"No? Did you go inside me and come out to see?"
If that were possible, you’d have to be the king of humans. As I openly defied him, Hekto could only fume without saying a word.
That was when.
“It is done. Let him in.”
The door of the village hall opened, and a woman revealed herself.
Her brilliant golden hair, like molten pure gold, was tied in a ponytail, which felt like a waste. The tight-fitting clothes she wore seemed not to show off her figure, but simply to keep loose fabric from getting in the way of her work. Wearing leather gloves and boots that reached her ankles, the woman pierced through me with a sharp gaze.
“Are you the Golden Gyeong?”
“No. However, you must have something to say to Us.”
“I came to propose peace to the Golden Gyeong. How was I supposed to know who you are?”
But the woman placed a hand on her chest and introduced herself.
“We are the Golden Lord Yuria Elik. The monarch of understanding who rules the Golden Nation.”
The ruler of the Golden Nation, and the monarch possessing the authority to reproduce all the technologies in the world.
And the king ‘devoured’ by the monster of understanding.
“Also... the Golden Palace, which rules the Ten Nations.”
King Elik’s homunculus spoke with composure.
I first sensed something strange from the low hill visible in the distance. It was a very ordinary and common sight, with a ridge visible behind the field of vision.
Except that such a hill did not exist before arriving at the Golden Palace.
A scene not visible from the outside. Is that reality, or an illusion? For someone without any abilities like me to distinguish it, mind-reading is necessary.
But right now, I have no way to find out.
Because among those belonging to this Golden Palace, there is not a single living person!
Hekto, the only human inside the Golden Palace, pointed at me and spoke.
“Golden Lord. It is him.”
Elik stared at me intently. I also calmly read her... or should I say its expression.
Lingering thoughts are not alive. Still, since there are traces of once being human, I could figure it out quite in detail, but I couldn’t read it as perfectly as a living human. In other words, my mind-reading is practically sealed right now.
Tir was gone, and I was alone in the middle of the enemy camp. And on top of that, mind-reading doesn’t work. Isn’t this a bit dangerous?
While I was pondering whether I should run away, Elik took out a notebook, read something, and spoke.
“You said you are an envoy who came for a ceasefire negotiation.”
“That is correct. It seems you do not want a conflict in the Bottomless Chasm plains.”
“...You mean the land of opportunity, where the Bottomless Chasm has disappeared.”
She flipped through the notebook again, reading something. Even if I glared at the back of the notebook, I couldn’t see its contents.
If mind-reading worked normally, I would have read the contents of Elik’s notebook, what she was thinking right now, and what she planned to do. From what she liked and disliked to what happened in her past, I would have read it all. But right now, there was no particular reaction from Elik.
Only the occasion of the Golden Nation’s downfall in the distant past and the regret she held were drifting in the void.
What on earth happened? I want to know a bit more in detail, but mind-reading doesn’t work either.
While I was thinking, Elik, who had finished a judgment—whether it was a thought or whatever—opened her mouth.
“Suppression Lord. What is your judgment?”
There was no awkwardness at all in speaking down to an elderly old man. Even if a corpse, the corpse of a king possessed dignity.
As if accustomed to such an attitude, Hekto also naturally spoke respectfully to a woman who looked much younger.
“I think it’s not bad. Too much time has passed since the Ten Nations properly cultivated the land. Even if we give seeds to the jackals now, I wonder if they will just turn it into a single meal. Wouldn’t it be more rational to let the Military Nation cultivate the land and take a portion of it...?”
“Wrong.”
Elik declared with no room for disagreement.
Hekto clamped his mouth shut. While he was cautiously trying to grasp the intention behind the Golden Lord’s words, Elik turned to me and spread one hand.
“The Bottomless Chasm plains were originally the land of the Golden Nation. It has been so since the Golden Nation began, and it will be so in the future.”
The Golden Nation...? Why a country that fell a long time ago?
“If you have not forgotten history, you should know that the Elik royal family used the Bottomless Chasm as a graveyard for failures. Isn’t that right, envoy?”
Elik spoke arrogantly as if she were still a king. It was an excessively confident attitude for a king who was ‘devoured’ by the Golden Gyeong.
Perhaps. If it’s as I expected... but would that be right?
I took a deep breath.
Let’s admit it. My lifelong reliable friend, mind-reading, is ineffective right now.
However, mind-reading is not my only power.
My mind-reading also cannot read anything other than human minds. Let alone the thoughts of beasts, I can’t even read the weather that will come tomorrow. I don’t even know what the seeds I sowed will grow into. Because I am not a prophet.
But human ability is not mind-reading. Because the true ability of humans is the power itself that uses all means for a purpose.
Investigating, dismantling, predicting, and utilizing the world. Even if it goes wrong, humans use it as a stepping stone to move forward again. Impossibility is a declaration made only after careful consideration when all possibilities have disappeared. Sometimes, as time passes, possibilities that didn’t exist emerge.
Stamping something as impossible can be done after concluding that it cannot be done, and it won’t be too late. Giving up in advance is something only prophets do.
Let’s try it. Starting with my hypothesis.
“You’re right. The Golden Nation, a country of craftsmen, had a custom of throwing away the ashes after burning firewood or scrap iron that could no longer be used into the Bottomless Chasm. Between the Kingdom and the Golden Nation, it was the Golden Nation that took a greater interest in the Bottomless Chasm and effectively controlled it.”
“You know well.”
“But that is strictly between the Golden Nation and the Kingdom.”
The Golden Gyeong is known as the mystery of the Ten Nations... but if so, there would be no reason to use the title Golden Gyeong.
The modifier in front, Golden, means gold. The title attached at the end, Gyeong, means the king’s vassal.
In other words, the Golden Gyeong inherently implies the Golden Nation.
Why did they use such a title? Perhaps the Golden Gyeong still hasn’t forgotten the Golden Nation? Or...
“The relationship between the Ten Nations and the Military Nation is exactly the opposite. Since becoming the country of alchemy, the Ten Nations, they haven’t even approached it closely for fear of permanent loss of alchemy cost, right? Since the Military Nation invested in the neglected land afterwards and achieved results, doesn’t the Military Nation have a larger share now?”
“For an envoy, you only mention the parts favorable to your country. However, I will point out your foolishness.”
Who cares. Whether the Bottomless Chasm plains belong to the Military Nation or the Ten Nations, it doesn’t matter. What I need right now is only information.
The Golden Gyeong is constantly moving while creating something. But the things it creates are all somewhat strange. The cornfield aside, cities made of stone or high castle walls are architectures that don’t fit the current trend. With the development of alchemy, the theory of the uselessness of castle walls emerged, but the Golden Gyeong, the very origin of alchemists, is making them.
Because the Golden Gyeong made them, that is the reason for their existence. But the question of why the Golden Gyeong made them still remains.
However, that doubt too can be resolved with one simple hypothesis.
“You are wrong. Because this place is the Golden Nation.”
Perhaps, the Golden Gyeong...
Might be creating the Golden Nation... on this land.
“Nonsense. The Golden Nation perished at the hands of the Golden Gyeong.”
“You are wrong. There is a king here, there is territory, and there are subjects who follow. They are the king of the Golden Nation, the territory of the Golden Nation, and the subjects of the Golden Nation. Therefore, this country is the Golden Nation.”
“King Elik of the Golden Nation is dead. By the hands of the Golden Gyeong! You are not King Elik!”
“We still exist. With the king’s memories, the king’s appearance, and the king’s abilities, what will you call Us?”
The most necessary element of the Golden Nation is none other than the king. For the Golden Gyeong to create the Golden Nation, it must have needed to actualize King Elik first.
Alright. I could roughly see the outline. Golden Lord Elik is a homunculus. A creation of the Golden Gyeong. If so, the Golden Gyeong themselves must also be in this space.
“I came to negotiate with the ruler of the Ten Nations, the Golden Gyeong. Not King Elik of the Golden Nation. Call the Golden Gyeong. I will negotiate with them.”
Let’s call the Golden Gyeong. If I can see the Golden Gyeong in person, all the mysteries will be solved.
However, Elik did not move as I thought.
“You do not have even a speck of politeness. Very well. Then I shall tell you more certainly.”
Elik reached out her hand. Transmuting the earth, a large spear sprouted from beneath like a tree. Transmuting common dirt shouldn’t produce high-cost alchemical steel, but this is the land of the Golden Gyeong. Cumbersome concepts like equivalent exchange do not apply.
Elik held a spear twice her height in one hand. The spear made of extraordinary metal aimed at my neck with a cold glint.
“There is no clearer declaration of war than severing an envoy’s neck. I will show you with action instead of words.”
Uh-oh. Did I poke too hard? I asked her to call the Golden Gyeong, and suddenly she’s trying to kill me. That must have been her sore spot!
“W-Wait a minute. Hold on. Do you know who’s behind me?”
“It matters not, so I shall execute you myself.”
“No, Your Majesty! Seriously!”
I’m going to die like this. With mind-reading not working right now, I have no means to handle that homunculus. If I had mind-reading, I would somehow escape. No, I wouldn’t have even asked her to call the Golden Gyeong in the first place! Give me back my mind-reading!
That was when. Suppression Lord Hekto, who had been quietly listening, hurriedly startled and restrained Elik.
“Please wait, Golden Lord. Their military strength is not something to be ignored.”
‘According to the Greenhorn Lord, the Progenitor Tirkanjak is with them as a comrade. Vampires who exercise the power of blood domination are tricky. If possible, it would be better to send them back to the Principality nicely...’
However, Elik ignored Hekto’s advice and gripped the iron spear firmly.
“Whoever comes does not matter. The Golden Nation shall endure forever as steel.”
“Ugh...”
Do I have to fight? I don’t even have Diamond. How long can I hold out with magic and cards?
It was when I was holding my cards, ready for a desperate resistance.
*Jingle*, a clear bell sound resonated.
The sound was not loud. However, just by hearing the rich, full sound, one could tell it was a carefully crafted bell. If the material had been iron instead of gold, it would have produced harmonics that would move the hearts of the listeners.
Elik’s gaze spun around. At the end of her gaze was the slowly opening door of the village hall. Through the gap, an innocent voice was heard.
“Your Majesty! I’ve finished it!”
At the same time, a sensation as if everything in the world had faded away grabbed and pulled me.
It wasn’t just the sensation. A thin but invisible membrane separated me from them. As if the air had hardened like glass, my hand could not advance any further.
Probably, my voice wouldn’t be heard either. Maybe I wouldn’t be visible either. As if my existence had been excluded from the world on the other side.
It wasn’t just my imagination. Just by his appearance, the expressions of Elik and Hekto changed. Elik welcomed the owner of the voice with a bright smile she hadn’t shown until now.
“Demo.”
Calling the name of the Golden Gyeong.
The one called by the name of the Golden Gyeong and appearing was a young boy. From him, no special aura or intense energy could be felt. What could be seen on his innocent face was only curiosity and a thirst for exploration.
The boy who ran out of the village hall ringing the bell started proudly boasting about what he had done as if he were excited.
“It’s a machine for harvesting corn! It was designed to move only by pistons according to your request. Unless it’s the Suppression Lord, no one else will be able to move it!”
Hekto hurriedly looked around as if he had been waiting.
“Is it completed, Gyeong? Where is it?”