Chapter 493: Disturbing News
From originally unwelcome to now being invited into someone’s house, a lot has happened since we first entered this village literally five minutes ago. We certainly hadn’t been expecting things to go this way, but we weren’t complaining. At least, we could now talk with a resident here, and hopefully gain some information on the shrine and the ‘news’ those guards back at Hirokita Village spoke of.
“Please, take a seat,” the old woman rasped, inviting us into her home and gesturing towards the tatami mats surrounding the short-legged table in the small living room of the house. The girls and I hesitated before sitting down, but ultimately decided to simply obey as this conversation was bound to be somewhat lengthy.
“First, allow me to show gratitude to you all for bringing my grandson home,” the woman said, bowing to the best of her abilities from a sitting position. “It truly means a lot to me… I’ve always wanted to fight back against the decision to exile him, but the other elders overpowered me…”
Yami, who was sitting beside her, gulped in nervousness, but I shot him a brief glare, just enough to communicate my message:
*Just play along.
He immediately straightened up, but didn’t say a word. Good.
“The other elders?” Feng Mian asked. “You mean… you are one as well?”
“Yes… the village of Inarishika is governed by five elders. I am one of them… and the only one left now.”
“The only one left…?” Amane narrowed her eyes, more assertive than usual due to this being demihuman-related matters. “What do you mean?”
The old woman sighed, then looked at Yami.
“… My dear boy, head upstairs. There are many toys there… you can entertain yourself with them.”
Yami looked like he was ready to yell something about how he wasn’t some little kid who needed toys, but I once again shot him a glare, and he didn’t need to be told twice. After all, my order was Lorelei’s order, and he could not disobey Lorelei one bit.
Once he was gone, the old woman turned back to us and took a deep breath.
“… A few months before you came here… back in spring of this year… a man raided our village with his men. They demanded to know the secret of the holy mountain, Mount Kita. When we refused to tell them… they resorted to violence. Of course, we resisted. But they had dozens of trained mages, whereas we only had a handful of skilled mages to combat them. As you can probably guess… we lost. Horribly. The other elders were killed one by one… and by the time I was the only one remaining… I gave in and told them what they wanted to know so that they would spare the rest of the village.”
“That must be them—the Midnight Syndicate,” Feng Mian said, as Amane gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly.
“Those damn bastards…!”
“Calm down, Amane,” I said, and she looked at me in surprise.
“I… you’re right. Sorry… I lost my temper there for a bit.”
I shook my head. “It’s alright. This does concern the demihumans, after all.” Then, turning back to the old woman, my expression turned serious once more, and I continued. “Now… continue. What is this ‘secret’ you mentioned?”
“That…” The old woman trailed off, as if hesitant. Lin Luo decided it was time to step in.
“I hope you realize we are doing you a favor,” she said coldly, one step away from drawing her weapon—headstrong as always. “We came here in pursuit of that man you mentioned, and in order to defeat him, we need to know what powers he’s gained by coming here. They may have spared you for now, but why do you think that is? It’s simple—in case they run into an obstacle, they’ll need you alive to figure out how to get past it. But once nothing more stands in their way… what makes you think they’ll leave you and your village alone?”
“… You’re right,” the old woman said after a while of consideration. “I… should not have doubted my grandson’s benefactors. I will tell you everything… so please, I beg you… defeat that man.”
The girls and I gave a firm nod, signaling that we agree, and the old woman closed her eyes as if reminiscing about the past.
“… This village’s history dates all the way back to the formation of Mount Kita, several million years ago.”
“What…?!” The girls and I were all shocked at this fact, but the old woman continued nonetheless.
“Yes… it is surprising, but it is true. In fact… it could be said the ancestors of this village were the people who created Mount Kita in the first place.”
“What?!” The girls and I cried out for the second time.
“Is that even possible…?” Feng Mian wondered aloud.
“Hm. With strong, enough, Earth Magic, yes,” Zhao Xiuying said calmly, as if none of this surprised her in the least and it was more simple curiosity.
“But even so… wow,” Yu An Yan breathed. “That’s impressive.”
However…
“… Not really,” the old woman said, contrary to our expectations. “My ancestors did not use their own power to create the mountain. Instead… they drew on the divine power that lay within.”
“The divine power… wait, is that what that Archpriest is after?!” Qing Yue exclaimed.
“… Yes. And if he gets his hands on it… we are all doomed,” the old woman whispered.
“Doomed? It’s that bad…?” I asked in surprise.
“That power is a god’s physical manifestation in this world. It is the power of Terrarim, Empyrean of Earth.”
“Empyrean of the Earth…?” Feng Mian arched an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“The Four Empyreans…” Lan Xiao Su murmured. “I’ve read about them in books regarding mythology before. It is said that four gods pieced together this planet, each one born of an element. Ignis, Empyrean of Fire; Aquira, Empyrean of Water; Aerim, Empyrean of Air, and… Terrarim, Empyrean of Earth.”
“Terrarim created the land. Aerim gave birth to the sky. Aquira created oceans to fill in the missing space, and Ignis gave life to all with his flames of creation,” Lin Luo added, to everyone’s surprise. “Contrary to what is told in myths, what many people do not know is that the Four Empyreans are in fact all Elementals—the primal, oldest ones. At least, that is what is written in the libraries and catalogues of Celestia.”
“Wow… I didn’t expect you to be a bookworm,” Feng Mian murmured in surprise.
I chuckled. “No kidding. Lin Luo and the word ‘smart’ doesn’t belong in the same sentenc-“
“Say that again. I dare you.”
“Heh. Lin Luo and the word sma-“
“My, my… getting off-track, are we?” Ling Xin giggled. “Now, we don’t have much time, so… if you will, please tell us more about this… divine power.”
“Even we do not know what exactly it is,” the old woman said slowly. “We were simply told to protect it by the Empyrean… and so we did. But the power was able to create an entire mountain like it was nothing… that should be evidence enough how powerful it is.”
I nodded. “But that aside… I heard there have been some concerning news going on around here recently. Any idea what those might be referring to?”
“… Yes. For whatever reason, the path up to the shrine, which used to be safe, is now littered with danger. These… corrupted beasts and monsters come out of nowhere… so be careful. Many brave young men from this village have tried going up to the shrine in search of that man despite being told not to… and none have returned. The village has been reduced to to the state you see today because of those corrupted beings as well. We are all scared… scared that one day, they will attack us on their own.”
“Corrupted beings, huh…” I furrowed my brows. “I see. Thank you for the information.”
“No… thank you, for bringing my grandson back. And please… please, save this village.”
The girls and I all nodded firmly, and left the house with that.
“Lorelei, send a message to Yami. Tell him to just play the role as the old woman’s grandson as best as he can, and not say anything unnecessary.”
“Understood, master.”
I felt kind of bad for Yami, being left behind like this, but there was no choice. We would still need that old woman in case we ran into any problems regarding this Empyrean’s power, and I doubt she would feel inclined to help us if she found out we lied to her.
“So, Xuan Kai. What’s the plan?” Yu An Yan asked, folding her arms. “The sun’s about to set, but it’s not like we can spend the night at this village.”
“We go now,” I replied. “I don’t like this situation one bit. Something tells me the longer we let this go on for, the higher the risk of something irreversible happening.”
Feng Mian nodded. “I agree. I can’t help but feel there’s something very important we’re missing about all of this, but we’ll only find out if we get closer.”
That’s right. I felt the same.
I couldn’t quite place my finger on it, but… the forest, the mountain, the Archpriest, the divine power… somehow, I felt they were all connected.
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