Chapter 96 – An Unexpected Visitor (1)
Vrrrrr—
The familiar hum of an engine. The wheels of the vehicle moved busily, while the thick city air irritated the throat as always.
I could see people, heads bowed, staring at something in their hands. Each holding a square-shaped device.
Smartphones.
Ortes was walking down a path that now felt unfamiliar, yet still instinctively familiar. It was the road home.
After punching in the security code and opening the door—
“You’re late, aren’t you?”
There, standing before me, was a familiar figure. Familiar, yet someone who should not have been there.
***
I let out a sigh. From the moment I saw cars and people with smartphones, I knew something was off.
But still, this was just plain lazy.
“What kind of dream is this supposed to be?”
I dragged a chair and sat down. I had a feeling that this wasn’t really Carisia, but ‘someone’ taking her form, showing me a dream of Earth.
“Oh my. What went wrong, I wonder? It was composed entirely of scenery that should have been most familiar and comfortable for you.”
“I think you’ve misunderstood something terribly. If I come home after work and see my boss there, that’s not a good dream; it’s a nightmare.”
Carisia tilted her head, as if confused. Her resemblance was uncanny and somehow unsettling.
The biggest giveaway that this was a dream wasn’t something so obvious.
My eyes felt light.
There was no oppressive weight, no suffocating feeling like my eyes were shackled and bound. Nor was there the agonizing pain of thorns twisting through my brain, the kind that I felt when I removed the performance limits on my eyes.
There’s no way my daily life could ever feel this refreshing.
I realized it was a dream because my eyes weren’t heavy. Looking back, it’s a rather ridiculous reason.
“So, who are you? A spirit attached to a relic?”
The person who looked like Carisia nodded calmly.
“That’s correct. I am a priest of the ancient Estia.”
Estia. One of the Twelve High Gods before Bacchus, the god of the hearth. Though ‘hearth’ could imply a stove or a fireplace, it symbolized family, peace, and tranquility.
Was there a relic of Estia among the ones we took from Pluto’s Grand Temple?
After arriving at the Hydra Corporation, I passed out before I could even get my bearings. There were so many relics it was hard to tell which one had a spirit attached to it.
But knowing the deity often gives a clue about the relic’s form. I mentally sorted through items related to flames.
“There was a lamp I set aside because it resembled a mood light, thinking I’d use it as ambient lighting…”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
I organized my thoughts. The relic imbued with the spirit of Phoibos had deemed me ‘worthy.’
“Are you here to assess my worthiness as well?”
The priest of Estia shook her head.
“To be precise, you are not the one being evaluated. You were already deemed worthy, which is why the ancient priests have been waiting.”
Her voice was gentle, soft-spoken. The resemblance to Carisia made it even more irritating.
“Could you perhaps change your appearance? Even in a dream, it’s a bit nauseating to keep seeing my boss’s face.”
“That depends on you, not me.”
She spoke in riddles. I sighed.
“The last guy from the Phoibos cult said he couldn’t accept me while looking like Carisia. I take it you don’t have that issue.”
“The Twelve Relics were prepared for you. You are the rightful and sole successor. I have no intention of challenging that right.”
“Then why not just hand them over and be done with it? Why come to me in a dream?”
Carisia—or rather, the priest of Estia in her form—turned to look out the window. The landscape of Earth. The city lights glowing through the night like a sleepless metropolis.
In the starless night sky, a small red dot circled. Judging by its blinking lights, it was either a plane or a satellite.
Somewhere, the distant sound of clattering echoed. It was the rumble of a train racing down its tracks.
“I wanted to see the world you came from. The world on the other side of the extra-dimension. And to deliver a message—”
So, they called me to this world. The suspicion deepened.
Could it be that the ancient priests were the ones who summoned me to this world? After all, the priest guarding Phoibos’ relic had said, “We called you.”
It left a lingering question of why I woke up several years before the start of the original story when the priests’ era, the Mythical Era, had ended millennia ago.
“Your world looks different from mine, but it resembles the world we live in today. Perhaps it’s due to the influence of the Mage King, or maybe it’s the inevitable result of urbanization and population concentration.”
The Mage King, here?
“Well, since my curiosity seems to be resolved, let me ask you something.”
The priest of Estia remained silent, still gazing out the window. Watching the people move about, she muttered softly.
“A world without magic…”
“Why did you call me? What do you want from me?”
At my question, the priest of Estia finally turned to face me. Her gaze traveled over the chair I sat in, then the desk beyond, and the sparse, lonely room I lived in.
Mumbling something incoherent, the priest closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, not ‘sorry.’ If you’ve summoned someone, you should at least give them some instructions, shouldn’t you?”
If you call someone, shouldn’t there be a manual on what they need to do to return? The priest of Estia furrowed her brow, puzzled.
“It should be in your memory…”
“The only thing I remember is the story about the Mage King wreaking havoc.”
Thinking about it, this was another strange detail. If the ancient priests were the ones who summoned me to this world, then how did the novel I read fit into this? What was the connection between the magical world and that novel?
“What’s the relationship between the novel and this world?”
“Novel…?”
She looked genuinely confused.
“Damn it. So you guys don’t know everything either, huh?”
“We each remember different parts, according to our roles. The one who knew the most was the priest of Phoibos, I believe.”
Damn, that old man left after saying a bunch of cryptic things.
The priest of Estia, observing my frustration, spoke in a low voice.
“…You are a soul from a world where there is no magic, no special abilities left. It is precisely that kind of soul we needed for our plan. That’s all I know.”
Something in her words caught my attention. “Left,” she said.
So Earth used to have magic?
If I had known this, I would’ve interrogated the priest the moment I met them. What were they planning?
I rubbed my forehead. There was no point in pestering someone who didn’t know. It wasn’t going to lead to any constructive conversation.
I recalled what I’d told the priest of Phoibos.
“You’ve done your duty. Go and rest.”
The priest of Estia nodded, leaving one final message.
“Someone else is collecting the relics besides you. I hear the screams of five souls. One of them seems on the verge of disappearing soon.”
Wait, what?
“The keepers of the hearth have completed their tasks. May peace be with you in the future.”
“Wait! Tell me more about that just now—!”
***
Damn it. I woke up to the irritating warmth of the morning sun.
I should’ve made her spill everything like I did with Carisia…!
I glanced at the lamp next to my head. As I half-opened my eyes, I confirmed it was indeed Estia’s relic.
Its function…
“Grants peaceful sleep to those who rest under its flame? Not exactly useful in battle.”
Now I understood why the Mage King wasn’t particularly interested in any relics besides Phoibos’. This one’s only good for a good night’s sleep, which is meaningless to someone like the Mage King.
Well, Estia was never a deity revered for her prowess in battle. Expecting a god of the hearth and home to provide combat-related powers would’ve been a foolish hope.
“Five souls, huh…”
It must’ve been one of the relics that the Divine Cult dug up from Pluto’s Grand Temple. Perhaps that was why the Pope didn’t oppose my excavation plan—they were after those relics.
I’ll have to look into it if the opportunity arises. I manipulated the gauntlet to connect to the Ether Network, checking the emails I’d received while I was out.
It’s a little sad that the first thing I do in the morning is check work emails.
Two notable messages from my L13 account. One was from Niobe, announcing an urgent meeting of the entire Panoptes organization, and the other was from Demus, informing me of his safe return. And as for the Grand Temple…
Wait. How did the entire temple end up with them?
I felt a surge of frustrated disbelief. After all the trouble I went through, I could only manage to collect a few relics, and the Divine Cult swallows up the entire temple?
Ignoring my envy, I checked the email from the Hydra Corporation’s Divine Investigation Office. Most of it was junk mail.
But there was one welcome name.
Lampades. A short message saying they’d be visiting soon.
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