Chapter 586: Original (3)

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 586: Original (3)

Judging by how he changed the topic, I apparently wasn't the only one who felt awkward after the duke thanked me.

"In any case, that is the end of my story. It seems that I wasn't able to tell you about the world of that time as I only talked of mine and my own. It did seem you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were more interested in the former."

It was as he said. However, the more he spoke, the more I became immersed in his story, so I didn't have an opportunity to say otherwise.

"I've said my piece now, so you can ask me anything," the duke said obligingly. "I will tell you everything I know without exception."

Our question time finally began. It was interesting to hear this vampire's story, but what I was most curious about was the world of that era.

"Duke, do you perhaps know the identity of the witch?"

"I don't know much. I know that she was a woman...but everything else about her was mysterious. However, the pilgrims who followed the witch believe that one day they will die and head to the Land of Dawn."

"...Land of Dawn?"

"A land where everyone is free and equal, where there is no agony, suffering, or discrimination. A land where you can go anywhere you wish to go." When I didn't respond, he added, "That is what the pilgrims said. It is why, before I heard your story, I hoped that maybe this was that place. I hoped that my prayer was answered before I died."

"I see..." I didn't tell him about the Land of Dawn that existed on the eighth floor of the labyrinth. They only had the same name but were probably completely different places.

"In any case, returning to the main story... The empire did say that the world would end if the witch wasn't defeated...but I didn't believe them."

"Why was that?'

"The empire had done a similar thing in the past. You may not know, but in ancient times, it was said that there were five gods. However, two religions were eliminated from the empire for political reasons. I heard that a lot of blood was spilled during that period."

It was ancient history coming from someone who I considered ancient history. However, he also didn't seem to know much about the five gods, so I proceeded to the next question.

"What kind of place was the empire?" I asked.

"It is difficult to answer such a question."

"Anything will do. Just tell me everything that comes to mind."

I went on to hear about the ancient empire's influence, its culture, its disposition, and so on. It had covered a third of the continent, and it held considerable influence over the other two-thirds. It was an enormous nation. That much was enough for me on that topic.

"Do you perhaps know the Rafdonian Palace, or its territories?"

"Rafdonia..." the duke mused. "You're talking about the city that you're currently living in, correct? Unfortunately, I am hearing it for the first time from you."

Right, so he didn't know. That was a bit unfortunate, but I tried my best to not make that emotion known and continued, "Did your era have monsters as well?"

"Of course. Goblins, Yetis, Ogres...all sorts of monsters lived in many parts of the empire. Well, there are a few differences from what I've heard from you."

"As in...?"

"First and foremost, we didn't have any 'essences' or 'mana stones' that you speak of. And most of these beings were intelligent. In the cases of Goblins and Kobolds, for example, they lived in tribes in the mountains and sometimes interacted with humans."

He even said that Orcs were considered a force of their own.

"Then what about elves and dwarves? Or the dragonians?" I wondered, spurred by a spark of curiosity. "What positions did they hold on the continent?"

The old vampire tilted his head as if I was speaking tongues. "Elves? And dwarves? Aren't those beings from fairy tales?"

"...Huh?"

What did he just say?

My mind blanked for a second, but it didn't seem that he was joking at all.

"Duke..." I began carefully. "What race do I look like?"

From his answer, I realized one thing.

In the ancient world before the world ended, monsters existed.

However...

"...Obviously a human?"

Nonhumans didn't.

***

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Humans, beastpeople, elves, dwarves, dragonians, barbarians—these were the six races that made up the final citadel of Rafdonia.

The duke, however, said otherwise.

"You only had humans back then...?"

Barbarians lived in the harsh wilderness of the north and south and lived while fighting monsters. Dwarves created cities underground and had their own ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nation. The blessing of the forest that the elves lived in afforded them safety from the monsters. As for beastpeople, they lived intermingled with humans from long ago. Because there weren't many records on dragonians, it was difficult to know their particular history.

And before the world ended, those nonhumans came to the final bastion that was Rafdonia. The castellans who needed their power gave the nonhumans many concessions and even designated their own special areas to live in. That was the holy land.

...It doesn't make sense.

The fragments of stories and traditions of that time were still being passed down in the holy land even now. Barbarians still raised children communally, and when a daughter was born, she received her mother's name as her surname while a son was given his father's name as his surname. I had also heard that spirit imprints were a secret technique passed down from ancient times. But in ancient times, the barbarians didn't exist?

Was his world actually different from ours?

The possibility flashed through my mind that something like parallel worlds that sometimes appeared in movies or cartoons might exist. Perhaps, but I couldn't be sure of it.

The duke ultimately admitted, "I was a bit amazed at your size. Were you perhaps not a human?"

"...Not by the classification of my world."

I used the opportunity to explain the six races, and then I discussed with the duke how this could have happened. Unfortunately, however, we weren't able to come to a clean conclusion, and I shifted gears back to inquiring after as much information about the ancient times as I could.

I honestly wanted to keep talking forever, but as always, things needed to come to an end at some point.

"...This was my first time in a while enjoying something like this, but it seems we should end our talk here."

I looked at him in question.

"In truth...my mindlessness from before is beginning to return."

Only then did I realize that the look in his eyes—the white of his eyes had become bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead and neck were popping out.

He even said that Orcs were considered a force of their own.

"Then what about elves and dwarves? Or the dragonians?" I wondered, spurred by a spark of curiosity. "What positions did they hold on the continent?"

The old vampire tilted his head as if I was speaking tongues. "Elves? And dwarves? Aren't those beings from fairy tales?"

"...Huh?"

What did he just say?

My mind blanked for a second, but it didn't seem that he was joking at all.

"Duke..." I began carefully. "What race do I look like?"

From his answer, I realized one thing.

In the ancient world before the world ended, monsters existed.

However...

"...Obviously a human?"

Nonhumans didn't.

***

Humans, beastpeople, elves, dwarves, dragonians, barbarians—these were the six races that made up the final citadel of Rafdonia.

The duke, however, said otherwise.

"You only had humans back then...?"

Barbarians lived in the harsh wilderness of the north and south and lived while fighting monsters. Dwarves created cities underground and had their own nation. The blessing of the forest that the elves lived in afforded them safety from the monsters. As for beastpeople, they lived intermingled with humans from long ago. Because there weren't many records on dragonians, it was difficult to know their particular history.

And before the world ended, those nonhumans came to the final bastion that was Rafdonia. The castellans who needed their power gave the nonhumans many concessions and even designated their own special areas to live in. That was the holy land.

...It doesn't make sense.

The fragments of stories and traditions of that time were still being passed down in the holy land even now. Barbarians still raised children communally, and when a daughter was born, she received her mother's name as her surname while a son was given his father's name as his surname. I had also heard that spirit imprints were a secret technique passed down from ancient times. But in ancient times, the barbarians didn't exist?

Was his world actually different from ours?

The possibility flashed through my mind that something like parallel worlds that sometimes appeared in movies or cartoons might exist. Perhaps, but I couldn't be sure of it.

The duke ultimately admitted, "I was a bit amazed at your size. Were you perhaps not a human?"

"...Not by the classification of my world."

I used the opportunity to explain the six races, and then I discussed with the duke how this could have happened. Unfortunately, however, we weren't able to come to a clean conclusion, and I shifted gears back to inquiring after as much information about the ancient times as I could.

I honestly wanted to keep talking forever, but as always, things needed to come to an end at some point.

"...This was my first time in a while enjoying something like this, but it seems we should end our talk here."

I looked at him in question.

"In truth...my mindlessness from before is beginning to return."

Only then did I realize that the look in his eyes—the white of his eyes had become bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead and neck were popping out.

Even in that state, the duke spoke calmly. "Now, end me...while I am still myself."

I took a deep breath and slowed my breathing. My heart was heavy. Not because I couldn't keep talking to him to gain more information, but because of something else.

It would've been easier if he had lost control and just attacked me...

Nevertheless, that didn't mean I would deny this old man his request.

I raised my hammer. "I'll say this now, but I don't know how to cleanly kill someone."

"I can tell by looking at you." The old man smirked before closing his eyes and standing straight. However, something seemed to occur to him in this final moment. "Ah, I have one last thing to tell you."

"Go on."

"From the moment you talked about how you met me in the labyrinth, something faint began returning to my mind. However, it wasn't a memory just about you."

His closed eyes opened again.

"I don't know for certain...but in that place, I was always without conscious thought and fighting something. Probably these adventurers you were talking about..."

His bloodshot eyes were looking up at empty air, but it seemed as if he was looking at something invisible.

"This is but a theory of mine...but perhaps, I was here for all those times and was called out there to fight. Every time I needed to fight someone again..."

"That...does seem reasonable."

"How about it? Was that helpful?"

I answered without hesitation. "Absolutely."

What he told me was information that could lead us one step closer to unlocking the secrets of the stone statues in Basement Floor 1, and even about the secret to the rifts. This would undoubtedly be helpful to me in the future.

"Is that so...?"

As if that was all, the old man closed his eyes again and mouthed the words, "Am I real or fake?"

He mumbled as if talking to himself.

"When this heart fades, where will I go?"

I didn't answer.

I kept the thought locked within. That after death, the place he would go was probably not the afterworld the Three Gods Church preached nor the Land of Dawn the pilgrims spoke of. That he would be revived once more and forget the memories of today to fight the same d*mned fight over and over again.

However...

"It is fine. It doesn't matter where I go...if only I can pay for my sins even a little more."

Then, with such a calm and peaceful voice, the old man spoke.

"Now end me."

The moment he told me he was prepared, I slammed down my hammer, putting all of my strength behind it so that there would be no moment for pain, even as he was crushed.

Vwoong!

The hammer reached the heart that in the past I had barely reached using dozens of Flesh Bursts.

Crunch!

For some reason, the all-too-familiar sound of light dispersing in this stone room chilled me. There, too, the rainbow essence appeared. It was a sight I had witnessed countless times since becoming an adventurer, but today, I only looked at it in silence.

Shine!

Until that brilliant, beaming light disappeared.

***

It was complete chaos when I took the portal back out. After going to kill one vampire, I never returned, no matter how long they waited for me.

"Mister...!"

"Are you hurt? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Yandel...! What happened inside? No, it doesn't matter what happened. You're now banned from going back in..."

Amelia even said something ridiculous about me being banned from going in again.

Thankfully, however, not everyone reacted like someone came back from the dead. Maybe it was because they were able to confirm that I was alive due to the portal not working?

"Three hours, twenty-one minutes..."

Oh, and even in this moment of chaos, the recording wizard was keeping his records straight.

"Get out of the way," I said, pushing my way forward. "You can stop worrying as well. It wasn't that dangerous in the first place."

"Then why did it take you so long to come back out?" Raven, who was in charge of educating the adventurers on the Guardians, came to me and spoke with her piercing voice.

You know, I was about to get to it.

"The Guardian I met inside had intelligence. That was why I spent so long talking to it to get information."

"...The Guardian was intelligent?"

"Yes. It lost its mind in the end, but we could still talk before then."

I didn't go into the full details, but I revealed to them all the contents of the conversation between me and the old vampire. I wouldn't be able to test something if I kept it a secret.

"Because of that, I have something I want to request the next person who's going in..." I informed everyone entering after me to try their best to converse with the vampire.

"...Yandel, what you said didn't happen."

"Me neither. As soon as I entered, he said something about his thirst for blood and attacked me.

"I-I couldn't talk to it either..."

Amelia, Erwen, Missha, and everyone else who entered failed to encounter the same thing as me. My questions only continued to grow because of it.

What was different about me?

Why was Duke Cambormere able to maintain his mind in front of me? And why was every other Guardian different?

Just like the last thing he said...

"But perhaps, I was here for all those times and was called out there to fight. Every time I needed to fight someone again..."

If these statues here were the originals, and this space we found on this underground floor acted as a sort of storage unit for them, why didn't the other Guardians show a similar reaction?

I wasn't sure. The more I thought about it, the more unsure I became.

In the end, I decided to move on to something else for the time being.

"Yandel, are you going to kill that one now?"

"Oh, I have something I want to check first."

"...Saving that for last won't hurt anything."

When I went to clear the unknown stone statues, the ones for whom we didn't even know what floor they were from, Amelia revealed her concern for me, but I had no intention of changing my mind.

"Don't worry," I reassured. "At most, they're rank 5 monsters. It won't be dangerous."

With that, I went and touched the Troll stone statue. Inexplicably, I felt a little odd.

A Troll Guardian...

Normally, I would've been more motivated by the chance to see a rainbow troll essence. But now, I became curious about a different thing entirely.

Did this guy also have his circumstances?

What would happen to him if the Gate of the Abyss was reached?

Would he be able to find his peace then?

Though I left them unspoken, the thoughts continued to circulate through my mind.

Even in that state, the duke spoke calmly. "Now, end me...while I am still myself."

I took a deep breath and slowed my breathing. My heart was heavy. Not because I couldn't keep talking to him to gain more information, but because of something else.

It would've been easier if he had lost control and just attacked me...

Nevertheless, that didn't mean I would deny this old man his request.

I raised my hammer. "I'll say this now, but I don't know how to cleanly kill someone."

"I can tell by looking at you." The old man smirked before closing his eyes and standing straight. However, something seemed to occur to him in this final moment. "Ah, I have one last thing to tell you."

"Go on."

"From the moment you talked about how you met me in the labyrinth, something faint began returning to my mind. However, it wasn't a memory just about you."

His closed eyes opened again.

"I don't know for certain...but in that place, I was always without conscious thought and fighting something. Probably these adventurers you were talking about..."

His bloodshot eyes were looking up at empty air, but it seemed as if he was looking at something invisible.

"This is but a theory of mine...but perhaps, I was here for all those times and was called out there to fight. Every time I needed to fight someone again..."

"That...does seem reasonable."

"How about it? Was that helpful?"

I answered without hesitation. "Absolutely."

What he told me was information that could lead us one step closer to unlocking the secrets of the stone statues in Basement Floor 1, and even about the secret to the rifts. This would undoubtedly be helpful to me in the future.

"Is that so...?"

As if that was all, the old man closed his eyes again and mouthed the words, "Am I real or fake?"

He mumbled as if talking to himself.

"When this heart fades, where will I go?"

I didn't answer.

I kept the thought locked within. That after death, the place he would go was probably not the afterworld the Three Gods Church preached nor the Land of Dawn the pilgrims spoke of. That he would be revived once more and forget the memories of today to fight the same d*mned fight over and over again.

However...

"It is fine. It doesn't matter where I go...if only I can pay for my sins even a little more."

Then, with such a calm and peaceful voice, the old man spoke.

"Now end me."

The moment he told me he was prepared, I slammed down my hammer, putting all of my strength behind it so that there would be no moment for pain, even as he was crushed.

Vwoong!

The hammer reached the heart that in the past I had barely reached using dozens of Flesh Bursts.

Crunch!

For some reason, the all-too-familiar sound of light dispersing in this stone room chilled me. There, too, the rainbow essence appeared. It was a sight I had witnessed countless times since becoming an adventurer, but today, I only looked at it in silence.

Shine!

Until that brilliant, beaming light disappeared.

***

It was complete chaos when I took the portal back out. After going to kill one vampire, I never returned, no matter how long they waited for me.

"Mister...!"

"Are you hurt? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Yandel...! What happened inside? No, it doesn't matter what happened. You're now banned from going back in..."

Amelia even said something ridiculous about me being banned from going in again.

Thankfully, however, not everyone reacted like someone came back from the dead. Maybe it was because they were able to confirm that I was alive due to the portal not working?

"Three hours, twenty-one minutes..."

Oh, and even in this moment of chaos, the recording wizard was keeping his records straight.

"Get out of the way," I said, pushing my way forward. "You can stop worrying as well. It wasn't that dangerous in the first place."

"Then why did it take you so long to come back out?" Raven, who was in charge of educating the adventurers on the Guardians, came to me and spoke with her piercing voice.

You know, I was about to get to it.

"The Guardian I met inside had intelligence. That was why I spent so long talking to it to get information."

"...The Guardian was intelligent?"

"Yes. It lost its mind in the end, but we could still talk before then."

I didn't go into the full details, but I revealed to them all the contents of the conversation between me and the old vampire. I wouldn't be able to test something if I kept it a secret.

"Because of that, I have something I want to request the next person who's going in..." I informed everyone entering after me to try their best to converse with the vampire.

"...Yandel, what you said didn't happen."

"Me neither. As soon as I entered, he said something about his thirst for blood and attacked me.

"I-I couldn't talk to it either..."

Amelia, Erwen, Missha, and everyone else who entered failed to encounter the same thing as me. My questions only continued to grow because of it.

What was different about me?

Why was Duke Cambormere able to maintain his mind in front of me? And why was every other Guardian different?

Just like the last thing he said...

"But perhaps, I was here for all those times and was called out there to fight. Every time I needed to fight someone again..."

If these statues here were the originals, and this space we found on this underground floor acted as a sort of storage unit for them, why didn't the other Guardians show a similar reaction?

I wasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sure. The more I thought about it, the more unsure I became.

In the end, I decided to move on to something else for the time being.

"Yandel, are you going to kill that one now?"

"Oh, I have something I want to check first."

"...Saving that for last won't hurt anything."

When I went to clear the unknown stone statues, the ones for whom we didn't even know what floor they were from, Amelia revealed her concern for me, but I had no intention of changing my mind.

"Don't worry," I reassured. "At most, they're rank 5 monsters. It won't be dangerous."

With that, I went and touched the Troll stone statue. Inexplicably, I felt a little odd.

A Troll Guardian...

Normally, I would've been more motivated by the chance to see a rainbow troll essence. But now, I became curious about a different thing entirely.

Did this guy also have his circumstances?

What would happen to him if the Gate of the Abyss was reached?

Would he be able to find his peace then?

Though I left them unspoken, the thoughts continued to circulate through my mind.