Silhouette

James wasn't expecting this sort of invitation.

"You wish for me to join you on an expedition?"

The archaeologist responsible for the relative peace of the Sunken City nodded with a broad smile before pausing.

"Well, more of an exploration than an expedition, but yes! You see..."

The monk cleared his throat to interrupt her, though he never stopped glaring at James with those strange triangular pupils of his as he spoke.

"My lady, are you sure that sharing information without signing a contract beforehand is a good idea? This shadow has yet to agree. He could merely leave and share what was discussed here to the highest bidder."

"Bah, nonsense, Bo. Silhouette's a clean guy. Well, as clean as can be around here. Besides, it's not like any of what I'm about to say is really secret. If he refuses, I will need to hire someone to replace him after all."

The monk grunted, clearly dissatisfied with her response, but at the end of the day, he was merely a mercenary, and she was the client.

"Anyway, like I was saying before Bo complained, I have been researching something about our country's past for most of my adult life. You may not know this, given how recalcitrant each city-state is when it comes to sharing information and news, but a few decades ago, ancient ruins were found near New Carington, my home city. I was still a teen then and immediately fascinated with them. They're what consolidated my drive for archeology. My parents weren't convinced but ultimately let me follow my dreams."

"A charming story, yet I fail to see the relevance so far. Those ruins have already been discovered, they are likely well researched by now."

"I was getting to it. And no, sadly, the ruins got heavily damaged in a Super fight. It's how they were unearthed in the first place. We weren't working with full buildings or even worn walls but recently exploded bricks. Still a treasure trove of information about the continent's past, but not quite as much as wished, and the source of the destruction muddled a lot of things that simple aging wouldn't have. Still, it got me to get my diploma, and a few years later, new ruins were found near Fiddlestone. Similar ones, from what we could glean."

"Let me guess, they were damaged by something beyond merely the passing of time there too?"

"Unfortunately, a local Villain thought they would make for a great lair. Which they admittedly did, after they were heavily modified and reworked. The entire lowest section was even replaced by a lava lake, though in part because it supposedly held something the Villain was afraid of and figured hot molten rock would destroy or keep at bay. Needless to say, it was impossible to recover anything from it, and though in a better state, the upper section had still been heavily modified."

"A tragedy. I have renovated an old building in this city into a base myself, but it was only after taking note of it and its content, seeing how damaged it was, and getting the residents' consent. I hope this isn't a problem? I was informed I would be allowed to by one of your elevator operators."

"Yes, Mother Greenheld's Orphanage. I have heard. Don't worry, you're not in trouble. That part of the city can be modified. It's the more historically relevant zones, such as the city center and major buildings, that you're not allowed to touch. In any case, the Villain occupation meant the ruins were disturbed quite heavily once again. But now, there was a pattern. Two significant ruins of the same origin found near city-states?"

"So you searched, and you found Zalcien."

"Yeppers. The distance between the other two ruins was odd. If going from the center, it was a perfectly round number. Well, not in our units, but in the ones we believe this civilization used, from what we could gather from these sites. So, I wanted to try something. What would happen if we were to draw an equilateral triangle with those ruins as two of its points? Where would the next one be?"

"Zalcien."

"Not even on the outskirts this time, right under the city proper. Well, it was Zalcien or the ocean, and while my family's money can get me some really good mercenaries, trying to investigate underwater ruins would be a logistical nightmare. So, I came to Zalcien under the pretense of studying the Sunken City. I was promptly chased off by the local criminal world, but not before getting some fascinating readings. So, I asked my family for money, convinced them that letting me make the discovery of the century would make me famous and thus give the family name a nice PR boost for their businesses, and came back prepared."

"Your brand new hired muscles scared off the Villains, you still set up a system where they could make bases so they wouldn't unite to kick you out, and you began to investigate."

"And the things I found! It was right where I thought it would be, just underneath the city. From what we discovered from this ancient civilization's language, they called this site Neiclaz."

James had to take a few seconds to digest that.

"Give me a moment. You are telling me that Zalcien is built atop the Old Zalcien, most commonly known as the Sunken City, and that this was built over ancient ruins called Neiclaz? Zalcien and Neiclaz?"

"Yeppers. I'm guessing the first settlers named their city after the location. While Neiclaz was already buried beneath the swamps that used to be here by the time they arrived, the living locals had legends about it. These were cursed grounds, after all, and those sorts of stories don't come out of nowhere."

"So the settlers got the bright idea to write the name of the cursed grounds they took over backwards to name their city?"

"I mean, it's not the worst way to name a city I've seen. But yes."

"I hope you at least found what you wanted. Though given the fact you're trying to hire my help, I'm guessing you ran into an issue."

"Oh, I've found so much. Neiclaz is the best preserved of the three sites by far. The entire structure is intact, to the point I could even study its mechanisms."

"Its mechanisms?"

"Neiclaz wasn't buried by accident. It's a structure built in rings. In the past, it could extend up each ring to the point it could become a tower or, as is the case now, dig itself down underground like a bunker. It's why my leading theory for these ruins is that they used to be central buildings, castles of sorts. And from the remains of cloth-based structures I've found around and the lack of other stone-based buildings..."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"You have a theory about their way of life."

"The structure, guarded and managed by a small group of sedentary keepers, would turn into a tower that would act as a beacon. The rest of the population would be nomads, travelling between towers as the seasons changed. When a catastrophe occurred, the people would gather in the structure as it hid underground for safety. The rings would be more or less elevated depending on weather conditions or the need for maintenance, hence why they would bother making the rings individually adjustable rather than a big on and off system."

"But why live a nomadic lifestyle if they could achieve such grand monuments? Why not build one city composed entirely of those?"

"It could be tradition, social status, a simple lack of resources... I have been able to investigate and research Neiclaz, and I have learned so much from such a fantastically well-preserved ruin, but that doesn't mean I've figured out all of their secrets. All I can tell you is that there is no evidence of other sedentary structures around the main building, but I have found remains of old caravans and temporary settlements."

"I see... But you need my help. You came across an obstacle you can't overcome with your current means. Let me guess, a secret chamber in the structure?"

"Not your help, specifically, but you have a good reputation, and I think you could do the trick. And it's not secret per se, but locked. The heart of the structure, the one piece that isn't a ring but a full cylinder. It is also the most heavily defended. I hypothesize that it was the leader's abode. Well, leader is the closest term I can use, given what I managed to learn about the inner workings of their society. They were on the more spiritual side of things."

"And you can't destroy the door?"

"I'd rather not. It is still a historical artifact, even if it's in the way at the moment. That, and the stones they used to build the structure are incredibly resilient and even mana-absorbant. A certain someone tried to brute-force their way in via geomancy only to be blown back against the wall."

"Ma'am, I told you I could have moved the door without damaging it had it been made of normal rock."

"And I believe you, but it wasn't. All she managed to do was create a small gap, barely a sliver large enough to fit paper through. That alone, however, was enough to make an opening in the isolation of the room. To let us hear the noise inside."

"Noise?"

"A voice. It speaks an ancient language. It keeps repeating the same thing over and over. Any attempt to interact was rebuked with a shout of the exact same sentence."

"Which is?"

"We are still learning about this language's written form, speech is a complete unknown. Or at least, it was, until we found our mystery friend. I would have loved to interview them but... Well, under these conditions, the most likely explanation is that we sadly found a deranged undead. It's tragic to see but... Well, mortal minds weren't made to last infinitely. Even the mighty dragons can't last forever. And if these people were predominantly humans like I believe... Then over a thousand years of isolation underground likely ruined whatever was left of their mind that survived their death."

"You need me to slip in and kill it."

"No, I need you to slip in and open the door from the inside. You are free to take down the undead if it attacks you, but I'd rather you left it alone. Even if it has gone mad, it deserves to be put out of its misery mercifully. It will be Bo's job."

"Him?"

The celestial elf scoffed but didn't speak up, letting Doctor Bones continue.

"While he has a grudge against you, he is still a monk trained to perform exorcisms. His duty to see this soul off to the afterlife is more important than whatever petty bias he has against you, and he knows it."

"It is not a petty bias, my lady, but rightful concerns as to Silhouette's abilities and morals."

"But you will work with him and free this undead regardless, will you not?"

"... Yes, my lady."

"Splendid. See, Silhouette? He's grumpy, but he has a heart a gold. More literally than you think, too. It's not actually gold, of course, but a celestial elf's insides have this radiant glow from their innate-"

"I think he gets the point, my lady."

"That I do. So, I accompany you to the ruins, become a shadow to go past the door in your way, and open it for you to leave you free to research and cleanse what you find inside as you please. Is that an accurate summary?"

"Yeppers!"

The lion man spoke for the first time then.

"Of course, this wouldn't be for free. We plan to pay you handsomely. That, and if you would let us, we will spread word of your trustworthiness and how important your help was in this matter. While this operation is taking place in the legal grey zone that is the Sunken City, it is perfectly legal. We have the approval from the city's mayor and their support."

"Isn't the Sunken City officially supposed not to exist?"

"The ruins of the Old Zalcien being quarantined under the new city's foundation is a well-known fact. It is the existence of its inhabitants and creatures that is merely urban legend, officially that is. As far as the average citizen is concerned, this area is still a biohazard and uninhabitable."

"What Pierre is trying to say is that telling everyone this place exists isn't that big of a deal. Anyone interested in getting a secret base already has at least a small outpost here. At the end of the day, this is merely a less populated underground version of the slums up there. Sure, the city could invest in new infrastructure to create a tourism site around the ruins, but that would only require taking control of a small fraction of the Sunken City, leaving the rest free to be as wild as it currently is."

"Perhaps even wilder, since you won't have a reason to keep a presence everywhere anymore."

"Maybe. I mean, I'll set up a permanent guard to guarantee the safety of Neiclaz regardless, and if the city does claim its own area here, then Heroes will start patrolling and maybe even exterminate some of the more dangerous wildlife. That should keep things quiet for the most part."

"All of the talks about the local order aside, my point was that having your name involved in a major archeological discovery would do wonders for your image. You're already popular enough in Zalcien, but this could be your entry to the wider ACS. Zalcien is merely one city, an unremarkable one at that. Your business could grow far beyond its current point. It would also make you a more important individual to protect and support in the Union's eyes. It wouldn't be the first time they transfer a new hero to a city to make sure a VIP stays safe and doesn't side with Villains."

"I see. There is merit to this. Of course, I won't agree to anything without a contract."

"I assumed as such. Don't worry, I prepared a little something. You can take your time reading through it.

"Just not too much time, please? I'd like to study the scene sooner than later."

"Abigael, please."

"Right, right, you can make sure there's no double crossing or secret clause or whatever. Sorry, it's just... I've been looking forward to discovering these ruins' secrets since I was a kid, you know? Well, not Neiclaz's specifically, but this sort of structure. And that final chamber? It could be the answer to... Well, not all my questions, that's not how archaeology works, but you get what I mean."

"I do. When would you want to do this, exactly?"

"Today would be good!"

"When you have the time. Though I would appreciate you being available as soon as possible."

"I can see that. How long would this take?"

"We only want you to open the door, so it should be quick. Even with travelling time in the equation, it should take no longer than an hour total."

"Well, I already freed my schedule to attend this meeting, so I suppose I could do this today."

"Yes!"

"Just give me the time to read over the contract and coordinate with my people. I cannot disappear without a word for even an hour, these days."

"Do as you need. We will be waiting outside. And know this room has been built to ensure privacy, there will be no unwanted eavesdropping, no matter how long."

Bo grunted in response. The geomancer tried her best to hide a little smirk at the monk's reaction. Doctor Bones, for her part, was far too busy fantasizing about what she would find to care about her subordinate's opinion on the matter.

"This is going to be great!"