Ch.365The Ancestral Homeland. Talia Gorge (3)

“Do you seek immortality?”

“Yes, Divine One. We desire eternal life.”

“Hmm…”

Victor’s brow furrows.

Eternal life… truly a wish that faithfully embodies human desire.

Even in the Age of Mortality, which had regressed technologically beyond comparison to the Imperial Era, there were many means to indefinitely extend life.

The most common was telomere extension treatment, and with extreme methods like replacing the entire body with cultivated artificial organs, even humans could pass tens of thousands of years in what seemed like moments, just like elves.

However, even the cheapest telomere extension treatment cost an astronomical sum.

It wasn’t unusual for even successful Metal-rank adventurers to spend their entire careers saving up for it.

With tremendous benefits like tax exemption, combining technical and professional occupations, plus hazard pay and life allowances, even skilled adventurers who took on high-risk, high-paying commissions couldn’t afford a single treatment. For ordinary people, it was completely out of reach.

According to what he’d read, the treatment couldn’t be mass-produced because each person’s telomere degradation, genetic composition, and accumulated toxins or heavy metals required personalized production. Without restored technology, granting the immortality they desired would be difficult.

“Is there a particular reason you desire immortality?”

“We have abundance. But there is one thing we lack, and that is…”

“Immortality.”

“…Yes.”

Is this that process of elimination type of wish? However, having already summoned them to hear their desires, he couldn’t simply scold them.

What should he say? Is this fixation on immortality something that inevitably comes to humans who have achieved everything else?

You work hard and buy a house. You give your best to build and maintain a family.

Your position at work stabilizes, your children grow up and leave home. Now it’s time to hear the babbling of grandchildren.

But your body feels heavy. Sleep doesn’t relieve fatigue, and rich foods that went down so easily in your twenties and thirties now leave your stomach bloated all day. And that’s when humans realize:

That they have lived more days than they have left to live.

From that moment of realization, humans struggle desperately.

They try exercise they never did before, buy whatever health foods are trending, change their eating habits. All of these might have some effect, but they’re merely temporary scaffolding supporting a collapsing body. As age advances and time passes, there comes a time when you can no longer run, no longer eat, no longer rise.

Gray hairs begin to appear, then your entire head turns white. Skin that was once soft and supple gradually hardens, age spots and dark patches bloom, wrinkles form and sag unattractively.

Now there is nothing more your existence can do.

Arms dangle like soaked seaweed, legs snap like spaghetti noodles, and your waist feels like an overstretched rubber band.

Death approaches. The complete extinction of the self, where even dreams become impossible.

It’s frightening. You want to deny it, to run away. The terror of “self-extinction” that mortal beings feel far transcends what immortals could ever imagine—a fear beyond fear itself.

That’s why humanity has always dreamed of immortality.

If true immortality couldn’t be achieved, they at least wanted to stop aging, and after countless sacrifices and research over vast stretches of time, numerous technologies for reversing and preventing aging finally emerged.

“…Why do you want immortality?”

“We don’t want to die.”

“Is that all?”

“Is something else needed?”

“I suppose not.”

You eat because you’re hungry. You drink because you’re thirsty. You sleep because you’re tired.

It’s exactly the same reason. There is something lacking, causing pain, so you use specific means to erase that pain.

So, there was no need for a grand reason to desire immortality. Honestly, just as wars never stopped because gods preached love and peace, there would be truckloads of humans who would simply answer “I want to live forever, okay?” regardless of what a god might say.

It’s not about living comfortably for a long time. It’s about living happily forever. One might wonder if it would get boring, but if that were the case, elves who had survived since the First Era should have all committed suicide by now.

“By immortality, you mean living forever while retaining your physical body? Not uploading consciousness to machines or such…”

“That’s right. We want immortality united with our bodies.”

They want a lot!

But given the zealous devotion they had shown, granting immortality was well within his power.

All he needed to do was bring down the gene therapy facilities and telomere extension enzymes frozen in orbit. With the omnipotent 3D printers still running in the zero-gravity production facilities in orbit, making all 16 million people ageless was no challenge at all.

“Very well. I shall bestow immortality upon you. Is there vacant land in the city?”

“Yes. The southern district remains undeveloped.”

“Then I will drop facilities there. Keep the citizens at a distance.”

“Yes!”

The joy of having obtained what they wanted was plainly visible on the delegates’ faces. Some might find it rude, but Victor could secure their loyalty by simply deploying a few idle facilities from orbit. All he actually did was click once—no, he didn’t even move a finger; he merely had the fleeting thought “come down.”

This truly demonstrated what divine authority meant.

WHOOSH!

“Look there. They’re coming down. Your immortality.”

“Oh… those are from the ancient Empire…!”

“We can return to our youth again!”

The delegates were overcome with joy as they watched the ten or so facilities descend, wrapped in blue plasma and burning from atmospheric compression heat.

Their expressions were like children delighted by the chicken their father brought home. Hope was descending—hope that could postpone their deaths indefinitely.

Soon the facilities landed in the empty southern district. Upon touching the ground, they drove long pillars into the foundation to secure themselves, revealed solar panels and thermal collectors that had been covered, and began generating power.

As power was supplied, the stored unmanned drones activated and addressed the curious crowds with brief words:

“市民権 認証が 必要です。(Citizenship verification required.)”

Hearing this, Victor made an “oops” expression and registered all 16 million citizens by imperial authority. Only then did the red lenses emit blue light and begin guiding citizens into the facilities.

“市民権が 認証されました。 帝国 憲法に 基づき、満 80歳 以上の 高齢者を 優先的にご 案内します。(Citizenship verified. According to Imperial Constitution, priority will be given to citizens aged 80 and above.)”

In the past Empire, age reversal was provided as basic welfare to all subjects. Of course, it wasn’t unlimited—if you were still alive at 80, you received one age reversal treatment as a reward for faithfully serving the Emperor. After that, you paid your own way.

“Now, you should go down too. You look quite old, and you might die of old age if you’re not careful.”

“This grace that the Sun has bestowed upon us…! We shall never forget it!”

“Long live the Victorian Empire! Long live Emperor Victor!”

They offered their loyalty from the bottom of their hearts.

The Sun’s grace had already given them food, homes, clothes, jobs, and pride—and now immortality was added.

Now they had become zealots of the Sun and the first subjects of the Empire, meaning that Thalia Gorge had once again received the blessing of the Empire’s founding ancestor.

It was said that those who have eaten well know how to eat better, and Victor wondered how they could so perfectly cherry-pick what they wanted. But he decided to let it go—what could he do if he didn’t?

He needed followers, and so he created them.

Now with 16 million subjects emerging, their happiness would become the cornerstone of the Empire.