Vol 5 Chapter 9

However, what he saw the moment he flung open the doors were the bones of his siblings, thrown as sacrificial lambs to the hungry monsters swarming in to catch the fleeing lord's family. Over the small bones of fifty people abandoned all along the escape route, and finally on top of the corpses of the lord's family who couldn't escape properly and were caught and killed, the older brother wailed and cursed.

'I curse you! I curse this castle! Those I would seek revenge against are already dead, so all I can curse is this accursed castle! My poor siblings, curse this foolish brother who was so easily deceived!'

The moment the older brother's curse ended, the castle crumbled, and the White Knight gathered and buried the children's bones. And where the castle had fallen, the Red Mage erected a marker to appease the souls of the fifty children. It is said that the place where the ruins of that collapsed castle were is now Rezul.

"..."

After the old woman's story ended, a moment of silence similar to a break before another story came. Kapros thought that the identities of the people mentioned intermittently after the story ended were likely to be names he knew, as he had experienced many times before.

First, the Red Mage... was it Superior? Then the White Knight would be Holy Knight? No, it could also be Shine Knight. If the people in the story were really Superior and Holy, or Shine Knight, the person they helped to such an extent - that is, the older brother of the 50 children - would also be important, and there was a slight hint about this at the beginning of the story.

'One skilled with a bow.'

When he had obtained Aiagas, there was exactly one person similar to that in the story of the Legendary Seven Heroes that Wizard Berman had told him.

'The Divine Archer, Electric Knight!'

Although he wasn't sure if the "older brother" in this story was definitely the Electric Knight, he had at least clearly learned that there was a legend in this Rezul that seemed to have a lot to do with the Seven Heroes.

But even so, there didn't seem to be anything particularly related to the 'Flower of Rezul' in this legend... What exactly was related?

"According to that legend, there was a dark forest at the back gate, which was the last escape route of that collapsed castle. And the location that was about the entrance to that forest is said to be where Rezul is now. The marker that the Red Mage erected to appease the children's souls took root in the ground over many years and grew into a flower - that's the end of the legend."

At that moment, Kapros's attention was drawn back as the old woman added words as if reading his mind.

"To see that flower you want, adventurer, you'll have to go to the forbidden area. The forbidden area appears not long after passing through the empty house lots where no one lives now, to the south of our town. There are rows of dead trees around it. As if it really used to be a forest. People in our town are careful not to set foot there even by mistake. Too many people have gone in there and never returned."

"Then is there nothing special I need to do to enter the forbidden area?"

The old woman nodded almost imperceptibly.

"There's a red line at the entrance to stop the steps of ignorant children, but despite that, every year a few people enter believing rumors of unlikely treasures inside or looking for a place to hide after committing crimes. Of course, as I just said, only three people in this old woman's long life have returned from among them."

'Three people... I wonder if that masked man who was the vice-leader of the underground organization Born is included among them.'

"Adventurer. To be honest, I want to dissuade you from entering that place. I'm just a dirty old woman who's a complete stranger to you, but that forbidden area really... is not a place for the living to approach."

The old woman's eyes, trembling as if truly scared and afraid, didn't feel like they belonged to the same person who had been sitting upright with sharp eyes just moments ago. However, the more the old woman spoke of danger, the more convinced Kapros became that this place was undoubtedly related to the quest. Not just in MIST, but in games in general, places that NPCs tell you not to go or say are dangerous are, conversely, places that users must definitely visit.

"I appreciate your concern. But..."

"I'm telling you this because your straight eyes resemble those of my dead son. My son also mistakenly entered that forbidden area and hasn't returned yet. My granddaughter Remil is the only trace left of my son."

As if tracing the remnants of the child who had gone outside, the old woman turned bitterly towards the door where faint light was leaking through. Kapros didn't say anything in the solemn atmosphere, but he felt a sense of relief at having his curiosity satisfied about the fact that the child, whose gender he couldn't quite determine, was a granddaughter.

"Until about ten years ago, if you dug in the dangerous area just before fully entering the forbidden zone, you would occasionally find strangely glittering stone fragments. We considered them to be remnants of the collapsed castle walls imbued with past resentment, but despite countless people being sucked in and unable to return if they took just one more step, my son often went there because those fragments could be sold for a high price."

Then one day, as his daughter's birthday approached, there was nothing to eat at home, and they couldn't even afford to buy the bracelet engraved with a name that was traditionally given as a gift for a child's first birthday, wishing for their healthy growth. So the old woman's son felt the need to dig for stones there, even if it meant taking a risk.

"After a witness's last words saying they saw him entering the forbidden area at night, my son never returned. Remil grew up without even knowing her father's face."

It was a sad story, but at this rate, it seemed he might be held back by the old woman and return without even seeing the Flower of Rezul. After hesitating for a moment, Kapros opened his mouth.

"I understand your desire to dissuade me. But thanks to that, I feel even more that I need to enter the forbidden area."

"Why is that?"