy."

I ignored Iefuda's comment.

I didn't need to be told. The only reason I didn't abandon him was that I didn't want to regret not helping later.

"Could it be… you said Yohane? Are you perhaps a citizen of the Deianclure Kingdom?"

"How did you know? I'm a merchant in the Kingdom. Right now I'm in the Empire on an errand for Princess Tianis."

"The Kingdom's crest caught my eye. I don't know the name Tianis, but is she current royalty?"

"Yes. Her Royal Highness Princess Tianis Deiancle."

"The royal family continued even after I was gone. Ah, I feel somewhat saved by that."

He seemed more relieved that the Deiancle royal family had survived than that he himself had been saved.

"Is this yours?"

Jill, who had been idling, had picked something up.

It wasn't a weapon.

It was a dull golden fragment.

"I thank you. This is a piece of my crown."

"Crown…?"

Now that he mentioned it, it might be part of a crown.

Trying to imagine the rest, I felt like I'd seen it somewhere before.

Come to think of it, it might fit perfectly with the damaged crown Duke Baroba had won at the auction.

Duke Baroba had only said it was a crown lost in an incident long ago.

"I was leading soldiers in pursuit of the monster that had destroyed a village. But I was suddenly trapped in this terrifying space, and though I resisted, I was eventually captured. It was because my strength was insufficient."

"That's not—"

I couldn't find the right words.

Even if I said it was good that at least he had survived, he probably wouldn't accept it.

"Could it be that you were royalty of Deiancle?"

"King…? Yes. I am the king. For the peace of my people, the king must not fall."

Suddenly, the man's body grew hot, and strength returned to his skeletal frame.

The man slowly stood up.

He looked nothing like the dying figure from moments ago.

"You mustn't push yourself—"

"Yes. The reason I continued to resist this long was because of my pride as king."

The man grasped the crown fragment Jill had been holding.

It became enveloped in a golden radiance and transformed into a single sword.

"I see, so the monster had something incredible inside its belly."

"What do you mean? Who is this person…?"

"Until just now, to me and Jill, he looked like nothing but a skeletonized corpse. But the moment you touched him, he became like that. You didn't notice?"

"No way. He didn't look like that to me at all."

"I thought you'd finally lost it when you started cleansing a corpse with precious supplies, but I see. So a Kingdom citizen connected to the royal family was the trigger. Even in death, he wasn't absorbed, and he'd been building up his power. Quite a man."

I'd heard that when someone with strong willpower dies in a special place, they become something inhuman.

The Ash King was originally human too, and I'd heard the undead called Kiyo was born the same way.

A sound came from behind.

Before I knew it, soldiers clad in armor stood there.

They were carrying the weapons that had been stuck in the floor.

One of them offered armor and a mantle to the man.

The man nodded and donned the armor.

The Deiancle royal family's crest gleamed on the mantle.

"I am Izard Deiancle. Citizen of the Kingdom, I thank you for awakening me. This time, I shall vanquish my enemy."

There was once a valiant king in the Kingdom.

He led his soldiers and rode forth himself to protect the Kingdom's peace, but then suddenly vanished.

The succession dispute split the royal family in two, and one ducal house was born.

Izard Deiancle.

A king from long before Yohane was even born.

Before me stood a middle-aged man, yet robust and strong. It was impossible to believe he had been that withered, emaciated figure moments ago.

"Unbelievable. We might actually have a chance now."

Iefuda spoke as if finding this entertaining.