CH 7

3-7 To the depths of a country that has disappeared

The Nation Raphia.

In the not-too-distant past, when the border that now divides the world was a peaceful river, that country was at the height of its prosperity.

The country was small and not very fertile, but it had the largest population among the four nations of the alliance at the time and boasted more military power than the remaining three nations combined, yet it maintained its power for many years.

The secret lies in the origin of the word “scarlet,” which represents Raphia, just as “green,” which means agriculture, forestry and dairy farming represents Fermina, and “water,” which means fisheries in Lurain.

What supported Raphia’s financial strength and even her national power, under the poor conditions was the continent’s greatest resource, a vast vein of ore.

In its heyday, Raphia’s production of precious metals accounted for more than 80% of the continent’s production and it controlled everything from mining to forging, shipping and sales under its own authority, constantly inviting artisans and workers.

However, the end came suddenly and without warning.

It was the generation and application of magic power, which was distinctly different from the development of known technology.

In the beginning, magic was an unknown entity, but mankind was able to convert it into all sorts of directions at a tremendous speed and in the blink of an eye, magic scholarships were established. Items that were closely related to life have declined and magic tools have replaced them.

“Well, In the early days, they were too attached to the old things to keep up with the times.”

Near the center of Raphia’s territory. In the air above the gently sloping marshland, we were on our way to their headquarters, carrying the girl who couldn’t use wind magic. I’m stroking my ears because I’m still recovering from the shock of the explosion I was involved in just a few minutes ago.

“That’s right, but that’s a very cold way of putting it…….”

“it’s my own country, that’s why I’m talking like this. I don’t know why you should feel sorry for a king who destroyed his own country with his ineptitude.”

From the tiny mouth of this girl, who was smaller than Marie, came a series of harsh and righteous arguments. Even though she was able to avoid falling with her country, I couldn’t say anything that she would find comforting, considering the circumstances of her life after that could not have been peaceful.

“If I’m being honest, it all started with our country. For Lurain, we’re even the perpetrators. It’s a shameful thing to try to calm things down by involving outsiders and it’s even more shameful to plead with them.”

The girl dropped her gaze and looked up quickly.

“To be honest, I was depressed. So I’ll just thank you for now.”

“…… a little rude.”

Marie, who was floating with the girl in her hand, screamed as if she suddenly came up with something. The girl’s body fell into Marie’s chest with a suspiciously frowning expression.

“No! let me go!”

“I’m sorry. You’re too cute.”

Marie didn’t try to let go of the girl, who is up to her ears in red, even as she apologizes.

The sky above was no place for a rampage. She’s not very good at wind magic and her body relies on Marie’s thin arm to travel through the sky. I don’t know if Marie is aware of this, but I’m sure she would have acted the same way if she were on the ground.

If she had been a different gender, it would have been out, but Marie herself looked more like a girl, so it was hard to criticize her.

“You and Chris really have no boundaries, …….”

” Isn’t it fine? I don’t have this kind of opportunity over there, so please let me do what I want once in a while.”

“I’m not a toy, I’m……”

The girl had a weak will, perhaps because she had lost the desire to argue, or because she realized that resistance was futile.

Immediately after, Marie, who looked at her eyes, nodded lightly. Apparently, the girl didn’t seem to be carrying any weapons and I was inwardly relieved.

As the scenery around her feet changed two or three times, the girl who was perched on Marie’s chest opened her mouth as if she remembered.

“I can see it!”

When I squinted at the thin, magical sky, the ridgeline that marked the end of the journey drew a dotted line on the horizon.

But no matter where else I looked, I couldn’t find even a sliver of a city-like structure.

“Where’re you looking? There! there!”

The girl’s fingertip pointed to the foot of a towering mountain and when the outline of the landscape became clear, Sage shouted in admiration.

Part of a huge gate was peeking out from a gap in the unnaturally open base of the mountain, which must have been cut by human hands.

It may seem hard to believe, but a city must be spread out beyond those gates.

“What? The ground above is already invaded by magic, but the underground area is still habitable.”

The girl sniffed proudly while being carried by Marie.

The closer we got to the surface, the more we could see traces of collapsed houses, fields and fences, indicating that this area used to be the so-called castle town.

At the same time, the scale of the gate that was said to be the entrance to the castle became apparent.

“……it’s huge.”

I put my feet on the ground and looked up again. It could be said that it was natural since it’s the only absolute entrance and exit, but even so, it was too huge.

“It’s said that they had it built just to show off their casting technology and it can’t be reproduced with today’s technology. Well, it’s difficult, but it’s unexpectedly not so bad.”.

“How does the gate open?”

“Nowadays, it opens in response to special magic tools. When there was no magic, the gate would basically stay open and when it was time to open or close it, they would blow it up and force it to move.”

“…… is that so normal?”

After hearing the real intention behind it, the girl shrugged with a complicated expression. Put her small back on the indigo door and tapped it lightly with the back of her hand.

“I guess this country had its own willpower and pride. You can’t lose those, no matter what else you throw away….. Oh and don’t use magic in the castle.”

Then the girl took some small items out of the pouch on her waist and held them over the center of the door. After a short pause, the view on the other side slowly opened up with an earth-shaking driving sound.

The landscape of the royal city of Raphia that appeared was far from what I had imagined.

“…………”

The door behind me closed with a roar and a cold curtain of darkness enveloped the area that made it hard to believe it was daytime. In proportion to the size of the door, the space was so spacious that you would think it was outdoors, but there was no sign of anyone.

No, on the contrary–

“….I told you that people can live underground. Nobody’s here in the first place.”

As if reading Sage’s thoughts, the girl spread her palms to the left and right and threw them up.

“It’s not a metaphor to say that the king destroyed his country. The majority of the people here now are sick people who have been affected by magic and the rest are citizens who can’t use magic. When a child like me goes out on patrol alone, well, you could’ve guessed.”

The girl smiled dryly and kicked the ground as if taking it out on it. Dirt, sand and weeds flew up into the air with no effort and were dispersed by the wind that blew in from outside.

This road must have been paved in the past. Now there were only weeds peeking out from the cracked bricks, just waiting for the time to decay, just like a ruin of many years.

“Don’t be so pessimistic. Sage will do a good job.”

Breaking the heavy atmosphere, Marie dropped a refreshing bomb as usual.

“I will……?”

“There you go again. I can easily imagine it, at first, you look like you don’t want to do it, but then you become interested in it and end up taking care of it.”

“It’s easy to imagine, isn’t it?”

Even Chris began to agree with a wry smile. She sounds angry for some reason, even though she’s supposed to be citing my good points.

“I don’t know about that….. but what are you doing here? You didn’t come here out of curiosity, did you?”

“A monster that escaped from this country broke into the examination site near the border. We couldn’t continue the exam at all.”

“Oh, so the one I missed crossed the border. I’m sorry to hear that. ……”

The girl’s legs, which responded lively, fluttered in a hurry a few steps away.

“…… Ah? Wait, an examiner? Are you a holy knight?!”

“Yes, that’s right …….”

Chris flinched involuntarily under the pressure of her momentum. The girl closed the distance between them, stretched and put her hands on Chris’ shoulders. Her eyes were slightly moist with a complex color and she hesitantly opened her mouth.

“You can use healing magic, right? There are a lot of people who are in a bad state after being affected by magic……”

“Please guide us to them…….”

My reply was slurred because Chris looked at me and dutifully confirmed my permission.

As soon as she received Chris’s intention, the girl pulled Chris’s hand and started running. While we were running after Chris, who seemed to have a hard time running because of the height difference and observing our surroundings, Marie, who was following behind us, gently leaned in close.

“Sage, how do you see this situation?”

“Which of these situations are you referring to?”

“Many.”

Whenever Marie asks me a question like this, it’s usually when I can’t express what I want to say properly or when I’m not sure of my answer.

In this case, I guess both are true.

“At least up to the point where the border broke down and the country was destroyed, as it’s commonly known…….”

I don’t know what happened after that.

In the midst of a catastrophe that could destroy a country, how could a human being, who should have no way to resist the magic, survive?

Where did that powerful monster come from and what was its purpose?

And perhaps the thing Marie wants to know the most is the hint of some kind of magic that drifts from the depths of this city, something that can’t be judged as either human or monster.

“It’s hard to say at this point. I don’t really know what’s going to be the solution.”

“As was the case when It first came out into the world, but the more complicated the story gets, the more the original goal is lost.”

“That’s right. We can only hope that nothing more will happen.”

Hoping that my pessimism would end in concern, I turned my attention back to the road ahead.

The curving boulevard was soon cut off and we came to a minor fork in the road.

This city, which seems to have been created by hollowing out the interior of the mountains, seems to have a structure that widens as you go deeper into the city. The information board that used to lead lost children through the vast area in the past has become an obstacle just waiting to fade away.

Eventually, my back slipped into the arched doorway. Compared to the scenery along the way, the surrounding area was kept neat and tidy, a testament to the work of human hands.

“I’m back!”

As we were told, we were taken to a space that looked like a hospital room.

Most of the examination tables were crammed together and most of them were occupied. Both ends and the center of the facility were partially raised and less than a tenth of the patients were sitting on the carpeted floor.

A few people stood up at the sound of the girl’s voice, but their expressions clouded when they saw us.

“Onee-chan, can I leave this to you? It’s a field hospital we found……”(*)

“No problem, but where are you going?”

“….. I’m going to show those two around. I’ve got another job for them.”

Chris didn’t pursue the slurred reply.

For one thing, she was probably worried about the people lying in front of her.

“Chris!”

As she was giving instructions to the gathered residents, I stopped Chris, who was tying her hair up.

When she looked back, I threw a magic replenishing potion and waved lightly at Chris who was surprised but brilliantly caught it in her hands.

“I’m sorry to leave you in charge, but I’m counting on you.”

“Chris, I’ll see you later.”

“Yes! Take care of yourselves!”

As if to replace Chris, who walked away with light steps, the girl came toward us and walked between me and Marie as if there was no one there.

Before I could call out to her, she opened the door and walked out.

“We aren’t very welcome, are we”

“I guess so. Well, I understand her feelings ……”

Aside from Chris, who had been popular before she became a holy knight, me and Marie were unknown and mysterious.

In addition, I can say that Rafia was the trigger for the eccentricity of the destruction of the border. Although it is quite a grudge, for the residents of Rafia who were entangled in it, there’s no way to deal with it even if they have negative feelings.

“Shall we follow her for now?”

“Yes, we should…….”

The situation is uncertain. The road ahead is difficult. The local people are uncooperative.

You can’t blame them for being emotional, but it probably wasn’t just my imagination that made the door I pushed feel so heavy.