Foreigner Volume 8, Chapter 171

Volume 8 Chapter 171, Steady Advance ~ 24

　The next day.

　The checkpoint in Arsweta, where they arrived, was normal, and they were not reprimanded for leaving the country.

　Strictly speaking, there was a small problem ― a soldier, misled by Minerva's sex appeal, almost reached out to her, but Satoru stopped him by grabbing the soldier's wrist.

　The soldier tried to be strong but was unable to do so. His wrist was almost crushed by Satoru's grip, and he was intimidated by Isolde's invisible, blindingly fast punch, which cut only the chinstrap of his helmet.

　Fearful of Satoru and Isolde's unusual abilities, as well as the letter, was given to him by the knight of his country, the soldiers only collected the departure tax as per protocol, which Satoru duly paid and safely entered Arsweta.

　Satoru's immediate goal was to meet the Feather Dragon.

　The land of Arsweta, their destination along the way, is a vast and endless mountain range. The mountains are probably between 3000 to 4,000 meters high. Some of the higher peaks are covered with snow.

「The terrain has suddenly become mountainous.」

「Arsweta is a mountainous area called the Dragon's Claw.」

　Rico is sitting in the driver's seat. She shrugged her shoulders at Satoru, who was gazing at the mountain range spread out ahead with a gaze that could be described as dismay.

　The Dwarves smelt the various ores from the mountains to produce iron and other metals. Arsweta is one of only two dwarven nations on the vast continent.

「Dwarves are not as numerous as humans, and their strong family ties mean that very few of them venture outside the country. The same is true of Einzel, another Dwarf country, but the terrain is mountainous, except for the towns, and the land is infested with magical beasts, making it a difficult place to live.」

「I see.」

　Next to Satoru, Isolde adds an explanation.

「Their nature is stubborn. Once you build a relationship of trust with them, it is not so difficult to break it, but it takes a lot of work to build it. They are around 4 feet tall and stocky. As a race made from earth and fire, they excel at blacksmithing. They love power, metal, and booze, and are basically a generous race.」

「Well, pretty much as I expected.」

　Satoru muttered with a stroke of his chin. Isolde gives Satoru a strange look.

「Expected? Is there a Dwarves in Milord's world?」

「On the contrary, there are no elves or aquatic tribes. Only humans speak a language and build a society.」

「Then why have you expected the dwarves are like that?」

「There are many fictional stories being told. And we can see a lot of worlds with such people in them.」

　Satoru does not know the origin of the Dwarves. He just knows that they have appeared in many stories over the ages.

　Leia interrupted the conversation.

「I'm very curious about that. My Lord accepted this world easily, even though you came from a world without sorcery. You quickly became accustomed to using sorcery from your imagination. You have a very good imagination, or perhaps you have a strong fantasy」

　Aside from having a high imagination, it's complicated in his mind to be told that he has a strong fantasy. Satoru showed a reluctant face and honestly voiced his complaint.

「...... honestly, it's complicated.」

　Leia shrugged her shoulders.

「Simply. I wonder if it's because your imagination is trained by those fictional stories that you have that enormous soul.」

　By that argument, in Satoru's world, the patients with the second-grade disease would have high soul across the board. That's a bit of an unpleasant imagination. Satoru's face, which had been frowned, turned even more frowned.

　Fortunately, Satoru was different, but it seems that those who are aware that they have a very different soul may give up on returning to their original world too soon and want to reign in this world. Generally speaking, there are many such stories. Considering this, it may be a good thing that Satoru was summoned to this world.

「I don't know the truth, though. If a person summoned from the world of my Lord to this world possesses a soul outside the standard, then no wonder the 【Otherworld Summoning】 is a forbidden art.」

　Satoru chuckled. Certainly, if a being that could destroy the balance of the world could be summoned so easily, this world would have disappeared long ago. Perhaps that is the reason why it was designated as a forbidden art.

　Come to think of it, Satoru turned his attention to Isolde. This woman was the head of a clan that had been in existence since mythical times.

「Isolde, is there any story about other members of your ex- clan who were summoned to this world through 【Otherworld Summoning】?」

　Isolde tilted her head with a straight face in response to Satoru's question.

「Well, I've never heard of them. When I say that someone possessed an extraordinary soul like Milord is...... Feather Dragon, the Holy Dragon, the Demon King, and so on.」

「...... No way.」

　He doesn't know about dragons, but the term "Demon King" made Satoru think twice.

「The Ancient Magical Kingdom was established nearly 1500 years ago, and it was destroyed in a Seven Days Disaster or whatever it's called, and the current sorcery world has been in existence for a little over 500 years ago. How many years ago did the Demon King defeat?」

「About 1,700 to 1,800 years ago. It was 200 years before the Ancient Magical Kingdoms were established.」

　The history of this world is divided into three major periods.

　First, the Age of Creation to the Age of Myth.

　Then, the Age of the Ancient Magical Kingdoms.

　And now, the Age of Swords and Sorcery.

　The turning point from the Age of Myth to the Age of Ancient Magical Kingdoms was the end of the war between the human race and the demon race in the form of the defeat of the Demon King. The other races of Elves, Dwarves, and Aquatic races did not antagonize each other but developed in co-existence and co-prosperity.

　The end came with the Seven Days' Disaster. All of the Towers of Magic, which had been the most important part of the Ancient Magical Kingdom, were destroyed, and the wizards who needed the towers to survive were exterminated.

　After these two transitions, they are now in the present era. How long the Age of Myth has been in existence is not known to the present world. It is believed to be around 2,000 years old.

　The interval between the Age of Myth and the establishment of the Ancient Magical Kingdom is surprisingly short, Satoru groans. Ingolsheness, who reigned as the Lord of the Labyrinth of the World Tree, was a demon race and ageless being, but he was also at least 1,800 years old.

「What was sorcery and magic like around the first heroes?」

「Sorcery was common. Magic was established just around that time, or so I've heard.」

「Uwaah, that's a bit weird when you put it like that.」

　Sorcery was in the world originally, that is to say.

　By being able to use magic, a different kind of skill without being biased by talent or ability, people were able to advance the war against the demon race, defeat the Demon King, and end the age of warfare ― if what Isolde says is true, then the assumption is valid.

　Sorcery was once in decline because magic was useful. When the Ancient Magical Kingdoms fell and magic was no longer available, sorcery, which had fallen into disuse, was reconstructed in this world and continues to the present day.

　From Satoru's era, 1700 to 1800 years ago, that would be around the 200s, around the 3rd century. (サトルのいた時代から１７００年から８００年前というと、西暦２００年代、３世紀ごろ)

「If it were Japan, it would be Himiko's era? I wonder. ...... It doesn't necessarily have to be Japan. When I think of magic and sorcery, could it be Europe? No, but ......」

　The thought turns at high speed in Satoru's own way. But Satoru is the type of person whose hands go out before he can think, and to be honest, he is not suited to using his head. Satoru uses his brain to the point where you would think he was emitting smoke.

　Of course, he doesn't know the truth about the creation of this world. But, 

「What's bothering you?」

「Language. Leia said that the language translation might be embedded in the summoning art, but I'm wondering if it's not actually being translated.」

　Isolde's question raised a question that Satoru had been harboring all along. Leia had pointed out that it might contain a formula that would be translated automatically, but he didn't feel that it was different.

　For example, proper nouns. There are some differences, of course, but they are not translated and their unique names are transmitted to Satoru. If they were to be truly translated, even such things should be translated, but the names of things were straightforwardly conveyed to Satoru. The names of animals, plants, and flowers are examples.

　On the other hand, the names of words and people used in sorcery are mixed in non-Japanese languages such as English and German.

　It is as if a Japanese person is playing an MMO on a stage set by a European or an American.

「I feel that the language used in this world is Japanese ......, the language of the country where I was in the world where I was. The kana character was invented a little later than the time of the first hero, but the direction and even the grammar of the letters are so Japanese-chic.」

　The reason why Satoru was able to learn the letters of this world so easily is because the pattern of the letters of this world was so close to the usage of kana: The use of the 50 syllables, the use of voiced sound, semi-voiced sound, and diphthongs （ゃ　ゅ　ょ）, etc. The patterns of letters and language are too close to each other to give the illusion that kana is the base of the language.

　The documents of this world are, to Satoru, a series of kana. The only difference is the form. The absence of kanji makes them look as plain as sentences, but even if they developed independently, this is close to a miracle.

　Characters develop according to the language they are written in. English is a combination of 26 alphabets, while Kanji characters are complex, and Arabic characters are 28. Kana is a complex form, combining 50 characters, plus voiced sound, semi-voiced sound, diphthongs （ゃ　ゅ　ょ）, and so on. But in this world, they have come to be used commonly ― in other words, they have become the norm.

「......Are you saying that the language was actually introduced by someone from Milord's world who has been summoned from another world?」

「It's just a matter of possibility.」

　That would make things easier. Of course, there are differences between the Japanese language of that time and the modern Japanese language, but the pattern of vowels in the Japanese language is unique. The language was transmitted only as a language before writing was introduced, and the characters were developed in this world, so it makes sense that there are similarities in the characters.

　However, there are some oddities, such as the fact that some expressions are derived from Chinese characters, and some words are understood only with Chinese characters, so it is difficult to make a blanket statement about this.

「No, but the core of the Tower of Magic is the price to pay for 【Otherworld Summing】. The technology of the Tower of Magic is from the time of the Ancient Magical Kingdoms, you know?」

「Maybe it changed that way after modifying the art during the time of the Ancient Magical Kingdom. Not to be used too casually, I guess.」

「I haven't been able to study it to that extent yet, but murghh......」

　When was the sorcery of 【Otherworld Summoning】 perfected? That fact is in the dark of history. Perhaps it was in the Age of Myth. It is possible that the dangers were realized over time and the art was modified so that it could no longer be used so casually.

「If that is the case, it makes sense that 【Otherworld Summoning】 was forbidden in those days.」

　The Demon King was created by 【Otherworld Summoning】. As Leia pointed out earlier, if the people summoned from the other world to this world are all possessed large soul, the possibility is extremely high.

　Unparalleled great power is also a thing that drives one's ambition to conquer the world. If the person on the other side of the world who was summoned to that world was aware that he possessed unparalleled immense power and stood up as the Demon King, then it is possible that he is the Demon King.

「I have no proof, but ...... if that is the case. The Demon King who was summoned as a Foreigner created the Demon race and made a terrible mistake in trying to divide the world. A terrible mistake against this world.」

「Even so, Onii-san. That is not for you to think about, and you are not responsible for anything.」

　Liz interrupted hurriedly.

　Even if that were true, there is no need for Satoru to take responsibility for it. However, Satoru's words sounded as if they were true and he was even willing to bear the responsibility as a Foreigner.

　Leia gently squeezed Satoru's hand. Leia also had the same fears that Liz had.

「The battle between humans and demons may have been the reason for the development of sorcery and the prosperity of the world. Liz is right. There is no need for you to be concerned. First of all, there is no guarantee that it is true. Besides.」

　Leia broke off and smiled mischievously.

「There is a possibility that it is the other way around. The first hero may be the one who has been summoned to this world.」

「...... Oh!」

　That is certainly a possibility. The sorcery that was created to counter the Demon King who reigned since the time of the creation of the world, using the best of the sorcery of the world at that time, may have summoned the heroes who defeated the Demon King.

「We don't know whether it is true or not, and he was summoned to save the world. You can think of it that way. Besides. It's cooler that way, isn't it?」

「True」

　Satoru smiled back at Leia's concern.

　There were people who were summoned in the past, and it was so dangerous that the art was designated as forbidden ― this idea is the most obvious. But even if this is the case, there is no need for Satoru to atone for the mistakes of the past Foreigners.

「...... But which is the truth, and which may be wrong. This makes the myths that have been handed down in this world today seem doubtful.」

　All Satoru has heard is that God, who was the only being, became the earth, leaving the four elements, a race was born, and the Five Dragons came to live on loan, and so on.

　Satoru laughs as he begins to ponder the origins of this world. No matter what he thinks, Satoru is living in this world now.

「Well, let's not worry about that. Let's just go to the town and negotiate to see if we can get an airship built, and then we'll see.」

　Liz and Leia are right, there is no need to correct the mistakes of the past Foreigners.

　But how will antisocial acts such as destroying the Chalk Tower of the Academy of the Wise be handed down to future generations?

　Satoru shook his head as he realized that he was thinking about something that was out of bounds.

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