Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: The Grand Experiment
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Following the elderly mage—no, High Priest Aumpasha—Damian's group climbed the stairs of the Ziggurat.
"Is... is this even possible?"
"A mere slave receiving a blessing?"
"There must be some reason for it."
Rather than cheers for the victor, murmurs followed.
It was due to the High Priest's shocking declaration that he would bestow blessings not only on the master but also on the slaves who had fought in the arena.
Still, it didn't change the fact that they were walking at the back of the procession, basking in the sunlight. After all, their current status was that of slaves.
"That necklace around his neck. That's the Tear of Eternity, right?"
Rubia, walking right beside him, spoke in a low voice. The distance was considerable, so a voice at this volume wouldn't reach the front.
"Definitely."
"Then, could he be the Master of Memories?"
"Who knows..."
The thought had crossed his mind the moment he saw Aumpasha, but he couldn't be certain.
No semi-transparent window had appeared, like when he realized this was the world of memories.
Did he need the man himself to say, "You are the Master of Memories"?
If so, he had to be even more cautious.
Aumpasha's position was High Priest. He surely held significant authority in the Ziggurat.
If he said something strange and aroused suspicion, things could get complicated.
"No need to rush. I'm starting to get a little excited myself now."
The only ones who could use mana in this world of memories were the priests affiliated with the Ziggurat.
The High Priest Aumpasha and the young priests following him. Unlike the others here, they carried the faint aftertaste of mana.
'Why "priests" of all things?'
Aumpasha clearly understood magic, black magic, and even auras.
But in this world of memories, humans capable of using mana were exceedingly rare, and the very concept of how to use it didn't exist.
Only terms Damian couldn't comprehend filled the air: chief god, priests, miracles.
Was it something akin to the incantations used by the Hashashin?
"Rubia. How much do you know about ancient civilizations?"
The Ziggurat was enormously tall. Moreover, Aumpasha at the lead moved exceedingly slowly.
This itself seemed to be a kind of ritual. Thanks to that, they had plenty of time to exchange information.
"Why ask me?"
"You're the foremost expert among the people I know."
"Hee-hee. Thanks for saying so."
Regardless of Damian's souring expression, Rubia's voice relaxed noticeably.
In this world of memories, Rubia had lost face many times.
But since she was the one who had gotten them into this mess in the first place, she had no grounds to complain.
And now that Damian was asking for her help, her fragile pride had risen a bit.
"Academic circles still use the vague term 'ancient civilizations,' but in truth, lumping them together like that is imprecise."
For example, there might be a thousand-year gap between the Tear of Eternity and the relics Rubia had used before her regression.
"Who knows how many dynasties rose and fell in between... It's beyond imagination."
However, all ancient civilizations shared one thing: remarkable achievements in magic.
"In my view, this looks like a very early era of ancient civilizations. The Tear of Eternity has many shortcomings compared to other artifacts, doesn't it?"
It was an inference born of Rubia's knowledge gaps.
The Tear of Eternity was a high-level artifact capable of containing primal mana.
"Even the concept of magic doesn't seem to exist here. They call it miracles, but even on remote islands in the continent's outskirts, there are people who worship magic as divine power despite using it."
And yet, they handled primal mana and created the Tear of Eternity artifact. What power did they possess?
The Nuransika family members had frequented the Ziggurat before.
So he had asked the remaining slaves about it, but gained little.
Each had a different story.
Some said they saw treasures of gold and silver dazzling to the eyes, others a paradise teeming with all manner of plants and animals.
But no one questioned it.
The Ziggurat was where priests resided, closest to the gods. It was a place where events beyond human understanding occurred.
This too was likely a phenomenon caused by magic—what they called miracles.
'I still don't get it.'
Rubia concluded it was simply an early civilization, but Damian felt an inexplicable sense of incongruity.
'I just can't grasp this society's structure.'
At first, he had brushed it off, but the more he observed, the stronger the unease grew.
There was the Nuransika family, wielding absolute power, yet even they couldn't touch the magic-using priests.
Yet the priests themselves stayed confined to the Ziggurat, not actively ruling.
Moreover, despite creating artifacts like the Tear of Eternity, society's development level was low.
Artifacts were a form of magical tool. Creating them required not only mages but skilled artisans.
Thus, other technologies should have advanced as well.
But there were no carriages or carts to be seen, and they recorded writing on clay tablets instead of paper.
If they couldn't use magic anyway, was there any need to suppress such technologies?
The entire situation felt contrived somehow.
He would soon have his answer. As they stepped onto the final stair, a massive entrance welcomed the group.
Even from close range, the interior was pitch black. It was some kind of barrier.
Aumpasha entered first, and the rest followed in order.
"Hee-hee. Still a bit nerve-wracking. I get to witness this era's magic, called miracles."
"Don't let your guard down. You're powerless right now."
"Ah, I know."
Rubia bit her lower lip. She couldn't deny it.
Without magic, Rubia was just an ordinary person. Unlike Damian or Agnes, she lacked superior physical abilities.
If danger arose, there was nothing she could do.
Of course, since their opponents could use mana, even Damian and Agnes had clear limits.
That was why finding the Master of Memories without conflict was crucial.
With that resolve, the moment they entered the Ziggurat...
Damian's consciousness cut off as well.
* * *
"What... ugh!!"
The back of his head throbbed. But he couldn't move his body. His arms and legs were fixed to some device.
"Agnes... Rubia..."
The two were still unconscious, bound just like Damian.
"Hm? Aumpasha, sir. Slave No. 44 has awakened. This shouldn't be... Shall I knock him out again?"
At his feet was the young priest who had officiated the memorial rite.
But his attire was different from before. It resembled what Aumpasha had worn when they met in the magic tower.
The interior differed greatly from what it appeared outside. Unlike the stone exterior, the inside was made of smooth metal.
Zap. Electricity sparked from the young priest's hand. That's how they had been ambushed and knocked out upon entering.
"No, that's fine."
Whirr. Transparent glass doors slid open to either side, and Aumpasha entered.
His clothing was the same as in the magic tower, and he held a massive staff in one hand.
"Hmm."
Aumpasha stroked his chin and tilted his head. Primal mana emanated from the Tear of Eternity around his neck.
"I didn't expect an anomaly like this from this experiment."
"...Experiment? What are you talking about?"
"No need for the likes of you to know. Go back to sleep..."
Thud. Electricity sparked from the young priest's hand again, but when Aumpasha struck the floor with his staff, it vanished without a trace.
"Am I going to have to say it twice?"
"I-I'm sorry."
As Aumpasha scowled, the young priest immediately bowed his head.
"I'll answer. The culture, faith, and so on of the society you live in—they're not naturally occurring. It's all one grand experiment."
The ancient civilization itself was hard to fathom, but Aumpasha's words were even more grave.
While Damian's mind struggled to keep up with the explanation, the young priest—no, Aumpasha's assistant—turned pale.
"Aumpasha, sir! How can you tell the test subject that?!"
"It's not like we won't erase his memories. What's the harm? I wanted to tell the truth to someone who doesn't even know he's a lab rat, just once."
Curious what reaction he'd show.
Aumpasha's smile as he said it felt somehow sinister. It contrasted with the jovial demeanor from the magic tower.
It even overlapped with Rubia's mad expressions.
"Shocking, isn't it? Yes, yes. That's the reaction I wanted. If you have more questions, ask away. I'll answer."
"Are you the Master of Memories?"
The situation was already messed up, so he threw it out there. Nothing to lose if wrong.
"What are you talking about? Did the shock fry your brain a bit?"
Aumpasha scowled. No change. He wasn't the Master of Memories.
No one who entered the Ziggurat left alive. They must send people out after obtaining whatever information from the "experiment."
The varied experiences were due to magic erasing memories of this place and implanting false ones.
'I need to buy time for now.'
The Master of Memories had to be here.
Damian waking up was an anomaly itself, so the others here would soon gather.
The Master of Memories was surely among them.
"Tch. Boring. Put him back to sleep—"
"Are you a mage?"
A strange smile crept across Aumpasha's face. Conversely, his assistant scowled deeply.
"This is interesting. By the setup, you lot should perceive mana use as miracles. Where did the error creep in?"
Aumpasha chuckled softly as he eyed his assistant. The man jolted upright.
"I-I-I swear, it wasn't me."
"Hmm. You're the researcher with the most contact with the test subjects..."
Well, whatever. Aumpasha didn't pursue it now. Only then could the assistant exhale deeply.
"I don't know how much you understand of magic, but we don't call it that ourselves."
As expected. A civilization wielding magic superior to modern times couldn't lack the term itself.
"What exactly do you mean by 'experiment'?"
"Literally that. We construct a specific society and extract the information we want from the interactions that occur there."
Currently, they were researching physical strength. Hence the creation of events like the memorial rites.
"You artificially created this society?"
"Correct. The Nuransika family you belong to is just a construct we made. Conversely, a single finger-point from here could reduce them all to nothing. And this isn't the only testing ground."
Then, were the other ruins also testing grounds used by this ancient civilization?
"What's the difference between the people outside and you lot?"
In the end, weren't they all the same people? How exactly was the experiment maintained?
"Why ask something like that?"
Aumpasha smiled wickedly.
"We're human, and you're not."
That's why they could do as they pleased. By "human," he meant only those who could wield mana.
"This isn't the reaction I expected... Knock him out again. Hmm... Should I scrap the experiment entirely?"
Interest waning, Aumpasha turned away. Electricity flowed from the assistant's hand once more.
'Damn it...!'
Other researchers gathered at the sudden disturbance, but none stood out.
If he blacked out here, everything would be for naught.
Moreover, if Aumpasha scrapped the current experiment, what would happen to Damian and the others was uncertain.
Creak. He strained with all his might to break the restraints. But only his fingers twitched. It was magically secured.
'That?'
But an anomaly occurred. The Tear of Eternity—the artifact containing primal mana—reacted.
Aumpasha seemed oblivious. But it had undoubtedly moved due to the primal mana.
'I can't use the mana I have now.'
But he could utilize external mana.
Damian focused all his mind on the Tear of Eternity, on the primal mana within.
Swish. A faint, heat-haze-like energy flowed from the Tear of Eternity. But that was enough to ignite Hellfire.
"W-Wh-What!!"
The assistant's mouth gaped open. In an instant, Damian had burned through the restraints with green flames.
That power was black magic. How could a test subject wield it?
"Black mage!!! A black mage has infiltrated!!"
Weeeee! An alarm blared through the Ziggurat interior.
These were people from before humanity forgot black magic.
For now, it was fortunate that Agnes and Rubia remained asleep.
"Everyone, battle stations!!"
"Protect Aumpasha, sir!!"
Mages swarmed from all sides, gathering mana. The power coalescing at their fingertips resembled modern magic yet felt somehow alien.
'Should I use the Book of Hell?'
The remaining primal mana was scant, but using the Book of Hell could reverse the situation.
Still, he wasn't sure if causing this uproar was the right move.
"You."
Amid the chaos, Aumpasha called to Damian. Mana gathered in his hand simultaneously.
Crack! A shockwave erupted from him, engulfing the other mages.
Unaware why Aumpasha attacked them, they collapsed unconscious.
"Shall we have a talk?"
This time, it was a proposal.
"Between our kind."
Human to human. And as wielders of hell's power and primal mana.