Chapter 177: The Solution
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 177: The Solution
"Senior, how could you possibly be unworthy of love?"
Looking at the words recorded on the page, Muen felt another sharp pang of heartache.
Just by reading these lines, he could imagine the despair and pain that girl had endured as she walked her lonely path through the darkness.
And yet, despite everything, she remained so gentle, so strong.
She was always smiling.
"I will save you, Senior. I swear it."
Muen made the vow once more in the depths of his heart.
...
The number of experiments recorded in the small booklet wasn't many—only a dozen or so.
But every single one had ended in failure.
That was to be expected; if she had succeeded, Muen wouldn't be the one agonizing over it now.
"However..."
Muen’s fingers brushed over the writing on the title page.
"What exactly are these materials listed here?"
Recalling his Senior’s strange behavior in the past, a theory began to form in Muen’s mind.
But he still needed confirmation.
He continued to flip through the pages.
The rest of the book was mostly blank; the records had come to an end.
Though it seemed there was nothing left to find, Muen carefully turned every page out of caution.
Just then, at the very last page, something suddenly fluttered out from a hidden slit in the binding.
Muen’s hand shot out, catching the paper—which felt as brittle as a withered leaf—before it hit the ground.
It was a remnant page.
The edges bore black scorch marks as if burned by fire, and the paper exuded a palpable aura of antiquity. The dense script covering it was even harder to decipher than the ancient languages found in the texts on the library shelves.
"This is..."
Even though he couldn't read it, the moment Muen looked at the remnant page, his heart began to thud violently against his ribs.
Intuition told him that this was exactly what he was looking for.
...
...
"This is Iso script."
Within the space where the flower sea bloomed once more, Teacher Mela—who was busy tinkering with something that made a rhythmic clinking sound—took the remnant page and glanced at it. Her eyebrows arched, and an interested glint immediately appeared in her eyes.
"To think that Iso script still exists in this world. How rare."
"Iso? I don't think I've heard of it."
"Of course you haven't. The nation of Iso was obliterated two hundred years ago."
"Obliterated?"
Not just fallen, but... obliterated?
"That's right. Destroyed by an Evil God. According to later observations, it was likely the work of 'The Moon'."
Teacher Mela’s tone didn't change; to her, this seemed like a trivial matter.
"Presumably, someone in that country did something extraordinary that drew the gaze of The Moon, ultimately inviting destruction. Hundreds of thousands of people became fodder for the Evil God."
"This... didn't the Life Church do anything?"
"How could they? No matter how powerful the Life Church is, they can't monitor the entire continent. Besides, this kind of thing is far too common. It happens roughly every few decades. A small nation like Iso, with a population of only a few hundred thousand, has zero power to resist the threat of an Evil God.
If they could have held out a bit longer, they might have waited long enough for the Life Church to rescue them. Unfortunately, due to their own weakness, they ended up in a state where they aren't even qualified to be recorded in official history."
Teacher Mela shook her head, not even bothering to show a hint of pity.
When one has lived through vast stretches of time, events that would normally be considered catastrophic begin to feel mundane.
"Is that so..."
The lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands hadn't even caused a ripple in the long river of time.
Muen couldn't help but sigh.
However, he didn't have the luxury of mourning events long buried by time. He was more concerned with urgent matters.
"Then... Teacher Mela, can the writing on this be translated?"
"Naturally."
Teacher Mela’s amber-red eyes flicked toward Muen, and her small nose wrinkled in a disdainful huff.
"To even ask such a thing... Boy, are you questioning your teacher's erudition?"
"Of course not! How could I?"
Muen approached with a fawning smile, considerately massaging Teacher Mela’s shoulders. "I just saw how busy you were and was worried about overworking you."
"Heh, I'll pretend that's what you actually think."
Teacher Mela gave a cold, expressionless laugh and paused her work to translate the remnant page.
The translation was swift. Within minutes, all the text recorded on the page had been converted into comprehensible information in her mind.
But her expression gradually grew solemn.
This made Muen tense up as well.
"Is something wrong?"
"It's a method."
Teacher Mela narrowed her eyes, speaking with a rare hint of uncertainty.
"A method to treat... Snake Transformation Disease."
"Re—Really?"
Hearing her words, Muen nearly jumped for joy.
"Snake Transformation Disease can actually be cured? How? What's the method recorded there?"
"Tears of True Love," Teacher Mela slowly uttered the four words.
"Tears of True Love?"
In an instant, Muen thought of the necklace he had given his Senior.
Then he thought of the "materials" mentioned in her experimental records.
As expected, just like when she had suddenly asked him to collect Student Shali’s tears, those materials were the tears of "those who harbor love."
It fit the description of "Tears of True Love."
"And what else?"
Muen waited with bated breath for the rest, because no matter how he looked at it, the phrase "Tears of True Love" without any context was far too broad.
But after waiting for a long time, he only saw Teacher Mela shake her head.
"There is no 'else.' Just those four words."
"Four words?"
Muen’s eyes widened as he waved the remnant page, which was covered in dense, complex script. "But there are so many words on here!"
What kind of translation was this? Could such a large passage of text really translate to just four words?
"The rest of the text has been distorted."
"Eh? Distorted? What does that mean?"
"It means it's untranslatable."
Teacher Mela snatched the remnant page back and snapped her fingers.
A translucent crystal manifested behind her, refracting a holy light from an unknown source onto the page.
In an instant, the dense script on the remnant page vanished, leaving only a few lonely characters remaining pitifully on the paper.
"Some kind of power influenced these words, turning them into..."
Teacher Mela tilted her small head, thinking for a moment. "Into something like the mosaic-like fog you see in those books adolescent boys often read—meaningless junk."
"That metaphor..."
Muen’s mouth twitched, but he quickly processed the implication, his face turning slightly pale.
"So, the method recorded on the page is wrong?"
"No, quite the opposite. This proves its validity. Because something incorrect wouldn't be worth the effort of hiding."
After a brief moment of solemnity and confusion, Teacher Mela stared at the page again, stroking her smooth chin with an interested look.
"Interesting. I didn't expect someone to actually find a way to cure Snake Transformation Disease and be foolish enough to try and pass the method down. The calamities spread by Evil Gods aren't easily purged. Perhaps this was the very reason Iso drew the gaze of The Moon and invited its destruction?"
"Can you break this power, Teacher Mela?"
"I cannot."
Teacher Mela sighed and shook her head.
"It's obvious this power comes from an Evil God. Suggestions and mental-tier powers are exactly what The Moon excels at. What has been applied to these words is akin to a Rule. No one can break it, not even me."
"Even you can't do it?"
Receiving such a disappointing answer, Muen felt a wave of dejection.
However, he quickly pulled himself together.
At the very least, this proved that hope existed, didn't it?
Then there was no reason to give up.
"But, if the Evil God had the power to erase this information, why leave these four words specifically?" Muen asked, puzzled.
"Heh. To give you a sliver of hope, only to watch you struggle in agony within a labyrinth He intentionally set up—like a tiny insect chasing a light in the darkness that it can never reach. Isn't that exactly the kind of malicious whim an Evil God would have?"
Teacher Mela’s lips curled into a mischievous smirk. She tilted her head, studying Muen with her crimson eyes, a look of realization dawning on her as if she had seen through everything.
"Oh my, I wondered why you looked so off. It seems another fool has appeared who is willing to enter the labyrinth and struggle in pain."
"Then just consider me a fool," Muen replied with a helpless, bitter smile.
If he weren't a fool, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
"In that case, I shall give you—my foolish disciple—a hint."
Teacher Mela sighed helplessly.
"After all, I am the teacher of this fool, aren't I?"
"A hint?"
Muen’s eyes lit up. He was so moved he felt like throwing himself forward to hug Teacher Mela’s fair, tender legs.
In the end, the big boss was always the most reliable.
"I call it a hint, but it's really just my personal speculation."
Teacher Mela placed her hands behind her back and turned to look into the distance. Though she was small in stature, in Muen’s eyes, her silhouette seemed to grow immensely tall.
At that moment, Muen heard a massive roar. The giant gears hidden beneath the flower sea began to turn once more, and a colossal mechanical structure rose from the ground, shrouding the artificial sky and earth.
It was as if... it were shielding them from something.
"Tears of True Love. It sounds like a very broad term because, without any prerequisites, it could be a potion, a spell, or even a gemstone or a necklace.
However, I am more inclined to believe... that it refers to the tears themselves."
"The tears themselves?"
"Correct. Because the so-called Snake Transformation Disease, compared to the physical and external changes, is fundamentally a form of mental erosion. I don't believe that something inanimate could reverse such erosion. It is far more likely to be something evolved from an intense emotion."
"Which means..."
Muen’s eyes brightened.
Were his Senior’s previous experimental directions all correct?
Was it simply that she hadn't found a person who "truly harbored love," leading to her failures?
"However—"
Teacher Mela glanced at Muen, her tone suddenly shifting.
"I don't think it's that simple."
"What do you mean?"
"As I said before, The Moon is very good at planting suggestions. Therefore, there might be a suggestion hidden within this answer He intentionally left behind.
This doesn't mean the answer is wrong. It just means..."
Teacher Mela reached out and grasped at the air, as if catching something, yet her palm remained empty.
"A certain obvious, vital condition or factor is right before our eyes, yet because of some trickery, even I haven't been able to notice it."