Chapter. 20. Off-Road (11)
****
“Hello, hello? Hey captain! Are you listening?!”
Crackling- Crackling-
“I found it! I think I found Airship No. 1! “I can see the head, the head!”
Chijiiiiiii—-
This is it. I feel like I want to dance right now, but I can’t because I’m underwater.
I contacted the salvage ship to quickly deliver some good news, but there was no response.
“…Is there something going on outside?”
“Gwok. Normally, magic communication would not be possible at this level. Because unrefined mana is flowing over our heads.”
“is it?”
“Trust me. Even after this, I am still an aspiring wizard.”
Oh right. This guy was a troll trying to become a wizard. Since he’s been diving in this sea for years just to see that, he should know much better than me.
Click.
Since I couldn’t contact them anyway, I turned off the long-distance communicator. Since breathing equipment and other diving equipment use the mana of the built-in magic stone, turning off the ones you are not using is a way to extend the diving time.
Grumbling –
I decided to put aside my thoughts above and focus only on the discovery in front of me for now.
A pile of rocks that had collapsed as if from a great impact, and a prominent artificial trace rising sharply between the natural rocks.
“Geuuu. “I’m not sure, but it appears to be similar in structure to a mast.”
“It’s a mast. Many damaged airships were also unearthed in imperial ruins discovered near Teldrat. The hull, which symbolizes sailing, is engraved with water-based magic, and the sail, which symbolizes swimming in the sky, is engraved with wind-based magic. So, unlike the sails of regular sailing ships, the sails of airships have many small poles attached to the side of the main mast. “Because it’s better to engrave magic on a pillar than on a cloth.”
“Gwouk. knowledgeable After all, a ruins expert.”
“If you look for something that makes money, you will naturally find out about it. Even now, there are many nobles who invest in research to restore airships, and airships were the darlings of the Magic Empire’s technology. “It would be a huge success if we could find even a completely destroyed aircraft with only traces left.”
“then. “What would happen if the legendary airship whose captain sang like a crazy person is buried down here?”
“Of course it’s super awesome!”
It’s hard to judge properly because most of it is buried under rocks, but seeing that the end of the main mast, one of the weakest parts, was not broken like this… raised expectations that it might be in good preservation.
“…Do you remember what the captain told you about that?”
“Gwok. The 6th rank group magic of the Western Empire Magic Corps was blocked by hitting the bow. “He received only a few scratches from the Master Knight’s sword, deflected a lightning strike, and although it may be a lie, he is said to have once faced the God Emperor’s sword ‘Lionel’.”
“You’re crazy. Even if only half of the rumors are true, this is something that cannot be converted into money.”
It is a relic that even records that it was personally consecrated with the body of a saint on the aircraft that Roman Gachia Manson, the legend of magic engineering, loved the most and constantly renovated, pouring everything he had into it.
Religiously, it is a coveted item in any of the three schools of Gwangmyeong, and magically, it is likely to have clues to the lost aircraft manufacturing technology as it was the original aircraft, and it is valuable and expensive, but it is not necessary, and just because of its legendary durability, it is a noble item. It’s something you can attack with both arms. If you lift it up and put it in front of the castle wall, it will be incredibly reassuring.
Rattling. Rattling.
Fearing it might collapse, Eggwill and I carefully removed the rock as if walking on thin ice. In any case, in order to pull up a salvage of this size, we would need to talk to the higher-ups and make separate preparations, so we planned to secure just enough of a gap for the two of us to go in and check.
And the moment when the airship finally appeared between the rocks.
“Wow…. Woah….”
“Uh oh….”
Both Eggwill and I were unable to express any appreciation at the sight that overwhelmed our eyes.
“Hey, this….”
“Eggwill, it’s hard to breathe. “I’m so surprised that strange noises keep coming out.”
In the deep darkness of the deep sea, the ship was shining softly, illuminated by the magic lights of the diving equipment.
Seaweed growing here and there and small creatures running to avoid the strange deep-sea coral fire proved that this structure had spent a long time in the
sea .
Lighting up. Magical circuits carved with gold and silver magic stones were intricately running through the magic-engraved wood.
“This is… a legend.”
The first airship.
The beginning of the magic era.
This is an object that Roman Gachia Menson chose as his only masterpiece and was called an aerial fortress.
“found.”
As my heart was beating like crazy, the sound came out without me realizing it.
found.
found.
I finally found it.
One of the things I was looking for that I didn’t know about until the moment I encountered it.
I was sure of it the moment I saw it with my own eyes.
-Excited!
Like the relics that someone has come into my possession of so far.
I have prepared a meeting between me and this ship.
****
“It’s like a work of art.”
“Nowadays, with the development of various alloys, we no longer use expensive gold, but in the era before magic engineering was recognized as mainstream, gold was said to be the best material for transmitting magic power. So most of the early magic engineering equipment was like this….”
….Flash!
“….A lot of expensive gold has been poured into it, giving it a golden color overall. “This means that there is a possibility that this is not just an airship relic that only looks good on the outside, but is actually the first airship ‘No. 1’.”
“Gooooh.”
Surprisingly, Airship No. 1 was preserved to a level where its original form was recognizable. It is the first airship and a legendary relic known to have opened the door to the Age of Magic.
I tried to stay calm, but I couldn’t control my excitement easily.
‘Will we finally find out?’
‘What is this damn impulse that has been pushing me all my life?’
Exactly the same feeling as when entering the ruins on the ground.
It’s an airship that maintains its original form that I’ve never seen before, but it feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before.
Rumbling-
‘Spacious deck. Since it was created during the Mute War, it was built to accommodate a large number of people outside.’
‘Center of the deck. Probably around this time…’
rattle-
‘…there was a cover door leading down to the dock.’
My heart pounded – my heart pounded –
the unknown attraction felt so clear that I could now see it with my eyes.
Stairs leading down to the deck. cabin. A golden airship crossing the sky above the fallen moon and the well sand sea.
Why do I have memories like this….
“Gwaeok. Hyde, look here.”
The troll’s voice over the communicator disturbed my dreamy memories.
I was clearly inside the airship, but I saw Eggwill looking outside.
“this.”
“Not good. The bottom was broken. Quite very.”
“Because you can see the outside from the inside. “How bad is this?”
“Geuuu. I don’t know about the airship, but just looking at the shape of the ship… the keel was out. In human terms, it would be like breaking your back and losing one or two of your spinal segments. “It can be said that it has been completely defeated.”
“hmm.”
Looking at the state of preservation of the deck and magic engraving, I was secretly hoping that it would be operational right away.
Compared to the clearly clean top, the bottom was miserable.
One side of the bilge was almost completely destroyed. The three-ply, unidentifiable iron plate was bent like a taffy stick. All of the wooden and metal structures engraved with magic had caved in, revealing the complex structure inside the airship, and parts were pouring out of the broken parts, creating a hole from the passage inside the ship to the outside.
“Surely, no matter how legendary the hanging castle was, it wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.”
If we were to guess based on Grim Rock’s records…. the airship that Roman’s disciple drove into the Blue Line Mountains just before the Dragon Vein explosion. To sink here means to have at least been caught up in the moment of the explosion. Traces of the impact that seemed to have spread from bottom to top also supported such speculation.
“Twisting dragon veins. “Roman’s disciple, who went to the Blue Line with this airship, succeeded in arriving at the scene of the explosion.”
….Tsu side!
The blurry vision once again disturbed my eyes.
The appearance of an airship as clean as new can be seen overlapping the airship whose bottom has completely collapsed.
A huge hangar, not an ocean.
The shouting of a security guard can be heard not far away.
A lonely man in despair and me running towards him, panting
.
———
‘Berhan Berhaaan! Roman’s disciple Berhan! ‘Is it you!!’
‘Are you…?’
‘I’ll explain as I go, so start Line 1 right now! You have the master key! Roman gave it to me! ‘Shouldn’t we stop some idiot named Kyle from destroying the entire world?’
‘How did you do that…!’
———
Kyle and Berhan. Two disciples of Roman Gachia Menson in the captain’s records.
———
‘There’s only one that can get to the blue line before it’s too late! ‘This is not the time to hesitate!’
‘I want to go too! Kyle’s reckless plan will have irreversible consequences! But…’
‘But what! ‘Because you’re afraid of the Magic Empire?’
‘I don’t have the ignition key! There are two keys! One is for me and the other is hidden by Master!’
‘Well…that can’t be possible? Obviously, Roman said [Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot! I’ll prepare everything to be resolved when I get there!] He said the same thing! ‘Where did you hide it!’
‘Obviously, definitely…’
———
Berhan and the man moved amidst the shouts of the guards getting closer.
memory. A memory that is not mine but that I once had.
Berhan said. Clearly, the key is….
“You hid it in the prototype airship….”
———
‘You hid it in the prototype airship….’
‘Then it’s here! ‘It’s obvious that’s where the manic engineer hides something important!’
———
Before I knew it, I was walking with the man in my memories.
The part that magic engineer Roman Gachia Menson cherished most in his Airship No. 1.
A small piece of metal emits a particularly dull glow on the hull that reflects the light of the magic lamp.
[Airship No. 1]
———
Snap!
‘Hehehe! I knew it would be like this! This was originally a toy-like experiment called a prototype, but after it was successful, the name was changed. It’s airship number 1. Later, when I built this airship, I took the name plate from there and attached it.’
‘How do you do that…?’
‘….saw. A long time ago. With someone.’
———
….Too-duk-duk.
As I fumbled with the end of the small plaque, dead seaweed and a pile of dirt fell away, revealing a small space inside the plaque.
The ignition key of Aircraft No. 1 held by Berhan. The place where the other one of the two keys was contained.
Proof of reality that the fantasy unfolding before my eyes is not fiction.
The memories superimposed on reality began to return to the original, broken airship, at the end of which No. 1, carrying the two men, left the hangar.
Slurp-
[I don’t know who he resembled, but he was truly reckless. It was quirky and crazy, and I was very obsessed with not protecting myself.]
“?!!”
While someone was distracted by fantasy. No, there was something next to me.
[You and Berhan flew that way toward the blue line. There was a terribly fierce dogfight and we were a little late, but we still managed to get there. I succeeded in halfway preventing an explosion that would have completely destroyed the world.]
[I personally went around the sea and collected your remains that were scattered in the explosion. Although they are only a handful, I wanted to at least remember the heroes who were not recorded in history. So you have extended the world once again. Until that damn thing gets here…]
It’s an old man. No, to be exact, it was water in the shape of an old man.
The old man, who was muttering to himself with faint eyes, saw me very nervous and hurriedly waved his hand and backed away.
[Oh my! I’m sorry if I surprised you. I didn’t want to disturb you, but before I knew it, I was lost in my sentiments, so I stopped… This is it. Why is it the same every time we meet?]
“….”
[Just in case, if it’s your troll friend, I put it to sleep for a while. A fellow troll… You are still the same.]
Pointing with a transparent finger at Eggwill floating in one corner of the deck. Judging from the way his chest was moving, it was clear that he was asleep, but that was no reason not to be on guard.
….gulp.
I cautiously looked at the being that raised its hand as if there was no hostility.
This is the being encountered in the deep waters of the deep blue line.
He overpowered Eggwill, a troll, without warning, and also had the ability to deceive Oranite’s senses and get right up to him.
No matter how I look at it, it’s an unknown being that I can’t seem to defeat. It is natural to keep your guard up and keep your guard up, but…
“Who are you…?”
why. Why does my heart relax just by looking at each other like this?
Why does he show such a mischievous smile at this question?
[Who are you…. Well? If it’s my identity, shouldn’t you know it better than me?]
“….Me?”
[Yes, you. Didn’t you play this game all on your own? You made a request to the World Tree, and through that request, you regained your memories, and with the memories you recovered, you prepared for the next life, searched for it, prepared it, and were reborn… and so on for 200 years.]
[Haven’t you reached this moment after going through life after life? ? For the ‘last of the last’ you mentioned.]
The old man’s figure smiled, stroking his beard that had small waves.
=========
“World Tree. “Then I guess I’ll have to ask for the other one.”
“what?”
=========
How much I laughed when I heard Hyde’s explanation when they reunited. How much I cried when I found out the inside story.
=========
“I want a chance meeting.”
“Let’s ask for just one moment of coincidence. A manager can do that, right? “It’s not that big.”
“It’s a coincidence needed at the right moment.”
“yes. I will soon lose all my memories and live my next life as a Data Soul, so just this once. Please help me meet someone. “That’s all I want.”
“…That’s all?”
“That’s enough.
=========
Before jumping into a new life, Hyde asked the World Tree.
=========
“If it’s Notum, if it’s her I know, I can remember it. “Even if you lose me and face me in a different form, you will recognize me.”
.
.
.
“It really is a trick of yours.”
.
.
.
=========
So I did not forget it.
Under
the protection of the World Tree. Notum, who happened to meet Hyde, recognized the familiar soul inside him. .
Notum, who joined Hyde, who did not know the English language, on her journey with a determination that bordered on kidnapping, traveled with her for a long time and became close to him, just as someone who looked like him had done in the past, and in the end, Hyde was able to recollect his life that he had forgotten
. You succeeded in becoming a resident of a world with ‘original memories’, which Loitz’s game does not allow.
[That was your first life. The beginning of a ‘race of memories’ that will last for over 200 years. You can keep memories. Since there was none, he wanted to receive his memories through a being that was not bound by time. He was confident. If someone told him, he would be able to recall it if he just opened the gates. Somehow.] How could you
not be amazed
by him ? Anyone who knows the hard work wouldn’t take off their hat to show respect to him.
With his indomitable will, he finally reached the moment where he could share the same time as that guy.
[It’s been a long time, Hyde.]
After a long preparation, Hyde reached the last runner. To.
[We have been waiting for you.]
[Here at this moment. Just as we promised.]
With tears like blue jewels, the old man bowed his head to Hyde with deep respect.
Ottoman Baudelaire.
He was his last. Like a wish, it flowed to the moment when I needed him the most.
****
