"Lass~"
Froslass briefly explained the situation in her soft, echoing voice.
At this point, Froslass had completely mastered the power of a King-level Pokémon—her ghostly aura now carried an air of majesty and command, befitting that of a true royalty among ghost types.
Before her floated Mismagius, who behaved with perfect obedience and reverence, gracefully using its illusionary powers to record every detail of their surroundings.
Under Aven's long-term guidance, Mismagius had become extremely eager to learn. While it recorded, it also carefully studied the mysterious altar before them, analyzing its structure and energy patterns with fascination.
"Maa~ maaa~?"
Just then, Mismagius let out a puzzled cry.
Its shadowy body drifted toward a section of the stone wall. After staring for a moment, it suddenly pressed itself against the surface—and to Aven's surprise, its form began to merge directly into the wall, sinking into it little by little.
"Hm? There's an empty space behind the wall?" Aven's eyes lit up instantly.
As a Ghost-type Pokémon, Mismagius possessed the natural ability to pass through solid walls. Clearly, it had just phased through this one.
"Maa~ maaa~~"
A few seconds later, Mismagius emerged again, its expression brimming with excitement.
"There really is a secret chamber behind that wall!"
Using its illusions, it immediately projected a vision of what it had seen directly into the air before them.
The image that appeared revealed a small, enclosed room. It wasn't large—barely the size of a wine cellar—but there were three wooden chests placed neatly against one side of the wall.
Aven's eyes glimmered. "Those wooden boxes… they must be where Marquis Hormay hid his transferred fortune!"
He remembered the reports from Sutter and the others: the assets recovered from the lord's castle and the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild were suspiciously minimal.
The valuable items—like Evolution Stones and special resources usable by Pokémon—were all missing.
Although the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild had indeed gone bankrupt, Aven had never believed that Marquis Hormay had only this small amount of wealth left.
His earlier assumption was that Hormay had moved all the valuables elsewhere long before the collapse—especially since the marquis had already prepared to flee through the Ghost World passage.
He must have planned his escape long ago—probably even before he contacted the sorcerer organization. From that moment on, he had been securing every possible escape route and hiding his riches away.
Now that Aven had discovered this hidden room, the truth became obvious—Hormay had hidden all of his treasures right here, in what he believed to be the safest place in his domain.
If not for Mismagius accidentally noticing something off—and if not for its unique ability of Ghost-type to pass through walls—they likely would never have found this secret chamber at all.
"Now… how do we open it?" Aven muttered, scanning the room for any mechanism.
Mismagius could phase into the room, but it couldn't carry any physical object back through the wall. So, they needed to locate the real switch that opened the chamber.
Fortunately, while the chamber's existence was well hidden, once you knew it was there, finding the trigger was far easier.
After a careful search, Mismagius eventually found a recessed stone block in the ceiling—clearly the hidden switch.
Aven looked up at it and couldn't help raising an eyebrow. "Huh… clever design."
Under normal circumstances, no one would ever think to touch the stones above their head, much less be tall enough to reach them. That made it nearly impossible to open the chamber by accident.
Click, click, click—
As the switch was triggered, the sound of moving stone echoed through the room. The section of wall before them began to shift slowly aside, revealing a dark staircase leading downward.
Since Mismagius had already explored ahead, Aven led his team carefully down the steps.
Because of its large size, Garchomp was left behind to stand guard outside the stone tower in case of unexpected danger.
No traps were triggered along the way. Aven and his Pokémon soon entered the secret room completely.
The hidden space was small—just like a private wine cellar—with the three wooden chests placed neatly in one corner.
Instead of opening them immediately, Aven had his Pokémon help carry all three boxes outside the chamber, up the stairs, and into the first floor of the stone tower. Only after that did he exhale slowly and prepare to open them.
"Petilil, I'll leave it to you."
"Lil~!"
Petilil nodded happily and extended two green vines from its body.
The vines wrapped around the lid of the first wooden chest and slowly lifted it open with delicate care.
Nothing happened—no traps, no curses, no explosions.
They repeated the process with the other two chests, and both opened just as smoothly.
Apparently, Marquis Hormay had trusted his secret chamber's concealment so much that he hadn't bothered adding extra safeguards.
No one was expected to ever find it.
Curious, Aven approached the first chest.
When he looked inside, his eyes sparkled. The box was filled with shimmering gems and crystals, each radiating waves of powerful energy.
He turned his attention to the second chest—this one was full of various ores. The topmost one was an ink-black iron ore—the special metal used in crafting beast gear equipment.
Finally, Aven's gaze moved to the third chest. This one contained miscellaneous items—antique trinkets, old books, and rolled-up maps. These were likely the marquis's personal collection.
After surveying all three, Aven's focus returned to the third chest. Though it looked the most ordinary, he had a feeling that it might actually hold the most valuable treasures.
He crouched before it and carefully pulled out one of the rolled maps, removing it from its protective sleeve and unfolding it.
At once, a map of Aspiration City spread out before his eyes.
But unlike the regular city maps, this one was far more detailed—showing not only the city layout but also the surrounding Black Forest, Aspiration Mountains, and even the Great Marshlands.
It was clear that this was a map compiled through countless expeditions—most likely drawn by professional monster hunters over many years.
There were numerous markings and symbols scattered across it, each one indicating monster habitats or hunting zones.
Aven carefully rolled up the map again and turned to the next one.
This map showed trade routes instead.
Because the Black Forest and the Aspiration Mountains surrounded Aspiration City, commerce with other cities was notoriously difficult. Opening a safe trade route required countless sacrifices—and thus, each established route was vital to every merchant guild's survival.
The map in Aven's hand depicted the trade routes the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild had painstakingly developed over the years—one leading toward Meteor City beyond the mountains, and another connecting to Serendip City.
"The trade routes to the Pokémon Domain are now completely open," Aven murmured, nodding with satisfaction. "These two routes will become very useful in the future."
He rolled up the maps and put them away carefully, then began examining the books.
Most were manuals on magical beasts—describing their behavior, weaknesses, and how to hunt them more efficiently.
Some dealt with taming and breeding methods, including one particularly thick volume dedicated entirely to Zubat, the most common Pokémon species in the Ironblood Fortress.
As for the rest—they were ancient texts written in a language Aven couldn't read. He decided to take them back for later study.
After closing the chest, he turned back to the one filled with gemstones.
Each stone pulsed with rich energy—far beyond that of ordinary jewels. Clearly, Marquis Hormay had only kept the rarest ones.
Aven's gaze sharpened. "Wait… these are Dusk Stones."
Of course. The marquis had always been obsessed with dark and eerie things. Even his castle carried a gloomy atmosphere.
"Maa~ maaa!"
By now, Mismagius had already thrown itself gleefully into the pile of gems.
After all, its earlier form—Misdreavus—could only evolve into Mismagius through the power of a Dusk Stone.
Thus, it possessed a natural affinity with these stones and could even absorb their energy to further enhance its own strength.
Aside from Dusk Stones, there were also Water Stones, Moon Stones, and Dawn Stones—all evolution stones that were highly sought after in Aspiration City.
The remaining gems, though not evolution stones, still contained potent energy useful for Pokémon training—making them equally valuable.
After carefully inspecting everything, Aven decided to transport all the items back to his Pokémon Domain.
Once they left the stone tower, he immediately summoned a group of knights and ordered them to guard the area strictly—especially since this altar had turned out to be connected to a Ghost World ruin.
Unfortunately, since this ruin lay within the Ironblood Fortress, Aven couldn't keep it for himself. Though he had conquered the fortress, once the Aspiration City Knight Order arrived, the site would have to be officially handed over.
He could only instruct them to guard it carefully afterward. Once they learned that it was a Ghost Altar, he was confident they would keep it tightly secured.
Next, Aven and his Pokémon carried the wooden chests through the streets of the beast trading district, where the knights were still bustling about.
"Lord Aven, all the Pokémon have been loaded onto the carriages," one of the Pokémon Domain knights reported respectfully.
Along the roadside stood countless wagons surrounded by Glooms. Inside each carriage, the Pokémon were lying unconscious—their deep sleep maintained by the fumes emitted by the Gloom to ensure they wouldn't awaken before reaching the Pokémon Domain.
"Good. Move these wagons outside the city," Aven instructed. "And gather all the serfs there as well."
He added in a firm tone, "These three chests are especially important. Rhydon, Nidoking, and Mismagius will accompany you. Guard them at all costs."
The knights saluted and hurried to obey. Since the serfs of the Ironblood lands were still spread across various villages, it would take some time to assemble everyone.
(End of Chapter)