Chapter 129
Chapter 129. Sacred Land
After having his unsightly behavior exposed, Yul returned to a solemn expression.
“So, is it finished?”
“…Yes, the deal is finished, and Corman will bring the sailors to complete the exchange of goods.”
Lucian, who was sitting beside him, looked at Hakor. Hakor was staring at Lucian with sparkling eyes. More precisely, he was looking at Lucian’s uniform.
The officer’s uniform of the Kingdom of Britain, designed to look stylish, was clean and antique enough to draw admiration even from modern eyes.
“Are you planning to head north?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of going beyond that.”
“Beyond…?”
“Up to the place they consider the Sacred Land?”
“…You’re going beyond the forbidden zone?!”
At Thibaut Marchand’s question, Yul nodded.
“Lucian, you should depart first. It might take a long time.”
“I was planning to join you, though.”
“No. Not only would it delay the time following the Golden Sea Chart, but if you go farther north, you might be able to endure it with a Rune Frame suit, but the sailors won’t.”
“…I see.”
Lucian could survive even farther north, but the sailors would have to remain here. That would create plenty of room for problems.
“Understood. I’ll head ahead.”
“Where’s the next location? Open the Golden Sea Chart.”
“Here?”
“You can trust Marchand. He used to be my subordinate, and he was also acquainted with your father.”
“Pardon?”
Lucian blinked as he looked at the bearded middle-aged man. He hadn’t sensed anything like that at all.
“Ah, I forgot to mention it. It’s exactly as Lord Yul said.”
There was also the fact that he believed in Yul as a god, but he felt there was no reason to speak of it, so he refrained.
“Understood.”
When Lucian spread the Golden Sea Chart on the table, an enormous area was revealed. It was a map marking the regions humans had identified so far.
“The destination is west. So we mark a point somewhere in the open sea where there’s nothing, then head south.”
“Can’t see anything on the sea. And then?”
“We go straight south and stop here.”
“Huh?”
Yul blinked. That was the location where the underwater temple, where Yul’s main body was sleeping, was located.
“We circle around once here, but I don’t know the reason.”
“My main body is there, though?”
“Pardon? Your main body?”
“Anyway, if you can get there, let’s meet there.”
“Understood. I’ll wait there.”
The moment Marchand saw the chart, he fell into deep thought.
“There are golden lines even drawn across completely empty spaces.”
“Yes. From here on, it’s unknown territory.”
“An explorer, huh….”
With an expression as if pondering something, he looked at Hakor and turned his body.
“If you’re going to the northern end, I’ll see you off. I’ll also tell you what I know.”
“Sure. Might as well have someone to talk to.”
The next day, leaving Lucian behind as he prepared to depart first, Yul set out north together with Marchand.
“There are forests and trees up to this point, but if you go to a certain area, you’ll find a wasteland where only grass grows.”
Marchand bundled himself up tightly and followed Yul. This time, instead of flying, Yul walked slowly, matching Marchand’s pace.
Just as he said, as they continued heading north, the forests and animals disappeared, leaving only a wasteland of short grass that reached barely to their ankles.
And when they went a little farther north, even that disappeared.
“Over there.”
“That one?”
Yul approached the pillar that could be seen even from far away.
Looking at it up close, writing had been inscribed in blood from the very top of the pillar down to the bottom.
If it were old blood, it would normally have turned black, but the blood written on that pillar was a vivid red as if it had just been drawn.
[O Lord of Endless Branches, Heart of the Forest and King of the Hunt!]
[I offer my blood and breath unto you.]
[Grant me the strength of the stag’s hooves upon this spear-tip!]
[I give you my heart; guide my path.]
[All praise to the Stag God.]
“Most people don’t understand it since it’s an archaic language, but it’s probably a warning not to cross beyond this point.”
“It’s a phrase praising the Stag God.”
“…Is that so?”
“One thing’s certain, this isn’t an ordinary pillar. There’s magical energy infused into the stone.”
Marchand stopped in front of the pillar.
“This is as far as I go.”
“Is that so?”
“In the past, I might have followed you, but time is finite, and people grow old.”
“Then enjoy the rest of your life.”
“Thank you.”
Yul waved his hand and crossed the boundary of the pillar. He didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that this would be the last time he would meet Marchand.
He continued north, walking across the grasslands. Facing the wide-open space of land, prairie, and nothing but himself, he began to feel something strange.
‘This isn’t an ordinary space. If a normal person came here, their mind would probably have gone strange.’
He felt that sensation from the dense scent of magical power spread throughout the air. Even Yul, in his human body, was somewhat affected, but thanks to his own magic power, he remained fine.
Before long, he arrived at the ruined city called Yungdheim.
‘There’s a city wall.’
It was only about the level of a stone fence, but he hadn’t expected to find a city in such an empty place.
He followed the traces of ruins and entered. Inside, there were signs that people had once lived there.
However, there were also marks as if something had stabbed through and pierced the structures.
The largest building created the illusion that something like stag antlers had grown from inside it.
While he was looking around, the sky became gloomy, and soon a blizzard began to sweep in.
“This isn’t an ordinary storm.”
A snowstorm mixed with magical power was approaching.
‘Floating levitation stones, Skelkil, the one who threw the spear, the pillar serving the Stag God, the collapsed Yungdheim, giants, the Frost Dragon Mountains….’
This place, they called the Sacred Land, still seemed to be a place where mythical beings walked.
For the humans on the eastern continent, such myths had long since been completely forgotten.
A world where magic, swords, and guns had developed—and a remote world like this filled with myth.
Avoiding the snow mixed with magic power, Yul found the nearest intact building and stayed there.
It was the only building in this city that was somewhat intact.
When he closed his eyes and observed, he saw Lucian leaving the Arctic.
Among Lucian’s group were sailors who had joined them in the Arctic. Surprisingly, they were sailors under Marchand.
They had lived in Snorheim for ten years, but they said they wanted to work on Lucian’s ship.
Their goal was to return to the Kingdom of Britain someday.
Lucian shut himself alone inside his workshop, developing weapons.
It even seemed like he was “modifying” the ship itself, though Yul had not yet confirmed how he was modifying it.
While he had briefly closed his eyes, an unreal landscape appeared.
“Wow! It’s cold, so cold! It’s snowing this much.”
“Tzzbit! Your training is still lacking.”
“I’m not a lunatic who swings a sword in this snow like Master.”
Was someone entering the building?
It was a woman with shining golden hair, and astonishingly, she was wearing bikini armor in this cold. The cloak she wore was her only outer garment.
And on her shoulder was some kind of creature that looked like either a hamster or a ball of fluff.
“Tzzbiiiiit!? Someone’s here!”
“Who are you!”
The female warrior pulled out a greatsword as large as her torso from her waist.
“What? It’s not a penguin? It’s a human!?”
"There's no way a human could be here...?"
“……?”
“Reveal your identity!”
“You should be the ones telling me who you are.”
Yul asked with his arms crossed.
“It’s strange not to know me within the Eures Keynes Realm, you know?”
“Tzzbiit. That’s right! How could anyone not know the Hero Aelia Invicta?”
“I arrived in the Arctic by ship not long ago. So whether you’re famous or not, it’s possible I wouldn’t know.”
“……?”
Instead of the female warrior named Aelia, who still seemed unable to grasp the situation, the ball of fluff beside her spoke.
"Don't tell me, you came from the south? Did you cross the empty sea by ship?"
“You came from outside the Realm? Can a human come here alone?”
“I heard that after Yungdheim fell, there were a few survivors who became hunters traveling beyond the boundary. But is there really an outside human strong enough to enter the Realm itself?”
“Aren’t the humans outside said to be descendants of giants who lost their power? I heard that from Master before.”
“Tzzbi. This one is a different species from those humans. He said he came from beyond the sea.”
“…….”
After talking among themselves about this and that, Aelia sheathed the greatsword on her back.
“To begin with, I’m not human.”
“……Really? Piruka, he’s not human?”
“He is human, though?”
“No.”
Yul raised his head and showed the gem on his forehead.
“Wow. There’s a gem on your forehead? Do humans from outside the sea have some custom of embedding gems into their foreheads?”
“Tzzbit! Anyway, he feels human to me. But his soul is enormous.”
Yul roughly grasped the situation. They seemed to live in a completely different world.
It seemed they called the entire Arctic the “Eures Keynes Realm.”
And although they looked somewhat human, they possessed physical abilities far beyond human limits.
"Alright, human from the outer world!"
“I have a name. It’s Yul.”
“Oh, really? For what purpose were you waiting for me here?”
“I was just avoiding the snow infused with magic.”
“Is that so? That seems likely! Do you intend to fight?"
“What benefit is there in fighting you?”
“Ha! You’re someone who fights for profit? Tch!”
As if disappointed, the female warrior plopped down and began gathering nearby debris.
“Warm this up!”
Surprisingly, there was no sign of her using a spell. As soon as she said it, magical power naturally moved, and a flame appeared in the middle.
“Ah! It’s warm now!”
“Tzzbi.Prepare for the next battle."
“I know. I need to store up some stamina.”
Yul realized they had decided not to pay much attention to him. However, since they were neither hostile nor trying to be friendly, Yul also kept some distance and settled down.
‘Hmm. I’m hungry.’
Using telekinesis, he took out jerky and vegetables from his backpack. He used a magic engineering tool that spewed flames to easily start a fire and prepared dinner.
When in human form, Yul was completely bound by a human body. That meant intelligence, emotions, reason, and even biological rhythms like eating or relieving oneself were the same.
‘It’s certain that skills are superior to magic.’
The Polymorph skill was practically at the level of a divine authority. It allowed him to become a completely different creature.
No unique magic could even imitate something like that.
After slicing vegetables and adding jerky to make a simple soup, he sensed someone beside him.
Eyes were sparkling, and drool was dripping. A very burdensome gaze continued.
“Want some?”
“I-I want some!”
“Tzzbi! Who knows what might happen if you eat food from the outside world!”
“Then don’t eat it.”
“Give me some, too, outsider.”
Yul finished after eating one bowl, but drawn by the delicious smell, this Arctic hero party devoured the soup in the blink of an eye.
“Food from the outside world is this delicious!”
“I added spices. Don’t you have them in the Arctic?”
"Within Eures Keines, is there such a thing as... spices?"
“Tzzbi. I don’t know such a thing.”
The white ball of fluff stuck out its snout and spoke while eating soup from a small bowl.
“Aren’t you hunters of Yungdheim?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m a hero.”
It seemed more conversation would be necessary.