On the day the moon shattered, the night sky of Adom-Asad, the fourth planet of Trappist, shone as bright as day.
Everyone who could look up at the sky watched the moon break apart.
The spirit gazed at the moon blazing like a supernova in the sky of the ice star.
The native monsters that lived on Adom-Asad, and the Akzar monsters that had been hunting for humans, all looked up at the shining sky.
The doll golems guarding the flower garden also looked up at the sky with awkward movements beside the dead scouts.
Now the golems no longer looked human.
The light that had filled the sky vanished before long.
When the light disappeared, only countless scattering fragments remained where the moon had been.
Fragments spreading in every direction.
Some would fall to the surface or orbit the planet, but most were fragments that would vanish into that distant space.
The reason the fragments flew out into space was entirely because of the magic that destroyed the moon.
Only half of it remained, but it was still a moon the size of a continent.
There was no way the destruction of such a moon would have no effect on the planet.
So the magic circle that destroyed the moon contained spells to minimize its impact on the planet.
Spells to lessen the effect on the planet’s rotation and orbit, and to protect the planet.
The greatest among them was the one that pushed the moon fragments toward the far side of the planet.
Thanks to that spell, I almost got flung to the other side of the planet as well.
Only after leaping through space several times with magic and strengthening the planet’s gravity was I barely able to return to Adom-Asad.
Protecting myself with a red-hot shield, I fell toward the ground together with the other fragments.
Countless fragments falling with me.
Compared to the entirety of the moon’s debris, it was only a portion, but even so, it was not a small amount.
Among those fragments, there were surely Akzar monsters that had been on the moon.
Thinking that, I fell toward the surface.
My destination was the sandstorm clearly visible even from space.
The terraforming ruins.
***
Time passed after that.
One month later.
Exploration team member Tom had crossed over to Earth with the other team members.
At the Baekdu Mountain base clinic, he treated people while telling them about Trappist.
About the underground city, the ice star, and the fourth planet where they would live from now on.
Among those stories, the one the people—especially the children—liked was the story of the expedition members who had dealt with the Demon King and the monsters on the moon.
“……After smashing the moon like that and returning to the terraforming ruins, Captain Hyeon continued roaming east of the mountain range, dealing with the Akzar monsters.
There are still monsters on the far side of the range, but it’s hard for them to cross the mountains, so there are no Akzar monsters left in the east.”
As always, Tom ended with the story that Trappist, where they would be going, was safe.
At his words, the children of many nations in the clinic gazed at him with sparkling, expectant eyes.
When he finished, a Korean boy lying in the next bed nitpicked.
“But the west side of the mountain range isn’t completely safe either, is it? I heard fragments in orbit sometimes crash down and monsters pop out.”
At the boy’s words, Tom sighed.
Unlike before, there were now people returning from Trappist to Earth, and more people knew the situation.
Because Earth’s communications were in poor condition, people who had just arrived at the base did not know about Trappist, but if they stayed at the base for just a few days, like the boy chattering now, they could find out.
“That only happened twice in a month. And both were handled immediately. So, are you going to stay here?”
When Tom glared at him, the boy quickly shook his head.
Because he was in poor health, he had to stay at this base longer than the others, but the boy also wanted to go to Trappist as soon as possible.
Shaking his own head, Tom checked the leg of the child on whom he had his hand raised.
The wound had almost completely disappeared.
It had been an injury bad enough to leave the child unable to walk, but now only a small scar remained.
“All done. At this rate, you’ll be able to go to Trappist with the other families tomorrow.”
At Tom’s words, the injured child, the nitpicking boy, and the people listening to the story all looked in surprise between the child’s perfectly fine leg and Tom.
“Magic really is amazing. Seeing something like this, I have no choice but to believe your stories, Tom.”
At the boy’s words, Tom chuckled and rose from his seat.
In his hand as he stood was a staff with a black stone attached.
A staff with a black stone, made by a Trappist blacksmith and modified at the terraforming ruins.
Translation magic and magic that allowed the black stone’s energy to be used on Earth were engraved into the staff.
A staff Captain Hyeon had given to the exploration team members who came to Earth.
Thanks to this staff, the exploration team members could use magic and their abilities even on Earth.
It was thanks to this staff that Tom was able to treat people at the base.
Right now, Tom was treating people at the base in advance so that no accidents would occur when they spatially transferred to Trappist.
After the moon shattered, Captain Hyeon began bringing people from Earth in earnest.
Not only energy-user candidates, but ordinary people as well—he brought them over himself, taking them by the hand.
He moved dozens of people at a time, dozens of times a day.
He also began gathering again the experts he had mentioned before, and once more sought out the families of expedition members from America and other countries.
As people gathered like that, the Baekdu Mountain base became tremendously busy.
Every day, hundreds of people came and departed for Trappist, and supplies and livestock were transported.
As work increased, more people were needed.
That was why the exploration team members who had been on Trappist returned to Earth.
With staffs that allowed them to use magic on Earth.
In that way, all the exploration team members carried staffs, but Captain Hyeon himself carried nothing.
Instead, he used magic while holding a black stone in his hand.
It looked inconvenient, but none of the exploration team members could tell him to use a staff.
Tom stepped outside the tent, wiped away his sweat, and looked around.
The base had grown more than twice as large as it had been a month ago.
Though it was daytime, lamps were lit all throughout the base.
It was still spring, and dark enough to light lamps, but the weather was hot.
Wiping away his sweat, Tom muttered.
“Even if carbon dioxide doesn’t increase any more, this summer won’t be easy to endure.”
Not long ago, during winter, the southern hemisphere, where the seasons were opposite, had been engulfed in flames.
In several countries, daytime temperatures had risen to seventy or eighty degrees, and forests and plains had become seas of fire.
Truly many people had died in those countries and in nations near the equator.
This summer, the same thing would happen across the entire northern hemisphere.
Korea, which was maintaining order through swift martial law and prepared stores of rice and food, seemed likely to get through this year safely, but other countries were not so fortunate.
There were already nations where governments had collapsed into anarchy, places where civil wars had broken out, and places fighting with neighboring countries.
“The war against the monsters is over, but I suppose the extinction and escape are only beginning.”
To save people, the team members who had come to Earth scattered in all directions.
Catherine went to Paradise, and Hannah was at the Antarctic ruins.
Magreta headed to the American mainland, and lastly, Sergeant Woo remained at the base with Tom.
Just as Tom treated people, Sergeant Woo was there to protect the base with his ability.
“Honestly, I do feel like I ended up staying because I’m not that useful……”
As Tom approached, Sergeant Woo, holding an energy rifle, scratched his head and spoke.
“What are you talking about, when you can hit incoming missiles from dozens of kilometers away?”
Sergeant Woo’s sniping ability, which allowed him to see and hit targets dozens of kilometers away, and the energy rifle he possessed, were perfect for defending the base.
“Even now, Captain Hyeon is moving around because he trusts you, Sergeant Woo.”
Because ordinary people had begun flocking to the base, rumors about it had spread throughout the world.
Rumors that, like Paradise, people could evacuate to another star through the Baekdu Mountain base as well.
At that news, Chinese rebels who had yet to be dealt with, various nations, and many warlords were targeting the base.
If not for the Korean military and Sergeant Woo, Captain Hyeon might still have had to defend the base even now.
Of course, Captain Hyeon would have been fine even if it were not this base, but people did not know that.
Tom asked Sergeant Woo.
“By the way, where is Captain Hyeon now?”
Even after carrying out the incredible deed of destroying the moon, he had not rested.
While transporting people and supplies to Trappist every day, he handled many tasks at the same time.
As Tom had said, he cleared out monsters on the planet, prevented wars on Earth, and rescued people in danger.
Earth and Trappist were not the only places he visited.
“He was at the Yalu River, then I heard he went to Taiping by spatial transfer……”
At Sergeant Woo’s words, Tom looked worried.
“This time it’s Taiping? No matter how I think about it, he seems to be moving around too busily. He should rest a little.”
At Tom’s words, Sergeant Woo shook his head.
“I was worried too and suggested it, but he had no intention of listening. It felt like he had something to do, so he was taking care of the urgent matters first.”
“Something to do, you say.”
At the words “something to do,” Tom closed his mouth.
Both Sergeant Woo and Tom knew.
Other than saving people on Earth, what it was that Captain Hyeon had to do.
If it was because of that, they could not stop Captain Hyeon.
Sergeant Woo and Tom looked toward the western sky, where the Tibet ruins were.
***
Taiping, the star connected to the Tibet ruins.
Even in the midst of rebellion, the Chinese government had done its utmost to make the planet livable, but the results were not good.
In a short time, they had moved supplies, transported food, and relocated people to create something resembling a city, but that city lacked the most important thing.
“Even when we reduced food, reduced supplies, and reduced the number of people in order to transport water, we could not handle it. We tried drilling into the ground to find water and collecting moisture from the air, but we could not produce a usable amount. At this rate, we will lack not only water for farming, but even drinking water.”
Looking at the empty lake connected to the river, Secretary Li spoke to me.
It was difficult to talk in the city, which was like a refugee camp, so I had brought Secretary Li to the lake beside the ruins.
Secretary Li continued.
“Now that Earth’s destruction has been delayed, this ‘Taiping’ may be harder to live on than Earth.”
Unlike the last time I saw him, his expression had lost its hope.
I asked him.
“Would it be all right if there were water?”
At my words, Secretary Li shook his head.
“I would be grateful if you gave us water, but the amount you gave us before will not be enough.”
Hundreds of times more people had crossed over to Taiping than back then.
Of course a few liters of water would not be enough to handle that.
“Fortunately, Chen Ming’s family is all right. I am protecting them together with my own family.”
Secretary Li thought I had come to take nuclear technician Chen Ming’s family to Trappist.
I did have other business, but that thought was not wrong either.
After bringing up Chen Ming’s family, Secretary Li asked me with a dark expression.
“But…… when you take Chen Ming’s family, could you take mine as well?”
For him, who had always been composed, to say such a thing.
It seemed the situation here was worse than I had thought.
This was not a situation where I could drag things out.
“I’ll take everyone, so don’t worry. More importantly, I brought water. More than before.”
“Even if it is more, it will not be of much help.”
He shook his head again, but I ignored Secretary Li and took a box out of my bag.
Then I opened the box’s door toward the dry lake.
A black hole opened in the air before the box.
A door opened toward the ground.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!
Water began pouring from the hole.
Startled, Secretary Li grabbed my arm and shouted.
“You cannot pour water here! The ground is dry, so all the water will evapor—”
However, he could not finish speaking.
Because the water pouring from the hole had exceeded his expectations.
An enormous amount of water gushed out endlessly.
“My God. This is……”
“I brought it from the Yalu River. It should be about ten thousand tons. It won’t be enough for farming, but it should be sufficient as drinking water.”
An amount of water comparable to a small reservoir.
I had filled the entirety of the vastly enlarged box with water from the Yalu River.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you……”
After hearing my words, Secretary Li shed streams of tears and continued bowing his head to me.
Perhaps hearing the sound of the water pouring down, people began coming out from the city.
People running when they saw the water.
“It’s water! Water is pouring into the lake!”
A great commotion broke out in the city.
Watching the people running toward us, I thought.
If I brought water like this from time to time, Taiping would be able to hold out until we could move the people to Trappist.
For the safety of the Baekdu Mountain base, this Taiping had to be maintained for the time being as well.
Thinking that, I continued filling the lake with water.
There was still much left to do.
I had to visit the American mainland, and I also had to go to Paradise and Antarctica.
Only after finishing those major tasks could I keep my promise.
The promise I had made to Soph.
If I was to keep my promise to find the mages who had escaped Trappist, I had to hurry even more.
After the Moon Disappeared (2)