Chapter 136: The Slanted Ceiling and the Mountain of Laughing Corpses - 8
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 136: The Slanted Ceiling and the Mountain of Laughing Corpses - 8
‘…It feels strangely like she's blaming me.’
Of course it does. I said it to piss her off. After all, the first thing that Earth Sage did upon seeing these corpses was start a brawl, wasn't it?
Still, befitting a highly disciplined Taoist, Earth Sage composed her expression and made a request.
“That is a relic left by the Grand Master of the Order of Gaia. I wish for you to hand it over.”
“Nope. I passed the relic's trial. So, by the rule that's existed since the dawn of time—'Finders keepers!'—this Jizan is mine, isn't it?”
It was a statement that sounded like both a sudden burst of greed and a rightful declaration. Of course, to Earth Sage, it must have only sounded like the former.
“Do not be absurd. Though I am unworthy, I am Earth Sage, one permitted the title of Sage. On behalf of all followers of Mother Earth, I ask that you return it.”
“You're the one being absurd, Miss Earth Sage. I'm the most ordinary human in the world. On behalf of all humans, I'm telling you this is mine.”
The Jizan trembled. It seemed to be screaming, Liar.
Dead things are so weird these days. It was being noisy, so I gave it a light flick, but it just hurt my finger.
‘Has greed been stirred by the sight of the relic? This is why you can't trust the character of a prisoner.’
Clicking her tongue, Earth Sage made one last attempt to persuade me, fully intending to take it by force if this failed.
“I have worked for twenty years—twenty long years—to reach this source. I was the one who built Tantalus, and I was the one who came down to this land and overturned it myself. My contribution is the greatest.”
“Ah, so we're talking shares now? That sounds more like an adventurer than a follower of Mother Earth!”
Earth Sage's eye twitched.
Adventurer. Self-proclaimed treasure hunters, otherwise known as grave robbers. To use the term 'adventurer'—one who seeks relics and treasures, disturbing the remains of the dead—to a follower of Mother Earth meant one of two things.
An act of ignorance, or a calculated provocation politely requesting a conflict.
“You said you needed it to get rid of the Abyss, right? Then it's settled! I'll get rid of the Abyss with this Jizan! And I'll keep it! Hic! Wow, what a windfall! I've struck gold!”
“Are you perhaps intoxicated?”
“Nope! Not drunk at all! Buurp. Ahh, I feel great! Never thought I'd find a treasure like this here!”
As I excitedly pretended to pick things up, Earth Sage shook her head and reached out.
“It seems you are drunk. In that case, you must excuse my rudeness.”
And with that, Earth Sage tried to snatch the Jizan from my hand. Just as her fingers were about to close around it…
Twirl. The Jizan tilted slightly, pushing her hand away in a circular motion.
She should not have been pushed back.
Earth Sage's body is filled with an exceptionally high level of Qi, and with every step, she uses a Qi Art derived from Earth Art to root herself to the ground.
This is why she does not fall.
She possesses the mastered Gon Qi Art and the Gam Qi Art, hardened through its practice. She is, in essence, a living ancient tree.
However.
An ancient tree cannot exist without the earth.
‘What?!’
Kreeeak.
The sword without recoil, Jizan, effortlessly deflected her arm.
The Jizan is a sword that is light only for me. To others, its weight is like that of a great mountain.
Not figuratively, but literally. It is a sword that bears the weight of the largest rock in the world.
A contest of strength? There is no such thing. Resistance? Impossible.
As long as I hold this Jizan, I cannot be overpowered in 'strength.' Their power is simply swallowed by the Jizan's weight.
That is why the Jizan is a sword without recoil. Though in my hands, it's more of a staff.
‘Not only can he lift it, but he's been permitted to wield its power…? Why?’
When I easily shook off her arm, Earth Sage's eyes filled with astonishment and fear.
A fear born not of my strength, but of the inferiority complex that I might truly be the Jizan's master.
Earth Sage watched me with eyes full of caution.
“…I do not know how you were chosen by the relic, Sir Hughes. But I will ask you once more. Please hand it over to me.”
“Now we're seeing eye to eye. So. Are you ready to listen?”
“Please, speak your mind. I am always prepared to listen.”
“Ahaha. Don't lie. How can you listen when you're deluded into thinking you're the only one qualified? It'd be like preaching to a deaf choir.”
She didn't flare up at my words. She understood now. The qualification I possessed.
The Jizan, which could easily push aside a concrete building, felt merely a little heavy to me. Subjectively, it was about the same as the magic wand that had a sword hidden inside.
I spun the Jizan like a windmill and spoke.
“These days, magic is so advanced that there's no worry about firewood, so even ordinary families just cremate their dead, right? In an age like this, how many bodies have you actually buried?”
“…You need not worry. I have buried more than enough.”
“For someone who says that, you don't seem very accustomed to handling corpses.”
“You speak nonsense. How can you say I am not accustomed to corpses?”
To her, who spread her arms as if to show how composed she was, even atop this mountain of corpses.
I pointed out that very fact.
“That's exactly it. The fact that you're calmly stepping on corpses.”
Her outstretched arms stiffened. Earth Sage replied in a trembling voice.
“…What did you say?”
“Why? Why can you stand so calmly on top of corpses? Why do you channel your Qi into a ground made of bodies to support yourself without a second thought? Why do you so casually unleash an attack that overturns a mountain of corpses?”
The Regressor abhors corpses. She froze for a moment just from being covered in the remains of an undying.
That's why, when she needed a foothold, she kicked off the overturned Tantalus or created Stepping Clouds to stand on. The thought of collapsing the ground beneath her opponent didn't even occur to her until she was about to fall.
No one finds that strange. Aversion to corpses is a revulsion close to instinct.
“Because people hate death. Even the death of others. That's why we shun corpses, bury them, and keep them in our hearts. The gravemen are the apostles who uphold that will.”
Compared to that, Earth Sage…
“Sigh.”
At my sigh, Earth Sage flinched like a guilty student. My stern admonishment pierced her ears.
“As a graveman, you're inferior to Shei-ssi.”
An admonishment made of plain truth, without a hint of accusation.
“You were the first to step onto the mountain of corpses. You failed to notice the vengeful spirits who still clung to their mission. And my god, you even overturned a tomb built by another.”
“That was…”
Earth Sage opened her mouth as if to make an excuse, but couldn't. I calmly assessed her.
“You, as a graveman, are a failure.”
Shame and humiliation. At the same time, a rebellious spirit reared its head.
Before Earth Sage could get angry, I spread my arms and raised my voice.
“But that's okay! What good is burying corpses well? You've done so much more than just burying the dead and honoring their souls!”
This wasn't a lie. This, too, was my sincere feeling.
The number of concrete sacks she's made is probably a hundred times greater than the number of funerals she's conducted.
The number of people she's saved is many times greater than the number she's buried.
The buildings and facilities she created still support the foundation of the nation called the Military State. In my life, I've seen people curse the Military State, but I've never seen anyone blame Earth Sage.
‘Earth Sage should have fixed the country before building dams.’
Only such playful grievances could be heard.
Towards that Earth Sage, I expressed a respect that came from the heart.
“I respect you, Miss Earth Sage. This is not a lie. Creating tombs for the dead is a great thing, but can it compare to erecting buildings for the living? Would the military engineers buried by your hands be happier, or the ones who survived thanks to you?”
There was no answer, only deep thought. I read each of those thoughts and continued.
“You said you would eliminate the Abyss to restore the influence of the Order of Gaia, but let me be frank.”
A cold truth that perhaps she, too, already knew.
“Even if you get rid of the Abyss, faith in Mother Earth won't return. No matter how you dress it up, that was just the flow of history.”
An era when the Sanctum gained power, wars continued, joint funerals became common, and the development of magic and alchemy reduced the worry over firewood.
People gradually chose cremation over burial. The Sanctum conducted funerals at a low cost, so the poor, who had no land to bury their dead nor money for a coffin, entrusted funerals to them.
Thus, the demand for gravemen gradually disappeared.
Why did both the Monk King and the Overlord shun the Order of Gaia during that period? Before then, it might have been understandable, but after the Grand Master, the Order of Gaia possessed definite miracles.
The Overlord brushed it off as a nuisance, but that couldn't have been the only reason.
“It's just that death became too common. Land was scarce, burial was difficult, and everyone was busy with war. What were they to do with unidentified individuals wandering around calling themselves gravemen? It certainly is a nuisance.”
The followers of the Sky God frame this as the will of heaven, but it's just how things turned out.
“The reason the Order of Gaia's influence seems to have returned for now is because you broke your old stubbornness. The stubbornness of not taking any nation's side. It's because you laid the foundation for the Military State instead of tombs for the dead.”
When the Military State called for them, the followers of Mother Earth were wary. Since ancient times, it was taboo for a religion to answer a nation's call, and with the precedent of the Overlord's followers being wiped out after being summoned, the resistance was even stronger.
But Earth Sage pushed forward, leading to the revival of both the Military State and the Order of Gaia. The rigid Military State even gave her a star [a general's rank], albeit an honorary one, and she did not refuse it.
Thanks to that, the followers of Mother Earth gradually gained recognition.
“To be precise, it's thanks to your hard work, Miss Earth Sage. The lives you saved, the facilities you built, the achievements you accomplished—that is your influence. It's not that the lost influence 'returned.' It was newly 'created' right now.”
After showering her with almost embarrassing praise, I turned my body slightly to show her the Grand Master.
The Grand Master, kneeling respectfully atop this mountain of corpses, is comforting their souls. Dying all alone.
In contrast, Earth Sage, more a builder than a burier, does not look back. She only moves forward. That is why she does not fall.
“You said you inherited the Grand Master's will, but did you really? The Grand Master of the Order of Gaia from 1300 years ago, and you, now. What do you have in common?”
Only the name 'Order of Gaia' is the same, and the power you wield is similar.
You are so very different. I made her realize that fact.
“So. What you mean to say is this.”
Taking a deep breath, Earth Sage murmured sorrowfully before the Grand Master.
“That I… have no right to demand the Jizan.”
I replied with a smile.
“No. It means you have the same right as any other ordinary person.”
“Therefore, I am not the rightful owner of this relic, but…”
“You have to take it. Just like everyone else.”
“Very well.”
Earth Sage, who had nodded and, through my words, truly faced her own desires…
“What you say is right, Sir Hughes. Indeed, I have shown an unsightly side of myself before the Jizan. To defile a tomb… I see now why my master warned me to beware of arrogance…”
She became much more honest.
“However. I am one who serves Mother Earth. I need this relic of the Grand Master, this proof that contains the secret history. To gather the scattered faithful, to reveal the truth to the world, and to hold the Sanctum accountable for its sins.”
In other words, she was showing her true colors.
“Hand it over.”
‘If you will not give it, I will take it by force.’
I laughed loudly.
“Aha! Ahahahaha! Ahahahahaha!”
Of course. One needs no qualification to act. What determines one's limits, if not a lack of ability?
To represent the dead? Who would dare? How can you represent them when you know nothing about them? Especially about something that happened 1300 years ago.
“Haha. Excellent. I really like this kind of honesty! You should have just said this from the start!”
“Then. Will you give it to me?”
“Take it!”
I quickly extended the hand holding the Jizan. At that, the Regressor, who had been groaning under the corpses and concrete below, shot her eyes wide open and yelled.
“Don't give it to her!”
Ah, what the hell. Suddenly this feels unfair.
Because you shouted, now it looks like I'm changing my mind and not giving it to her because of you.
When in fact, I had no intention of giving it to her yet!
Earth Sage's hand closed on empty air. I had exquisitely moved the Jizan to evade her grasp. A deflated sound escaped her.
The corner of Earth Sage's eye twitched, and a look of ecstasy spread across my face.
“If you can, that is!”