Chapter 129. The Altar
Inside the city of Kendora.
The buildings, once overrun by invaders, had regained their original appearance.
And inside those buildings, useful supplies were overflowing.
So much so that civilization could be rebuilt with just a mere seven hundred people.
【Mir-Stin】─There are many amazing things here. As expected, it seems like this planet was far more advanced than Earth.
【Pururu】─ㅇㅇ It’s obviously an SF world.
【Mysticism】─😮 Even such a world can’t stand up to an A-rank, huh?
【Yumi】─It’s true that it’s more advanced than Earth, but it seems a little behind compared to the SF worlds we’ve seen in movies. I think it’s more like Earth’s near future.
【Bubble Bubble】─That’s the level of the near future? Earth must have advanced quite a bit.
【Luna-chan】─In terms of science and technology, Earth is way ahead of Elemencia~ ><
It was definitely a more advanced planet than Earth.
Hybrid multi-purpose tractors.
Smart irrigation systems.
High-strength lightweight construction materials.
Portable soil analyzers, and so on.
The place was filled with items made with technology far beyond that of Earth.
Even after 35 years, everything still worked perfectly.
‘At that level, there’s no need to dispatch Omega.’
I decided to save the designated dispatch ticket for later.
Of course, if the people of Kendora needed my help first, I planned to use it without hesitation.
After all, I had decided to take them under my protection.
I didn’t plan to hold back on support, thinking of it as a kind of investment.
That way, civilization could be rebuilt even faster.
And I told them that they could build the temple whenever they had the time.
It wasn’t exactly urgent, after all.
‘Since they said they would rebuild their civilization on their own, I’ll just watch for now.’
With that thought in mind.
I observed the people of Kendora as they worked to rebuild their civilization.
People were hauling various items out of buildings.
Iris was following them, capturing everything on camera.
The Black Magma Slime was playing hard with the few children… Or was it the children playing with the Black Magma Slime?
Anyway.
As I was watching the restoration of Kendora’s world.
【Pururu】─By the way, Geon. Remember the altar we demolished earlier? Doesn’t it look kind of similar to the dimensional altar you set up this time?
Pururu’s chat popped up at the edge of my vision.
“The altar we demolished earlier? I didn’t really take a good look at it, so I’m not sure.”
It seemed to be referring to the altar that had originally been in the temple.
How did it look again?
I didn’t really remember since I only glanced at it.
“Iris, do you remember where the altar we demolished earlier was dumped?”
─［I remember.］
Iris gave a short and firm answer.
She quickly moved to a pile of debris and pointed her camera at a broken object.
─［This one.］
“Hmm… it doesn’t look that similar.”
【Pururu】─Of course it doesn’t, it’s broken now. ㅡㅡ
【Pururu】─Before it was broken, it looked a little similar.
【Mir-Stin】─I don’t remember.
【Mysticism】─🤭 Pururu, pretending to have a good memory!
【Bubble Bubble】─I remember too, it wasn’t exactly the same, but it did look a little bit similar.
【Luna-chan】─That’s right. The engraved patterns were definitely different, but the overall structure seemed similar from what I recall. ><
【Pururu】─See?
【Mysticism】─😮
【Rizenova】─Your sharp eye has not dulled, Lord Pururu.
As the assistants’ chats continued to pop up.
A man approached Iris cautiously and asked.
─“My lord, is there something wrong with that altar…?”
It was the man who had demolished the altar earlier.
He seemed anxious, worried that he might have made a mistake.
“No, it’s not really a problem. I just heard that the altar looks similar to the one I set up, so I was just taking a look.”
─“Ah… It does look somewhat similar in shape. That’s quite curious.”
“Do you know who made that altar?”
─“I’m sorry, I don’t. I only know that it has existed since we started worshipping the god.”
Was it really a coincidence that the altars looked similar?
With that in mind, I continued to ask more questions.
What was the name of the god they worshipped in the temple?
How long had they worshipped that god?
The man answered as follows.
─“This temple was dedicated to the one and only god of our world. The god’s name is Geodani, and according to historical records, we’ve been worshipping Geodani as our god for ten thousand years.”
The man glanced at the broken altar before continuing.
─“There are also records stating that if we offered tributes at that altar and asked for help, Geodani would grant us blessings. Whether it was during times of danger or drought.”
“Can you tell me exactly what kind of blessings?”
─“Hmm… As I recall, the god sent divine messengers to solve the believers’ problems. They fought the believers’ enemies for them, and even brought rain during droughts… Of course, those records are all probably just fictional stories.”
The man gave a bitter smile.
─“There are also records that say the blessings stopped coming at some point, no matter how much tribute we offered… but I think those are lies too. There was never such a thing as divine blessings in the first place. If Geodani really existed, there’s no way he would have ignored our planet when it was facing destruction. Oh, of course, my faith in you, Gauntlet, will remain unshaken. After all, I’ve met you in person, received your blessings, and even spoken with you.”
“Ah, yes…”
─“Have all your questions been answered?”
“One more thing. Geodani never introduced himself as an explorer or ‘The Assisted One,’ right?”
─“…I don’t believe there were any records like that. No one has ever claimed to have had a direct conversation with Geodani. The records say we offered tributes at the altar to ask for help, and that the god’s will was conveyed through the divine messengers.”
“Do you know what the divine messengers sent by Geodani looked like?”
─“Ah, there are countless records of that. There should be a drawing of one too, would you like to see it?”
“Yes, please. I’m curious about how those divine messengers looked.”
─“Understood. I’ll head to the temple archives and fetch it. Please wait a moment.”
The man said, before rushing into the temple.
A bit of time passed.
The man came trudging out from the temple, looking defeated.
He was holding a single book.
─“I’m sorry. The archives have been severely damaged, and this was the only remaining drawing…”
“There’s no need to apologize. Just show me the drawing.”
The man opened the book and held it out toward Iris.
─“Ah. The part with the name has been damaged as well. I believe it was called Psycho Clown.”
【Pururu】─???
【Mysticism】─🧐
【Yumi】─Why is Psycho Clown showing up there?
【Mir-Stin】─What’s going on? What’s this situation?
【Mir-Stin】─Isn’t that the pre-evolved form of Necro Puppet Master?
【Rizenova】─Master didn’t look that ugly back then.
【Bubble Bubble】─Now that I look at it, I realize that Psycho Clown was relatively handsome among his kind.
【Bubble Bubble】─But doesn’t this mean… that the divine messenger was Psycho Clown? Could it be that Kendora’s only god was actually an explorer?
【Luna-chan】─Hohohek! That’s a reveal I never expected! o_O
I thought there was no way that could be true.
The god of Kendora.
I judged that the odds of Geodani being an explorer like me or ‘The Assisted One’ were near zero.
But just in case, I had asked.
And yet…
“It seems… there’s a high possibility that Geodani was an explorer with Trinity assistants.”
【Pururu】─ㄷㄷ?
【Yumi】─What?
【Mysticism】─😱
【Luna-chan】─We can’t be sure, but the possibility has certainly increased. ><
【Bubble Bubble】─It seems more than 99 percent likely that he was an explorer.
【Rizenova】─It’s like a twist of fate.
【Mir-Stin】─Oh? Then, could it be that the reason the blessings stopped coming was because that explorer died and could no longer grant them?
【Pururu】─ㅁㅊ That actually sounds plausible.
【Yumi】─Wow. The puzzle pieces are falling into place.
【Mysticism】─So the altar doesn’t disappear even after the explorer dies. 😮
It was a surprising fact.
Surprising, but not particularly useful.
─“My lord, should I continue searching through the archives just in case? Perhaps I missed another drawing…”
“No, that’s alright. You can return to your duties now.”
At my words.
The man scratched his head, bowed deeply, and rejoined the others.
Anyway.
It seemed I had inadvertently taken over a world that had been abandoned by an explorer long ago.
‘What a strange turn of events.’
I thought to myself as I looked at the scenery of Kendora.
It felt like a new weight of responsibility had been placed on my shoulders.
If I were to die like Geodani, Kendora would be abandoned once more.
‘…Well, as long as I don’t die, it’s fine.’
There was already a lot of weight on my shoulders.
If I were to die, all the monsters I’d tamed so far would be left behind.
So I resolved to be even more cautious and act carefully.
***
67th day in the labyrinth.
When I woke up and opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar object nearby.
It was a pure white egg with black stripes.
As I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and stared blankly at the egg, I immediately summoned all the monsters in the hideout.
“Hey, guys. Could you all gather here for a moment?”
“Nyang!”
［Yes, Father.］
［What’s the matter?］
［Kyuaa!］
I looked at each one of them.
And I quickly realized which monster wasn’t present.
“…Ah. The Centaurides isn’t here.”
The owner of the egg that had suddenly appeared seemed to be the Centaurides.