Chapter 213 – The Desert
000
Holy Sword Galatine.
A sacred sword of divine flame that is said to have burnt an evil demon lord who appeared in the world in the past.
However, no information remained about the hero who grabbed and wielded it, and it was not even known what the disaster was.
Even in the history books left by famous historians around the world, it is only recorded that ‘the holy sword of divine flames defeated the demon king of injustice that attacked the continent at this time’.
As if it had been deliberately disappeared from history, leaving behind many mysteries.
Gallatin and many things related to it have been forgotten in people’s memory.
“You’ve reached your destination.”
Hearing the voice of the coachman driving the wagon, the rattling wheels stop.
The door of the carriage opened in silence, and the first to get out was ‘Verastall’, clad in full body armor.
Cleon, who had followed her descent with his eyes her, headed towards Quon, who had a slightly worried expression in front of her.
“… Quon, are you okay?”
At Cleon’s question, Quon shuddered as if surprised to hear her name her called, then nodded her head.
“Uh, yeah… For some reason, something around here… My heart is agitated…”
Hearing her words of her, Cleon himself did n’t feel anything, but since she’s more sensitive to various trends than he is, she should be careful and not do anything bad.
She reassures her by holding her hand her to ease her worries a bit.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you no matter what. And there’s Verastol.”
“…Yes. That’s right. Thank you, Cleon. Let’s look around this town for now.”
Cleon, who nodded her head at Quon’s words, got off her wagon first and looked around her. It was a village where there really was nothing, just like the information she had received from Lila beforehand.
“Is this… Is it really the capital of a country in the past?”
El Cairo. It is now a village, but in the past it was also the heart of an ancient kingdom that was said to have cultivated a great civilization in the west of the kingdom.
However, the reputation of the past has completely disappeared due to the fall of the kingdom and the weathering of the years.
All you can see is the poor buildings that seem to have dried up due to the dry desert terrain.
The land turned into barren land, plants did not grow properly, and only branches of trees remained, as if they had forgotten the color of blue.
Due to the progress of desertification, the floor was closer to ‘sand’ than soil, and large and small cacti were visible.
Based on the information obtained from the church, Quon, Cleon, and Verastol were on their way to the temple in the ruins where Galatine was said to be asleep.
Upon returning, a few days later, the royal capital was vacated again, but this time only three people acted like this.
To protect yourself from the occasional sandstorm, put on a hood and scarf prepared in advance to look like a wanderer.
“Be careful, Quon, don’t let the grains of sand get in your eyes.”
Saying that, Cleon covered his eyes with his hand and searched for the figure of Vera Stoll, who had gotten off earlier.
As she is a woman with a special ability called space warfare, it was extremely difficult to chase her once she started acting alone.
“I’ve found a place to stay, Mr. Quon. Before hurting yourself in the sandstorm, let’s get some rest first.”
Then, suddenly, a voice came from behind.
She was talking to her while appearing next to her quon her.
Quondo is startled by Vera Stoll, who suddenly appears next to him, but he nods his head as he has already heard from Cleon about his abilities.
“Thank you, Mr. Verastol.”
“What? The Pope has commanded me to assist you. It is my duty to keep it.”
After talking to her kuon with her kind voice her, Vera Stoll guides her.
She passed by Cleon, but her eyes looked at her in her helmet, then she ignored it and just walked away looking straight ahead at her.
Yesterday evening, what she felt from the time they gathered to depart for the royal capital-
Vera Stoll did not speak to Cleon, but only addressed her words to her to Quon.
Of course, we need to communicate while acting together, so we show gestures…
Not a word about her drunkenness her taking her to her temple her the day before yesterday.
‘…I didn’t really want to say thanks.’
Saying so, Cleon put his hand on the handle of the Caliburn and spoke to his heart her.
[Caliburn. Can you feel the energy of the other holy sword?]
[It’s weak, but the place itself seems to be around here. What kind of holy sword is Galatine?]
Caliburn speaks in a slightly excited voice, as if she is looking forward to meeting her own people.
Cleon had a heart-to-heart talk with Caliburn and slowly followed behind Verastol and Quon.
[Whoops. Searching for the Holy Sword, I miss something~]
At Caliburn’s words, Cleon said, “Come to think of it… I had no choice but to answer.
That, too, [Caliburn] Is also the holy sword that the three of Cleon, Quon- and Alvein cooperated to explore the ruins and found.
At the time, I hadn’t even thought that Caliburn would become Cleon’s of her.
[The hero of the holy sword was determined by the revelation of the saintess. …Then… Is that revelation sent by you, the holy swords?]
[Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. At the time, I wasn’t awakened enough to send a revelation – if I were to say which way, another will have intervened.]
[…Another, will?]
Cleon stops her steps her involuntarily, as if there was something caught in her words her.
Anything that can send her revelations to her cleric her, Quon, except for her her and her her linked holy sword her, Caliburn-the one to whom she devotees her faith her …
In other words, it is because it is a sacred tree that exists in her village.
And, that tree is the touch of a star.
It is the will of the stars and part of ‘Nemea’, the ruler of the throne.
`Then… Is it the will of ‘Nemea’ that allowed Alvein to capture Caliburn?’
I don’t know for what purpose she occupied Alvein as the owner of Caliburn…
If so-
“Cleon? Why?”
Quon, who was walking in front of her, turned her body and approached him, perhaps thinking that Cleon, who had stopped quietly and thought about something, was strange.
“…”
Cleon’s gaze alternated between Quon and Carly Burn on the waistband of her, then she shook her head.
“No. Nothing, let’s go.”
“Yes…”
So, after she answered Quon, she walked out after her.
001
The three of them arrived at a run-down, now abandoned house on the outskirts of town.
A space where there is really nothing except being able to avoid the sandstorm.
People rarely visit from outside the village, so of course there are no inns.
It is a village on the verge of being ‘abandoned’, where even those who remain are gradually diminishing.
“Why… Do the people of this village not leave this place?”
Quon talks while looking out of the tattered windows at the lit houses in the village and the robed people walking down the street.
All of them, without life in their eyes, were just people who were wasting their time.
“For the people of El Cairo, the ground is cursed.”
The answer was Verastol, who brushed off the sand that got in between the armor without taking off his helmet.
“Curse of the Earth…?”
When Quon tilted his head at the first word he heard, Verastol paused for a moment before speaking.
“In the past, this place was home to engineers who created many technologies that deviated from the divine teachings. They infused automata with human souls, intending to create warriors who would serve the king forever.”
“Is that… Similar to living armor?”
When Cleon asked such a question, Verastol shook his head after seeming to ponder for a moment.
Living Armor is a type of undead monster, a type of monster created by combining the souls of dead humans with enchanted armor.
When the armor absorbs the residual thoughts left while looking for a place to nest in the process of changing the soul, which should have been disintegrated and returned to the spirit vein, a monster is created that roams the place without will, powered only by resentment toward the living.
Just hearing the description, it felt similar to that.
“Exactly, which one?”
In response to Quon’s question, Verastol continued to speak.
“It is to strip the human soul from the body and transfer it to a machine body. It is to create a warrior who can fight forever without losing his self.”
“…Really, it’s a technology that’s outside the providence of God.”
Divine providence is the law of nature. It is considered a taboo for humans to escape from the prescribed lifespan and enjoy eternal life, or intentionally seek reincarnation by abandoning the body they were originally born with.
It was indeed an ethical issue, but it was because the dark magic generated from such a twisted phenomenon had the potential to contaminate the spiritual veins and eventually destroy human habitation.
Dangerous things are forbidden in the name of God. That is something that has been around for a long time.
The ending that El Cairo faced was that such experiments were repeated for a long time and eventually lost the power of the spirit vein.
Certainly, after Quon and Cleon came to this land, they could no longer feel the flow of magical power flowing under the ground, which they could easily feel elsewhere.
“But, then, wouldn’t it be more necessary to leave this place?”
“No. Those born in the cursed land are strongly influenced by that land. That is, they have no resistance to magic to the extreme.”
At those words, Quon and Cleon had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.
All humans are born with the ability to adapt and resist magic.
Adaptability is the ability to adapt to mana and handle it.
Resistance is the ability to block external magical energy from penetrating the body.
The two abilities seem to be opposite to each other, but in fact they are connected abilities. In particular, where humans live, they can never be separated from ‘magical power’, so people with weak resistance are affected by magic and suffer from various diseases, are weak, Things that shorten lifespan often happen.
This is called ‘magical erosion’.
However, such people are really a minority of people, and there are many cases where they are born with inherited resistance from their fathers and mothers, so most people do not have to worry about magical erosion if they live their daily lives.
That is, unless you enter an area where mana is dense enough to devour your body, or set foot in a sanctuary or dark magic area.
However, the environment they live in is an extremely low-powered environment.
As a result, the resistance of the people here, whose resistance has weakened as generations passed, became bodies that were eroded by magic the moment they left this land.
“Originally, it’s a place where I almost cut off disconnection from the outside world. … Until Esca-sama found this place.”
“Esca-san…”
When Esca’s name her came out of her mouth her, Cleon muttered it over and over again.
“During the pilgrimage, you came here after discovering something strange about the flow of magic power. It is said that this place, where people with bodies that cannot be healed even with divine magic live, was a shock to Esca-nim at the time.”
“…”
Most of the church’s methods of evangelism are miracles such as ‘healing’, ‘blessing’ of priests, and ‘consecration’ that enriches the land, which are benefits that can actually be obtained rather than preaching doctrines.
It is said that even that the village did not accept.
However, the humans in this town wanted to be saved no matter what.
I wanted to throw off the shackles I had since birth and escape from this land of death, so I accepted ‘faith’ even though I couldn’t see a ‘miracle’.
After that, the church and the village made a kind of contract.
El Cairo was obviously a place where many taboo technologies were developed, but it did not commit evil acts like the Empire.
Numerous technologies that can be applied even in modern times will be buried in the sandstorm here like treasures.
The church had to excavate this place on the condition that they send salvation supplies to El Cairo.
That was already 10 years ago.
After that, it is said that this place continued to trade with the church in secret without being known even to the high-ranking officials of the kingdom.
“However, it is said that most of the technologies discovered were weapons technologies. It was not what the church wanted… Moreover, the population is gradually decreasing. In the past year, there has been no significant results.”
“But even so, it won’t stop the sending of salvation supplies… ? Throwing away the people here… “
Vera Stoll nodded at Quon’s words, but Cleon couldn’t help but worry a little about her answer her.
No matter how you look at it, it was because there were so many things that were lacking to lead a prosperous life.
The fact that it was kept secret from the kingdom, and the fact that it sent insufficient supplies for salvation.
It didn’t take a single thing.
To say that the Escatology is leading the way-
“In the meantime-recently discovered by the villagers are the remains of a tomb. The inside was like a labyrinth, and it was unknown except that it was the tomb of the last king… It is said to be sealed.”
“What else is inside?”
“Numerous automata guarding the king’s body and traps to prevent intruders… Be careful when going inside.”
Quon nodded her head and squeezed her hand.
“A tomb… For some reason, I feel like I’ve become a grave robber…”
No matter how much the purpose is for peace, it would be ethically wrong to disturb the rest of the dead.
Cleon could understand Quon’s heartache over it.
But Verastol shook his head and spoke.
“The power of the holy sword Galatin will be the power to burn many unclean things… It will surely bring stability to the world. I’m sorry to those of the past, but the ‘present’ is also important.”
“Yes…”
Verastol’s words were not incomprehensible either.
Cleon looks at Quon, who nods with difficulty, and proposes to Verastol.
“We’ll start tomorrow morning. It’s a place where there’s no spiritual vein, so our magic recovery speed is slow. At least, I think it’s wise to go after fully recovering our physical strength.”
“…”
Verastol fixed his gaze under the helmet as if staring at him for a moment at Cleon’s words his, then nodded.
Fortunately for her, it seemed that she had a heart that could allow her that much leeway.
“Then… I need to get ready for bed. The room is… “
When Quon said that and looked around, it was a room with only two rooms, a bedroom with two beds and a living room, so someone needed to sleep in the living room.
“Quon is a bedroom first.”
When Cleon said that, Verastol nodded quietly.
“Yes…”
Quon felt a little embarrassed by the two people’s caring behavior, but Cleon looked at him and gave her a thumbs up, as if telling her not to worry.
“…Well. In this case, it would be right for me to sleep in the living room.”
And while saying that, he gave the rest of the bed to Verastol.
Sleeping on the floor wasn’t much of a problem for Cleon, who had a long life as an adventurer.
Rather than that, it would n’t be a good idea to let Verastol sleep on the floor, who she must have spent a long time in the temple.
Cleon judged that, but at that time, Quon grabbed Cleon’s sleeve tightly and pulled it gently before speaking.
“I-I… I don’t mind sleeping in the same bed as Cleon, even if it’s a bit narrow…”
“…”
At those words, an electric current from Cleon’s shock and shame flowed through him.
When he glanced back at Verastol, he thought it was a relief that he could n’t see his expression her because of the helmet.
“Ku, kuon… Anyway, there is a risk that the two of you will fall… On that single bed.”
“Ah, uh, yes! That’s right! Aha, ha, me too…!”
Quon also smiled awkwardly.
Verastol, the person in charge, closed his eyes under the helmet as if to let go of his anger.
It wasn’t that the church’s saints wouldn’t be forgiven for having relationships with men.
It was common for her to have at least some degree of shyness.
However, after living with Cleon for a long time, Quon’s remarks his, which had less resistance to such things, were like a priest who fell into lust and became corrupted to Verastol.
As expected, the woman Esca-sama hates…
She would n’t have cared for her quon her, and she would n’t have spoken her honorifics her to her if it had n’t been for her orders her.
As soon as she can, she will complete her orders her, and let’s go back.
Thinking so, I opened the bottom of her helmet a little to quench her dry throat and tried to pour in some water-
“Ah, that’s right! If we put two beds together, wouldn’t it be possible for three people to lie together!?”
“Phew!?”
At Quon’s words, he unknowingly spits out water.
“Quon… I know you’re thrifty, but…”
“Ke, it’s a bit like having Cleon sleep on the floor, so it’s a suggestion… Can’t we?”
Coughing next to the two of them talking like that, Vera Stoll glanced into his eyes her and glared at them.
“If you want to stay together that far, I will sleep in the living room.”
By the time the cough has subsided and he is able to speak, when Verastol says so, Quon shakes his head.
“No! Then I’ll be in the living room!”
“No, I just want to sleep in the living room…”
“Take it in moderation. I’ll sleep in the living room.”
…It was a strange composition of concessions to each other.
002
In the end, it was Cleon who decided to sleep in the living room.
Although it was conceded, the living room with windows that do not play their part rattles from the sound of the occasional sandstorm and disturbs sleep.
Going to bed under any circumstances is one of the qualities of an adventurer…
Today, that also felt a bit difficult.
[Can I help you?]
Then, another voice came from the wall.
It was Cleon’s demonic sword, ‘Galatea’, leaning against the wall.
After returning from her valley, she still had her ability to transform into human form unrecovered, but most of her other abilities her were restored.
However, what moved in place of Galatea was Caliburn, who was leaning alongside him.
Caliburn, who assumed a human form while emitting a little light, walked quickly and entered Cleon’s blanket.
“Galatea is n’t very helpful because she’s cold ~ I’ll help you ~”
[Kuh…! Caliburn you…! If only the power returns to its original state… !]
“Whoop~”
Caliburn tries to cling to the lying Cleon, ignoring Galatea’s voice of jealousy.
At that time-
Cleon endured being run out of sleep by the sound of the two talking, then opened his eyes to the presence of people outside.
“… Caliburn.”
“Um, weren’t you going to sleep?”
“Because there’s a guy watching over me… Follow me. Galatea too.”
At Cleon’s words, Caliburn nodded her head and assumed the shape of the sword again.
Galatea also flies to Cleon’s side and clings to his waist her.
If you try to put on the armor, Quon or Verastol will wake up.
If you quietly step out of the dorm in your everyday clothes-
There, standing there was a woman wearing a white robe with gold embroidery, covering her entire body her, showing only her eyes her.
“Are you an outsider?”
“…You-“
In her hand her, she was holding something unknown whether it was a staff or a spear, and her height her was slightly shorter than that of Cleon.
The voice I heard was that of a woman with a slightly low voice that gave off an intimidating atmosphere.
“I am ‘Mejed’. I am Mezza of this generation.”
“Mezai?”
When Cleon asks back at the unfamiliar title, the woman replies with a nod of her head.
“In the words of El Cairo, it means ‘Guardian’… He is the one who protects the ancient kingdom and this village.”
“…”
She didn’t show up during the day, so why did she come and summon Cleon?
Cleon didn’t let go of the tension, thinking that a battle could start if it happened.
“I’ll ask. Stranger. Did you come here… To dig up the king’s tomb?”
“…It’s different. Our goal is the ‘Holy Sword Galatine’ inside it.”
“Holy sword… Galatine. As expected, is that so…”
She closed her eyes as if she knew something, then she spoke to Cleon.
“I’ll warn you. It’s the most cursed place in this land by the gods. There’s no guarantee that you, the strangers, will go in and be safe. It’s for you to return quietly.”
Medjed said so and set her staff on the ground.
“The grace of the land you use – ‘magic’ has no meaning in this land.”
After hearing her words her, Cleon let go of his guard her, judging that he felt no hostility.
“Then why don’t you tell me what’s inside?”
“…”
As if Cleon’s reaction was unexpected, Medjed blinks her eyes.
And then quietly mumble
“This is strange… According to Grandpa’s book, this way outsiders will return…”
“…What?”
When Cleon, whose voice was so low that he could only hear part of it, asked such a question, she was startedled, but she shook her head and answered in a calm voice.
“Ah, it’s nothing…! Inside, a powerful counter-magic field spreads out, preventing those who enter inside from using their magical power. If it’s not us Mezai, we’ll get lost inside and die without being able to get out.”
At Medjed’s words, Cleon lets out her saliva as if thinking about her for a moment, then looks at her.
“Can you use magic?”
“No. I’m not one who can escape the curse of the village either. It’s just that I’ve grown as a warrior through repeated training.”
Her body was covered by a loose robe, but the spirit she felt was definitely that of a trained person.
“…Then I have a request for you.”
“…Request?”
“So, if you can find your way inside the tomb, why not guide us?”
“!? That, that’s…”
As if she never had the idea, she reacts in surprise once again.
“Uh, what should I do… Cooperate with outsiders… But without the church’s help, our town… Ugh… “
And again, he muttered, thinking about something.
“… Hey, are you okay?”
[Something…Unreliable…]
[Whoops~]
Cleon and her her swords her spoke as if she were worried about her her, but she cleared her throat and replied with a calm appearance.
“…Okay. If you want to explore that far. I’ll help you. But the only thing I can do is find a way. I won’t get involved in the fight against the Guardians of the Ancestors – Automata. Okay?”
“That’s fine. Fighting is our specialty.”
Upon Cleon’s answer, Medjed looks at Cleon up and down her.
“Eh, are adventurers supposed to be this bold…?”
She murmurs to herself again and then turns her body around.
“…Ah, I’ll be back in the morning. So that you’re ready to depart and waiting.”
Saying that, Cleon, who followed Mejed with his eyes for a while as he walked away along the sandy road of the village, put his hand on his chin her.
“…”
[You don’t think that being a woman is erotic, right?]
When Caliburn muttered that, Cleon sighed and shook his head.
“It’s not like that. But… I’m worried about something.”
[What are you concerned about?]
When Galatea asked, Cleon looked in the direction she was walking.
“If you’re going to give a warning, it would have been better if you showed up during the day… It’s when Quondo and Verastol are around. Why did you show up now that it’s nighttime…”
[Isn’t it just because you’re shy?]
“…No way.”
Cleon shakes his head at Galatea’s guess but doesn’t get an answer, so he goes back to the inn.
The night in El Cairo was about to pass.
