Chapter 92: The black lady’s true identity is actually…

“Caw caw.”

As Arthur’s lullaby-like chant came to an end, the Black Lady’s movements gradually ceased.

Her wildly flailing arms slowly fell, and she stood motionless like a statue in place.

“You will live happily in the dream that belongs only to you…”

Arthur slowly approached the Black Lady, then surprisingly opened his arms and gently embraced her in his arms!

Hey, hey, hey, isn’t he afraid that thing will tear him in two like that?

Ireya frowned.

Although she might be too late, she prepared to act at any moment…

Whoosh!

Plop…

But the next moment, the black fur on the Black Lady began to fall off in clumps!

Like freshly shorn hair, it scattered piece by piece onto the ground…

Revealing her true form…

It was a single translucent, pale purple humanoid crystal, and this crystal seemed to be only the outer layer. Inside, it enclosed a shriveled corpse.

Judging by the appearance…the corpse seemed to be female?

And although it had become mummified, a few strands of white hair still clung to the shriveled head encased in the crystal.

White hair…is it an old woman?

Or…

Ireya instinctively touched her own hair, then glanced sideways at the gravestone the Black Lady had been staring at earlier.

【Alek Saredon】— that was her mother’s family name.

Could it be…this Black Lady, this crystal-encased corpse, was the person buried there?

…One of her ancestors?

But why?

Why…would someone from the Saredon family end up like this, here?

And is there some connection between her mother’s family and the Crystal Giant Tree?

Although she wanted to ask the only believer of the Crystal Giant Tree here—the Garulu—his appearance clearly showed he knew nothing.

Amisa had said before that in this world, the relationship between higher beings and their followers is usually like this.

Followers rarely know much about the higher beings, but the higher beings control the lives of their followers…

Huff…

At this moment, Arthur slowly released the humanoid crystal before him, staring blankly at the shriveled corpse within the pale purple crystal for several seconds…

Then he let out a slow sigh.

“Sigh…Wandering…unwilling will finally return home. May you have a peaceful dream.”

As he spoke, he extended his thin, bony hand and gently caressed the cheek of the crystal figure.

“Those who don’t know you would probably think you have a strange habit.”

Ireya’s voice suddenly sounded beside him, and Arthur abruptly came back to his senses.

“Heh…It’s just that she feels more familiar.”

The bard-like old man shook his head slowly.

The lightness in his pale blue eyes faded, leaving only the sorrowful poetry and pity for the departed life.

“Is that so?”

Ireya nodded silently, saying nothing more.

The two stood quietly in front of the crystal figure for several minutes…

“By the way, did you remember anything?”

“No…Still just a simple feeling…that she’s familiar. Like you.”

Arthur said, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he looked at Ireya beside him.

That look had the tone of an elder looking at a younger generation.

It made Ireya quite uncomfortable…

“Tch, useless fellow…”

The Lady pursed her lips, ignoring the strange feeling in her heart, and stepped toward the gravestone marked 【Alek Saredon】.

After looking around left and right…

“Excuse me.”

At Ireya’s thought, Insmouth immediately moved to the back of the grave.

Whoosh—!

Boom!!

It raised its hand and smashed the sealing stone behind the gravestone, then knelt down and began digging with its hands!

“L-Lady?!”

Amisa, who had just arrived, was instantly horrified at Insmouth’s actions! Just now, she hadn’t noticed the name on the gravestone…

Alek Alek?!

Isn’t that…

“Shut up!”

Ireya’s thoughts were cut off as she frowned displeased and glared at Amisa.

Ugh ugh ugh♡~

Being scolded so fiercely by the Lady, Amisa suddenly felt a warmth spreading below her stomach…as if… just as if…

Huff huff huff!

The Zombie Giant was incredibly fast.

Within just a few minutes, it had unearthed a coffin buried about two meters underground.

Under the watchful eyes of the Lady and the others, Insmouth dragged the coffin out from the soil.

On the coffin were nails.

Just like any ordinary coffin, it was sealed shut with six nails.

“Phew…Let’s remove the nails!”

Creaaak creaaak…

With Insmouth’s movements, the coffin that had been sealed for who knows how long was opened once again.

Inside…was empty.

There was no corpse, only some tattered, rotten clothing…

And where the owner’s head should have been, there lay a decayed pale yellow shroud cap.

It must have been pure white long ago.

“Looks like…this Black Lady was the owner of this coffin… 【Alek Saredon】.”

Ireya sighed in relief.

After all, this was her mother’s family.

If there had really been a corpse inside and she was mistaken…that would have been awkward.

Thank goodness, thank goodness…

She stroked her chin and sank back into thought.

What was the connection between this Alek and her mother’s family?

She would have to ask her mother.

“That! Lady…I know a little about Miss Alek’s…uh…situation!”

Huh?

Ireya was slightly stunned and looked at Amisa, who suddenly spoke but seemed a little hesitant.

Was she injured during the battle just now?

Why were her legs pressed together like that…?

“Are you okay?”

She asked out of concern, and after Amisa confirmed she was fine, Ireya suddenly realized.

Right, Amisa hadn’t come along last time, so she didn’t know about this.

Besides…she was her mother’s personal maid, so naturally she would be familiar with matters of her mother’s family.

And according to Amisa…

Alek was actually a Lady — the current Lady, Ireya’s mother’s younger sister.

In other words…

Ireya’s aunt.

Amisa knew very little about this second Miss.

When she was still the personal maid, she had only met Alek a few times.

At first, she didn’t even go by that name, but “Aleris.”

However, after leaving home, she changed her name to a more masculine one.

In Amisa’s impression, the second Miss seemed to be a swordswoman with a stubborn temper.

Because once, when she returned home, she would always have loud arguments with the master — Ireya’s maternal grandfather!

And whether because of her temper or other reasons, Shedrian and her sister didn’t get along well.

Well…it couldn’t be said exactly like that.

They were close as children, but as they grew up, they rarely interacted.

The last time Amisa remembered seeing them together, the sisters met in the corridor of the mansion.

From over ten meters apart, the second Miss simply turned her nose up and walked away.

After 【Shedrian Saredon】 became 【Shedrian Saredon Bateos Lady】…

Amisa had once been sent out to search for any information about the second Miss…

But found nothing.

Who would have thought that when they saw her again…she was already a shriveled corpse.

And she was buried in the Resting Grounds of the Crystal Capital.

Hearing this, Ireya’s mind began to piece together a faint image of her aunt’s life before death.

She bore a strong resemblance to her mother, had a temper that was hard to manage, often lost control of her emotions, and liked to wear a white shroud cap…

However…