HTWBB Chapter 3

She was climbing the unfamiliar mountain as if it were familiar territory. From the moment they first met, it seemed clear the child wasn't ordinary. As expected, hiding something... Rietta tilted her head at an angle as she reached that thought. Even accounting for his curly hair, Melian only came up to her waist in height.

'Is it because we're going uphill?'

He felt somehow taller than usual. Melian glanced back once more, just as he had done throughout the climb. His golden eyes, sparkling like reflected sunlight, shone with complete trust. Rietta exhaled lightly and put more strength into her steps.

Small mountain animals that popped out here and there would approach Melian with friendly expressions, only to be startled upon seeing Rietta and leap into the grass. This repeated several times. Though that gradually disappeared the higher they climbed.

Before long, the sun that had been directly overhead tilted westward. Melian, who had been advancing without rest until then, stopped abruptly without warning. Ahead stood a willow tree that looked to be several hundred years old, positioned like a guardian deity.

"Why?"

"Rietta, how many paths do you see?"

"One on the left."

It was a path too poorly maintained to even be called a trail. As if human feet had rarely touched it, small branches grew densely on both sides, making it look as though no path existed at all. Rietta gazed down the path as if gauging what lay beyond, then turned her head toward Melian.

"I guess it's not just one."

"It seems to be an illusion spell or barrier. I can't do magic myself..."

"It's fine. We seem to have found the right place."

Rietta approached the flustered Melian's side. If it was a device made so ordinary people or those of different nature couldn't detect it at all, it likely meant something was being hidden.

As she pushed through branches hanging like bountiful locks of hair and stood close to the trunk, a small wind blew. The tree, thick enough that four or five adults would need to embrace it, looked utterly ordinary at first glance. All it seemed to have done was endure the long years.

"What are you going to do?"

"Don't tell anyone else what you see now."

"What?"

Without answering, she slowly lifted her eyelids after closing her eyes. A blue color began gradually spreading from the edges of her brown pupils. Melian, sensing something strange, called out anxiously.

"You absolutely can't crack or break it!"

"I won't."

Soon, deep blue surged in Rietta's eyes. She examined the tree once more. Complex formulas and formations that hadn't been visible until moments ago covered the tree trunk, making everything shine much brighter.

After reading from the roots to the branches in reverse order, she turned her gaze to the right. A rock with a rough surface crouched beside the sheer cliff.

"Usually the real path would be hidden."

"I-I think so too."

"A small tear should be fine."

A small wound would restore itself in the blink of an eye. They wouldn't have carelessly inscribed such semi-permanent high-level magic.

Rietta reached behind her waist and drew out a familiar dagger. When she channeled weak magic into it, letters floated on the short blade before vanishing instantly.

Confirming that Melian had perceptively stepped back, she sliced through the air in one motion. It was toward the scenery showing the cliff. The sound of thick fabric or leather tearing struck her ears. Following the sword's trajectory, a sharp crack appeared in the empty air where nothing had existed. Rietta grasped it without hesitation and pulled it open.

"Come this way, Melian."

Beyond the space, dense forest and a clean path that looked touched by human hands spread out once more.

* * *

After passing through the barrier, Melian's guidance was no longer particularly necessary. The uphill path made of low bushes and fruit trees unseasonable for the time of year was beautiful like someone's garden.

From some point on, small animals like squirrels that had disappeared reappeared frequently. The magic enveloping this entire place shimmered like a heat haze before Rietta's opened eyes. It wasn't dangerous, but somehow seemed to deviate from natural law.

"Here it is!"

When they reached the summit, the sun that had turned westward was staining the sky red.

They said this was one of the highest mountains by a few fingers' count, and indeed, even the clouds were beneath their feet. Rietta, who had been watching the setting sun for a moment, turned around at the excessively quiet feeling.

Melian hadn't pressed her about the incident at the middle slope. He looked like he had much to say but showed an understanding attitude. However, since he had occasionally offered meaningless small talk, the silence after announcing their arrival was strange.

The boy stood blankly a few steps away, looking upward as if his neck might snap.

"What are you doing?"

"Look at that, Rietta."

Melian pointed upward. Rietta casually raised her gaze following that finger. Her vision went black as if night had suddenly fallen. She narrowed her eyelids. In the remaining sunlight, the outline of something appeared dimly. Though she mistook it for a rock at first, what occupied part of the ripened red sky was a massive clump of earth.

"I think this is the tomb."

Melian muttered vacantly. The shadow cast over them wasn't a cloud. At a distance that would require setting up about five of the willows from the middle slope, a mountain stood there.

No, it looked like someone had scooped out earth with a spoon and made it into a floating island in the air. Small rocks floated around it like moons.

<In that place closest to heaven where even one step would take me there, I will find rest.>

Who would have thought the last sentence of the will pointed to such an absurd location? Rietta frowned lightly.

It was only natural that countless treasure hunters until now couldn't pinpoint the tomb. Even more so now, when those who couldn't properly handle magic overflowed.

Even if someone were lucky enough to pass through the willow barrier, they would have failed because they couldn't climb up to the aerial tomb.

"Melian."

Rietta called to Melian, who still looked dazed. The boy, startled belatedly, quickly ran to her.

"How do we get up there?"

"You wait here. If I don't return by sunrise, go down the mountain."

"Take me with you too!"

"Two won't work."

"B-but I'm still young, so the mountain at night...!"

"I wouldn't say the mountain is dangerous to a nymph."

Melian, who had been throwing a tantrum, stiffened rigidly. His flustered eyes lost their way and wandered about before soon settling calmly.

Sharp tension instantly surrounded them. Rietta exhaled weakly at the naively clear reaction.

"My power right now can't handle both of us."

"...How did you know?"

Melian's face as he asked looked cold like an adult's. Rietta gazed at his tightly clenched fists and spoke flatly.

"Look at yourself now."

"My appearance?"

Melian, who had unconsciously looked down at himself, flinched and stepped back. The sleeves and hem of the robe he was wearing had grown dramatically shorter. The pants too revealed more than a hand's width of his ankles, making it look like he wore someone else's clothes.

Only then did Melian realize his eye level, which had been at Rietta's waist, had risen to near her shoulders. Rietta's voice, rough as scratched metal, continued.

"With nymph magical power spread all around, you've been overflowing with vitality from the moment you entered such a mountain."

"I..."

"If you're mixed blood, you'd rarely have such opportunities, so you unconsciously accepted it without restraint."

Rietta didn't add that he was unguarded having someone he thought he trusted beside him. Though he tried to maintain a strong appearance, she could feel him bristling all over at each of her responses. Rietta swallowed down all the harsh words circling in her mouth.

Since their first meeting, Melian had often been anxious that Rietta might leave him behind. Though she didn't know the reason, it was a kindness she couldn't ignore. She was always weak when it came to boys and girls of this age.

"So go on ahead. If you want to continue talking, wait at the largest inn in Helron."

When she tapped his plush brown hair, his head nodded slowly. Rietta laughed like a sigh.

Leaving behind the boy who sharply raised his face, she looked up at the aerial tomb again. Fortunately, the small rocks floating at regular intervals didn't seem like they would move.

Rietta took a deep breath, concentrated magical power in her legs, and kicked off the ground. Her hair spread across the sunset sky swayed in deep brown.

Melian's gaze clung persistently. The brown ends settling calmly down her back had faintly paled.

* * *

The distance between the rocks was farther than it looked from below. Each time her concentration wavered, the magic wrapped around her legs shook, nearly causing her to fall.

After several difficult leaps, she finally set foot where she wanted. Unlike below, the bone-dry earth that held not a drop of moisture crunched underfoot.

Rietta slowly straightened her waist. Perhaps because she'd depleted most of her magic in a short time, fatigue rushed over her suddenly. Without even checking, her hair was clearly mottled.

'For a tomb...'

She calmly looked around. For a tomb, it would typically have a burial mound or a cross or something planted. However, what she saw was no different from the scenery she'd encountered while climbing. The only difference was that the land floated like an island in the air.

Rietta walked slowly along the precarious edge where one misstep would mean a predetermined fall. This place, which felt wider than it had looked from below, was circular with rough curves. About five steps away from that edge, tall trees stood densely packed.

For something that had grown naturally, they had an artificial arrangement, looking exactly as if they enclosed and hid the inside. A simple inspection fortunately revealed no special magical devices.

Having walked completely around the island-shaped tomb and returned to where she first landed, she stepped without hesitation between the trees lined up like castle walls.

"Squueeak!"

Snap. A startled bird flew into the sky with a high cry. Its long tail rippled like a ribbon in the air. Rietta moved her foot toward where the bird had passed.

Inside the trees was tangled with vines so complex she couldn't see ahead, making progress difficult. However, she shouldn't advance by cutting wildly.

Such places typically had something guarding them, so it was better to avoid meaningless killing if possible.

"This is..."

After about ten minutes of walking while pushing aside vines without breaking or cutting them, her view suddenly opened up.

By then, the sun had completely set and a crescent moon had taken its place. A refreshing night breeze brushed past Rietta's pale cheeks.

She roughly swept back her fluttering hair and stared ahead. The center enclosed by the ring-shaped forest was close to an open greenhouse.

Shrubs trimmed into nice shapes as if by a skilled craftsman, smoothly cut square stones, and things like thick tree stumps were placed here and there like chairs, and beneath them, all manner of flowers ignoring the season swayed dizzily in the moonlight.

Rietta slowly moved her gaze. The northernmost part of the flower garden. It sat quietly, keeping its place with an appearance more like a temple than a tomb.

'They wouldn't have looked in higher places.'

Melian's words were correct. The first emperor had hidden his treasure in a place no one could dare reach, even if the location became known. Indeed, it was worthy of being assigned as a task to decide the crown prince.

Rietta stepped forward to approach inside, then hastily stepped back at a sensation that crept hesitantly down the nape of her neck.

CRASH! Something massive struck down where she had stepped, sending grass and flowers bursting up. Her vision went dark for a moment. When she blinked, the dust cleared and more detailed things revealed themselves one by one.

It looked like both a moss-covered old tree and a weathered rock. Rietta narrowed her eyes. But before she could examine it more closely, another spot a little distance away was crushed once more.

"...How annoying."

The voice from above wasn't unfamiliar. Rietta pulled her gaze away and stepped back. When she raised her head and looked up much higher toward the sky, only then did the identity of the massive thing enter her vision. A guardian watching over the aerial tomb in place of the living.

"A golem?"