Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: The World Beyond the Stone
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* * *
It looked dangerous at first glance, so Luca and Ophelia, who had been on high alert at the forest's entrance—
The forest turned out to be so safe and peaceful that their tension felt pointless.
"Be careful, Miss Luca! There's a swamp right in front of you...!"
"...It's solid, though?"
"Huh?"
Thud thud.
Luca tapped the swamp a few times with her sword.
"It's basically just firm ground."
"I see...?"
For instance, whenever a swampy area that clearly blocked their path appeared and they tried to avoid it, the swamp itself would already be neutralized—
—Rawr!
"Is that... a bear? Are there bears in the New Continent too?"
"Watch out! That's the infamous Illibet, a beast known for its ferocity!"
"Huh? But..."
—Grunt.
"There, there, good boy. Good boy. That's right."
"She's handling it so well?"
Unlike Pibiola, who turned pale with shock, Luca quickly bonded with the bear-like creature called an Illibet.
"How is that possible...? Lady Luca, have you been chosen by the spirits?"
"Less spirits and more like chosen by God—Lord Igugwoden."
—Like this, ferocious beasts would instantly become tame under Luca's touch.
They traversed the forest without a single real crisis.
"Things are going too smoothly, don't you think? Skipping over the swamps is one thing, but even if Lady Luca is blessed, I've never seen an Illibet that tame in my entire life..."
Pibiola, following behind, spoke with a slightly worried expression—
"No need to worry, Pibiola. Isn't all of this ultimately Lord Igugwoden's grace?"
"Lord Igugwoden, you mean?"
"That's right."
Erin carefully approached and chimed in after Eirene's response.
"If things that should be problems aren't, there's only one reason, right?"
—God's love.
"So I'm not worried at all. Lord Igugwoden's Plain Facts are always with me and all of us!"
"I see..."
The old Pibiola might not have accepted that at face value—
But now, she too had chosen to walk the path of the Igugwoden Church as a proper devotee.
She no longer had the role of shaman, but she knew a saintess wouldn't speak idly from her shaman days—
"Indeed, this must be Lord Igugwoden's grace... Thanks to all of you, I'm learning so much. Thank you sincerely."
Of course, she could take those words at face value.
"Hehe, great! Pibiola! I'll teach you tons more of God's Plain Facts from now on...!"
And so, after passing through the dim forest in what felt a bit like a picnic for a few hours—
"Light over there!"
"Saintess, Your Majesty, and everyone, please follow this way."
Led by the two Holy Knights, they finally emerged from the forest.
* * *
"Wow..."
What entered Erin's group's view was—a similar yet utterly different world.
It resembled the elves' village but with distinctly different vegetation.
The ground had a slightly yellowish hue.
"This is..."
"...the world beyond the boulder."
Pibiola approached Erin's side, who was speechless as she looked around, and spoke carefully.
"This must be the place Grandfather mentioned."
"What exactly did he say?"
"Just that beyond the boulder lies a place so different from where we live that it doesn't even feel like the same continent. And..."
"And...?"
Pibiola hesitated for a moment.
The story from back then, about the 'task in the world beyond' her grandfather had left.
She carefully dusted off a fragment of that distant memory.
* * *
"Conquest activities, you say...?"
When asked why he requested the boulder be removed, her grandfather, Terenser—an elder of high standing in the council—stroked his beard and—
Brought up the unthinkable idea of launching conquest activities.
"Yes. Beyond the boulder dwell insolent creatures that scorn our ■■■ and mock the spirits. Some strange power kept us from breaking the boulder they blocked us with... but that land beyond is clearly our ■■■'s territory. Have you never felt that this vast continent lacks space for us to live?"
As a child, she had climbed the hill many times and seen the blocking boulder—
But hearing other races lived beyond it was new.
"But Grandfather, you know too. We tried to advance beyond—"
"A strange energy repels the elves. It's the spirits protecting us out of concern."
They removed the boulder, but no one could even approach the other side.
Get close, and your breath catches, cold sweat drips, overwhelming terror engulfs you. Who among the ■■■ would dare proceed, no matter how fearless?
"The spirits' concern is understandable. After all, two hundred years ago, we were defeated by those creatures and pushed here, trapped unilaterally."
"Two hundred years ago..."
"Yes. A story from my childhood, shortly after I was born."
Terenser gazed wistfully into the past, lost in thought for a moment—
"We were pushed back once, but no need to worry now. Doesn't the great Sole God ■■■■■ stand with us? Proof: with a mere request, we succeeded in removing that boulder we thought immovable. Dealing with those hated foes and reclaiming our rightful domain is no longer a mere dream."
"Pibiola, serve the god well and never defy his will. Only with his power can we reclaim our territory. Understood?"
* * *
Excluding certain words like the name of that obvious evil god from before Armageddon, which she could never recall—the memory itself remained vivid in her mind.
When Grandfather told her, it felt too sudden—and conquest? It hadn't clicked at all.
After that, she forgot it because that damned evil god deceived and nearly annihilated them.
'Conquest activities...'
As she pondered if she should mention it here—
"Halt right there!"
A stranger woman's voice reached Erin's group.
"...!!"
Turning, they saw a woman strikingly similar to a human.
Clad in what looked like armor, holding a long spear, but her small stature made her seem unmistakably a child.
'Eh...?'
Everyone, including Erin, felt an uncanny dissonance.
She was child-sized in height... but her chest was large, adult-sized.
Not just that—her hips were as developed as any grown woman's.
And crucially, her voice.
A mature timbre unlikely without secondary sexual characteristics, making the tiny woman appear adult-like.
"Coming from beyond the forest... don't tell me..."
The short woman slowly scanned Erin's group.
Erin's face, Eirene's... her gaze swept over them until it locked on one person—no.
On one elf's face.
"Long ears... Definitely an elf. And those beside her are Heimnar."
Clack!
Gripping her spear, the woman openly showed hostility toward Pibiola.
"What nerve does an elf bitch have showing up in Shatia territory?!"
"P-please calm down and hear me out—"
"The Pact Boulder should have sealed our territory! Trespassing here means you broke it, right? Heimnar bitches... I don't know your trick, but elves couldn't shatter it alone—you must've helped them. We Shatia will never forget you sided with the elves!"
Shatia.
In continental tongue, meaning 'petite stature.'
Unlike elves, meaning 'beautiful ones,' it bordered on derogatory—
But ultimately, weren't they elves too by God's love?
Was the original tribal name Grandfather mentioned also something like that?
"Wait! We're not Heimnar—we're humans! We came from the New Continent—"
"No questions asked!"
—Just as the self-proclaimed Shatia woman charged with her spear—
"...!!!"
Everyone present froze in place.
They had no choice.
An overwhelming force beyond their language or logic began pressing down on all their shoulders.
—Zing, zing, zing.
"Th-this is...!"
"...Rabbit Lord?!"
The Divine Messenger rabbit atop Ophelia's head—began to glow.
The color of blood sustaining life.
The color of the vibrant, pulsing sea.
The color of the forest nurturing countless lives.
Three distinct colors embodying the world's truths.
"Igogodon."
"!!!!"
The rabbit conveyed God's direct will.
And—
The world paused.
* * *
Just moments ago.
After Erin's group safely exited the forest and encountered the new异族 character wandering about.
The mood suddenly turned weird for some reason.
'Eh... huh? Fight? Are they gonna fight?'
Don't fight, kids!
I don't know the circumstances, but the author hasn't drawn the comic yet, so I can't even grasp the plot!
Comics allowed real-time intervention, but now it's a game—how do I spend money here?
As I thought about quickly telling the author to enable the 'Sponsor' button—
'Huh?'
Without even hovering the mouse, the rabbit's tooltip appeared—
And the [RGB Flash] button started flashing.
Like a gacha game's tutorial insisting 'Press this button' with sparkles.
'Pressing this solves it??'
If so, press it is.
Yap!
I immediately clicked [RGB Flash] without issue.
Click, click!
The quiet room filled with mouse clicks.
Soon after—the rabbit began glowing RGB.
Zing, zing.
With cyberpunk-esque sound effects that clashed a bit with the world's vibe so far—
A protective border around the rabbit flashed RGB.
The riot of red, green, blue flowing over the pure white rabbit was pretty cool and avant-garde, fitting a 'gaming rabbit'—
But what does this mean for the current situation? As I wondered—
[MoneyPlz : Lord Igugwoden...?]
The author messaged me, tone a bit off from usual.
[Igugwoden : Yeah??]
[MoneyPlz : Please don't be angry at me for asking this]
[MoneyPlz : So... um...]
[MoneyPlz : In the new world]
[MoneyPlz : Did you make direct contact without going through us...? ]