Whispering Poems

Chapter 3894 Karas Mountain - Moon Ruins
Shad and Danist's destination, "Mount Karas," is not a very high mountain. It is located on a peninsula in the northern part of the Old World, with no large cities around it, and is part of the rolling Wolter Mountains.

Denist's travel plan was simple: take the train from Tobesk at 10 a.m. westward and arrive at Crossroads-Kovacs, a major transportation hub west of Tobesk, at noon.

After lunch, we took off over the fields. Although we needed to bypass the reconnaissance rituals above the big cities and slow down to avoid being detected by some rituals that detect wild dragons, we should be able to reach the foot of Mount Karas by Monday evening.

The plan went smoothly. Although the train was half an hour late, it didn't delay their lunch. Later, while flying hand in hand, Denise was surprised to find that Shad's flying skills had improved considerably. So, under the pretext of "testing flying skills," she compared the difference between kissing in the air and kissing on solid ground with Shad.

She was so focused on this specialized experiment that the two of them almost flew into the vicinity of Escares, a major city in central Delareon.

This was Shad's first time taking such a long-distance flight, and everything felt so new and exciting. Daniste noticed Shad's unusual childlike nature, so she deliberately slowed down the flight to allow him to better enjoy the scenery from the air.

Nothing noteworthy happened during their journey. After bidding farewell to the geese that had flown with them, they arrived at the foot of Mount Karas that evening.

From the air, the rolling mountains were devoid of any human habitation, with a remote town called "Karas" nestled at their foot. Though a train passed through, the town was of medium size, but Denise's itinerary did not include a stop there.

The setting sun bathed the forest at the foot of the mountain in crimson light. Since they had a map before setting off, Danistra, holding Shad's hand, headed straight for the "Ruins of the Moon Tower".

Although it wasn't the highest point of the entire mountain range, it was the highest point of the entire Karas Mountains. The forest didn't extend to such a high position; the edge of the forest at that height was gray stone, and further up were the ridges of the Karas Mountains.

And on that highest cliff is the original location of the tower.

The dim, setting sun slanted across the winter cliff tip, gilding the gray-brown rock face with a cold, crimson hue. The remaining base of the tower stood forlornly on the cliff edge, its weathered bricks riddled with cracks, the remaining arches leaning precariously, and the withered, dark brown stems of vines, like solidified snakes, coiled around the broken moon relief.

Below the cliff, the forest, under the gradually darkening light, resembled a silent behemoth. Withered trees and gnarled branches pointed straight to the sky, their bare trunks twisting and intertwining, weaving a dense, impenetrable net in the twilight.

As Shad and Daniste landed before the base of the tower, the last rays of light were fading. The shadow of the tower's base stretched long and thin across the snow, a truly desolate and lonely sight.

"This is"

Outsiders had often imagined what it would be like to arrive at this tower, but none of their imaginations could be more poignant than the scene before them. Judging from the base, the tower that once stood here was no smaller than the Vientiane Pagoda on the snow-capped mountain.

But now, apart from the base, there's really nothing left. The tower collapsed in the spring of 1853, only two years ago; time has taken so much away.

"But why is it just the base? What about the rest of the tower? Could someone have cleaned up the remains in such a remote mountain forest?"

Shad asked, and Daniste, standing in the last rays of the setting sun, looked at the remaining base of the tower with a similarly complex expression:

"The rest of the structure is below the cliff, and the tower collapsed in the direction of the cliff's edge."

The sound was very loud; the townspeople at the foot of the mountain heard it too, but they mistook it for thunder at night. Therefore, it took a considerable amount of time before the archaeological experts from De la Réun discovered the damage.

This tower, whose age is unknown, was discovered by the kingdom's scholars many years ago. Because the view of the tower standing alone under the moon at night is beautiful, it is quite famous despite its remoteness. That's why Shad saw news about it in the newspaper when he first arrived in this world in 1853.

"I can't sense any abnormal elements."

Shad said softly, and Daniste nodded:

"Yes, I doubt we'll find any clues so easily. Let's wait until nightfall before investigating. First, let's set up camp and have dinner. It's Monday evening now, and I plan to stay here until Friday morning."

"No problem. Now that we're here, there's no need to rush."

Shad tossed out a gold nugget and cast a spell to summon the camp, while Daniste prepared a very nice tent. However, for safety reasons, this two-person tent did not have spatial specificity; the interior and exterior spaces were the same.

Daniste didn't let Shad summon dinner with the ruby. Instead, she took out the prepared ingredients and started a simple cooking session. Shad also released the cat. Mia, held by Shad, looked towards the base of the tower, but quickly shifted her gaze to the pot on the campfire.

The investigation of the Moon Tower naturally had to be conducted at night, so for the next few days they planned to investigate at night and rest during the day.

The last rays of the setting sun quickly disappeared completely, and the stars and March hung overhead. Camping under the stars was quite romantic, but Shad and Danist were both preoccupied with many things, so they quickly finished their dinner and immediately began their investigation.

The first thing to do is not to examine the ruins, but to use investigative techniques such as "powerful spatial perception" and "echoes of the past" to determine if there are any supernatural traces in the surrounding area.

In addition to magical spells and incantations, Danist also prepared a ritual to probe the power of the moon, as well as a sage-level relic of exploration, Master Marcus's Crystal Ball, which was borrowed from the academy library. Once activated, this crystal ball would continuously collect clues from the surroundings until it found what the user wanted to see and revealed it.

The drawback of using it is that if the clues are deeply hidden, it may take a long time for the relic to take effect, but the two are patient enough to wait for it to work its magic. As for the relic's negative characteristic, which is that it is extremely easy to attract dormant or sealed evil entities in the surrounding area when used, Daniste is responsible for monitoring it to ensure that it is not triggered.

The initial search revealed no obvious traces; the surrounding spacetime was normal, and no one had been there recently. However, Danist's "Metal Detection" spell detected some man-made metal objects underground not far away. Shad noted their location, intending to search for them again later.

The ritual to probe the moon's power was set up at 8 p.m. With the shattering of thirteen precious silver gems, the ritual detected an extraordinary burst of lunar power on this cliff long ago.

Because the power erupted so strongly that it exceeded the ritual's detection threshold, the ritual was unable to provide a specific time of the power eruption.

The search for the artifacts yielded no results, and Shad and Daniste's subsequent examination of the tower's base and other parts of the tower below the cliff also yielded little success.

The rest of the tower below the cliff was severely damaged. Only a few remnants of the patterns could be seen in the base, which proved that the original decorative patterns inside the tower did indeed include sun patterns in addition to moon patterns.

At 10 p.m., Shad stuffed the sleepy cat into his coat pocket and, together with Daniste, found a blocked-off cave a little below the summit of Mount Karas.

It looked like a mine shaft, but it collapsed after extending only a few hundred meters into the mountain. After using magical techniques to clear away the collapsed rocks and soil, dozens of skeletons buried there were revealed at the deepest part, along with the metal that Danist had detected earlier—tools such as wheelbarrows and shovels.

"It looks like a workplace safety accident. What are they digging for?"

Shad was quite puzzled, but Daniste was able to provide the answer:

"I once mentioned to you that the Truth Society found the notebook of the astrologer Euclid in the ancient tower of Mount Karas (Chapter 1081)."

That must have happened before the spring of 1853, that is, before the tower collapsed. Professors from the Truth Society had conducted some research in this area, and I think the dead here might be related to the Truth Society.

"Could it be that the Truth Society toppled this tower?"

Shad offered a guess, and Daniste shook her head:
"The Truth Society is tight-lipped about what happened here, but the collapse of the tower should be unrelated to them. Let's try channeling the corpse."

"Ok."

Shad cast a spell on the corpse:

"[Guide to Death]!"

Having absorbed the divinity bestowed by the [God of the Grave], Shad's magical ability to summon spirits became incredibly powerful. And so, as a chilling wind blew through the cave, a emaciated white figure floated up from the skeletons.

Daneste asked:

"who are you?"

"Vick Village, Thorn Bay, villagers."

A clear, ethereal voice answered.

"Why are you here?"

"Rich people hire and dig."

The spirit continued to answer.

What are you digging for?

"do not know."

Who hired you?

"do not know."

How did this place collapse?

"do not know."

The deceased was originally just an ordinary farmer who was hired from a distant village to do something, and knew nothing else about the matter.

Shad then summoned the soul corresponding to his relatively intact remains. As a result, apart from knowing that the people here came from different villages near Stranglethorn Bay, the dead could not say anything else.

　PS: The image in this chapter is from "Mount Karas - Ruins of the Tower of the Moon".

　　(End of this chapter)