Chapter 74 – Chapter 74 ― Everyone Has a Plausible Plan (2)
Episode 74 ― Everyone has a plausible plan (2)
[ — General PD O : The king of Merde invaded Evirgio, aiming for the power of the ‘Dark Forest Seed’. When the seed is not found, he changes his goal to find a crystal mine containing the power.
Since the Crystal Mine is located at the entrance to the Dark Forest in Evirgio, close to the Merde border, I thought I would be able to find it while the war dragged on. But…
— S in charge of story: When you get off at the waypoint, you can’t find the condition of ‘walking for 30 minutes following the shadow when the full moon is at its highest’ (laughs)
— General PD O: Who made that condition? It’s heinous (laughter) (S: The youngest planner on our team. They say there’s a house on that street.) (All laugh) It’s a part that symbolizes the king’s foolishness. That’s why the character of Grünent shines more.]
According to what I confirmed here at Evirgio, even if not everything was included, there was no case where the story of the setting or strategy book was false.
So, it means that there is a corner that can be trusted even in a brief planning interview of such a setting book.
In the past, I had explored a mine in a game. I just want to see what a crystal looks like. It wasn’t too far from the waypoint.
Eventually he found a cave, and when he found a shiny ore, he laughed it off.
Did you come back after taking a commemorative screenshot?
Mine was a non-interactive background texture.
The dialogue in this game flows according to the script and choices, so there was nothing to talk about with the characters.
But here you can go directly!
Step!
If you only find the waypoint that becomes the standard.
That mine is also a mysterious area, so you can’t find it if you just walk without going through the waypoint. So you definitely need waypoints.
The remains that have not been found yet.
‘As expected, I have to see it myself.’
Then, Lauca asked.
“But why is Your Majesty looking for that crystal mine? I’ll find it anyway Not even seeds.”
As if all three women in the room had the same idea, Grunent and Helen also waited for Roan’s answer.
The emperor, who was lost in thought for a moment, opened his mouth.
“The decision of this mine.”
Everyone’s expressions became complicated.
“It nurtures life.”
Lauca opened her mouth involuntarily.
“No… Even in fairy tales…”
“The decision is real.”
Helen and Grunent’s eyes widened.
Lauca looked at Roan with her mouth open.
“I have no intention of finding seeds. If the source of the Dark Forest is that seed, then what can happen if you touch it carelessly?
However, the power of that seed permeates the surroundings and makes the crystals that will be fine. I intend to mine the crystals and use them for farming.”
It was hard to believe at first.
The ‘dark forest seed’ itself, which is the basis for it, is an object in the story that even children do not believe.
Even Grunent, who absolutely trusted Roan’s words, was hesitant about how to react to this fairytale-like story.
Helen cautiously opened her mouth.
“Then, master, do you think that Sprouse III has the same thoughts as you? He said he was going to find a crystal and use it…”
“Yes.”
Lauca’s expression hardened.
“How does your majesty know that the crystal is real?”
“… I saw it in a book. I can’t say anything more than that.”
Even if I explain more than this, I can’t believe it.
When Roan kept his mouth shut about that part, Grunent muttered as if to put things in order.
“Then, maybe His Majesty the King saw the same thing and thought the same thing.”
… It can’t be. Because the king of Merde couldn’t have made such a decision after looking at the setting book.
He decided to believe in such a floating story while he was ‘foolish’ and started a war. That’s how the character was created.
The fact that they invaded Evirgio to find anything, whether it be seeds or crystals of seeds, is a 100% established fact that the creators professed. If you find it, it’s good, but even if you don’t, war will lead to the weakening of the nobility.
Without knowing that no matter how much the kingship is strengthened, it is meaningless if the people collapse.
However, there is no need to correct misunderstandings.
“The ‘Dark Forest Seed’ is said to have grown the huge forest. If crystals have similar power… It is possible to speculate that it contains tremendous power.”
Grünent looked straight at Roan.
“But all of this is speculation. It’s a story you don’t know unless you look for the actual crystal, Your Majesty.
And if His Majesty had known about crystals or ores before, he wouldn’t have been so worried. You must have already brought it.”
Grünent is also intelligent.
Her sea-blue eyes met Roan.
“There’s a reason you couldn’t get your hands on the decision.”
“Hmm.”
Roan nodded his head.
“There is a hint about the mine. They say you can find the mine if you start searching from the huge ruins near the ‘Dark Forest Tombstone’ you mentioned earlier. We sent an expedition, but there is no result yet.”
After hearing Roan’s words, Lauca said with a puzzled expression.
“Huh? There are no ruins near the ‘Dark Forest Monument’.”
“Okay. That is the problem.”
Their eyes met.
Eyes that are certain of each other’s facts.
“Even the giant ruins.”
“But there is. It has to be.”
Roan’s eyes narrowed.
“It may be deeply buried or covered. But there must be.”
Roan’s assertion made Lauca questionable. A face that couldn’t be.
Weird.
By any chance, is it really not there?
Even if a hero unlocks a waypoint in the game, the only place he can go to first is Merde. Only after Lauca, who escaped with Grünent, enters the party, the waypoint’s mini-map is unlocked.
So, of course, I thought that Lauca told me all the waypoints, or had a map.
Actually, if that Lauca said that…
Roan’s heart was complicated. So should he start looking for mines based on the tombstone?
Are there no waypoints in this world?
To find the mine, you had to take a waypoint and come out.
I wish I could be there at the mine.
No way.
Doubt began to eat away at my mind.
Then, the ‘will’ that sensed the shaking of his heart comforted Roan. Are you okay. Don’t worry first
Lauca, who seemed to be lost in thought for a moment at Roan’s words, said as if she remembered something.
“The ‘Dark Forest Tombstone’ you guys were talking about.”
Lauca looked around at everyone.
“You know that the tombstone is not one on the continent, right?”
Helen nodded her head, and Grunent shook her head.
“Hmm. There is one near Basel.”
When Roan answered, Lauca nodded to him with her arms crossed.
“Hmm. There are several tombstones on the Moira continent. Then, has anyone read the epitaph themselves?”
Uh… I’ve seen it a lot in the game.
Should I say I saw it myself?
It was written in curly letters that couldn’t be read in the game. I came here and found out that it was an ancient language. In conclusion, I have never read it myself. I just recited the contents of the setting book.
Eventually, everyone shook their heads.
“Basel, the capital of Evirzio. Merde’s capital, Sprouse. Zeno at the entrance of the Dark Forest. And besides that, there are tombstones erected in several places. But no one knows what it is for. The last phrase that is commonly written is.”
“”The Goddess has left footprints”.”
“… As expected, Your Majesty knows a lot.”
Lauca shook her head.
“But there are words written only on the tombstone in the Dark Forest.”
“… Hmm?”
This wasn’t in the config.
“I saw some tombstones from other cities. Most of the last words have been erased, but they remain in the Dark Forest. The area near the ‘Dark Forest Tombstone’ is the border area between our forest fairies and the demons, so no one goes there, so that might be why it stayed.”
Rauca scratched her head and suddenly started talking about something else.
“It’s a story I heard when I was little.”
What kind of nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?
But everyone listens to Lauca.
“The sun, the son of Goddess Laurecia, sprinkles life on the ground, and the daughter, the moon, nurtures life overnight.”
Grünent and Helen nodded as if it were natural. It is a story that all the children of the Moira continent hear when they are children, even in the memory of the demon king.
A fairy tale in which the great Laurecia goddess creates all things, creates the sun and the moon, and imparts her life and power to the earth.
“But the Goddess wanted to see firsthand how her children handled things.”
“… Yes?”
Grunent widened her eyes.
“As a forest fairy, I don’t understand, but a human seems to understand.”
Roan frowned slightly.
My mother has run away from reality, Grünent has been abandoned by her father, and Helen is an orphan.
It’s all messed up.
In the end, all three of them just looked at Lauca with blank expressions.
Lauca looked at us with an absurd expression.
“… Ordinary mothers don’t always trust me like that! It was a response… Big. Anyway.”
Embarrassed, Lauca crossed her arms again.
“But the Goddess was still worried about young lives. She thought that if she suddenly met the goddess, life might be too surprised. That’s why she secretly went out for a walk at night.”
Whoa.
Grünent’s and Helen’s eyes sparkled.
She is also a delicate goddess.
“The goddess gathered her starlight, intertwined it with the moonlight, and made her lantern, and each night she began to roam about the continent.
And we forest fairies often hear the story of the goddess walking when they are young.”
My heart flutters at the word starlight.
Helen looked at Roan once.
“By the way.”
What Lauca said next was surprising.
“Similar words are written on that ‘Dark Forest Stele’.”
“What is written on it?”
“Only after lighting the lanterns will her descendants be able to find the goddess’ love.”
Helen, who had been silent, asked cautiously.
“Then, does Lauca-sama think that the ‘lantern’ is the lantern of the goddess in the story?”
“It’s getting more and more absurd, but yeah.”
Lauca shrugged her shoulders.
“I tried carrying a lantern to the tombstone, but nothing happened. So nobody cared. But, as Your Majesty said, if something is really hidden around there…”
“The inscription on the tombstone could be a clue.”
“You said that the tombstone in the dark forest is a place no one goes to. What did Lauca do to go there? Were you searching for something?”
Lauca laughed at Grünent’s question.
“No. I didn’t want to go, so I went.”
“… Yes?”
Helen asked involuntarily, and Grunent let out a small laugh.
“I was told not to go every day. Near it. I don’t remember what it was, but I was angry anyway. I ran and hid nearby.”
Looking at Roan, who looked a little pitiful, Lauca said as if making excuses.
“… When I was young, when I was young. But there’s a reason forest fairies don’t go there.”
“What is it? Mr. Lauca.”
“It is a strange place. If you go there, your magic will be sucked.”
“… !”
Roan’s eyes widened.
Okay. If you go near it, your mana will decrease.
The closer you get to the mine, the lower your mana. She thought it was an illusion at first, then panicked.
However, since she recovers when she goes somewhere else, she didn’t go to the mine to fight anyway, so she didn’t care. There was also a way to force yourself to load if you made a mistake.
But the whole area is like that… Is the area around it all a vein of crystal?
“That’s why forest fairies don’t go there. No, I can’t go Forest fairies become even more dangerous than humans when their magic power runs out.”
“Magic Oxidation… That’s right.”
“Huh. It’s like a person dying if they don’t drink water. Hiding there, I almost died. Adults may not know, but children are really dangerous.”
Lauka laughed lightly as if she missed her story of her own life being in danger, and said it casually, as if having fun.
“When I found it later, I was terribly scolded. She goes back to the elders and her parents and her sister…”
Roan organized his thoughts.
I need to find out about the goddess’ lantern. And I’d like to see it firsthand.
Is there really no waypoint, or is it simply not found? It might be helpful to recreate what the hero did while running away.
“Lauka.”
“Huh?”
Hearing Roan’s voice, Lauca looked back at him with a happy expression.
“I think you should look for it together with me. Mine.”
“… What?”
In an instant, Lauca’s expression darkened.
“Why…”
“Because no one knows the forest better than the forest fairy. It’s time for you to pay for your life.”
“No, wait…”
Suddenly, a knock on the door caused Lauca to shut up.
“What’s going on?”
“Your majesty. It is time to attend the meeting.”
Roan got up.
This is the last meeting of the year.
