Chapter 242
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: A Long Night's Journey
“……”
He wasn't aware that he had entered the blackboard.
He was just momentarily bewildered by the scenery, something he had never experienced before.
This place also had no ceiling.
The sky of the spirit realm, dotted with clusters of light, was clear.
Aside from that, it was different from the world inside the mirror where the Guardian of Phenomena resided.
If the world inside the mirror was made solely of ‘images’...
...then this place, the home of the Guardian of Recognition, the world inside the blackboard, was a world made entirely of ‘letters.’
Densely written letters formed planes and lines, creating objects. They were walls, floors, and even furniture like tables and beds.
The letters were not just the commonly used language of the Grafton Kingdom, but also ancient tongues, demonic languages, and the extinct languages of old duchies.
Loan picked up an ‘apple’-shaped object and looked at the letters written on it.
In short, it was like this.
[A fruit with flesh ranging from yellow to light green, with a sweet and sour taste. It is quite firm, giving it a crisp texture. It grows well in the wild, and there are various species depending on the duchy...]
Various contents defining an apple. All the information that could be derived from the fruit called ‘apple’—its characteristics, cultivation, storage, and uses, stories based on it, and so on—was minutely condensed to form its shape.
Holding the ‘apple,’ Loan turned his gaze to the guardian who was staring at him intently.
She, too, was a person made of letters.
He thought of the guardian as ‘she’ not just for the simple reason that the form and figure created by the letters were female.
It was because the words ‘This woman is…’ were blatantly written on the part that formed her face.
But what was more interesting was that she used the third person, ‘this woman,’ in the text describing herself.
Had she read his gaze?
When she opened her mouth to speak, letters appeared on the wall. It was probably the other side of the blackboard.
“This is a place where all information is recorded and organized. I strive to exclude subjective impressions and leave only the most refined facts. Therefore, this record about me, a compilation of the remaining information from before I came to the world of recognition, can be said to be purely objective.”
Reading the text felt like he was actually hearing her voice.
A calm and refined tone came to mind. It was as if the text had voice support.
In any case, although she claimed to pursue objectivity, he couldn't help but wonder if the descriptions, which mostly emphasized ‘beauty,’ were somewhat self-centered.
Loan looked at his own hand holding the apple.
[They seem to extend neatly, bending appropriately where needed. The knuckles are moderately prominent, and the proportions of the joints are consistent. Vitality can be felt from the veins visible on the white skin, and a sheen lingers at the tips of the long, slender fingers, creating a noble and elegant atmosphere...]
Through the text that composed it, he could confirm that the guardian judged and recorded subjects from a remarkably objective perspective.
Convinced, Loan asked the guardian about the ‘eye’ and the ‘dream.’
The words that came from his mouth were written on the wall as letters, just as the guardian's had been moments before.
“Is it true that the Union Governor-General’s extracted eye is wandering the spirit realm?”
The answer was written directly below.
“That eye’s ability to observe the physical world through the spirit realm is unique. Even after being extracted, the eye’s power remains, but something has changed. The eye that sees the present, which once appeared in the spirit realm, was clear, but now it is clouded. I believe the difference lies with the one who uses the eye.”
“Who has the eye?”
“I do not know. However, it is a well-known fact that the eye that sees the past is with Lazarus, the Director of the Union's Administration Bureau.”
“Ah…”
Just as he'd suspected, the scar on his forehead that looked like it had been stitched up. To think it contained one of the Governor-General’s eyes.
The shock was immense.
“So, the one with the eye that sees the present is continuously observing the spirit realm for some reason. Is it perhaps related to the ‘dream’?”
“The eye floats continuously. It keeps moving unless an intense light appears and temporarily blinds it. Then, if it finds a being of particular interest, it stares intently. I have seen those beings become consumed by dreams from time to time.”
“Then what happens?”
“That is knowledge I have not obtained.”
“……”
An answer befitting her claim of objectively organizing only facts.
On the other hand, it was also a conveniently irresponsible answer.
When Loan didn't continue with his questions, the guardian glanced at him and continued writing.
“I have a suspicion that the dream is related to the demon world. There are too many anecdotes related to it. Ominous nightmares that come true like prophecies, or illusions that shake the mind.”
If the guardian's suspicion was correct, then the illusion through which Le Tell's leader issued commands was one such case.
Then was the illusion he saw the same?
The one he couldn't tell anyone, which contained both his death and the end of the Union.
“You said they come true like prophecies. Does that mean the being using the dream knows the future?”
“That is knowledge I have not obtained.”
An answer that prevented further questioning returned.
Loan nodded in acceptance.
“I'll have to find out. The owner of the eye. The cause of the dream. A way to stop the dream. I think I need to know that to fundamentally stop the demons' movements.”
“……”
“Ah, I have one more question. You said earlier that the eye stops suddenly when an intense light appears. What kind of light is it that blinds the eye?”
“That is knowledge I have not obtained.”
“Right. Right.”
Loan plopped down onto a chair made of letters and gathered his thoughts while looking at the sky.
At that, the guardian, who had been watching him intently, carefully tapped the table.
Letters immediately appeared on the wall.
“May I ask a question now?”
“Yes.”
“How did you get in here?”
It felt like a pure question for the sake of recording.
Loan explained the circumstances in as much detail as possible.
How he had resonated with the vessel, how it was now absorbed into his body, allowing him to switch between his spirit and physical forms, and the method of moving his spirit and forming his body by thinking of a target.
And finally, how he understood the essence of the blackboard and resonated with it.
“The essence of the blackboard.”
“Yes. The important thing isn't so much understanding the essence as it is accepting the impression it contains. I mentioned this to the Guardian of Phenomena as well, but I think that process will be necessary for the guardians to leave this place.”
“Is that so.”
A trembling emotion was contained in the short reply.
She, too, wanted to escape this place.
“By the way, how did you all end up here in the first place?”
“I do not remember. However, if this is seen as a curse, I surmise it might be related to the eternal fetters received by those who made contracts with gods in ancient records.”
“What are the eternal fetters?”
“It is to eternally chase and pursue something. I will introduce a book related to it. I will pass it to Aul.”
“Ah, then please tell him I'd be grateful if he could send the book I chose earlier to the Union as well.”
“Are you leaving?”
“I'll come back if I have more questions. I'd also like to meet the Guardians of Sensation, Ideation, and Manifestation in person.”
“……You must.”
“Pardon?”
“It is nothing.”
Her saying it was nothing, even though the words were clearly written on the wall, felt strangely endearing.
Loan thanked the guardian and then looked at the phrase that had been added to one side of his chest.
The newly written part was the sentence, ‘He travels to and from the spirit realm through the vessel called the soul's passage.’
For some reason, he thought the ‘vessel’ would be where the word ‘vessel’ was written in that sentence.
Just as a being's existence is established only when its true name is called.
Loan deconstructed the letters for ‘vessel’ and arranged them vertically, as if tidying the grain of his mana.
Simultaneously, Loan once again became a line of light and escaped the world of letters.
He couldn't feel the ‘eye.’
Though he hadn't experienced it yet, it seemed there was no dream either.
He looked far and wide.
Among the dense clusters of light, there were places where they periodically vanished in groups.
‘Those must be places where battles or disasters are happening.’
Even so, he couldn't reach them if there was no one he knew there.
A pulling force. Like gravity.
It felt less like he was actively going toward someone he knew and more like they were calling to him.
So Loan decided that if he found a place with a familiar mana, he would offer some help before returning to the Union.
He estimated the direction and consciously pushed through the clusters of light toward the pull.
The place he arrived at was a mountainside in northern Grafton.
It was where the Honor Division, led by Commander Magda, was constructing a barrier against the orc legion, Norfolk.
A place where darkness had settled, pitch black.
Loan descended with the light.
The feeling was so sacred that no one thought it was a surprise attack from the enemy.
Rather, countless mages showed curiosity about the phenomenon itself.
From among them, someone who recognized Loan's face hurried over.
“Loan?”
“Sophie!”
Loan was happy to see her, while Sophie was bewildered.
She looked quite exhausted, but she wasn't the only one.
The weather was cold enough to be compared to Shion.
Fatigue was etched on the faces of all the Honor Division mages and members who had stayed up late into the night.
Commander Magda, who looked the most tired of all, asked Loan with a face full of both pleasure and surprise.
“How did you get here…?”
“I used a magic tool and the spirit realm. I'll organize the details into a thesis and present it at the Honor Division.”
However, his words only fanned the flames of their curiosity.
There was nothing to be done. Magda soon accepted it and encouraged her members again.
“Let's refocus. We need to make the barrier more elaborate and destructive. Those who have recovered their mana, hurry and take over.”
The Honor Division was in the process of setting up barriers at every pass in the valley where Norfolk might cross.
Looking at them, anyone who stepped in unknowingly would face a landslide and suffer great harm.
Loan helped with the construction of the magic circles, taking the place of his exhausted seniors.
Sophie stuck right by his side and began to ask questions in a low voice. Everyone was full of curiosity, but this was a privilege of being a friend.
“Loan, where did you come from?”
Loan briefly recounted his short journey and also passed on Lucas's regards.
Sophie's expression said she couldn't care less.
“Whatever.”
Her attitude was quite different from before.
“Why?”
“We were on a mission together while you were gone, and he was so insufferable. Turns out he's nice to every girl he meets. Such a flirt. And here I was, misunderstanding things.”
“Ah…”
He couldn't tell if she had closed her heart because of that, or if she was just temporarily angry.
After all, she continued to bad-mouth Lucas and pry about various things for a while after that.
Thinking that the human heart was truly unknowable, Loan finished constructing the barrier, said his goodbyes to the Honor Division members, and disappeared into light once more.
Traveling a great distance, Loan stood by the sleeping Commander Adrian's bedside, staring at him intently and debating whether to wake him up.
After startling Commander Garcia and Vice Commander Richard of the Responsibility Division and helping them with their work…
When he felt too tired to maintain his consciousness any longer, he thought about heading back and looked toward the Union.
And then he discovered someone suffering in the darkness.
It was someone he knew.
Bella.
A darkness like a faint mist was subtly encroaching on Bella's light.
But there was nothing he could do in his spirit form.
Just as he was debating whether to approach Bella and confront the darkness directly…
A light suddenly bloomed and began to drive out the darkness.
Seeing Bella regain her composure, Loan understood the source of that power.
‘Governor-General…’
The one whose mere thought warmed his heart.
He flowed as a line of light toward the place where the original owner of the extracted eye was.
At the end of the vanishing point—
Though it was already morning, she was still there, in the same spot, in the same state.
“Welcome back.”
“Yes…”
The Governor-General gently guided the relaxed Loan and sat him down in a plush chair.
Loan did as she led.
There were so many things he wanted to tell her, so many things he wanted to ask.
But the feeling of his longing being fulfilled somehow made his eyelids heavy.
“Rest well.”
Loan finished his long, overnight journey.
And the next day.
The Union Administration Bureau fell into chaos as it tried to compile the flood of dispatches pouring in from all over the continent.
