My encounter with Gaia’s premonitions was a series of revelations.
The fact that I would have a total of twelve wives meant that there would undoubtedly be four more additions. When Ed gave me the engagement daggers, there were also twelve of them. This made me suspect if he too possessed precognitive abilities.
In reality, it turned out that there were twelve goddesses, and he had simply chosen them to emulate.
However, the most surprising thing was the war against Retisencia.
While the Priests’ Guild had brought up such matters during their examination of Lux’s corpse, I hadn’t expected that using Demon Crystals would lead to a transformation into a race called demons.
What’s more, they even possessed Magic Stones, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them monsters.
That Magic Stone seemed to be of a rank comparable to a G-rank monster, but if a high-class individual from Retisencia were to use it, they would undoubtedly become more troublesome than Lux.
The fact that these were deployed in units suggested that normal-class individuals would likely use them as well.
The story mentioned me being cornered by them, but then saved by two humans.
Gaia didn’t know who these humans were, but speculated they might be some of the gods.
I couldn’t even begin to guess who they might be.
What I could say with certainty was that if the gods were intervening, it meant demons were beings that should not exist.
I didn’t know what Abaricia was thinking when they created Demon Crystals, but they were truly insane.
However, with the news that Mana would be giving birth, and that Prim, Rika, and Flam would also become pregnant, I felt both surprise and joy.
Rika needed to have a child to secure an heir, and knowing that it was now possible brought a deep sense of fulfillment.
I was surprised that Mana would be the first to conceive, but I also knew her desire to have children, so I was happy for her.
Flam was similar to Mana, but I had expected children to come a little later, as she planned to register as a Crafter with me after returning to Feel.
The most surprising of all was, of course, Prim.
Prim also wanted children, but she had no intention of having them until the issue with Valentia was resolved.
The fact that she was pregnant meant that the problem with Valentia must have been settled.
Gaia didn’t have a premonition about that, so she didn’t know what had happened, but even so, her pregnancy must have been a positive outcome for Prim and Apricot.
“Gaia, you mentioned there was another matter besides that premonition. What is it about?”
Oh, right.
I almost forgot if Yuri hadn’t asked.
Since there was another story besides the premonition, I had to hear it too.
“Yes. This is something conveyed not only to Lord Yamato but to all guests.”
“To guests? So, Grandma Sayuri knows about it as well?”
“She does. And of course, my husband Souya knows, as do Kazushi, Shinichi, and others.”
Something told to guests, huh.
“There are twelve Treasure Trees, but at the base of about half of them, there is a stone monument, although I don’t know when it was made.”
A stone monument at the base of a Treasure Tree?
I’ve been to the Treasure Tree in the Ideal Mountain Range, but was there something like that?
“I learned of it about 150 years ago through a divine oracle. There’s no stone monument at the Treasure Tree on Mount Willness, but I have confirmed its presence in the Solpreza Mountain Range.”
The stone monuments were also located in the Gagun Great Forest, Temellario Great Sky Wall, Seryado Volcano, Enigma Island, and the Mylight Mountains, in addition to the Solpreza Mountain Range.
It seemed there wasn’t one in the Ideal Mountain Range, which made me panic, thinking I might have overlooked it.
“There’s one in Mylight too. I was planning to visit it anyway, so let’s go after we return.”
“Right. But Gaia, why don’t you tell anyone other than guests about these stone monuments? You could secure them with the help of countries, couldn’t you?”
“I don’t know the reason for that. I am only instructed to do so by a divine oracle.”
A divine oracle means the will of the gods.
If that’s the case, I can’t push the matter any further.
“Souya, as well as high-class Sayuri, ancient-class Kazushi, and Shinichi, were unable to see the stone monument. All of them are in remote areas that are difficult to access, so while they could confirm the Treasure Tree from afar, that was the extent of their efforts. I myself did not descend into the Solpreza Mountain Range.”
Seriously?
There was a Gryphon at the Treasure Tree in the Ideal Mountain Range, but can creatures like that be present at other Treasure Trees too?
Indeed, if something like that were there, one wouldn’t be able to approach it, even with flying familiars.
“Then, Gaia, did you confirm the stone monument from the sky?”
“Yes. Fortunately, I found it quickly, but since Tescatlipoca is present at the Treasure Tree, even I wouldn’t have survived if I had gotten any closer.”
“Tescatlipoca?”
“Isn’t that a Demise Species of Jaguar?! Is one of those here!?”
There’s a Demise Species here?
Tescatlipoca, if I recall, was a god from Aztec mythology and an incarnation of a jaguar.
“That’s correct. It seems to have been born about 100 years ago, but since Lake Amur, where the Treasure Tree is located, is rich in food, it has never descended to human settlements. I informed the Dragon King of that era, but as the next Dragon King was that foolish king, Emperor Folias was unaware.”
The foolish king who monopolized the magical tools developed by Souya?
He was indeed a foolish king, having almost partitioned the country, but I never imagined he hadn’t even passed on the information about a Demise Species.
“He was truly an inept ruler. To not relay information about a Demise Species that could have destroyed the country to his successor.”
“He was also dethroned, but it’s more accurate to say he didn’t believe it. That king even considered enslaving us Dragonians.”
“That’s beyond foolish. Attempting to enslave Dragonians would undoubtedly lead to the ruin of the country.”
I agree with Ed.
Forcing enslavement would likely involve using subjugation magical tools for illegal slaves. The Priests’ Guild would never approve of such a thing.
While there don’t appear to be any Ancient Dragonians, even Hydragonians are less susceptible, and more importantly, if they learned of it, wouldn’t the Dragonians all transform into dragons and attack the royal castle?
“Indeed, that seems to be what he thought. Therefore, I had no choice but to show him my Library as a deterrent.”
Gaia showed me her Library, and there it was written:
Gaia Wilnes Crystal Tomari
Age: 224
Level: 72
Race: Dragon Tribe – Ancient Dragonian
Dragon Name: Crystal Dragonian
Holy Mother Dragon
Dragonians also display their dragon form’s name? No way!
“An Ancient Dragonian!?”
“So Gaia was an Ancient Class all along…”
“I… I didn’t know…”
Lydia and Ludia didn’t know either.
It’s understandable, considering that until Prim and I evolved, the only known Ancient Class was Grand Hunter’s Master.
“I didn’t inform only Lydia and Ludia, but Emperor Folias as well. Nevertheless, I have never hidden the fact that I am an Ancient Dragonian.”
If she never hid it, then shouldn’t people have been able to figure it out?
Even so, I can’t think of anything specific.
“Ah!”
“Crystal Dragonian…!”
“Huh? Did you figure something out?”
Marina asked curiously at Lydia and Ludia’s sudden exclamation.
Crystal Dragonian… Ah!
“Yes. The dragon name Crystal Dragonian indicated that she was an Ancient Dragonian.”
“Crystal Dragonian?”
“The dragon names of Hydragonians are unified by their respective elemental colors, right? I believe that for Ancient Dragonians, their dragon names are likely based on gemstones or similar names.”
There were very few Ancient Dragonians in the past, and their names were not recorded.
So, even though Gaia didn’t hide it, no one would have noticed.
“I see.”
“That’s correct. In the past, there were Ruby Dragonian and Sapphire Dragonian, but they passed away about 100 years ago. Therefore, it’s likely that no one currently knows the dragon names of Ancient Dragonians.”
Gaia said this with a hint of sadness, but she herself had forgotten about Ruby Dragonian and Sapphire Dragonian until she evolved into an Ancient Dragonian.
So she laughed self-deprecatingly, saying she couldn’t blame others.
“B-but why don’t you, Gaia, publicly announce that you are an Ancient Dragonian?”
“There’s no point. Even as an Ancient Dragonian, I’ve hardly ever fought. Moreover, I believe myself to be a shaman for the Dragon Tribe’s goddess. Therefore, I have no intention of leaving Mount Willness, nor any reason to do so.”
If she puts it that way, I can’t argue.
However, there is one thing that bothers me.
“If you are a shaman, why are you not registered with the Priests’ Guild?”
“There’s no need for that either. I believe I should be registered, and I considered registering when I was young. I even traveled to the Esperanza Grand Temple in the Bacion Theocracy for that purpose. However, just before registering, my predecessor Pope and I received a divine oracle.”
So she lived on Mount Willness as a shaman without registering with the Priests’ Guild.
I never expected the first Pope to be involved, but why did such a divine oracle descend?
“I cannot reveal the details, but it should be understandable if I say I was given the mission as a guardian of the stone monuments.”
Stone monuments, you mean the ones at the Treasure Trees?
That makes some sense, but if so, those stone monuments must be creations of the gods.
And judging from Gaia’s story, they seem to have been prepared for guests.
“From what you’ve told me, it sounds like the stone monuments were prepared for guests. Do you know why?”
“No, I don’t know that either. However, the divine oracle stated that the power of guests would be necessary to prevent the collapse of the world. I don’t understand the meaning either, but it might be referring to the current situation where a race like demons has been created by human hands.”
Demons, huh.
Indeed, humans created Demon Crystals, and humans used them.
When used on monsters, it takes months for them to evolve into an anomaly, but when used on humans, they transform into demons immediately. So, this might be the intended use.
In that case, then.
“Abaricia, huh.”
“That’s likely it. Abaricia is a country with an absolute monarchy centered around its Divine Emperor, but at the same time, the Divine Emperor is also the supreme priest of the Abaricia Orthodox Church.”
“That’s right. They suddenly invaded the Philia Continent about 200 years ago. Before that, no country had any information about them, so records indicate that initially, they didn’t even know where the enemy was coming from.”
I know that too.
During my free time while staying in Float, I visited the library in Amagi Castle. I found a book detailing Abaricia there and read it out of curiosity. It seemed they had indeed invaded quite suddenly.
It was later discovered that there had been ships that appeared to be scouting, but at the time, no one had considered the possibility of another continent east of the Philia Continent, so it was recorded that the various countries were in considerable disarray.
The navigation skills of the Helios Orb were not that advanced, so this is somewhat understandable.
“That’s probably the case. And this is just my speculation, but the Divine Emperor of Abaricia might be a guest.”
I can’t say that’s impossible.
Where guests teleport to varies from person to person. I was near Porton, a border town in Valentia, and I heard Sayuri was near Float.
Souya apparently met Gaia at the foot of Mount Willness shortly after teleporting there.
I don’t know about Kazushi, Shinichi, and other guests, but it seems some people teleported near Solemne.
In other words, they were teleported to various locations on the Philia Continent, so it’s a bit unreasonable to assume they wouldn’t teleport to the neighboring Gradia Continent.
The only snag is that nearly 200 years have passed since Abaricia’s initial invasion. Even if the guest became the Divine Emperor, they would have died long ago unless they evolved into an Ancient Human.
“Indeed. Or rather, even if they evolved into an Ancient Human, shouldn’t they be nearing the end of their lifespan?”
“Ah, that’s true.”
Certainly, I don’t know how old the Divine Emperor was when they ascended to the throne, but considering the unification of the Gradia Continent, even if we consider them young, they would be around 230 to 240 years old.
The lifespan of an Ancient Class is said to be Level + 150 years, so it wouldn’t be strange if they were already dead.
However, they handed over a prototype Demon Crystal to Retisencia, so it doesn’t really matter who the Divine Emperor is.
Even if they were a guest, they are committing inhumane acts like turning humans into demons, so I can definitively declare them my enemy.
I don’t intend to play the hero, but if they stand in my way, I’ll just defeat them.
