Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Barkran's Resolve
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When Arsen returned, the campsite was already brightly lit with fires.
The other knights, soldiers, and even mages who had been asleep were all up, awakening their riding beasts with awakening stones for the search.
Arsen halted the entire process and, as prepared on the way, offered his excuse.
He said there was an unidentified group to the south, so he had approached briefly, checked them out, and spoken with them.
“Is it okay to just leave them be?”
At Anun’s question, Arsen shook his head.
“They had a mage too, and it seemed like they were passing by stealthily. Their forces are much weaker than ours, so no need to worry.”
“What if we invite them to join us? It’d be safer with more numbers.”
“I don’t trust them that much to begin with… and they don’t seem to trust us either. They might’ve already moved camp. Their position was exposed, after all.”
The explanation sounded plausible enough that the unidentified group wasn’t mentioned again.
Just to be safe, he ordered a few more soldiers to stay awake before switching places with Anun and entering his personal tent.
He immediately pulled out the orb containing Barkran.
“Hey.”
Worried that Anun or Rino outside might hear, he whispered softly, but there was no response.
Wondering if he’d spoken too quietly, he called a bit louder, and only then came a reply.
[Sorry, I just want some time alone to think right now. Just a little more time, please.]
‘He’s finally realizing his situation.’
It seemed only after hearing that his body was gone did the reality truly sink in.
Suddenly thrown hundreds or thousands of years into the future, trapped in an orb without his original body—it was normal to fall into confusion like this.
Until just now, he must have handled it calmly because the situation hadn’t fully registered.
Pestering him wouldn’t help, so Arsen quietly wrapped the orb in a cloth and stowed it in his backpack.
‘He’ll get over it in a few days.’
* * *
Arsen’s prediction missed the mark—in a positive way.
The next morning, as the sun rose, Barkran Kedow demanded that Arsen take out the orb he was in. So he could see outside.
Arsen obliged, hanging the orb from a few strings to make it look like a decoration on his backpack.
All day long, Barkran kept startling or marveling at the scenery around them, wearing out Arsen’s ears.
Arsen held back from yelling at him to be quiet more times than he could count.
Finally, that evening at bedtime, Arsen got a chance to talk with Barkran again.
“Have you sorted out your thoughts?”
[Yeah. I thought about it while sightseeing today, and it seems you’re the only one I can talk to.]
“That’s right.”
[Let’s make a deal. I’ll share knowledge from my era in exchange for your help getting me back a body.]
Arsen bowed his head thoughtfully at Barkran’s proposal.
“Your knowledge will be useful, sure… but as you saw today, magic in our era isn’t even on the level of the exhibits in your museums. There’s no guarantee I can restore you to your original body.”
Of course, the library’s knowledge might offer a way, but Arsen kept that thought to himself.
Barkran spoke confidently to him.
[If you can’t, pass it on to your descendants, and their descendants. I heard this orb is made of Lucaroot, so as long as you keep filling it with mana, it won’t break. Someday, when magitech returns to modern levels…]
Since he was stuck like this anyway, he was thinking long-term.
It was a rational response, fitting for someone with a higher education.
Though it was a bit overly optimistic, Arsen welcomed the attitude and didn’t nitpick.
“Alright. Looking forward to working with you, Barkran. If you help me faithfully, I’ll do everything I can to get you back to your original body.”
[Great!]
The cheerfulness in his voice showed no trace of yesterday’s gloom.
It might be his natural disposition, or perhaps an exaggerated show of cheer to escape the grim reality.
Then, Barkran said, “Oh.”
[Wait, what if your descendants can’t hear Spirit Speech? That’d be a problem.]
“Spirit Speech?”
[What I’m speaking with now.]
“I thought it was magic.”
At Arsen’s question, Barkran replied as if it were ridiculous.
[I’m not a mage, you know? What kind of lunatic mage majors in history…? Ah, you wouldn’t get it. Anyway, Spirit Speech is separate from magic. It’s a kind of spiritual talent. That’s why I went into history. Most ancient ruins have broken vocal functions, so you need Spirit Speech to get their guidance.]
“Like the ruins explaining their functions directly?”
[Exactly. I was chosen for the experiment because I could use Spirit Speech. They said it’s needed to communicate in this state.]
Only now did Arsen understand why previous inheritors couldn’t hear the ruins’ voices.
Who would’ve thought it was another ability entirely, separate from magic.
After marveling for a moment, Arsen asked again.
“Could I speak Spirit Speech too? I can’t mutter to the orb out loud where others might hear.”
[Can’t you just tell the others?]
“No. Your existence is too unusual.”
Arsen had traveled many estates, but he’d never heard tales of Barkran’s era.
Which meant the orb was likely the only source of info on that time.
[Ah… come to think of it, are you some wandering knight or mercenary? Worried your companions might kill you and steal me?]
She seemed to be misunderstanding something, but he didn’t bother correcting her.
Arsen asked calmly.
“So, is it possible?”
[With training, yes. Being able to hear Spirit Speech means you can speak it too.]
“Tell me the training method, and I’ll try.”
[Got it. Here’s how you do it…]
After teaching him a few training methods, Arsen shared knowledge of the modern world with Barkran.
The basics of society built around estates and citadels, civilization level, living conditions, and so on.
Barkran didn’t know much about magic beasts or raiders either.
He could only guess that magic beasts were escaped biotech experiments causing trouble, and raiders might be some issue from human-doll hybrids.
[But it’s really weird, hybrids between dolls and humans.]
“Come to think of it, you said dolls don’t have human genes?”
[Yeah. Ethical issues. Modifying human genes is the biggest taboo in biotech.]
Barkran added, groaning thoughtfully.
[Maybe they just said that publicly. Even if human genes were in dolls, they could block reproduction separately… and dolls weren’t just combat types.]
“Dolls weren’t just combat types?”
[No. They started as combat models, but later they made all kinds. Labor, housework, hospitality, entertainment… tons of fields.]
“Were doll intelligences equal to humans?”
[Not at all! They matched or exceeded humans in specialties, but no real conversation or self-awareness. Creating full sapients violates ethics. They just greet, carry stuff, sing, play instruments. Oh, and fight.]
To Arsen, arbitrarily creating and enslaving life was unethical from the start, but it seemed ancient ethics differed.
Naturally—their morals came from a different world, a different era.
Sometimes Barkran felt like a modern person like Arsen, but the gap was vast.
[Anyway, I was jealous.]
“Hm?”
[That black-haired girl, your fiancée?]
“Who said that?”
[On the way here, your companions were talking like that. Am I wrong?]
When Barkran wanted to see outside, Arsen had hung the orb like a backpack ornament, so he must’ve seen and heard then.
As he said, Eloise’s beauty was exceptional.
If she weren’t a mage, Arsen could bet hundreds in Belluan would’ve been smitten.
“Something like that.”
[A beautiful mage fiancée? Straight out of a novel, the ideal type. In my era, a girl like that would’ve been a superstar. Doll lineage? Combat dolls were mostly designed attractive… wait.]
“What?”
[Something’s coming to mind. Combat doll hybrids? I think I heard back then, ah… I get it now.]
“What?”
After a thoughtful silence, Barkran spoke cautiously.
[Just a guess, but ancient combat dolls were designed to prioritize enemy mages. Mages controlled dolls, so they added mage-detection functions. I heard about that. Dolls can still distinguish humans from mages… maybe that gene glitched in the hybrid process? You humans mixed genes and it stopped working.]
“…That makes sense.”
[Not certain. I’m not a biotech major. Just take it as hearsay.]
Hating mages meant recognizing them.
Perhaps Arsen’s lack of aversion wasn’t from specific genes activating, but from them being damaged.
It wasn’t confirmed, but it rang true.
* * *
[Sen!]
[…Yeah? What?]
Arsen startled at the voice through his earring and replied before he knew it.
Eloise, watching him, looked worried.
[You okay? You’ve been staring at the ground.]
[Ah, sorry. Just thinking.]
[Because of that ancient?]
After their talk, Arsen had told Eloise about the ancient, Barkran Kedow, via earring.
She was shocked but very curious, though group travel made it hard for Arsen to facilitate talks.
He hadn’t mastered Spirit Speech yet.
They could only chat at midnight in personal tents.
Arsen spoke aloud to Barkran, Barkran replied via Spirit Speech, Arsen relayed via relic to Eloise, got her response—that cumbersome way.
Despite limited talks, Eloise produced amazing results from Barkran’s knowledge.
[Thanks to that ancient, I added a retrieval function to the javelins.]
[Oh, that. Makes things way easier now.]
After some knowledge from Barkran, Eloise tinkered with the javelin launcher and explosive javelins, adding a return feature.
She said a simple conceptual shift made relic-crafting much smoother.
A bit more research, and she could make permanent magic gear like ancient relics.
[Still, it’s a shame. His knowledge feels shallow and patchy. I thought ancients were all magic masters.]
[Can’t be helped. He’s not a mage—history major.]
As a non-specialist, Barkran’s magic concepts were superficial, like what contemporaries knew.
Like modern people knowing steam engines only basically.
Barkran provided advanced ideas; Eloise had to implement them.
[I’ll work on learning Spirit Speech. Then we can talk anytime.]
[You got this. I’ll research too!]
Her cute fist-pump cheer made Arsen smile and nod.
Then, Bazkal up front raised his hand high.
“What is it?”
“A river, boss! The Eldarin River!”
Pushing his mount forward to Bazkal, a vast river stretched like the sea.
A massive river blocking the horizon, dividing continent north from south—the Eldarin River, with many names across estates.
Since crossing the mountains, they’d followed its southern bank westward.
Meeting the river now wasn’t from going south.
It had curved north, blocking them.
A sign they’d reached their target estate.
‘Finally here.’
Baltres, the riverside estate.
Where the final clue’s ruin lay, and where they’d rendezvous with Byul Burmi’s main force.