Chapter 8 – The Restorer of Shadows (3)
“Stories passed down partially, legends, historical evidence. From that perspective, the Mythical Era was undoubtedly a brilliant and glorious time when our ancestors ruled the world without gaps. Although everything fell apart due to a massive calamity.”
Evans evaluated that time with a distant look in his eyes. He seemed to have a vague sense of what that era was like, even if he didn’t know the details.
“Ah, is this something I shouldn’t say in front of a beastman? The Mythical Era was a time for humans alone, an oppressive era where other races had their history erased.”
“???”
Suddenly, he changed direction, apologizing politely to Rina. She waved her hands in confusion, but I was the only one left speechless.
‘Could these people really…’
From what I gathered, beastmen and elves were all descendants of those who had changed their race by entering the tower. Naturally, they only existed in fantasy works before the tower. However, it seemed they were under the impression that these races had existed from the start.
From my perspective, it was unfathomable that these humans, who knew some things about delivery knights, were unaware of such ridiculous facts.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding…”
“Of course, there are people who don’t believe this hypothesis, but right now, this is the accepted doctrine. Therefore, there are not a few who dislike that era. They think it fell due to arrogance and pride. In any case, only those who were alive at the time when the great end began will know the true truth.”
Before I could say anything in my bewilderment, Evans shook his head.
Seeing that, I gave up my explanation. I didn’t think he would believe me anyway.
“If you’re very interested in the Mythical Era, I recommend visiting the theater.”
Then he proceeded to advertise his theater to me before walking away. A devoted owner who personally did sales for future customers.
“Rina, if I were to tell you the truth about the origins of elves or beastmen, would you believe me?”
“Of, of course.”
“Got it. Let’s go home for today.”
As I turned my head away from Evans’ retreating figure to ask Rina, she forced a smile and replied.
With a hollow laugh, I decided to give up speaking and head back to the mansion. Ethan, who knew my identity, might believe me, but I didn’t think Rina would.
Moreover, Ethan didn’t seem particularly interested in academic matters either.
*
“Boss, are you really okay? Embezzling funds to buy artifacts!?”
“Stop your nonsense and take a look at this.”
At that moment, while Irilia was sightseeing in the city with Rina, Ethan was, of course, busy with his own work.
One of those tasks was to make money. His trusted subordinate, who received the lighter Ethan handed over, had his eyes widen in surprise.
“Is, is this an artifact that has been restored? The one obtained from the black market last time…?!!”
“Right. You’ll get a sense of it when you see that.”
Artifacts from the Mythical Era had been severely distorted and destroyed. Therefore, restoring them took significant value and effort, and once restoration was complete, even if the item was useless junk, it could still fetch a good price.
“Buy all the artifacts you can with every available fund from now on. Don’t think about the restoration issue, and don’t mention it. That goes for you too.”
Hearing Ethan’s warning, his subordinate swallowed hard. If it was something he had to keep secret even from his right-hand man, it meant it was a serious matter.
‘Could it possibly be related to the little elf in the mansion?’
Of course, his subordinate knew that there was one guest at his mansion. That was the only reasonable guess he had, but his thoughts ended there.
In this line of work, unnecessary knowledge could be harmful.
“Nar, gather your children and collect the money. If there’s a shortfall, take out a loan! And Gael, secure all Mythical Era artifacts, whether from the black market or mortgaged items.”
His subordinate quickly mobilized all the members of his organization to carry out Ethan’s orders.
As the organization, which occupied most of the city’s back alleys, moved in an organized manner, it wouldn’t be surprising if even the most secretive operations were noticed by others.
“Why are they suddenly collecting artifacts?”
“Those aren’t restored, and it costs a fortune to restore them. Why would they do that? It can’t be used for laundering either.”
However, they didn’t understand why Ethan’s organization was collecting the contaminated artifacts.
They could never imagine that Ethan had the ability to restore artifacts as easily as flipping his hand.
‘Hmm, looking at this, I wouldn’t even know what purpose these items serve.’
Thanks to his hardworking subordinates, Ethan could receive the results while sitting down.
The first artifact that came into his hands was something roughly the size of a palm. Covered in black and rust-like something, it was thin in the middle and thick on both sides, making it impossible to discern what it was.
“You have a task to do.”
Holding it, Ethan headed to the restricted backyard where a sign was posted. At a table outdoors, under the bright sunlight and cool breeze, was the radiant silver-haired elf girl, Irilia, enjoying tea with Rina, the maid he assigned to her.
“What on earth is this?”
However, the chair she was sitting on was quite peculiar. Made of rough dirt and stone… she leaned comfortably against the chair that fit her body perfectly.
“My own training method. So, shall we start earning our keep?”
As Irilia snapped her fingers, the crumbling chair instantly returned to the ground. Before Ethan could be amazed at her skill, she picked up the item he handed to her.
‘It’s always fascinating to watch.’
Ethan watched the scene that unfolded with a cold sweat.
The item in her white, slender hands was cleansed cleanly upon contact with pure mana. Thanks to the contamination from deliberate distortion and exposure, the item, which had avoided the ravages of time, revealed itself as good as new, as if it had been used just yesterday.
“What kind of trash is this?”
“Do you know what this is?”
“A crumpled cola can. Made of aluminum and 250ml in size.”
She scoffed and flicked the blue can she held, throwing it back to Ethan. While it was a strangely shaped metal, learning its identity made Ethan grimace.
Even among them, they knew that such junk held no particular value. Aluminum was a symbolic metal of the Mythical Era that they could not produce artificially, but that was all it was.
“You should take this to the dwarves and sell it. In fact, the truly valuable artifacts are something else.”
“What are those?”
“Various weapons of the Mythical Era, known as Mythical Weapons. And artifacts imbued with the essence of the god of knowledge.”
Ethan spoke about precious items that were difficult to obtain even for a fortune. Whether or not they were truly rare, the 10,000-year-old elf’s complexion gradually changed as she listened to the explanation.
“I understand what you mean. I’d like to see them.”
“If you go and reveal all the truths, they will be awed and amazed.”
Ethan thought that if the being in front of him testified to everything he knew, history, and thus the world, would change.
However, Ethan himself wasn’t particularly interested in such things, and the way she reacted indicated she didn’t seem keen on it either.
“With such lightweight items, it wouldn’t be hard at all to bring more. Surely you aren’t just making a fuss and this is all you have?”
“No, I’m doing my utmost to acquire more, so don’t worry.”
She urged him to bring more work, saying she was bored.
Ethan could not go against her request. Even if Irilia was starting to enjoy spending money extravagantly, the money she would fill would be far greater.
‘But I need something a bit bigger.’
That evening, while he was pondering, he received a good piece of news.
“Sounds like the second son of the Seiran family has put an item up as collateral due to gambling debts? It won’t be hard to obtain.”
“Shall I bring it directly? It is the property of Lord Leon, who governs the Seiran territory.”
“Just give Leon a reasonable compensation and bring it back.”
Ethan casually instructed them to retrieve it. After all, before restoration, one could not tell how valuable the item was.
“Then I’ll go right away.”
With a sly grin, his subordinate mounted his horse and set off to carry out Ethan’s orders. Riding fast, his subordinate managed to obtain the artifact quite easily, just as Ethan had said.
“Is that guy Ethan insane? Why would he go to such expense to retrieve that?”
“I’m not sure either. I’m just doing as instructed.”
His subordinate carefully grasped the item relayed to him by another leader. Even if it was contaminated, one could still make out its general shape. The adequate size fitting in his hand, with a firm grip, it felt like a rectangular block.
‘What on earth is this.’
Of course, he had no idea at all as he carefully placed the item in a bag.
