Ch.124The Road to Scofield Plains (1)

The reason why the Scofield Plains were named as such was simple.

It was named after the surname of Ryker Scofield, the person who first discovered the plains when humanity initially found and pioneered the 13 continents.

Not just the Scofield Plains, but any geographical names that weren’t renamed or newly designated during the Imperial period can be considered legacies of the 13 Kingdom era.

Among the 13 continents, Centrum, the youngest and former capital continent of the ancient empire, had most of its place names changed during the Imperial era, but the names of the remaining 12 continents still frequently used those from the 13 Kingdom period.

“The Scofield Plains were famous as the empire’s breadbasket in the past. Even now, half of the Scofield Plains are farmland.”

“Well, that’s typical for plains areas.”

Unless cities or factories were built, plains areas suitable for human settlement typically became targets of ruthless development if there were no special reasons to prevent it.

Unless there were religious reasons, political reasons… or the ground conditions or nearby monster distribution wasn’t particularly favorable.

“The baby factory located in the Scofield Plains was considered such an important imperial facility that a member of the imperial family directly held its operating rights. The already massive factory grew exponentially as it absorbed equipment and personnel from smaller factories that couldn’t be maintained during the Eclipse Era, and with the addition of various auxiliary facilities, it finally became a huge industrial complex that consumed half of the Scofield Plains.”

“Then everything produced from the remaining half of the farmland must be sucked into the industrial complex.”

“That’s right. As they say, the closest is always the best.”

In “baby factory,” the subject is “baby,” not “factory.”

And naturally, most people agreed with the proposition that babies should be fed the best, and there was no reason not to feed fresh, high-quality vegetables freshly picked from the fields to babies.

Even though they’re called baby factories, most babies go through a nurturing process until they’re about 5-6 years old… before elementary school age, and then they’re sold.

This is said to be because by that age, they have developed some sense of reason and judgment, making childcare less difficult… but honestly, I don’t know well since I’m neither a father nor a mother.

“During the Eclipse Era, technology temporarily declined significantly, and there were cases where babies were deliberately created for organ or limb transplants.”

“That’s horrific.”

Even now, when our technology barely surpasses that of the empire, the ancient empire’s technology was like a different world altogether.

The ancient empire had the capacity to collectively gather all technological capabilities and distribute them widely across all continents, but currently, the fragmented cities and nations are reluctant to share their advanced technologies.

To put it more simply, if currently one skyscraper is hard-carrying and sustaining an entire city, during the ancient empire period, various buildings worked together to sustain the city.

And the Eclipse Era lasted for 50,000 years while completely losing all that incredible technology, and lives numbering not in the billions or trillions, but in the quadrillions, crossed the river of no return along with the sun’s tears.

Arcologies built to heights exceeding hundreds of kilometers all became ruins and eventually part of the earth’s crust, and facilities that once provided welfare for imperial citizens transformed into murderous mazes designed to exclude “something human-like” that wasn’t even registered at birth.

And I was born in an era when all of that had become legend and myth.

“I heard that in the past, quadrillions of people filled the continents.”

“That’s true. Exactly 300 quadrillion people populated all 13 continents. Inside structures so massive they could reach the sun.”

“Will humanity ever be able to return to that time?”

I asked with a sad voice.

For me, a Knight of the Sun, the fall of the ancient empire wasn’t someone else’s story that could go in one ear and out the other.

The peak of the sun that protects me, and the pinnacle of civilization that humanity had built up.

That was the Nariaki Empire, and furthermore, humanity’s empire.

“It would be difficult.”

“Is that so…”

But the possibility of humanity returning to its golden age was low.

Sadly, there were reasons why the empire fell.

Whether it was the incompetence of the imperial family or the establishment of the Four Great Gods faith. The empire, which had existed for the distant time of 300,000 years, endured for 50,000 years even as everything was collapsing.

For 50,000 years, how many tears did the Sun scatter upon this earth?

Watching magnificent structures that once looked up to him turn into mere ruins, and even those ruins become deeply buried under grass and soil; seeing the last emperor, who carried on his will, make a contract with the Four Great Gods, staking the final authority of the imperial family; observing the establishment of a paradise not for all people but for warriors, sages, the wealthy, and the insane—how greatly must he have been disappointed?

Yet despite witnessing all those wounds, Nariaki Saburo still bestows the sun’s grace upon humanity.

It was his divinity and doctrine to impart warm heat regardless of whether one was a sinner or a virtuous person. The vast majority of ordinary people living today take the light of the sun for granted.

Fortunately, there still exist a minority of devout ones who express gratitude to the eternally burning being in the sky, but they are now just a minority.

Even as this world turns according to the logic of Karil, Medina, Logos, and Moneta, the sun still shines.

For the warriors fighting for Karil.

For the madmen indulging in pleasure for Medina.

For the sages weaving letters for Logos.

For the wealthy offering donations for Moneta.

For all humans living on this earth.

What an ironic tragedy is this?

A god of humanity, born from humanity’s embrace, who chose eternal suffering for humanity, has ultimately been abandoned by the very humanity he sought to protect.

I gazed at the sun.

Others would quickly look away due to the pain in their eyes, but not me.

Just as those blessed by Karil can stride nonchalantly across battlefields drenched in blood and fabric, I, who received direct communication from the sun—that is, blessed by the sun—could gaze at the sun without any discomfort.

“Can you see him?”

As I was looking at the sun, Simon cautiously asked.

At that question, I frowned and glared at him.

“Him?”

“No, I mean… Him.”

“I can’t see, but I can feel.”

“Feel what?”

“His pain.”

Needless to say, I didn’t actually feel the pain He experiences.

The moment I were to taste even a fragment of the pain of a god who has suffered the most excruciating burns for 350,000 years—the most painful sensation a human can feel—I would go insane.

I can only empathize.

With the heart of the burning one who protects humanity from the unreachable celestial realm above, as humans commit sins and forgive each other, trapped in the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

“Maria, may your coldness extinguish even a small part of His flame.”

*

After traveling all day, we set up camp around 27 o’clock.

The campfire was lit, and tents were pitched.

Soon, pots filled with water were placed over the fire, and various bedding items began to fill the tents.

Whenever I saw this, it reminded me of street vendors who spread out their stalls selling miscellaneous items, though these blankets were certainly warmer than what you’d find on a stall.

“How much further to the Scofield Plains?”

“About five more days should do it. Switching to war horses has doubled our speed. If we had continued as before, it would have taken at least a week…”

“The Relief Knight Order may be stingy, but once you get close to them, they’re quite generous.”

The Relief Knight Order was one of two things:

Either they provided no support, or they provided abundant support.

Of course, this applied to knights and adventurers like me, while they tended to provide maximum support to ordinary people.

Because that was their reason for existence.

I too had often received food from the Relief Knight Order during my days of wandering the streets, and especially during cold winters, the itinerant knights who distributed blankets and soup on the streets couldn’t have been more appreciated.

Perhaps that’s when my admiration for knights began.

“Raisha.”

“Yes, master.”

“Since discipline has become lax after you’ve been playing with me for the past week, today is the day to remind you who your master is, right?”

“Eh…”

“Simon. Make sure to cast sound-proofing and dust-proofing spells properly.”

“Hehehe. I’ll leave a resurrection spell ready too, so don’t worry.”

And so, along with Raisha’s face, the water in the pot began to boil, and thanks to magic, we spent a very quiet night.

Magic really is the best!