Dragon and Ogre, Sin and Blame (1)
Reiji passed through a small, compact room where the Sage was waiting. A book rest could be found inside, with dim lighting from a magic lamp.
There was an extremely large open square book of about 1 meter, and a person was sitting in front of it.
HIs bushy white hair was long enough to reach the floor. His eyebrows and beard covered his entire face, so I couldn’t see his expressions at all.
The clothes he wore were the same as the man who guided me in. But the metal chains that were loosely wrapped around his hands and feet were kind of creepy–according to【World Ruler】, the metal seems to be an alloy containing Mithril, which gave off a mysterious mana.
「Sage, I have brought him.」
「…………」
Before the man even said, the little old man—the Sage had been staring at me from under his bushy eyebrows.
「My name is Reiji.」
「…………」
He did not say anything.
When the man who guided me here left the room, the Sage jumped off the chair in front of the book rest. He briskly walked towards the wall of bookshelves.
When he held his hand over the wall that was sandwiched between the bookshelves, the wall disappeared and a path was created.
The Sage gave me a quick glance back, and proceeded through the path.
「…Do you mean for me to follow you?」I asked.
My【World Ruler】gave a strange reaction about the Sage.
—— “Impossible to decipher”.
It didn’t matter to me if he was a human or something else, but【World Ruler】simply repeated the “impossible to decipher” error message.
「But it’s not like I can choose to turn back here.」
I stepped into the passage where the Sage disappeared.
「Huh?」
The next thing I know, I was in a meadow.
It wasn’t as if I actually stepped outside. I perceived that because the surrounding area was a grassland as far as the eye can see, and there were no thick jungles or mountains that pierced the skies.
The most abnormal thing was the sky.
The cloudless sky was a mixture of madder red, blue sky, and darkness at night.
It was an empty sky that made me feel uneasy just by looking at it.
The Sage briskly advanced through the grassland. As if he had conviction that I would follow. It was a little annoying, but I followed the Sage, regardless.
After a while, we arrived at a place where a square cloth was laid wide. It was woven in a mosaic pattern with vivid colors, like a picnic sheet.
There was already an old man dressed in a similar attire to the Sage sitting there. But that old man had his white hair trimmed, without a beard, and his eyebrows were not bushy.
Purple eyes peered intently from his deeply chiseled face.
However, the unique thing was near his hairline. There were two protrusions there—like “horns”.
「Why did you bring him here?」
The old man in the corner said, in a hoarse voice.
My【World Ruler】was also giving an “impossible to decipher” error to this old man as well – but I was already starting to figure out who he was, no, who they were.
「Are you perhaps… the Vision Ogre?」
「Yeah, that’s right.」the old man in the corner said, without a care.
**
In the Back World, Human Mimic said:
——We were born to balance this world… pillars, so to speak. Two worlds divided by the goddess. This world was entrusted to the Vision Ogre, who created us.
The black humanoid guys, who are called “mediators,” are said to be automata created by the Vision Ogre.
If this old man is the Vision Ogre, then the other old man—the Sage is.
「Sit down. Don’t expect hospitality.」
The mouth under the bushy beard mumbled. The tone was that of an old man, but his voice was surprisingly youthful.
I took off my shoes and sat on the mat, still suspicious of the two before me. The Vision Ogre looked at me with interest – on a side note, he and the Sage were barefoot.
「As you might have expected, I am a dragon.」
「!」
The Sage said before I could even ask.
「This form is just a simple display. It is not necessary to explain the details.」
「Is it not necessary to explain the dragon blood flowing through the librarians?」I asked.
I noticed that the people called Librarians were different from humans; they had the essence of a dragon.
「You noticed? Those ones said they wanted to accompany me. They were originally humans, but because of their aptitude, I gave them my blood. But that is trivial.」
「Trivial, huh… Is it trivial compared to the reason why I was called here?」I asked.
The Sage nodded slowly.
「But I am just looking for a cure for Lark – my sister. I did fight the “mediator”, but that was because they attacked me first…」
When I brought up the “mediator”, the Vision Ogre mumbled with a blatantly disgusted face. Something about, “Do you know how hard it is to make even one…”.
…If you care so much about it, you should keep it locked up. You used it to sow chaos in the world, so I had no choice but to break it.
「Is it the girl who is paying the price for using the 6-star skill orb?」the Sage said.
「You know about her, Sage?」
「I am the “mediator” of this world, after all. The skill orbs support the world. It is natural to pay attention to the powerful skill orbs.」
「Lark’s vitality is declining. How can I restore it?」
「Destroy it.」
「……Huh?」
「Destroy the 6-star skill orb, and the vitality trapped inside the skill orb will return to the girl.」
「But you can’t destroy a skill orb…」
「That is why【Orb Destruction】skill exists.」
「Ah—」
Right, there is a skill called【Orb Detachment】for attaching and detaching skill orbs, it is highly rare.
On the other hand,【Orb Destruction】is not so rare – in comparison to【Orb Detachment】, that is. Since it is a unique skill it is naturally rare – you can choose a particular skill and destroy it.
「Originally, the orb would be destroyed when the person who took it died. But that would be meaningless in this case, right?」
「Yes……」
It is a problem which can be easily solved with【Orb Destruction】.
(The question is whether to let Lark know…)
Recalling the fight I had with Lark, I doubt I could convince her. To destroy the skill orb that Lark so badly wanted back.
「Then, let’s get to the main point.」the Sage said.「I want you to lend me your power, Child of Disaster.」
「My power?」
「You do have the【World Alliance】skill orb?」
「……Yes.」
There was no point in lying, so I answered honestly. I entrusted【Shadow King】to Kook-san back in Zackerhafen, but I have【World Alliance】with me because only I can use it. It’s still in the tool bag hanging from my waist.
「Use that power to connect the two worlds.」
「ーHuh?」
What the Sage, no, the dragon said was very simple. I understood the words. But I didn’t understand what it meant.
「Oi, dragon. Not explaining things is a bad habit of yours.」
The Vision Ogre said with a hoarse voice.
「Hmm… then you should explain. It was originally a problem born of your management.」the Sage said.
「Ah? Are you picking a fight?」
The Vision Ogre spoke vigorously for an old man.
「A-Anyway, can you please explain the situation? I don’t understand anything.」I said.
「Hmm, okay.」
Then, the Vision Ogre started talking about various circumstances that I didn’t know about. Information that I would have prefered not to know.
The history of the world.
