Chapter 637: Knowledge Update
We relied on Haulon’s map for Teleportation.
As we appeared, a shiver ran through the black shadows, causing them to retreat.
“I feel like we’re intruding on someone’s sleeping quarters and driving them out,” I said. Well, that’s exactly how it feels.
“If we didn’t have the lantern, we’d be at a serious disadvantage, you know!?” Dinoss reacted with a hint of irritation, as if to say, “What are you talking about?!”
“Stop losing your tension so quickly,” Retze said, sounding exasperated.
“A picnic isn’t something you let your guard down for, is it?” Dean and Chris chimed in.
“We’ve switched from a picnic to restoring the weather vane,” Ash stated.
“Lord Ash… While you’re not wrong, you’re not quite right either…” the Butler said, sounding weary.
“People interpret things in countless ways, yet it’s a miracle that we can still communicate,” Haulon mused philosophically.
“Let’s focus. Where are we?” Retze pressed on, checking the Magic Stone.
“—Right in front of that stone pillar, just before it, on the flat cobblestone. It’s right below here,” Haulon said, stopping to examine his notes on the map.
It would have looked cool if he could point it out alone, but in reality, we were all sticking close to the lantern’s light.
The location of the first Magic Stone was a ruin of a collapsed stone building, typical of the Land of Ruin. The cobblestones were mostly cracked, chipped, or had edges that were raised.
The souls of the people from the Land of Ruin were torn apart, wandering without disappearing. The buildings bore scars of destruction, seemingly unchanged since the curse was cast upon them.
“Let’s start by moving this stone. I’ll leave it to you,” Haulon directed Dinoss.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Dinoss replied. “I’ll help!” As he began clearing away the surrounding stones that looked easy to move, Dean joined in voluntarily.
Whenever Dean switched to a polite tone, I couldn’t help but observe. Do they find happiness in heavy labor? No, both of them are strong thanks to the Spirits, so moving stones about thirty centimeters square must be a piece of cake for them.
Once the surface stones were cleared, we found small black pebbles underneath.
The roads and cobblestones on my island were dug about two meters deep by craftsmen and hired hands, who then filled them with a large amount of stones, gravel, and debris. The upper layer was solidified with a mix of plaster and stone, arranged neatly to look good.
I had initially suggested digging down to the hard bedrock, but they wisely talked me out of it. There are places where the bedrock is shallow, so it could be done in some areas.
Later, I quietly asked the Spirits to solidify the ground down to the bedrock level. I’m a Japanese person who cares about earthquake resistance, after all.
—As I observed, I thought, “The Land of Ruin hasn’t gone that far.” I didn’t think the construction was bad; it’s just that time and money are limited, so everyone has different priorities. After all, this place collapsed not from an earthquake but from the reversal of the King’s Branch.
“Alright!” The two of them shouted, putting their all into moving the stone block.
Underneath the stone was a box about twenty centimeters square. The block we lifted seemed to have become a lid that was sticking out quite a bit.
Inside was a pale blue Magic Stone, with a Magic Circle visible within, glowing in an orange hue.
“It looks like the morning sky,” Ash remarked beside me.
“Yes, the morning imagery is important for this magic. There’s no problem with this stone; please put it back,” Haulon instructed.
“I’ll do it this time,” Chris said, responding to Haulon.
“Then I’ll join in too,” I added, eager to help.
When we flipped the stone back, we noticed a Magic Circle engraved on its underside. It looked similar to the one I saw in the Horse Kingdom—though we have one on my island too. That one is overflowing with energy.
We continued our rounds in the Land of Ruin to check the Magic Stones. Starting from the outer Magic Stones, we planned to move on to the castle’s courtyard after finishing with the weather vane.
It turned out that the arrangement of the Magic Stones was horizontal, and depending on the location, we’d have to dig quite a bit. We took a break to return to Kanum for some digging tools.
“This is quite a painstaking task,” I remarked.
“It seems better to spread this over a few days,” Dinoss and Haulon said, sipping tea while rethinking their plans.
What started as a search for the Traveler’s Stone had turned serious.
“Could we have two or three days? I think it would be quicker to analyze the documents left by my ancestors regarding the Land of Ruin,” Haulon said, looking like he was about to sigh while holding his teacup with both hands.
“If you’re allowed to look at the documents, I can help…” Retze offered.
There’s probably a restriction on the Great Sage’s documents, something like they can only be opened by bloodline descendants.
“Thank you. The writings left by my ancestors are a bit special and might be hard to read, so could you help with the other documents? They tend to have a lot of archaic phrasing,” Haulon explained.
“Sure thing.”
What does “special” mean? Is it some kind of code?
“Are you referring to the ‘Book of Knowledge’ left by the historical sages?” the Butler smiled.
Oh, that sounds kind of cool!
“The Great Sage’s… It seems like thanks to Gene, various documents have become relics of the past, huh?” Dean said.
“…” The Butler made a subtle face. I felt a bit downcast too.
“Various things, yes. But even if the mainstream theories are denied, they still serve as verification materials for how long those theories were believed and why such misunderstandings arose,” Haulon seemed unconcerned.
The attitudes of Dean and Haulon towards the documents felt like that of an adventurer who wants immediate knowledge and a researcher who’s interested in the process. I think I lean more towards Haulon’s side.
Speaking of processes…
“By the way, is the confusion between Luf A and Luf B—the Luf people who founded the Kingdom of Pasa and the Luf of the Kingdom of Luf—still ongoing?” I asked, unsure of how far the confusion had progressed since I hadn’t read all the documents.
Are they still treated as the same Luf?
“…”
A brief silence fell over us.
“…Alright, let’s put that discussion on hold until we resolve the issues with the Land of Ruin,” I suggested.
“Yeah, let’s seal it for now!” Retze and Chris agreed.
It seems Haulon, who I thought would be the most responsive, is out of the loop.