episode_0002

The Fallen Kingdom, Esrad

“Wow… this is…”

This is incredible. The city walls have completely collapsed. The houses inside are also all destroyed. What in the world happened here? I opened my book and began writing on the second page. I didn’t know the second page would be filled with something so heartbreaking…

Esrad Kingdom

It’s the kingdom closest to Todrua, where I was born and raised, and a kingdom that frequently exchanged with Todrua. With its harmoniously arranged beautiful stone buildings, the kingdom used to capture the attention of its first-time visitors. However…

“Is this currently… the appearance of a kingdom that would capture attention?”

Now, it’s a tragically ruined kingdom, with only unsightly haunted houses and desolate ruins remaining. According to the Elder-nim’s words, there had been no contact with this kingdom for a month. The reason being that it had already fallen greatly perplexed me. It’s an ending I couldn’t have predicted, and didn’t want to.

“…The dust on these ruins… and this appearance… it fell recently… definitely not a month ago…”

The ruins are covered in dust. This indicates it didn’t fall a month ago, leading to the lack of contact with our village. Stone dust, ground or shattered, fills the ruins. Furthermore, despite snow falling, the fact that it isn’t covered in snow confirms the kingdom’s recent demise.

“Records… I need to find records of what happened…!”

First, I closed the book. What happened here is important. After all, I set out on this exploration to record important information and history, whether good or bad. I started clearing away the piles of stones. As I did, I was afraid a corpse might appear. I’d never seen a human corpse before… But something was strange.

“…? What… why?”

I cleared and cleared the ruined debris. But strangely, not even an ant, let alone a corpse, appeared. I placed all the books and debris from within the ruins on safe ground. I also found Lia, the currency used in the kingdom. I began searching for important artifacts as well. I continued collecting them to prove to the world in the future that a kingdom once existed here.

“Coins… and banknotes… and pottery shards… and… oh…”

It’s astonishing to find an item familiar to me in another land. Especially if that item is a specialty product of my own country or village, one might feel a sense of pride. However, the moment I discovered a Todrua-specialty slime magic stone necklace among the ruins, my heart was filled with a sense of futility.

“What in the world… happened…?”

Why didn’t the people of Todrua know the state of this place? Why did no one know that the Esrad Kingdom was in such a state? This isn’t something that happened due to a lack of information. There must have been merchants who visited this place. The stone ornaments processed here were popular even among nobles. So why did no one…?

“…Hah… damn it… I really didn’t want to do this…”

Honestly… who could have imagined it? My plan, which was to investigate this place, rest, and then head to another village, turned into clearing the debris of a ruined castle. But it’s for the sake of history. Future generations will remember the history of a fallen nation only if it’s known.

“…But…”

But there’s a lot. No, too much. Well… it’s a large castle, so there’d be a lot of debris. But since it’s a castle, there must be that one thing. The Elder-nim’s house had it too.

“The library…!”

A library, which a kingdom would certainly have, containing books where its history is recorded. With that as my objective, I began clearing the debris one by one. But naturally… I didn’t know the library’s location. I just continued clearing stone piles, looking for books. Then, finally, I found intact books even among the collapsed stone piles!

“Oh…. Ugh… like this…”

No. Intact, my foot… the entire back was gone. A book with only its cover intact… this is too much…

“Oh. Still intact… Ohh!!”

Oh, this is a windfall. The Origin of the Esrad Kingdom! The very book I had wanted appeared. However… the book about why it fell didn’t appear at all. External invasion? Internal strife? What could have happened? I decided to record the past for now.

“Let’s see… as far back as 200 years ago?”

The Esrad Kingdom was founded 200 years ago. Esrad I, receiving a divine calling, established the kingdom here with his followers. The deity taught them how to process stone, and Esrad I began honing stonecrafting skills with his retainers. It was an uncommon occurrence for the kingdom’s great king to practice skills alongside his vassals. They taught stonecrafting to those who entered the country, and people, fascinated by the skill, began to live in the Esrad Kingdom. Growing in size this way, the Esrad Kingdom prospered for a long time, always keeping a Saintess, who heard the voice of the deity, by the king’s side.

“….Hmm…. The king worked alongside his retainers? That’s truly… an unusual event… Then what about Esrad II?”

Nothing specific happened during the reign of Esrad II. But one thing did: as Esrad II initiated exchanges with other nations, many external goods entered Esrad. Using these external goods, the people were able to further refine their stonecrafting skills, and everyone praised Esrad II.

“Oh ho… So, later, they also had exchanges with Todrua Village. And what about Esrad III?”

Esrad III passed away at a young age. At 30, an age where he had not yet fulfilled all his dreams, Esrad III entrusted the future to posterity and departed the world. During this time, the Saintess assisting the King of Esrad was replaced five times. They all had long yellow hair and wore white priestly robes as they aided the king. Retainers from other nations, seeing them, were captivated by their beauty and even proposed marriage, but the Saintesses all refused. They are all known to have rejected all proposals to better assist the king.

“A Saintess… our village must not have known because we didn’t venture deep into the kingdom… But it’s something that other nations would hear about… Our village truly has a lack of information-gathering ability…”

Still, a Saintess is worth hearing about… Did they just choose not to tell us? Let’s keep reading…

The Saintesses who aided the king were also known in other nations through the retainers of various countries. Other nations even became aware that Esrad had its most important Saintess and that they all provided aid to the king. However, it never became an issue. People who came here to sell goods simply asked the people of Esrad how beautiful the Saintess-nim was.

“Alright… I’ve written it all down. So, Esrad definitely had a king and a Saintess in the castle. And it was a nation with advanced stonecrafting technology… But more importantly, the reason for its downfall… Hm?”

Huh? The record stopped here. No. It clearly wasn’t written. Esrad IV. So, this kingdom fell during the era when Esrad IV was ruling. Then where are the people’s bodies? They weren’t visible. Is that all there is…?

“….Wait.”

Still, I needed to know what was important. I picked up the book, which only had its cover left, from the ground and examined it closely. At that moment, I immediately felt a sense of unease. The book cover… why was it so thick?

“This feels strange… *Whew*… it’s cold…”

It’s cold. Perhaps because it’s still winter, it’s chilly. My hands, numb from clearing cold stones with bare hands, hadn’t registered that they were freezing. Information is important, but my health is important too. I first gathered some branches and built a bonfire. The ruins, visible through the smoke rising from the bonfire, were so regrettable to look at that I gazed at them, unaware that my hands had already warmed up.

“Who on earth did this…? What could they possibly gain from doing something like this… They didn’t steal valuables. Nor did a war break out… What happened here… *Ah, hot*!”

*Ouch*, my hand almost got burned. Now that my hands were warm, I quickly began examining the book again. The leather cover definitely seemed suspicious. I pulled out a small knife and carefully began cutting the edge of the cover.

“*Gasp*… This width and… this texture… definitely… Ah, just as I thought!”

I was right! Inside the thick book cover were strange documents. They didn’t seem old. The book’s name was unknown, and its contents were all torn. But fortunately, this document was safe due to the protection of the leather cover. I hurriedly looked at the document…?

“This… what is this…?”

What am I looking at? This… it’s completely the opposite of the peaceful historical documents of Esrad I just read. The first sentence of the document froze me. For this document to be colder than this chilling weather…

“It can’t be…”

A significant oracle from Camilla, the deity Esrad believes in, will descend. At that moment, it will be proof that the one ruling Esrad is the most powerful. And many sacrifices are needed for Camilla. Through these sacrifices, the current state of the Esrad Kingdom will spread peace to the world alongside Camilla.

“Sacrifices…?”

Sacrifices. I hadn’t seen them, but I’d heard from my father and the Elder-nim about offerings given to deities. Or lives. Why does this sentence give me chills? And… this magic circle based on a circular design, etched onto the document… this…

“It’s similar to this…?”

Even though it’s broken, I could tell by the feeling. This… this pattern etched into the stone ruins is identical to the pattern on the document. So, did Camilla’s oracle descend? Did Esrad IV prepare sacrifices because Camilla’s oracle descended? Wait… there were no people. And sacrifices?

“…Could it be… Esrad IV… No way…”

It couldn’t be. My second record couldn’t possibly be adorned with something like this… But someone once said: the world can never be truly known. Isn’t this world one where no one can say that my second record can’t possibly be written as peaceful? With a sudden surge of fear, I quickly cleared the debris. Then something else emerged. It was paper again. But the spot where I cleared the debris was different from the previous library location. What is this… Huh?!

“Ugh…. *Aaaaargh*!!”

No. What is this… The thing I was just holding… it’s a paper indicating that Esrad IV prepared sacrifices daily by using his own people as offerings! Was it true?!

“So… Esrad IV had a wicked personality unlike his predecessors… and believing himself to be a legendary figure, he did this…? Is this something a human being would do!?”

I think I understood. What happened here. Esrad IV was a tyrant with the vain belief that he was a legendary figure, and in exchange for promising wealth to his retainers, he abducted his people daily to prepare sacrifices. And recently, the people discovered this fact and rebelled against Esrad IV. And as a result… both forces destroyed themselves…?

“What is this emptiness…?”

It’s futile. But why aren’t there any human corpses anywhere…? Wait… where would the sacrifices be gathered…?

“Surely, if it was Esrad IV, he would have gathered even the corpses from war to prepare as sacrifices… Then… then those bodies… *Aaaahhhhhhh*!!!”

I screamed without realizing it. And for good reason… What if the place where those sacrifices were gathered was in the castle’s basement or some other secret space? I turned my head away from the castle ruins and started to gag. What in the world is happening… Why did such a tyrant appear among the descendants of those good kings?!

“…..The people… must have felt the same way…”

Not yet. This is just my speculation. A survivor. I need to find a survivor. Especially if they’re from the kingdom… But around me, only the sound of wind filled the air. There was no one but me…

“Hey! We’ve got a big catch here!”

“Hahaha! They were people from a prosperous kingdom, so they’ll sell for a high price!”

“But there are none left now?!”

“Tch… Did they even clear away the corpses before they left… None left! Only this one woman!”

There were. Someone was there. But they definitely weren’t people from the Esrad Kingdom. From what they were saying, they seemed like slave traders or something similar. I had read in books that there were crazy humans outside who enslaved their own kind or other races. I slowly walked towards where their voices were coming from. There, beneath the debris of a collapsed building, men were laughing as they looked at a person confined in a small cage.

“*Khahaha!* This will still make us a fortune, won’t it?!”

“Indeed… Huh? Someone’s over there?”

The men saw me. A man suddenly snickering and looking at me with dirty eyes. A man taken aback by my sudden appearance. A man licking his lips, savoring the thought. Each of them held a knife, and their eyes, clouded with greed, were fixed on me.

“Who’s that woman?”

“Oh, there was a survivor here? Wow… that’s a relief! We can earn more money!”

“Hmm… she doesn’t seem like a survivor from here. Still… it’s a relief we can earn money!”

“Hey, you guys. Do you by any chance know who I am?”

At my question, the slave traders suddenly burst into laughter and slowly began to approach me. Then they started to boast about themselves.

“Even if we don’t know what rural bumpkin you are, we have connections with nobles, you see! If you come quietly, we’ll make you a slave without a scratch!”

“…That’s fortunate. That you don’t know me.”

“What…?”

Pathetic. No matter how ignorant, one should have some sense. But these guys… they believe they’re strong right now. Why? Do they cast magic or something? Do they have some special knowledge? Is it right to just settle things with force? But it doesn’t matter now. What matters is…

“I really hate becoming famous. Whether for good or bad… If I become famous…!!”

I quickly drew my greatsword and rushed towards the slave traders. I slashed one man, who hadn’t noticed me approaching at high speed, with the greatsword. Blood burst from the man’s abdomen, and he soon collapsed.

“What… what?! When did you…?”

“Because you’re getting in the way of my exploration!!!”

I swiftly knocked the weapon from another man’s hand with my greatsword, sending it clattering to the ground, and then slashed his neck. Frightened by my skilled wielding of the greatsword, the last remaining man crumpled to the ground and, weeping, spoke to me.

“P-please save me! I… I’ll never tell anyone about you… You said you hate being famous… P-please!”

“How many beings have you enslaved so far?”

“What…?”

“Tell me.”

“H-hic! T-twenty! Really!”

“Then you’ve mostly lied to those twenty, torturing them with false hope…”

“N-no! Please believe me…”

“And… my parents are righteous people, you see? Whether you have connections with nobles or not, you’re doing trashy things…”

“*Aaaaargh*!!”

I cut the man down with a single slash. Honestly, I didn’t trust him anyway… But my parents had taught me that enslaving people was wrong. Because of that, I had absolutely no intention of letting that man live. Anyway…

“*Whew*… Ugh… It’s a good thing I drank the Potion of Swiftness… But I only had one… Am I having trouble controlling my anger lately…? I end up using even valuable things thoughtlessly.”

Having cut down all three men, and regaining my composure, I regretted having drunk the Potion of Swiftness. How could I have stopped three men by myself…? Of course, I drank the potion on the way here. But it’s hard to obtain, so it’s as good as having no more Potions of Swiftness… It’s a bit of a waste, isn’t it?

“*Whew*… Is she alrea-….!!”

My heavens. The woman they had captured… I was greatly startled when I saw her. Disheveled yellow hair and a white priestly robe in poor condition. That woman looked exactly like the description of Esrad’s Saintess.