Chapter 3: Knowing the Other World
The importance of information. Everyone knows it for granted, but few are able to make use of it.
For one thing, the means of obtaining information are limited. Another is that people are foolish enough to believe that the information they see or hear is the truth. Foolishness may be an exaggeration. For those who are unable to do so, being able to believe is something to be envied.
He is incapable of it. He cannot believe in the goodness of people because he has no memory of being loved by his parents. He is unable to believe in people themselves, having been bullied because of his individuality and having made enemies of all those around him.
Therefore, he seeks information. From a limited number of trustworthy beings.
Information brought by invisible beings is information that cannot be seen from the outside. He knows how valuable it is. He understands the importance of information better than anyone else and tries to make the most of it.
Without anyone knowing, without telling anyone.
◇◇◇
The third day started with a lecture in the morning.
The students who were happy that they could learn magic right away had their expectations betrayed. Because the content of the lecture was an explanation of this world and countries.
The students' reactions to this were roughly divided into two.
Some decided to doze off, thinking that such knowledge was irrelevant, and others, on the contrary, eagerly took notes. It goes without saying that one of them is right.
Not because it is important to take the lectures seriously, but because the content of the lectures is of tremendous importance to the students.
Most of the students will eventually go to some country and work there.
If they do not have some idea of which country is preferable for them to go to, they will fall behind in their future life at the academy. One of the purposes of studying at the academy is to make friends with people from the country you want to go to.
The priests who are assigned to give lectures do not tell the students every single thing. They knew that this kind of attitude will also be evaluated later on.
The Church is looking for the brightest gems, not the smallest ones that can be sold in bulk. The students will eventually learn why, but for now, no one can even think about it.
The priest proceeds with the lecture, not caring about the students who have decided to doze off.
This whole world is called the Iliad. They don't know where the name came from. Before they knew it, it had become common to call it that.
And there are countries of various sizes on this continent.
The country where the church is located is the Partheon. It is a city-state located almost in the center of the continent, with the church capital, Partheon, as its territory. However, even though it is a single city, its influence on the continent is powerful and unparalleled by any other country.
This is due to the number of believers in the Church of the Holy Heroes and the depth of their faith... not.
The influence of the Partheon Church is due to the power of the Knights of the Church, the Mages of the Church, and the Church's secret ritual of summoning heroes, which easily surpasses the military power of smaller countries.
Of course, the priests do not talk about this. They just boast about the influence of the Church, explaining how the four legendary champions and the Church's doctrines are wonderful.
As expected, the students who were eagerly trying to take notes were taken aback by this and stopped their hands.
Remaining in the church country is a case of having nowhere to go. None of the students made that assumption. The priest noticed the students' reaction halfway through the discussion and stopped talking about the church country and moved on to other countries.
Next, the priest explained the Luine Kingdom.
It is the largest country on this continent. The Western breadbasket is contained within its territory, and its wealth is unrivaled by any other country. With its abundant financial resources, it is also putting its efforts into military equipment and boasts the largest number of soldiers on the continent.
In the name of alliance, there are many small countries that are practically forced to be its vassals, and it is said to be the leader of this continent.
Needless to say, when the students heard about this country, it became the number one country they wanted to visit.
The counterpart to this is the Lemberg Empire, a country of warriors located to the east.
The first emperor, Lemberg, brought together the federation, which had been a multi-tribal nation, during the last war, and transformed it into a centralized nation with the emperor at its center.
Its military prowess is comparable in power to that of the Luine Kingdom. This country became the second most popular among male students. It seems that the sound of the country and the empire tickled the boys' hearts.
The third largest kingdom, the Izrim Kingdom, is located in the southern part of the continent. As its name suggests, it is a kingdom with outstanding power in the field of magic.
The king of this kingdom is not hereditary but is chosen by those who excel in magic. The current king is King Selim. He is called the best mage of this generation.
Not only does it have a large number of mages, but it is also active in magic research, and its technology for developing magic tools is far beyond the reach of other countries. With its superior magic technology, it is the third most powerful country on the continent.
The final major power is the United Kingdom of Mercenary, located in the northern part of the continent.
Although its name is the United Kingdom, it is a single nation with a single king. The name "United" is a remnant of the time when Mercenary was once a country formed by a number of mercenary bands.
At the end of the last great war, the mercenary king absorbed other mercenary bands and used their military power to take several small territories and set up a nation. After the end of the great war, there were naturally doubts about its legitimacy, but these doubts naturally disappeared when the major powers, the Luine Kingdom and the Lemberg Empire, recognized it as a nation. This was a result of their contribution to the end of the great war and the fear of their military power.
Now there are no mercenary bands. It is a country but in the form of a normal state.
On the continent, there is the Great Iliad Treaty, which was concluded with these five powers at the center.
About 150 years ago, a war involving the entire continent broke out. The trigger was the ambition of a small country in the northern part of the continent. With such strength that one wonders where such power exists, it flattened the surrounding small countries.
And this ambition stimulated other nations, spreading the flames of ambition throughout the country.
The war was complicated, with repeated alliances and defections, and it was difficult to know which countries were friends or foes. The continent was exhausted by the protracted war, and many lives were lost to it.
It was the heroes who had been summoned last time who reigned over it.
The heroes determined that the source of the war was a small country that first launched a war of aggression against another country, and led the Church Knights and Church Mages to invade that small country.
In exchange for the deaths of all the heroes, they defeated the king of the small country and the main players, making them lose their power to invade.
The other nations that had been drawn into the war by the small nation's agitation finally relented, and the flames of war disappeared from the continent.
The Great Iliad Treaty was concluded as a result of this reflection. The agreement forbade any invasion of other countries, and all other countries were to cooperate in dealing with any country that broke the agreement.
Even the Luine Kingdom, which has the largest territory, has no chance of winning if the other countries were allies. And a hundred years of peace came to the continent.
Of course, the flames of war have not completely disappeared from the continent. Conflicts between small countries that are not part of the treaty continue unabated.
However, if one of them becomes too powerful, the five great powers will quickly crush it. The Great Treaty was used not only to eliminate wars, but also to protect the status of the five great powers.
The priest explains what can be said to be part of the modern history of this world.
Of course, not all of what is spoken is true. Nor is it all true. Naturally, facts that are inconvenient for the Church are either not spoken of, or if they are spoken of, they are taught in a distorted form.
Whether they realize it or not, the students say nothing. They know there is no point in questioning it.
After the discussion of the countries, the content of the lecture changed. This time, the content caught the attention of all the students.
"Now, let's talk about the races that live in this world. We are the human race. Most of the elves live in the forests, while the dwarves live in the mountains and caves. Both races rarely come to human cities. As for the Dwarves, however, some of them are employed by the state as blacksmiths because of their skills."
"Priest-sama"
Hearing the priest's explanation, one of the boys raised their hands.
"What is it?"
“Are there any demons or beastmen in this world?”
“…Where did you learn about those races?"
The priest's eyes instantly turned stern upon hearing the male student's question.
"Ah, no, I know, or rather, with the knowledge of another world, that such an existence exists."
"I see... Demons and beastmen are not people. They are monsters. They are not allowed to live in this world."
“The beastmen too?”
"Of course"
“So cat ears and the like are not allowed to live here?”
"Cat ears?"
"No, it's fine."
Many of the boys were depressed when they found out that cat-ear moe was not an immediate possibility.
"Um, if you call them monsters, does that mean they are enemies?"
"Of course"
"Don't the demons have a king? What about the being called the demon king?"
If they were the heroes, there must be a Demon King to defeat. The boys thought so, but...
"Demon King... there's none. The demon race does not have a country. And although they are lumped together, they are a generic name for so many different races that it is impossible to fully grasp all of their information. It is unthinkable that all of them would unite to crown a king."
There was no demon king in this world. Correctly, in this era, there were no demon kings.
"What is the difference between monsters and demons?"
"One type of monster is the demon. Demons and magical beasts are collectively called monsters."
"What is the difference between demons and magical beasts?"
"If they look like people, they are demons. If they look like beasts, they are beasts."
"What about the beastmen?"
"The beastmen are magical beasts."
"Eh?"
Some of the boys were even more depressed when they found out that their overall appearance was not what they had expected, let alone the cat-ear moe.
“The beastmen race is what they, the magical beasts, call themselves. But they are not people, they are beasts. That's why they are magical beasts."
The explanation of this area is pretty much told from the Church's point of view. If the beastmen speak, they will say that the beastmen are a beastmen race. If not, they are at best a part of the demon race.
"I see……"
"Right. They are an abomination, but let me explain. If you go to a country, there may come a time when you will have to fight."
"You mean to defeat them?"
"Yes. It is also your role to eliminate threats to people. The first thing I must tell you is that both demons and beasts are strong. Even if you are a hero candidate, only a few of you will be able to fight one on one."
"Eh!?" "That strong!?"
The priest's words came as a shock to the students. Even though there was a disparity in the blessings they were given, they all thought they were special in this world.
“Of course, there is also the strength of the opponents, so it is difficult to make a blanket statement. Especially because the strength of magical beasts varies considerably. However, it is safer to think so when it comes to demons. If you have to fight against demons, please be careful."
"What do you mean?"
"The strength of the demons cannot be measured. Demons who look like only children can be incredibly strong. Demons have excellent magical powers, and they fight using that power, so their appearance is irrelevant."
"So we should not underestimate them."
“Yes. When you fight, never rush it and be fully prepared. And always defeat them in one fight."
"In one fight?"
"How should I put it? They are capricious, moody, and do not always fight seriously. It is not unusual for a demon to die while underestimating their enemy."
"Eh?"
"That's just the way they are. However, this is not the case with an opponent who has been defeated once. Not only will they do everything in their power, but on the contrary, they will be fully prepared and will fight in any way they can. If that happens, the chances of winning are reduced at once. Try to prevent that from happening."
"Why would we leave such an existence unattended? That's exactly why we should join forces and destroy them."
Yuya can't keep quiet when it comes to demons. A hero defeats the Demon King, that kind of belief is strong.
"If possible, I would like to do so."
"I will do it. A hero should originally have such a mission."
"Is that so?"
The priest responds to Yuya's story with a question. In this world, a hero is not what Yuya thinks.
"Eh? But a hero."
“Knowledge from another world? But I personally disagree.”
"Why!?"
"Can you defeat all demons at once? Can you destroy a whole race without fail?"
"I think it depends on the number."
There is no basis for this. Yuya is saying this without understanding the strength of the demons. Naturally, the priest knows that.
“There are not many of them. However, they are not necessarily all together in one place. If there are survivors, the demon race will attack the human race from one side to the other for revenge. Even if we could annihilate some of them, the whole demon race might start to act as an enemy. If that happens, can you prevent it?"
Even so, he stopped denying Yuya's words head-on. If you listen to Yuya's remarks, you can understand the height of his pride. He avoided needlessly stimulating it.
"...But demons are enemies"
“They are an enemy. However, the demon race will not attack on their own unless there is something wrong. Of course, it does not mean that there will be no damage at all. However, compared to an all-out war, numbers are nothing."
"That's absurd! It is not right to leave evil unchecked!"
"If we had the strength to take them down, we wouldn't leave them unchecked."
"That's why we're going to do it."
"It's not a sure thing."
"That's not true! We are hero candidates!"
Since they have been summoned to another world, they have a mission. As long as that mission is to be a hero, it is to defeat evil. Yuya cannot get away from this thought. But for the priest, that is an unnecessary thought.
"...Do you remember the story of the great war a hundred and fifty years ago?"
"I just heard about it a few minutes ago."
"I explained that it was a small country in the north that triggered the great war. Do you know how a small country could cause such an upheaval?"
"I don't know."
"Because the demons were supporting them behind the scenes."
"Such a thing!? I have to beat them after all!"
"Please listen carefully. Only one race helped them."
"One race."
"Yes, just because one race supported the war, the whole continent was involved in the war. What do you think would happen if the entire demon race got involved in the war?"
"That's... but defeating them is."
"You forgot what you just heard today. It was the summoned heroes who defeated that demon race. But those heroes were annihilated in that battle."
"Ah……"
Those summoned like themselves died. He had heard it before, but only now did Yuya get the meaning right. The same is true for many other students.
There is no such thing as a convenient story that if you fight, you will definitely win because you are a hero.
"The demons are so strong that even the summoned heroes have to fight for their lives."
“…………”
“I have scared you a lot, but I have not said that you cannot be stronger than the demons. However, we must not take the easy way out in our fight against the demons. We must never turn it into a war, but must suppress it through personal battles. Never forget this in the future."
"Yes……"
The priest said that the demons were enemies, but in reality, this is the case.
For church officials who believe in the supremacy of the human race, all non-human races are to be eliminated. The other party may consider the human race to be bothersome, but they do not feel that they are enemies. It is only individuals and organizations that the other party makes enemies.
"Well, I've spent a lot of time talking about unnecessary things. Now I will end today's lecture."
With these words, the priest leaves the place. As soon as the priest is out of sight, the students start chatting. Among them, Yuya still does not seem to be convinced about the demon race.
"I still think we should defeat the demons."
"The priest said that we can't do that."
Shizuru responded negatively to Yuya's words.
"If we all work together, we can do it."
"That's just what Yuuya thinks on his own."
"That's not true. Because we are special beings summoned from another world."
"Just because we were summoned... hey, why are you obsessed with demons?"
"Why, I'm a hero, so I have to fulfill my mission as a hero, right?"
"That's right, but... hey, what do you think, Takashiro-kun?"
"...Ha?"
Even though he was sitting nearby, Ren, who had never thought that Shizuru would talk to him, opened his eyes lightly and showed surprise.
"Because Takashiro-kun has no intention of living as a hero."
"……So?"
"You have a different idea, don't you?"
"...Why do you assume?"
"Don't you?"
"No."
"It's a lie. There must be something. Please tell me."
Ren's desire to end the conversation didn't work. After showing his boredom with a big sigh, Ren opened his mouth.
"...Are the demons the enemy?"
"The priest said they were an enemy."
“They may be enemies to the priests and the church. But are they enemies to others as well? Besides, the priest said that the demon race is not united as one. Doesn't that mean that the demon race doesn't have a sense of race as a demon race? Doesn't that mean they don't think of friend and foe in terms of race?"
“…………”
Shizuru showed a surprised expression this time to Ren who spoke all at once.
"What?"
"As expected, you had an idea."
"...I heard it myself"
“Because when we were listening to the priest’s story, you looked dissatisfied.”
"...I didn't."
"But Takashiro-kun doesn't think of demons as enemies."
"...The priest also said this. The demons don't attack unless we do something to them, they won't become enemies. They are not our allies, either."
"Yes, that's true."
The priest is also telling the truth. It is up to the recipient to decide how to interpret it.
"So if you want to fight, do it privately. And don't involve all of us together with the enemies. It would be a nuisance."
"You can't talk to me like that!"
Yuya immediately realized that those words were directed at him, and became angry.
"Are you going to involve people who don't have the strength to fight demons?"
"It is the mission of the heroes to join forces with everyone to defeat evil!"
"You can't do that"
"I can do it!"
"You can not"
"You may not want to do it, but I'm sure everyone else would cooperate!"
Yuya is completely dumb. This is not only because of a difference of opinion.
"That's not it"
"Not what!?"
"We can't all cooperate. No matter what you think."
"……What do you mean?"
Yuya's tone of voice drops at Ren's suggestive words. But this is only for a short while.
"You'll find out sooner or later."
"Don't be so presumptuous!"
He became angry again.
"I'm not trying to be presumptuous. I'm just not going to say anything because there's nothing to say right now."
"That's what it means to be presumptuous!"
"...Then, I'll give you a special hint."
He deliberately covers his ears with his fingers and says this.
“Are you making fun of me!?”
Yuya reacted more to Ren's attitude than the content of his words.
"It's fine if you don't want to hear it. I'm not obligated to tell you."
"...Speak"
The words of giving a hint also seemed to have caught Yuya's ear.
"What is the name of this church?"
“Church of the Holy Heroes, right?”
"Yes. It's a church that enshrines champions who appeared in the past."
"What about it?"
"That's what it is."
"I have no idea!"
"What about the others?"
“Are you saying that a hero and a champion are different, Takashiro-kun?”
Shizuru answered Ren's question.
"Yes. That's the hint. Well then, my story ends here."
"Wait a minute! Tell me more!"
Without caring about Shizuru's attempts to stop him, Ren left the place. He doesn't have anything to do. He just doesn't want to be forced to talk any more than he has to.
Even Shizuru knows that.
"...As expected, he hates me."
"Why? What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Eh?"
"It's nothing. Do you understand what he just said?"
"That is... what does it mean?"
Ren's hint didn't help Yuya.
"The church worships champions, but it does not worship heroes. It means that we, the heroes, are not the ones to be worshipped by the church."
"……That's"
Then what kind of existence are we? This cannot be understood only by Shizuru's explanation.
"This is about all I understood. I wanted to ask him what's next......"
"Hey, was Shizuru close to him?"
Mei interrupted here. It's not about the demon race or the church, it's about the relationship between Ren and Shizuru.
"At least he doesn't think so."
"I see... so, who is he? Somehow, he seems to know something that we don't know. I'm also curious about the fact that he refused to be a hero. And he also knows something about what we were discussing earlier, right?"
"I don't know."
"But Shizuru knows him better than us, right?"
Shizuru's attitude towards Ren shows this.
"...We went to the same middle school."
“So something must have happened in middle school. I could somehow imagine it."
By the way, this assumption is wrong. The relationship between Shizuru and Ren is not something that can be understood only by imagination.
"...Like I said, he hates me."
"In the past. He's a stubborn man, right?"
"I can't be helped. I betrayed him."
"Betrayed him. That's an exaggeration."
"But, it's the truth."
"......Shizuru is taking it too seriously. It's okay. Let's not talk about him.."
After leaving the room, Ren immediately finds out that such talk is being told.
(...As usual. Well, people don't change easily, do they? Now, did you sense that?)
The pale-faced clergyman standing in front of Ren's eyes let his face fall vertically in agreement.
(Well, how would I know that the building is bugged all over the place? The only reason I figured it out was because you told me. Thank you.)
The clergyman smiles happily at Ren's thanks. A smile that no one but Ren can see.
(Well, confirm today's lecture. I don't think there's such a lie today.)
(……Leave it to me)
Ren's occupation is a necromancer. However, Ren has that ability even before coming to this world.
There was one more thing that Bishop Mikhail was not aware of. The title that Ren has been given, the only title that is not attached to either egg or apprentice.
👍🏻
ReplyDeletethanks for the chapter
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