Ch.383The Road to Meteor Crater (2)

“But why are only relics from the Age of Stars found in the Meteor Crater? That’s what I’m curious about.”

As Viktor finished off the last few cookies with loud crunches and wiped away the crumbs, he asked Simon, who moistened his lips with water before answering.

“I don’t know.”

“Even a Sage doesn’t know everything?”

“Being a Sage means I’m like a human machine that derives optimal results from known information. I don’t create knowledge out of nothing. That’s the job of inventors.”

Simon shrugged his shoulders and continued.

“However, I do have quite a few speculations.”

“Speculations, such as?”

“Well, most are hypotheses that can’t be disproven. But one relatively credible theory is that satellite clusters launched by ancient Earth humans fell en masse due to some specific gravitational perturbation. Since they were facilities designed with orbital descent in mind, it would explain why they still maintain some original form even after countless ages.”

“Oh? Satellite clusters.”

“Well, unless we can identify that ‘specific gravitational perturbation,’ it remains just a hypothesis. How could we possibly recreate something that happened a million years ago?”

“True… Are there any other hypotheses?”

“The ones I know of suggest either that the land itself is imbued with special power, or that an entire area used as a dumping ground was discarded wholesale. Either way, without evidence, it’s just splitting hairs.”

“Evidence… Indeed, almost nothing remains from the Age of Stars…”

Except for written records, most audiovisual materials that could provide intuitive understanding of that era’s lifestyle and world structure had been lost.

This was only natural—when the world itself was destroyed and mixed into dimensional rifts, most media couldn’t possibly survive intact. Even if they had, materials left exposed to harsh wilderness for over a million years couldn’t possibly function normally.

Unless it was an archive specifically designed for such extreme conditions, elements that could reveal ordinary households or commoners’ living standards could only be inferred from a few lines in government reports, newspapers, or news articles.

“Well, I suppose this is another question without a definitive answer. Though I wonder if it can even be called a question in the first place.”

“That’s about right.”

Viktor didn’t particularly mind this lack of answers.

Most people in the world didn’t consider something a problem if they could earn money from it, and if it was something they could choose.

Of course, calling Viktor a person was somewhat inaccurate now, but since his foundation was human, his sensibilities were like those of an ordinary human… actually, they weren’t, so he truly was an indescribable existence.

“Will there be many Sages at the Meteor Crater?”

“I would think so. After all, those who know the knowledge of the old era well are mostly Sages…”

Simon said while stroking his beard.

Viktor, who had never met any Sage other than Simon during their journey so far, nodded and wondered how other Sages would react upon seeing Simon.

This was understandable. Even Sages weren’t transcendent immortals who had surpassed worldly desires.

Just looking at Simon’s position: he served as the strategist for the Iron Walker Party, and beyond that, he was a Sage directly under the Sun God, one of the few individuals granted access to the Library, and someone certain to become the future Empire’s chancellor.

With titles that would normally invite jealousy, it remained uncertain how Simon would be regarded among other Sages—though Viktor himself didn’t mind.

*

Only two days remained until they reached the Meteor Crater.

It was already August, gradually approaching summer.

As they moved to lower latitudes, the summer on this continent would be hotter than the summer in Faerun.

Whether they could leave this continent before winter arrived was questionable, but if they couldn’t traverse this tenth continent before winter, they would at least experience a warmer winter than before.

“I’ve heard the environment in the Meteor Crater is extremely toxic… Will we need special equipment?”

“I imagine so. The environment there will likely nullify your divine protection. Since it’s filled with things created during the Age of Stars… strictly speaking, they’re not ‘of this world.'”

“So they’re items from another world… This could be quite troublesome… Can magic handle it?”

“I’ll be fine, but I’m worried about the dwarves. There’s a limit to how much I can protect, and we’ll need to prepare protective suits sized for dwarves.”

“Protective suits… Well, it’s not like we’re short on money, so shouldn’t that be fine?”

“That would be fortunate, but there might not be enough supply. We’re not the only ones going down there.”

“Hmm…”

The reason the Meteor Crater is profitable for adventurers is because archaeologists need plenty of escorts.

Naturally, being underground makes it dark, and monsters that thrive in darkness and various dangerous wild animals approach to devour the archaeologists.

Additionally, with groundwater seepage and toxic volcanic gases, survival itself becomes an issue in such an extreme environment where the surroundings themselves function as enemies.

While Viktor and Raisha might be fine as the Sun and Moon, the situation was different for the other members of the Iron Walker Party.

Being ordinary humans, they would risk their lives without proper protection in toxic environments.

The honor guard members had been training for weeks in virtual reality simulations for biochemical and toxic environments, so there was little concern for them, but the dwarves could truly be problematic.

If they were large in stature it might be different, but their small size would definitely be an issue.

“Don’t look at us with such worried eyes! We’re Aura users too! We’ll deflect that measly toxic gas with our Aura!”

“That’s right!”

“If you insist, I suppose it’s fine…”

“I’m still concerned. While it’s certainly possible to endure the environment with Aura, it’s not particularly efficient.”

Aura is essentially mental energy.

This means that if mental energy is continuously consumed, eventually Aura will cease to flow.

Even for skilled Aura users, enduring in a pitch-black, cold space filled with toxic gas, falling rocks, sharp metal fragments, and attacks from monsters and animals would be no easy task, so the concern for the dwarves was a natural progression.

“Can’t you make protective suits yourselves?”

“Well… we could make them if we tried, but since it’s not our area of expertise… wouldn’t a poorly made protective suit be worse than none at all?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Besides, you worry too much! We can take care of ourselves!”

“Hmm… Alright. If you insist, it would hurt your pride if I kept pressing the issue.”

When the dwarves expressed their discontent, Viktor finally decided to respect their opinion.

They were vanguard classes after all, so they should be confident in their physical abilities, and they were old enough that worrying too much might negatively impact team morale.

*

And so, those two days passed like an arrow.

[Hail to the Sun God. Welcome to the Meteor Crater, Emperor Viktor. May all praise the founding emperor of the Resurrection Empire.]

As they listened to the immigration officer’s religiously-toned welcome, a massive battleship with a total displacement of 1.3 million tons cast its shadow over the crater.

The current gods, Viktor and Raisha, had finally arrived at this Meteor Crater where the legacies of the distant past lay buried.

“Honor Guard! Assemble within four minutes!”

“Assembled!”

The white-uniformed honor guards busily equipped their weapons and armor, and the Iron Walker also made thorough preparations for entering a dangerous place after a long time.

“It’s been a while since we’ve entered a dangerous place.”

“Indeed.”

“I can’t even remember the last time I used an attack spell.”

The essence of the Iron Walker Party was that of an adventurer party. Considering that all founding emperors were great conqueror monarchs, perhaps such dangerous places were truly where the Sun belonged.

After all, light exists to illuminate dark places, and heat exists to warm cold ones.

“My lord, we will be landing shortly.”

“Mm.”

With a screech…

The Sky Warden gradually descended, and the massive battleship’s small hatch opened slowly.

Though called small, given the Sky Warden’s size, the hatch was wide enough for a row of grown men to stand side by side.

“Let us go.”

“Yes, my lord.”

And through that hatch, the founding emperor leading the Sun’s forces finally arrived at the Meteor Crater.