episode_0142

CXXXIV.

There are many rumors about where the cradle of the unmanned is, but its location is unknown.

But what was certain was that the difference between knights from the cradle of the unmanned and those who were not was different from that of the realm.

Isn’t it obvious just by looking at the reason why the top-level unmanned master, the unmanned cradle master, cuts off the Grand Master’s head?

―From the mystery of the continent, the cradle of the unmanned

◈

As soon as I gave my permission, the shrine guided us to Evergreen Academy.

Isn’t it funny?

I don’t know where the cradle of unmanned technology is, but out of the blue, it’s called the Academy.

And that’s not even two weeks after I left, having had a pretty bad experience with the owner there.

“Is this the right place?”

Furthermore, the place we arrived at was the Dean’s Office of Evergreen Academy.

Do you by any chance wish for some kind of reconciliation between me and Dean Hu?

If that’s the case, then it’s a shame.

I have no intention of reconciling with him.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm.”

As we opened the door to the Dean’s office and went in, as expected, Dean Hu was ‘waiting’ for us inside.

He licked his lips as he watched us coming in, but he never spoke. I didn’t say hello either, and the atmosphere of the Arcanas was extremely cold.

Awkward silence.

In that silence, Shingung approached the bookshelf that took up one corner of the dean’s office.

There was no time to wonder about the behavior of the shrine’s randomly pulling out books without any particular order.

The bookshelf moves.

It was so quiet, without any noise, just like an advertisement for a luxury sedan.

And the revealed space.

The space overturned my expectations once again.

I thought there would be a magic circle, but out of nowhere, a staircase appeared. And it wasn’t a staircase going down, it was a staircase going up.

“Up?”

The Dean’s Office is located on the top floor of Evergreen Academy.

What happens when you go up here?

“Rooftop?”

“Haha. I’ll guide you.”

Shin-gung went up ahead with a smile, without giving any explanation, and we had no choice but to follow behind him.

1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes?

But we’ve been climbing the stairs for 10 minutes already. 10 minutes? No. We’ve been climbing for over 20 minutes already. Could it be that we’re not going up, but down?

Am I mistaken?

Is there something technical about it that makes us feel like we’re going up even though we’re going down?

Crackle crackle.

But the clown and the scapegoat shook their heads from side to side as if they noticed my question.

If so, we are going up.

No, how?

If there was a rooftop, we should have gotten there long ago. But no. We’re still climbing up the stairs without a view outside.

After climbing the stairs for about 30 minutes.

In front of the shrine that was at the forefront, a small door appeared that would require a tall person to bend down.

“Bellĭgĕrátor Cūnábŭla (Cradle of Warriors).”

The divine archer placed his hand on the door without a handle and chanted an incomprehensible spell in an ancient language. Then the shabby door opened by itself.

What greeted us as we came out the door was not what we had expected.

When you get this high up, you don’t see the things that should be there, like walking on clouds or birds flying by and making eye contact and the birds flapping in surprise.

Just a view of the entire Academy from the top floor of the Academy, or from a tall building.

That was all.

“Is this… … ?”

“Ah!”

Before I could finish asking the many questions that had so many meanings, the witch approached the wall in surprise as if she had discovered something.

And he touched the wall, rolled his legs on the floor a few times, and walked around as if he was amazed. He kept exclaiming, “Oh!”, “Wow!”, “Isn’t that ingenious?”

Since it was the first time I had seen her like a girl since meeting the witch, I didn’t try to stop her or anything. I just watched her. The cute and lively girl.

“Do you know?”

Rather than me, the shrine maiden was more curious about the witch’s actions and asked. Then, the witch soon realized her true state, coughed in vain, and returned to her usual witch form.

“Yes. It’s glass.”

“Huh? Glass? That thing that’s so fragile? You know, the kind that you make wine glasses out of?”

“Yes. Master. It is glass, but it seems to be a special glass. But it is strange. This kind of glass cannot be made by humans… … . Ah!”

“Juan is friendly with other races. He can ask for favors from both dwarves and elves at the same time.”

I’m talking about cases like this.

When I usually feel alienated or inferior.

A situation where two people are having a very implicit conversation about something that I couldn’t even imagine.

“Excuse me~? Two people? Can you speak in Continental Chinese?”

“Oh, sorry, Master. As I said before, this floor is glass. Stronger than stone, harder than metal. Furthermore, it appears to be a special glass that allows you to see outside from the inside, but not inside from the outside. If you look at the outside scenery now, you can see it. If the Circle 9 wizard draws a special magic circle and activates it, it can be created above the Academy. ”

“What? Can you make it?”

“Invisible Castle. A transparent castle.”

For a moment, my mind stops and then, as if with a ‘pop pop pop!’, questions start to pop up in my head one after another.

Invisible Castle.

Can you build an invisible castle?

where?

“Could it be that it’s above the Academy? The unmanned cradle?”

“Yes. Unlike the dormitories, the buildings where the academy classes are held are square (口)-shaped lecture halls for the Faculty of Magic, Faculty of Knights, Faculty of Economics and Society, and Faculty of Information and Abilities. I thought it was strange. Was it really necessary to build buildings for departments that aren’t related like that? And the central garden wasn’t decorated beautifully either.”

“Yeah. The garden was really, really weird. No big trees, just stunted trees and wild flowers… … ? Then that lecture hall, is that a pillar? ”

“Yes. It looks like that. Four academy lecture rooms serve as pillars, and a large space is covered with a transparent body like a roof. This is the land we are standing on now. It must be called the cradle of the unmanned.”

“… … .”

“From the outside, it may seem like just a simple rectangular lecture hall. Furthermore, this place, Evergreen Academy, is filled with various magic circles, including the Wizard Tree, a special movement artifact called the ‘foot’, and so on, making it difficult to detect the magical energy emanating from the unique glass used to build this transparent structure. Even if it were a dragon.”

At the witch’s additional explanation, I turned my head toward the two-horned one. She met my gaze and shook her head slightly, saying that she had no idea. Then, as if an idea suddenly occurred to her, the witch clapped her hands together in admiration.

“Oh! No way! Was that illusionary barrier that made Evergreen Academy look different from the outside for this purpose? Just in case someone noticed something strange? Well, glass shows both the inside and the outside. If it had just been lifted, it would have been possible to see the inside of the unmanned cradle, and the glass object on top of Evergreen Academy?”

“If it rains or snows, it might show up.”

“Academy students don’t even reach the master’s level even though they are graduating. So they won’t be able to see this far?”

“… … .”

The shrine did not answer, but we all knew that her silence was an affirmation.

“No, it’s not just that. There are complex reasons. To enter the real Evergreen Academy, you need a bracelet. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see the real thing. And this bracelet has the function of tracking the location of everyone who enters Evergreen Academy. It prevents them from reaching the unmanned cradle… … Oh! And there’s also that function?”

“… Did you notice that far?”

“When it rains or snows, it will cause a very minor, low-level illusion magic, suggestion, etc. to appear, which will make it seem like there is no discomfort. Is that so?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. Seriously. It’s really ingenious and elaborate for a superhuman who barely has a chin strap and doesn’t know much about Circle 9 magic spells. Did the Dean I knew really plan and execute all of this? Then we didn’t know him at all?”

The witch looked around with the curiosity of a ‘wizard’. Judging from the mana flowing out here and there, she was probably scanning the magic circles carved here and there or the entire place.

“No. Not the Dean.”

And I can assure you that Dean Hu is not the kind of person who is so thorough and calculates every situation.

If that had been the case from the beginning, he wouldn’t have done such annoying things to his granddaughter, son, and daughter-in-law.

“Yes? Master?”

“Maybe that superhuman who wanted to meet me just now? Was his name Muheo (無虛)? The owner of the mysterious unmanned group called the Cradle of Unmanned is a wizard… … ?”

The witch looked at the shrine with surprised eyes as if asking if it was real. And the shrine was unable to answer, with its embarrassed emotions clearly expressed on its face.

and,

[You are correct. Your insight is as brilliant as I have heard. This unmanned cradle is a special space that we created when Juan asked us for help, because we also needed help.]

A voice answered on behalf of the embarrassed shrine. From the air.

“Hmm. Are you unlicensed?”

[Yes. I am not feeling well and cannot move, so please, I would like to see you in person and talk to you.]

“… Okay. Please guide me. Mr. Grumpy Shingung.”

“… Who said that was harsh!”

We walked quickly, guided by the shrine maiden, who was walking in front of us, hissing and stomping his feet as if he had a sore throat. Soon, a garden appeared, and a space divided into several sections appeared.

And here and there, I briefly encountered people practicing, sparring, or seemingly listening to a lecture.

But they treated us like they didn’t see us.

I may be bragging about my children, but the Arcanas have a beautiful appearance that can’t help but attract attention no matter when or where they are. What can I say about the Dragon Lord?

But even though such beauties pass by, no one pays attention to them. Not even curiosity.

After passing by the unmanned people, we arrived at a place that was seven floors higher than where we first arrived. When we opened the door and went in, a huge room, a room so large that it seemed like the entire floor was this room, greeted us.

[Nice to meet you, Card Master Gray.]

“Clown!”

“Yeah~!”

The clown disappeared, and soon appeared in the center of the room, behind someone sitting in a rocking chair.

[You don’t have to do this. I’m going to die soon anyway.]

“How did you know? Did the Divine Bow tell you?”

The Shin-gung who followed us in already had the Punisher’s sword placed around her neck. No matter how fast she was, she wouldn’t be able to escape the Punisher.

[No. Our dishonest Lizzy is a girl who keeps her mouth shut, even though she gets misunderstood because she isn’t honest about her feelings.]

“Answer.”

[Because I saw it.]

“What?”

[The moment Gray-sama awakens. The moment he first summons the woman who is now pointing her bloody side at my neck from the card. The moment he summons the descendant of the ancient witch. And every other moment.]

“… What?”

[The eye that sees the continent. The master of a thousand eyes. The one who prevents disaster. The only coordinator who stands on the side of humanity. That’s me.]

“???”

There must be more than five question marks clearly floating above my head. What the hell! That’s it now!

[Are you frustrated with superhumans? They just seem like strong little kids?]

“What… … ?”

I don’t know how many times I’ve been surprised today. How? Do you read people’s minds?

[It was the most regrettable thing I’ve ever done. I was the only one who did everything that was vicious, dirty, and deadly.]

“So?”

[Let’s take our time with that story… … Before that, I’d like to ask you one thing, Gray-sama. For some reason, you seem to think differently from ordinary continental people. How does the Demon King invade?]

“What? That’s… a trust… … ?”

[The realm where the Demon King lives and this continent are clearly blocked by a dimensional wall. But why, of all the dimensions, does the Demon King invade this continent?]

“… … ??”

[Was that a little difficult? Then let me ask you a simple question. If there are those who follow God, then wouldn’t there be those who follow the Demon King?]

“… … Is there? If the Demon King appears, everyone dies?”

[Yes. It has been around since the whales.]

“… ??”

[Are you ready to hear the story of a fool who failed a long time ago?]