MSMH 55

Chapter 55

For a moment, silence fell.
Rattle, rattle. The quiet inside the log cabin was so deep that even the sound of the wind could be heard.

Sapheiros, wearing a serious expression, tapped the wooden table lightly with his right index finger.

Privetina could only open and close her mouth, unable to say anything.

“Adamas, let me ask you just one thing.”

“Hm? Sure. Go ahead, Ros.”

At Sapheiros’s heavy tone—one he hadn’t used in a long time—Adamas unconsciously swallowed.

I have to make them believe me somehow.

Adamas was ready to rattle off even historical events that had yet to happen.

“In five years, how much winter wheat will be produced?”

“…What? How would I know that?!”

“You said you came from the future. Why don’t you know?”

“Th-that’s…”

Adamas trailed off awkwardly.

“No, Captain. Who would memorize something like winter wheat yields? You should ask something more important!”

Privetina suddenly shot up from her chair. It clattered loudly as it toppled over.

“Mas! I’ll ask. If you’re really from the future, answer clearly!”

Slamming both hands on the table, she spoke firmly.

“Yes, Tina. Ask me anything. I can even tell you the year the next emperor ascends the throne.”

“As if that matters. It’s their world anyway.”

Snorting, Privetina then asked in a serious, quiet voice:

“Mas, answer honestly.”

“Yes, Tina.”

“…When do I finally become a full-fledged knight?”

“…What?”

“When do I get rid of this damn trainee label?!”

“…‘Damn trainee’? Is that how you see it?”

“Captain, please stay out of this for a moment.”

“…Haha.”

Watching the two throw out completely unexpected questions, Adamas let out a bewildered laugh.

Clenching his fists, his palms drenched in sweat, he said:

“Can’t you two be serious for once?”

“You’re the one overreacting over nothing. It’s not like you committed a crime.”

“Exactly. No one even died. Anyway, tell me—when do I become a knight?”

Between Sapheiros, who smirked slightly, and Privetina, who was determined to get an answer, Adamas finally spoke with difficulty.

He could lie convincingly and deceive them.
But he didn’t want to.

The future had changed—and could change. To prove that, he wanted to tell the truth.

“First, Tina… you don’t become a knight. Ah, it’s not your fault. There just wasn’t anyone worthy for you to dedicate your sword to. Instead, you become a very famous swordsman in the future. The first female mercenary king. You even have an autobiography. And you live quite a long life too. A long and prosperous one, you know?”

“…Not a knight… but a swordsman.”

Leaving behind the stunned, muttering Privetina, Adamas met Sapheiros’s eyes.

“Ros. I don’t know the winter wheat production of the Marquessate of Mano five years from now. There’s no record—and more importantly, in five years, this land won’t even be the Marquessate of Mano anymore.”

“…It won’t be?”

Hearing this, Sapheiros quietly stared out the window. His tightly shut lips and trembling jaw showed just how shaken he was.

“I’m sorry, Ros. It may be cruel, but it’s the truth. And the reason I’m telling you this… is because what I’m about to say next is very important.”

Silence fell again between the three.

After a moment of thought, Sapheiros slowly opened his eyes.

“I’ll listen.”

“What about you, Tina?”

“I-I’m fine too. I’ll listen.”

Both of them focused on Adamas.

Taking a slow breath, he began:

“The Oakland Necklace… is the imperial seal. Exactly the same as the one the current emperor uses.”

He continued:

“Francis was founded jointly by Shuon and Empress Oakland. She was practically a co-ruler. And Shuon must have been dissatisfied with that. So he wanted to take her seal. But the empress saw through his scheme and hid it in advance.”

“So Shuon had no choice but to imprison her in the tower… to find the seal?”

At Sapheiros’s question, Adamas nodded.

“He couldn’t let it fall into someone else’s hands. He had to destroy her seal to complete his own sanctification. But in the end, he never found it… and had no choice but to kill Empress Oakland.”

Adamas spoke in a subdued tone. A heavy silence filled the cabin.

Sapheiros quietly took Adamas’s trembling hand, unnoticed by Privetina.

Privetina, who had been listening, frowned slightly.

“Isn’t that strange? Why would they just leave the diary?”

“We think it was hidden. The tower collapsed completely during a storm, so it was only discovered afterward.”

“Then why leave the empress’s body?”

“No one knows for sure. Historians say there was ‘no need to remove it.’”

“They left it on purpose?”

“Exactly. No matter how much Shuon tried to silence things, many people in that era would have known the empress. Especially the founding contributors who helped establish the nation.”

“…A reign of terror. Shuon used her as an example for purges.”

Sapheiros spoke quietly.

“There are many records from the Lion King era about criminals being locked in the northern tower for a few days and then released. I used to wonder how that was a punishment…”

Silence fell again.

Privetina carefully raised her hand.

“…So, how does this relate to us right now?”

“Well… Pantheon is trying to obtain the imperial seal. The one in the palace is probably already in Duke Krep’s hands.”

“I see.”

“Honestly, it might work in our favor. If they find the seal, Pantheon and Stephan will likely leave the marquessate. They’ll go find powerful nobles to support them with the new seal.”

As Adamas spoke more lightly, Sapheiros nodded and asked:

“Then where is that Oakland Necklace?”

“How would I know? Tina, did you hear anything?”

Adamas asked eagerly.

“Wait—you don’t know?”

“Me?”

“I thought it had already been discovered in the future. Isn’t that the case?”

“Not at all. Only the diary was found. The imperial family denied the empress’s very existence.”

Not only that—

They even claimed the body was fabricated, calling it a trick by republican agitators.

That was why Adamas had been so shocked upon hearing about the “Oakland Necklace.”

Something declared fake… had actually been real.

“…Tina, are you sure you didn’t hear anything else?”

Adamas asked, biting his lip.

Privetina thought for a moment, then spoke:

“Pantheon asked a merchant guild leader if he knew about the Oakland Necklace. The guild leader said no, so Pantheon described what it looked like and asked him to find it if he ever came across one like it. Oh—and he also asked him to gather rumors about himself and Stephan.”

“W-wait, Tina. Say that again?”

“He asked him to gather rumors about himself and Stephan.”

“No, before that—the necklace’s appearance?”

“Yes.”

She nodded firmly.

“A 120-carat ruby, something about emeralds…”

“A deep rose-colored 120-carat ruby, emerald-cut, surrounded by eighty small white diamonds.”

“Oh! Yes, that’s it! The cutting! I remember hearing that word.”

Clapping her hands, Privetina said:

“Mas, how do you describe it like you’ve seen it yourself?”

“Not in person… but I have seen it.”

This is insane. Why is this coming up now?!

“…Mas?”

“…What should I do? I think I’ve figured it out. Where the Oakland Necklace will appear.”

Privetina tilted her head.

“Not where it is, but where it will appear? Why? Is it excavated in the future?”

“Something like that. People say it’s basically like a dungeon.”

“Where is it?”

“…The imperial vault of Robiana.”

So it all connects like this. Fate—or misfortune.

With a faint, incredulous smile, Adamas continued:

“It’ll show up in about three years in Robiana. The Black Crown Prince gifts that necklace to his concubine.”

“Why would it be there?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe… the empress’s revenge?”

The Necklace of the Rose Concubine.

A jewel said to have been taken from the imperial vault by Spinel Kaion—the 39th king of Robiana—when he was crown prince, to gift to his lover.

Later transferred to the Robiana Rose Museum, built in memory of his deceased beloved.

Adamas had seen that jewel once—in a brochure for the museum.

Wait… if I use this properly…

At that moment, a certain idea flashed through Adamas’s mind.