Gawain felt his state rapidly improving—his mind was clearing, and he had regained enough control over his body to move freely. Finally, he had enough presence of mind to turn his attention to the girl who was still being restrained. "So… what's going on here?"
The half-elf girl had been doing her best to stay inconspicuous, hoping that these members of the Cecil family would forget that someone had actually broken into their ancestral tomb. But before she could find an opportunity to slip away, Gawain's gaze fell on her. Left with no choice, the unlucky thief hunched her shoulders and put on a pitiful expression. "I just wanted a place to hide…"
"To hide? You had to sneak all the way into the deepest chamber of the tomb?" Hetty immediately glared at her, turning to Gawain. "Ancestor, this despicable tomb raider has desecrated your resting place and disturbed your slumber!"
Gawain paused, casting an odd look at the half-elf girl. "So… it was you who 'woke me up'?"
If it were physically possible, the thief would have shrunk her head down to her torso. Her voice trembled. "I swear I didn't do anything! I just wanted to find a safe place to hide, but after I snuck in here, I couldn't help my… occupational habits and ended up deeper inside the tomb. But even here, I didn't…"
Gawain thought for a moment and replied sincerely, "Well, thank you anyway."
The thief girl: "Huh?"
Everyone else, including Rebecca and Hetty: "What?"
"Ahem, let her go. It doesn't look good for four big men to be holding down one girl…" Gawain realized his thanks sounded a bit strange but, not wanting to backtrack, he pressed on. "It's not very chivalrous. Yes, chivalry."
Hesitation flickered across Hetty's face. "But Ancestor, she's…"
"I'd still like to thank her for waking me from my slumber," Gawain waved a hand dismissively. "Let her go. I'm not bothered, so why should you be?"
Knight Byron shot an odd look at this "ancestor of the Cecil family," but ultimately, at Hetty's silent cue, he sheathed his sword, and the three other soldiers stepped back as well.
The half-elf girl looked around, making sure this wasn't some sort of trick, then cautiously stood up and confirmed with Gawain, "You're the elder here, so you're the one calling the shots, right? You won't go back on your word?"
Hetty's eye twitched, and it took all her noble upbringing to resist the urge to beat the thief senseless.
Gawain looked curiously at the girl. From his recently acquired memories, he could tell she was of mixed elven heritage. "What's your name?"
The half-elf girl blinked. "Amber…"
Gawain rubbed his chin. "Amber? Has a bit of a forest-elf ring to it…"
At that moment, Hetty interjected, cutting off Gawain's conversation with the half-elf girl who called herself Amber. "Ancestor, I'm sorry to interrupt, but now isn't the time for idle chatter. We're not safe here!"
Gawain tried to immerse himself in his new role, turning a serious gaze toward Hetty. "What's going on outside?"
"It's monsters!" Rebecca, who had been silent for a while, shouted. "Monsters are flooding in from the direction of Serindell and the mines! The forces in the territory—both the military and the guards—are no match for them. By now, the outside might have been completely overrun…"
"We did our best to organize a defense, and before things fully collapsed, we had Knight Philip lead a group of soldiers to protect the civilians during their evacuation," Hetty added. "But before the second evacuation group could depart, the monsters destroyed the drawbridge…"
"We—Rebecca and I—did not disgrace the name of the Cecil family. Nor did these brave warriors. We fought in the castle until the last possible moment. Only when the inner courtyard doors were breached did we have to retreat to this place."
Gawain continued asking questions and finally pieced together the full picture:
This was the ancestral domain of the Cecil family, passed down from the very first ancestor. The young girl beside him, wielding an iron staff and looking barely out of high school, was actually Rebecca, the current lord of this territory.
When the monsters attacked, this young lord had indeed organized a defense as best as she could. But it was clear they had failed—ultimately, the monsters overran all defensive forces and slaughtered every human in their path.
After evacuating the first group of survivors, Rebecca and the last soldiers, fulfilling their duty to the land, were trapped in the castle, fighting for as long as possible. But when the castle fell, they had no choice but to retreat into the ancestral tombs beneath it.
And that was when they just happened to encounter his… "awakening."
As for the elegant woman named Hetty, she was actually Rebecca's aunt. These generational details didn't hold much meaning for Gawain; after all, they were all distant descendants—whether he added a "great" here or there made little difference to him.
And then there was Amber, the half-elf, who was indeed a thief. But this time, she'd genuinely come to find refuge. Her skills were so advanced that she'd managed to sneak her way to the deepest chamber of the Cecil family tomb…
"So I wake up to this mess…" Gawain rubbed his forehead, thinking through how to handle the current crisis while searching his mind for any useful memories. "So those monsters have completely taken over the upper floors, making escape a death sentence. But you keep referring to them as 'monsters'—what exactly are they?"
"I suspect they're some kind of demonic subspecies," Hetty replied. "But demons haven't appeared in the material world for many years, and certainly not on this scale, so I can't be certain."
Rebecca, clutching her staff, looked at Gawain with hopeful eyes. "Ancestor, do you mean that even with your power, you can't deal with the monsters outside?"
Gawain was taken aback. "Me?"
"Yes! The legends say that you were the mightiest knight not only in the Kingdom of Ansu but across the entire northern continent!" Rebecca's eyes practically sparkled. "It's said that you once defeated the barbarian Warchief Gurg with a single strike…"
Gawain quickly searched through his inherited memories and was stunned by what he found: Gawain Cecil was indeed a legendary figure!
He was one of the greatest heroes of the Ansu Kingdom's pioneering era, recognized as one of the earliest pioneers of the "Second Great Expansion." During the ancient days when the Gandor Empire fell and its remnants descended into a chaotic, barbaric wilderness, the lights of human civilization were nearly snuffed out by the spreading tides of chaotic magic. Gawain Cecil, along with a cohort of extraordinary figures, led the surviving humans away from the crumbling empire's ruins. They pushed outward in four directions, with one group journeying north—the forebears of the Ansu Kingdom—with Gawain Cecil among them.
His life was short but dazzlingly brilliant:
- At the age of fifteen, he set out as the youngest of the pioneer knights of his time.
- Alongside other pioneer knights and the first King of Ansu, he fought through hardships for ten years, founding a new kingdom in the northern continent and restoring humanity to civilization and order.
- After the founding of Ansu, he became one of the kingdom's seven generals, defending the southern borders and repelling numerous attacks from the dark magic tide—never suffering a single defeat.
But such a brilliant life burned like a candle too fiercely lit, and this legendary figure lived only to the age of thirty-five. He died, exhausted, in the last battle against the dark tide.
The inherited memories stopped there.
That was the life of this incredible man.
Gawain felt a throbbing in his temples. He had taken over quite the formidable identity!
He wasn't feeling elated, nor was he filled with dread. After the initial shock, his strongest feeling was… uncertainty.
Rebecca was looking at him with hopeful eyes, and Amber wore the same expression. Even Hetty, the most composed and mature among them, gazed at him with a mix of trust and expectation.
But they were looking at Gawain Cecil, not at him.
Gawain glanced down at his hands—those were a warrior's hands, broad, strong, and covered in thick calluses. Yet he didn't know how much power he could actually wield with this body.
That uncertain feeling, however, didn't last long. His own memories, spanning tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of years, stirred within him. While the actual content of those memories might not amount to much, they were enough to ground him and instill confidence.
Yes, he was initially daunted by the legendary life of Gawain Cecil. But in the current situation, what he needed wasn't shock or hesitation—it was a firm resolve.
The source of his confidence was simple:
Long before the intelligent beings of this land even learned to walk upright, he had been observing this world.
He knew these memories wouldn't provide any tangible help, but they were enough to steady him and fill him with resolve.
At this moment, all Gawain needed to do was give himself a mental boost, find the resolve to survive, and once he settled down, solutions would naturally come.
Soon enough, he found some useful information within the inherited memories of Gawain Cecil.
"Fighting our way out isn't realistic…" Gawain said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I've been asleep for too long; I can't be certain how much of my strength I can wield. And we also don't know the true power of the monsters outside. So, our best option is to find a way to bypass them and reach a safe area."
"But the drawbridge is destroyed, and the other paths are blocked…" Rebecca replied, worry in her voice.
"There's a secret tunnel system," Gawain said, recalling a valuable piece of information. "Its structure was blessed by earth elementals, so it wouldn't collapse even after a thousand years. The entrance to this tunnel is right beneath the castle."
"There's something like that?!" Rebecca's face lit up with excitement. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's find the tunnel! Lead the way, Ancestor!"
"But there's a problem…" Gawain spread his hands. "I only know the route from the castle itself. I don't know how to get there from down here in the tomb."
Rebecca looked at him in shock. "You've been living here so long, and you don't know the way?"
Gawain: "…"
Knight Byron and the soldiers: "…"
Hetty went pale, wondering if this disappointing descendant was going to drive their ancestor to an early second grave…