Worlds That Watch
There were beings interested in me. But they weren't human.
When consciousness returned, my eyes opened. Feeling refreshed as if I'd had a deep sleep, I stretched and rose from the bed.
"Where is this?"
"My home."
I looked around the interior carved from a massive tree with curious eyes. The door opened and Aria entered. Wearing a gentle smile, she handed me a bowl of porridge from the tray.
"Three days have passed since Arash and your companions brought you here. I sent word through a friend, so your party should arrive soon."
"That much time has already gone by?"
"Yes. To you, it must have felt like an instant."
I stared at Aria in surprise. Was there something different about an elf who had reached old age? When she noticed that my consciousness had traveled elsewhere and returned, I widened my eyes. She covered her mouth with her fingertips and laughed softly.
"I simply noticed because I'm more sensitive than most. Staring at me won't bring you an answer."
"You read my expression?"
"When everything shows on your face, how could I not? It's merely the benefit of having lived longer than others—more experience and sharper intuition."
Indeed. I understood another reason why she was called the Great Mother and respected by the villagers. In the North, growing old meant surviving, so it was only natural. Still, the aura of wisdom she carried felt as heavy and solid as an ancient tree that had lived for centuries.
With that in mind, I asked on a whim, "Do you happen to know anything about a civilization where magic and technology were fused in the distant past?"
"Did your consciousness travel to the past?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but I have a strong instinctive feeling that I glimpsed memories from the past."
Aria narrowed her eyes in thought at my explanation. Yet even her knowledge yielded nothing about any once-prosperous faction, and she shook her head.
"I have no information in my memories."
"I see."
"Even if you asked the scholars of Edenberg, the result would likely be the same. The memories you witnessed seem to contain many secrets."
How did she know that?
"If such a powerful faction had existed in the past, it would have left records in history. At the very least, there would be no information after the thousand years since Northern records began."
"Could you perhaps... really read minds?"
"Because everything shows on your face."
I unconsciously rubbed my face and pulled a mirror from my inventory. Just as she said, every thought was plainly visible in my expression. How embarrassing.
While I scratched my head with an awkward look, noise erupted outside and the door burst open as my companions rushed in.
"Argo!"
"Kiiiiiit!"
"You're finally awake! Thank goodness!"
"We were all so worried!"
Every one of them wore faces full of concern and raised both hands. Only then did I notice they were each carrying armfuls of something. The moment I realized it was food, it was shoved straight into my mouth.
"Mmph?!"
"Good heavens, look how thin you've gotten."
"Eat first. You need proper food to recover."
"Kiiit!"
Hey, Rata. Even so, you can't just hand me an acorn-shaped fruit like that.
Faced with companions who fussed over me like an overbearing grandmother, I shot Aria a pleading look. Seeing my gaze, she sat demurely and chuckled softly. She slowly raised her index finger, where a pea-sized orb of mana gathered. The tightly compressed mana spun violently before splitting into four and striking Arash, Neon, Adela, and Rata squarely on the foreheads.
Thwack!
"Gah!"
"Urgh!"
"You shouldn't torment a patient."
Wow. That probably cracked bone. I shuddered involuntarily at the brutal sound. Aria maintained her gentle smile and used telekinesis to clear the food that had fallen onto the bed.
"I understand you're happy your companion woke up, but you can't just feed him anything. What a patient with an empty stomach needs is easily digestible food."
"But Great Mother, Northerners have sturdy bodies, so this much should be..."
"Sturdy bodies doesn't mean they can handle overexertion, does it?"
"W-well, that's true."
At Aria's words, Arash scratched his head awkwardly. Having calmed the group with just a few sentences, she rose from her seat.
"Feel free to rest as long as you like before leaving. Broke Village always welcomes guests."
"Thank you, Great Mother."
"Hoho. You may call me Aria instead of Great Mother."
"Thank you, Aria."
My tactful response deepened her smile. She paused at the door and looked back at me.
"Ah. And if you wish to unravel the mysteries of those ancient memories, your best chance lies in heading to the heart of the North."
"The heart of the North—you mean the Grand Duchy of Libertas?"
"That's right. You could say all information in the North is stored there."
It was a reasonable suggestion. The Grand Duchy of Libertas housed the Academy, considered the holy land of Northern scholars. The Academy, standing alongside the Adventurers' Guild in historical prestige, preserved vast archives, including records from before the Great Opening. Much of the information was open to the public, so anyone who wished to investigate could do so. Even if some records weren't publicly disclosed, it wouldn't matter. Simply sharing what I'd experienced with the scholars of Edenberg would suffice.
"What?! You read memories of the past?!"
"How fascinating a Mystery phenomenon! I want to study it right away!"
"Oh! Bring paper! Write down every detail you remember, Argo!"
"To the Academy! We'll work with the scholars there to uncover the hidden truth!"
They would gladly open the Academy's secret archives. As the saying went, a thirsty man digs a well. Scholars who craved information about the past more than anyone else would become even more excited once I explained what I'd been through.
"Everyone. I've decided our next destination."
"Next destination? You mean what you were discussing with the Great Mother?"
"You mentioned memories of the past. What exactly are you talking about?"
"Argo. Eat lots. You need to be strong."
"Kiiit."
I patted Adela and Rata on the heads while explaining everything I'd experienced—from unlocking the skill to waking up and speaking with Aria. They all wore intrigued expressions.
"A magitech civilization that existed in the distant past..."
"And it was supposedly in the North?"
"I don't know if it was the North or not. I only caught fragmented glimpses."
Everyone nodded at my words. Just as we were about to finalize our next destination, the skill that had put me in this state suddenly came to mind. It was the root cause of everything, yet I'd paid it no attention because of the ancient memories.
Using the knowledge gained from the skill, I opened the Water Realm. A rift formed in the air like a summoning circle, revealing a space composed entirely of blackness. The Water Realm itself was nothing special—just a barren void with no visible ground or sky, containing only a planted seed and a reasonably large space. If not for the sprout that had emerged from the seed and the small patch of grass around it, I wouldn't have been able to distinguish between ground and sky.
Neon poked his head in like a meerkat and peered inside, muttering, "There's no light source, yet it's bright in here."
"The laws of this world are different."
The rules here were similar to the world we lived in, yet different. Of course, the Water Realm wasn't without a sun either. It too had sunlight, nature, and living beings. However, the skill I'd created merely borrowed unused space from the Water Realm, which was why this phenomenon occurred.
Recalling the information obtained through the skill connected to the Water Realm, I tilted my head.
"Still, it's strange. Even if it's unused space, the world is entrusting part of its body to me, yet it's far too cooperative."
"Isn't that because of the skill? Or maybe the unique dimension you contracted with is too intimidating."
"That can't be it. While the unique dimension is certainly a high-ranking world, the Water Realm isn't exactly ordinary either."
Would the will possessing sovereignty over the world be weak? Among them existed hierarchies, and both the unique dimension and the Water Realm clearly ranked among the higher worlds. The fact that such entities had formed contracts with me meant they were interested in me, which raised questions. The unique dimension might have been drawn in by my Mystery somehow, but the Water Realm had received nothing in return, yet it offered space without hesitation. That could only mean it found me quite agreeable.
"The more I think about it, the stranger it gets. Why are they interested in me?"
If it were the interest of women, that would be one thing, but having entire worlds like the unique dimension and the Water Realm show interest was slightly burdensome. While I felt weighed down by the attention of such colossal beings, Adela, who had been examining the interior, pointed at the sprout with her finger.
"Argo. If this is a world, is that sprout the World Tree?"
"I don't have detailed information, but it probably isn't."
Though I'd received enormous amounts of information from the Water Realm, most of it had been too much for me to process, so I'd left it for the seed to absorb. The Water Realm had judged that my mind could handle it and transmitted the information, but stuffing raw, unprocessed data directly into my head had been dangerous. Without the seed, I really would have died.
Or had it confirmed the seed's presence before granting the skill? Regardless, there were gaps in the information I'd received, but that was still better than my brain melting. I could check the unread information later anyway.
"Then we'll never know what it is?"
"If I invest experience points into the Water Realm, the sprout will grow and grant access rights to the information. Once that happens, I'll be able to check the details about the tree."
"So we can't touch it until then. What a shame."
At my explanation, Adela licked her lips and stepped back from the entrance. Watching her behavior, a sense of unease crept over me.
"...You weren't planning to eat it if it turned out to be the World Tree, were you?"
"If it's a special plant, it's worth preserving its genes."
"Hah."
"Don't worry. Since it belongs to you, I'll ask permission first and only eat a few branches and leaves."
"No, that's... never mind. Forget it."
Was it just my imagination, or did the sprout tremble for a moment? Still, it was fortunate that she'd learned enough of human-world rules to not eat it without permission.
After finishing my inspection, I closed the Water Realm and stood up, brushing myself off.
"Well, we've confirmed everything. No point in delaying—shall we head back right away?"
"I'll accompany you as well. As a scholar deeply interested in Northern history, I'd like to join this journey."
"Let's go! I'm dying of curiosity too!"
"Let's go eat something delicious."
Thanks to the good rest, my mind was clear and my body uninjured, so we departed immediately. With farewells from Aria and several villagers, we returned to Edenberg. We completed the request by delivering the meat obtained from dismantling the Gourmet Deer at the monster butchery to the chef, then entrusted the horns and hide to artisans for equipment crafting. And then...
"What?! You read memories of the past?!"
"How fascinating a Mystery phenomenon! I want to study it right away!"
"Oh! Bring paper! Write down every detail you remember, Argo!"
"To the Academy! We'll work with the scholars there to uncover the hidden truth!"
"I knew it."
The moment I shared the information with the scholars, their reactions were exactly as I'd expected—explosive. After spending years together, how could I not know how scholars thought? Watching them react precisely as I'd imagined, I chuckled. If one were to pick the purest people in the North, the scholars would likely top the list.