Oblein Holy Kingdom
Oblein Holy Kingdom.
Early morning.
I slipped out of bed, settled my breakfast in the inn's first-floor dining hall, and finished the reading I hadn't managed the day before.
"The end of the world, huh..."
The language and culture of the elves. The war between dark mages and the elven people. The book had offered me all kinds of knowledge, but nothing held my interest quite like the Wall of Storms said to stand at the world's end.
No witnesses. Nothing more than a legend passed down since ancient times through pictures, writing, and word of mouth.
Legends change with the teller's taste and the recorder's fancy. That is simply how they travel.
Where did the lies begin, and where did they end?
Was this storybook speaking only the truth?
There was no way to know — not until I reached the legend myself.
The elves were real. So was the seed of the World Tree. The faint blessing of wind coiled around my body and the warm pulse in my pocket were proof enough of that.
But what, exactly, was this Wall of Wind supposed to mean — the one said to stand at the end of the world?
This world was round. Just as Earth was round. So long as the physical law of gravity held, that fact would not change.
Go far enough and you would only come full circle, back to where you started. And yet they spoke of an end.
To someone with a modern mind, the phrase made no sense at all.
Still.
That didn't mean I shouldn't go looking.
I closed the book and rose from my seat.
Dressed lightly, I left the inn and began wandering the city, gathering whatever information I could on the end of the world.
The very first step of that search, however, already began to creak. There was not one place people called the end of the world — there were several.
I spread a large map and studied every region marked as such.
First, the northern end: the land of the dead, known as the Grimshade Kingdom.
A land ruled by banished dark sorcerers and the demons they served. The elves had fled after their war with the dark mages, so this couldn't be the place.
Next, the southern end: the land of savages, called Greenpool.
Territory dominated by orcs who worshipped warriors and honor.
I tilted my head as I examined the Greenpool region. Unlike the Grimshade Kingdom, which listed almost no place names, Greenpool's map was surprisingly detailed.
Apparently relations between humans and orcs weren't all that bad.
I took out a small pencil and drew a circle around the spot labeled Storm Valley.
Next came the western end: the still-unexplored Monster Island.
A place battered by violent mana storms and home to powerful monsters, left uncharted even now — and a destination that strong adventurers never stopped trying to enter. Like the Grimshade Kingdom, its place names were barely recorded.
Last was the eastern end: a sea thick with fog, the Blue Veil.
A sea of impenetrable mist where every ship that set out to explore had simply vanished. Since no one who went had ever returned, no one even knew whether a continent lay beyond it.
I studied the map, rubbing my chin.
The book of elven tales said only that the elves had set out toward the end of the world. It never said which end.
Apply a little natural process of elimination, though, and two candidates rose to the top.
Greenpool and Monster Island.
I started looking into how to reach both. I had nothing left to do in this city anyway, and I meant to leave at once.
What I learned was this: ships bound for Monster Island departed from a Karuma Empire port only about once every half year. The savage land of Greenpool, on the other hand, could be reached without boarding a ship at all.
Leave this city, keep riding without end, and sooner or later you would arrive. That place was Greenpool.
Destination decided.
I made a circuit of the market and stocked up on provisions, focusing on preserved food that would keep as long as possible. Then, a massive pack slung over my shoulders, I headed for the inn's stables.
Nightmare was napping — though unlike the other horses, he was lying on his back with his belly pointed at the sky.
I walked over and gave that belly a solid slap. A huge eye cracked open. Nightmare flicked his tongue and rolled those bright red eyes this way and that.
"We're leaving right now. Get up."
Prrrrh—
He shook his head and snorted at me, throwing a full tantrum for a little more rest.
This was the same creature who, only a day ago, had been dying to run.
I planted my hands on my hips and stared him down.
Hiiing—
After a long stretch of that, Nightmare started getting up, watching my face for cues the whole time. Watching that massive, muscular body fidget its way upright was oddly adorable.
I began piling the heavy luggage onto his back. Nightmare was built solid; he could carry far more than any ordinary packhorse.
Once everything was secured, I scrambled up the stable wall like a fence and swung myself onto his back — a mounting method I'd naturally picked up thanks to my small stature.
"Shall we?"
Nightmare clearly disliked how suddenly we were leaving. As he stepped out of the stable, he kicked backward at the great door.
That deceptively light kick split the heavy wooden door with a sharp crack and sent it flying. The door tumbled into the stable with a tremendous racket, and the resting horses started screaming.
"Hey..."
Hiiing—!
Nightmare ran. He stuck his tongue out at me as if to say, So what?
He tore through the streets like the wind, weaving nimbly between passersby and leaping clean over a massive cargo wagon. The big packs lashed behind him bounced with the skyward motion and hammered against my back.
Nightmare was out of the city faster than the innkeeper could even react to the noise in the stables.
Once we passed the great main gate and the open plains unfurled ahead, he poured on the speed.
The towering windmills shrank in an instant. The vast, multicolored flower fields vanished next, leaving only endless farmland stretching before us.
Sometimes flatlands. Sometimes valleys. Sometimes deep forest.
Nightmare ran without rest. Thanks to his tireless stamina and blistering speed, we reached the border zone at the edge of the nation far sooner than I'd expected.
The Karuma Empire and the Oblein Holy Kingdom were neighboring countries; their borders ran straight into each other.
This region saw enormous traffic. Adventurers, merchants, and priests on missionary work had turned it into a natural meeting ground. It was also an escape route for criminals fleeing one country for another — which was exactly why both nations stationed troops here.
"Whoa..."
I lowered the book I'd been reading and looked around.
Where the Karuma Empire's territory ended, a great arched gate stood, and beyond it sprawled a clutter of roughly built tents. Just as the adventurer's guidebook had said, the place was packed with people coming and going.
Huge carriages rattled past in a hurry. Voices haggling over goods rose in a roar from the stalls lining the road.
"Next!"
My turn finally came.
Leading Nightmare, I approached the great arched gate. Inside, soldiers in gleaming armor blocked the path with halberds, stepping aside only once exit procedures were complete.
"Hmm... traveling alone?"
"Yes."
I nodded at the border inspector holding a sheaf of papers. He flipped through the heavy stack once, then came over to Nightmare and began checking the luggage.
"This one... Hairan bloodline? That's a fine horse."
My exit procedure passed without any trouble. After the luggage check, all it took was showing the adventurer's badge I'd used in the Karuma Empire.
"Next!"
The person after me was a merchant hauling a large freight wagon. The border inspector began examining him far more thoroughly than he had me, and the longer it dragged on, the whiter the merchant's face became.
How long did that go on?
A soldier inspecting the wagon's interior alongside the border officer suddenly bellowed.
"I—I found them!!!"
The shout had barely left his mouth when the stacked crates inside the wagon collapsed, and two rough-looking men with deep scars carved across their faces burst out.
Each held a sword. Pale-faced, they started threatening everyone nearby.
Their rampage didn't last long.
Soldiers poured in from every direction and beat the two men into bloody pulps with thick iron rods. The limp bodies on the ground were hauled away in custody.
A truly terrifying sight.
I tugged Nightmare's reins and pressed on.
Exit procedures for each country went relatively quickly. Entry procedures, however, were far more complicated and time-consuming. On top of that, the Holy Kingdom limited how many people could enter in a single day — which meant I would not be getting into Oblein Holy Kingdom today.
Wondering if a bribe might get me through, I pressed five gold coins into the hand of the soldier standing beside me. He scowled hard and started lecturing me.
"Hah... a little thing like you, already at this... Where did you even learn that?"
"Some man told me."
"Where are your parents? I ought to tell them."
"I don't have any right now."
"No mother or father either?"
"No."
"Hah..."
The Holy Kingdom soldier clicked his tongue at my answer. I watched him with a curious look. He was scolding me, yes — but he never did return the gold coins in my hand.
The meaning of that was obvious enough. I smiled lightly and pressed two more coins into his palm.
He finally put on a reluctant face, then pulled a small wooden token from his pocket and handed it to me.
TEMPORARY PASS
"Ahem... What are you standing around for? Get going."
"That's an expensive pass."
"Hmph..."
The soldier shoved the gold into his pocket and looked away.
I'd gotten what I wanted. With no further interest in needling him, I tugged Nightmare's reins and headed for the Holy Kingdom's entry inspection.
With the temporary pass in hand, I didn't even need to wait in line. I wandered over, showed the token, and was waved through a separate entrance used by the soldiers themselves.