Memoirs 176 - Hidden under your nose (Patreon)

Scarlett and her party trailed Shrine Custodian Stanway down the now-illuminated stairs, venturing into the undercroft beneath. The descent led them into a long, dimly lit rectangular chamber hewn from stone, its walls bearing intricate carvings depicting various religious scenes. Soft, flickering candles ignited from sconces hanging from the stone—Scarlett noticed Stanway subtly motion with his hand before that—and painted playful patterns on the cool, dark floor.

Within the heart of the undercroft were a row of arched alcoves, each housing what appeared to be tombs adorned with thick inscriptions at their base. At the far end of the chamber stood a modest altar devoted to Ittar, with the wall beyond it covered with murals of writing. The air carried a subtle scent of incense mingling with that of undisturbed dust.

“Please observe proper reverence while in this place,” the shrine custodian said as he led them deeper into the room, pausing briefly in front of the central tombs. “Some of our most venerated and esteemed brethren and sisters that trained at this shrine rest here, and I will not allow any tarnishing of their legacy during my watch.”

“Fear not, Reverend Stanway, for I have nothing but respect for those who lie here.” Raimond’s eyes seemed to scan the inscriptions on the tombs. “You have my word that we harbor no intentions of disrespecting these revered figures.”

The man joined his hands as if in prayer and momentarily lowered his head. Scarlett watched him for a moment before doing the same. It didn’t hurt to make a more favorable impression.

Then they moved ahead, past the tombs and approaching the altar.

Raimond continued paying close attention to their surroundings as he spoke again. “If I’m not mistaken, before this underground area became a resting place for esteemed clergy members, its original purpose was a mystery, correct?”

The shrine custodian folded his hands behind him as he seemed to occasionally cast a glance at Scarlett and her party, ensuring they didn’t do anything he didn’t approve of. “Your knowledge serves you well, Father Abraham. The venerable Deacon Emberwood constructed this shrine as a place to impart his teachings within the Followers. However, the undercroft was not part of the initial plan, as far as we are aware. In fact, it remained concealed for the first generations after the shrine’s construction, and the deacon’s writings made no mention of its existence. Only during the fourth shrine custodian’s tenure was it discovered, and it was the fifth who decided to make it the final resting place for devoted followers.”

Scarlett glanced back at the tombs. So those were possibly a century younger than the rest of this place?

Considering that the original ten deacons lived before and during the founding of the empire, during the time known as the ‘Renascence’ to the Followers—a period when the faith of Ittar experienced a resurgence after being abandoned for generations—it meant the tombs were most likely a bit over two hundred years old. The empire itself was founded nearly four centuries prior, but some of the original deacons lived to a ripe old age, and Scarlett knew that Donovan Emberwood had been quite elderly when the shrine was built.

“If this undercroft was hidden for so long, who’s to say there aren’t more secrets beyond that?” Allyssa asked. “You seemed pretty confident we wouldn’t find anything today.”

Stanway turned to her, eyeing the young Shielder for a moment. “Because since then, each shrine custodian has dedicated at least one year of their initial term to delve into the history of the shrine and search for any such secrets. I am no exception. It has become somewhat of a tradition, yet so far, it has yet to yield any results.”

They arrived at the altar, where the man lowered his head in silent prayer. Atop the altar rested a gold reliquary, surrounded by the remnants of burnt-out wax candles. He gathered the used candles up and placed them in a wooden box next to the altar, then replaced them with fresh new ones. They lit up with another display of what Scarlett assumed was pyrokinesis from the man.

Throughout this short ritual of his, the rest of them remained quiet. After finishing, Shrine Custodian Stanway gestured towards the wall ahead of them. “This is what Deacon Emberwood left behind for us. Here are his teachings and learnings, intended to guide us in the art of the invocations he himself pioneered.”

Scarlett moved her gaze to the wall and the text on it. There were a lot of passages. From one end of the wall to the other, spanning about five meters in width and etched into the cold grey stone, lines upon lines of writings had been left, offering what appeared to be a vast wealth of knowledge. Reading through it all would probably require several hours.

Raimond took a step closer, touching a hand to the script. “I have heard of the Emberwood Murals before, but this is my first opportunity to witness them in person. Like they said, it is indeed a valuable treasure left behind by a magnificent man. Ah, if it doesn’t make one wish to have paid a visit earlier.”

Shin also seemed fascinated by the sight, but he soon turned to the shrine custodian. “You claim the deacon left these teachings behind for you, but you also mentioned that this chamber was hidden for generations. Why would he conceal teachings if he wished others to learn from them?”

Scarlett only half-attentively paid attention to the question as she stepped back to observe the entire wall at once. She pulled out her notebook and opened a blank page.

“The answer to that remains as much a mystery to us as it does to you,” Stanway’s voice sounded out in the background. “The writing makes it clear that Deacon Emberwood intended for his disciples and future acolytes to find it, but there is no mention of its concealment. It is known from other sources that he harbored great regret during his later days due to an undisclosed event, and it is believed that he saw hiding this undercroft as part of his penance for that.”

While the others continued discussing that, Scarlett furrowed her brows as she focused on the mural before her. Now that she was seeing it for real, she could understand why none of the Followers had solved this puzzle even after several generations. It had been a lot more obvious in the game.

She stepped back even further. Rosa and the rest of her party gave her odd looks, but she continued until she stood several meters away from them. The shrine custodian even narrowed his eyes at her, clearly perplexed by what she was doing.

From this distance, Scarlett almost had to squint her eyes to make out what some of the etchings on the wall said, but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t concerned about deciphering the text itself. The Followers had probably been doing that for generations.

She hastily jotted down some sketches in her notebook—making use of some precise applications of pyrokinesis, which was both intensely satisfying and more efficient since it allowed her to use several ‘pens’ at once—according to what she saw.

The focus here wasn’t the intent behind the text, but how it was arranged. In the game, the pattern had been fairly easy to spot as long as you stood in the right spot, but in this world, it had presumably not been designed to be solvable by the average person within a few minutes. At least not judging from how hard of a time she was having finding what she was looking for at the moment.

She looked down at the first sketch she had created. Her attempt had included roughly singling out where similar segments of text appeared on the wall and connecting them with lines, but the result was just a messy and incoherent array of lines and dots.

That probably wasn’t the correct shape.

Frowning, she moved back even further and tried again. It was hard trying to see a pattern in the mural when all her brain wanted was to attempt reading the words inscribed on it. She almost found herself wishing she had spent more time trying to solve those stereogram illusions that sometimes circulated back in her world.

The minutes passed as she persisted, sketching attempt after attempt and letting the others continue their conversation and wait for her. She strained eyes her to defocus, seeking the pattern she knew had to be there. Every time she felt like she saw something, she copied it down and looked at her result to see if it was something reasonable.

Finally, after enough tries that her eyes were starting to ache, her efforts bore fruit. She felt like she spotted what might be an intentional pattern with some of the segments, and after glancing at her sketch with the lines drawn between each dot, she had something that resembled an oblong sun with streaks radiating from it.

“If you would all step back, please,” she announced to the others.

Without question, Scarlett’s companions complied, moving to the side of the chamber away from the wall and altar. Raimond shot curious looks at them, but he too followed suit. The shrine custodian, however, stared intently at her.

“What do you intend to do?” he asked, his tone serious.

“Reveal something that I suspect has been overlooked,” she replied calmly. “Rest assured, I will not damage the mural.”

Well, probably not. Stone should be able to withstand a bit of heat.

The man continued watching her for a few seconds longer, then looked at Raimond. “Father Abraham, can you take responsibility for her words just now?”

Raimond turned his eyes towards Scarlett, an expression that left everything up to interpretation on his face. Then a smile crossed his lips. “Why, I believe I can.”

Although Shrine Custodian Stanway didn’t appear especially satisfied with that answer, he eventually stepped aside, allowing Scarlett to continue. She gave the man an appreciative nod before raising her hand.

In the game, you kind of had to awkwardly throw several [Fire Bolts] or similar spells at the wall for this part, but this was one occasion where it was actually easier in real life.

A myriad of living flames manifested in front of the spot she had pinpointed on the wall, barely touching the stone.

The shrine custodian let out a cry, and Scarlett felt a pull on her magic as if something was attempting to wrest control from her. However, it was laughably easy to push through, and she maintained the flames. Compared to when Arlene did something similar, this was a breeze.

Just as the man turned his attention to hear, the spots where Scarlett had positioned her fires lit up, and the flames melted into the stone. Lines of deep red emerged to connect them, forming the image of a sun on the expansive mural.

Shrine Custodian Stanway froze, his entire body turning to gawk at the sight along with the rest. Scarlett wore a small smile as the chamber rumbled slightly.

A moment later, the altar in front of the wall moved, sliding to the side as it revealed a narrow passage leading downward.

“Wha—” Stanway stammered, and Rosa stepped over to pat him on the shoulder.

“No need for the sad face, pal. I’ll bet ya a few hundred solars that everyone feels this way when they first see her showing off,” the bard said.

Raimond gently cleared his throat. “I would like to note that this is technically my first time seeing it as well. As a holy man, I can’t take bets, but I will happily accept a song written in my honor. Just make sure to emphasize my stunning jawline and the lustrousness of my hair, is all that I ask.”

Rosa blinked at the man, then shook her head with a chuckle. “Suppose you got me there. I’ll see what I can whip up.”

Shrine Custodian Stanway ignored the two of them as he turned to stare at Scarlett.

“It appears as if I was correct after all,” she said and started moving towards the altar. “I hope you can trust me now when I say that we will exercise due caution to preserve what lies beyond here to the best of our abilities so that you can study it when we are finished.”

She stopped before the opened passage that peered into the darkness below. Though there was no ladder, handholds had been chiseled into the stone for a safe descent. She turned to Raimond. “Father Abraham, would you do the honors?”

The blond-haired man looked rather amused as she moved over to him, tucking some stray locks of hair behind his ears as he glanced down into the hole. “You have quite a few surprises up your sleeve, Baroness. I’m fortunate that I get to witness firsthand the methods employed to retrieve the Chalice of Canon.”

Scarlett saw no point in mentioning that she had done nothing more than tell Fynn to run to a certain place and dig up some dirt to find that. It wasn’t the most impressive of achievements.

Raimond snapped his fingers, and the darkness down the passage dissipated, revealing the rest of the opening as it stretched approximately thirty or so meters down towards an empty stone floor.

“Wait,” Shrine Custodian Stanway said. The man seemed to have finally collected himself again as he approached them. “How did you do this? How did you know about this passage?”

Scarlett glanced at him. “I believe I have already mentioned that I will not divulge the source of my information. As for how I accomplished this, I merely searched for the pattern hidden on that mural.” She motioned towards the text-covered wall. “If you so wish, you may attempt to locate it as well. It should be easier now that you have seen its shape.”

The man looked over at the wall for a moment before returning his attention to Scarlett and gazing down the passage before them. “You intend to go down there now?”

“Yes, that was our intention from the start. Do you have any objections?”

Raimond moved over to place an encouraging hand on his shoulder. “Fear not, brother. The venerable deacon’s legacy will be respected for as long as I am present.”

The shrine custodian still looked reluctant, but eventually, he took a step back.

Scarlett offered him a small nod before gesturing for her party to begin their descent. Fynn led the way, and after him were Shin and Allyssa. Rosa followed, and Scarlett used the [Charm of Expeditious Change] to switch out of the dress she was wearing into her usual expedition attire. That earned a slightly surprised look from both Raimond and the shrine custodian, but she ignored it as she followed Rosa.

A few months back, climbing down this might have been challenging for Scarlett, but now, with her increased stamina from various items and training, it was only slightly tiring on her arms.

Eventually, she reached the bottom of the passage, with Raimond landing beside her soon after. They found themselves in a large, circular chamber that had three pathways stretching in different directions, each marked with distinctive symbols in the stone above. Unlike the religious imagery in the undercroft above, these symbols resembled more the runes used by mages and wizards in the books Scarlett had read.

“Curious,” Raimond commented as the priest walked over to the center of the chamber, examining each path. “It is said that Deacon Emberwood was once a mage in his youth before he started on the path of following Ittar. He was even familiar with the first emperor at the time. But I never expected him to have left something like this behind after his death.”

Scarlett followed his gaze down the corridors. Even with Raimond’s magical illumination lighting up the space, each path seemed to stretch into infinity. A trick of the light, most likely. Many of the Followers excelled in that, after all. Among many other things. Lumomancy was one of the more versatile schools of magic, and being one of the original ten deacons, Emberwood would have been a master in that regard.

However, she wasn’t quite sure which passage they should explore first. It wasn’t like she could remember exactly the exact order she took in the game, and the symbols offered little information. She knew those runes were supposed to be used as shorthand among mages, but she wasn’t an expert in that field. Not to mention that these particular symbols were probably outdated by a few centuries at this point.

They would simply have to guess.

That said, this was a dungeon created by a powerful individual, so they would have to proceed with due caution. Scarlett and her party should be roughly in the right level range for this place, judging from what they had been able to clear so far, but that only meant they had a decent chance here. Not that they could take things easy.

Although, with Raimond here, they probably wouldn’t have to be afraid of any serious injuries. He was an even better healer than Rosa.

Scarlett glanced over at the priest as he appeared to be eyeing the runes above the pathways with a hand pressed to his chin, exchanging small comments with Rosa beside him.

That knowledge was comforting in a way, but she still felt uneasy about his presence here. No matter his given reasons for joining them, he was still a deacon. Could he seriously have decided to accompany them simply out of curiosity and because he considered her a friend? They had only met a few times before, and while he was close to Livvi, Scarlett herself wouldn’t go so far as to call him a friend.

She worried that he might have somehow learned about her involvement with the heist at the Sanctuary of Ittar and was trying to investigate further by getting close to her, but that also seemed unlikely. Beldon Tyndall had already provided her with a pretty comprehensive report on how he had deduced her involvement in that matter, as well as the actions he took to stop others from doing the same. She trusted the man’s judgement on the matter.

Nevertheless, she would have to keep an eye on Raimond from now on. She didn’t want to become his enemy, if possible. There were still things she needed the Followers’ help with in the future, and having connections to one of their deacons would be incredibly beneficial in that regard.

“In which direction are we starting?” Shin’s voice broke her thoughts, and Scarlett turned away from Raimond and Rosa to look at the young man.

Taking a moment to consider, she pointed randomly at one of the paths. “We will be starting with that one. Prepare yourself.”

Shin stepped over to Allyssa who was responsible for the [Bag of Juham] for this venture and pulled out his sword and shield. Allyssa pulled down her protective goggles and adjusted the bandolier over her chest as she drew her hand crossbow.

With a thought, Scarlett donned the rest of her equipment and moved towards the passageway she’d pointed out.

It was time to clear this place.