I stepped back in shock.

The inside was even messier than I had anticipated from the outside.

“Oh… this is…”

Everything in front of me was a mess. Frames had fallen to the floor, shattered, weapons and clothes were scattered everywhere. Moreover, someone’s skeletal remains were strewn about in disarray on the floor.

It was the scene of the rebellion, left untouched by human hands.
“After the day of the rebellion, each territory was busy recovering from their losses. The implicit agreement not to fight each other was broken, and competition between territories began. So, no one had the time or resources to come back here and recover.”

But I didn’t expect it to be preserved exactly as it was on that day.

Everyone was at a loss for words like me.

The people here now vividly remembered that day.

Someone might have walked the crossroads of life right here, and someone might have lost their family there. Those who fought to drive Artigrado out came together this time to support Artigrado.

Each seemed lost in complicated thoughts, and there was silence.

“When the sun sets, we won’t be able to see a thing. There’s no time to delay.”

Idrish’s firm words snapped everyone out of their reverie.

Although he might be the most tormented person at this moment, Idrish hadn’t lost sight of the goal.

“We came this far, but where should we go to trace the footsteps of the past? The palace is too vast and extensive, and in its current state…”

The mole anthropoid leader, Talfinis, trailed off. If the entrance was in such disarray, it was probably even worse inside.

It seemed uncertain whether evidence of the desired past could be found.

But Idrish didn’t think so.

“To trace the king’s footsteps, we should go to the study. Most of the paperwork would have been handled there.”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

“There are a total of three studies. Let’s split up and search.”

After quickly indicating the locations of the studies, Idrish took the lead.

The group, including Idrish and me, went up the stairs where dust flew with each step.

Being extremely careful not to step on fallen furniture and broken bones scattered everywhere, we walked. Shortly, we arrived at the study.

And as I entered the study, I was once again astonished.

Of all the places we’ve seen so far, it was the messiest. There were no signs of a fight or dead bodies, but desks and furniture were toppled on the floor, and papers and various study remnants poured out without any gaps.

Ah, how am I going to find anything here? There seemed to be thousands of pieces of paper.

Terrifyingly, Idrish opened his mouth as I had such thoughts.

“Important royal decrees are recorded on red cloth. They don’t burn or decay.”

Ah, right.

Idrish explained it once when we came here. Royal decrees are written on red paper specially treated with the saliva of a small anthropoid so that they won’t disappear or be damaged.

“Then we just need to find the red ones? That’s fortunate. I was worried I might have to stay up all night to see all these papers.”

“That’s right. I was thinking the same thing.”

The knights responded to my words.

I deliberately applauded brightly.

“Shall we start? If we go through everything from the outside, we’ll find it soon!”
We began to meticulously search the study from top to bottom. I thought we could find it quickly, but it wasn’t as easy as I expected. There was an enormous amount of papers even under the fallen furniture, and we had to remove the furniture from the study to the outside. Moreover, when we tried to pick up the papers, they crumbled, and even…

“Eek, a bug!”

Under the pile of papers, various creepy bugs were wriggling.

“Cecilia, if it’s too hard for you, you can take a break over there.”

“Ugh, no. Even one person has to lend a hand for the work to finish quickly. Ugh, it’s so disgusting!”

I made various sounds of disgust while turning over the papers to the end.

After a while, around the time sweat beads formed on everyone’s foreheads despite the low temperature, it happened.

“I found it!”

Found it?

At the news we had been waiting for, everyone straightened up like meerkats and looked in that direction.

The knight who had made the noise a while ago smiled widely and raised a red paper above his head.

Finally!