The Ancient Missing Link (2)
We descended into the city bathed in the crimson glow of sunset. Dana and I had holed up in the library for five and a half hours straight, only breaking for lunch. Since we'd promised to return before dinner, we'd just left the university a short while ago.
"Hey. Nord."
"Yeah."
I answered Dana's casual remark without thinking. I traced the Kenaz rune on my forehead and activated it. Thanks to the buff from the rune stone, my five senses felt slightly sharper than usual. Still, having multiple equipped rune stones didn't seem to multiply the effect by several times. Even though I carried both the royal seal and the Teiwaz rune stone, the boost didn't feel any stronger than last time. A little disappointing, but it was only natural, so I moved on.
'The royal seal gives a stronger single-item buff effect.'
Even though the rune stone contained spearmanship training methods from the mythic age, the buff strength of rune magic seemed to depend on the quality of the stone itself. Since it also functioned as a mana battery, the rune stone carved into the royal seal must have been of exceptional quality.
'Anyway, as for anyone following us...'
I scanned for any presence using my enhanced senses. No pursuers.
"We can take it slow. It's safe."
"Hmph. Looks like the university's clean after all."
Dana clicked her tongue. It sounded like half relief, half disappointment. I scratched my forehead with a similarly regretful feeling.
'So Tabula's organization has nothing to do with Rodbrick University.'
The university wasn't the mastermind. They were just pissed off because a professor they'd paid had been pulling a salary scam for an entire month. If the university had anything to hide, they would've sent someone after us. Just in case, I kept the Kenaz rune active all the way back to the inn, but there wasn't a single sign of anyone tailing us or Dana.
"We're back."
—Creak.
I pushed open the door and announced our return. The inn door opened smoothly, as if someone had slathered it with oil. Our party members, who had been lounging on the beds, sat up.
"Senior~! Welcome back~♥!"
"You're back. Must've been tough."
"Tough? Nah, it was nice reminiscing about the old days."
"Bullshit. You looked so damn happy I thought you were gonna skip lunch and just head straight out to eat~ What the hell was that about?"
"Actually, thinking about my university days made me want to puke."
I looked around for Veronica, the only one who hadn't greeted me, and spotted a stiff pony frozen like a taxidermy specimen on the bed. At least her hooves looked clean, so that was a relief. The bed probably hadn't gotten dirty. Though with four beds in this room, I had no idea where she was supposed to sleep tonight.
"What's wrong with Veronica?"
"Ahaha♡ I tormented her a little! She completely passed out the first time, but Franc unnie stroked her and she woke up just a little while ago."
"Ah, I see. She got absolutely wrecked by the compatibility difference."
It was like force-feeding shrimp sushi to someone with a severe shrimp allergy. Even though the Bicorn's curse wasn't life-threatening, it seemed perfectly suited to triggering physiological revulsion strong enough to make someone faint.
"How did the investigation go?"
Franc asked as she took my coat. Dana, who'd been keeping her head down for a long time, rubbed her stiff shoulders and answered.
"It was a waste of time. There was nothing on rune stone theses, and no information about the ruins we're heading to either."
"...The latter is to be expected, but the former is actually good news."
Veronica spoke up. Her weary tone sounded like the final words of a terminal patient. She tried to sit up, but after looking at my face, she changed her words.
"No, that's not right. I thought things had gone well for you, but it seems I was mistaken? Your expression doesn't look very good."
"Yeah. Depending on how you look at it, it might be better to give up on researching rune stones."
Saying it out loud made my stomach twist more than I'd expected. The party members looked equally shocked. Larilura studied my complexion carefully.
"Why all of a sudden? Senior, did something happen?"
"I'll explain everything now. But Veronica? Can you make sure our conversation in here doesn't leak outside? This isn't something we want anyone eavesdropping on."
"A simple request. Leave it to me."
Veronica switched into her divine mode, placed small stone fragments around the room, and activated the runes. The inn walls flashed brightly before returning to normal. My senses detected the mana covering the walls. It was a barrier.
"I have ensured no sound will escape. It should hold for an hour."
"Thanks. Everyone, gather around. I'll start with what we found out today."
I gathered the party and gave them a detailed account of Yerna's disappearance and the results of our investigation.
"...Really? That person?"
At the news that Yerna had gone missing, Franc pressed her lips into a thin line. The only one here who didn't know about my past with that bitch Yerna was Larilura, who tilted her head in confusion.
"This Yerna person was Senior's old teacher?"
"Teacher my ass. She's a real piece of shit."
Franc answered through gritted teeth at Larilura's question. Aigo, even when our Franc gets angry, her face is adorable. I pulled Franc into my arms and rubbed my cheek against hers vigorously. Her expression softened, but she still pouted, clearly not over her anger.
"Larilura. Haven't you heard about our husband's past?"
When Dana asked while drinking from her canteen, Larilura tapped her temple. She seemed to be trying to recall old memories.
"Well~? I only know that Senior became a slave due to some mistake during the immigration process~ and that he's now a master's degree holder in archaeology working in fieldwork?"
"That's pretty much the whole outline."
Dana nodded in understanding. I must have told her before joining the golem subjugation team. Back then, I hadn't mentioned the thesis theft because it would've been awkward. Since it was an ongoing sweet potato story, knowing about it would've just ruined the mood. But this time, I decided to give a rough explanation. It felt weird leaving only Larilura in the dark.
"Here's how it went──"
I told them the tragic tale of the former slave master's suffering. I even mentioned how that thesis-stealing bitch was being chased by some unknown organization. As I spoke, the frustration coiled in my gut flared up into pure rage, but Larilura's reaction was even more dramatic than mine.
"...Ahaha♥ Isn't that completely disgusting?"
The playful circus girl vibe was gone. Larilura openly displayed genuine contempt. The impact of a beauty's scornful expression was no joke. If she ever looked at me like that, I felt like I'd be emotionally scarred and haunted by it in my dreams. Noticing my surprise, Larilura panicked and hastily fixed her expression.
"Ah, I'm sorry! It's not because of you, Senior! I meant that Yerna person is disgusting, okay?"
—Nod nod.
Franc was vigorously nodding up and down as if she agreed one hundred percent with Larilura's words. She didn't show it outwardly, but it seemed Franc felt the same contempt for Yerna.
Larilura raised a finger and declared, "Anyway! Isn't it good that she's missing? She probably tried pulling the same nasty tricks on Senior here and got what she deserved."
"I don't care where that woman is or what she's doing. Even if she's really been captured by someone and is in danger, she's our husband's enemy. We have no obligation to save her, right? More importantly, we should be thinking about the rune stones and the ruins."
—Thud!
Dana slammed her closed canteen down with a loud clack.
"I'll say it again. While we were investigating, we exchanged notes and decided that both me and my husband are dropping rune stone research."
The moment Dana said that, all the party members opened their mouths at once. Since she'd jumped straight to the conclusion without any buildup, questions were bound to arise. So before they could ask, I took the lead.
"I figured you'd all be curious, so I'll explain first. The reason we're not writing a thesis on rune stones is because we decided the risks outweigh the benefits."
"Risks?"
Larilura echoed the question. She seemed to be asking what exactly was so dangerous about it.
"Yeah. No matter how I think about it, the complete absence of any research results on rune stones is suspicious."
Dana gave that answer. Apparently one explanation wasn't enough to clear up the confusion, because Franc asked her as well.
"Is it strange? You said rune stones are extremely rare. Maybe other people just never knew about them."
"I agree with Franc. After the gods cast their curse, the culture of learning and teaching runes among humans, dwarves, and elves has declined, hasn't it?"
Even Veronica, who had collected rune stones, cast her vote for that theory.
"Moreover, rune stones aren't exactly common items in the modern era. The chances of a rune mage obtaining a rune stone aren't very high, even with a moment's thought. It would make sense that no one has made the same discovery as you until now."
"That might be true. But if this isn't a coincidence, then we have a problem."
"...What do you mean?"
When I turned serious, the party members perked up their ears. They weren't arguing—they were listening attentively.
"The video on a rune stone activates just by pouring mana into it. No matter how valuable it is, are you telling me that in hundreds of years, not a single human rune mage who obtained one ever tried pouring mana into it?"
—Tap.
I deliberately pulled out the Teiwaz rune stone for them to see.
"This isn't just a stone that plays videos. It's a stone that enhances rune magic. I'm sure at least one or two historical rune mages must have gotten their hands on a rune stone. After all, it's only natural for mages to want items related to their specialty."
"Senior. Maybe it's because there are plenty of cheaper and better alternatives? Rune stones are insanely expensive like jewels, but there are tons of other magic amplification stones besides them, right?"
Larilura raised her hand as she spoke. She was suggesting that for the same price, people would have chosen magic amplification stones with stronger effects rather than rune stones that were valued for their historical worth and rarity. But Dana shook her head at Larilura's words.
"That makes sense, but the fact that no one obtained one in hundreds of years still feels off. Rune mages are still mages, after all. There must have been at least a few who invested serious money into research."
"...Is that so? Well, if you and unnie say so, then it must be true."
Larilura seemed to trust us, but in truth, we only had circumstantial evidence. It was entirely possible that research material had miraculously fallen into my lap by pure chance. But what if this wasn't overthinking?
I tapped my fingers on the back of my hand.
"Listen. This is a matter of probability. If you said dwarves have short arms so they can't shoot bows, everyone would accept it. But claiming that in hundreds of years, not a single dwarf has ever even tried using a bow? That doesn't make any sense."
"Mmm. Yeah. The more I hear, the weirder it sounds."
Franc clenched and unclenched her fists. It seemed my analogy was starting to hit home.
"Look at the content of the video. It even records how to milk a goat. Would something like that really be considered a precious item? At the time it was made, rune stones must have been a common recording medium."
"Yet those once-common rune stones have become so hard to find. Even though there's a long gap between the mythic age and the end of ancient civilization, when so many suspicious things pile up, it's impossible not to feel uneasy."
Dana picked up where I left off. Veronica, sitting on the bed, crossed her pale legs and rested her chin on her hand.
"...I think I understand what you two are worried about now."
Even though I was still in the middle of explaining, Veronica seemed to have already caught on.
"The true effects of rune stones would be easy for any human researcher who has learned runes to discover. Yet the fact that scholars researching history and artifacts like you two had no idea for over hundreds of years... that doesn't add up, does it?"
"Exactly. Frankly, even the way I discovered this was pure coincidence. The fact that no one else knew about a secret I figured out so easily, and that I alone got to reap all the sweet rewards from it... doesn't that sound a bit too convenient?"
I judged the situation with brutal coldness. In the similar case of Beast Regression, there had been the special factor that I was an Earthling. Even though I'd luckily gotten an incredible benefit, because part of the cause-and-effect had been guesswork, I'd simply accepted it as a massive gain without fully understanding the effects and side effects. Even if some parts of that secret remained a mystery to this day.
'But rune stones aren't like that, are they?'
Over the past several hundred years, there must have been thousands—tens of thousands—of rune mages across the world. Yet only I had discovered the true purpose of rune stones, reaped the benefits, and even gotten to write a thesis about it?
'There's no way that kind of luck would only come to me.'
Without the variable of coincidence, it was just probability theory. There was no such thing as a surefire tip for winning the lottery first prize. It was only normal to assume that someone who kept pulling SSR characters without spending any money had connections with the game company or some powerful backer. Me being the only man chosen by one-in-ten-thousand luck?
Even taking things like the prophecy and being Odin's successor into account, I wasn't particularly lucky. 'The only thing I can really brag about is my insane luck with women.'
...No, wait. All my party members were beautiful, and I had two insanely pretty wives. Come to think of it, with that kind of luck with women alone, I couldn't really call myself unlucky.
"To put it simply, this is what we're thinking."
While I was lost in thought, Dana prepared to wrap up the explanation.
"The fact that those once-common rune stones have become as rare as jewels for some reason. The fact that there isn't a single thesis that someone should have written by now. And above all, the fact that the woman who stole my husband's thesis is being chased by some unknown organization. Taking all of that into consideration, this is what we concluded."
Dana spoke in a troubled tone, as if she would have been chain-smoking if she were a smoker.
"It's not that no one researched rune stones. It's more like... they couldn't."
For a moment, the inn room fell completely silent. It was so quiet that if someone had been eavesdropping through the barrier, they would have doubted their own skills. You couldn't even hear anyone swallowing.
"...You're saying someone went around targeting researchers and harming them?"
Franc broke the long silence, wrapping her arms around herself as if getting goosebumps. That idea had probably occurred to her because of me. The day after we became lovers, I'd told her that if I wanted to survive while researching dimensional travel, I first had to become stronger myself.
At Franc's words, Dana let out a groan as if she had a headache.
"That's what we think. Some cult or whatever is probably going around crushing anyone conducting research that goes against their agenda. And they're doing it in an incredibly widespread and thorough manner."
"...You there. I had no reason to ask before, so I didn't... but now I must."
Having heard Dana's answer, Veronica asked.
"Just what exactly was this thesis you wrote?"
The party members all looked at me. Only Dana knew the contents of that thesis.
"...The Elune language is not a derivative of the runic language used in ancient Germania. The similarities in grammar found in the ruins cannot be explained as mere dialectal variations or slang."
I recited the contents of my degree thesis, which I still remembered vividly. Because I'd obsessively revised it over and over in pursuit of higher quality, the contents seemed to have been etched into my mind like the smell of ink on my fingers.
"Based on other supporting evidence and analysis, I raise objections to the maps of ancient civilization periods that have been discovered or proposed thus far. It is more accurate to view the eastern and western regions of ancient Germania as entirely separate entities."
I recalled the past. During my days as a lab slave, the places I'd gone with Yerna had mostly been in Germania. That woman had been deeply interested in Germania's history and language. That was why Yerna had promoted me from slave to researcher, and why she'd been close enough with Professor Brammaton from the linguistics department that he'd cover for her work.
"...Therefore."
Reciting the entire thesis would only make my mouth hurt, so I set aside the other details and summarized only the key point.
"In the western part of ancient civilization's Germania, there exists an unknown nation that has never been revealed to the world."
As I spoke, I thought of the tombstone-like rune stone—and the old madman it had shown me.