Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Human Transcendent Group (2)
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To these people, Joart seemed to have a strongly ruthless side. In fact, he had once tried to massacre the imperial army just to establish a pretext, so that might well be his true nature.
Come to think of it, he had only started feeding me real information after I put my life on the line with that bet.
His offer to reveal secrets if I came back after killing Philip Deran. It was an absurd condition that wouldn't have even been feasible without Anonymous (1)'s help.
After that, he spilled everything smoothly...
"So Joart said that...?"
Gavina looked at me with a meaningful glint in her eyes.
"You're vaguely sensing it too, right? That he's got his eye on you."
I realized those words carried real weight, unlike the playful jab she'd tossed out earlier by the bonfire.
It was closer to the meaning of scouting. That if I became a Transcendent, they'd want me to join their group.
'...Not interested.'
It was a dilemma I'd already settled once before.
But carelessly revealing such inner thoughts would be amateurish.
"That's still a long way off."
"If it were that far off, Merin wouldn't have bothered inviting you all the way here. ...Well, I get it if it's burdensome. You can't feel it yet, but once you become a Transcendent, you'll understand. How rare it is for other high-ranking Transcendents to pay this much attention."
I let the conversation flow past, shifting my gaze toward Merin.
"If Joart's current move doesn't resolve well... will you step in directly?"
"Are you asking if we'll fight?"
"Yes."
At that moment, Gavina cut in again.
"I could tell you, but this is getting you more entangled. Think it over. Curiosity might not be the end of it."
"I already told him that."
"Oh, really?"
...Gavina really came off like some nosy uncle. The classic busybody type.
I just flashed a grin and brushed it off. Merin stepped in to explain, so I didn't need to say anything.
I muttered it only in my head.
Please don't interfere, for crying out loud.
"Whoa, what's with that smile? Not buying it. Lanky types like my mom aren't my type."
"...?"
Even Merin couldn't hold back at her over-the-top cheesiness, shooting her a displeased glance, but Gavina just winked playfully and grinned.
"Kidding, kidding. Icebreaker."
Merin clicked her tongue briefly and opened her mouth again.
"We can't fight directly. We've got our own mess to deal with."
"Forces of evil?"
"Yeah, but we've pulled in others instead. Those upholding the pact, you know. That alone will pressure the elves."
That pressure meant enforcing the pact. In other words, disbanding the elven forces.
"But what's so tough about that for Joart?"
"It's a matter of power. Elves... especially among the High Elves, there are ridiculously strong ones mixed in."
"If they're all gathered together like that, yeah, it'd be tough. Then isn't this something Joart can't handle from the start?"
"That's why I mentioned that person briefly last time? Maron. The Transcendent who rallied us. He's there too."
"I see."
From the nuance of the conversation, Maron seemed like the central pillar of this group. Probably someone with considerable power.
Merin smirked and said,
"It's refreshing that I can actually talk to you. Is it because you grasp situations quickly?"
...Truth is, I already knew it all.
For now, the human Transcendents wanted to avoid escalating things further and tie it up somehow. Because of the forces of evil.
But the pressure on the pact wouldn't stop. They'd even pulled in Transcendents from other races.
Anonymous (2) hadn't said it outright, but the High Elves on the elven side seemed reluctant to bend to the pact easily...
It was obvious this wouldn't end in a short fight.
"It really feels like a chaotic era, seeing it like this."
"The oracle said so."
"What? Even the oracle?"
"Joart."
Merin had Joart as her invincible shield.
Well, not wrong.
"But that era wasn't pinpointed exactly, right?"
"Anyone can see it's a time of upheaval now."
A time of upheaval...
Really?
My information was limited, but they were viewing it from a much broader perspective, so their sense of it might differ.
Or maybe they just felt that way from the bits about the forces of evil and pact-breakers.
"Speaking of which, you said you're really interested in the oracle?"
"Of course it's fascinating. A prophecy about the future coming true exactly like that."
"Well, sure. You don't know about... those beings ruling over Transcendents."
Great beings, huh.
"Better off not knowing yet. You'll learn naturally once you become a Transcendent."
Gavina shook her head beside her, and Merin nodded in agreement.
...Yeah, better play dumb on this one too.
"So, a new hero will be born as the oracle says?"
Merin hesitated for a moment before replying.
"...Probably."
Gavina shrugged and added,
"Unfortunately, we can't pinpoint it exactly either."
"...Why not?"
"The oracle's all we've got, but we don't know where the sword is."
The sword.
The one embedded in my consciousness, stuck in front of the hero's tomb.
I tilted my head, pretending it was news to me.
"Sword?"
"The weapon the hero used..."
Merin trailed off with a long sigh.
"Anyway, it's a pretty messy situation."
"Can't even check the oracle now, so yeah, really messy."
At Gavina's addition, Merin looked at me as if something occurred to her.
"You said it before, right? That the oracle might still be ongoing, but we just don't know. I agree to some extent. Though relying solely on the oracle would be foolish. It just means we're lacking."
"What happens if we find the sword?"
"Finding it doesn't mean we can take it... It's complicated in various ways."
I got the gist. No one but the hero could even pull the sword.
"But we could confirm who's the hero. Then we'd raise them. Make contact ahead of time..."
"Like with you."
"Me?"
Gavina pointed at me.
"Like scouting you ahead of time, helping out, trying to pull you to our side."
"No guarantee the hero would side with you, huh."
"No clue. If a newbie Transcendent suddenly says, 'Please uphold the pact,' would they buy it? Hero rumors are widespread, so if the other side approaches first, we're in trouble."
...Their concerns were valid.
Because that other side was me. Exactly as they worried, the other side was trying to approach first...
'But am I really the other side?'
They were friendly toward the hero, and I was likely the successor guiding that hero, so did that make me the opposition?
'Well, nothing's certain yet.'
I still didn't know their true goal. Were they really just gathered for the pact's sanctity, or was there a bigger objective above that?
Maron's real purpose, the one who rallied them.
Merin continued,
"But if you became a Transcendent, it'd be intriguing. You've got that tracking-specialized ability."
"Could I take a look at the oracle then?"
"The oracle?"
Merin raised an eyebrow.
"Best to drop that fantasy. It's just inscriptions on a stele."
"Maybe I can find some small trace. As you said, tracking traces is my specialty."
Merin pondered briefly but shook her head skeptically.
"The problem is recognizing it even if you find it. The hero carved them personally. That's how we know."
"You never know. Maybe even find the sword."
For an instant, Gavina and Merin's eyes met.
"Looking wouldn't be an issue, but..."
#
The oracle stele stood deep in the cave.
No ornate decorations or temple-like grandeur. In a barren space much like the surroundings, a stele resembling a gravestone stood alone, shrouded in what looked like a protective barrier.
Not like they were guarding it shrine-style.
Well, preserving it intact over those long years was proof enough they were protecting it.
The stele wasn't large. Just like the gravestone I'd seen before the hero's tomb.
On its surface, text carved as if with a sharp tool—neat yet imbued with strange power.
- From the heart of chaos, a new era's hero shall be born.
That short phrase was the end, but...
'It's exactly the same.'
It matched the gravestone inscription perfectly.
'Up to here, plan's on track.'
Luring Merin and confirming the oracle stele in their hideout.
'Want to check for hidden messages.'
The hero carved it, but who knows. Maybe separate text visible only with primal mana.
The hero had brought the stele from somewhere and inscribed it, after all.
The issue was needing time alone, even briefly, to check.
"How do you collect traces?"
Merin asked curiously from beside me, so I casually pulled out various artifacts.
Devices for analyzing mana residues and tracking traces.
I approached the stele closely.
"This barrier..."
"Oh, that's just to prevent wear. No issue. Just don't touch it. Maron would hate that."
"That's fine."
I waved my hand through the barrier beyond; it passed lightly.
If I could just inspect it up close, collecting traces was no problem.
I scanned the stele's surface meticulously, but no unusual mana residues stood out.
There were traces, but they resembled the barrier's.
In other words, marks from whoever made the barrier.
Probably Maron's.
'Grab this for now.'
I was curious about Maron's pattern anyway.
No way other mana residues would linger after such ages. I expected it.
"No special traces."
"...Oh, okay?"
She seemed a bit disappointed, but since she hadn't expected much anyway, no big reaction.
I promptly plopped down on the dirt floor.
"...What're you doing?"
"Can't find traces with a quick look, so I'll examine more thoroughly."
"Here?"
"Can't take it, right? Just need time. Won't touch it, so don't worry."
I sensed Gavina and Merin panicking behind me.
But I had no intention of leaving first.
I pulled out a bunch more artifacts around me. Some irrelevant ones too.
One was a fragrance artifact I'd made at home out of boredom; another a humidifier.
Naturally, no way deeper inspection would reveal vanished traces.
Still, I pretended to be engrossed, pressing various artifacts against the stele.
Before long, an hour passed.
"If you can't find it, maybe quit? Wasn't expecting you to anyway."
"Just a bit longer."
I wiped sweat dripping to my chin.
Merin said reluctantly,
"Fine. One more hour. No results, we leave."
"Yes, got it."
With that, Merin and Gavina stepped back.
I listened to their retreating footsteps until the sound fully cut off.
Then I set down the artifact in my hand.
"Whew..."
After a short breath, I raised one hand to my chest.
I drew up mana, forming a small cluster of primal mana in my palm.
Now with my elevated hierarchy, converting to primal mana cost only a third of the mana.
And the moment primal mana illuminated the surroundings.
New text appeared on the stele.
'Knew it!'
- To the one who has witnessed Eden, a message: If in the future the successor's hound discovers this, deliver it to your master.
That was the first line.
The one who witnessed Eden?
Eden?
'That misty space in my consciousness?'