Chapter 338: The Tin Knight and the Kingdom of the Underground (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 338: The Tin Knight and the Kingdom of the Underground (3)
A moment of silence fell.
The sight of the giant tiger suddenly transforming into a lean young man was shocking enough, but the words that followed stunned the party into silence.
Franka asked again, as if to confirm what she had just heard.
“…Create a field of study? You created the Lion Duke’s bloodline? What are you talking about?”
The tiger did not answer immediately.
He looked at the group, frowning faintly, and then spat out his words.
《…I do not mind a conversation, but there is something that must be done first.》
“Something to be done?”
《First, go and wash yourselves.》
A silence far more profound than the last descended upon them.
Franka’s jaw hung open, unable to form a single word, while the members of the Lion Duke’s bloodline glanced at each other with sour expressions.
After a series of battles, their bodies were caked with dust, beast blood, and all manner of filth. They knew, objectively speaking, that they were not clean.
They reasoned that perhaps his sense of smell was sensitive, given his original form was an animal, but the tiger’s next words were about something else entirely.
《I can feel the foul stench of the heavens on you. It is more repulsive than the smell of a corpse. To be frank, even this conversation is turning my stomach. We will talk after you have washed that filth away.》
As he spoke, the tiger’s fingertips trembled.
Being the skilled individuals they were, the party recognized it as the reaction of a body forcibly restraining itself from launching an attack.
They also recalled the emerald pillar of light that had fallen from the heavens.
And the strangely hostile reactions of the ‘locals’.
The people of the underground hated the heavens.
And into the heart of their land had come ‘someone’ reeking of the heavens’ energy…
“So they set this whole thing up, didn’t they?” Hilda muttered, her tone a mixture of disbelief and disgust.
If even she, who lived in the moment without a care for details, reacted this way, the others were surely feeling it even more intensely.
The party’s gazes gathered on Adelaide.
Franka’s group was more or less a guest party, but Adelaide was, for all intents and purposes, the leader of this expedition.
Would they ignore him and fight, or would they try to talk?
Having finally made her decision, Adelaide opened her mouth.
“Understood. Please tell us how.”
*
After washing themselves in a black, oil-like substance as the tiger had demanded (it had the smell and texture of oil, but strangely, it didn't stick to their skin), the party also took the opportunity to tidy up their attire.
They had no spare clothes, but with Franka’s alchemy, it wasn’t difficult to restore their dirtied and torn garments to their original state.
Normally, Franka would have thrown a fit, complaining that she wasn’t a servant and why should she have to do such a thing. But having been helped by the Lennart members before, she grumbled but completed the task perfectly.
The summit proceeded.
After hearing from Adelaide about the revival of the eight generals and the subjugation of Amaryllis, the tiger murmured softly.
《…I see. So that is why the Chancellor was suddenly in such a hurry.》
Adelaide tilted her head.
“The Chancellor?”
《Well, it is a matter of little consequence to you now. Though that may not be the case later.》
Even hearing that they had defeated a general, the tiger’s demeanor remained calm.
There was no great anger or sadness in his expression.
As if sensing Adelaide’s curious gaze, the tiger replied in a level tone.
《What can I say when you defeated him in a one-on-one duel? To do so would only anger the general himself.》
“…You don’t think of revenge?”
At Adelaide’s words, the tiger let out a sneer for the first time.
《If I were to be hostile toward you, it would be a matter of my own personal feelings. The general himself was satisfied. Who would dare use that as a pretext? Not even the giants have that right.》
“Your words are difficult to understand.”
《Nor do you need to. Our ways of life are simply different.》
With that, the tiger changed the subject.
《This is a story from the distant past. One of the people of the underground once kidnapped humans from the surface and brought them here. For the crime of causing a disturbance without permission, he was promptly executed… but the problem was the kidnapped humans.》
《The underground and the surface are far apart. Not just physically, but conceptually as well. This distance widens and narrows in a set cycle. Naturally, it is far more convenient and requires less effort to travel when the distance is narrow.》
《The kidnapper had used a period when the ‘gap was narrow,’ so there was no issue for him. However, by the time we had executed the criminal and tried to send the humans back, the gap had already widened. It became difficult to return them.》
《It was not impossible, but from our perspective, it would have been a loss. We bore no ill will toward the humans, but we had no reason to help them at our own expense. So, the humans were left in the underground.》
《Most of those left behind could not adapt to the new environment and died. You all seem to be fine, but it appears that ordinary humans fall ill just by breathing the air here.》
《But among them, there were survivors. Those you would call mages in your tongue. They strove to adapt to this place, and in the process, they grew interested in the studies of the underground.》
《Yes, that is correct. It was alchemy. The art of turning worthless resources into valuable ones, of making non-nutritious creatures somewhat edible. A field of study created by our great king so that we might better utilize the resources of this barren land.》
《Our benevolent king bestowed this knowledge upon them free of charge. The humans were moved by the king’s grace and pleaded to become his subjects, but a few among them held out and stubbornly clawed their way back to their own world.》
《The Chancellor once told me that the most talented girl among those who returned created her own world and, within it, recreated many of the creatures of the underground. Those less talented than her were said to have spread the knowledge they learned across the world.》
Franka’s expression twisted bizarrely.
It was one thing to suddenly learn the origin of alchemy, but she had a very strong feeling she knew who the ‘talented girl’ from the story was.
She argued back, as if to refute him.
“Wait, that makes no sense. You taught them your art for free and just let them take it back with them without paying any price? Why?”
The tiger stared at Franka for a moment before giving a short reply.
《I wonder.》
“…Are you kidding me?”
《How can one fathom the great will of the king? However, in my personal judgment, they did not fail to pay a price. They simply paid it in a rather roundabout way.》
“Stop playing with words and get to the point.”
《To make the surface world more bountiful.》
“What?”
Franka’s voice was laced with bewilderment.
The tiger, his face still weary and gaunt, continued to speak evenly.
《Alchemy is, in essence, a study that brings abundance. It can transform even this barren, wretched land into a more tolerable place, little by little. If so, in the surface world, which is already bountiful by nature, its power would be maximized.》
《If it is a land we must consume eventually, it is better for us if it is richer and more plentiful when we arrive. Furthermore, the heavens constantly interfere with the surface, trying to keep it under their control. Strengthening the surface world also serves to negate the heavens’ intentions. How can you say there is no benefit in this?》
“…So you’re saying you fattened up the livestock before you eat them? And while you’re at it, you made them energetic enough so other hunters couldn’t easily catch or tame them?”
《That is merely my speculation. The king may have had entirely different thoughts.》
Franka hesitated, unsure how to respond. She finally pressed a hand to her forehead and leaned back in her chair.
A bat-winged homunculus diligently fanned her.
As if taking the baton from the exhausted Franka, Adelaide spoke up again.
“What do you mean when you say that we, the Lion Duke’s bloodline, are your kin?”
《Geisel is the son of the great king.》
“……”
Adelaide blinked.
She turned her head to the side, looking at the faces of the other members of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.
Every one of them had an expression that screamed, ‘What did I just hear?’ as if they couldn’t believe their ears.
It was no surprise.
Adelaide had already heard a related story from the Wicked Witch of the West, but for the others here, this was completely new information.
Ah… now that I think about it. Back then, she definitely…
Adelaide suddenly recalled the time she was captured by the Wicked Witch of the West and was told that the Lion Duke was a homunculus.
The witch had shown a great deal of interest in the Lion Duke’s bloodline and had seemed to avoid answering questions about the ‘someone’ who had created the Lion Duke, even though she knew.
A homunculus that even the continent’s greatest alchemist, the Wicked Witch of the West, could not fully analyze.
That meant its creator had to be an existence at least on par with, if not greater than, the witch herself.
If, as the tiger said, alchemy was a study born from the king of the underground, and the Wicked Witch of the West had learned it here before returning to the surface, then all the pieces fit together.
Maris, who had until now ceded the conversation to Adelaide, spoke out in a flustered, unguarded tone.
“The Lion Duke is the son of the king of this place?”
《Ah, of course, they are not connected by blood. It is a father-son relationship in the sense of a creator and his creation.》
《A being who harbors the power of the giant race, yet is as nimble as the small folk. One with a long lifespan and a body that can withstand the harsh environment of the underground.》
《Geisel was a masterpiece, worthy of succeeding the eight generals, but for some reason, the king sent him to the surface instead of having him remain in the underground.》
《Before long, he blended into human society, and his descendants prospered on the surface.》
《Now do you understand? You are all our kin.》