Chapter 314: Sly Old Fox
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav
“Since I already know everything, what can you all do about it? Kill me?”
“Even you’re saying that so you must be prepared to meet your doom!”
The furious archmages all shouted in anger as their expressions distorted. Each and every one of them pulled out their mage staves and shot all sorts of magic spells at me, killing me in an instant… that was all obviously impossible. After all, mages weren’t like warriors who only had muscles for brains. Nor were mages fervent religious fanatics that wanted to cleanse everything. Mages were always more understanding and preferred to talk things out. They would be especially more patient with other mages and their juniors.
“Since you know already… let’s add a chair for you.”
Auntie Amala from the Star Revelation was quite open-minded about me joining in. She sipped her tea, not even opening her eyes as she enjoyed her beverage.
Why was I calling her Auntie Amala? Apart from the fact that this purple-haired mage who always wore a headscarf had such an obvious motherly aura about her, it was more due to the fact that she was Margaret’s mage teacher as well. Auntie Amala was the one who helped a wild mage like Margaret enter the Mage Country. In fact, she was even responsible for helping Margaret transform into an undying state.
Of course, I voluntarily greeted her of my own volition based on the connection between us. I even thought back to the first time I met her.
“Good morning, Auntie.”
*Whoosh…*
I had heard someone sigh lightly before the atmosphere on the street at where I greeted her for the first time became rather strange. The originally bustling street had instantly became empty, while my shadow had come to life and restrained me. The stone street had suddenly transformed into a magical beast that devoured me.
Yet, the next instant, everything had returned to normal. The sky was still blue, and there was nothing wrong with the street at all. That was when I realized everything had only been an illusion.
“Actually, you should just call me Sister Amala.”
‘…An illusion? A Soul World? No, there’s no way that was something so simple.’
Alright then, from that day onward, I became more respectful of the Cloud Tower’s mages. At the very least, this Amala individual who appeared just like an ordinary little girl on the outside was actually an ancient artifact from who-knows-what generation.
Although Amala was a SemiGod, there was no way to calculate the difference in power levels between SemiGods among mages. Experience and knowledge were both critical factors when it came to power level. I heard of “Amala the Blind” even back when I was just an acolyte so it would be appropriate to respect this who-know-how-old ancient witch, which was why I decisively expressed my gratitude.
“Thank you, Auntie Amala. You’re quite reasonable to deal with.”
As I expected, everything before me went dark before I even finished speaking.
“Ohhh, it’s here again, that feeling of being forgotten somewhere in a corner of the world and then being devoured! …Eh, why isn’t it continuing anymore?”
This time, the illusion only lasted half as long before everything returned to normal for me.
“Sigh.”
I once again heard Amala’s sigh. I shrugged, slightly disappointed that I hadn’t been able to find out her true strength. I casually pulled over a chair and sat down as the large door behind me slammed shut. This doubtlessly meant that a new round of discussions was beginning, with me being included this time.
[Epic Quest: “Will you have a glorious homecoming, or will you become a fallen phoenix?” has now been activated. The next step of your Quest will depend on how well you do here at this Truth Symposium conference.]
As always, my System was late to the party. But since I managed to make it here, the first step of my goal was already complete. Being able to acquire some Fate Points as well was just an extra bonus. Based on previous experiences, this type of Quest chain may not have any worthy rewards as I went about doing the Quests in the middle, but the final reward in the end would always be marvelous.
“In that case, this meeting shall move on to the next topic…”
*Clap! Clap! Clap.*
An elderly archmage wearing reading glasses picked up a document with trembling hands and was about to move on to the next topic when he was interrupted by someone’s clapping.
When he looked to see who it was, it was, as expected, the young brat who just took a seat. Once could be counted as a coincidence, but two interruptions meant that he was obviously up to something. This time, almost all the archmages present became very displeased.
Any ordinary person being glared at like this by so many archmages possessing Emblems of Endless Truth would likely pee their pants in fright.
However, for me, all those unfriendly glares and scary-seeming auras emanating from the mages’ physically weak bodies were the best evidence that they couldn’t actually do anything about me. This attempt at “killing me with their glares” made me quite pleased.
“…Fine, fine, this time, I really wasn’t trying to mess with you all on purpose. Aren’t you all even the littlest bit curious about how I learned about the truth? I just received information from the Bardi Empire. Would any of you like to know about it? The titan giants are going to return sooner than anyone expected. These exiled former rulers are about to return. Please, don’t all stare at me like that. I’ll get embarrassed from all your passionate gazes. Do all of you want to see an old man like me flush red so much? Perverts!”
At that moment, I had an excellent inspiration and lightly stuck out my little finger towards the archmages and beckoned towards them.
“That damned pinky finger of his! Never in history has such a tiny movement from any person ever disgusted so many archmages, archmages who typically wanted nothing to do with the world into wanting to kill him!” That was the collective opinion of future archmage of this particular Truth Symposium.
As for the meeting’s progress? Since it still hadn’t ended after two days’ time, would it really end so quickly just because I joined? And that was especially after I brought new troubles for them.
“As I expected, there’s no solution to this.”
Naturally, only a stalemate like this would cause so many archmages such frustration.
For the Mage Country, Arlodante, the best situation of all would be to continue their isolationist attitude and only worry about defending themselves, maintaining their eternal neutrality. However, this was obviously impossible. Even if you didn’t go around looking for trouble, trouble would come looking for you.
From a certain standpoint, Emperor Orloss of the Bardi Empire was truly a sly old fox. He was probably the first person who understood the situation for what it was. His country became the undead’s target more than thirty years ago, which was the Bardi Empire’s first major issue.
The second troublesome issue for the Bardi Empire was the dragon knights. The prideful dragons never would have obediently listened to a human empire’s commands for a reason as simple as what I guessed, being a “half-blood dragon descendant daycare.” The dragons were actually performing a critically important task here: guarding the entrance to the Dragon World.
What was the Dragon World? That was the name of the dimension in which the titan giants were slumbering.
“That isolated dimension was indeed created to become an eternal prison, especially designed for the titan giants. However, since the elemental density was incredibly high there, it was a highly suitable environment for hatching dragon eggs, for young dragons to grow, for old dragons to retire, and for breeding as well…”
“Why is why you dragons modified the titan giants’ prison into a daycare and retirement home? Not to mention even breeding there? You even established nests there?”
I was rendered speechless by the dragons’ actions. But, to the dragons, this was no different from how a human would consider the surrounding environment when choosing a new home to live. It was just like moving to a warm and comfortable island. As for the imprisoned titan giants?
“Hmph, those titan giants haven’t woken up for tens of thousands of years. They definitely won’t awaken in our generation.”
Alright, although this sounded quite ridiculous, plenty of humans thought in such a fashion as well, not just the dragons. “Who cares if I’m polluting the water or air? It’s not like I’m drinking or inhaling it directly.” “Conserve energy? Oil will eventually run out one day? Relax, some new technology in the future will take care of that for us.”
Most likely, the first generation of dragons took their job of guarding the seal on the titan giants seriously. The second generation probably took occasional looks. Now that hundreds of generations had passed, the titan giants had become nothing more than a distant legend. Enjoying this incredibly comfortable environment became the most important thing to the dragons.
“You dragons never even considered that if the titan giants awakened at a rapid pace, that not a single one of your young and elderly dragons would be able to escape?”
Actually, no matter if one was a dragon or a human, there was no foundational difference in how all intelligent species thought in a foolishly suicidal manner, that certain things wouldn’t possibly matter or be relevant to themselves.
“…I’ve just found out that dragons are also foolish optimists that love to dig pitfalls for themselves to fall into.”
I still recalled how when I made that comment, Halent’s face reddened to such an extent, just like a monkey’s rear. That handsome dragon descendant lowered his reddened face and seemed to be quite embarrassed about his own species’ actions. He was like an embarrassed little girl, and it was truly an enjoyable scene to watch.
Cough, let us ignore that last part. The conclusion was now obvious. The dragons definitely had a secret agreement with the Bardi Empire, which was why the Bardi Empire eternally managed to have dragon knights under its command throughout the countless generations. Naturally, the dragons would receive assistance from the ruler of the Bardi Empire as well. For example, human labor, food and water resources, construction work undertaken to conceal the entrance to the Dragon World, and so on. And since this country had dragon knights, dragons occasionally appearing in the country wouldn’t cause the citizens to be too astonished.
The Dragon World was one of the three locations in Eich which had the highest population of dragons. But now, the titan giants were beginning to awaken, which transformed it into the cruelest battlefield. The dragons were fighting furiously to stop the smaller giants from waking up the titan giants in order to successfully transfer all their young dragons and dragon eggs. However, once the titan giants themselves truly reawakened and entered the battle, things would likely no longer be salvageable.
“Does Orloss know about this? Did he know that the titan giants were likely to return during this Holy War?”
“…Since he’s the Bardi Emperor, he was informed by the dragons right when he succeeded to his position.”
As for why I called Orloss a sly old fox, that was because even though he knew that his country was facing significant upcoming troubles, he still rapidly expanded the Bardi Empire’s territory, getting other countries involved in the Bardi Empire’s problems.
“Where is the entrance to the Dragon World? Why haven’t you dragons already made a full retreat with all your dragon eggs and young dragons?”
“The Dragon World’s entrance is located in the Bardi Empire’s capital city. As for why the dragons there haven’t retreated? It’s not that they didn’t want to retreat, it’s that they’re unable to. The order to retreat was given more than one hundred years ago. But most dragon mothers don’t even know where their own dragon eggs are in there. The situation is quite unique.”
I asked more about this and learned from Halent that the dragons truly turned the titan giants’ prison dimension into their own Dragon World. There were a large number of dragons that made that place into their home. After all, they had no enemies there, and it was an excellent environment. They would simply randomly bury their eggs somewhere in the ground and wait for the egg to hatch.
Not to mention, dragons were true to their own desires. The SemiDragons, dragon beasts, and half-blood dragon descendants were quite numerous in that world as well. It was a complete dragon society on its own, which was also why it was one of the three most heavily dragon-populated locations in Eich.
“What do the dragons think of the undead?”
When I asked this, Halent became even more embarrassed. He didn’t say anything for an incredibly long time. In the end, he could only helplessly shake his head.
Alright then, I didn’t even need to guess. After all, these huge lizards that could easily swallow down a human in a single gulp were probably too lazy to care.
“What? The danger of the undead? Aren’t we already providing you humans with a dragon knight squad? Who cares about affairs in human society? Stop interrupting our sleep! If you dare to wake us up again, we’ll eat you!”
But now, it was likely because their dragon eggs were under serious threat that they finally thought to ask for assistance. And the Cloud Tower happened to both be the closest, as well as one of the few mortals’ organizations that the dragons wouldn’t look down upon.
Both the Undead Calamity and the titan giants’ return were huge problems. If both occurred together, that would be an even bigger problem. By the way, Emperor Aso in the game’s “history” seemed to have fallen for Orloss’s trap as well, even if Orloss perished in the end. After all, since Emperor Aso opened up the Undead Planes’ Dimensional Doors in the Bardi Empire’s capital city, it was likely that the undead ended up clashing with the titan giants. And if Orloss misled Aso about where to open the Dimensional Doors, perhaps the undead arrived in the Dragon World and started fighting with the titan giants before they even arrived, which made it only natural why the titan giants arrived so late in the game’s “history.”
The Orloss I knew in the real life of this world was still a sly old fox, just like in the game. Looking back on things now, he probably had quite a lot of say in the undead’s actions. No matter if it was Port Victoria or that fortress Orloss had destroyed by a forbidden spell, there was something in common about the two locations: they were both on the distant outskirts of the Bardi Empire. In fact, both of these locations were far closer to the Cloud Tower than they were to the Bardi Empire’s capital city.
When the undead armies arrived, Orloss was still allied with them and intended on using them to attack the Mage Country. If it wasn’t for the Forest of Dreams and the mystery archmage’s forbidden spell at Orloss’s command, the Undead Calamity would have already arrived in the Mage Country. Although the forbidden spell managed to eliminate the threat of yet another Undead Emperor opening up yet another Dimensional Door, it dragged the Mage Country into this huge mess.
Perhaps even sacrificing Port Victoria was just a show Orloss put on for the Mage Country. Orloss wanted to prove his own viciousness towards both himself and his opponents. Perhaps he was even threatening the Mage Country that if they didn’t help intervene in the situation, all the Dimensional Doors would be opened up right next door to them.
“Ptui! Perhaps Orloss even notified the Mage Country before sacrificing Port Victoria, which is probably why Amelia just happened to be in Port Victoria at the time. But no matter what the Cloud Tower chose to do, the Mage Country wouldn’t be able to remain uninvolved. This is such a familiar tactic, an open scheme for all to see.”
“You’re feeling like this is all familiar? That’s because Orloss’s dirty tactics are exactly the same as yours.”
“…Harloys, please call it experience and wisdom instead.”
Not long ago, Orloss had apparently achieved his goal. At the very least, the Mage Country was suffering quite greatly, and these archmages that loved hiding in their ivory towers were forced to fight against the undead to the bitter end.
Alright then, let’s not mention just how scheming of an individual Orloss was. At any rate, he messed with both of the major troublesome issues on his plate. The Undead Calamity occurred earlier than planned, and due to the Forest of Dreams’ existence as well as the location of the Dimensional Doors, the direction the undead would invade in would likely change to be the Bardi Empire. The titan giants were also reviving faster than anyone had ever expected, not to mention that once they awoke, they would be coming out right in the Bardi Empire’s capital. Orloss was probably quite worried about this situation, too.
“Just how strong are the titan giants?”
I asked Halent this question as well. And now, the archmages at the Truth Symposium meeting asked me the exact same question. However, the answer was the same.
“I don’t know because there are no records about their strength.”
Of course there were no records. After all, nobody even knew what year the titan giants were sealed in. The Gods themselves erased all relevant records, so how was it possible to truly find out how strong the titan giants were? Still, I knew that the titan giants sealed away back in that generation were all undying. Even the Main Gods in that generation were unable to truly slay them so perhaps it would be accurate to view the titan giants as having power on par with the Main Gods.
“Then what do the dragons want us to do, exactly? Take care of those titan giants for them? I should say first that I have no intention of becoming cannon fodder for the sake of those lizards. We could try an offer of friendship to the titan giants first.”
“That’s a nice idea.” Another archmage seemed to agree with this idea. I nodded at this. After all, this was a typical way that a mage would think of, and, in a way, it could be considered quite reasonable. However…
“That’s impossible. In the immemorial generation, the titan giants looked down upon on the ‘low-class imitations’ that were all other species. Not only that, they’re related by blood to the human-eating ogres… Yep, that’s right, the titan giants eat humans! Do any of you ever make offers of friendship to the eggs in your breakfast bowls?”
I was telling the truth about this. It was gossip I heard from Ayer. The titan giants’ bloodline actually consisted of a huge family, including the giants, ogres, great demons, and even smaller species like dwarves and stone beasts.
The great demons’ countries and the elven empire were mortal enemies from the same ancient generation. They were the rulers of the world in their era. The legends about the Gold Elf King and the Titan King’s enmity for each other remained as classic epics commonly performed on stage even in today’s generation. But now, there was likely to be one new story added among them, titled “The Forgotten Tark Republic” written by Roland the Forgotten.
“Those lizards aren’t that stupid to think that we’ll simply agree to become their cannon fodder against the titan giants. What they want us to do is help maintain the balance between the elements, which will help delay the titan giants’ revival. That’d give them more time to finish finding all their dragon eggs and move them to safety as well as prepare for battle.”
“So what you’re saying is…”
“Yep. Either we slay the two remaining Elemental Gods of Wind and Water that are running around, or we quickly find two elemental creatures that can ascend to become Elemental Gods. We have to make all four elements reach a balance somehow!”
Still, slaying two Elemental Gods that were probably hiding in their own planes was far too difficult of a task. In the end, I had one choice left to me.
“…I just slew the Earth Elemental God, but now I have to help establish another one? Is this yet another creative way of how I managed to shoot myself in the foot?”