Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 47 The Strange Statue

　　The historical circles of the countries in the Northern Continent recognized that the Quaternary Period was shrouded in a thick fog, making it impossible to see what it really looked like.

　　There were too many missing and ambiguous records in all aspects of this history, and the unearthed tombs, ancient cities and documents were few and far between, unable to form an effective corroboration.

　　But that doesn’t mean that no research has been done, and by few and far between, I mean that there are still some remnants and information out there.

　　The original Klein was an avid fan of Quaternary history, having read many papers and books, and nowadays he still remembers quite a lot of content:

　　No matter if it was the Solomon Empire, or the Tudor Dynasty, the Trenthost Empire, they all had close architectural styles that were characterized by defying common sense, messy asymmetry, and a fondness for the color black.

　　Among them, the most representative ones were the candelabra hanging down from the ceiling and the chopped patterned branding on the black walls.

　　Because of this, Klein’s first thought when he lifted his horse lantern and saw the round metal rods spreading down from the dome and the candlesticks set at their base was that this underground building belonged to the Quaternary period, to the ancient time that was shrouded in a thick fog and was lamented and regretted by many historians and archaeologists.

　　”A few papers have mentioned that the number of candlesticks is different inside different buildings, and those three empires, although they exalt asymmetrical beauty, seem to have strict and meticulous regulations in all aspects …… left 3 right 2 of the highest specifications that the general public can enjoy, and this is from the architectural pattern and the house Judging from the architectural pattern and the remains …… of the house,” said Klein, raising his arm and holding his horse lamp high, and counting the candlesticks on either side as he walked slowly forward.

　　The hall was even wider than he had anticipated, and he had walked at least a hundred meters before he saw the platform half a meter above the ground in front of him, before he saw the thick wall that marked the end.

　　”41 upside down candlesticks on the left, 40 on the right, this, this is a bit of an exaggeration, which class does this place belong to? The great nobility? Hiss, the Antigonus family and the Charatu family are all Quaternary era nobles …… They are also powerful and terrifying extraordinary person families, the other great nobles shouldn’t be too bad ……” Klein held up his horse lamp, and continued to move forward. Saw the steps on the side of that half-height platform, saw the knife-like branding marks on its surface black stone tiles.

　　Was it really a Quaternary relic? As Klein’s thoughts flickered, he relied on his keen eyesight, and by the light of the horse lamp, he found two iron black seats, huge, ancient seats, resting on top of that platform half a meter above the ground, looking down on the seats below.

　　Two whole ones!

　　Two? Why were there two of them? According to the layout, the seats here should belong to the one with the highest position and the most power here, but there were actually two? Side-by-side great nobles? Double counts, double dukes, double princes? Klein slowly felt that his historical knowledge was beginning to be insufficient.

　　He clearly remembered that many papers mentioned that the three empires of Solomon, Tudor, and Trenthorst had strict hierarchies within them, with distinct and impenetrable classes, and from this theory, there should not be juxtaposed chiefs within a single power.

　　”Strange ……,” Klein grunted, sort of speaking to the bodyguard lady.

　　”What’s strange?” A disembodied, fluttering voice suddenly sounded behind him, and in the dark, wide, empty silence of the ancient halls, it seemed distinctly} human.

　　The corners of Klein’s mouth twitched, and he told the other truthfully what he had observed of the features of the form, the corresponding knowledge of history, and what he had wondered about, adding at the end:

　　”It’s very well ventilated, and I wonder if there are other entrances.”

　　Miss Bodyguard, who was half merged into the darkness, listened quietly and noiselessly, and looking deeply at Klein, said:

　　”Why do you know so much?”

　　Because I’m a history college student …… Klein spat in his mind and smiled:

　　”If I hadn’t chosen to be a detective, perhaps I would have become a young historian with a conscience.”

　　Miss Bodyguard didn’t respond and didn’t disappear again, floating up to that half-height platform first.

　　Carrying a horse lamp, Klein followed closely behind, noticing that the half-height platform was very large, nearly forty meters across and ten meters up and down vertically.

　　”The architectural style of grandeur and giganticization is also one of the characteristics of the Fourth Age.” He mentioned casually, and cautiously came to the two huge, iron-black seats, lifting his marquee and scrutinizing them carefully.

　　”It seems to be for giants of three or four meters …… The backs of the chairs have crest-like designs, and on this side is a black crown …… On this side is a hand holding a scepter… …I don’t know what each symbolizes ……,” Klein said as if muttering to himself, not expecting the bodyguard lady to answer.

　　However, the lady, whose feet were floating off the ground, suddenly spoke:

　　”This is the crest of the Tudor family.”

　　”Huh?” Klein looked over in shock and realized that the bodyguard lady was referring to the hand holding the scepter.

　　House Tudor? This was a relic of the Tudor dynasty of the fourth age? Which member of the royal family’s palace was this? Klein frowned slightly:

　　”Do you recognize the other crest?”

　　Surprisingly, it could be juxtaposed with a member of the Tudor family!

　　The bodyguard lady shook her head and did not speak.

　　Seeing this, Klein had to give up the idea of studying it for the time being and said instead:

　　”After the Tudor and Trenthorst families established their empires respectively, they both maintained the original kind of style that originated from Solomon’s Empire, such as the upside down candlestick, the cleaving brand, and so on, and so forth, which doesn’t conform to the normal cognizance, and if I were the emperor, even if a lot of things had to be inherited from the previous ones, I would still make certain changes in order to mark my own specialness. ”

　　”Does this mean that there is a latent, unchanging connection between the three empires?”

　　He guessed that the Solomon, Tudor, and Trenthorst families all held the “Black Emperor”, or “Lawyer” pathways, and that similar styles were required to play the part!

　　Ms. Bodyguard fell silent for a few seconds and spat out a few words:

　　”Only an emperor can be called an emperor.”

　　Is this a confirmation of what I thought? Without asking any more questions, Klein carried his horse’s lamp and circled around the two huge, iron-black seats, failing to make any additional discoveries.

　　”Let’s look further ahead.” Klein suggested.

　　Before he could say anything, the bodyguard lady had drifted off on her own towards the end of the half-height platform, the cold and icy chill around her unchanged.

　　Several meters forward, Klein, with the light of the horse lamp, saw seven tall, heavy black stone doors on the wall at the bottom of the hall, which lined up in sequence, two on the left, one in the center, and four on the right, perfectly matching the Quaternary’s quest for asymmetry.

　　Klein handed his cane to the hand that carried the lamp, flipped a coin at random, and murmured in a low voice:

　　”It should start from the left.”

　　Clang!

　　The copper penny tumbled down and fell into his palm, portrait-side up.

　　”Let’s go left.” Klein took the first step.

　　Miss Bodyguard followed in silence until she approached the door on the far left, then she drifted off:

　　”It’s the same from the right.”

　　That is to say, it does not matter whether divination …… Klein curled the corners of his mouth, raised his horse lamp, and examined the symbols and patterns on that door:

　　Deep black was the base, dotted with radiance and clustered around a circle of scarlet that was half-covered.

　　This …… Klein’s pupils contracted steeply.

　　This was the Darkness Holy Emblem! This was the symbol of the Goddess of Darkness!

　　In the Fourth Age, the Church of the Goddess supported the Tudor Dynasty? He thoughtfully pressed his hand on the stone door.

　　Za!

　　With a raw, heavy scraping sound, the black stone door slowly opened back.

　　The light from the horse lamp shone in, and the scene inside was outlined in Klein’s eyes a little bit:

　　First there was a few meters long and wide open space, also paved with deep black stone slabs, followed by a platform nearly one meter high.

　　Klein walked forward cautiously and raised his lantern so that it could illuminate what was on top of the platform.

　　After a few seconds, the fire-tinted light outlined a huge statue that was four or five meters long and almost filled the end of the room.

　　It was a lady with a hazy but exceptionally beautiful face, lying on top of the platform with her head propped up on her right hand, wearing a layered but not elaborate black classical dress with a circle of radiating lines below her head.

　　On the lady’s bodice shimmered points of radiance, shards of bright, brilliant gems.

　　At a glance, it was as if Klein had seen the night and the stars.

　　In such a setting, the circle under that lady’s head was like a full moon.

　　This …… Klein’s thoughts seemed to be solidified and frozen, but there was a guess inside that was rushing wildly and about to break out.

　　”The Goddess of the Night?” The bouncer lady’s tone took on a rare puzzlement.

　　It seemed to be a statue of the goddess, both in symbolism and in actual representation! That speculation of Klein’s finally took shape and echoed loudly within his mind.

　　He remembered that he had once asked his captain, Dunn Smith, about one of the differences between the evil gods and the righteous gods, and that was that the former had images that approximated intelligent beings, while the latter only had holy emblems made up of symbols!

　　And today, at this very moment, he had seen a statue of a suspected goddess of the night, complete with a human statue, in this ancient, eerie underground structure!

　　What this represented, just thinking about it made Klein shudder.

　　Could it be that the goddess was once an evil god?

　　No …… maybe it was some other evil god of the realm of night …… but the dark holy emblem on the doorway was no different from the current one ……

　　Or is having the image of an intelligent creature not a criterion for dividing positive and evil gods? The captain wasn’t at a high enough level to understand accurately after all.

　　There was also the possibility that someone from the Tudor family had deliberately desecrated the goddess!

　　Well, it was also possible that they were using it to set up some weird ritual!

　　One thought after another jumped around in Klein’s mind, leaving him both puzzled, apprehensive, tense, and feeling an indefinable and indescribable sense of strangeness here.

　　”Let’s look behind a couple other doors.” Looking around the room and finding nothing else Klein took a breath and took the initiative.

　　I wonder what each of the remaining six doors correspond to, and whether they are equally evil and odd …… he thought rather gruffly.

　　Miss Bodyguard nodded slowly.