That seemed weird. “You know Earth mythology?”
“Of course. I’m from Earth. That’s why I have a gift skill…only travelers get those. I used my Omnipotent Alchemy to prevent aging, but I’ve been here for thousands of years now. The thing is, though…due to the time distortion, I was probably born on Earth not too long before you were.”
“What?!” This was a huge reveal. “B-but isn’t everything the travelers do public to the higher beings as part of the entertainment? I didn’t think Naiarotop and his bunch would want a traveler involved in the management side at all, let alone as their leader…”
“At the time, they didn’t have the knowledge of how to make Locklore exciting while balancing it against the conservation of civilization and the world’s residents. The equilibrium was far worse than it is now. Human society was constantly on the brink of destruction. As a traveler, I defeated a Demon King of the time…but I learned that that was never going to save Locklore. That’s why I made an agreement with Naiarotop. I agreed to fake my death, change my face and appearance to hide my true identity, and manage Locklore from the inside. That was the beginning of the Unseen Hand of the Gods.” Veranta touched his mask as he slowly told the story.
This man wanted to protect Locklore so much he took on the shame of being the higher beings’ servant and continued a fight alone for thousands of years. I might have underestimated him.
“Well… Enough about me,” he said. “Wonderful work defeating the First Dragon in the Old Realm of the Gods. It is now safe to assume we have finished neutralizing all pawns that can be destroyed. Come rest a while in the tower.”
“Where is Lunaère-san? I wanted to go see her in person, since she seemed worried,” I said.
“She’s currently in the basement of the tower, tackling both the leveling of our most important fighting force and analysis of the tablet.”
I gave the Cursed Mirror of the Warped Realm back to Lunaère before I went to the Old Realm of the Gods. I wondered what she was going to use it for. I should have known…
“Leveling? Aha ha…right…” I said with a concerned grimace.
Thinking about the adventurers forced to face the demons in the mirror, I couldn’t help feeling bad for them. Lunaère’s training was pretty rough. Though she definitely could train up the few powerful people in the world in a short time if she was serious about it…
“Kanata, the demonic leveling instructor, is afraid?! Lunaère must be incredibly tough, then,” said Pomera when she saw my face. I did question being called a demonic instructor, but I was more worried about the other thing she said.
“Lunaère-san is an incredibly kind person. She just…doesn’t really know how a normal person feels. Or works. Or how much they can take.”
“…She’s nice, but doesn’t know people’s limits? Just hearing that makes it very clear to me she was your teacher,” said Pomera.
“…To Philia too.”
For some reason, both Pomera and Philia were clutching at each other and trembling as they agreed. I didn’t really get what the big deal was, but I was happy to be put in the same category as Lunaère.
So anyway, Lunaère was busy leveling the fighting force and…analyzing the Ravia Tablet?
I’d received the Ravia Tablet as a gift from Ridler, the Dragon King in the Garden of the Dragons.
THE RAVIA TABLET
VALUE CLASS: LEGENDARY
A traveler with the ability to see the true nature of magic analyzed a spell used by a higher being. The sage Ravia recorded that information on this tablet. However, the sage was unable to fully understand that spell, nor was he able to correctly record all the information he did understand. A human’s lifetime is not long enough for such a task.
It was possibly the sole record in Locklore of a higher being’s magic. It could be a powerful weapon against them if we used it properly.
Lunaère was the most powerful magic user in Locklore, but we didn’t even know how long it would take her to decipher the Ravia Tablet. We lacked manpower across the board, so we didn’t want to split our forces to do things like go after pawns. But deciphering the Ravia Tablet was something we had to leave to Lunaère.
“The lich is far below the surface in the tower. I’ll take you,” said Veranta.
“Thank you, if you don’t mind,” I said.
He raised his hand to the air and a gold gate appeared. He passed through, and we followed him in.
-4-
VERANTA TELEPORTED US into the deepest part of the tower before leading us down the hall.
“Lunaère-san is up ahead?” I asked.
“Yes. She selected four trustworthy people from among our warriors who have potential and is now using your Cursed Mirror to raise their levels—”
He got that far when a man came running toward us from down the hall.
He had pierced ears, black hair with blond highlights, and a huge sword on his back.
“Double…Speed Mode!”
I recognized him: my fellow traveler Mitsuru Ijuuin.
“Why is Mitsuru here…?” I asked, and then a girl with bobbed hair came racing after him. She pulled a chain from her shirt, quickly wrapped Mitsuru up, then pushed him to the ground and straddled him.
“Gah! Let go of me, you gloomy girl!” he cried.
“I won’t allow even one person to get away… You’re coming with me,” she said, her eyes cold. Then she looked up toward me. “Oh, Kanata?”
Another traveler, like me: Kotone Takanashi, Aries’s Hand.
Thinking about it, she had been called by the Sopia Trading Company when Lucifer made a mess out of Cocytus. She joined Veranta’s forces then. Which meant she’d been here underground after that…
“Are they two of the four people Lunaère-san is training…?” I asked.
Veranta nodded. “Yes. The more we train Double and Aries’s Hand, the more advantageous they are. They will easily and quickly become a valuable force against the higher beings. Arie’s Hand’s ability to use any piece of equipment at will, even cursed items, means we can quickly boost her power using my and the lich’s collections. Double is also intriguing for his ability to output a force to rival an opponent twice his strength under the right conditions. Used well, they hold the power to give the higher beings a fright.”
Veranta sounded cheerful. He continued, “However, a surprise attack from Double is…unstable, from a skill perspective. If used well, he’ll be a powerful weapon, but one misstep and he can be easily dealt with. What I have in mind right now is increasing his level to the max, then boosting his attack power. We’ll pull him back out of the fight quickly and use him like a cannon. This is the single best way to draw out his peak performance. …Now if only we could get him to understand that.”
Veranta talked about that crazy plan like it was nothing.
“Help me, Kanata! They’re crazy! I’m gonna die!” Mitsuru, normally so prideful, lay pressed to the ground, his arm desperately reaching out toward me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but, um, the fate of the world is sort of resting on you…”
“Kanata, you’re back!” came a voice from down the hall. There were Lunaère and Noble…along with Rosemonde, who looked completely worn out and sullen. She was apparently the third of the four.
“You aren’t hurt, are you?” asked Lunaère. “How did it go with the pawn?”
“We had no problems defeating the First Dragon. All of the pawns are handled now,” I said.
“Oh, good,” said Lunaère with a sigh of relief.
“All that’s left is continuing to protect the ones we can’t destroy, like the Dragon Vortex, while we carry on leveling our fighters and keeping an eye out for the higher beings’ next move…” I glanced toward Rosemonde. “Um…you okay, Rosemonde-san?”
Rosemonde, Mitsuru, Kotone…none of them had any life in their eyes.