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TL: ALT
Chapter 123 – Day 15 of the Strategy Life
“Are you the Keeper of Time?”
We made sure to wear our masks and gloves. As we asked the soldier our questions from a safe distance, the Keeper of Time nodded his head.
“You’re from outside, aren’t you?”
“Yes, we are. My name is Makyo, and I am the lord of this demonic land.”
“My name is Chel from the Kingdom of Meiju.”
“My name is Lute, and I am the Keeper of Time.”
Each of us introduced ourselves. There were so many questions I wanted to ask.
“We mean you no harm. We’ve brought some supplies to help with the food crisis that may be occurring in Midgard, in the dungeon…”
I showed him my backpack, which was full of supplies.
“That’s very kind of you. I could show you around the dungeon, but it would take a few days or even years on your time scale, so is that okay?”
Lute seemed to be someone who understood our situation and could speak.
“No, we don’t want to travel through time. We’d be happy if you could take them with you.”
“Okay.”
I left my backpack near the hut and walked away. Lute didn’t hesitate to check the contents. Every time he saw food or vegetable seeds, he wiped away a tear of gratitude and said, “Thank you.”
“Are you okay with the plague countermeasures?”
“There is no problem because Midgard can also do plague countermeasure inspections. Most of the inhabitants are infected with the plague, to begin with.”
Lute repacked his things and thanked us with his hands.
“Ten months ago… or maybe a hundred years ago, a group called P.J. came here, but do you know what happened to them?”
“I think they’re all dead. We found four bodies. I heard that only Farell is buried in the Cliff Garuda Tomb.”
“I-I see…”
“Is it okay if I ask you some questions?”
“Of course. That’s why I’m here. I wish I could entertain you in my hut, but I don’t have any tea leaves, and it’s not easy to get clean water. I’ve managed to get some plants and rainwater and monsters that fall from the sky…”
It seems that the tornadoes around the giant magical beast lift up the monsters, plants, and soil of the demonic land, and he collects them.
“Everything is fine here. But may I ask you about the current situation in Midgard?”
“Ah, I don’t know how much you know, but about 11 years ago, or about 1000 years ago in the outside world, the city of Midgard in Yggdrasil was transferred to a dungeon inside the genetically enhanced Haze Turtle. Do you know about this?”
“Yes, I heard about it from the spirit of the Foolish King of the Kingdom of Meiju.”
Chel replied.
“I see. Then you’re a demon. Back then, Midgard wasn’t so discriminating. There were some racist satra, but even they were tolerated. Today’s inhabitants are also not discriminated against because of their race. However, there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor, both in the past and today. Only the top 5,000 or so are cryogenically preserved.”
“They are cryogenically preserved?”
People are being frozen? I think it was just a story from a dream world. When I looked at Chel, she shook her head as if to say she didn’t know either.
“Oh, I see. If you look at the outside world from here, it’s completely changed, and it’s no wonder that Yggdrasil is called a demonic land, but the people of Midgard, who don’t look at the outside world, live their lives thinking that they can go to a more advanced civilization by putting themselves into cold sleep.”
“I see… I think the level of civilization has regressed quite a bit.”
“So it seems. PJ’s group told me…”
“Did no one else come with PJ and his group?”
Chel asked Lute, who looked down.
“No, there were some people from the dragon blood clan who came occasionally, but they died in the dungeon or attacked us when they saw us, so we sent them away.”
“Were there many of the Keepers of Time?”
“Yes. All but me are in the tombs…”
Lute looked at the tomb with a sad expression.
“So you are alone now?”
“Yes. I am the only slave in Midgard.”
The Keeper of Time is a slave in Midgard? I’ve heard of groups of adventurers and family slaves, but this is the first time I’ve heard of a slave in the city. Has he committed a crime in Midgard?
“I am the one who cut off that magical beast’s head. However, my dominant arm is no longer usable.”
Lute looked up at the head, which was now just a neck.
“Why did you cut off the head of the giant magical beast?”
“Because it began to eat the wheat fields on Sky Island, along with the food shortage. We were also helped by the fact that we could get soil and water, but almost all of it was gone. If it tried to go far away to look for food and got its route wrong, it could be sent flying somewhere in space. So I tried to stop it by cutting off its head, but…”
“It didn’t stop, did it?”
“It’s strange. It’s been five years since I cut off its head, but that monster keeps going the same way.”
Has this headless giant magical beast been walking around for hundreds of years without any intention? There have been cases of headless chickens continuing to live.
“How many people live in Midgard now?”
“I think there are about 3,000 people living there now. Midgard once had a population of 200,000, but when they were transferred to the dungeon, that number dropped to about 30,000. In the ten years since, there have been civil wars and plagues. There was also a famine. The actual number of people living there may be even lower than that.”
Lute explained matter-of-factly, with a hard look on his face.
“Are you the one protecting the ruins?”
“Yes, the dwarf named Park asked me the same thing, but it wasn’t me. It’s probably some kind of magical machine that protects the ruins or some other power that was created after Midgard retreated to the dungeon.”
Even after Midgard disappeared, people still lived in Yggdrasil. There were probably people who fought against forces like the Holy Knights. So Park was looking for those people instead of Midgard?
Whooooo!
Suddenly, we heard a sound like the wind cutting through.
“Sorry, I have to work. Let’s talk later.”
Lute ran off, spear in hand.
We followed at a distance.
At the top of the hill, we found the entrance to the ruins PJ had written about in his notebook.
A bear made of huge rocks was crawling out of the entrance as if trying to break through. Lute tried to cut off the bear’s head and push it back into the ruins, but since it was made of rocks, it didn’t seem to make any sense, even if he cut off its head.
Not only the bear but also the dragon monsters crawling on the ground, the raven monsters, and the chimera came out with a slithering sound as they were crushed. They all seemed to be made of mud, muddy water, and soil.
Lute fought back with his spear, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.
“What do you think it is?”
“Is it a subspecies of golem that came out of the dungeon?”
Chel observes as usual.
“Do you want me to help?”
“Yes, if it’s that much trouble.”
Both Chel and I approach the subspecies of golem at the same time.
Chel froze the water-filled golem with ice magic. I unleashed magic power on the frozen golem and searched for the magic stone inside. Once I knew where the magic stone was, all I had to do was pull it out with a cube of magic power. Just like the golem I saw in the desert, the iron cube was carved with a magic circle.
Since we hadn’t been recognized yet, we didn’t receive any attacks. Later, all that was left was the cube with the magic stone inside and some mud and dirt.
Bam!
With a loud noise, the mud that had fallen into the ruins was sucked up.
“What are we going to do with this?”
I showed the iron cube to Lute, who was looking at me with a spear in his hand.
“This is dangerous! It contains the thoughts of the dead who were banished from Midgard…”
“Shall we bury it somewhere?”
“If we do, it’ll turn back into a golem.”
Chel commented.
For now, I wrapped it in cloth, soaked it in the healing potion and holy water that Jennifer had made, put it back in the jar with the dried cam fruit, and gave it to Lute.
“I think this will stop the wraith from using its powers.”
Chel explained to Lute.
“I’m sorry. How did you know how to deal with the golem?”
“Oh, I’ve defeated a few of them in the desert. That’s why…”
“Did you use the space magic you used earlier to defeat them?”
“No, I usually just deal with them by punching them.”
“Makyo’s way of using magic is a little different from most people’s, so don’t worry about it.”
Chel explained apologetically to Lute.
“I see…”
Lute, who was holding a small vessel, seemed to understand somehow.
“Is that how the golems sometimes come out of the ruins?”
“Yes. The number of dead in Midgard is increasing, and the magic power is only accumulating, so the dungeon is growing. It would be nice if we could turn the magic power into food, but that won’t happen. A hundred years ago, we asked Park to set up a big magic circle and transfer food, but that stopped.”
Speaking of which, there was a blue-white magic circle in the room where the base collapsed, but could that be it? I found it when I was washing the floor earlier.
“We could only provide magic tools and other technology…”
“Could that be the magic circle in the room where P.J. kept his weapons?”
Chel seemed to have an idea.
“If we can use that, we might be able to provide food in the same way.”
“Really? That would be a great help to us!”
Lute munched on dried cam fruit and breathed heavily.
“I see…”
“Of course, we can also provide you with technology. What would you like?”
“First of all, we need a map of Yggdrasil. We don’t know where anything is buried right now.”
“I see. I’ll tell the people of Midgard.”
“And the history books, too. The ones with as few lies as possible.”
“Okay. I’ll leave out the religious books. However, if they’re sent from Midgard, the paper books might deteriorate and fall apart all at once due to the effects of time.”
That’s probably why Park had the magic tools sent to him.
“I guess we’ll have to take someone’s spirit with us after all, won’t we?”
Chel asked me in a whisper.
“Is this it?”
I took a cube of iron wrapped in cloth out of my pocket. To be honest, I don’t really want to take a spirit with me, but it would be nice to have a witness to history.
“If you don’t want to, I can ask.”
“Yes, please.”
“W-what’s wrong?”
Lute panicked when he saw us acting strangely.
“If possible, I’d like to take a spirit that can communicate with us. It would be best if it wasn’t a person who would turn into a wraith like the one we just defeated. Do you know someone who is dead?”
Chel opened the cloth and asked, showing the iron cube.
“Wait a minute. Isn’t that a golem core? Are you sure it’s okay to handle it like that?”
“Oh, it’s okay because there’s no magic power in it. Didn’t you know that?”
“I’m sorry. I live in Midgard, but I don’t know all the technology.”
“That’s right, I guess…”
If you think you can meet an ancient person and they’ll teach you everything, you’re wrong. I don’t know everything either. I didn’t even know about the existence of the Cliff Garuda.
While Lute was confused, the earth covering the graveyard began to rise.
“It looks like someone is trying to get out of the graveyard…”
“Yes. If you’re going to take them, I think one of the Keepers of Time would be good. They’re all well-versed in history.”
As Chel approached the graveyard and channeled magic into the iron cube, the earth of the graveyard clung to it. Chel’s right hand was covered in a mass of earth, and the face of someone appeared.
“Makyo!”
“Yes!”
I scraped off the face made of dirt and covered it with the magic cube.
“Gotcha!”
Chel showed it to me while laughing viciously.
“Good, you got it. Don’t come too close. I told you not to come near me!”
Even though I told her not to, Chel brought the iron cube she caught closer to me. She knows I don’t like spirits, so it’s just harassment.
“As you can see, Makyo is weak against spirits.”
Chel explained to Lute, but Lute kept blinking.
“In this era, people still believe in such unscientific things as spirits? I thought they would take the whole body and look for memories in the bones…”
It seems that Lute doesn’t believe in spirits at all.
“But you do believe in the dead, right?”
“I recognize that as a product of the delusion called residual thought, given to the monster of the mold. It’s the embodiment of a belief. I thought you had that kind of special ability…”
It seems that he had a complicated understanding of things.
For now, it looks like we can take the story back with us.
We can write down our requests while trading for food using ancient technology. Even if we ask Lute, we probably won’t get an answer.
“Then let’s start with a map.”
“Yes.”
I had Lute draw a simple map of Yggdrasil on parchment. I decided to have him send me a detailed map in three months.
“I can only tell you about the main cities and roads, but it’s something like this.”
There was a flourishing city with the Colosseum to the west and a port city to the east. There was a road that seemed to cut through the mountain range to the north, and there were military installations to the south. There were also several ring roads.
I carefully placed the map he had drawn in my pocket.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go through the dungeon to get to Midgard?”
“Yes, we don’t have much time anyway.”
The desert came into view at the end of the giant magical beast’s neck.
“I will tell the people of Midgard to do their best to fulfill your wishes.”
“We will do our best to gather as much wheat as possible.”
A crimson sunset shone through the gaps in the dark clouds. It was probably time to get off the giant magical beast.
“One day… it doesn’t matter when, but could you please stop this giant magical beast?”
Lute said for the last time.
“Can it be stopped?”
“Yes, this one has done more than enough work. Please let it rest…”
Lute must have been a member of the dragonfolk. His voice was dignified and warm, like King Estinia’s.
“I will find a way to stop it. Goodbye.”
With that, we climbed down from the giant magical beast.
We fell into the forest of the demon land, not caring about the big raindrops or the small stones that fell.
Thump… thump…
We listened to the loud footsteps and checked our destination from the rocks.
The giant magical beast entered the desert, and after advancing for a while, it disappeared like smoke.
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Discovered! Makyo’s weakness lol
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