Chapter 171 - Magus Kailas (3)

Inside a vast, pyramid-like altar that had stood since ancient times, Marikula, shaman of the great tribe Kalmak—which had subjugated hundreds of tribes by force and brought them all under its rule—looked up in astonishment.

The staircase was so high that climbing it took several minutes. At its summit stood Hazard, the god his tribe had served for generations, the being who had transformed Kalmak from one small tribe among many into the great tribe that ruled all the Karambl.

Marikula could not properly make out Hazard's form. All he could see was a dark silhouette he presumed belonged to the great god. There was nothing strange about that. Even Kalmak's high shaman was not permitted to behold the great god. Only the Engravers who had received his imprints could see Hazard's form.

Even so, Marikula could tell.

'He is in a good mood.'

The great god's voice, at least, reached him clearly, and it was filled with unmistakable anticipation and excitement.

'What on earth was written in that letter?'

Marikula grew curious about the contents of the letter Hazard had received. He was merely a messenger and Hazard's servant. He knew he should not pry into its contents. Yet in all his years of serving Hazard, he had never heard his voice so steeped in anticipation and excitement.

Marikula hastily clamped his mouth shut before a question could escape unbidden.

A short while later, Hazard, who had been murmuring again and again in an androgynous voice, casually released the letter from his hand.

["Fascinating. Most fascinating."]

The letter began to fall down the stairs. Though it had clearly been dropped without a care, it somehow made its way down the steps and came to rest before Marikula, neatly folded just as it had been before.

["Servant, deliver that to the one who bears my imprint. Tell him to bring me an answer as swiftly as possible."]

"... May I ask whether this is to take priority over your previous command?"

["Yes. This comes first."]

"!"

Marikula was startled. This was to take precedence over the task Hazard had intended to carry out even if it meant dispatching an Engraver? He had asked just in case, never expecting such an answer.

"Under...stood."

Though briefly flustered, he obediently rose to his feet.

Watching his servant leave, Hazard curled the corners of his mouth upward and murmured softly.

["If you truly are alive—what a delight that would be—"]

["—my one and only friend."]

####

The next day, Alon finished preparing to depart for the location Rine had found, as planned. Yet Rine looked more troubled than usual.

"... Rine, did something happen?"

"N-no. It's nothing like that, Godfather."

"Your expression suggests otherwise."

His voice sounded calm at first, but there was unmistakable concern in it. Rine gave a small smile, as though something had lifted her spirits.

"Please don't worry too much. It's just because of a dream I had last night."

"... A nightmare?"

"Yes."

"What sort of dream was it?"

"Um—"

Rine hesitated, and Alon raised a hand lightly.

"If it's difficult to talk about, you don't have to."

"... I'm sorry, Godfather. It's—it's not a particularly good memory."

"That's understandable. Still, if anything is troubling you, tell me. I'll listen to whatever I can."

Truthfully, he wanted to ask her right then and there. Unlike the others, Rine rarely experienced much emotional fluctuation, and he had never seen her like this before. But he could not force her to talk when she was reluctant to disclose it. Just as Alon turned away—

"... Um, Godfather."

"What is it?"

Rine stopped him.

When he looked at her again, she seemed to deliberate for a moment, then withdrew her outstretched hand with an awkward smile.

"It's nothing. There was just something I wanted to ask, but now that I've thought about it, I've figured it out."

"Have you?"

Anyone could see she was deflecting, but—

"Yes. Let's get going."

"Very well."

Alon turned away again without pressing the issue.

####

After leaving Lartania to the east with Rine and traveling for roughly an hour, Alon soon reached a cave at the bottom of a nearby gorge.

"This is the place I found. Is it the right one?"

Alon looked around and nodded.

"It seems to be. Let's go inside."

"Yes."

Following behind Alon, Evan surveyed the area around the cave and suddenly asked a question.

"My lord."

"What is it?"

"Do you know what's inside this cave?"

"... More or less?"

Evan's expression turned a little peculiar at Alon's answer.

"I'd have thought you'd know where it was, too..."

Apparently, he was recalling all the times Alon had made use of information few others knew.

But Alon's information always had small gaps.

'The game rarely gives you locations in this much detail.'

Most of his knowledge came from the game. This time, too, he knew what was inside the cave, but not its precise location. He had only known that it lay within a gorge.

"Well, that's just it."

"That's just what?"

"I didn't know its exact location."

"... That's a peculiar answer."

"Is it?"

["Mew."]

Even Blackie chimed in, making the atmosphere rather awkward, but only briefly.

"... It's a dead end?"

Having reached the end of the cave, Evan reported this with a bewildered expression. Alon stepped forward as well, feeling along the wall blocking their way as he searched his memory.

'The stone down by your feet on the right, in the center of the cave.'

Lowering his gaze, Alon spotted an utterly ordinary stone and gave it a light kick. At that instant—

R-R-R-RUMBLE!!!

The dead-end wall began to tremble with a tremendous noise. Regular lines appeared across it, as though it were made of stacked bricks, and soon a staircase leading underground emerged.

"... Wow. I never would have imagined this."

Evan's exclamation echoed along the cave walls. Descending the stairs, Alon's party soon discovered a vast waterway and a boat moored beside it. Though it had clearly been abandoned for a long time, it had neither rotted nor deteriorated at all.

"Let's go."

They boarded the ferryboat and began moving along the perfectly straight waterway, guided by softly glowing luminous stones.

After quite some time had passed, Evan spoke.

"... My lord."

"What is it?"

"I know you won't answer even if I ask...but how on earth do you know to come looking for places like this?"

Instead of answering, Alon looked ahead. At the end of the waterway stood an enormous passage. It was no ordinary passage, either, but something like a vast cavern, bearing the marks of time yet fairly well maintained. The floor was paved with aged marble, and the pillars, too, were made of dust-covered gray marble.

Taking in the sight, Alon stepped off the boat, recalling what the game had said about it.

"Let's go."

'The Royal Palace of the Forgotten Age...was it?'

Even the game had offered little detail about this place, and players simply called it the Palace of the Past. After all, their only reason for coming here was to use The Foot That Runs Through the Past to meet Outer Gods and improve their stats.

'Come to think of it, when you use The Foot That Runs Through the Past in the game, all it really tells you is that you met an Outer God, inherited an ability, and your stats went up! How does it actually work?'

As they walked, an altar gradually came into view in the distance, and Alon set his questions aside for the moment.

'I'll find out today.'

The party reached the altar.

"Wait here for a moment."

"All right, Godfather."

Leaving Rine and Evan behind, Alon stood alone before the altar. It, too, was made of marble and thickly covered in dust. Ignoring that, he drew The Foot That Runs Through the Past from inside his clothes and placed it on the altar.

HUMMM!

Immediately, candles with flames of mana sprang to life accompanied by a strange mechanical hum. Seeing this, Alon rummaged inside his clothes again, this time taking out a piece of cloth. It was a scrap of clothing Kailas had left behind when Alon had dealt with him before.

Placing it on the altar as well, Alon recalled the instructions he had seen in the game and set his left hand in front of The Foot That Runs Through the Past.

HUMMMMM!

The moment a strange resonance began ringing in Alon's ears, a surge of light swept over him, turning his vision pure white.

Then, what filled his vision again was—

"...!"

A ruined world.

There was no other way to describe it. Simply a ruined world. Those words alone were enough to capture the sight unfolding before him.

The earth was parched and cracked. The lone small sapling growing from the dead land merely stood there, pitifully shaking rotten branches whose life had run out. Gray and black clouds tangled across the sky, giving it a profoundly alien, apocalyptic atmosphere.

"... What on earth is this place?"

A low murmur escaped Alon without his realizing it.

But at that moment—

"This is absurd."

He instinctively turned at the voice behind him. It was all too familiar: the voice of Kailas, whom he had fought in the labyrinth before.

"!"

That was not all. Confusion filled Alon's eyes. Standing there was not a goblin, but a human.

He wore eastern clothing, his long black hair tied in a ponytail. Strange tattoos marked both his arms, and his face was utterly impassive.

"Kai...las?"

As Alon spoke his name as if seeking confirmation, the man, frowning as though he found the situation far from pleasant, quietly met his gaze.

"Mage, did you summon me?"

And at the very moment Alon met Kailas—