She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

THE LOOT NEGOTIATIONS distracted Mira somewhat, but once she calmed down, she brought up something that had been on her mind.

“By the way, Soul Howl, this was among the loot. What do you make of it?” she asked, revealing the most incomprehensible item. She didn’t know whether the page was from someone’s diary or some kind of report, but its contents were very intriguing.

Soul Howl naturally knew that there were no paper drops on the Machina Guardian’s loot table, so his interest was piqued. “Hm? What’s that?” He pulled Mira’s arm, reading over the page eagerly.

Plan■■arth, Japan Branch■■■■■year■62 CE■■■■■.

As planned■■■■sea coordinat■■■■at this point■■■■■■underground■■■■■■begun unified■■■■■■■■planned compl■■■■■■rth time■■■■■.

However■■■■■■observed on surface■■■■■■■■req■■re more time.

After the facility is complete■■■■will begin. If all■■■■well■■■■■■truly■■■■■■■■■■pray for■■■■■■prepare■■■■second.

At this ti■■■■■■no need to■■■■■■■■■■as such■■■■peers■■■■■■watch for developments■■■■■■.

As for■■■■■■plan to us■■■■same method■■■■■■recovered■■mp■■■■shelter and protect the■■■■.

He read over it once, then once more. After the third read, he finally let go of Mira’s arm and thought deeply about the page.

“The first part looks like ‘Planet Earth,’ right? Planet Earth’s ‘Japan Branch.’ If so, that has to mean something. I mean, why would you bother to put ‘Planet Earth’ if you already said something’s in Japan? That has to imply that you can be somewhere other than Earth. Then there’s a year and the abbreviation ‘CE,’ which implies a year measured in the Gregorian calendar. It’s listing some date in a year we can’t fully read. That’s my limited analysis of it.”

After a moment of thought, Soul Howl pointed out the first line to Mira again, now with some characters appended. Frankly, he couldn’t be certain of those characters. If he was correct, though, a greater mystery emerged.

“I see…” said Mira. “That is one potential reading. Either way, the writer seemingly came from our old world.”

“There’s a lot of stuff we don’t know yet, but it’s clearly connected,” Soul Howl agreed. It was unclear when, where, or why the page had been written, but as he’d said, the contents implied that the writer knew about Japan on the planet Earth. He and Mira agreed on that. “Did you ask the Spirit King and Martel?”

“I did, but they haven’t the foggiest either. Apparently, this Ancient Underground City predates even them.”

“Whoa. It’s been here that long…?”

The history of spirits was incomprehensibly lengthy—humanity’s paled in comparison. Yet the man-made Ancient Underground City was somehow older. An odd contradiction indeed.

“If it did exist then, there must have been a reason for that…”

“Right. There must’ve been.” It was contradictory, but the Ancient Underground City’s existence was proof that that was unquestionably true—even if they couldn’t comprehend why yet. 

Since they had no information to unravel the mystery of why the Ancient Underground City was older than the Spirit King, however, Soul Howl flatly declared, “Well, it’s not worth thinking about now.”

He turned his mind to the next line on the page—which might just get surprisingly close to the reason. 

“Let’s keep going. Based on the next sentence, it seems like this guy’s researching something. ‘After the facility is complete’—then we have ‘begin,’ ‘prepare,’ and ‘second.’ It seems like whoever wrote this was building a facility to research something underground. I think this might just be that facility. I mean, look at this seventh level; it’s totally unlike the rest of the dungeon. It’s not fantasy, it’s sci-fi.”

Soul Howl looked around. As he said, the place where they’d fought the Machina Guardian was covered in sturdy white metallic plates. And the passages leading here were more like those in a research facility than a dungeon or ruins.

“Sci-fi, hm? I suppose. The boss certainly fit that description. Mysteries never cease here, do they?”

This world had history. Since it was built for a video game, that history might be made-up; still, it supported the present so well, it seemed no different from reality. That was the odd part. If this was sci-fi mixed with fantasy, what was this Ancient Underground City that predated the Spirit King himself?

“See how it mentions ‘—rth time’? If you read that as ‘Earth time,’ it seems connected to the first sentence,” Soul Howl noted.

“Hrmm. In that it suggests someplace other than Earth?”

If there was nothing relevant to compare “Earth time” to, one would just write “time.” But if Soul Howl’s reading was correct, the paper went out of its way to specify “Earth.” In other words, it must’ve been possible to refer to some other time zone.

“As for the last sentence, you got me. It probably relates to the research, but I have no idea what they wrote. The end does make me curious, though. ‘Shelter and protect.’ What were they sheltering and protecting, exactly?” The part toward the end was halfway readable, but not particularly specific, so Soul Howl had given up. However, the last few words stuck in his mind.

“That does make me wonder too,” Mira agreed. “If it meant a group of people, I’d assume it was residents of the city’s first to sixth levels.”

If the Ancient Underground City had originally been built starting from the seventh level, it could be considered a playground constructed by the builder of the facility. They might’ve been protecting those people, although it wasn’t yet clear why.

“Yeah, that’s possible too. But what were they planning, and why? It feels like the answer is getting closer and farther at the same time.”

They’d tried deciphering the page, but they didn’t know the most important part: the writer’s motive. In the end, it was only one page, and even that was missing too many words.

“Well, I suppose it’s a mistake to try to derive truth from such limited information.” Mira shrugged. Deciding that further thought would just be a tiring waste of time, she deposited the scrap of paper in her Item Box and said her usual line: “I’ll have to leave it with Solomon.” Her style was simple: when she didn’t understand something, she just left it with him.

“True. I hear the Hinomoto Committee is trying to figure out the truth of the world under his leadership. Get that page to them, and I bet they’ll love you.” Already losing interest in the scrap of paper, Soul Howl agreed with Mira’s assessment. He wasn’t entirely like her; rather than being lazy, he just believed in giving jobs to the right people.

“Ah, yes. I believe I heard something like that. In that case, that paper would be perfect for them.”

There were several departments under the Hinomoto Committee’s jurisdiction. One was the World History Research Institute, which had formed to uncover the history of this world. Mira had a faint recollection of hearing about that from Solomon once. This slip of paper seemed like an important historical item. She grinned slightly; she couldn’t wait to see what a shock it gave him.

“I’m surprised you know about the Hinomoto Committee,” she added. “Wasn’t it so secret that only heads of state know about it? Where did a wanderer like you come into such knowledge?”

Despite how openly the pair discussed the committee, it was a secret organization, created by former players who’d risen to heads of state. Information on the committee was top secret, and even former players shouldn’t have been able to learn about it easily.

Luminaria had told Mira about it, but the main reason she was allowed to know was probably because she was close to Solomon, a committee member. Where would Soul Howl have heard about it when he was busy working toward a Holy Grail? Mira had asked out of pure curiosity.

“Oh, Smithy told me.”

When Mira heard the name come out of Soul Howl’s mouth, she piped up in surprise, piling on questions. “Smithy? You mean the blacksmith? You two knew each other?”

Smithy was a top player who spent their time as a blacksmith. They mainly produced metal weapons and gear. Any warrior would drool over a Smithy-forged weapon.

However, as a mage who fought without a weapon and was uninterested in metal armor, Mira had only exchanged a few words with Smithy when the latter happened to be with Solomon. Moreover, most of the Nine Wise Men presumably had nothing to do with Smithy, beyond knowing the blacksmith as Solomon’s friend. Yet it seemed Soul Howl had met them here in this world.

“Yep, that’s the one. We weren’t well acquainted back then, but we got to know each other while I was figuring out Irina’s grave goods. That’s when I heard about the Hinomoto Committee,” Soul Howl explained.

Perhaps because this related to his beloved Irina, he suddenly became a lot more talkative. Once upon a time, back before he’d ever considered making a Holy Grail, he had a phase when he was obsessed with upgrading Irina’s grave goods. Thanks to his tireless efforts, that process went well, and he was able to start giving her high-quality equipment as a result. However, as he repeated the process, he began running out of weapons worthy of her rank. He’d ranked her up to the point that gear made by a reasonably famous blacksmith and with reasonably rare materials wouldn’t be enough, so he was forced to search for a greater smith. 

He sought out Smithy, the greatest blacksmith, despite not knowing whether Smithy was in this world—let alone when they’d been brought to it. However, Soul Howl’s search was surprisingly short. Since he knew which country Smithy had allegiance to, it was easy to find them. At that point, he learned Smithy had retired from making weapons, so it was especially difficult to convince them to create some.

“Smithy retired from blacksmithing and now directs the Hinomoto Committee’s Modern Technology Research Institute. That’s how I learned a little about the committee.”

“I see. That’s the connection.” Mira was finally aware of Soul Howl’s source.

Smithy might not have been a head of state, but as a top player, they naturally had a high status.

Adequately convinced, Mira transferred her interest to the laboratory. “By the way, what does this ‘Modern Technology Research Institute’ look into?” It made sense for her to be curious; after all, the institute was led by a player whose name was known to all other players.

Soul Howl simply answered that the Modern Technology Research Institute researched whether they could replicate Earth’s modern technology in this world.

“They lump it all under the umbrella term ‘modern technology,’ but they research things like engineering, shipbuilding, architecture, medicine, agriculture, even space travel—dozens of fields. They’re the largest-scale operation under the Hinomoto Committee. The continent-spanning railroads and airships up in the sky are the results of their research. They’ve got great personnel too. Around half the players known for production are in their ranks.”

Soul Howl wrapped up the explanation by adding that he’d visit the institute soon to have the game’s best jeweler, Tiphanus, craft something using his Neuron Crystal. Under the Hinomoto Committee, he noted, the Modern Technology Research Institute had countless top-class crafter players at its disposal.

Hearing that, Mira exclaimed happily, “Oh ho! What a delightful place it must be!” Her reason for rejoicing was the same as Soul Howl’s: having the Machina Guardian’s drops was great and all, but those were essentially top-tier materials, so the number of crafters who could handle them was very limited. Although she had the ingredients, she hadn’t known what to do with them until now. With this revelation, she had her answer.

“So? Where can I find them? I happen to have just come across a few materials, so I’d love to know!” The laboratory was now her holy land; she begged Soul Howl to tell her just where it was.

Quick on the uptake, Soul Howl replied, “You know, now that you mention it, the average crafter couldn’t hope to handle a Neuron Crystal, Clear Materite Alloy, or Ethemite—let alone that Eye of Apollo you got. Everyone tells me the institute’s location is secret, though.” After a moment, he finally added, “Well, I’m sure they’d make an exception for you, Elder.”

First, he explained that most of the Hinomoto Committee’s research facilities were located in player-governed territory; the rest were generally hidden carefully all over the continent. The former were mostly for academic research, while the latter were mostly for technological research.

The Modern Technology Research Institute fit among the latter. It was well hidden on an island between the Ark and Earth continents and north of Cadiasmight Isle, surrounded by steep mountains.

“They certainly built it in a…precarious location,” Mira chuckled.

North of Cadiasmight Isle was a mountainous region reaching up to eight thousand meters, with a number of peaks exceeding six thousand meters. Building a laboratory there was hardly convenient. 

When Mira commented to this effect, Soul Howl answered that they had no choice. “They still have a lot of things in the prototype and research stages, but they’re all way too advanced compared to this world’s level of technology. More advanced technology and greater power just lead to war. What they want isn’t war, but a better life. They’d be happy to help fight monsters, but everyone knows what else that could lead to. Smithy says that’s why they built the institute in a natural fortress.”

Technology made to fight monsters could be turned against people, depending on the user. Even things not made for battle could be misused to hurt others. These pacifists at heart feared that, and hid themselves from human eyes, but continued to conduct research to improve the world. A laudable stance indeed.

“Hrmm. I see. Then it’s a suitable location after all.”

In a mountainous area surrounded by steep slopes, nigh impossible to simply wander into, the laboratory wouldn’t be found by mere chance. However, that made it difficult to visit. Anxiety found its way onto Mira’s face.

“I heard Smithy got tired of invitations from warmongering nations and fled to the laboratory. When I went there, Smithy was obstinate about never forging tools for war again. That made things hard for me…” Soul Howl recalled it with a sigh. Then, with an exasperated grin, he added, “I get it, though. That’s what happens when something you love is used to hurt others.”

He added that many others had gone to the institute for much the same reason.

“The crafter’s life is a difficult one,” Mira agreed. She only seemed to half understand, and quickly brought the conversation back on track. “So, what is the laboratory’s precise location? I’d rather not spend my life searching the whole area.”

Having once seen the island with her own eyes, she pulled out the big map of the continent she’d recently bought and looked for it.

Listening to Soul Howl’s directions, she drew right on the map with a pen. She listened especially intently to the landmarks he mentioned to make her search easier. “Oh ho ho! I see…”

“…You’d better not show anyone that map, got it?” Soul Howl reminded her as he gazed at the map, which was open with what were essentially national secrets written brazenly on it.

“I know, I know!” Mira replied, as if it were a given. Then, apparently just in case, she wrote Top secret! on the top-right of the map.

“Oh, Elder…” Soul Howl muttered, sighing.