Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Even if Daisy doesn't react in time, Raslaufer has a backup plan, but this is the best time for him to act!

"Ouch!" The poet nearly fell backward to the ground, but somehow managed to narrowly avoid the attacks from the skeleton and even Leslaufer behind him. The attacks collided with pure brute force, and both sides swayed slightly.

The red light in the skull's eyes immediately surged, and a chilling roar came from its throat, which probably had no fascia left beneath that mask. However, with the second, third, and fifth impacts, this magic-powered shell was ultimately no match for Reslaufer's flesh and blood. As the hilt of the greatsword reversed, it slammed into the undead creature's head, causing it to immediately lose its balance and crash into the tightly closed door behind it.

If it were a living person, this single blow would have been enough to cripple or even kill them. However, the undead stood up again as if nothing had happened, and launched another attack on Raslaufer with undiminished power. Moments later, Dopler severed its right arm, and its knee was also smashed backward.

Even so, it still managed to stand up unsteadily, and with its only remaining arm, it picked up the battle axe and launched another slash at Leslaufer!

It's as if even if Leslaufer were torn to pieces, it could still continue its attack with bone fragments or even bone powder!

Even Leslaufer was starting to feel the strain. The depletion of his strength was one aspect, but more importantly, his opponent was a dead man who had been dead for who knows how long. Even if Dopler crushed this undead into ashes, it wouldn't bring him the slightest bit of pleasure—this was simply the worst kind of battle!

"It's my turn again!" Just as Leslaufer was feeling rather awkward, Daisy finally adjusted her posture. She held the violin in one hand and pointed her index finger at the skeleton with the other. "It's such a hassle not having a priest... Luckily I have this!"

A tiny spark of starlight flickered from Daisy's fingertip, arcing across Leslaufer's head before landing on the skeleton before him. The spark was so insignificant, yet upon striking the undead, it instantly transformed into a brilliant golden flame, engulfing the vengeful spirit and incinerating it completely!

When the last small flame went out on its own, there were no more bones to burn beneath it—the skeleton that could not be brought down by conventional attacks was burned to ashes on the spot!

"Hoo—" Daisy brought her index finger to her lips and blew a breath in a serious manner. "Hmph, you want to fight me? I can't beat you in a fight, but my magic is much stronger—this is noble radiant damage!"

“Although it is not afraid of your Daylight spell, positive energy is still its weakness,” Angelita said thoughtfully. “I just don’t understand why it can still stand up even though Leslaufer has hit it several times and almost tore it apart. The previous spirit binder did not do this, nor did the constructs we encountered earlier.”

“Because it has a physical form,” the bard shrugged. “If you really want me to explain, this thing is called immortal resilience. They are driven by negative energy. Although their physical structure can be destroyed, in some higher dimension, they are still complete entities.”

"To completely kill it, you either have to destroy its physical structure so that its energy has nothing to rely on, or you have to disrupt its original state with light... I can't make this up anymore, but that's the gist of it."

“You’ll handle these kinds of things from now on,” Leslaufer said, breathing heavily. “Unless absolutely necessary, I probably won’t take on any more business involving the undead in my life—it’s just too boring.”

"Let me rest for a bit, then we'll check out the main burial chamber and leave."

Chapter 410 Antique Meeting

Unlike most tomb raiders, Raslaufer and his companions did not come with the intention of making a fortune. Therefore, they were not in a hurry to move forward. Instead, after resting, they stood again in front of the main tomb door at the end of the corridor.

It was probably because of this leeway that Mary discovered a trap hanging on the door just before she was about to unlock it—if she hadn't cleared it in time, the entire ceiling of the tomb passage would have been blown off.

As for what will happen after that, no one knows. It could be spikes and poison, or wax and iron shot, or something even more brutal: it will form an impenetrable cage with other walls, where people will either be trapped to death or buried in a landslide while trying to dig a way out.

“Even if you told me now that this really is the tomb of King Igor, I would believe you.” With a soft click, the heavy stone door slowly opened in front of Mary, and she murmured to herself.

The main burial chamber was not larger than the separate burial chamber on the left, but the burial goods inside were far more valuable than those outside. The half-open boxes were filled with various coins, neatly polished gems, and many ancient ornaments and other decorations. On the walls, there were also many exquisite paintings. These things would probably be worthless in the eyes of commoners and mercenaries, but in the eyes of the two nobles, they might be more precious than a pile of boxes.

"This painting... could its artist be the person I'm thinking of?" Under the light of the Daylight spell, Mary stood somewhat dazed in front of a painting. When the Daylight spell shone on the painting and the outside air circulated in, the surface of the painting rippled with magical energy, which must have been a special magic used for preservation.

Raslaufer's upbringing wasn't enough to support his appreciation of anything, but from the grand marching scenes depicted on it, he could indeed sense the presence of something called "art."

“Emperor Richard the Great is on a march,” Angelita whispered in response. “Of all the ancient painters, only one was so keen to depict that emperor. It is said that his ‘Anointed Richard’ is kept in the City of the Anointed, and I can assure you that the image of Emperor Richard the Great in the ‘Coronation of the Emperor’ in the Imperial Household is exactly the same as this one.”

The painting was said to have been brought to the empire by the ancestors of the Matt family and presented to the Second Dynasty. Surprisingly, descendants of the Matt family were able to be crowned before their ancestor's portrait. Since then, the emperor's coronation has been magically amplified and projected onto the palace dome, yet even so, every detail remains clearly visible, demonstrating the creator's meticulous attention to detail.

After hearing this, even Daisy couldn't help but tremble slightly: "If this is the original... then we'll never have to worry about food and drink for generations to come."

“I’m afraid no one is qualified to buy it.” Angelita shook her head. “If I could own it, I’d rather starve to death than sell it. Franz Poussin, every single one of his works is a national treasure.”

However, it is obvious that the tomb is not a place to appreciate such lost masterpieces, not to mention that there is a mercenary who is burning zithers and boiling cranes next to it, rummaging through treasure chests for antique coins, making a constant "clattering" sound.

“Hey, Mr. Ray, stop playing with those metal pieces,” Daisy couldn’t help but say. “Even if you piled them up into a small mountain, you still wouldn’t get a painting like this.”

Although she studied music, art is universal, and she was very able to understand what Angelita and Marie were saying, and was happy to listen to that.

But Doples clearly didn't think so.

“That’s hard to say,” Leslaufer chuckled, picking up a rather oddly shaped silver coin from the pile between his thumb and forefinger and examining it closely near a light source. “Ladies, how about we take a look at this?”

“There’s nothing to appreciate about this,” Angelita said, turning around and glancing at it before raising an eyebrow. “Although it’s an ancient coin, it’s clearly not from the time of Richard the Great; it’s just a counterfeit, and probably even a silver one…”

“Is that so?” Leslaufer flicked his finger, forcefully tossing the coin into Angelita’s hand. “Take another look. I don’t believe you can’t tell.”

Angelita examined the coin closely with some skepticism, only to find that although it had been around for many years and showed obvious signs of wear, the design on one side was still recognizable.

The open pages and candles bore the emblem of Serak, the god of knowledge among the eight imperial gods. Around the edge of the coins were some small characters. In the innermost circle, one could vaguely see imperial words such as "patriarch" and "parish," while the outermost characters were unfamiliar to her—they were neither imperial, nor Inathas, nor even elven script.

“This is… a coin minted by the Church of Serak,” even the well-informed princess had to admit that the weight of this small coin in her hand might even surpass that of the painting on the wall. “But what is the script around the outside?”

“I don’t know,” Raslaufer shook his head. “There are probably only a handful of people in the entire Eastern Inas who can still read and write them, since the natives who used these symbols were almost wiped out by the Emperor.”

Yes, this silver coin was first used even before Richard the Great conquered Eastern Inassis! It was minted and issued by the patriarch of a certain parish of the god of knowledge in that region!

A genuine antique.

“Professor Bohr will definitely want to see this,” Angelita carefully put it away, but her gaze then drifted to the several boxes next to Leslaufer. “Could it be that…”

“It’s not that weird,” the mercenary hurriedly waved his hand, but still couldn’t stop Angelita from rushing to his side and starting to search. “I just wanted to see if there were any antique coins, and I didn’t expect to actually find any—but there were only a few.”

Or perhaps the tomb's occupant was a particular collector. No wonder the king's favorite cook would visit his tomb; some of the items here could rival the wealth of the entire kingdom.

“No, it’s even stranger, Uncle,” Angelita searched much faster than Leslaufer, and soon she had lined up a dozen coins and placed them on the lid of the box. “Look at these, friends, this is truly unexpected!”

Daisy and Mary also came over, and under their gaze, a row of gold and silver coins and even copper coins were arranged in order from old to new. Despite spanning several centuries, they all had a common feature: they all bore the holy emblem of Serac!

Most collectors would definitely frame and arrange these items. What kind of person would casually pile these antiques in a few boxes and mix them with other coins?

Chapter 411 The Stone Box That Cannot Be Touched

“The only explanation is that he simply doesn’t care about these things,” Angelita found three more coins from different periods belonging to the Church of Evandra, the Lord of Transformation. “I believe that if we continued, we could find more such combinations, but that’s no longer necessary.”

“He used this money as ordinary currency while he was alive,” Mary immediately understood Angelita’s meaning. “But that shouldn’t be the case. He had paintings by Franz Poussin, and coins from before Richard the Great’s time would have been antiques even when Franz was alive.”

"unless……"

“He’s a long-lived species!” Daisy clapped her hands. “But dwarves or halflings certainly wouldn’t build a tomb this high, so I guess he’s an elf!”

Only long-lived creatures would disregard these antique coins, while for those pointy-eared elves, those crudely made gold and silver coins were nothing more than currency. On the contrary, paintings that were more recent but of higher artistic value would be framed and hung in their tombs for veneration even after their deaths.

Daisy's guess does have some merit.

“But we all know when elves stepped down from their leading role in history,” Angelita disagreed with the conclusion. “If there was such an active elf collector, it’s unlikely that he wouldn’t have survived, but until now, we still don’t know who he was.”

She pointed to the stone coffin lid not far away, which was so smooth it looked as if it had been polished countless times, without any information on it.

“And if you’re an elf…think about all those dead trees and wasteland above,” Leslaufer also had reservations, after all, he did have an elf friend, “and their funeral customs are different from those of elves.”

“Then we’ll probably have to open the coffin to find out whose guests we are,” Mary said, her gaze involuntarily falling on the stone coffin. “Should we do it?”

“We’re not here to rob a tomb, so let’s not disturb him,” Daisy said, shrinking back. “The people guarding his tomb have all turned into skeletons, and the last group of tomb raiders became spirits. I don’t want to end up like that.”

However, the burial items here can still be taken out, since the dead don't need them anyway, and normal people would never set up traps in their main burial chamber.

Although they didn't have magical dimensional pockets that could hold a lot of items, Raslaufer and the others still brought several sacks. It wouldn't be fair to call it greed; they were just trying to fill the containers as much as possible.

—And take those boxes with you.

Unfortunately, Black Claw couldn't come down, otherwise the work would have been easier for everyone. But now, they had to prepare to come back and move it again. However, at this moment of "hard work", someone actually stared blankly at the stone wall that no longer had the famous painting, without any intention of lending a hand.

“Daisy, what are you looking at?” Mary was obviously a little annoyed; she needed the poet's help to lift the whole box of coins. “Come and help me!”

"Don't rush," Daisy said without turning around, waving her hand. "Do you think there might be some hidden compartments or secret rooms behind here?"

“I think you’re overthinking it,” Mary said, pursing her lips. “If he really wanted to hide something, he would have just buried it under the sarcophagus. No one would have thought to lift the sarcophagus up to take a look.”

A stone coffin can weigh hundreds of kilograms, or even tens of tons. Some depraved individuals even line it with lead sheets for preservation. Even if someone could think of treasures below like Mary, they could only sigh in despair.

But Daisy clearly didn't think so. While Leslaufer and Angelita were carrying things out, she forcibly dragged Mary inside to explore. The good news was that there were no traps or mechanisms on the walls that could be triggered, but the bad news was that there wasn't even a single mechanism, let alone any secret room.

“Alright, I’ll tell you,” Mary said helplessly, tapping the wall with the tool in her hand. “Why did you have to go through all this trouble to find this? It’s pointless…”

Before she finished speaking, her eyes widened involuntarily: Daisy suddenly stopped on the wall in front of the sarcophagus, tiptoed slightly, and actually managed to pry a stone brick off the wall!

There really is a hidden compartment?!

Mary was truly shocked this time. She quickly called Leslaufer and Angelita over. When everyone gathered around, they saw that behind the loose bricks was a space of moderate size, containing a wand about thirty centimeters long, a ring inlaid with light blue tourmaline, a neatly folded black cloak, and at the very back, an unassuming little stone box.

"I knew it!" Daisy exclaimed excitedly, almost jumping up and down to bump into the ceiling of the tomb. "All the good stuff is here!"

“The caster is most likely a mage, so it’s not surprising that he’s lived a long time.” Unlike the three girls, Leslaufer didn’t need to stand on tiptoe to see what was inside. In fact, he had to squat down a little to take out the three relics that were obviously magical items one by one.

The wand was made of fir wood, intricately carved with patterns; even ignoring the magic emanating from it, it was a fine work of art. The cloak was much the same. As for the ring, the light blue tourmaline was one of the rarest types of tourmaline; even just removing the gemstone itself would be quite valuable.

If Reslaufer were here alone, he would definitely have done the same.

“Daisy is really lucky,” Angelita said, looking at the bard with new respect. “You were the luckiest one when you were salvaging things from Felix, and now you’ve managed to get these again.”

"Hehe..." Daisy chuckled, but showed no intention of taking the items away. "The items are nice, but I can't use them."

“Although bards and those mages who are researchers are both ‘spellcasters,’ even ‘arcane spellcasters,’ they operate on completely different principles. This wand is at most a conductor’s baton to me,” she pointed to the wand. “If I had a piece of triangular iron, it might be useful; I’ve studied a little bit of it myself…”

“As for this cloak, I definitely won’t wear it; it’s too incongruous. As for this ring… we’ll have to study it further when we get back. I don’t have any identification spells prepared, so I don’t even know if it’s cursed.” Daisy explained each item one by one, as if these extraordinary magical items were less useful than works of art, coins, and gems.

“This won’t work, that won’t work,” Leslaufer scratched his head in frustration, reaching out to pull out the innermost box. “It can’t be that the most valuable thing is this urn, can it?”

Just as Dubul's fingers were about to touch the stone box, suddenly, an aged voice rang out from behind the group:

“Mr. Raslaufer, if I were you, I would absolutely not touch it.”

Chapter 412 Goodbye, Boll

Turning around, a long shadow stretched out behind the hunched figure. The mage was wearing a thin gray robe and seemed to have aged considerably since then. At this moment, his eyes were fixed on the outstretched hand of Raslaufer.

"Bohr".

Reslaufer recognized his employer and withdrew his hand: "Usually, others say that to me, but I have to say, I'm glad to see you alive."

"Hiding and running is indeed exhausting and physically taxing, but what else can I say?" The old mage's mustache, which hadn't been shaved in a long time, trembled slightly, expressing his feelings. "Compared to the pursuers, the weather in Eastern Inas is just too 'cruel'."

"Teacher Paul!" Angelita exclaimed excitedly, rushing into her teacher's arms like a lark before the old man could react. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Ouch, ouch... My Your Highness, please be gentle..." Angelita's embrace made Paul realize that this lark was not the same one as before—now, if she didn't have the strength to swing her arms, the impact would be something that an old man in his twilight years could not withstand. "Speaking of which, you are sixteen years old now, you really are a young lady... cough, cough cough."

"teacher?"

"N-nothing," Paul quickly caught his breath as Angelita retreated in a panic. "It's just a trivial matter. My old bones can still take a beating."

"Oh, right, teacher, what about Sister Grandin, she..."

“She can’t come that far,” Paul stroked his beard and smiled. “But don’t worry too much. His Majesty wouldn’t dare to make a fuss about the ‘abduction of the Imperial Princess,’ so she’ll be fine. As far as I know, she should have returned to the palace a few months ago, after all, your sister likes her very much.”

"However, the head maid is definitely out of a job and will have to start all over again."

“It’s my fault.” Angelita sighed with her head down, but she was also relieved—if Lady Grandin really died because of her, that would probably be a mistake she could never erase in her life.

"His Majesty Richard is in a precarious situation. He doesn't have much free time to deal with these matters," Paul said, describing the empire's situation. "Although he has the advantage on the battlefield thanks to his powerful knightly and mage orders, a large number of nobles who were originally loyal to him have begun to defect, demanding that the emperor's authority be devolved. His Majesty is naturally unwilling, but I think that perhaps when the situation deteriorates further, he will be forced to concede."

“There’s no chance,” Angelita shook her head. “By then, those nobles will be asking for much more than what they are now. In the worst-case scenario, we’ll fall apart.”

Pol looked at Angelita with slight surprise: "If that's the case, then all the efforts of our ancestors will have been in vain."

Dragons have fallen, giants have fallen, elves and dwarves have fallen, is it finally humanity's turn? Even the only remaining empire cannot last forever?

“Or perhaps, Father has another plan.” Angelita said meaningfully, as that was why she had run away.

"If that's the case, I'd rather the empire be reduced to ashes." Pol couldn't help but smile bitterly. Seek power from those evil beings? The entire empire would become their plaything, turning into a hellish wasteland—perhaps even worse than the Nine Hells!

“However, there’s no point in saying all this now. We don’t have the ability to turn the tide. You, the runaway princess, and I, a retired old man—all of this is probably just fodder for idle gossip,” Both sides fell silent. After a moment, Paul looked at the two strangers around him. “Are these your new friends? Or Lord Raslaufer’s companions? Would you mind introducing them?”

“Both, sir,” Daisy said excitedly as she shook hands with the old sorcerer. “It’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Daisy, and this is Miss Margaret. You must be the teacher Annie always talks about, Mr. Paul! I’m also a spellcaster, and I’ve heard a great deal about you!”

“A harp, magic…” Paul’s eyes, beneath his two white eyebrows, glanced at the harp Daisy was carrying and understood. “A bard? Talent and hard work are both indispensable. This young lady is truly beautiful inside and out… But how did you know me?”

Although Daisy could use Imperial English fluently, some of her habits were clearly brought from her homeland, and they sounded different when expressed in Imperial English. Paul took her polite words seriously.

Anyone else might have felt a little awkward, but Daisy was no ordinary person: "Oh, old man, is that even a question? Of course, it was Annie who said it. You can use fireballs as a normal attack, cast a dozen wish spells with a wave of your hand, and traverse the astral plane like it's nothing..."

"Ahem! That's too much, too much—" As the saying goes, if the person involved isn't embarrassed, it's the bystanders who are. Daisy's endless, rambling tale made the old mage's face turn as red as a boiling kettle, and he quickly stepped back, "This, Your Highness, this..."

How could he not know that these words certainly weren't spoken by Angelita? But bards were mostly like that; twelve out of ten sentences were unreliable. If it were a man, he could have been more straightforward, but Daisy was young and beautiful, and had a touch of madness about her. Even the well-informed old mage was at a loss for words and could only turn to Angelita for help.

Fortunately, others were already used to this kind of thing. Mary quickly pulled Daisy aside to greet Paul. After learning that Mary came from the collapsed City of Broken Jar, Paul also expressed his sympathy, which made him breathe a sigh of relief, glad that the situation was finally back on track.

"Professor Bohr, how did you find your way here?" After exchanging pleasantries, Angelita immediately asked. He had appeared so timely, neither too early nor too late.

"Well..." Paul chuckled dryly, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, but I've actually been here for almost half a month. However, I've met with several friends I've known for a long time, and I also have a lot of favors to repay along the way, so I haven't been able to come see you. After that, you came this way, and it took me some time to find you again. This morning, I finally found you outside... over there..."

“Deinonychus.” “Thank you—Deinonychus.” Pol looked at Daisy gratefully. Although the girl was a bit crazy, it wasn’t a bad thing for her to be by His Highness’s side.

“I originally planned to come down to find you directly, but I thought it would be better to observe for a while longer, so I didn’t show myself until you and Lord Raslaufer started moving things out, and that’s when I saw the coins.”

“Ordinary people don’t use money like that, we’ve already reached a conclusion,” Leslaufer nodded. “Perhaps it’s an immortal being—do you know him?”

Chapter 413 Angelita's Fate