Ⅰ
When you could control a swarm of rats, investigating ruins, treasures, and mineral deposits came down to three steps: gather the rats, order them to search, and find the ruins, treasures, or deposits.
That was exactly what Arthur did.
With the [Rat King's Crown], one of Herke's twenty-seven mystic items, Arthur quickly learned what lay beneath the Lion Palace.
The gold deposit was larger than he had imagined.
An incredibly rich deposit!
No!
There was far more gold than he could have imagined!
Yes!
Gold!
Gold that did not need to be extracted from ore!
About a hundred meters below the current excavation, there was a vast stretch of this sort of "gold deposit."
Naturally, it had not formed on its own.
Someone had put it there.
Arthur headed down and soon reached a secret room-
A secret room that resembled a study.
One desk, one chair.
A book and a ship's wheel sat on the desk.
A corpse sat upright in the chair.
Time had devoured its flesh, leaving only a skeleton and a few tattered scraps.
The rat swarm had already checked.
There was no danger here.
Only a few mystic art arrays that repelled rats, snakes, and insects-without Arthur's orders through the [Rat King's Crown], the rat swarm would never have entered.
He raised his hand and set down the [Watchlight Lamp].
Arthur used one end of his walking stick to move the skeletal hand resting on the book, then continued using the stick to help him read, turning the pages with it.
Arthur certainly was not a germaphobe.
But he did not enjoy handling skeletal remains, either.
The special ink and paper had kept the writing exceptionally clear-
"Death" deceived me!
That thing is a vile bastard who resorts to underhanded tricks!
Those words