Chapter 381: The Die(4)
Chapter 381: The Die(4)
Perhaps my words were too abstract. Or perhaps, to the people of this world, it was a story too incredible to believe even after hearing it.
The moment Lina heard what I told her, her immediate reaction was to treat it like a joke. Seeing that, I couldn't help but feel a bit taken-abashed.
However, I soon realized she was only pretending to be unfazed—pretending not to believe.
Rattle, rattle—
The hand holding her teacup was trembling as if an earthquake were occurring. She was literally just acting as if she didn't care, but in truth, she believed my story.
From Lina's perspective, the story of Earth was something that shouldn't make sense—something that belonged only in books.
A world where neither mana nor magic existed, and where no other races lived. Only humans.
The people of this world had received civilization from the Elves and metallurgy from the Dwarves.
This was the basic 'common sense' held by the people here—specifically, the humans. They believed that without the other races, they would have been capable of nothing.
Of course, since 'monsters' existed here, that might be true. Even now, monsters were a direct threat to human life.
Clack—
While I was briefly organizing my thoughts, Lina set her teacup down. Her hands remained trembling until the very moment she let go of the cup.
She took a deep breath and looked at me, maintaining a forced smile.
Her face was certainly smiling, but she couldn't hide those rattling hands.
"C-creations, you said? Humans, not some other race, created those things? Are the humans over there different from us?"
"They're exactly the same. So much so that if you brought someone from that world here, they wouldn't look out of place at all."
"Are they more dexterous? Or perhaps more intelligent?"
"If I were that dexterous, I would have built something by now."
While it's true that so-called 'geniuses' play a huge role in advancing the world, nothing beats the passage of time.
Technology doesn't just appear out of thin air with a poof! It is the result of accumulation upon accumulation, finally reaching a conclusion.
Even the Industrial Revolution, which changed the world, was born in such a manner. The mana engine, similar to the steam engine, was only possible because technical prowess had accumulated over time.
"Intelligence—their brains—are about the same. They just had more time."
"Time?"
"Yeah. In our world, humans established civilization roughly 6,000 years ago. At least, according to what's been verified."
At that answer, Lina countered, looking incredulous.
"The Elves established civilization 3,500 years ago. Humans did so 3,000 years ago, according to the records. Yet, we don't have the technology to float in the sky or sail without wind using our own creations. Even the Dwarves can't make such things."
"In exchange, you have magic. In our world, you can think of science as replacing magic."
There is a very famous saying: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
The reverse would also hold true. If the people of this world saw an airplane or a massive cargo ship, they would ask what kind of magic was being used.
Because magic replaces science here, it's inevitable that the pace of scientific development is slow.
However, thanks to the high development of that magic, items like refrigerators and air conditioners exist, and even ice cream is sold on the market.
"Fine. Let's say that's true. Then what about being able to talk to people all over the world through a creation? That ignores the very concept of space."
"Don't you have something similar here? I talked to Cecile through a Communication Orb the other day."
"Then let me rephrase the question. Can the commoners of your world use it too?"
"Yes. I used it myself."
Though I rarely had a reason to. Since there was no need to mention that, I kept it to myself.
Lina opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, not knowing how to react to my answer. She then tried once more to organize her cluttered thoughts.
In the meantime, I took a sip of tea and pulled out a notebook. I figured drawing a picture would be better for a simpler explanation.
First, the airplanes and ships I mentioned earlier. Since the internet and nuclear bombs are hard to explain with drawings, it was better to stick to those two.
"Want to take a look at this?"
"Huh? This is..."
"The creations I mentioned earlier—the one that flies through the sky and the one that can sail without wind."
"..."
Lina stared intently at the drawing I provided. It was a drawing that looked like a child had made it, but since I captured the key features, she should have no trouble understanding it.
After staring for a long time, she glanced at me and pointed at the airplane.
"...This flies in the sky?"
"Yes."
"How big is it? Is it bigger than a carriage?"
"Just think of it as a ship that flies in the sky. There are big ones and small ones."
"..."
Lina nodded, seemingly understanding my analogy. Next was the ship.
"You said it doesn't need wind... so it sails without a mast?"
"That's right. Though some ships have masts if needed."
"Is this really possible? Just what kind of magic are they using..."
"It's science. You need mana to use magic, right? These things also need an energy similar to mana to move."
Hearing that explanation, Lina poked her head forward. Her blue eyes were filled with questions.
"Didn't you say that world has no mana or magic?"
"Instead, we have resources to replace mana, and science—which is like magic—to convert those resources into energy. The mana engine Eins invented is exactly like that."
"...I feel like I understand, yet I don't."
Perhaps she had used her brain too much. Feeling dizzy, Lina looked away from the notebook and placed a hand on her forehead.
I waited patiently for her to organize her thoughts. Just in case, I looked behind me and saw Ariel fast asleep.
There was still some time left before Adelia's special training ended. It didn't matter if the conversation was interrupted anyway; I planned to tell Lina whenever she wanted to hear it.
Since the secret was already out, I would have felt bad if I let her suffer alone and things went south.
"Whew... what kind of world is that... Did humans really create all of this? Those weak, fragile humans?"
"That's right."
"Then why are we like this? We have mana and magic, and even the gods lend us their strength. If what you say is true, our civilization should be more advanced than yours, but it's not at all."
"Hmm..."
It was a perfectly reasonable question. Elves were so naturally superior that they established civilization ten thousand years ago, and Dwarves were a race with extreme manual dexterity.
This was a world with the potential to create not just airplanes, but floating castles in the sky. Yet, in reality, they couldn't even make a plane.
Furthermore, if you dug deep into their science, there were many unbalanced parts. As I mentioned, things like refrigerators and air conditioners.
If they could make them, they would have easily created them using magic. However, there were things everywhere preventing that.
The gods tend to coddle them too much.
First and foremost, the gods. The gods loved all the races on the ground and gave them power, but ironically, they also hindered their development.
If a problem arose that was difficult to solve, people could just go to a god and pray. One example was medicine.
Normally, as science develops, medicine evolves as well, but in this world, priests replaced all of that.
Even plagues—bacteria and viruses—could be resolved with Divine Power. Because of this, it was a world where divine right was incredibly powerful.
You said there are gods on Earth too, right? Then why don't those gods interfere?
Luminous had explained it before. The moment one interfered, other gods would start interfering as well.
However, there were no cases in history where a god directly intervened. Unlike here, where mythology is treated as history, over there, it was literally just myth.
In fact, wasn't it Luminous who restrained the Savior's rampage in the past? If he hadn't stopped it, the sparks would have spread across the world and developed into a great war.
If they had used that war as a foundation, they could have achieved great progress, but he stopped it simply because he didn't want to see them fighting.
It was a moment that raised many questions, but since every world has its differences, I decided to just let it go. This was a somewhat complex issue that I couldn't intervene in.
Secondly...
The gods were one thing, but crucially, the difference in 'culture' was the biggest factor. Science and culture develop by harmonizing with each other.
To be honest, this was an unavoidable part. Unlike Earth, 'races' were clearly distinguished here.
Not only did each race have a different culture, but the tendency for each race to stick together was clearly evident.
Humans were overwhelmingly numerous, so many nations existed, but for the other races, there was only one nation each.
Crucially, they rarely went to 'war.' On Earth, people went to war at every opportunity, but here, except for the Race Wars, it was almost non-existent.
Unless the revolution had succeeded.
The Jayros Revolution, which was called the French Revolution of this world. Since it ended in failure, the royalty and nobility only began to be mindful of the citizens.
Honestly, I thought it was a relief that it ended in failure. If it hadn't, countless royals and nobles would have had their heads chopped off by the guillotine.
Anyway, the reasons why this world's development was uniquely slow were so diverse that I couldn't pick just one.
"There are too many reasons to choose from. Humans in the world I lived in were weaker than here, so they absolutely needed superior tools. To be a little more comfortable, to be a little safer, to deal with opponents a little more easily. They manufactured things recklessly while taking risks. That accumulated over time to form such a civilization."
"That's amazing... truly. Is it possible for us too?"
"If enough time passes. Technology isn't something that just pops out of nowhere."
Development was just slow; it wasn't impossible. Hadn't Eins just invented the mana engine?
However, it would take some time for an Industrial Revolution to break out. The true value of the Industrial Revolution lay in the factories.
As factories were built, workers were brought in, those workers were persecuted and fought back, and the result of that struggle was...
...Communism.
I'd need to be careful with that one. I should write it in a book soon.
While I was briefly lost in thought, Lina stared blankly at the drawings in the notebook before speaking to me.
"Then did your world have wars like the Race Wars?"
"It happened twice. And within less than thirty years of each other."
"Twice?"
"Yeah. And that was when Weapons of Mass Destruction—the weapons I mentioned earlier that could destroy the world—were used for the first time."
"Whoa..."
Perhaps because it was a story of another world, Lina's eyes began to sparkle.
Until a moment ago, she hadn't had the mental capacity to organize her thoughts due to confusion, but not anymore.
Now that she had settled down a bit, everything I said probably sounded like a fantasy story to her.
She then picked up her teacup after hearing me say that Weapons of Mass Destruction—nuclear weapons—had been used.
I didn't know when she had refilled it, but the cup was full of tea.
"Can those weapons really destroy the world?"
"Yes. To be precise, they completely reset human civilization. Not only is the power immense, but the land becomes unusable."
"I see. Then they must have been sealed away?"
"Huh? Not at all."
I replied with a look that said 'definitely not.'
"There are over several thousand of them right now."
"Pffft!!"
And then, sweet tea was sprayed all over my face.