Snowglobe (2)
"Veron, knight of Phairden. Born without the Diddle Hills, he lived a lonely life alone, yet devoted his entire existence to chivalry as a model..."
The mass for Veron continued in the cemetery, and his coffin was lowered into the earth. Julie stared blankly at his hollow chest. She gazed vacantly at the wound pierced by a shard of steel.
At the same time, Deculein's words echoed in her mind.
—He deserved to die from the start, that arrogant bastard. Daring to covet what wasn't his, without knowing his place. A man not worth keeping alive.
Weeeeng—The world shook with tinnitus ringing in her ears. The ground beneath her feet swayed dizzily.
Yuseffin supported her staggering shoulders, as if she were a soulless shell.
—Even if I reveal that fact now, what of it? Do you think you can punish me? Me, who enjoys His Majesty's favor?
All his words boomed hugely in her ears. Words Julie didn't want to accept. Words too painful and cruel.
His cold demeanor.
—In any case, even that has become useless now.
Did he really kill Veron?
—A knight writhing and gasping over something as trivial as a curse.
Was it all her fault?
Because she was weak, because of the curse she still hadn't overcome?
—All this time, you wore a mask that didn't suit you, pretending to want me without even realizing it. Now, it just disgusts me.
Julie bowed her head. Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Sadness, hatred, disappointment, denial, doubt... All those emotions clawed at her skin, stabbed her heart like spikes.
It hurt too much.
—I'm not compassionate enough to love a dying woman, and two bereavements would tarnish the Yukline name.
Yet his harsh words all led to one thought.
This wound was ultimately because of you.
I gave my all to protect you, and this scar was the price.
Thanks to you, whom I mistakenly thought had changed because of me, I lived cherishing it as a glorious mark.
And yet you... even that...
—I have nothing to say to you lot who supplied defective goods. The engagement with Phairden is off. Tell Zeit that too.
"Why."
Julie murmured, holding back tears.
What did I do wrong to you?
Why did you desire me so much, torment me so fiercely, and even now... continue to torment me like this...?
"...Why."
Julie felt pain in her heart. Her breathing grew ragged.
She couldn't breathe; blood trickled from her bitten lip.
Why, why, why.
Her questions spilled out, but they reached no one, fading into the air, scattering.
She was simply dying to know. She wanted to ask Deculein.
The reason he had worn such an elaborate mask all this time just to have her. The reason he obsessed over her even to the point of killing an innocent knight like Veron...
"Why!"
Julie wanted to know.
* * *
I traversed this frozen hell at the bottom.
The thick darkness remained, but my optic nerves, grasping even the tiniest light source, illuminated the surroundings. The bone-chilling cold that froze my breath was unchanged, but as an Iron Man, I endured.
A body transcending humanity, gripped by a mind transcending humanity, yielding resistance transcending humanity.
"..."
First, I probed the purpose of this Snowglobe.
An ancient treasure from the ancient era. If its intent had been like Noah's Ark, 'preserving ancient humanity,' there wouldn't have been such natural disasters.
"..."
Thus, the most plausible hypothesis was a 'prison.' A trap crafted to imprison someone.
Of course, being an artifact from the ancient era, the chances of whoever was trapped still being alive were minuscule.
"...?"
As I walked with that thought.
I spotted darkness looming ahead. I focused mana into my eyes.
For reference, I could now momentarily amplify with Iron Man and bestow Authority. In other words, I could enhance my retinal function like Superman at any moment, or imbue part of Iron Man into my throat steel.
"What is this...?"
But even pouring mana into my eyes, the darkness didn't lift. I slowly raised my head. Moved my frozen neck.
At first, I thought it was a wall. Some massive object was blocking the path like a Snorlax.
...No.
"..."
I lost my words for a moment. A hollow laugh escaped. My frozen brain throbbed with a clang! headache.
Then, 'it' opened its eyes.
I named its race.
"...Giant."
From distant antiquity, the race that ruled the entire continent. In this world's lore, the race closest to gods, wiser and more sagacious than any other.
A named entity essential for clearing the main quest.
Its body exceeded 15 meters even in a proper seated posture, its arms thick as world trees. Each strand of the necklace adorning its shoulders and chest was the size of an adult man.
Indeed, the Snowglobe was made to imprison someone.
If that someone was a Giant, it was only natural it was built this vast.
—...
The Giant opened its eyes. Its brilliant gaze lit the underground. Its retinas looked down upon me. Its pupils were deep as oceans, reflecting all things in the world sparklingly.
Giant Q&A
◆ Mana +300
◆ Rare Trait Catalog
◆ Shop Currency +3
It was a reward worth losing one's mind over.
I gazed at the Giant. Unintimidated by its overwhelming bulk. Instead, I faced it with noble poise.
—An unusual human...
Gooooong—The Giant's voice resonated solemnly. Ice walls crumbled with pattering sounds, vibrations rising from within my body.
For an ordinary human, that pressure alone would disintegrate their flesh upon hearing it.
"..."
I didn't avert my eyes from the Giant's.
Even facing a Giant head-on, Deculein's ego remained steadfast, unyielding, and above all, the reward tempted me.
"I am Deculein of Yukline."
The Giant's eyes narrowed slightly. The air resonated with the movement of its eyelids.
—...
A character whose entire race was named: the Giant.
The nameless one peered into me intently.
For a long time, silence descended. The Giant's pressure bore down on my shoulders. Yet I didn't bend my upright posture in the slightest.
—Deculein of Yukline.
Finally, the words it offered me were.
—Is that your true name?
It had already pierced through all of me.
I shook my head, staring at the Giant.
There was no need to deceive an ancient legend.
"My name is Kim Woojin. A man from another world who came here and became Deculein."
—...
Only then did the Giant nod. It even smiled at my honest answer.
* * *
...The paper by 'Deculein·Luna' ignited a massive controversy on the Floating Island. Thousands of addicts swarmed a single paper review, and 'Deculein·Luna Paper Academic Debates' erupted dozens of times a day.
Thanks to that, all work on the Floating Island ground to a halt.
Government offices, magic bookstores, potion shops, rank assignments, exam management, Wizard Atomic, and more. Over 70% of the island's resident mages were obsessed with Deculein's paper.
—Judging the potential of the Deculein paper is grasping at clouds. So what if it's theoretically brilliant? No mage can apply it in practice.
—Even so, you can't call it clouds. How can you dismiss such an original theory? Professor Deculein is the intellect to lead this era.
First, on the 7th floor of Megaseion, the debate floor. All 33 debate halls shared the same topic.
The validity of the Deculein·Luna paper.
—The concepts in the Deculein paper are, of course, tremendously, exceedingly genius.
Even the critical addicts firmly acknowledged the paper's intrinsic value.
—But it's too genius, alien even. Who could apply this magic?
However, the issue was magical application—practical feasibility.
A mage talented in all attributes of the four elements, wielding at least four-series magic or higher, with the skills and experience the paper demands? To put it bluntly, none exist in the 'secular world.'
Not even Adrienne, newly promoted to archmage, could. She specialized in destruction series.
—If a paper can't be applied, does that make it worthless? What about Lukel's proof? What about the 'Dukan' auxiliary series ritual and formula, now faith in the auxiliary series?
Thanks to that, the Floating Island boomed. Mages from each nation's towers flocked there, nearly doubling the floating population.
"...I just borrowed the paper. How far are you?"
These days, walking the streets of the Floating Island, conversations about that paper always drifted in.
"Page 3. Couldn't progress beyond that. No wonder it's not fully public."
This was because Deculein had released the full paper. He set no price on the paper itself; pay only the authorship fee to read it.
Papers impossible to apply practically didn't sell well anyway.
"Hey, I conquered page 11 yesterday. You?"
"...Early page 12?"
Yet Deculein's casual act had birthed a minor hierarchy, competition, and trend on the Floating Island.
"Pfft. Bluffing. Wanna cross-verify at my place?"
"Ugh, fine, page 7. Happy?"
How much of the paper's theory one understood. How many pages they'd progressed. Whether they were even worth conversing with.
That alone became the Floating Island's magical fad, and now even an unofficial 'Knowledge Society' had formed...
...Meanwhile.
This was the Floating Island's famous restaurant, 'Magic Pasta.'
"But, like. Who the hell applies this theory in practice? Not even a handful of mages grasp beyond page 20."
Ifrin, visiting the Floating Island after ages, shoveled pasta, unsure if noodles went in her nose or mouth.
"So? How many pages have you got, saying that? How much of the Deculein paper do you understand?"
Every conversation around was about the Deculein·Luna paper.
"Ugh, seriously. What does it matter now? It's not practical anyway."
"Doesn't matter, how many pages? Answer. If it makes sense, I'll listen."
"...Page 9, anyway! Heard Agora's opening after forever. Let's debate properly then."
"Ha. Mind blown. Page 9 won't even get you into Agora?"
Agora. The Floating Island's grandest academic debate hall.
Not just the addicts, but even Monarch rank and above, all gathered by the chairman for this event.
"For real?"
"Yeah. Minimum qualifier's page 13."
The sole topic: Deculein's paper.
"...Whatever. More importantly, who's Luna? Why's she stuck to Deculein?"
"Was his assistant. Provided the idea. Shares are 5:5 anyway."
"..."
Now even Dad talk was coming up. Ifrin slyly pushed her plate aside, about to bolt, but spotted someone and flinched back into her seat.
It was Longdalp.
"Ifrin. Long time no see?"
"Yes. Elder Longdalp. What a coincidence!"
The Ether-rank mage who once told her 'Deculein actually cherishes you.'
Longdalp, with his long beard, chuckled and placed a hand on Ifrin's shoulder.
"Coincidence? I sought you out. Heard from Ganesha."
"Pardon? What news...?"
Suddenly, Longdalp's smile hardened. He leaned to her ear and whispered heavily.
—Dikailen.
Ifrin shuddered. Longdalp smiled kindly again and stepped back.
"I despise that man too. Came to prepare countermeasures for you."
"Ah, I see!"
She nodded brightly, but rumors of Longdalp surfaced.
"Um... if it's okay, how much would the cost be...?"
Money-eating longevity turtle. Longdalp's infamous Floating Island nickname, which he didn't deny.
"Kekeke. Money later. Follow me?"
"Y-yes."
"Right. Kekekeke."
Laughing ahead, Longdalp suddenly stopped and turned.
"Oh, right."
"...?"
He asked the tilting Ifrin, suddenly serious and curious.
"How many pages have you understood?"
"Pardon?"
"Deculein's paper. It's all the rage on the Floating Island now."
"Ah... about page 130 for me?"
"Whaaat?!"
Longdalp's face contorted in shock. Eyes bulging, he quickly said.
"Don't lie to Grandpa, now."
"I-it's true."
"...Hmm. Fine. We'll check later. Let's go."
Longdalp eyed Ifrin suspiciously and moved on.
* * *
Tick-tock—tick-tock—The Snowglobe's time flowed. Sophien calculated the discrepancy using her mana-formed clock and ice magic.
Two weeks had passed inside, yet only three days outside.
"..."
Sophien created a mana platform on the snowy ground. She ate ice cream atop it, waiting for the fallen Deculein.
For two weeks.
"...Your Majesty."
Then, the statue Kairon awoke. Sophien glanced and sneered.
"Awake early, aren't you? It's been two weeks already."
Kairon surveyed the surroundings. The blizzard-swept space was a mess.
"My apologies."
He knelt immediately.
The statue mechanism responded only to killing intent, ignoring natural disasters.
"Punish me."
Kairon offered no excuses. Knights were like that.
"Enough. Knights are blockheads anyway. More importantly, what did you learn?"
Trembling like a sinner, he replied.
"I reached the end of this Snowglobe. Its area nearly matches the continent."
"...Is that so. Rise."
This rigid knight had traversed the Snowglobe entirely on foot. Sophien chuckled wryly and helped Kairon up.
Kairon asked somewhat puzzled.
"Your Majesty. Professor Deculein still?"
"He came."
"But—"
"Saved me and plunged below alone."
"..."
Sophien glanced at the endless crevasse below her platform. Kairon narrowed his eyes, staring down.
Nothing visible. Not a speck of light penetrated.
If Deculein had fallen from this cliff...
"...Hah."
Watching greatly flustered Kairon, Sophien smiled faintly.
"Thinking now, I am the luckiest among the most unfortunate emperors."
Kairon turned to her. Sophien continued, eyes on Deculein's ice cream.
"I have a knight who explored a continent's breadth on mere two feet for me."
"..."
"And a professor who shared centuries with me."
"...Your Majesty."
Kairon sensed her unusual tone. Each word chilled, laced with eerie frost.
"What do you intend?"
Kairon asked cautiously, gazing at the emperor burning crimson against the pure white world.
"Why ask? No Nesius left, no way out known."
She answered dryly.
"If he doesn't return from the depths..."
Her eyes fell on the sword at Kairon's waist.
"Only suicide remains."