The Hope They Left Behind (Premium)

by Sakon Kaidou

  He’d come here to prepare himself for his duel with Kashimiya and to make some money, according to what he’d said yesterday. Despite that, he’d left behind the machines he destroyed... the fruits of his fighting. Not to mention that he hadn’t even explored that room.

  I’m still kinda curious about that.

  “Hrmm, machine monsters, you say?” asked Veldorbell. “Were they humanoid, perhaps?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Then perhaps they are the same as the one I defeated on my way to Quartierlatin,” he said as he reached into his inventory and took out the remains of a machine — the head of the firearm model.

  “Yes, this is it,” I nodded before raising an eyebrow. “You defeated it?”

  Isn’t he a musician? As in, a non-battle job?

  “Oh, I have my ways. After all, if I couldn’t fight, traveling would be out of the question.”

  Good point, I thought.

  “That’s the King of Orchestras for youuu,” said Tom.

  King of Orchestras?

  “Hrmm, did you use Reveal?” asked Veldorbell. “I certainly didn’t feel it.”

  “Well, I’m The Lynx, after allll.”

  “Oh, so you are the one they call ‘Monster Cat Mansion.’ Allow me to introduce myself, I am Veldorbell, and I’m the King of Orchestras, the Superior Job from the conductor grouping.”

  “I’m Tom Cat, and I’m The Lynx, the cat-specialized Superior Job. I hope we get alooong.”

  Sorry, but “cat-specialized Superior Job” tells me nothing, I thought. His battle style wasn’t all that cat-like, was it?

  “Mm-hm, so we have two Superior Jobs here,” said Nemesis. “How reassuring.”

  “Reassuring? What do you mean by that?” asked Veldorbell.

  I replied, saying, “Those ruins are producing those dangerous machines as we speak. We need to destroy the ones still active and stop the factory inside. Once we find the route towards it, we’ll charge to it as early as tomorrow morning.”

  “I seeee,” said Tom. “So you need people for that, huh? Well, I don’t mind joining. Don’t have anything better to do, anywaaay.”

  “Hrmm, I am intrigued by this adventure, as well,” said Veldorbell. “But tomorrow is no good for me.”

  “You have plans?”

  “The children from today’s tea party begged me to come to their orphanage to play again. They said there is a girl who couldn’t come because of an illness. I was told that she truly loves music and would be overjoyed to hear my compositions,” he said with a smile. “Since they value my Embryo’s playing so highly, I see no reason not to answer their calls for an encore.”

  “That’s true,” I said. “You should do just that.”

  Having a Superior Job like him around would’ve been a huge help, but that promise had to come first.

  As we talked about this and that, the hostess, who was giving out tea for the guests in the lobby, joined the conversation, saying, “To think that those ruins are creating such monsters... I hope we don’t have another Edelvalsa on our hands.”

  “Edelvalsa?” I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t know that word. It sounded like a noun, but for what?

  “It was a monster that appeared about thirty years ago. It was one of those U...something monsters that were very strong. I was still a little girl back then, so I don’t remember it well, but it was called, umm... N... Nay...”

  “Nameless Army, Edelvalsa,” Tom helped her out as he blew on his tea to cool it down.

  “You know about it?” I asked.

  “Yeah. It was a UBM that appeared at the kingdom-imperium border about thirty years ago. Its rank was Mythical, which means that it was the worst kind of monster you could run into... Ouch. Hothothot.”

  A Mythical UBM that had appeared thirty years ago...

  These days, it wasn’t rare for Superiors to beat Mythicals. My very own brother had his Kim-un-Kamuy that proved he’d done just that. However, Superiors hadn’t existed thirty years ago. In fact, not a single Master had been around back then. Marie had suggested that there might’ve been some beta testers that long ago, but if so, they had definitely been few.

  A Mythical UBM appearing in a world which held only tians was nothing but a calamity.

  “Edelvalsa was a colony-type UBM,” Tom continued. “It could use plants, ore — pretty much anything — to create humanoid monsters that would fight for iiiit. The UBM would just continue growing in number until you beat the main bodyyy. I imagine it was a pain to deal with.”

  “You sure know a lot about this,” I said.

  It was a UBM from thirty years ago, yet he spoke of it like he’d actually seen it himself.

  “Mm-hm. I know someone who knows a lot about UBMs.”

  Well, B3 has access to Miss Aberration’s database, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Tom also had a friend with obscure knowledge.

  “Yes, that sounds about correct,” said the hostess. “Edelvalsa appeared right when the countess’s husband and child were heading to the imperium...”

  “Eh?” I gasped.

  “My knowledge of this is limited to the official announcements and what I read in the paper, but...”

  The hostess began telling us about the incident.

  It had happened about thirty years ago.

  The kingdom’s Quartierlatin County and the imperium’s Barbaros County were at the border between their countries, and their relationship couldn’t have been better.

  In fact, back then, Altar and Dryfe were allied, just like Altar and Legendaria. The three western countries were at peace.

  Because of this, both countries often sent envoys to the other.

  The captain of one particular mission was the husband of Countess Quartierlatin, who was an Altarian diplomat.

  One of his official duties was to bring his one-year-old son with him. There was an agreement to bring the Quartierlatin and Barbaros families even closer through marriage, so this was done for an early introduction of the groom.

  Some would’ve questioned bringing a baby on such a long trek, but the path connecting the two countries was lacking in powerful monsters, so safety wasn’t a big issue.

  In addition, they had the best guard an Altarian could ask for.

  His name was Aslan Faldreed, and his job was Sacred Blazer.

  He was one of the kingdom’s four Superior Jobs at the time, with the other three being the Arch Sage, the Celestial Knight, and the Hierophant (aka High Priestess, but owned by a male).

  Originally a vagrant, Aslan’s ability, nobility, and loyalty had led to him becoming an important retainer of the king. The fact that he was being sent to protect this mission spoke volumes about how greatly the kingdom valued their relationship with the imperium.

  Additionally, Aslan himself volunteered to do this, since the next head of the Barbaros family, The Ram, Ronaldo Barbaros, was his close friend and rival. After arriving at the destination, he planned to have a duel against his friend in one of Barbaros’s sparring facilities.

  Thus, this was a good journey for everyone involved, and all was looking bright... until they arrived at the buffer zone and were attacked by a Mythical UBM.

  It wasn’t known why the UBM appeared there at that particular moment, or whether it was a coincidence or someone’s intention.

  Regardless, the Nameless Army, Edelvalsa, attacked the kingdom’s mission.

  Aslan rushed to the front to protect everyone and downed over a thousand of the doll legion. However, Edelvalsa had several thousands more where that came from.

  They were desperately outnumbered. The dolls swarmed over them like a crushing wave. They broke through Aslan’s line of defense, and the mission suffered greater damage with every passing moment.

  Aslan tried to make his way to the main body, but the army was simply too much for him alone. Right when he began to think that it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed, a certain someone from the imperium came to their aid.

 
It was The Ram, Ronaldo Barbaros.

  Upon hearing that his friend and the mission he was defending were in danger, he had rushed to their aid, all by himself.

  And so, the two Superior Jobs faced the imposing Mythical UBM.

  “...And?” I asked. “What happened then?”

  “By the time Barbaros County soldiers arrived, everything was over,” said the hostess. “Edelvalsa was defeated, but both Aslan and Ronaldo were dead. And, according to Dryfe’s investigation reports, everyone in the mission was gone.”

  So it was a draw, huh?

  During the tea party, the countess had told me about her husband dying and her son going missing, but I never would’ve thought that a Mythical UBM was involved in that.

  “Hmm?” Veldorbell tilted his head. “Did you say that Edelvalsa used dolls?”

  “Yeeep,” said Tom. “It was a UBM that created dolls and used them to fiiight.”

  “I see. That’s almost like... but it’s been thirty years... it’s impossible.”

  “What’s impossible?” I asked.

  He made a wry grin and replied, “In Dryfe, there is a tian who uses a special reward to create dolls and wield them in battle. I found it curious how similar the powers seem. But the man is still quite young, so it’s simply impossible that he became the MVP in a Mythical UBM fight a whole thirty years ago. He must’ve gotten it from another UBM.”

  “Ohh, well, there are UBMs with similar powers,” said Tom. “Special rewards that make monsters and items aren’t that rarrrre.”

  And with that as the conclusion, we stopped talking about the subject.

  ...However, for some reason, I couldn’t help but feel that I was overlooking something really important.

  ◇

  After the hostess finished telling us about Edelvalsa, everyone in the lobby retired to their rooms.

  Everyone besides me, anyway. I stayed behind and examined the lobby’s bookcase for more info about the incident, but honestly, I had no luck.

  “That is not the sort of reading you keep in a lobby,” said Nemesis. “You might have better luck in the local library.”

  “Good point.”

  Libraries were probably closed at this time of day, and I’d be busy with the ruins tomorrow, so I probably couldn’t dedicate any time to look this up. Reluctantly, I returned the book in my hand back into the case.

  “Hm?” I raised an eyebrow as another book caught my eye. “The Legend of the Sacred King?”

  It was clearly a children’s picture book. The reason why it stood out for me was the word “Sacred” in the title — it reminded me of the Sacred Blazer from the hostess’s story.

  I took it in hand. The cover displayed a cutesy, distorted character holding a blue sword... which reminded me Azurite’s.

  “What’s this?” I muttered.

  “Hm?” Nemesis looked at the book. “I’m fairly certain that is the most popular picture book in the country. As far as I know, it’s based on a true story. I saw it in Gideon, once.”

  “...Huh? You did?”

  “Yes, when I was out eating by myself.”

  ...Oh yeah, yesterday wasn’t the only time she’s gone on an eating spree, I thought.

  Anyway, her words intrigued me.

  I could still remember how shocked Liliana had been when I hadn’t recognized Elizabeth. Maybe I could prevent similar incidents from happening by finding out more things that were common knowledge here in Altar.

  I opened the picture book and began reading it.

  It went as follows...

  ◇

  Hundreds of years ago, the plains in the west of the continent were home to many countries.

  They were almost always at war, and it wasn’t rare for nations to collapse or for new ones to appear.

  One day, a fearsome creature called simply “The Evil” appeared in those lands.

  The Evil had thousands of minions it used to ravage the warring countries.

  They tried to fight back, but no nation could match it, let alone defeat it.

  That was when a certain king rose up to face it.

  He was the young ruler of a small, newly-built kingdom.

  The Evil had already destroyed many larger, more powerful countries, and normally, the young king wouldn’t have stood a chance.

  However, the young king wasn’t normal.

  He was but a mere shepherd until he happened to dig up a certain sword.

  The blade was like no other. It was a sacred weapon with the mysterious power to cut through anything.

  Upon taking it, the young shepherd gained a special job and supreme power to go with it.

  He soon quit the shepherd’s life to become an adventurer.

  Wandering the land, he helped countless people and sometimes even became a war hero.

  Eventually, he was surrounded by a party of comrades. More and more people flocked to him, and he soon became a king.

  Indeed, the king of the small, young country was none other than the strongest hero of all — the Sacred King.

  And so, he and his comrades challenged The Evil.

  They had to face hordes of minions and harsh trials, but he prevailed, and eventually, The Evil was struck down.

  Countless people extolled him, and the Sacred King, still worn out and crying, accepted their praise.

  The kings of the many warring countries even asked him to become their king, and he didn’t hesitate to agree.

  He then erected his royal capital over the land where he defeated The Evil, and named his new, powerful country after the blade that has been with him on all of his adventures.

  Thus began the history of the Kingdom of “Altar.”

  ◇

  The book had a surprisingly hefty number of pages, and going through them took me longer than I would have expected.

  The lobby was silent. The only sounds were those of the turning pages and of Nemesis eating the tea snacks.

  She was eating silently, most likely to not disturb my reading. I appreciated her consideration, but... couldn’t she just not eat anything?

  Anyway, I more or less understood what the book was about. It read like a fantasy work or a myth, but I felt there was more to it.

  Shu had told me that Infinite Dendrogram had an actual history.

  It had either been set up that way, or it had been woven using time acceleration way above the 3x we had right now. Personally, I felt that the latter was a lot more likely.

  Take the hostess’s story, for example. Listening to her, I could just sense that she had been alive back then.

  The history of Infinite Dendrogram simply had to have been woven by tians — no two ways about it.

  The same surely applied to the story in the picture book.

  There had once been a Sacred King — a Superior Job, surely — wandering the land as an adventurer until fighting and defeating The Evil — another SJ. This had directly led to the creation of the country I belonged to, the Kingdom of Altar.

  It was the nation’s origin story, and it made sense for it to be Altar’s most well-known. But... there was one thing I didn’t quite understand.

  “...Why was he crying?”

  After defeating The Evil, Sacred King had begun to shed tears.

  Some might interpret that he was crying out of relief or accomplishment, but I felt that wasn’t quite right. I wasn’t really sure why, though.

  Once I was done pondering the story, I left the lobby and began walking around the inn, just like yesterday.

  My brain was becoming a huge mess, thanks to all the events and the info I’d gathered these past few days, so I needed a light change of pace.

  I was by myself. It was girls’ hour at the baths, so Nemesis was off to take a dip in the hot spring.

  It felt like I was taking advantage of the fact she wasn’t here, but I was walking around while eating my portion of the countess’s cookies. They had a gentle taste. I liked them, though in a completely different way than I enjoyed Shu’s
stuff.

  As I walked around, I eventually chanced upon Dr. Mario, sitting on a wooden bench and looking down at Quartierlatin.

  “Hm?” I murmured.

  It was already pretty dark outside, so I couldn’t see his expression well enough to read it.

  “Ohh, young Ray,” he said, noticing me. “Buonasera! How you say, uh... good evening!”

  “Good evening, Dr. Mario.”

  “They, uh... the cookies! They seem molto delizioso,” he said as he looked at the snacks I was eating.

  “Want some?” I asked and extended the bag to him.

  “Ooh, grazie,” he said as he took one and bit into it. “What a gentle taste. Were these made by the hostess or young Shirley?”

  “Uh, no, these are the countess’s cookies. She gave me some when we stopped by to talk about the ruins.”

  I was saying nothing but the truth.

  However, for some reason, it made Dr. Mario gasp and lose his words.

  It didn’t seem like mere surprise, either. There were some feelings there that I couldn’t quite understand.

  He muttered something I didn’t hear well. “Th... So this is how they taste...”

  “Dr. Mario?” I spoke up.

  “Ah...! Che sorpresa! Oh my, what a surprise! These-a are-a made by the countess herself!? I thought my heart would stop!”

  I could understand how he felt, but I did found his reaction a bit... excessive.

  “I must say, everyone is really busy tonight,” he went on, changing the subject. “Not many are coming to have their things appraised, so I was just walking around and enjoying the scenery. Che bella...”

  “Well, there’s been some new info about the ruins,” I said.

  “Oh, I’ve heard. It turned out to be a dangerous place, hasn’t it? Molto pericoloso.”

  I don’t mean to sound like Azurite, but man, he’s really up to date.

  “Oh, right,” I said, then reached into my inventory and took out the photos of the painting. “While exploring the ruins today, we found a painting with some writing we couldn’t read. Can you read the text on this?”

  “Hmm. Un minuto. Give me a moment,” he said as he took out a lantern from his inventory and lit up our surroundings.

  Yeah, you can’t really read in this darkness.

  “Let’s see here... Hmm...”