"Once upon a time, there lived a very evil dragon."

Whenever the evil dragon appeared, people would scream and flee in terror.

This was because nothing was left standing in the wake of the evil dragon’s path. 

The fields were ruined, houses destroyed, and livestock devoured.

But the evil dragon’s tyranny didn’t stop there.

It burned the elves' forest and pillaged the dwarves' treasures.

The land of Ardina was drenched in sorrow, anger, and despair.

However, just when the cries and wails of all the races reached the heavens, a red dragon named Gracid appeared.

Gracid, who came to stop the evil dragon’s rampage, made a pact with a human.

That human’s name was Zigrid—a man of no special ability, born of common folk.

Yet, despite having no exceptional powers, Zigrid had one great strength.

He was braver than anyone else.

A human and a dragon.

A mere human, no larger than one of the dragon’s claws, and a dragon the size of a castle.

A dragon that wielded magic freely—how could a mere human stand a chance?

But, with Gracid’s help, Zigrid never backed down.

Fire rained down, ice erupted from the ground, lightning struck, and the earth shattered, yet Zigrid kept moving forward.

And finally, the great dragon fell before the small human.

Having accomplished such a monumental feat, Zigrid established a kingdom where the evil dragon had fallen. In honor of the dragon that had aided him, he named the kingdom ‘Gracis.’

Moved by Zigrid’s sincerity, Gracid gifted him a new language and treasures, marking the birth of the great Gracis.

---

This is the tale.

The title was *The Adventures of Zigrid,* if I remember correctly.

It was a book that was practically a bible for the children of Gracis.

Though it had the air of a fairy tale, it was more like a legend, and the title fit perfectly.

From what I know, while the story may have been embellished, it was based on real events.

Zigrid, aided by Gracid, truly did defeat the evil dragon, establish the Kingdom of Gracis, and receive both a language and treasures in return.

Because of this, Gracis used its own unique language, ‘Granic,’ instead of Arqish, which was created by the Ro Arka Empire.

Some say that Gracid must have pressured them into it.

Why else would they abandon Arqish, which they had been using just fine, to adopt Granic?

Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter anymore.

Gracis has fallen.

And those who know Granic are disappearing, leaving only a sentence in a dusty corner of history books that states, ‘There was once such a language.’

---

At least, that’s what I thought.

“Granic?”

Who would have thought that an Apostle could speak Granic?

I tightened my grip on my sword, staring at the woman before me, her face filled with shock.

Her stance was off, and the way she held her sword was even worse.

Not that it mattered—she didn’t seem like she intended to attack. Even if she did, it wouldn’t be effective with how she was holding her weapon.

Recently, I had figured out that the swarms of pests—those that had been attacking me—were Apostles.

At first, I was skeptical, but after observing closely, I noticed that many of the ones attacking me had been here before.

After hearing what the blacksmith said, I became certain that they were Apostles.

That strange aura I’d sensed before must have been due to Edel’s blessing.

Once I realized they were reviving and returning, their ease with death and endless persistence made sense.

Of course, knowing they were Apostles didn’t change my approach.

I continued to slash, stab, and strike them down.

After killing so many of them, it seemed my infamy spread, and the frequency of their attacks lessened.

Sometimes, they would show up and do strange things, as if they’d given up.

The most ridiculous one was the guy who suddenly showed up and laid out a meal.

I was dumbfounded at the time… but the saying, ‘Even a dog won’t disturb someone while they’re eating,’ came to mind from my previous life, so I let him eat in peace.

Anyway, the woman in front of me seemed to have heard of my infamy, judging by the way she was trembling.

I don’t know why she came here despite that, but she must be one of those weird ones.

---

“Do you know Granic?”

“Granic? Gracis? Uh… I’ve heard… a little!”

“Hm.”

It didn’t seem like she knew much.

She could probably understand and say only the simplest things.

I watched her for a moment before flicking my sword and sheathing it.

I had come here for food, recalling the taste of Cocatrice I’d eaten before. But instead of pests, I found a human.

I picked up the head of the Cocatrice and slung the rest of its body over my shoulder.

Since she wasn’t a pest and didn’t seem hostile, there was no need to kill her.

---

“Did… did I just survive? Right?”

- "What was that?"  
- "Why did it spare you?"  
- "What just happened?"  
- "Wow, that voice was amazing."  
- "Sounds like a little kid, though?"

The Gravekeeper turned away, dragging the Cocatrice’s body behind them.

The trail left by the body drew a lazy circle on the ground as the cloak fluttered behind them.

When the soft, childlike voice spilled out from under the cloak, Journey’s chat froze for a moment.

Up until now, there had been countless theories about the Gravekeeper’s identity.

Some said it was a swordmaster who had secluded themselves after achieving everything, others claimed it was a magical weapon from an ancient ruin, or even an undead warrior because it never spoke.

Among those theories, there were a few who speculated it might be a child due to its small frame, but those ideas were often dismissed as the ravings of otaku or sheer nonsense.

In the realistic world of *Silia,* a child couldn’t possibly wield such power.

In fact, among all the powerful NPCs players had met, the strongest ones were typically in their prime, around their twenties.

As they grew older, they either grew even more powerful, or if they failed to break through the limits, they withered away with age.

That was the *Silia* players knew.

---

But then, reality happened.

Although the face hidden beneath the cape couldn’t be seen, the voice and small frame were enough to suggest the Gravekeeper was far from an adult.

---

"Could it be a polymorphed dragon? But, does *Silia* even have polymorph magic? Or maybe a dwarf?"

These questions swirled in Journey’s head naturally.

---

- "What did it just do?"  
- "Why aren’t you following them?"  
- "What’s with the weird language?"  

“Oh, right! I should follow!”

Journey, now freed from combat, snapped back to reality and began running along the trail left by the Cocatrice’s body, answering her viewers’ questions as she ran.

“That was Granic, the language used by the Kingdom of Gracis.”

- "Gracis Kingdom?"

“Yeah, it was a kingdom that fell about a year ago. And this mountain where the Gravekeeper is… it was part of Gracis’s territory.”

Given that the kingdom had only fallen a year ago, the name Gracis wasn’t hard to come by.

Merchants on the streets, passing travelers, and even rumors carried its name.

However, despite the ease of gathering this information, surprisingly few players knew much about Gracis, most only aware of the basic fact: "There used to be a kingdom, but it fell."

This was largely due to the nature of *Silia Online*.

---

When players first started the game, they were dropped in a village with a branch of the Liberi guild.

The only things given to players were the identity of being a mercenary of Liberi and the blessing of Edel—there was no main story or questline to follow, unlike other MMORPGs.

It was as if the developers were saying, “You’re now a resident of this world,” leaving players to set their own grand goals and embark on thrilling adventures.

This was something Journey particularly loved about the game.

---

“Not many people take the time to dig into the details, so it makes sense that most wouldn’t know.”

Especially those rushing to be the first to clear content—people like that wouldn’t have time for side details.

They probably had teams analyzing the boss patterns, leaving no time to explore the lore.

Of course, those interested in the lore would share it online, so information was still accessible.

Maybe after the dust settled, those focused on the first clear would turn their attention to exploring the world’s history, but *Silia* had only been out for six months.

There was so much to do, and so much players wanted to accomplish, that unless you had a natural interest in lore, it got pushed to the backburner.

---

“The language players use is Arqish, the Imperial language created by the Ro Arka Empire. And Gracis was at war with the Empire until the very end.”

- "Did the Empire destroy them?"

“Not directly, but they were one of the reasons. Anyway… I suspected the Gravekeeper might be from Gracis.”

---

A mountain in former Gracis territory, where the Gravekeeper lived in seclusion, and the presence of graves with tragic stories.

It all gave off the feeling that something important was hidden here.

---

“If

 the Gravekeeper is hiding because of Gracis’s fall, then it’s unlikely they’d have good feelings toward the Empire or the Arqish language.”

---

This was all just a theory, of course.

The real reason could be different, and maybe the Gravekeeper didn’t hate the Empire at all.

But Journey had rolled the dice, and it just so happened that she had rolled a six.

---

“I got lucky, that’s all.”

Journey silently thanked her efforts for learning Granic from NPCs.

---

- "But don’t most NPCs speak the same language anyway? Even the ones from the old kingdom?"  
- "There are a few NPCs who speak weirdly, are they from the old kingdom too?"

“Apparently, Gracis had been on the decline for decades. Maybe they were preparing for something? I’m not sure about the details myself.”

Unless you’d lived through it, you wouldn’t know.

Journey’s eyes followed the Gravekeeper’s retreating figure as she pondered.

---

- "Who even thinks of learning a language like that?"  
- "This is pure determination."  
- "Our streamer is something else."  
- "Journey the Brave."

“Thanks for the praise.”

Journey smiled, basking in the positive reactions from chat.

---

“…But there’s no way it’ll kill me just for following it, right?”

- "She’s our streamer, alright."  
- "Wasn’t she super cool just a minute ago?"  
- "Silly Journey."

“Hah… Whatever! It’s do or die now!”

There was no turning back now!

Slapping her cheeks to pump herself up, she hurried after the Gravekeeper.