Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

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"This is likely a mechanical Sound Box." Testros said plainly as he inspected the wooden ball

"Sound Box?"

"It's a unique tool with the capacity to record sounds within it for long periods of time, it's used by Nobility to record famed lines, speeches, or other things for generations to come."

"They are quite delicate, so I would appreciate it if you didn't shake it again…" Testros said with a serious face as he looked at Dale

"..."

Dale felt a bit embarrassed as he tried to cover his face by looking to the side…

But Testros suddenly smiled widely.

"I'm just joking, to last long, these things were made to resist all sorts of extreme conditions, shaking it will do nothing but tickle it slightly."

"..."

'Old man...'

"In any case, for him to have gone through the trouble of hiding this, it's likely the Commander stored something of severe importance within it."

"So what are we waiting for? How do we open it?" Dale asked as he looked at the ball

"That's the problem… These objects opening methods vary."

"Some are purely mechanical while some require... More complex means, oftentimes Supernatural."

"Some can even only be opened by those of the same bloodline as the individual that sealed it…"

"The more complex it is, the higher its quality, this is how things usually go."

"And given this one's particular qualities, I'm inclined to believe it's the latter, so even if the Commander wanted others to access its contents, that's simply how it's made."

"Meaning… We can only open it with the presence of one of his descendants…"

"However, given his choice of this one in particular, this may have been his intention from the beginning."

Dale dropped his head, defeated…

Even if they were alive somewhere, it didn't matter, there was no way for him to leave this place.

Albeit... The picture did leave some room for that possibility, but to seek them out, he would have to leave Resko, which wasn't very good.

'Though... It's not like I need to be the one to seek them out...'

'I need to stop thinking within the Box of the game when I can interact with an entire world outside of it.'

'I can seek them through other Players!'

'Albeit for now, I'll have to throw this at the back of my mind and focus at the matter at hand... Wait.'

"Can we use the dried blood on the sword?" Dale asked after thinking very hard

But Testros shook his head.

"I doubt it, it's been too long, and even with his powerful Vitality, it would be too much to expect anything, his 'blood' is long gone..."

"But it's worth a try."

Without waiting for further instructions, Dale took out the sword and the thorn from his inventory.

But the results weren't very promising…

They did have blood within them, but it was more like a layer of dirt than blood.

He tried to scrap a part of it into the box, but there were no reactions…

"It was a decent try, the most we can do in this situation." Testros said as he shook his head slightly

"Perhaps diluting it might pose a chance, but we'll have to leave that to Yumi."

Dale, however, was disappointed.

"Sigh…"

'The chances of that working are slim... I doubt this Quest can be completed so easily.'

'Just... How long will it take until we find one of his descendants? If there are any left, to begin with...'

"What about now then?"

"We continue obviously. There are many books to go through and sort, and we also need to repurpose the equipment we recovered and find a purpose for them all." Testros replied as he got up from his seat

"As such, leave these to me… As for the rest, we can settle tomorrow..."

But Dale shook his head and interrupted him:

"Sorry but, I don't think I'll be able to sleep so easily…"

"So let me help you a little bit more."

'I initially wanted to log out for a little while to let my head rest... But I'm fine now.'

'My head hurts way less, so I can kind of go on.'

'For now, I need to go through these books, see if there's something useful for me, perhaps a Skill book, or a book that may shine some light into some of my quests...'

'There definitely is, it's just a matter of patience and how much time I'm willing to invest into it.'

Perhaps he was expecting this, but Testros smiled once more.

"Alright then, let's sort all of these books within an hour."

He kneeled next to a pile of books and started to work.

"Phew, time to work..."

Dale was also about to help when David said:

[It seems everything ended well]

"!..."

Dale was initially surprised by his sudden interruption, but he managed to maintain a composed expression as he replied:

'Indeed… Surprisingly, I did not expect this to be the so-called, 'small adventure' you wanted me to do… It was... More exciting than I had expected.'

[I'm glad you liked it]

[The moment I remembered the passage, I knew what I was supposed to do]

'I wasn't really praising you...'

[At the very least, it was better than my initial idea...]

[In the start, I was planning to help you venture out into the forest in search of some lost treasures, but this was much better]

[With these books and materials, things will hopefully take a turn for the better]

'Although… I'm not sure how we will fix most of these…'

'Their Gear is in complete shambles... I can't even tell how they were even made...'

[Hum... Finding the skills for this task won't be a problem]

[I can tell, the blacksmith of this Village, although rusty, has a rather decent level of proficiency and understanding of his craft, as such, he should have the necessary skills to fix them]

[The problem is finding the materials and bringing them back… And I'm afraid I won't be there to assist you on this task]

[And also the matter of his workspace and workload... A single smith cannot equip an army, at least, not your ordinary one...]

[Especially one that also needs to do other things aside from that, you'll have to find people to help him, and regrettably, I can't do much to help you on that note]

[Perhaps if I had more time and energy, then I could've investigated each Villager's individual talents and aspirations, helping you to sort them into the place they would display the greatest growth...]

[But the energy within me will soon dissipate, to the point that even talking like this will be an impossibility]

'It's quite the shame... I found it quite convenient.'

[Heh, it's not like it's going to disappear right now… Oh yeah, I almost forgot]

He said with a much deeper voice:

[Don't show the letters to the Old man]

'Why?'

[His mental state is chaotic]

[Although he has recovered somewhat, he needs to stabilize first… Especially now of all times…]

'What do you mean?'

[You'll understand soon… It may be tomorrow or a few days later… The old man will eventually calm down]

[And with the books he has recovered, he'll finally shine light into the darkness within his mind, opening a brand new world for him...]

[He who is currently opening his mind and unshackling himself from the past to build a future...]

[Because of this, he cannot lose his focus]

'Why be so pragmatic about it?'

[Because it would only make you more confused if I stopped to explain...] David said in a tired tone, as if talking with Dale was tiresome

[Just make sure not to show them to him, their contents within it are rather graphic to a person with a good sense of justice and loyalty like him]

[He wouldn't be able to sit still after reading through them as his faith in everything he believed in would be shaken and there would be a high chance of him breaking mentally]

[Or deviating into a path neither of us would like to witness]

[And it wouldn't be good to lose one of the strongest warriors of this place… For many reasons]

'I… Just what the fuck is in those letters?'

[An extensive war of words between the Commander of the Corps and the King]

[A clear sequence of events that perfectly shows the distrust of the Crown and the worsening relations between it and the Corps and the methods it used in order to ensure its downfall…]

[Or better put, their control over it, albeit as we saw, they underestimated the purpose of the Corps, likely due to Centuries of peace, leading to the destruction of their Organization...]

[At a front face analysis, it seems the young King at the time was merely undervaluing the Corps and seeing it as a pebble on his boot…]

[So far, no consequences for his actions have yet to appear, and he likely died satisfied... If he has yet to]

[But as we saw, everything points out that there were indeed severe consequences...]

[Even then, if the Wall collapses, nothing much would change, as even in the long past, the South was simply a Wild zone]

[How is that any different from what it is now?]

"..."

'True... And even if something extreme happens and some of those monsters cross into the Center of the Continent, it would be too naive to think the Crown would have no way of defending itself.'

[That is how things are Dale...]

[However, not everything is black and white as the King of that time had a deeper reason for doing what he did, even if he was not aware of what the Corps represented]

[The typical political war… One that may have very well started by none other than the Commander and his dreams]

'What? Just what did the Commander do to cause a war?'

[What he did?... Not much, the problem was what he was preparing to do...]

[Pay attention Dale]

[These letters tell a story, one that narrates the fact that the downfall was not a product of outside influences in its entirety, but an actual result of greed and bad decisions made by the upper management of the Corps itself]

[And for the mind of a Soldier that faithfully believed in his cause, one that trained for over 90 years nonstop just so its legacy wouldn't end…]

[He's not ready to hear this]

'I... Can't you just tell me what's inside precisely?'

[Why? It's not like you would understand the references and the matter discussed within them unless you have the time to go into a deep history and aristocracy lesson]

[The details of it will be revealed to you over time… For now, I'll tell you the core of everything]

[The Commander's wife may have been royalty]

Dale's right eyebrow rose in wonder, but he didn't feel surprised.

'... And?... What is the drama behind it?'

[... Well, I honestly expected a bigger reaction, but given your complete lack of common ethics and world knowledge, I have decided to assume you grew under a rock]

"..."

[For the Caveman that you are, this fact may amount to it simply being another one of those Aristocratic scandals, there are many of those after all…]

[It wouldn't have been surprising for a branch of a family to exist, Nobles are always marrying and having affairs all around...]

[However, we're talking about the Royal Family here, such a thing can't be allowed under any circumstances]

[Of course, under these circumstances, considering her age and to whom she was married off to, it seems her existence was very much allowed, or her lineage was simply unknown at the time…]

[As to how they got together?... The Commander of the Corps had to be a Noble of a set rank, and because of Etiquette rules, he would've had to marry another Noble...]

[So she's definitely a Noble unless he decided to become a laughing stock and marry a commoner, a fact we cannot prove right now]

[And as for how a Royal ended up as a Royal is another different problem altogether]

[So, we end up with 3 options:]

[She was either a recognized Princess, a High Noble whose lineage wasn't properly testified, or a Commoner that married the Commander]

[There may have been some details scattered around those ideas, but it's definitely one of the three]

'This is really the script of a Soap Opera...'

[But what about her son and daughter?]

[In this Kingdom, the only necessary requirement to become the King is to have a small trace of the Original Bloodline, the one tracing back to the first King]

[This would put her son in an excellent position, what's better than to be backed up by the strongest Corp in the Kingdom?]

'Well... I bet they wouldn't be well viewed by the King at the time and the Crown prince...'

[If he wanted to rise and fight for the throne, many might've joined his cause due to his Noble position]

'So being strong and having the bloodline is all that's needed?'

[Yes, although… Not quite. The backing in itself is quite necessary, and at the end of the day, he would've had to marry someone from the main line to maintain the so-called, bloodline purity]

[With all of that, rising to the throne would've been a very high possibility… And even if he couldn't have taken the King's position, the Crown Prince might've felt bothered by his' and his line's existence]

[Well, that's just a theory I made after thinking severely and reading those letters…]

[A theory that says that the Commander of the Corps may have very well tried to have his son rise to the position of King, even before he was even born]

'Just what was written in those letters for you to think this?…' Dale asked perplexed

[...]

David remained silent, prompting Dale to shake his head.

But he understood that he was supposed to keep those letters away from the old man until he was ready.

He just didn't know when that time would arrive…

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Notes

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