Chapter 78

#78 Tuberosum’s Chalice and the Deep Green Land (8)

Soldiers, mercenaries, knights, adventurers, and the like.

There are many who make their living through rough and tumble jobs, mainly fighting.

However, those who specialize in underwater combat are exceedingly rare.

Pirates and sailors might be familiar with fighting in the water, but even they aren’t adept at wielding a sword underwater, despite being able to fight “on a rocking boat.”

Some master combatants may train in such skills, but it’s certainly not something to put beginners, with less than six months of actual combat experience, to do.

If proper instructors saw it, they would absolutely question your sanity and sanity-check your choices.

Indeed, such a statement hit the nail on the head. The Tin Knight was a lunatic.

[“The Tin Knight says it’s not just about brute strength, but about utilizing elasticity and recoil!”]

[“The Tin Knight insists that rather than multiple lines dancing around, they should all connect into a single curve!”]

Whoosh!

And Adel had no idea that she was currently being thrown into advanced training!

After all, hardship is a form of experience.

Experiencing both the rough and the easy allows one to think, “Ah, I really suffered back then,” or “This is much better compared to that,” and to properly assess one’s situation. But if one only faces hardship upon hardship, one’s frame of reference can go completely haywire.

Adel had long since adapted to the Tin Knight’s relentless training regimen.

“Curves, curves, uninterrupted attacks, keep flowing… Ah, so this is how it works!”

Her once floundering movements, lacking solid footing, began to gradually sharpen.

At first, her blade couldn’t even make contact with the fish, and even when it did, she couldn’t peel off a single scale. But gradually, the blade sunk deeper into the water.

It was a drastic change, akin to climbing a cliff rather than merely ascending stairs.

With man-eating fish showing their sharp teeth, one would expect her to shrink back, but Adel’s movements were as bold as ever.

Not that she was without fear.

Unbeknownst to herself, Adel’s courage stemmed from the trust that, if things got truly dangerous, the Tin Knight and her fellow colleagues would step in and help.

It was much like a beginner cyclist believing someone was behind them holding the bike steady as they rode.

[“The Tin Knight gives a thumbs up!”]

[“The Tin Knight is truly amazed!”]

The Tin Knight was filled with satisfaction.

At this rate, if they continued a bit longer, it would soon be time to teach her about manipulating magical power.

Once she learned to handle magical power, her physical growth would be relatively slow, but that was something they could just compensate for with extra effort.

It was quite the fortunate training plan.

Had the diligent and decent mentors of the world seen the Tin Knight, they would surely have lamented how they failed to teach a disciple with a proper methodology.

But the Tin Knight wasn’t just spectating idly.

She also controlled the nearby fish populations, preventing an overwhelming number from approaching Adel, while clearing away fish that gathered around Dorothea and Sophia.

A self-operating, oversized magical supply station was just nearby, allowing her to use sword techniques freely without a care.

***

Dorothea gradually found herself drawn into Sophia’s magical view—her “Tuberosum’s Chalice.”

Cracks spread across the lake, with haze seeping out from between them.

As Dorothea manipulated her magic while touching the cracks, they opened up, shrouding the surroundings in illusions.

“Hey, get a grip. Are you planning to throw away your entire future into the sewer?”

“It’s just a monster at the end of the day. It may take a humanoid shape, but that’s about it. Don’t be making a wrong choice out of shallow sympathy.”

“Do you not know what happens to those who break the heavens’ ordained taboos?”

Many were trying to convince Dorothea—or rather, ‘someone’ whose perspective she borrowed.

‘Someone’ spoke up.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

A short yet firm response.

Just like how one cannot see their own face, Dorothea, borrowing ‘someone’s’ view, couldn’t see their face either.

But for some reason, Dorothea was sure ‘someone’ was glaring at the surroundings.

“Still just a child, utterly clueless about the world. Needs teaching and care, treated with affection and attention. But what? Because their very existence defies providence, you want to kill them? Are you scholars who seek wisdom doing this? Is that how you justify calling yourselves upstanding adults?”

‘Someone’s’ words caused several people to redden in shame.

But the number of those not ashamed was even greater.

“You foolish friend. That’s not the issue!”

“Nobody’s going to complain if you keep a mere dog at home. But you cannot allow a wolf! Once it grows, it’ll devour everything around it. What you’re keeping is like that.”

“A dog was once a wolf. Given the right education and environment, it can live in harmony with humans.”

“And isn’t that exactly why it’s called taboo!”

“What’s taboo? What is heaven’s law? If that’s heaven’s will, then I gladly oppose it!”

“Oh, you! ”

With a snap, the illusion shattered.

Staring at the peace of the lakebed, Dorothea fell deep in thought.

She focused not on the contents of the illusion, but on the phenomenon itself.

‘…It feels similar to peering into the remnants of a lingering spirit. But for something like that, there’s no trace of a soul. If it’s merely a fragment of thought, it wouldn’t be this distinct.’

Dorothea turned to Sophia and spoke.

“Did you see that?”

“Yes.”

“What about the perspective?”

A somewhat abrupt question, but Sophia quickly grasped the point and answered.

“It felt as if I was borrowing the viewpoint of a researcher. Although from the middle onwards, I was able to look down from a distance.”

“What?!”

Dorothea’s voice was laced with astonishment.

Naturally, no one can look down on themselves.

If this illusion was based on someone’s ‘memory,’ such an act would have been impossible.

Dorothea sought to re-examine what she had just seen, but the crack had already vanished.

Sophia spoke up.

“Don’t mourn yet. There are still many cracks remaining.”

“…You’re right.”

The man-eating fish threatening their party were currently being made into training wood blocks for Adel, getting sliced into pieces, and the sturdy air bubbles allowed for free breathing for the team. Nothing hindered their exploration.

Dorothea advanced to the next crack and placed her hand upon it.

Once more, the surrounding scenery changed, along with Dorothea’s perspective.

She intentionally tried to objectify herself.

Initially, she failed, but after several similar attempts, she managed to escape ‘someone’s’ body.

Looking around, she spotted a translucent Sophia waving her hand.

The surrounding people couldn’t recognize Dorothea or Sophia.

It felt as if she had turned into a ghost.

-How far can I stray away?

-Reflecting around the ‘narrator,’ it seems like the illusion manifested in a dome shape of a certain size. If you stray too far, the scenery blurs, and you can see nothing.

Even as the two of them conducted their experiments repeatedly, the illusion played on like a movie film reel.

This time, the backdrop was a rather elegant mansion.

Before the mansion’s main gate, men who appeared to be soldiers were knocking on the door while calling for someone.

“Hey! Come out here!”

“Alejandro! We’ve received complaints that you’re keeping a monster! Come comply with the inspection immediately!”

While the soldiers maintained a tenuous politeness, the irritation and hostility seeped through their voices.

-You can tell they’d barge in any minute, but they’re holding back reluctantly.

-Looking at the sophisticated mansion too. This guy must either be a noble or at least a high-ranking individual.

The one referred to as Alejandro appeared to be a middle-aged man in his 30s to 40s.

He gently patted a child’s head, akin to protecting them from the soldiers’ rough voices.

“It’s okay. It’s alright. No one can harm you.”

The child nestled into Alejandro’s embrace as if throwing a tantrum.

Their skin was too dark green to be human.

Snap!

Once more, the illusion shattered.

Dorothea covered her mouth with her left hand.

As she fell deep in thought, Sophia asked, “Is something bothering you?”

“That illusion you and that tin can saw earlier. The one you and I just saw. They all featured the same characters, right?”

“Yes.”

“How can that be?”

Dorothea furrowed her brows in confusion.

“There is magic in necromancy that reads lingering thoughts. But most of it ends up being useless. Even the purest soul won’t last a hundred years if the environment isn’t right, and they usually dissipate or lose their reason to taint. And the fleeting thoughts, don’t even get me started. But the scenes we just witnessed, despite being fragments, are far too distinct, and they contained things that the soul itself wouldn’t recognize.

Then who the heck is observing and recording these scenarios? What’s with them being scattered across the lake bottom? If this is an ability of Tuberosum’s Chalice, why show us the story of that man and child among all the many past scenes?”

At Dorothea’s words, Sophia gave a wry smile.

She found it typical of Dorothea to analyze the cause and structure of the phenomenon rather than find delight or dismay in the content of the illusion or the characters involved.

She answered simply.

“Maybe it’s just a dream?”

Dorothea knitted her brows.

“Are you joking right now?”

“No. I’m serious. After all, that’s exactly what prophetic dreams are, right?”

Like an intelligent but immature student being taught, Sophia continued her explanation in a gentle tone.

“First off, it doesn’t make sense to distinguish viewpoints in a ‘dream.’ A person can just as easily become someone else in a dream, or even view themselves objectively. If this phenomenon emerged from the dream powers of Tuberosum’s Chalice, there’s nothing strange about it sharing similar characteristics.”

Dorothea fell silent for a moment, but soon nodded as if coming to terms with it.

“Go on.”

“And prophecy can only recognize what pertains to oneself or is tied to oneself. It does not allow one to see the future of others whom they have no relation to, people whose identities they don’t even know. The future of oneself, a massive event that influences oneself, or the future of those who have come into contact with oneself. Those are usually the contents one can observe. To put it another way, it’s like saying, ‘It just happened to be something worth watching.’”

Dorothea pondered over it.

After about ten seconds, she spoke.

“…So, you’re saying this illusion is showing something related to us, or something that is likely to become relevant in the future?”

“I’ve only just figured this phenomenon out not long ago myself, so I don’t have certainty. After all, the kingdom’s hidden treasures are full of many enigmas.”

Had the Tin Knight seen it, they might have assessed it as, “Isn’t this a movie made to help the player understand, and if something out of the blue pops up, it’s a disaster?”

Of course, the pragmatic Dorothea found Sophia’s theory more pleasing than the Tin Knight’s outrageous remarks.

The two of them once again set out toward a new crack.