Chapter 567 – Investigation
On Earth, if you look at the pure value of the item itself, a banknote is nothing more than a piece of paper.
However, it is different in Zephyria.
Zephyria’s banknotes themselves contain a certain amount of magic stones. What he meant was that holding currency was like holding a magic stone.
Therefore, the paper money of Zephiria had much greater value in kind than that of Earth.
Bill. And a spoonful of the power of deception.
With that alone, the real estate broker actively provided us with all the information he knew.
There were many villas that met the requirements of having water in front and a forest in the back, but none had a history as old as what we wanted.
There were hardly any villas over 2000 years old.
The results were not much different from those when searching for ‘link’.
What we want is an old villa that is at least 8,000 or 9,000 years old.
‘The terrain probably hasn’t changed…’
What we can think about is the possibility of reconstruction.
‘Should we search all the villas by the lake or river?’
Although it was a little ignorant, it was also a way to end it neatly without any regrets. In fact, I came here with the intention of not having any clues.
While I was worrying about that, I was able to get some interesting information from a real estate agent.
There is a real estate agent who has lived here in a place called Lecherville, a little away from Etville.
“This is a man named Altus. He has been a real estate broker even before I was born. If it’s him, he might know something I don’t know.”
It is said that he is a real estate broker who is at least 4,000 years old.
4,000 years old.
It is said that the lifespans of Zephyrians are long but vary widely. And there are not that many Zephyrians who live for thousands of years.
Although they appear to live comfortably for up to a thousand years, most die before reaching 2,000 years.
Zephyria was not a civilization that had already developed as it should and had to worry about physical aging.
Although the exact cause of death could not be determined, it was only assumed that it might be a mental problem.
In that respect, this real estate broker named Altus, who lived for over 4,000 years, was living a very long life.
I decided to put the ignorant search on hold for now.
If you can find it quickly with little labor, there is nothing better.
After listening to the story of an old real estate agent, we headed to Resherville.
Resherville was a peaceful village located in the middle of a wide plain. The atmosphere of the village was not much different from Yetteville.
There was no one in Lesherville who did not know this real estate agent, who has been alive for a whopping 4,000 years, and it was easy to find him.
“My name is Altus. I have something to ask you…”
Even though Altus lived for quite a long time, he showed a polite demeanor.
Altus’ appearance showed no signs of age, and he looked intelligent as he wore neat gold-rimmed glasses.
However, I did not feel a particularly great amount of magical power. However, the mental power that was vaguely felt… That is, the amount of mental energy seemed to be superior to that of other Zephyrians.
Perhaps, like me, you can easily use telekinesis with will alone.
There was a high possibility that the power of deception would not work well on such a person. If you use the power of deception, you might notice.
I decided to go the standard way.
It is a method of receiving information at a reasonable price.
I won’t act like the real estate agent I met in Etville will take out my liver and gallbladder. Still, we thought that if we paid enough price, they would provide us with high-quality information.
We’ve only had 4,000 years, so wouldn’t we be able to distinguish between humans who can be attacked and humans who shouldn’t be attacked?
“… Are you talking about an old villa that is more than 8,000 years old…?”
In response to my question, Altus strokes his chin. He seemed to be searching through his old memories.
“Do you know the Doubt River?”
It was a river that you couldn’t help but notice when researching Trancon.
The Laut River is the only river in Trancon.
It was a river that cut through Trancon by about a third, and quite a number of villas and pensions were built in a row along the river.
The Laut Riverside was, of course, the target of my exploration.
“I don’t know if you know, but Trancon is divided into two areas.”
“Two areas?”
“Yes, on the opposite side of the river from the area where the villages you are in now are located.”
“What’s different on the other side of the river?”
“The other side of the river is an undeveloped area.”
“Undeveloped area?”
“I don’t know what the reason is, but the link is not available there.”
If it was a link… The story was that the Internet and Wi-Fi were not available.
“What is the cause?”
“Well… I don’t know about that either. I think they did an investigation… But I remember the city didn’t tell me the exact cause.”
“And you left it as is?”
“Trancon doesn’t have that many people like other cities. People are living well here too… I think the city doesn’t think there’s a need to restore the link there.”
It smelled.
It reminded me of Selby’s Dark Forest.
I remember that there was no link in the forest either.
“The nature here has existed from the beginning… Hasn’t it?”
“Yes, no. I understand that all the natural environments here were created to recreate the beautiful earth of the past.”
If it’s not natural radio interference like Selby… Wouldn’t that mean it’s an artificial phenomenon?
“Why did you bring up the story of that place?”
“Beyond the Laut River, in an undeveloped forest, there is a lake called Steed. And for some reason, there are villas on the shore of the lake that are believed to be quite old.”
“They say it’s an undeveloped area?”
“Of course, it is a villa that was like a relic that existed before I was born. I assume that there was no link failure phenomenon in the past.”
“Who owns the villa?”
“I understand that it is owned by Tranquency. There is no link, and there is no road anymore. It has been neglected for quite a long time and the inside of the villa is in disarray, so it probably has no commercial value.”
Do you think I’m thinking of buying it?
“I just wanted to look around.”
“The area across the Laut River is a no-entry zone. It is a dangerous area where people consistently go missing every year.”
“Missing people? Are there a lot of people going there?”
“Yes, there are quite a few young people who go there saying they want to go on an adventure. Since there is no link, I think they end up getting lost and in trouble.”
Does it make sense that we can’t find missing people with a civilization like this?
Altus continued speaking as if he had sensed my thoughts.
“It seems that not only Link, but also machines with magic circuits often cause errors. It is said that it is not easy to navigate.”
Altus did not say it strongly, but he implicitly implied that it would be better not to go.
But we were looking for such a suspicious place. It was a story about not even eating the seeds.
“… I’m thinking of going there somehow.”
“Well, that’s right. There’s no need to worry. We’re not ordinary people either.”
“It looks like that… I’ll give you a map. The lake is quite large, so it won’t be difficult to find it.”
“Thank you.”
Altus told me how to get to the other side of the river.
The reason he obediently showed me the way was probably because it was information that could be easily obtained if one worked hard.
*
*
*
When I came out to talk to Altus, the day was slowly fading.
I decided to stay in Resherville for a day.
Although it was comfortable in the camping car, using local accommodations was also a pleasure during the trip.
Contrary to the quaint village atmosphere, the inside of the accommodation was not uncomfortable. It had neat convenience no different from hotels in other cities.
The next day.
When the sun came up, we headed to Rugert Campground, located west of Lecherville.
In addition to ours, quite a few other tourists’ vehicles were parked in the campsite parking lot.
“Who is watching?”
“Nothing.”
In response to Suni’s response, I put the camping car into the inventory.
The surveillance cameras in the parking lot were controlled by Sunni.
To be honest, I couldn’t imagine that I would be able to complete the search in one day, and if that happened, I would inevitably have to camp.
Since it was overwhelmingly easier to rest in a camping car than a tent, I decided to put the camping car in my inventory.
“Master, isn’t it here?”
On the road from the parking lot to the campsite, Suni found an old, small sign half hidden in the bushes.
〚Rout Suspension Bridge〛
This is the sign that Altus was talking about.
And next to it is a small path leading into the forest.
We entered the trail.
After walking for about 4 hours along a path where only one person could pass by, I discovered the huge Laut River.
In the distance… I can catch a glimpse of the land on the other side.
‘Isn’t that almost a different continent?’
I caught a glimpse of it from above, but when I saw it up close, it was an absurdly huge river.
And a narrow, slender swing bridge floating on the river.
‘… Is it made of wood?’
At first glance, it looked like that kind of material.
The swing bridge, which looks quite unstable, extends all the way to the other side without much support.
Can this also be said to be the amazing technological power of the Zephyria civilization?
It was a truly terrifying swinging bridge that anyone but the bravest would dare to cross.
〚Link unavailable area〛
〚Areas where many missing people occur〛
〚Danger〛
〚No entry〛
Warning signs and barricades surrounded the entrance to the swing bridge.
