Chapter 89
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Bloodline
Creeak—
Creek—
I rowed the small boat by myself, slowly cutting through the water.
It looked as though the stars might pour out of the sky.
“Mibabareu, the Goddess of Wisdom.”
The star that Iodine always used to look up at.
I’d heard the names of the other thirteen major gods and forgotten them all, but I still remembered Mibabareu.
“And that… were those the eleven demons?”
I learned all sorts of things in the ancient past.
For example, among the countless stars in the sky, there were twenty-four that were the brightest and most special. Things like that.
Those were the thirteen major gods and the eleven demons.
The thirteen major gods, always fixed in the same position, allowed me to know my current location from anywhere on the continent.
On the other hand, the eleven demons, which always maintained a set distance from one another as they swiftly traversed the sky, told us the time and date.
The thirteen major gods shone blue, and the eleven demons shone red.
Creek—
The boat soon reached the island.
“So this is it.”
As I climbed the hill, traces of a long-forgotten excavation came into view.
Pits dug here, mounds piled there—a bumpy, chaotic mess.
“Was there a temple here?”
Amidst the chaos, smooth stone pillars, glowing white in the moonlight, stood in stark contrast.
Mostly buried in the ground, the pillars jutting out here and there were so large and majestic they looked like small towers.
It was a pretty sight, but…
It didn’t seem like there was anything to be gained here.
Then again, if there had been anything of value, it would have been dug up long ago.
“I think I need to go this way.”
I followed the valley down, consulting the Book of Fate.
Woooong—
A red rectangle was marked in the Book of Fate.
As I walked toward it, I started to feel a response.
“Here.”
Just as I thought. A rectangle.
It really did mark a place where time travel was possible.
Flip—
I opened the Book of Fate.
There was a page glowing with a light green hue.
The difference from before was…
‘Two pages?’
Two pages were glowing.
‘Ah… so this is because of that update from last time?’
The new functions that had suddenly appeared after I’d soothed a crying child in a dream.
---
- From now on, time travel will not be forced. It will only activate when the corresponding record is read aloud.
- You can now choose your time travel destination. One destination is added per level.
- An estimated time for mission completion will be provided.
---
Thanks to this, I felt much more relaxed.
I wouldn’t be suddenly flung back to the ancient era anymore.
I examined the two glowing records.
---
[Luceras Year 4681. February 13] Night.
The intruders who climbed over the wall in the dead of night were truly bizarre in appearance. Were they even human...?
(Estimated mission duration: 8 hours)
[Luceras Year 4663. October 29] A brilliant moonlight.
God. Please protect us. Let everyone find their true forms... and let us win...
(Estimated mission duration: 3 days)
---
‘This is a huge improvement.’
It wasn’t just the estimated mission duration.
There was even a map attached below it!
‘The first record is… Oldland? Does that mean I’ll be doing something over there?’
Oldland. How strange. From a place this far away?
But…
It was far. Way too far.
I needed to plant the seed of Drakium, and it would be hard to retrieve it if I planted it in Oldland.
This one was a no-go.
Fortunately, the second record was perfect.
‘This is… just here, isn’t it?’
The location indicated on the map was an exact match for the deserted island I was currently standing on.
‘It’s close. I like that.’
The mission duration was three days.
‘That’s good too.’
With the update, the time ratio had been adjusted to twelve to one, so about six hours would have passed by the time I returned.
I had just unified Ailun and couldn't afford to be away for long, so this was perfect.
Alright. My mind was made up.
I read the second record aloud.
“Luceras Year 4663. October 29. A brilliant moonlight. God. Please protect us…”
At that moment,
Flash—!
Huh?
In the sky above, the eleven demons blazed a fiery red, shining twice as brightly as usual.
‘The stars are glowing?’
I’d always time-traveled indoors, so I never knew…
Did they always shine like this whenever I time-traveled?
Was the Book of Fate related to the eleven demons?
Why did it have to be demons? What an unsettling thought…
With that question in mind, I was flung out of the world with a *thump*!
Tick-tock-tick-tock
The river of time enveloped me.
It was a familiar and comfortable feeling now.
***
When I opened my eyes, the world was radiant.
‘Wow… what is this…?’
It seemed to be night.
But against the dark sky, curtains of colorful light illuminated the entire world.
Not even the aurora I saw over the open sea as a child was this spectacular…
A brilliant and multicolored aurora.
Red, blue, yellow… all sorts of lights embroidered the sky. It was as if the great gods were dancing against the heavens.
And what I felt from its deepest part was…
‘What is this?’
A chill that made the hair on my arms stand on end.
What I had thought was an aurora was the multicolored fluorescent light emanating from the Psychedelic Moon.
It was colliding with some sort of barrier in the sky, creating the magnificent aurora.
‘Every time I see it… such an ominous moon.’
The Psychedelic Moon. What was its true nature? Even Sea didn’t know for sure. Archaeologists had only said, “I think I might have heard a story like that…,” but couldn't give me a proper answer.
In any case, the moment I realized the enchanting light painting the sky was from the Psychedelic Moon, a sense of tension naturally arose.
The last time I saw that moon, I had to witness too many deaths.
‘But there’s no one here this time?’
Slightly bewildered, I looked around.
There were no suspicious men running alongside me,
no scary person riding a horse next to me,
and no unfamiliar woman suddenly offering a handshake.
‘What is this situation?’
It was just me, all alone,
on a brilliantly lit night,
standing on a narrow staircase carved into a cliff.
With no hints whatsoever.
‘Are these clothes supposed to be a hint?’
I was wearing some sort of outer garment. A pure white robe, wide and long.
‘So what am I supposed to do? Go up the stairs? Or down?’
Or should I just plant the seed of Drakium first?
I was pondering this when…
The voice of a little girl tickled my ear.
“Goddess of Wisdom, Mibabareu-nim. Benevolent Bishati-nim. And also… ah! Insightful Odotet… tet-nim.”
A voice fervent with prayer.
I followed the voice up the stairs.
Soon, a small girl came into view.
It was a clearing made by carving a circle into the cliff, and on that carved surface were statues of the thirteen gods.
The girl was kneeling on the flat stone ground before a roaring brazier in the center of the clearing, offering a desperate prayer.
‘She looks really young. At this time of night? All alone?’
I hid in the shadows for the time being and watched what the child was doing.
“Please don't let anyone get hurt anymore. Please make everyone who is sick get better. Please protect us.”
I watched her quietly.
“Especially Urgulak-ajusshi. Don’t let him get hurt. Don’t let him… die. Please. Pretty, pretty please.”
But the child was crying.
Tears streamed down her face, soaking it completely.
What on earth was going on?
I was itching with curiosity,
but still,
I watched.
“I humbly ask all you gods. So…”
The girl rustled through a basket placed beside her.
“This is my most treasured storybook. And…”
Fwoosh!
The child tossed the book into the roaring brazier.
Uh… a sort of offering?
“This is my most precious doll, a gift from my most precious friend.”
Again.
Fwoosh!
“And… and this is…”
The girl suddenly started to tremble.
“This is from before my mom… passed away…”
Twice as many tears began to fall.
“The letter my mom wrote me… and her clothes… If you smell them carefully, they still smell like her.”
The letter and clothes, clutched so dearly, moved slowly toward the brazier.
The child’s hand trembled violently.
I was just watching the situation unfold, but…
“You really, really… have to grant my prayer, okay…?”
The girl was about to drop the clothes and letter she held so precious over the brazier.
Ah, this is driving me crazy.
Snatch.
That’s the thing about the state of Sword-Self Unity.
The moment the will is formed, you have already arrived.
When I came to my senses, I had already swept the child up into my arms.
I was careful to hold her in a way that wouldn't let her precious letter and clothes fall into the brazier.
“…Huh?”
The child turned to look at me.
Seeing me with the white robe pulled low over my head, she tilted her head curiously.
“Are you a pilgrim, mister?”
It seemed this white robe was the attire of a pilgrim.
The child was small and thin.
She was so light it was hard to tell if I was holding her at all.
“You. How old are you?”
“Me? I’m seven.”
“…When did your mother pass away?”
“A year ago…”
Hoo.
Right. I had to be careful. I didn't know the situation, nor did I know what my mission here was.
“What’s your wish? Tell me in detail.”
“My wish?”
Exactly. I shouldn't interfere recklessly.
What if my mission was supposed to be somewhere else entirely?
I would only end up hurting the kid.
“Yeah. Tell me. I’ll grant it all for you.”
I knew. I knew all that, but.
“What should I do for you first?”
I don’t know. I can’t hold back.
***
“What’s your name?”
“Sheneril. But did you really promise? You’ll grant everything?”
“Yes. What first?”
“Ah! The sick people first! Hurry! Hurry!”
Sheneril grabbed my sleeve and, filled with excitement, scurried down the stairs.
“Slow down. You’ll fall.”
Of course, even if she fell off the cliff instead of just tripping, I would catch her.
“Hurry!”
Following Sheneril’s lead, we descended one turn of the stairs, and a massive canyon with a village nestled within came into view.
Quaint buildings were lined up along the slopes of the canyon.
By my estimation, it was a cozy little town that an average person could walk through in an hour.
“Pilgrim Valley.”
As we nearly reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw the village’s name inscribed on a large stone.
Above, the curtains of colorful light were still dancing in the sky… and at the village entrance, a man sat, bathed in that light.
“Wait.”
His presence felt a bit strange, but he looked human. Up close, however, he was not.
“A monster.”
I quickly hid Sheneril behind me and placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, but…
“Yo~ Sheneril, you coming down now?”
The monster dusted himself off, stood up, and waved.
A frame over two meters tall.
Dark brown skin.
A large, protruding square jaw, and teeth like saw blades glinting inside his mouth.
It was a monster I knew well.
One that frequently appeared in the borderlands.
“An Orc…?”
The Orc glanced at me and spoke.
“What? First time seeing an Orc?”
No… you’re a monster.
Why are you talking? Like a person?
“Targul-ajusshi!”
Sheneril ran over and hugged the Orc named Targul.
“Alright. Let’s go. Everyone’s waiting.”
The Orc glanced at me and let out a sneer.
“Pilgrim, you’re a real country bumpkin, huh?”
Hmm…
To think the day would come when I’d be sneered at by an Orc.
‘Come to think of it, there was a theory like that, wasn’t there?’
There had been a theory that Orcs might have once been an intelligent, non-human race.
‘Looks like it was true.’
I never thought I’d see the day an Orc—the kind that would go berserk and try to kill any human on sight—would so tenderly hold a seven-year-old child.
Ten thousand years ago.
This place never ceased to amaze me.
***
As I followed the Orc, Targul, I saw countless injured people in the village.
“…There are too many.”
Even Targul himself was limping.
People with missing arms and Orcs with severed legs were huddled like defeated soldiers all over the streets.
‘This… is going to make it hard to keep my promise…’
I didn’t have many high-grade potions, but I had plenty of mid-grade and lower. Lorraine had given them to me by the boxful.
But there were too many injured, and a significant number of them were severely wounded. It was a difficult situation.
At this rate, even with all the potions I had, it wouldn’t be enough.
Worrying about this, I trailed behind Targul and Sheneril, and we soon arrived at our destination.
“…Huh?”
About forty young children were gathered there. Around ten wounded knights in full armor stood guard, protecting them.
“Ah, Sheneril is here too. We will escape this place within the hour.”
A knight who seemed to be the leader announced.
And…
‘What is this?’
Was it because of the aurora that seemed to set the sky ablaze?
This scene felt strangely familiar.
Thump-thump-thump-thump
My heart began to pound as if it would break.
The children, huddled together and trembling.
The knights, checking their weapons with grim faces.
Over each and every one of their faces, I saw an overlap of our own escape from Vanroah.
Gulp.
Something surged up from within my chest,
and my eyes grew hot.
My vision blurred.
My eyes must be burning right now.
Targul suddenly leaned in to look at my face.
“What’s this? Turns out you’re a descendant of an ancient hero?”
“What?”
“Your eyes. The flames in your eyes. That’s the bloodline of a hero… you don’t know? Even I, an Orc, know that.”
Like a true Orc, Targul’s voice was quite loud.
“The bloodline of a hero?”
“The bloodline of the ancients, you say?”
“Then doesn’t that mean he might have the qualities of a Saint?”
Suddenly, the people around me started murmuring, and they all turned to look at me.
“It’s true! There’s fire in his eyes!”
And then, a single phrase was shouted like a scream.
What is going on?
The flame in my eyes was nothing more than a common symbol of royalty and nobility in Vanroah.