Year 5310. 7th day of July. Coal Village. 08:00 AM.
Sitting blankly in the coffin, she started to think and remember who or what she was, but nothing came out. No matter how much she searched her memory, there was nothing.
Regaining focus in her eyes, she looked at her surroundings.
Not knowing how she came here and where she was, she slowly stood up and scrutinised the place with her cold and indifferent eyes. She walked to the nearest bookshelf and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar books in front of her.
Realising that she can read the book’s writings, she took it, walked back to close the coffin, sat on its lid, and read the book.
For some reason, she can quickly read the book without missing a word in just less than 3 minutes. With the book having more than 300 pages, it was an astonishing speed.
After reading the book, she took another book to read. And for a little more than 5 hours, she read all the books in the repository for the unknown.
Settling down the last book, she glanced at the small and short, hollow cylinder, metal object that she recognised as the gun, which she read in the book, on the table.
The guns were old and rusted. Thinking that it would be better if one can still use it, unexpectedly, after touching one of the cold guns, it returned to its usual lustre like the coming of years has not affected it.
The gun was cold to the touch, but as if this soulless clunk of metal was a part of her, it fitted right in her hand.
Looking at the gun closely, one can see that it was the famed Desert Eagle, nicknamed Deagle. It was significant for its size compared to the other pistols, high calibre, and has an intimidating appearance.
The Desert Eagle is a gas-operated, semi-automatic, magazine-fed pistol. The gun has a simple design, with Matte black as its colour, and she liked it.
As she was examining the gun, the door to the repository suddenly opened without warning.
Startled, she looked at the maid who went inside.
***
The butler has given the maidservant the task thrice a week to clean the repository for the unknown.
The servant dutifully proceeded to the repository for the unknown to clean in advance since she was done with her morning chores.
Carrying a mop and a broom, the servant opened the door, but she saw a girl sitting and looking at the small, metal object to her surprise.
The girl was beautiful. So beautiful that it was the first time for the servant to see such a lovely person. But her brain told her that it was not time to praise her beauty because a thief has entered the castle and, more importantly, in the repository for the unknown.
Losing her grip at the mop and broom, she hurriedly went to look for a guard to apprehend the beautiful thief.
***
“Sire, it’s past the time for your lunch,” reminded the butler, Reever, for the 7th time.
Count Brundeile was occupied with many things in his office. Buried in a pile of documents, he looked up and stared at the Reever and then at the clock.
It was 1:30 PM.
“Oh, is it?”
Seeing that it was truly well past his usual lunchtime, Count Brundeile stood up and straightened his clothes.
“Yes, my Lord. I’ve told you for the 7th time already.”
The butler, Reever, knew that his Lord sometimes, or should he say, always forgets to eat. If he were not there to remind the Lord, surely the Lord would not eat for the whole day, if possible.
The Count of Brundeile was always busy. Even today, the Lord’s office was full of documents that not even his table can accommodate all the papers. There were more and more stacks of paper that one could see the documents placed on the floor.
Reever followed the Count towards the dining room, but not even halfway, they met Morgan.
***
Morgan, proceeding to the Count’s office, wanted to hurriedly inform the Lord about the happenings in the Coal Village. It seems that it has started again. But it was much worse than before.
Seeing the Count of Brundeile walking across him, he hurriedly went to greet him.
“My Lord,” bowed and greeted Morgan.
“Hmmm… What is it? It seems like you are in a hurry,” replied Count Brundeile while continuing to walk towards the dining room.
Following the Lord, Morgan started to report his findings.
“My Lord, something happened in the Coal village.”
“Did it happen again?” asked the Lord as if he expected it.
“Yes, my Lord. But it’s much worse than expected.”
Hearing what Morgan said, Count Brundeile stopped walking. “How worse is it?”
“I surmise it’s the worst that has happened in the history of the Phobos Mountain.”
Before Count Brundeile can reply, a servant maid approached them hurriedly.
“S-sir Reever!”
Seeing that the maid was in a mess as if she ran a thousand miles, Reever hurriedly asked, “What happened?”Reever paused. “And no running in the corridor,” Reever scolded as if the urgency was not even present.
Not noticing that the Count was present, the maid hurriedly said, “There’s a thief in the repository for the unknown!”
Not just Reever but also the Count, and Morgan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Morgan gave a slow, disbelieving shake of his head. “There’s no way a rat can enter the Castle of Brundeile. There are too many guards stationed outside and inside, so what you’re saying is impossible.”
Even the Count of Brundeile did not believe what the maid said.
“Little girl, maybe you saw something else.”
Once the maidservant heard those words, she was irritated. “Who said I’m lying?! I am n -”
Realising that the Count of Brundeile was the one who spoke, she quickly retracted her word and said, “M-milord! Th-that was not what I meant. I mean, there is a thief.”
“Are you sure?” Reever asked the maid again.
“Yes, I am,” the maid, Leila, confidently said
Reever looked at the Count, asking for an order.
“Well then, let’s go see the thief.”
Along with Reever, the butler, Morgan, and the maid named Leila, the Count went to see the thief.
***
Repository for the Unknown
Currently sitting at the coffin with its lid closed, the girl was figuring out what to do.
She does not recognise the woman who opened the door. So, she does not know what to do.
She considered going outside to explore, but she surmised that the woman would be back, bringing other people with her. And she was right.
The door to the repository opened again, and she could see that the woman who ran away really bought other people, three people at that.
***
Sword ready at hand, Morgan slowly opened the door.
Inside, they can see a girl who looks eighteen to nineteen years old, sitting in the coffin. She was looking at them with calm and indifferent eyes.
Count Brundeile was dumbfounded. Everyone was dumbfounded. Morgan never thought that what the maidservant said was true.
Morgan even exclaimed that it was impossible for a rat, a thief at that, to enter the castle of Brundeile. But in front of him was a beautiful thief?.
Count Brundeile stared at the little girl in front of him. And the little girl stared back with the same countenance, calm and indifferent.
He was shocked to see a girl, no more than eighteen or nineteen, to have the calmness that no one has. It was like he was looking at someone who was the same age and rank as his.
Breaking the silence, the girl sitting at the coffin asked. “Where is this place?”
“This is the castle of Brundeile, the territory of Lord Klein Brundeile. And you are inside the repository for the unknown.” Reever raised his brows in disbelief. He never thought that the girl does not know where she is.
“And this is the Count of Brundeile,” Morgan continued while using his open hand to point at Lord Klein.
The girl looked at the person he introduced as the Count of Brundeile.
She noticed the Count the moment they arrived, and she has been observing him ever since with her cold, flinty voice.
“And may I ask why am I in the repository for the unknown?” The girl asked with a voice as empty of life as a crypt.
Morgan was exasperated. He didn’t know if the girl was dumb or what. Raising his sword and pointing it to the girl, he exclaimed. “We should be asking you that!”
Count Brundeile stopped Morgan from attacking the little girl.
“May I ask where you came from?”
The girl was staring at Morgan when she heard the Count talk. She looked at him and answered. “I came from here.”
“You must be mistaken. Here is the repository, and I don’t remember assigning a little girl to guard the place,” Count Brundeile answered with his eyes narrowed as if in confusion.
The girl lifted her hand lazily and pointed to the coffin she was currently sitting in. And with the same empty tone of voice, she replied. “Here. In this coffin. I came from here.”
As soon as her voice fell, silence emerged.
After more than two minutes, the maidservant named Leila’s voice awoke them. “Ehhhh!!! N-no way!”
Right. No way. There’s no way it is true. Everyone agreed with what the maidservant said. There was no way a person alive woke from a coffin made more than three thousand years ago.
“There was just no way that is true! It was too absurd an idea. No one would ever believe that. Please give a believable explanation,”
Morgan was feeling crazy. He was shaking his head like a madman.
I can’t believe that! What is she? A ghost? There’s no way ghosts are real.
“A-are you a g-ghost?” Leila asked while shakily pointing at her.
Before the girl could respond, the Count talked. “No. She’s not a ghost. She’s human.”
Reever, who was watching quietly, suddenly voiced out, “Well, if you’re not a ghost, may we talk about this after eating lunch?”
“Huh? Lunch is over. It’s already over 1 PM,” says Morgan.
Reever smiled at what Morgan said and looked at the Count. “The Count has not eaten yet as he was busy. How about you eat with the Count, young lady? I bet you haven’t eaten yet.”
“Now that you’ve mentioned that, I suddenly feel hungry. Shall we talk after lunch, little girl?”
“That would be fine,” answered the girl.
Count Brundeile started to leave, followed by Reever.
“Wait,” said the girl.
The Count stopped and looked at the girl. “What is it, little girl?”
The girl lifted her hand holding the gun and asked, “May I bring this?”
Count Brundeile has long since noticed the small, metal object she was holding. It was one of the things that they discovered in the ruins.
“You can bring that if you like it.”
“Thank you,” she said faintly with unusual joy in her voice that she has not noticed.
Back to her usual voice, she continued, “Well, shall we?”
The girl stood up and followed them towards the dining room.
Left inside the repository was the dumbfounded Morgan and shocked maidservant, Leila.
They both stared at each other.
What happened? Is a ghost dining with the Lord? Huh?
