Ch.420Chapter 420 – Warrior’s Sacred Ground (4)

“A new divine power.”

“Beatrice, do you have any idea what it might be?”

As soon as morning came, I immediately questioned Beatrice about what had happened during the night watch. Particularly about the new divine power that Sia and Chris were concerned about.

Noah naturally hadn’t noticed the divine power flowing in this place, and Sera said it wasn’t something she knew about, so Beatrice was the only one left who might have answers.

“I, I’m not really sure.”

Beatrice said, her face slightly flushed as she gently rubbed her stomach.

It seemed like she knew something but was hiding it.

“Could you tell me anything, even if it’s just a small detail?”

“…Well, I’ve heard one hypothesis that I’ve been looking into… Once I confirm it…”

Beatrice trailed off, seemingly having realized something.

“Wait. …Otherworlder, otherworld beings, god, divine power…”

This time, something new seemed to trouble her, and Beatrice’s expression grew more serious.

“Beatrice?”

“…Then the hero and Kay…no, there’s not enough evidence. But if it’s true, it would explain everything…”

“Beatrice?”

When I called her name again, she finally seemed to snap out of her own world.

Then, with a slight smile, she said:

“Sorry. I really don’t have anything definite to tell you.”

“I see.”

“…But logically, it doesn’t seem impossible… Later, when I’m certain, I’ll tell you.”

Beatrice quietly explained that she couldn’t share her thoughts because she wasn’t confident enough.

However, as a mage, something was clearly bothering her.

“More importantly, you were told to find the fragment, right?”

“If you want to hear the rest. Yes, I was told to find it.”

I quietly answered Eve’s question.

“Are you thinking of avoiding it?”

“…No.”

As Sia and Noah had pointed out before, if this turned out to be a dangerous test that could result in injury, it wouldn’t be something to laugh off.

But according to what the lamb had said, we needed to hear this story to prevent the so-called “world of oppression.”

‘Besides, she called it homework.’

I didn’t know the details yet, but whoever summoned me here clearly wanted to resolve something through me.

I needed to understand their intentions.

While I was thinking this, Eve nodded at me.

“Kay seems to have already made up his mind.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I would have preferred if we discussed it more… but I guess it can’t be helped. Please be more careful next time?”

Though she seemed a bit disappointed, Eve didn’t say anything more, apparently realizing I had already decided to accept the lamb’s proposal.

Soon, she turned to Noah and spoke.

“Just talking here won’t get us anywhere.”

“I’ll guide you.”

Noah nodded and said.

He soon turned around and slowly began heading deeper into the sacred grounds, and we all followed him one by one.

“…If this hypothesis is correct, that would mean they are also a god…”

Only Beatrice was lagging behind, muttering something to herself.

+

It wasn’t particularly surprising, but there were no real dangers inside the sacred grounds.

It was a place monsters couldn’t enter, and it was relatively well-maintained with stone stairs and railings.

Of course, since no one permanently resided here to manage the place, there were areas where stones were broken or railings had been lost, but nothing was severely damaged.

Noah had mentioned that beastfolk usually leave immediately after arriving here, so it was clear they hadn’t caused any significant damage.

And as we ventured deeper into the sacred grounds, the mystical energy grew stronger.

‘So this is all divine power, they said.’

It was a different energy from what I felt from Chris, but both Chris and Sia had reacted sensitively to it, saying it was divine power.

As the energy grew stronger, even Beatrice seemed to gradually become more certain, so it must indeed be divine power.

The remaining question was whose divine power this was, given that the only gods left were Emiris, who had devoured all other gods, and Chris, who had only recently become a god through Evgenia’s arrangement.

Even on this matter, Beatrice seemed to have formed some hypothesis and prediction, but she was holding back to avoid confusion.

Of course, she said she would tell us as soon as she was certain.

‘…But why is she embarrassed?’

Considering our earlier conversation, I made a mental note to probe into why Beatrice was embarrassed later, while looking around.

Thinking of this mystical energy as divine power, one thing came to mind.

‘It’s just like Evgenia’s seal.’

I recalled how divine power filled the surroundings as we approached Evgenia’s seal.

Of course, the feeling was different, but that would be due to the different source of divine power.

Then suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

‘…Was this sacred ground built first, or was the seal built first?’

If the Warrior’s Sacred Ground was created with the involvement of the hero or the star-gazing priestess, then this sacred ground might have been built first.

Evgenia’s seal appeared to have been created after the Demon War, before Evgenia lost her life to Emiris.

If so, then the original model for Evgenia’s seal would be this Warrior’s Sacred Ground.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that this sacred ground was built when the hero and star-gazing priestess existed, so it’s also possible that this sacred ground was built later…

‘…But there seems to be a connection between the Warrior’s Sacred Ground and Evgenia’s seal.’

I should ask my companions who are interested in this field.

Looking at Sera and Beatrice, who were still muttering to themselves, they probably had already deduced more than I had.

As we climbed the stairs, Sonya, who was behind Noah, quietly spoke.

“Hey, it might be a bit late to ask, but since I’ve come all this way, don’t you think I could aim for the Great Warrior candidate position?”

“That’s true. But it’s invalid.”

Noah said with a grin.

“Strictly speaking, Sonya, you’ve had an easy ride thanks to Kay and my group. It’s invalid, completely invalid.”

“I fought too, you know?”

“You were right next to the most protected carriage, so it’s invalid. Come to think of it, the people guarding the carriage weren’t professional fighters, but Sonya, you were supposed to be in a position to fight at the front. So it’s invalid.”

“That’s petty. We’re supposed to travel with companions, right? There must have been cases where someone reached the sacred grounds because their companions were strong.”

“How bold of you to say that. You’ve lost all sense of shame. While what you say isn’t wrong, I have the right to claim it’s invalid since I reached here with just one companion.”

“Petty.”

“Try to understand. It’s better to be protected in a weak state than to be praised for being moderately strong.”

Noah quietly said that the current Sonya wouldn’t understand.

Sensing a hint of pain in his words, Sonya stopped joking and turned her head away.

Feeling like I should say something to ease the atmosphere, I spoke up.

“We’ve been climbing for quite a while.”

“The sacred ground is essentially built on a mountain. Oh, but it’s not an extremely high mountain. It’s a height you can easily climb up and down.”

Noah joked that if it were in a village, it would probably be an exercise spot for the village elders.

It didn’t seem wrong, but considering the number of monsters we encountered on our way here, it wasn’t an easy place to reach.

Perhaps that’s why it felt somewhat considerate in a way.

A consideration that says, “You’ve struggled with monsters to get here, so at least enjoy this part comfortably.”

While I was thinking this, the stairs finally ended, and a stone floor appeared again.

Noah went a bit further in to allow all of us to come up, and as everyone gathered, he spread his arms wide and said:

“This is the inner part of the sacred grounds, where the shrine is located.”

“Indeed.”

It looked like what could be called a shrine.

In the center, inside an ancient-looking small building, a sword was placed horizontally, and beneath it was a stone tablet with inscriptions.

Surrounding it were statues of animals like rats, oxen, and horses, all facing outward.

Looking around more, I noticed a few more such animal statues.

“What are those animals?”

“There’s a theory that they represent the beastfolk of Bestia. Since they’re animals.”

Noah smiled and answered Sera’s question.

After that conversation, I continued to examine the place.

I noticed that nowhere was wood used; everything, including the decorations inside, was made of stone.

“Is everything made of stone to withstand the passage of time?”

“That, or it’s just a preference, but that’s probably not it, right?”

In response to Sia’s question, Noah playfully replied while showing us one side of the wall.

There, various claw marks were engraved.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a stone tablet where beastfolk leave claw marks as evidence of their visit. Oh, I heard it wasn’t originally here. Apparently, they brought a rock from the foot of the mountain and set it up as a sign not to touch the temple.”

Noah added that’s why there were no signs of tampering with the temple.

As Sonya approached the tablet, Noah gave a slightly bitter smile and didn’t stop her, but rather stepped aside.

Then, looking at me, he pointed to the central building and said:

“Do you see the tablet where the stone dagger is placed? Take a look at that.”

“…I suppose that’s the message.”

On the stone tablet was the message Noah had seen, left by the Sword Saint—or rather, the star-gazing priestess.

“One day, someone from another world will come seeking the snow fields.

They will surely come to unlock the seal of the noble god beyond the snow fields.

When that time comes, find them and make them walk the path I walked.

I warn you, guide them to that path without fail. And do not hinder this task.

If you fail to make them walk the path I walked, only a world of oppression awaits.”

“And the ring left by the hero was placed on this stone tablet. To be precise, when I came here to leave my claw mark, suddenly this inscription and the ring appeared before my eyes.”

The inscription had been there before, but the ring appeared when Noah arrived here.

I looked at Beatrice.

“Beatrice.”

“It doesn’t seem to be magic. Chris?”

“…Since divine power overflows here, it seems some divine art is at work.”

Chris was looking around with interest, saying it was a divine art she wasn’t familiar with.

Meanwhile, Noah handed me the ring.

“Why this?”

“You mentioned fragments before coming here, right? I thought this might be related. It might not be a bad idea for you to keep it.”

Makes sense.

I could tell that Noah actually wanted to get rid of it, but I thought this might indeed be related to the fragments.

“By the way, we were told to find the fragment, but where is it?”

“…If there’s something broken, maybe that’s what it means.”

As Noah said, there wasn’t anything particularly broken.

At most, there were just parts worn down by time.

‘Is there any hint?’

Looking around, the only notable things were those animal statues from earlier.

Of course, if they were just sitting there alone, we might have thought they were unusual and ignored them.

This made me suspect that the light that briefly appeared before Sia and me at dawn might have come out of fear that we wouldn’t notice anything.

Come to think of it, that being had taken the form of a lamb.

‘The lamb statue…’

It was standing upright.

On a grassy patch, oddly enough.

Nearby were statues of a long snake with horns on its head and what looked like a monkey.

‘Wait.’

Monkey, rat, lamb, snake.

Something came to mind.

“Kay?”

“Just a thought.”

I quietly spoke, recalling the order in my mind.

“Let’s try moving the statues as I say.”

Looking at the puzzled Eve, I tried to recall from my fragmented memories.

Praying that what I remembered was correct, I thought carefully.

“Rat, ox… put the horse down for now, and place the tiger next to it. Then the pig over there. The dog next to it. And…”

I spoke slowly, recalling from memory.

“…the rabbit next to the tiger. The snake next to that. The rooster next to the dog. The monkey next to that. And that strange snake next to the snake… no, switch those two.”

What I had recalled was the zodiac, a collection of animals.

I couldn’t remember the exact meaning.

But if someone wanted to have a special conversation with an otherworlder…

They might use knowledge that only otherworlders would recognize.

That thought suddenly occurred to me, which is why I was moving the statues.

Fortunately, I roughly remembered the order.

I arranged them in the correct sequence: rat, ox, tiger, and so on.

Finally, I placed the lamb statue between the horse and monkey.

‘If I’m right, it’s too simple, but…’

If there were no hints at all, it would be too difficult, wouldn’t it?

With some concern, I positioned the statues upright.

Then, light began to emanate from the animals’ eyes.

The animal statues started to turn and face the center of the shrine.

“…What kind of mechanism is this.”

While Noah was bewildered, changes also occurred at the center of the shrine.

As if it were the final step, a stone tablet with a ring-shaped groove rose up, covering the previous tablet.

Without hesitation, I inserted the ring Noah had given me and pressed it.

The tablet sank into the floor.

[The riddle was too easy, wasn’t it?]

Simultaneously, I heard the voice of the light from dawn.

[But please understand. I had to find something that locals wouldn’t know but otherworlders would easily recognize. It was a riddle that person carefully crafted, believing someone from the same place would surely solve it.]

“Who’s there?!”

Chris immediately raised her staff and looked around, shouting.

However, ignoring her voice, the surroundings began to darken.

The place, which had been bright with morning sunlight, suddenly started to grow dark.

[Now, shall we prove your qualification?]

As everyone huddled together, preparing for what might happen next, the voice of the lamb—or rather, the human form I had seen last—spoke again.

More than a lamb, it was the human form I had seen at the end.

Still surrounded by light, its exact outline wasn’t visible.

In that state, the figure emitted light.

The light created our shadows.

‘Don’t tell me.’

Remembering what happened in Albheim, I was slightly on guard, and sure enough, the shadows began to rise.

However, the appearance was a bit different.

Our shadows were merely a passage for something to emerge, and the real entities were appearing from within.

“What are you planning?!”

[This is a test to see if you’re qualified to complete the homework we left.]

The woman spoke in a calm voice.

As if she were watching, she sat comfortably in the empty air and quietly said:

[Humans must always be prepared to surpass the past, they say.]

She spoke in a seemingly relaxed voice.

[So, try to overcome the shadows of the past.]

With those words, eight shadows began to appear.

[The past of me and my companions, that is.]