Chapter 238

I felt a bit puzzled by the unexpected appearance of a certain person and asked her, Seiri.

“So, what’s up?”

“Ah, Mr. Kurt. It’s a bit hard to talk about here…”

Seiri, trailing off her words, cautiously approached me and whispered in a small voice.

“Actually, I’ve somewhat finished restoring a journal found in the Ancient Empire, and I wanted to consult about it…”

“…Got it. Let’s move somewhere else.”

As expected…

After disappearing for nearly a month, her cautious attitude suggested that her business was related to the journal.

Given her cautious demeanor, there must be something shocking in the latter part of the journal.

Then it’s better to move to another place.

“Ah, sorry, but I think I need to get up for a moment to talk.”

“I-I’ll get up too!”

Seeing Seiri and me acting unusually, Arisa also got up from her seat.

So, the three of us tried to move to a place out of sight.

If only someone hadn’t intervened between Seiri and me.

“A female beastkin with green hair, wearing glasses, and freckles…”

That was Daria, the Holy Kingdom’s special duty saintess, scrutinizing Seiri with sharp eyes.

Oops. Come to think of it, today wasn’t just my party members but also Arisa’s party members having a meal together.

And Daria belonged to Arisa’s party.

Even so, recognizing Seiri at a glance, whom she had never seen before, was unexpected.

But recently, having teamed up with Arisa’s group, she had mellowed out a lot and wouldn’t resort to violence as before…

But maybe it’s better to gloss over it for now?

In the short moment I was pondering, Daria quickly identified Seiri and spoke to her.

“Are you Seiri from the Alchemist Guild?”

“Y-yes… But how do you know me?”

“Of course. I’ve done my research on you. I thought you had left Astram, but to think you’re still in this city…”

Seiri, unaware of anything, nodded obediently to Daria’s question.

Is it already too late?

“We were actually looking for you. We need to have a little… talk.”

“M-me? Do you have some business with me? If it’s about alchemy requests, I’ve been quite busy lately…”

“No, not that. Our Holy Kingdom is interested in what you saw and heard in the Ancient Empire’s ruins. And just now, another matter has come up.”

“W-what do you mean…? Wait, what do you mean by another matter…?”

“You just mentioned acquiring a journal from the Ancient Empire’s ruins. Did I hear that correctly?”

Oh no.

Despite Seiri whispering in a small voice, it seemed Daria had caught every word.

Or rather, it was Aila next to Daria who heard Seiri’s whispers and relayed them to her.

If it’s come to this, there’s no point in glossing over it anymore.

With Daria and Aila staying in Astram, hiding it indefinitely would be impossible.

Then perhaps it’s better to talk about it now.

“Y-yes? W-what are you talking about? I-I don’t understand…”

“Hoho…”

Seiri, visibly flustered, was clearly caught off guard.

It seems she’s not very good at lying.

Daria, while maintaining a benevolent smile, had sharp eyes that weren’t smiling at all, scrutinizing Seiri like a detective.

But I need to mediate this situation.

I stepped between the two, and seeing me, Daria spoke in a tense voice.

“…Mr. Kurt. Please don’t interfere. This is a mission for me and Aila as special duty saintesses.”

“I won’t interfere. But you’re not planning to continue this conversation here, are you?”

“….”

“Then it’s better to move. But before that…”

“Before that…?”

“If you’re done eating, let’s clean up first. Dishes get stuck if not washed promptly.”

“….”

.

.

.

So, we rented a room at the Adventurer Guild and moved there.

Daria and Aila wanted to take only me and Arisa, but now that the serious atmosphere was set, it would be impossible to leave the other party members out of the secret talk. Neither I nor Arisa wanted to keep secrets from our party members anymore, so we all moved to the room together.

Surprisingly, Daria, who I thought would try to prevent the spread of information about the Ancient Empire, accepted it more readily than expected.

“Since we’ve already given off an unusual vibe, poorly hiding it would only leave a sense of unease. It’s better to disclose and control the information in front of me.”

Daria said, but that’s something she would never have said until recently.

She’s really mellowed out lately.

Anyway, with everyone gathered, Seiri told us about what happened in the Ancient Empire’s ruins.

The story of defeating golems and rescuing adventurers in the ruins had been told before, but the next part was a secret she had kept from everyone.

The contents of the Ancient Empire’s journal.

And following that, the restored contents of the journal detailing the truth of the Ancient Empire’s downfall, which even I didn’t know.

After the story ended, everyone was too shocked to speak.

“To think such an enjoyable adventure happened!”

“…I can’t believe such a thing happened. It’s unbelievable.”

“W-wait, the Ancient Empire’s magic could reach other dimensions!? I knew the Empire’s magical civilization was advanced, but to think it was that incredible…”

“Another world? Does such a thing even exist? I can’t believe it!”

“My ancestors did such a thing…”

Each of them expressed their shock at the revelations.

It’s hard to believe.

The contents written in the Ancient Empire’s ruins were that shocking.

Even though I had read the first page of the journal and had some idea, the restored contents Seiri told us were quite shocking.

“Mr. Kurt, it’s unfair that only you get to enjoy such adventures!”

“B-but isn’t it strange? How could such history remain unknown until now…! Is the journal’s content false?”

“Exactly! I never learned such things at the academy!”

“Connecting worlds with dimensional magic… There’s no record of such a thing!”

“I’ve learned various magics since I was young, but I’ve never heard of magic that controls space, let alone dimensions.”

They were all too overwhelmed by the sudden information, and just as I was about to calm them down.

“It’s not false.”

“…Ms. Daria!”

Daria affirmed Seiri’s words, capturing everyone’s attention.

“The contents of the journal Seiri found are all true. The Ancient Empire indeed opened a dimensional gate to invade another world long ago.”

“How can you be so sure, Ms. Daria?”

“Because it was our Holy Kingdom that erased that history from this world.”

“The Holy Kingdom…!? Why would you do such a thing!”

I answered Karina’s question on Daria’s behalf.

“It’s because the Ancient Empire’s technology was too dangerous.”

“…Mr. Kurt is right. The Ancient Empire had a highly advanced magical civilization, but that very advancement led to its own destruction. No, it nearly caused this world to be torn apart.”

“….”

“That’s why our Holy Kingdom, to prevent anyone from meddling with ancient magic again, erased that history by any means necessary and chose to eliminate the very existence of dimensional magic from this world.”

“But even so, such important facts…”

Karina protested, questioning whether the Holy Kingdom’s actions were excessive, but Daria, with a calm expression like a serene lake, looked at her and said.

“Do you know? This world is surprisingly fragile. And this world is still…”

Still?

“No, it’s nothing.”

Daria awkwardly cut off the conversation, leading to a brief silence.

In that uncomfortable silence, Seiri, who had been silent after finishing the story about the journal, finally spoke up.