Chapter 61 : The Reason is Good

Chapter 61: The Reason is Good

‘This time-travel sure was dragging on.’

It was already the fourteenth day.

The ruins were vast and deep, and there was no way of knowing how much farther we had to go in.

“Great work today~ The deeper we go, the more new samples we find. If only the numbers increased a bit more, it’d be perfect. Don’t you think so?”

Lorraine spoke with a bright smile, in that tone that blurred the line between encouragement and nagging.

The mercenaries had already given up, merely nodding vaguely.

The researchers, who had practically turned into zombies, wanted to beg her to stop.

“Director.... We... don’t have the capacity to analyze any more new samples....”

Of course, she didn’t budge an inch.

“You do understand how much this research is worth, right? If I could make 100, but because my staff lacks capability I can only make 50, wouldn’t that make me a little sad?”

Smile, smile.

But the researchers understood the hidden message inside: ‘I could fire you.’

And so they shrieked in unison, “We’ll do it! We’ll make it happen!”

Even with all that, not a single researcher quit.

From what I heard, the treatment here was top-class in the industry, and Lorraine herself was an immensely respected Magical Armor developer. Just learning under her was said to be a huge opportunity...

It was proof of how important the leader’s reputation was in running an organization.

Even when she pushed them around so ruthlessly, the organization still ran smoothly.

Oh?

Wait, this was actually pretty good.

Couldn’t I apply this too?

I was already paying my people plenty. If I added ‘respect’ on top of that...?

While I was thinking that, Lorraine casually slipped in another sweet, saying, “Good work.”

She knew very well that with monsters increasing these days, the only reason their exploration speed was holding up was because of me.

But today, Cask happened to witness that scene.

“Huh? Lorraine? What about me? Give me one too!”

Was it betrayal he felt?

Cask demanded it with eyes trembling in outrage.

But Lorraine’s reaction was, from his point of view, rather pitiful.

“What are you babbling about, brat? Keep calling Noona’s name carelessly and see what happens.”

I didn’t know what kind of connection the two had, but Lorraine treated Cask more casually than others.

“Give it! I want one too!”

“Here. Take it and scram.”

She tossed the snack his way. Cask caught it, shaking all over.

His lips pressed tight, his eyes moist... wait, was he about to cry?

And yet he didn’t throw away the snack. Instead, he held it close, tucking it away as if it were a treasure.

I was almost willing to bet my wrist that he wouldn’t eat it, but keep it safely stored away.

‘That kid, really. He sure lives a hard life.’

I clicked my tongue once and returned to the lodging.

I came out freshly warmed from a bath, but I couldn’t sleep right away.

There were simply too many things I had gathered during this time-travel, and I needed to organize them diligently.

‘Maybe tonight I should work on translating the magic book Cask gave me.’

I pulled books out of subspace one by one, but soon hit a major obstacle.

‘Which one am I supposed to translate first?’

\[On the Soul], \[Imitations of the Soul: Objects, Nature, Creatures], \[The Design and Application of Spell Seeds]

Just reading the titles gave me a headache. I could read them, but I couldn’t understand them.

If I was going to translate, I wanted to start with the most basic book...

But I had no idea which one counted as basic.

Knock knock.

At the sound of knocking, I closed the books for now and opened the door. It was Cask.

‘At this hour? Why would he come looking for me?’

It was an unexpected visit, and his eyes were filled with emotions—almost suspiciously so.

Only one thing came to mind.

‘No way... was it about earlier? Because Lorraine gave me a snack and not him?’

It sounded too childish to be true, but since this was Cask—who was obsessed with Lorraine—it was possible.

Our very first encounter had started with him picking a fight just because I had talked to Lorraine alone, hadn’t it?

If it really was about that...

‘Is it time to snap his sword in two again?’

That thought crossed my mind when—

“Here.”

Cask held out a piece of paper.

It had some kind of chart and diagrams drawn on it.

“What’s this?”

“Curriculum. You know... you took them. My books and notes. I summarized what each one contains, in what order you should read them, and what you should reference when reading.”

“Uh...?”

What?

I didn’t get it for a moment.

Could this actually be... goodwill?

He was offering me kindness? To the very person who had taken away his treasures?

Cask avoided my gaze.

“I told you, they’re precious. Those books. Those notes. Each one is a memory to me.... Since you’ve taken them, I just want you to make good use of them....”

Huh?

“I’m leaving.”

With just that, Cask walked away.

I didn’t know what to think.

I stared at his back for quite a while.

‘Did he eat something bad in the ruins?’

*         *         *

Seventeenth day.

The ruins still showed no end.

Hallucinations, auditory delusions, delirium—strange phenomena among my companions increased day by day. Fine mana kept spilling out, sometimes paralyzing limbs or causing chills and nausea.

Just what could be lying at the end of all this?

Expectation? Fear? Tension grew higher and higher.

In the meantime, I had grown closer to Lorraine.

I had reports to write, Lorraine gave me special encouragement since I was the ace, and there had even been human experiments to consider.

That day, after the exploration ended, Lorraine called me out.

It was midnight.

The human experiment was supposed to take place tomorrow… so what was this about?

“Tada! Want to see this?”

What she pulled out was a relic from the Mythic Era that we had taken from the ruins.

It looked like the handle of a sword—a rod with no clear purpose.

“The moment I saw Mr. Ransen’s physical data! This idea popped into my head!”

“And what is this?”

“It was a magical weapon.”

I stared at the handle-like thing in silence.

A magical weapon?

That thing?

Lorraine only seemed amused by the scorn in my eyes.

“Doesn’t look like it, right? But it really is. Watch closely.”

She attached a Mana Heart to the lower end of the handle. It resembled the kind used in Magical Armor, only smaller.

“Supply mana through the Mana Heart. Then press this button…!”

Whoooong—!

A violent gust of wind surged out.

Lorraine’s dark-golden hair scattered in a brilliant swirl.

A storm. At its center was a blade of light extending straight out from the handle.

“What the hell is this….”

The words slipped out of me in disbelief.

“…Aura Blade?”

It was unmistakable.

That handle was sucking in the mana supplied by the Mana Heart and projecting it out as an Aura Blade.

How could that even be possible?

Artificially creating an Aura Blade?

Did this mean any ordinary person could wield an Aura Blade just by using this?

That felt… unfair.

Sure, without swordsmanship skills it would be meaningless, but still—it felt unfair.

An Aura Blade was something only a genius in aura, someone with outstanding talent and countless grueling training sessions, could finally forge… and now it could be reproduced with nothing more than a tool like that?

I stared at it blankly, and Lorraine beamed.

It was a truly happy smile. Not her usual irritating grin.

“Incredible, isn’t it? Ah…! The Mythic Era, it’s just amazing!”

Every time she spoke of the Mythic Era, there was always something striking about it—the resonance in her voice, sparkling and vivid.

My sense of unfairness faded, and I found myself asking before I realized it.

“Do you like it that much? The Mythic Era?”

“Of course! It’s my dream!”

“Why?”

“Hmm—”

Lorraine hummed through her nose, swinging the Aura Blade in her hand as she strolled beneath the shattered moon.

Uh, she really shouldn’t be swinging that thing around so carelessly….

“There’s actually a fairy tale I read when I was a child. I just loved the story.”

The tale she shared sounded like nothing more than a simple children’s story, and to me, it left little impression.

“In the Mythic Era, there were no people who cried, no one who was sick, and nothing ever boring. So I thought, let’s study the magic of the Mythic Era. Maybe then, we too could become like that.”

Coming from Lorraine, the ultimate pursuer of profit, wasn’t that a strangely beautiful story?

Maybe that was why I couldn’t help but press at the weak spot.

“But the Mythic Era eventually perished, didn’t it? Quite miserably.”

She must have seen it too, through the video-recording artifacts.

I had seen it with my own eyes.

The deeper we ventured into the ruins, the clearer became the traces of brutal battles and massacres.

Unlike the somewhat picturesque entrance, the heart of the ruins gave off the sensation of being dragged into an underworld nightmare.

Looking at it all, the thought came naturally. That glorious Mythic Era hadn’t ended quietly. There must have been battles unimaginably horrific.

A civilization that met such a final fate… could it really have been so beautiful?

“Exactly!”

Lorraine spoke, her voice carrying weight.

“Even the Mythic Era collapsed. So what about us, who are so much worse? That’s why we have to catch up, even if only a little.”

There was none of her trademark smiling expression.

It felt like I had glimpsed a fish swimming vividly alive beneath a frozen lake.

“We have to uncover the truth of the Mythic Era. We need to see, learn, prepare, and be ready.”

Was this Lorraine’s true heart?

For a moment, the woman who always only cared about money looked different.

“Ahem. Did I look impressive just now?”

But then she suddenly relaxed her face and smiled brightly.

“That was just when I was a kid. Back then, I was like that. But now? The Mythic Era? I like it because it makes money.”

…Or maybe not?

“Do you know how much money you could make by copying even just a tiny fraction of the Mythic Era’s magic? I’ll tell you! I’ll become the richest person in the world!”

That was the Lorraine I knew.

The ever-smiling witch who never tired of driving everyone mercilessly for money.

‘I wonder what that was earlier.’ Then again, ‘This is the real Lorraine,’ I thought, and let out a faint laugh.

But suddenly, a strange feeling struck me.

‘Everyone… they really do live so earnestly.’

For whatever reason.

Lorraine, Cask, Master Eodran, the researchers, the mercenaries of the Exploration Team—they all lived with such intensity.

And yet, despite living so fiercely… in the era I came from, there was no trace of them.

So what did they actually leave behind?

The thought unsettled me a little.

‘All the more reason… I need to take as much of the best as I can. Fill subspace to the brim. If it comes down to it, I’ll even steal it in secret.’

I renewed my resolve.

To carry their traces forward into the future.

*         *         *

On my way back to the lodging after meeting Lorraine, I found Cask standing in front of my door.

What the hell.

Had he seen me alone with Lorraine? Was he here to pick a fight again?

‘Is it time to snap his sword in two again?’

I braced myself—

“This.”

He held something out again.

A cube-shaped crystal and a flat bead, no larger than a fingernail.

“…What’s this?”

“A reader and a bud. Artifacts used by mages.”

“Reader? Bud? What are those?”

“…They’re telepathy-related artifacts.”

Artifacts, huh? That alone made them valuable. But why was he giving these to me all of a sudden?

“…You said the kid learning magic couldn’t read, right? If you put the reader on a book’s cover and wear the bud in your ear, the memory inside gets transmitted through telepathy. Since I’ve read those books over and over, it’ll come through vividly… so even without knowing how to read, they’ll understand. And they’ll learn letters faster too.”

Seriously?

So with these, I wouldn’t even need to translate?

I froze in disbelief again.

“Uh… but why are you giving this to me?”

I had to ask honestly.

To be blunt, wasn’t it natural for Cask to hate me? Why was he being kind? Did he have some hidden agenda?

Cask bit down hard on his lip.

“I wasn’t planning to go this far. And yet….”

He scratched at his head furiously, making his chick-yellow hair shake.

“You said five years old, right?”

“Huh?”

“The one who’s supposed to learn. You said they’re five.”

Oh, right. I did say that.

Though in truth, I was thinking about Seah and Asha….

“So that’s why. That’s why I’m doing this. Ha… why the hell am I even…. Anyway, just use them well, and tell them to grow into a good mage.”

Cask hurriedly wrapped things up and turned away.

“Cask.”

I called out to his back as he walked off.

“What?”

“Well… it’s just….”

A little embarrassing, but still.

“Thanks.”

Cask’s expression twisted. He clenched his fist and extended only his middle finger.

Ah, I knew that one. What was it again?

Then, without a word, he flicked it up and strode off.

That’s when it came back to me.

I had learned it from the knights back at Glowingsteel.

‘That’s a curse, isn’t it? A finger curse.’

And a pretty nasty one at that.

Damn.

I thanked him, and he… cursed me?

‘Two halves?’

I thought that, but truthfully—

I felt good.

Because he gave it to me for a five-year-old.

Because even though he didn’t want to, he gave it anyway.

That was it, wasn’t it?

Damn brat.

The reason’s a good one.

*         *         *

The next day.

Lorraine summoned us first thing in the morning.

From her flushed face, I could feel her excitement.

“Yesterday, I scanned the artifacts you all left behind.”

Scanned?

At those words, the expressions of the Exploration Team mercenaries changed.

Mine did too.

Could it be?

“I confirmed the end of the ruins. Most likely, the final exploration will be the day after tomorrow.”

As expected…!

“Now, let’s see what lies at the very end! Just what is it that radiates such overwhelming energy? What secret does this ruin of the Mythic Era hold within it?”

Her voice was burning with excitement,

and my own blood burned with fighting spirit.

A powerful premonition came over me.

At the end of this path, a battle awaited.

Perhaps, even clad in Magical Armor, it would be a blood-soaked fight against a formidable enemy that would demand my full strength.

And perhaps, through that experience, I would achieve another breakthrough.

Thump.

At last, the end of this journey was in sight.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.