Endless Debt Chapter 1328 - 101: Containment of Living Specimens

The exploration of Raymond Gaudent was much easier than Bologue imagined. Apart from the initial series of traps encountered in the corridor, Bologue did not encounter anything unusual in subsequent explorations.

Bologue seemed to be wandering through a historical site, examining these enchanting ruins to see if he could extract some value from them.

"This seems to be their banquet hall."

After passing through another Curved Path Gate, Bologue arrived in a spacious area. Through the faint light emitted from the crystal curtain walls, it could be vaguely seen that this was a banquet hall. A delicate and large chandelier hung from the tall arched ceiling, with the gilded lamp holder filled with crystals, refracting a dim light.

Bologue guessed that when it was lit, it must have been extremely beautiful, like an artificial star, but unfortunately, now it had become dilapidated, swallowed by the torrent of time.

The walls and ceilings of the hall, which once held exquisite paintings and reliefs, had already peeled off, revealing dull stones and corroded wood. Dust and cobwebs covered every corner, forming a gray veil, as if representing the accumulation and oblivion of time.

A long dining table was placed at the center of the hall, the wooden material had decayed almost entirely, and the once magnificently beautiful red tablecloth was now tattered, covered with stains and fading. The scattered tableware was placed chaotically on the table, and rusted silverware exuded an ancient aura.

Bologue moved along the edge of the long table. Under each column, he saw skeletons that had already weathered and withered, the bony remains still draped in tattered cloth.

"They are apprentices," Aimou said, "wearing dark green robes on their bodies."

Bologue asked, "How do you think they died?"

Aimou was silent for a moment. There were no signs of battle around these corpses; in fact, the entire banquet hall bore no traces of combat, not even soldier corpses or bullet holes.

Back then, the Kagader Empire and the Rhine Alliance couldn’t break through this place.

"They starved to death," Aimou coldly analyzed, "Even though this is Raymond Gaudent, the Holy City of King Solomon, those who tread the Path of Transcendence are but a few. Even if these apprentices had elevated their souls, most were just Condensers, not much stronger than ordinary people."

"Let alone maintaining such a gigantic city, the logistical support required is unimaginable."

Aimou combined this with the current state of the Order Bureau, easily arriving at such a conclusion.

"The siege lasted nearly a year back then, and Raymond Gaudent was completely sealed off," Bologue said, "For them, this great city of faith turned into the abyss that trapped them."

"I don’t think they cared about their own deaths."

Aimou countered, "Do you remember what we talked about at the beginning?"

"Lovers and loving humanity?"

"Yes, don’t underestimate these people’s fanaticism. From their perspective, King Solomon was their god," Aimou, also a scholar, could understand but found it hard to agree with such thinking, "At the last moment of the Fall of the Holy City, they might have only thought about falling with their god, living on would be a disgrace."

"Think about the Order of Truth."

With Aimou’s reminder, Bologue recalled those frenzied scholars.

The predecessor of the Order of Truth was a group of scholars rejected by King Solomon, mostly because they were too fanatical, yet despite this, these fanatic scholars still established their own city outside Raymond Gaudent, looking towards it until witnessing its complete destruction.

"So, those accepted by King Solomon retained some degree of rationality?" Bologue marveled, "My stereotypes about scholars are deepening by the day."

"I feel you’re going to say something offensive."

"Alright, alright." Bologue chuckled, skipping over the topic.

The long benches placed along the long table had become loose, and the ribbons on the backrest were tangled up. The banquet hall was desolate and empty, filled with a deathly silence and bleakness. It seemed only the wind whispered through the broken windows, stirring the dust inside, emitting a sorrowful low moan.

At the end of the long table, Bologue saw several corpses seated on the benches, their skeletal remains still maintaining an upright posture, with backs straight, but heads hanging down.

The skeletons were seated apart on both sides of the long table, while the main seat at the end of the table was empty, the host not present there. That should have been King Solomon’s position.

"Did they hold their last supper here?"

Bologue examined the corpses, unclear where the ashes had seeped in from, but the place was filled with them, covering the remains of the bodies.

"They are not apprentices," Aimou said.

"I can tell."

Bologue nodded, these corpses wore different robes from the apprentices, black robes.

According to the records of the Order Bureau, the scholars of Raymond Gaudent differentiated themselves by the color of their robes and the accessories worn, similar to the red-clad bishops in some Orders.

"Were they conducting some secret ritual? Or was it a pre-meal prayer?"

Bologue noticed these corpses held hands before they died, and even after all these years, had not let go, as if the bones had fused together.

"Perhaps, in such a desperate situation, even scholars would place their hopes in something intangible and called a god."