The Witch and the Doll Swear

Just as Liliana suddenly thought, among the large buildings in the ancient magic empire, some particularly important buildings are often connected to each other in various ways.

Or the magic of teleportation—that was the era when space magic could be passed on as a complete magic system, and the empire covered the land with teleportation arrays and portals.

Or use passages to connect them—it is cheaper than space magic. If the design is good and there is no geological change, the passages buried under the ground can even be made into permanent fortifications.

And a huge relic is often a combination of both.

, and according to the knowledge and information that the puppet knows, the shadow beasts are guards who were raised and wandered on the ground. Under the earth, this relic with a high degree of secrecy does not have many organs.

Although I can't remember which book I got this knowledge for a while, but now, it has undoubtedly become Liliana's life-saving straw

"...However, this is not in line with common sense."

Aside from being overjoyed, Liliana quickly calmed down.

"Although I don't know what the ruins are studying and what purpose they have, but if the level of secrecy is high, the defense strength should be high no matter where it is."

This situation is not in line with common sense, and in such a ruins, anything that is not in line with common sense must be treated with caution.

"The puppet doesn't know what is going on here, but the puppet knows the reason why the underground defense is not strong. Until the great rebellion triggered by the Yarnanga accident, there has been a magic emperor sitting in the underground here. , that [Immortal] Sandro, one of the most powerful necromancers ever."

"...You mean [Immortal] Sandro?!"

The two nouns that came out of the doll's mouth made the girl stunned.

The Al Nanga accident, [Immortal] Sandro, she actually heard these two words that influenced the times outside of history books and history classes, from the mouth of a small doll.

"Does Miss Puppet know what these two are?"

"Huh? Known as knowledge, the Al Nanga accident occurred in an alchemy workshop in the Al Nanga region of the southern province of Culles in the year 1568 of the Second Era, on the tenth day of the month without stars and moon." The accident triggered a big explosion that reduced all towns within a radius of three kilometers to ashes. According to evidence obtained by necromancers, it was confirmed that the cause of the accident was that an ordinary worker in the workshop did not lock the door when he was off duty, and a group of children passed through the ventilation The pipes invaded the underground scroll room, where the vigilance and protective magic were all turned off due to a full-scale renovation scheduled for the night."

The puppet simply thought for a while and then answered fluently.

"The parents of these children are workers in the workshop. They often work overtime and have no time to accompany their children. Out of revenge, these children took off the stored scrolls and started playing. At first, they were only light spells, feather fall spells, and greasy spells. However, when a child tore apart [Nietzsche's Rhapsody], the situation got out of control. They started to play with higher-level scrolls, set up shields and used offensive magic to fight each other for fun. Finally, They tore open a huge magic scroll [Nobel Wide-area Detonation Technique] specialized in wide-area lethality. At that moment, a disaster happened——The writer of this information is the recorder Aind Cranworthy."

"As for [Immortal] Sandro...he is one of the thirteen emperors of the great magic empire, who masters extremely powerful undead magic, and the army of the dead under his command is the most loyal and silent vanguard of the empire. There is this The mighty power of the emperor, the rebellion of those ignorant people will be suppressed soon - the author of this information is the magician Best Lass."

Liliana listened blankly to the puppet's eloquence, and after a while, she rubbed her forehead and looked at her in confusion.

"...This is not the same as the history I know... According to history books, the explosion of Yarnanga was a disaster caused by magicians in the ancient magic empire who were obsessed with seeking the truth and disregarding people's life and death. This incident aroused public outrage , all parts of the mainland launched rebellions. With the help of the hidden Holy Church, which was accumulating strength, this rebellion once captured all the empire's territory except for the thirteen floating cities. Until [Immortal] Sandro, a magic emperor, , a floating city, an army of the dead brutally suppressed the rebellion. Such a brutal move caused divisions among the magicians, and the [Battle of the Rebels] began. In the same year, [Immortal] Sandro was defeated by the most powerful The Witch, the Witch King Mika was killed, which caused the war that could have been peaceful to be completely out of control..."

"The puppet is just telling the knowledge that the puppet knows, because the puppet has never seen these things with its own eyes, and the puppet doesn't know what time it is, and the most unbelievable thing for human beings is history. Isn't it?"

"……makes sense."

Liliana thought for a while, then nodded in agreement.

After all, even the existence of the Witch King was erased from the textbooks by the Templar Church on the grounds that she was a witch.

Instructor Tai Lun told himself this matter. In the history books compiled by the church, the so-called [immortal] magic emperor died in the glory of the martyrdom of those "noble", "brave" and "pious" saints Down.

But when you think about it, you know that the strength of the Holy Light belief is that it can quickly create a large number of believers with combat effectiveness, but quantity and quality are always incompatible.

Two hundred years ago, at the end of the War of the Rebels, there were only a dozen treasure-level powerhouses in the church, not to mention the earlier era when they could only develop their faith secretly.

Without the help of magicians, goblins and even some demons, the army of the Templar Church could not even touch the hem of the magic emperor's clothes.

"Is there no one else here after that?"

"No, I know that according to the records of the personnel change table of this ruin [Sith], the magician who was originally in charge of here was continuously transferred, and in the end there was another institutional transfer until Lily Before Ms. Yana appeared, no new personnel entered. Of course, no one maintained it. In addition, this is a small world that was naturally formed and stabilized by magic emperors with magic. The mainland is different, and after no one maintains it, it falls apart quickly."

"So, has it turned into ruins..."

The quill rustled on the paper, and Liliana nodded while taking notes in her notebook.

For some time, she has been doing something like this—gaining knowledge from the dolls, and then recording them.

The notebook and quill came from the auditorium of the theater. According to the puppet, these weird props that grow crystals have been completely harmless after so many years, and they can be used by themselves, so Liliana chose the one that looks like A more normal combination of this notebook and quill pen

Liliana was not in a hurry to leave.

She stayed temporarily in this opera house, rested well, and waited for the wounds she made on herself to heal.

Compared with the outside where the wind blows constantly, if you don’t light a fire, you will definitely catch a cold. It’s warmer here. If you light a fire, you’ll even feel a little hot. The hygiene problem is also easier to solve. She can even shorten the skirt after a long absence. More than half the dress was washed as clean as possible, and then hung to dry on the same rack that had been used to hang the curtains that concealed the dolls.

There is enough food and water, and for bathing, Liliana gets the coordinates of a water elemental plane from the puppet, and it is easier to draw hot springs directly from the water elemental plane through the [Elemental Gate] than the previous stupid method.

This made Liliana even more curious about the doll.

Generally speaking, is it possible for a puppet to know so much valuable knowledge and information?

But the puppet doesn't know anything about it.

In her mind, apart from the unknown knowledge, she has no memory about herself at all, and even the most important thing, the purpose of the establishment of this ruin named "Sith", is also a piece of information. blank.

The traces of artificial erasure were too obvious, so Liliana had to be suspicious and keep vigilant, even though it would not cause any impact.

So far, the girl has been doing quite well.

"... After resting for a while, we can go."

However, such comfortable days cannot last forever.

Liliana took out her spittle-stained fingers from between her legs, and Liliana, who saw no signs of infection and festering in the makeup mirror, let out a long sigh of relief.

"...It's great that there is no infection, I don't have any more anti-infection medicine..."

The wound has healed and there is no infection. The puppet told the girl that the river in [Sith] flows from the ground of this world. Algae and plankton are almost impossible to survive. In a sense, what she did at that time was an unconscious disinfection.

It was also because of this that Liliana, who was in pain at that time, couldn't even faint...

Put away the makeup mirror, put on a stiff dress, and the girl who spread out the notebook lay down on the carpet under the stage.

It's time to rest.

Although she is not very sleepy now, Liliana has been trying to adjust her sleep to a relatively regular cycle for the past few days, and the results are good now. Every time she meditates, she can feel that the number of spell slots can be stabilized at nine or more. Ten, in this way, the next adventure can also be more confident.

"The building that is closest to here and connected to the main tower by an underground passage is the [Ore Mine Hall]. If you want to go there, the fastest and safest way is to go down the river. The trunk of this river is a complete circle. The ring, the branched branch connects almost every building, just like when Miss Liliana came here, maybe you will encounter shadow beasts halfway, but it will be safer on the water.”

"Um……"

Close your eyes, under the power of the puppet, a bird's-eye view of the ruins called "Sith" will appear in front of your eyes.

This bird's-eye view is already familiar enough, and all the preparations that can be made have been made, and then...

Just relax and drift off to dreamland.

Closing her eyes, the girl covered her face with the notebook, blocking the glare that pierced her eyelids.

"Good night, Ms. Doll...it's really weird without a name."

"Yes, after leaving Sith, the puppet needs to find its name carefully. Good night, Miss Liliana."

"Good night."

name...

The light through the eyelids is no longer so bright, before letting go of thinking and falling into a deep sleep.

What kind of name would it match with such a beautiful doll?

The girl subconsciously followed the conversation a moment ago and thought.

But these thoughts were quickly forgotten.

……………………………………………………………………………………

To be honest, Liliana was full of hope for leaving here after knowing that the little head of the doll possessed a lot of knowledge, even about the design of the ruins called [Sith].

It doesn't take too much thinking to think that since this relic is so important that there will be a magic emperor sitting in it, there must be countless security organs and magic traps set up in it. Compared with those shadow beasts that have no means of killing themselves, these will be a greater threat.

And with the knowledge and map in the puppet's mind, she can bypass these as much as possible, and even if she has to encounter them, she can crack them with some confidence, just like using the puppet's [power to investigate the truth] to break the divine way The same as when the magic is used, the chances of allowing oneself to survive are greater.

——She originally thought so.

However, when setting off to the [Ore Mine Hall] which is the closest to the central tower, as the little puppet said, an episode happened.

When the girl took the doll's head off the stone pillar, a rush of sirens screamed like a banshee's scream in the opera house.

"W-what?!"

Liliana was taken aback.

Screams were mixed with staccato speech, and sounds made through some magic were arcane terms.

This language, which the magic emperors had ambitiously wanted to make it the common language of the mainland but never succeeded, was extremely complicated. Liliana, who only memorized the pronunciation of vowels and consonants, could not understand it at all, but even if she could not understand it, She also saw the whole opera pavilion cracking and collapsing.

"The ruler's head... off the throne... irreversible... offering loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor... no, it cannot be translated, the missing is too serious, but it seems that some irreversible mechanism was triggered because the puppet left the stone pillar!"

"What did you say?!"

Heavy rock fragments fell from the ceiling and shattered a crystal in the auditorium, and the puppet's warning came belatedly.

And Liliana was already running towards the door of the theater.

When the huge crystal chandelier fell to pieces on the stage of the theater, the girl had already arrived at the door of the building.

"Don't go through the steps and Shinto at the main entrance, jump directly from the edge of the rock! Quick!"

"Okay, okay!"

Because of the puppet's reminder, Liliana, who was about to run down the stairs towards the torii, hurriedly jumped down from a relatively low place along the rock base of the collapsing theater.

The impact made her legs slightly numb, and before it was relieved, the girl ran desperately towards the river.

She doesn't know what happened, but now she chooses to trust the puppet, and it turns out to be correct.

Right behind the girl, a new noise sounded amidst the shrill screams. Amidst the piercing noise, like a cat's paws scratching glass, Liliana couldn't help but glance back.

On both sides of the Shinto, the pillars of cloudy dark green crystals were broken, and from the broken crystal fragments, hundreds—no, countless souls rose from the broken stone pillars, clearly reflecting the girl's in the pupil.

Those painful, distorted, and translucent spirit bodies that had lost their human form and gradually collapsed reminded Liliana of the parasite-like soul that hadn't been dispelled in her body, and she felt a nauseating feeling in her stomach. born.

"Miss Liliana, don't look, those souls have just been liberated due to the collapse of magic, don't worry, they will dissipate and return to the earth soon, but it will be bad if they are noticed, hurry up! The dark enchantment also has an effect on souls. Obstructing the effect, just run out of this range!"

"I, I know!"

With a sense of warning, the voice of the little puppet sounded from his arms.

Turning her head to look back, Liliana's whole body trembled, and she stopped looking at the spirit body that was flying madly and screaming and screaming. She looked directly at the direction of the river and accelerated her pace even more.

Fortunately, until Liliana walked through the dark curtain holding the doll, those ghosts who were liberated from the shackles of magic and full of anger and hatred did not notice this side, in the dark curtain , when they ran further away, the screams of those souls gradually faded away.

"This, what is this..."

Only now did Liliana have the strength to ask the puppet what happened.

"The puppet doesn't know...this part...is not in the puppet's data..."

However, the puppet doesn't seem to know what it is either.

In Liliana's arms, the blond-haired red-eyed puppet frowned and thought for a long time, before finally shaking its head as if giving up.

"The puppet has no idea that this kind of thing will happen after the puppet is taken off the stone pillar...Miss Liliana, are you suspicious of the puppet?"

"...No, I'm not doubting Miss Doll, it's just..."

"only?"

"If Miss Doll's knowledge is wiped out in a place like this, the degree of danger may increase instead..."

"……sorry……"

"...No, it's okay."

You can't expect everything to go well.

The puppet frowned in distress, while Liliana, who raised her small head in front of her, fell into deep thought.

"Our goals remain the same, we just need to be more careful."

The safest and fastest way to the [Ore Mine Hall] next to the main road of the river is to drift down the river.

The river flowing in the river is connected to the lake deep in the earth, gushes out through the pressure difference, and passes through the "7" shaped rock pipe with a flow direction and a fairly fast flow speed, but why such a canal is built, according to the data of the doll Not at all.

Occasionally, you will meet groups of shadow beasts on the bank. These monsters, which look like a mixture of lions and wolves, chase Liliana who is drifting on the river with the [Water Modeling Method] along the river, just like chasing Shadows of light.

They were just chasing, the moonlight shone on the water, and one could see the clear water of the river bed at a glance, even Liliana's own shadow was so thin that she could barely see it.

"...When I was drifting before, it was because of this that I was not attacked..."

This is probably the case. When the girl was drifting in the river before, these lost shadows did not dare to go one step further.

When the girl and the puppet rode the water and passed through the dark barrier that stretched above the surface of the [Ore Mine Hall], these shadow beasts could only howl unwillingly and angrily.

"...Is this the original mine hall?"

The body was submerged into a deep layer of darkness, and a pyramid-like building came into view.

Liliana couldn't help standing up from the condensed water.

It was far less towering and majestic than the great pyramids that Liliana had read in books, which were known as the ancient kingdom of Sinai, the oldest civilization of mankind. This was a somewhat low building. The top of the pure golden triangle should have been empty, and the dog-headed figures with the same black body as the building were sitting by the river, but what they held in their hands was not a scepter but two huge waterwheels spinning rapidly in the water.

"That's right, in [Sith], all kinds of ores will be transported here first for refining and other processing, and then transported to various parts of Sith as materials for research and experiments, through the underground passage What’s interesting is that those crawlers are driven not by magic but by water power, these two large waterwheels provide continuous power to the original mine hall through the statue and the complex transmission mechanism inside the original mine hall.”

Although it looked ridiculous from a distance, after drifting close to the shore along the current, Liliana still sighed in awe when she looked at Liliana, who piled up ten of herself, which was less than the radius of the waterwheel.

"...Really, majestic..."

Probably because people always have the instinct of admiration for great things.

"That's the entrance gate."

The gate of the pyramid is as magnificent as the building itself. Liliana walked nearly a thousand meters away from the river with the little doll's head in her arms. This is the only huge gate in the whole building that shines with golden luster. .

Arriving here, Liliana looked around, but found no mechanism to open the door, only a diamond-shaped crystal inlaid on the door lit up red after the girl approached.

"Next, as long as you make the correct gestures in sequence within the limited time, the door will automatically open."

The puppet spoke to Liliana, with a cheerful tone, as if happy that she could be useful.

"……gesture?"

"That's right, the buildings in [Sith] all use gesture code locks like this. Although a long time has passed, these magics can still be used. Miss Liliana is so proficient in casting spells all the way here that she doesn't need gestures at all. , then it should be easy to make a series of gestures."

The puppet smiled at Liliana.

"Is there a problem?"

"...The problem is very big..."

Liliana was dumbfounded.

She finally realized a very, very important issue that she had neglected.

She raised the puppet to her eyes, looked at those lava-like eyes, and after organizing her words, she spoke seriously.

"Miss Puppet, do you know the ancient saying Magic Empire?"

"...there is only one magic empire on the mainland?"

"What about ancient magic?"

"What is that? Is it the magic Miss Liliana used? So the puppet discovered that the color of Miss Liliana's magic power is a bit weird. There has never been a light golden magic power in the doll's data. Everyone, including magic The emperor's magic power should all be bright blue, and a strange pattern like a magic circle will appear when casting the spell..."

"..."

The answer is revealed.

Liliana looked at the little puppet with a confused expression in silence, yes, how could she forget about this?

This is a relic of an ancient magic empire.

The basis for making such a judgment is that this ruin is located under the Majestic Tower of the ancient magic empire, and it is also confirmed from the mouth of the puppet that a magic emperor stayed here, but...

Whether it is ancient language magic or ancient language magic empire, they are all words that appeared after the [War of the Rebels] that overthrew that empire.

The puppet who has been here for an unknown amount of time obviously won't know.

Of course she would not know that the ancient magic that once pushed human civilization to the pinnacle of the continent has now been abolished by humans themselves, and that the Church of the Holy Church is deliberately trying to suppress the new Magnus seven-wing magic system, let alone know about these two There are completely different differences between the two magic systems.

It's a world of difference.

For example, in order to reduce the erosion of [law and reason] on the human body when casting spells, the magic of the seven wings of Magnus is to guide the magic power out of the body to form a magic circle to carry it, instead of relying on the body to resist like the old saying magic, such as the old saying magic. The three elements are chanting, gestures, and casting materials, while the three elements of Magnus's seven-wing magic casting are chanting, magic circle, and casting materials——

That's right, as far as Liliana knows, in the modern magic system, [gesture], which is difficult to learn and not so practical, has been replaced by the magic circle, and now about the difference between the two magic systems.

"Everyone's magic power should be exactly the same?"

"That's right, magic power is magic power, there shouldn't be another color."

"..."

Liliana knew one more thing.

That is, even the cornerstone of using magic, the magic power, is completely different in the two magic systems.

As the old saying goes, magic power in magic is magic power, and there is no difference in nature between the magic power of a magic emperor and the magic power of a magic apprentice.

But thousands of people, thousands of colors, with different natures of magic light, are the biggest characteristics of Magnus's seven-wing magic.

Moreover, His Excellency the Dark Sage did not further divide the schools, but used the system as a distinction.

"...Listen to me, Miss Doll, times have changed..."

In addition, a magician who is only an apprentice will have a daily spell limit, until he is recognized by the world's [law and reason], and he will no longer have this restriction when he becomes an official magician.

The current magician is also not as powerful as the magic empire because this new magic system is still under development.

Liliana told the puppet all the knowledge. After listening, the puppet thought for a while, with a puzzled look on its face.

"Even if Miss Liliana says so..."

and curious.

"Has the times changed? I really want to see the outside world more and more."

Saying so, the doll became excited.

But after a while, she showed a troubled expression again.

"... But in this case, this road will not work... No, let alone here, in this case, Miss Liliana will not be able to enter the main tower at all..."

"... If I start learning now, will there be time?"

"Impossible. It doesn't mean that gestures are useful if they look right. In magic, gestures are used to symbolize [laws and principles] that communicate with the world. Each gesture has a different meaning and power. This requires meditation. It is a long process of learning and learning magic knowledge, if you are in a magic academy, this is a compulsory course that takes up one-third of the weekly class hours and lasts from enrollment to graduation."

Pressing her moist lips in distress, it seems that even the puppet is gone.

Hearing Liliana here, somewhere in the bottom of her heart moved slightly.

"...Miss Doll said that as long as you can make the correct gestures, you can open this door, right. Isn't this dangerous in terms of security?"

"No, first of all, this is a small closed world. There are enough security measures in the outside world. As far as I know, there are no spies who have invaded here since its establishment. Other than that In addition, the gestures required by each facility are different, and only the magicians stationed here know the specific correspondence and order."

"...Security measures...?"

Liliana thought of what the paladins had said about the lava under the tower.

In the abyss where he was thrown by the fisherman's son, there was originally overflowing with lava extracted from the earth's crust by magic.

Seems to make sense.

As the [War of the Rebels] intensified, the personnel here were dispatched and sealed the world under the tower of the Archmage with lava. Indeed, this is already a very safe protection measure, no one would think of a secret facility placed in an independent world soaked in lava, however.

However, they must not have expected that at the end of that war, the empire would fall from the sky, and the Gospel of the Holy Light would be proclaimed on the earth.

"...In that case, wouldn't it be okay for the puppet lady to open the door?"

"Although you can be right, Miss Liliana."

The doll was in the girl's hands, and she let out a long sigh.

She looked at Liliana innocently.

"A puppet has no body and no hands..."

"..."

A move in my heart.

"Miss Liliana?"

Awakened from the momentary contemplation, Liliana stared at the puppet in front of her and shook her head slightly.

"...It's nothing, that is, if Miss Doll can get her body and hands back, she can make a gesture to open this door."

Could it be that……

... No, probably not, no need, it's such a hassle.

However, what if...

Shaking her head and throwing away the raised thoughts, Liliana looked at the doll with some hesitation.

"That's right, but the puppet doesn't know where the puppet's hands are placed. Although the puppet knows the opera house where Miss Liliana found the puppet, the four represent the four elements in [Sith] The location of the altar, but what is placed in which altar is completely absent in the doll's memory and knowledge."

The doll seems to want to shake her head, but she can't do that because she doesn't have a neck.

Therefore, the puppet can only stare at the girl in front of it, and seriously tell her the risks of doing so.

"Furthermore, the doll doesn't want Miss Liliana to take risks. Those altars also have protective measures, just like the Shinto in front of the theater... very, very dangerous."

The wind blew the doll's golden hair.

She felt that the girl should know the risks of doing so, because even when she went to the opera house that represented [the earth], she was almost lured into the abyss of death by the undead on the Shinto.

The other three altars must also have a considerable degree of defense mechanisms, just like Shinto, but next time.

The puppet is not sure that his knowledge and [functions] can help.

What's more, not all traps and mechanisms can be cracked through knowledge.

"..."

Liliana nodded, and then shook her head.

"...Of course I know, but if I can't enter these facilities, I can't leave here, but I have to leave here anyway, so..."

In her eyes, which were as deep as the night sky, the light was like the unwavering twinkling of stars.

The fiery red eyes stared at the girl for a long time. Finally, the doll let out a long sigh.

"The puppet knows. In that case, the puppet suggests that Miss Liliana go to the altar representing [Fire] first. Since ancient times, fire has been the power to drive away the undead and purify resentment. If you go there, maybe the puppet will be able to kill Lily. Expel those spirits in Miss Yana’s body.”

"...take the water route?"

"Yes, water irrigates all things, just as the wind blows all things, the earth carries all things, and fire warms all things. This is an eternal common sense. This ruins was designed according to this principle. Therefore, through the waterways extending in all directions, you can Go to any place. As for the flame altar...well, it's in that direction."

"……I see."

Water connects all things, wind blows all things, the earth carries all things, and fire warms all things...?

Liliana chewed on this sentence that she seemed to have heard somewhere, and it was somewhat similar in terms of language. She thought about it, but she couldn't remember it anyway, so she had to shake her head and leave from the gold dust door.

...Don’t waste your energy thinking about these questions that don’t have answers for the time being.

"Then, let's go."

Liliana held the doll in her arms again and shook her head.

Now just keep moving towards the way out that you can see.

As long as this is enough.