Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: Emergency Shelter
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“The castle lord’s residence is in ruins?”
“Yes.”
Arsen pondered whether to believe this unbelievable report.
There are things in the world that, if not truly unchanging, come infinitely close to it. The sun rises during the day and sets at night, all objects fall downward, lose enough blood and you die.
In this world, the estate lord’s manor and castle lord’s residence were existences close to such natural phenomena.
Structures deemed indestructible even in the most advanced era of Bakran, built with the technological prowess of the ancestral age, a time distant even to the ancients.
“Are you certain?”
“……I can’t say for sure.”
Arsen turned to Elder Lattis and the other knights. After exchanging glances, he nodded.
“Alright. Let’s go check it out.”
Miro had scouted ahead at a knight’s pace, so it took the group several hours to reach the place.
Marching faster than before, Arsen used Eternal Whisper to ask.
[If the castle lord’s residence really collapsed, that means what I’m thinking, right?]
[What’re you thinking?]
[The reason the purification magic circle broke is here.]
[Well…… yeah. I didn’t see it, but you said everywhere else was fine?]
From behind came the sound of long leather dragging along the ground.
Against that backdrop, only Bakran’s voice echoed solemnly as they kept moving without pause.
* * *
Several hours later, upon finally arriving at the ruins, Arsen cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
The traces of ruin were unmistakable. It was the estate lord’s manor, the building that provided humanity with the purification zone.
Miro apparently hadn’t had much chance to see one due to his status and couldn’t distinguish between the two, but Arsen knew the difference well.
This building had a front yard and walls that the castle lord’s residence lacked, and its overall framework was far larger.
As people circled the collapsed ruins, murmurs arose.
“It really got destroyed.”
“What on earth happened here?”
There were no other traces around the ruins. Just overgrown trees and grass, and even the ruins themselves were covered in unidentified vine plants.
This hinted that the purification zone in this region had stopped functioning long ago—extremely long ago.
Then, from nearby came a clanging sound of something being struck.
“Eek!”
“The material itself seems intact. It won’t break.”
Bazkal, who had struck one wall with all his might, was rubbing his hands together as they throbbed.
Beside him, Anun was running his hand over the wall, which showed not even a scratch despite Bazkal’s full-force blow from a high-ranking knight. Few materials could withstand such an attack.
Yet for all its solidity, the estate lord’s manor was in a wretched state.
The upper floors from the second story up were sunken in as if something had taken a bite out of them, and the section where the annex should have been was sliced diagonally and lay tumbled aside.
Because of that, the remaining structure wasn’t much different in scale from a castle lord’s residence, so it wasn’t surprising that Miro had mistaken it.
Seeing this, Arsen asked Bakran.
[Can you guess how it was destroyed?]
[Not at all…… Like I said before, even in our era, we couldn’t demolish the axes. Unless some new tech came along in the meantime.]
Unsatisfying words that offered no answers. Shaking his head in frustration, Arsen issued orders first.
“Check the interior for now. Prepare to rest.”
The interior of the estate lord’s manor was empty. Truly just the building itself remained; not even furniture was to be seen.
It could be that someone had taken it all, or it might have crumbled away over the years.
In truth, “preparations to stay” weren’t anything grand. They still couldn’t light a fire due to the risk of detection, nor have a hot meal.
The only preparation was laying out blankets to rest and sleep.
The silver lining was being able to sleep in a space enclosed by ceiling and walls.
For people who had been shivering in the approaching winter chill, wrapped only in hides, this was welcome news indeed.
“How long’s it been since we slept indoors?”
“I thought my jaw was gonna lock up from chattering every night.”
Many among them were mages, and they used insulation spells on wherever they stayed before sleep, so this was half exaggeration.
In contrast, their complaints about food were genuine.
Lighting a fire and producing smoke was tantamount to suicide, so everyone was fed up with dried rations for every meal.
Perhaps feeling it anew with this decent lodging, someone voiced their gripe.
“Dinner tonight’s jerky and dried fruit again? I’m gonna choke.”
“Quit whining and endure it. We’re almost there for real now.”
Hearing the rebuke, Arsen quietly closed his eyes.
He could fully empathize with their complaints. As leader, he didn’t get special meals either, so he felt how monotonous food relentlessly wore down the human spirit.
Humans crave the pleasure of taste more than one might think; the joy from savoring good food rivals that from sights or sounds.
“Are sleeping arrangements ready?”
At Arsen’s question, Reno bowed politely in response.
Even as a high knight, he always positioned himself as Arsen’s servant, working diligently as his right hand.
Of course, while he took that humble stance, others saw Reno as Arsen’s right arm and a power broker.
“Yes. Mostly done. Including the basement, it should accommodate everyone sufficiently……”
[Sen.]
Then, Eloise called Arsen via earring.
Arsen raised a hand to halt Reno.
“One moment.”
[What’s up?]
[Found a door in the basement. Seems hidden with an illusion spell or something…… It’s kinda like the ruin’s door.]
[A door?]
[Yeah. Looks like I’ll need your help to open it.]
* * *
The basement, which should have been pitch dark, was fairly bright. Most of those resting were mages, who had conjured lights.
Passing mages lying on blankets here and there, Arsen spotted Eloise.
She stood with the Starburmi elders.
“Ellie.”
“You’re here already? Look at this.”
Where Eloise pointed was just ordinary floor. No matter how he looked, left or right, it was merely plain flooring.
Staring blankly at it, Eloise added.
“Try touching it with your hand.”
Sure enough, upon contact, the texture felt entirely different from what his eyes saw.
Rough and uneven, like something engraved into it.
The moment he touched it, a voice spoke.
[This emergency shelter is currently sealed. Authorization from a Level 1 administrator is required.]
Before Arsen could say anything, it continued.
[No survivors detected in the shelter. Per emergency evacuation protocols, the door may be opened. However, unauthorized use or theft of internal supplies will result in punishment under military law. Opening the door will notify the nearest investigative office. Open the door?]
Arsen listened quietly, then gave a simple reply.
“Open it.”
[Approved.]
With that, the door opened, and the magic dispersed.
* * *
The emergency shelter was surprisingly fresh and clean.
Far larger than expected, it could house thirty to forty people, and the furniture and items around had a distinctly modern design.
Seeing this, Bakran exclaimed in surprise.
[Stuff from my era!]
[Seems like it.]
What caught Arsen’s eye was the deceased’s remains. On a bed in one corner lay a corpse, neatly arranged, reduced to bones.
Arsen retrieved the object clutched in its hand. A rectangular device fitting perfectly in one palm—Bakran said it was a tool used like a cell phone.
[Press the button on the back.]
Following the instruction, the device activated immediately.
Unlike Bakran’s previous item, which was completely wrecked, this one appeared intact.
[It’s from Aruks Corporation. Supposedly sold only to top politicians or corporate chairmen. They said even a combat mobile fortress passing overhead wouldn’t break it?]
Amazed at how such a fine item had endured, Arsen observed its operation.
Moments later, the blue light faded, and a screen appeared. Like a hologram.
Its basic interface design differed from Earth’s that Arsen remembered, feeling awkward, but he could manipulate it by touching like a touchscreen.
The Starburmi elders and knights watching in astonishment asked.
“Sir Arsen, why are you gesturing at thin air……?”
“Do you know how to use it?”
“Huh?”
At Arsen’s puzzled counterquestion, Bakran quickly explained. Apparently, it had a feature visible only to the user, installed in some high-end models.
“Oh, yeah. I’m getting a feel for it now. Figuring out how it works.”
As he made excuses, they marveled that, as expected of the successor, he was something else.
Arsen fiddled around, investigating the device—roughly akin to a cell phone. Communication logs with others, something like a game, and……
‘Personal Records.’
Pressing the button unfolded text before his eyes.
The first line began like this.
-I am Ratel Esta Bellu Ramus, successor to the Bayaka Principality.-
He’d heard of the Bayaka Principality before.
According to Bakran, a nation with satellite launch technology.
Reciting this, Bakran muttered.
[A Bayaka prince dying in a place like this? Even the world’s richest man can’t buy everything. Or wait, maybe because he had money, he died here at least?]
[The world’s richest?]
[Yeah. Bayaka was one of the key sources of rhenium, essential for modern civilization. As a principality, the royals monopolized it and got filthy rich. The Bayaka king was always in the top ranks of the world’s wealthiest. Though the country itself was poor from constant wars over the mines.]
Rhenium, he explained, was a rare earth that enabled remote transmission of mana. Used extensively in daily necessities, industry, and military.
Exporting it worldwide in such quantities felt akin to Middle Eastern oil states on Earth.
[So why’s a guy like this dead here writing this? Hurry up and scroll.]
[Don’t rush me. Reading it’ll tell us.]
With that, Arsen scrolled down.
-We made a horrific decision. I opposed it, but opposition won’t absolve me. We’re all sinners of history. We will be forever. How many lives vanished? Tens of millions? Hundreds? More? I can only hope not.-
Though mere text, not spoken words, each sentence brimmed with sorrow, self-loathing, and despair.
Scrolling further revealed a shocking passage.
-Facing national destruction, who came up with the mad idea that rather than die alone, we’d destroy the purification magic circle? Even reconsidering, it was the thought of lunatics. Of course, no one foresaw this tragedy as the outcome. The primary blame lies with Ostr, who declared war on our kingdom.-
[Bakran, did the Bayaka Principality fall?]
[Huh? That area was always at war, so I’m not sure……]
[What’s Ostr?]
[Ostr? A country near Bayaka.]
[They were at war, didn’t you know?]
At Arsen’s questions, Bakran defended himself. He was a history buff who could recite ancient grudges between those nations, but current state disputes didn’t interest him.
They were far from his Lehman Republic anyway, with little exchange, he added.
[I see.]
Fair enough—Arsen himself knew little of African or Middle Eastern conflicts.
Unless one specialized in it, people in eras with plenty to see and enjoy at home rarely cared about distant nations.
But investing in stocks while ignoring global affairs this much? It explained why he’d gone bankrupt.
[Alright, let’s read on.]
-Technological advancement should advance humanity, yet inventing spatial severance tech led humans to interpret it as ‘able to destroy anything.’ Is that human nature?
To plead our case, what we expected from shattering the purification magic circle’s axis wasn’t this horrific annihilation.-
Arsen skipped the excuses, focusing on the core.
It seemed these people had destroyed the purification magic circle.
-Top experts, the royal mages, predicted that if the axis shattered, at minimum this area, at worst the entire kingdom, would be engulfed in primordial poison.
Thus, we distributed gas masks to all kingdom citizens in advance, hiding key personnel in shelters nationwide.
But the king refused to hide.
His bold declaration that a monarch who endangered the nation couldn’t cowardly survive still lingers in my mind.-
“Experts’ opinions”—just hearing it sounded ominous.
How often did any group’s so-called experts get it right? The saying that expert opinions lack credibility wasn’t mere jest.
[Whatever, I don’t care if the king died. So what happened?]
Bakran grumbled irritably.
Empathizing, Arsen flicked his finger to scroll down swiftly, and finally, the events unfolded.
-With everyone in hiding, those who volunteered to sacrifice for the royal family used the space cutter on the axis building.
Per plan, the poison should have filled the area, repelling the invading enemy army, and stopped there. But an anomaly occurred.
According to one we met later, when one axis of the magic circle collapsed, the others began crumbling like a building missing a pillar. And the downfall of this world’s largest, strongest magic circle triggered a mana explosion. One powerful enough to shatter all the world’s magic.-