Chapter 278: The Barrier Release, and the Second Visit to the Parallel World
「After having a discussion with everyone, we've concluded that we will undo the barrier of the island and begin to interact with the outside world. Please treat us well.」(Central)
「Thank you very much. Our Brunhild Dukedom will be honored to assist in attaining peace for Palerius island.」(Touya)
I grasp the extended hand of mentor Central. They've decided to associate with the outside world and cancel the barrier.Thus, we head toward the basement of the central temple in order to turn off the working artifact, which serves as the core of the barrier. In the center of the basement located at the end of the spiral staircase that leads to the lower levels, there's a black monolith with a large shining red magic stone embedded in it.
The monolith has a width of one meter, a height of two meters, and a thickness of around 20 centimeters. It looks like a massive door.
「So this is the source of the barrier…」(Touya)
「It appears that similar monoliths located in different parts of the island are operating along with this one to maintain the barrier. That's why the barrier is supposed to completely vanish if this central piece stops functioning.」(Central)
While listening to mentor Central's explanation, I extend my hand toward the slate. Upon doing so, a feeling of touching an air-like cushion is transmitted to me, making my hand unable to reach the slate. A magic barrier, huh? It's probably a safety measure.
This effect is most likely due to that monolith as well. So, if that's how it is, I can nullify the artifact for sure if I drive "Initialization" into the barrier itself. I can invalidate it with "Cracking" as well, but that role is for mentor Central. She then takes the "Initialization" I have given her earlier, and approaches the slate.
After 5000 long years, she would now release the barrier that protected them, or perhaps confined them. As an outsider, I couldn't understand the extent of her feelings. Still, I've understood that she possesses the befitting resolution to end this isolation and has concluded with the other leaders to interact with the outside world. Having prepared the injector-type "Initialization", mentor places its tip on the magic barrier and a moment later, pushes the pressure point of the injector called "plunger" with her thumb.
An explosive magic power pours at once into the slate. The effect of "nothing" overwrites the previous function, and the light that is emitted by the magic stone begins to vanish.
The barrier that has hidden this island for 5000 years has now vanished.
In order to confirm that, I send a telepathic message to Sango and Kuroyou in the sea, and Kougyoku who is currently flying in the skies of the island.
「How is it? Did the barrier disappear?」(Touya)
『Yes. It looks like the magic power of the diffusing barrier covering the skies of the island has vanished.』(Kougyoku)
『Same here. The fog has cleared up. The ships should now be able to come here.』(Sango)
I convey the report from my summoned beasts to Central. The island is now liberated. I guess all that's left now is the major cleanup.
The needle shots that's fired from the body of the hedgehog-looking behemoth is dodged by Luu's Waltraude moving left and right with a quick footwork. This is an effect of the "Unit B" equipped on its back. These multi-directional thrusters enables fast movement and acceleration. It's an exclusive support equipment of Waltraude. The "B" initial stands for "Booster" by the way.
As soon as Waltraude has approached the hedgehog, it detaches Unit B on its back and summons Unit A, holding four swords onto its back and waist. The "A" initial stands for "Attacker" by the way. The docking of the unit to the framegear's back finishes in about one second. Waltraude then immediately extracts a pair of waist daggers from its left and right and slices off the needles from the hedgehog's body one by one as the latter tries to run away.
Suddenly, the hedgehog curls its body into a ball and jumps toward Waltraude. Although Luu manages to easily dodge this attack, the hedgehog is continuing to roll without changing course, attempting to flee from its current situation.However, Luu isn't confused by that. She removes Unit A from the framegear's back and brings out a large cannon placing it on her right shoulder. She then props it with both hands and drives the anchors on the heels into the ground. This is "Unit C" for long-distance firing. The "C" initial stands for "Caster" by the way.
A bullet shoots with a thunderous roar, making its way toward the escaping hedgehog without fail and making it tumble where it is.
「Oh, she has brought it down, hasn't she?」(Touya)
I have been extending my field of vision with "Long Sense" that's why I know what is happening. After I've confirmed the demise of the behemoth, the soldiers of the southern capital begin processing the hedgehog per representative Dient's orders. The soldiers at work are currently gathering the usable materials from the corpses of the behemoths. This is time-consuming due to its nature, but we aren't going to lend a hand since we have offered all of the materials to the other side.
Having sent Unit C back to Babylon, Luu then descends from Waltraude.
「Ya, thanks for the hard work. How was it?」(Touya)
「There are no problems with it. I can perform an interchange smoothly and make it move according to my thoughts. It looks like I will be able to adequately help everyone on the battlefield」(Luu)
Waltraude, Luu's frame, is mainly a raider. It's an all-purpose type without specializing in a single role since it was built to deal with any type of situation it may encounter. It does a lot of support roles by running through the battlefield as it displays this adaptive ability, it's precisely the role of this machine.
Naturally, it possesses considerable potential despite its simplicity.
It was arranged beforehand to dispatch a separate behemoth hunting unit into the eastern, northern and western directions of the island, similar to this place here. As for locating the possible areas where behemoths are residing in, it's now possible to do that from Babylon due to the removal of the barrier. It's just a matter of time before the Behemoths are expelled from this island as well.
Although the barrier is gone, there are still a lot of different hotspots where magic elements continue to gather. It's not like all behemoths would immediately disappear, but the worry about being attacked by them when going outside the capital should decrease for quite a bit. The behemoth threat also decreased with this for the time being. Now then, a merchant fleet from Elfrau will be coming in a few days time, so all that's left is to ask both parties, if possible, to make a decision on various matters during their discussion with each other. Their currencies are different, so things will likely be extremely difficult initially in many aspects.
Honestly speaking, I'm more concerned about the matters regarding the evil god's cocoon rather than this island or its behemoths. A god is still a god, even if that being belongs to the lowest category. I can't begin to imagine what kind of existence that evil god will become since it has devoured the divine powers of the neet god.
(Black: I've modified the last part to make it more coherent.)
The thing is, the World God has regenerated, or rather, built up a peculiar vessel capable of storing godly powers for my case, so it doesn't look like that cocoon will hatch so easily….
My nee-sans would apparently be watching the situation for a short while due to that unexpected event, so they are still staying here on the ground. Somehow, as a follow up to the matter about the subordinate god, these nee-sans of mine are doing their official duty which appears to be training me as a novice god. Though I don't remember anything about me undergoing a training or something.
Oh well. I am grateful for having advisers though.
「Is there anything wrong?」(Luu)
「Ah, no, it's nothing.」(Touya)
It seems like I've ended up pondering quite a while which made Luu worried. Not good. Right now, I have to settle the issues in front of me one by one. That reminds me, I asked mentor Central to show us the research materials Alerias Palerius had saved up. Since some parts of his notes are matters from 5000 years ago. It's possible that she and her people are unable to decipher them but our household has a person who has lived in that era.
That person is currently in the middle of her investigation. She has been secluding herself inside the "Laboratory" ever since the time I have copied and sent every document about the dimensional door to Babylon. That time, I was wondering if Professor could find any connections to the world barrier.
I thought that books from 5000 years wouldn't survive without losing much of their form, but a protection magic similar to "Protection" was apparently casted on them as well. To begin with, it looks like there are techniques within the magic "Protection" which stalls the changes caused by the time and partially separates the object in question to the flow of time itself. It shouldn't be surprising that the magician, who was even hailed as the Sage of Time, could handle those techniques.
As I think about those matters, the person who is examining the materials I have sent before makes a call herself.
「Yes, hello.」(Touya)
『Is this Touykun? I found something interesting in the document of old man Palerius. I want to ask you to take a look at it for a bit, but…』(Regina)
「Got it. We've already finished our work here, so I will drop by there in a short while.」(Touya)
I then hang the call after giving my reply. Something interesting, eh? I wonder though, what did she find?
「Come, take a look at this」(Regina)
The professor shows to me an object that looks like a notebook lying on top of the desk in the second lab-room of the "Laboratory" where she has been secluding herself in. The article on the opened page resembles some sort of armor. However, its joints and some of its parts are strangely mechanical.
「Is that… a frame gear?」(Touya)
「No, it's different. The frame gear is an original invention I've created from scratch. Also, it didn't make a debut anywhere even though a few units were tentatively completed 5000 years ago. Moreover, the size of this thing is way too small for it to be called a frame gear.. It's just as large as a human at most.」(Regina)
Small? Is it by chance a power suit or something? Is it similar to a mechanical armor that allows its user to operate in different circumstances? Did the Sage of Time even built something like that? However, the professor shakes her head toward my thoughts.
「Assuming what you're thinking is correct, the amount of notes written about this artifact is strangely scarce. Why would he write things like "Its source of power are the magic elements in the atmosphere" or "autonomous model, an original idea, will it draw consciousness from human?" toward something he himself has created. It feels as if these are notes about something he didn't see or hear about before. Also, there is this.」(Regina)
The professor points at one sentence written on the edge of the notebook. For the letters of Paruteno, I can't read them unless I use magic. The professor must have sensed that concern of mine beforehand, so she dictates those letters out loud.
「"The cogwheel of time and the dimensional gate, visitors from an adjacent world." Old man Palerius was studying the dimensional gates. It's only a possibility in the end, but… Old man Palerius was unable to travel to a different world. Still, I wonder if he has somehow succeeded in summoning a person from that world to this world.」(Regina)
A summoning ritual to bring someone here from a different world, huh? Could something like that really be done? No, it's related to the summoning techniques as well. It's not as if it's impossible, right?
[Empress: Just a thought but, I do wonder why he's still doubting it when it was already mentioned by Kami-sama in the previous chapter.]
Still, with how the dimensional gate is constructed, it will require enormous amounts of magic power, no?
「Or he might've met with a person who came from a different world, that is.」(Regina)
「Yep… I feel like that scenario is possible as well.」(Touya)
That means there are other people who also have the ability to cross over worlds similar to End.
「That old man Palerius could have tried to build dimensional gates after meeting with that visitor.」(Regina)
It's not impossible, but… if that's the case, then is that mechanical armor a visitor from another world? Or maybe it should be called a robot from a different world rather than a human? Well, there should be a lot of diverse worlds out there, so there might be a world which only contains those kinds of machine life. A planet of machine lifeforms, huh? They probably don't transform into cars and into something similar though.
A visitor from an adjacent world… right? Should I call the world from the other side of the dimensional gate the "reverse world"…? Did someone from that world come over here 5000 years ago? That reminds me, I did see a crab-looking mechanical bus on the other side. I'm pretty sure that was a vehicle, but it might've been a mechanical lifeform… Things like those may be ordinary for everyone in that world.
I knew it! It seems like old man Palerius was somehow involved with the restoration of the world barrier 5000 years ago. Though that thought is nothing more than an intuition right now.
「By the way, is your version of the dimensional gate finished?」(Touya)
「Somehow, yes. Shesca established it in the sky garden together with a tank for magic power, mind you. It has become useful in a lot of different ways by making my version of the "Door" draw power from that tank even if Touykun isn't nearby. Make sure to fill it up at your leisure in advance. I'm confident that its has a substantial capacity, thanks to its considerable compression. It's also possible to amplify it with the "Tower" of Babylon.」(Regina)
I see. So it's functioning in conjunction with the "Tower", huh? Then it looks like I can expect a considerable capacity from that tank. Well, I don't plan to use it that frequently anyway. It should be more than enough to supply the magic power needed by the summoned beasts like Kohaku's group. I wonder if it can store a few decades worth of magic power inside. Though I pray that a situation wherein I have to leave this world for a few decades won't happen.
「With this I want to ask you to test the activation of my "Door", but… As I've thought. You taking me along to that worlds is…」(Regina)
「Unreasonable. Even if it's possible for you to tag along, you won't be able to return here. If you insist on going there by all means, then I will take you once I've prepared the materials needed for a similar dimensional gate and once I've found suitable location to place it.」(Touya)
「Muu. Can't be helped. Guess I'll have to be a bit more patient…」(Regina)
In my case, I can return home by going through the Divine Realm, but someone like the professor, who's a regular human (though strictly speaking, she's not regular), can't use that route. The only ones who can go there are the gods or those who have been summoned by the World God. If I could gather raw materials; acquire plots of land in the other world; bring there a dimensional gate similar to the one here and connect those gates, then, even regular humans might be able to freely come and go between worlds. Though that's unreasonable as of the moment.
For now, I've decided to pour my magic power into the cylindrical object — in which calling that object a "tank" is spot on — built in the "Garden". It really looks as if a considerable amount can be stored inside. Having poured about half of my magic power into the tank, I then try connecting the "path" of the magic power supply that leads to Kohaku's group to the cylindrical tank. Yep, it looks like there's no problem whatsoever.
If the issue is only about testing the activation of the door, then there's no need to go to the other world. Also, it's too early to go and verify a lot of important things there, like their flow of time and such. On the other hand, I was in a hurry the last time I was there, and I didn't manage to go sightseeing that much.
(Black: The raw is slightly contradictory. The author wrote 早い = hayai which means of "fast" or "early" in English. It's somewhere in between but not exactly on either of the two. The context of the first and second sentence states that "there's no need to go to the other side if we're just going to test the activation of the door. Also, it's too early to gather information about that world yet". This is the part where "hayai" is. But the last sentence states that "I was in a hurry the last time I was there, so I wasn't able to know more about that world", which is contrary to the previous two sentences. The word "hayai" is what makes this part contradictory because the meaning of the sentence can change depending on how it has been used. Based on my conjecture, this final version of the translation for this part is what the author is trying to convey.)
Contrary to my expectations, Yumina and the others have unexpectedly and easily given their permission upon telling them about this matter over the phone.. It may be because they have acknowledged me as a god the other day. I have to make sure to bring souvenirs when I return then.
The time I'll be spending in the other world is set for only a day. Well, there is a ranging time gap so my stay will effectively be just for half a day.
Although he's just a single person, I still managed to acquaint myself with someone on the other side. It would be really advantageous if I could acquire the raw materials and a plot of land with him as an intermediary.
Well, I think I'll be able to have a leisure trip with the experiment for activating the professor's version of the door as an excuse. My nee-sans should be able contact me if anything happens, so I think everything will be okay.
I begin pouring magic power into the duplicate dimensional gate which has been installed in the "Garden". Including the portion I've already poured into the tank, my magic power goes down quite considerably. Well, it will fully restore in a few minutes anyway.
Along with the installed tachometer indicating 100%, a scenery appears inside the gate.
Hmm? It's not the forest from before. I can see rocky mountains that looks like a coast. In any case, I guess I will go inside now.
I see the professor off and go through the gate. Same as before, I'm once again attacked by a whirling-like strange sensation. This feeling, I am bad with this.
After I pass through the gate, I confirm that the place I've gone to is indeed the rocky area of a coast. The roar of black-tailed gulls, an immediate attribute of the sea, resounds in my ears.
Did I arrive in a place completely different from before?
「For the time being, I have to know if there is someone here… "Search: humans"」(Touya)
I'm stuck! I'm stuck! I haven't entered any information about this world into my smartphone yet, so I cannot use its map function. I should've asked Sancho-san to allow me to copy his map.
As I walk along the coast, I meet a single angler. He's dangling his rod from above the rocky cliff.
Using the translation magic, I asked him to explain my present location with the photo of the brought out world map.
Fumu, the place I'm in right now has a considerable distance from my last transfer position. It must be related to the gap between Palerius Island and Brunhild. Or could it be that the place the door connects to is randomly selected?
At any rate, I will head toward Alen of the Holy Kingdom Alento where Sancho-san said to have set up a shop.
It's hard to understand the directions because the left and the right are reversed when I look at the map, but my current location is where Ferzen Kingdom is supposed to be in the world I currently live in. On the other hand, the area where the Holy Kingdom of Alent is located is where Rodomea Federation is.
It's distance is just to the point wherein I'll immediately arrive to the city proper if I "Fly" to go there.
「All right, shall I do then?」(Touya)
I conceal myself with "Invisible" magic, just in case, and take off in full force. I feel like this world is surely the same as our world when I look at it from the sky. As I hold those impressions, I pass by a large airship flying in the opposite direction. Slowly chasing after it with my eyes, I once again return my view to the front.
I withdraw my previous remark. There are probably some things that are quite different from our world. This world may have progressed in the field of science further than ours. Well, whatever it may be, I should understand a lot of things if I go to the capital. Raising my speed even further, I aim straight toward the Holy Kingdom.
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