Chapter 2 -
After hearing about the slanted tower from Sheal and Yahada, we quickly headed over toward the mentioned location.
Considering that the location was in the west, I guessed it might be another ruin that appeared due to the tectonic shifts. We reached the place by riding on the flying carpet and, indeed, we were able to spot it.
"Just like they said, there really was a tower here, huh?"
It was slanted diagonally, but a robust tower entered our vision.
I could spot some signs of chipping on the tower that was taller than any of the trees in the forest, but it was otherwise clean, and there wasn't a single stain on it that would have been proof that it had been buried underground.
I took a peek inside and the majority of things in the tower had already decayed. I also saw traces of it being used by people.
"What's this tower, Majou-sama?"
"I don't know. But first, ... Didn't work, huh?"
I used appraisal magic, but I still didn't understand what this tower was.
Though I understood that the stones of the tower were made up of things like monster materials blended through alchemy or synthesis, and it has also been enchanted with mana.
However, while it had signs of being damaged, the tower hardly looked weathered. I tried to reverse calculate its age from its condition, but this also ended in another failure.
Fortunately, it didn't seem like it was rigged with anything dangerous like traps and such so I could investigate inside with a piece of mind.
"Teto, how is the ground around the tower?"
"The soil is definitely not from here! It's as if it was moved-nanodesu!"
Teto stabbed her hand into the ground to investigate the tower's foundation as well as the soil around it and said that the ground around the tower was not from here.
As if it was moved, huh?...... It might have been moved to this place similar to how I teleported the floating island to the .
"Is it the result of someone experimenting with teleportation magic, or did it get caught up in an accident? Anyway, let's investigate it from the inside."
If it was due to an experiment, there shouldn't have been any need to specifically use a tower, but if it was an accident, then it would explain the traces of someone using it, probably the person who got caught up in the accident or even before that.
Thinking we might find some kind of lead if we searched around the deteriorated interior, Teto and I explored the insides of the tower.
The interior was damaged here and there but it was surprisingly clean, and, in my opinion, it could be brought into use again after fixing its foundation, righting the inclination, and repairing the damaged area.
"I guess we can turn it into some kind of facility after fixing it......"
Like turning it into a facility for compounding or for mana tool experimentation which would usually cause a strong smell or make loud noises if done in the mansion otherwise.
The tower's stone seemed to be made of a mixture of monster materials so it didn't look like it would break easily. Besides, wasn't it typical for a witch or a sage to live in a tall tower?
While thinking about all this, I looked around the tower's interior with Teto.
First, I picked up the items scattered on the floor and put them in the magic bag. As I thought of sorting them later, Teto seemed to have found a book.
"Majou-sama~ Teto can sense mana from it!"
"Nice, Teto. State preservation has been applied to this book. Let's open it."
I quickly opened the book since it wasn't really locked and I was able to read its contents thanks to the language comprehension ability I received when I reincarnated.
"It seems to be an ordinary diary from its content. There are occasionally some incomprehensible nouns, but there's no specific strange point about it even from the beginning and end."
"Unn-unn. Teto can't read it. Teto didn't understand!"
Teto could only read the characters that were widespread in the ninth continent that we were living in, so she was unable to read the book.
Considering that, I wondered if this was the language of another continent, or maybe an old forgotten language.
"Let's keep it for now, we'll read it later."
There might be some hints in the diary so I was planning to carefully read the contents after calming down.
Nonetheless, this really was a mysterious tower.
"Majou-sama, we should ask Kami-sama times like this!"
"Ask Kami-sama... Do you mean Liliel or Lariel? I wonder if they can tell us."
To begin with, I didn't even know if we could initiate a connection with a dream oracle from our side.
For now, I erected a barrier around the tower so that other people or mythical beasts didn't mistakenly enter. After that, we returned to our residence while collecting medicinal herbs along the way.
............ ...... ...
That night, I, who had slept early, found myself in the space of a dream oracle.
I used oracle magic before sleeping, praying that I wanted to know about the tower from Liliel and it seemed like it went well.
However there was only Liliel and me, Teto wasn't there.
«What's the matter, Chise? It seems like you want to ask about something...?»
"We found a strange and unfamiliar tower in the «Empty Wilderness»."
«A strange tower? Can you elaborate?»
Liliel's expression turned slightly grim when I explained it to her, after which she made a deep sigh.
«*Sigh*...... So that's what it is, huh?»
"Err...... Did we do something we shouldn't have?"
«No, you're obviously doing well with your work. After all, it's for living freely in this world. The problem is the tower that has suddenly appeared.»
I was a bit anxious, wondering if we did something unnecessary by searching that tower, though Liliel only showed a troubled smile.
"I don't understand at all. There shouldn't have been anything there until a few days ago when Sheal spotted it, it was as if it sprouted from the ground."
«You're not exactly wrong in your judgment. Well, it's a 'Space-Time flotsam'.»
"Space-Time flotsam?"
As I tilted my head at the unfamiliar term, Liliel looked as if she didn't know how to explain it to me.
«'Space-Time flotsams' are living things or objects that have drifted from outside the world. In layman's terms, they're like meteors.»
Like the meteors that are attracted by the gravitational pull of a planet, the 'Space-Time flotsams' that drift in between the space of worlds appeared from the space-time hole. They were pulled in by the force of the world, apparently.
«In this ninth continent, Heaven Goddess Leriel is in charge of managing them and making them appear deep in the mountains or in demon-infested areas to keep them from doing people harm. Considering the situation, it's indeed far away from the general populace, maybe she guided it to Chise's place.»
'So that's why an unfamiliar structure suddenly appeared,' I nodded in understanding.
"I see. So does that mean the ruins people find after clearing away the demon-infested regions are......"
«To start with, there are too many Space-Time flotsams like the tower. The flow of time in space-time varies so there are times when something from thousands of years ago would appear almost intact. Also, Heaven Goddess Leriel protects the people who fall into space-time holes and then returns them to their proper place and time.»
The root cause of the various fairy tales and folklore that resemble Urashima Taro like the lost house mysteries where you encounter a house in the middle of a mist-filled forest or the times when many years had already passed when you just returned from visiting someone could all be traced back to them being caught up in such cases of space-time shenanigans.
"The world is really full of wonders huh."
«Indeed. The structure this time didn't seem like it would pose any danger. After analyzing your story, I think it's a building that had been transported into another dimension due to the magic rampage caused by the ancient magic civilization 2000 years ago and is now back in its place.»
"So that's how it is. Then I think there shouldn't be any problem if we reuse it, right?"
«Yeah, you can. Though be careful since the state of space-time is not looking well recently. Maybe even more Space-Time flotsam may drift there.»
"Thank you. You really solved my problem. Well, that being said, I'm not an expert in space-time."
Then as I chatted with Liliel a bit more after that, I felt my consciousness drifting away.
It seemed like the time limit for the dream oracle was about to end.
«Well then, goodbye Chise. Let's meet again later.»
"Goodbye. I also want to have another meeting alongside Teto next time."
In this way, I came to know about the origin of the tower. The world was really a place of wonder, wasn't it?
