Chapter 350. Choice (2)

Emmanuel felt a strange awkwardness whenever he looked at Yeriel these days. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but he sensed that something big was going to occur soon. Otherwise, there was no reason that the legend, Nahla, Teacher, Ho Lactea, and Afrilith would all be so busy at the same time. It was the same for him and Yeriel. Just today, Yeriel went outside to complete a relatively simple task and came back to Shalyh late in the afternoon.

Since she needed to raise her tiers, she would have to go out almost immediately again, but she didn’t rest at all. Usually, she would’ve taken some time to prepare herself for another outing, but she didn’t do that anymore. She moved quickly as soon as she returned. Instead of staying inside her workshop, she was always off somewhere that Emmanuel rarely even caught a glimpse of her.

After asking around, Emmanuel found out that Yeriel had been frequenting the buhguhbu’s forge and visiting Seven Stars’ construction site. And Yeriel returned to Eustitia’s headquarters way past midnight. After waiting for her all this time, Emmanuel saw her stagger back into her workshop.

‘Should I just let her sleep?’ Emmanuel thought, but then noticed the light in her room did not go off. Emmanuel opened the door cautiously and saw Yeriel’s back as she sat at her desk. She had swept up her front bangs and was propping her head up with a hand on her face while glaring piercingly at the blueprint spread over her desk.

“Why…does it keep having bugs…I did everything it wanted me to do…hm….? You fucking bastard…” She murmured to herself, and her face had a look of madness under the flickering candle light. After watching her quietly for a while, Emmanuel called out to her, “Yeriel.”

Flinch. Yeriel turned around, and her piercing eyes zeroed in on him. Emmanuel gulped nervously.

After a prolonged moment of silence, Yeriel said in a very hoarse voice. “…What?”

“We will leave in five days.” Emmanuel wanted to add, ‘So don’t overexert yourself and have some sleep…’ but he couldn’t get the words out of his throat. It didn’t feel like the time to say such words, and in the end, Emmanuel turned away. Yeriel heard the door close. After staying still for a while, she closed her eyes.

Since Chi-Woo’s departure, Yeriel had cut her sleeping time by half and hadn’t been getting more than two hours of sleep every day. Even before that, she rarely slept more than four hours since her return from the Hala Forest expedition. That expedition had been a huge shock for Yeriel. She couldn’t do anything then, and realistically, she was no different than a luggage carrier. She still remembered what she heard when she went to Miho’s temple after coming back to Shalyh.

She had never shuddered so hard even when she had jumped inside an icy cold lake during wintertime naked. And the humiliation and shame she felt then tormented her every day. But working more did not give Yeriel hope that things would get better; she only felt more despair. Yeriel was different from other heroes. She could only raise her strength and powers if her environment allowed for it, or she needed at least all of her original powers to make something of the barren ground below her.

Yet Liber was a world that didn’t provide her with anything. She basically had no abilities when she entered Liber, and humanity was in ruins. The fact that she could only wander outside after rising in tiers highlighted this point. Usually, she would’ve gained merits by starting an industrial revolution and advancing the world’s technology level. However, there wasn’t much she could do in her current situation. It was like pouring water into a poisoned well. And as time passed by with no progress in sight, Yeriel’s sturdy mental fortitude began to gradually crack.

It was then Chi-Woo came to visit her. Thus, she hung onto him no matter the cost as she was fully aware that there were no other options. This was her last opportunity. Though she pressured him when he was leaving, it was she who had felt the most pressure. But she really didn’t want to miss this chance to make a rebound. She didn’t want to be subject to the same feeling of helplessness that she had gotten at the Hala Forest expedition. And for this to happen, she needed to show that she could fulfill her promise on her end.

She needed to finish all her preparations and tell Chi-Woo about it as soon as he came back; this was what she needed to do for Chi-Woo, who was probably going through all sorts of dangers and risks right now. And then she would prove that she was a hero worth risking one’s life for. Yeriel opened her eyes again. With bloodshot eyes, she looked intently at the blueprint once again.

***

The Sernitas. Chi-Woo had heard the name before, but if someone asked him to explain what kind of faction they were, he would be at a loss. They fought alongside the Demon Empire several times and had clashed with the Abyss on occasions. In a way, Chi-Woo had also indirectly fought them too. Yet the one he fought against was simply their throwaway card, and it hadn’t even been at their main base. While it had been a while since he came to Liber, Chi-Woo hadn’t clashed head-to-head with the Sernitas even once.

The Sernitas was an alien species that suddenly invaded Liber. Chi-Woo heard that they were warlords or pirates who wandered across space, and he was curious about the great force that could stand above even powerful forces such as the Cassiubia League, the Demon Empire, and the Abyss. Thus, Chi-Woo had thoroughly readied his mind before entering their territory, but now that he was there, he couldn’t hide his surprise.

There was a strong scent of leaves and plants and a colorful festival of blue and greens. There were countless trees and bushes, and even a huge mountain range consisting of a series of peaks. It was a beautiful scenery of nature. If this had been Earth instead of Liber, Chi-Woo would’ve immediately gone up to the summit and enjoyed the view there. However, Chi-Woo knew that the ground he was stepping onto didn’t belong to the planet. Everything around him was bright blue and filled with floating white fog and clouds. Chi-Woo had seen a sight like this once: when he was on the airplane. Right now, he got the same feeling he had when looking out of the airplane’s windows and saw that they were flying above the clouds. A sudden cold air swept past them as clouds continued to drift.

…Yes, it was hard to believe and accept, but this massive land with no end in sight was flying across the sky. Chi-Woo looked around and met his companions’ eyes. They had come to find a great thief’s treasures. They thought it would be hidden deep inside the ground and didn’t expect it to be floating in the air at all.

“That thief must’ve also known how to fly or something,” Yunael said, stunned by what she was seeing.

“No wonder they couldn’t find it for centuries. Who would’ve guessed that the thief would’ve hidden his treasures in the sky instead of the ground?” Chi-Woo found it hard to believe all this, but he couldn’t deny what he was seeing with his own eyes. The rest of the expedition team seemed to feel the same except for one person. Onorables Evelyn alone shook her head.

“The Sky Castle.” Everyone’s eyes shifted to her. “It’s not something I’ve seen in person, but…do you all remember Zepar?”

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Chi-Woo nodded. How could he forget? He was the one who tried to do all sorts of weird things to Evelyn.

“It’s what I heard when he kidnapped me. That guy was planning to expand his territory and create one below the surface. It was to counter the Sky Castle the Sernitas were building on a massive scale…” Evelyn trailed off. She didn’t seem to know more than that.

“The Sky Castle…” Chi-Woo tilted his head. “Even if something like that exists, I don’t know how it’s connected to the tohari.”

“I’m sure they aren’t completely separate.” Evelyn shook her head. “Tohari is a fire that burns for eternity. It has its own will so it can move on its own too. People like us may only see them as portable bonfires or lighters, but not everyone thinks of them in the same way.”

It was as she said. Tohari was like an ultimate treasure for those who knew its true worth, as evidenced by how dreamy the blacksmith Mangil looked when talking about it and how the engineer, Yeriel, drooled while listening to what it was. Its uses were limitless once the user set their mind to it. It really was a costless treasure.

“And what if the Sernitas managed to find tohari?” Evelyn asked.

Again, the Sernitas was an alien species. They might be able to easily find things that a human’s senses wouldn’t be able to. They could’ve immediately suspected something was strange when noticing the change in temperature across lands or simply chanced upon it. And after finding treasures like toharis, there was no way the Sernitas would’ve simply passed by.

“They are crazy enough to remodel gods. I think they may have used toharis as a material for the Sky Castle.” Then, Evelyn explained that they could’ve used toharis as the core of the structure.

“Aren’t you making too many leaps now?” Yunael interjected, and Evelyn easily conceded.

“It’s true. I connected a lot of things together when they might be unrelated. But we already know our answer.”

In an equation of 2 _ _ = 10, it wasn’t hard to guess what the blank spaces could be. It could be +8 or *5, or even –(-8). Chi-Woo had asked Mamiya to send him to a place where he could get a tohari, and this was the destination Mamiya set for him. Thus, it was definite that there was a tohari here.

“Anyways, it’s clear that a tohari must be around somewhere. We just need to find that and return home with it.”

***

Agreeing with Evelyn’s speculation, Chi-Woo immediately got moving. The expedition team began their march. They didn’t know exactly where to go, but it was clear that a tohari would be nearby. Fortunately, this Sky Castle had many bumps and peaks, so there were many places to hide. They would fight if necessary, but they wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

Though Mamiya warned them that they would face great ordeals, like all prophecies, they should simply bear it in mind instead of dwelling on it. They moved between hiding spots, but didn’t notice anything extraordinary. All they found out as they moved further was how vast this place was. They had been moving ahead for some time, but the edge of the flying land was still nowhere in sight. While they had moved slowly while warily scanning their surroundings, the place looked to be at least dozens of kilometers in diameter.

Furthermore, it would make sense for them to run into a couple Sernitas’ soldiers if this was really the Sky Castle, yet they hadn’t spotted a single building or wandering creature. In the end, Hawa changed directions so that she could climb to the top of a mountain and look down at their surroundings. And when they reached the summit, they realized that all their efforts until now had been meaningless. There was no castle, or anything for that matter. All they saw was nature scenery.

“Since the Sernitas…are an alien species,” Hawa quietly said, “Their idea of a castle might be different from ours.”

Chi-Woo looked at her in confusion. He didn’t get what she meant.

“I just had a thought,” Hawa said while tapping the ground with her feet, “That this entire place could be the Sky Castle.”

It was a sound interpretation. The expedition team’s guide was Hawa. She was no longer just a passionate native, and Chi-Woo decided to trust her after bringing her as part of the team. Hawa didn’t let any of her uneasiness show and calmly and confidently walked down the mountain. Then they slowly marched. She took each step very slowly like she was looking for something. The pace they were moving at frustrated Yunael, but she knew there was nothing much that could be done and quietly followed.

They continued for one hour, and then another hour after that. Hawa even stopped walking and closed her eyes. There was a limit to one’s patience. Unable to bear it any longer, Yunael was about to burst out when Hawa opened her eyes and quickly ran backward before returning. Then she immediately kneeled down and dug into the ground with her dagger. She then put her hand into the deep hole and nodded.

“What are you doing? Huh? Ah, no,” Yunael asked, and instead of answering, Hawa grabbed Yunael’s hand and led her to the hole.

“H-Hey, what are you…” Yunael was taken aback. Her body shuddered, and her hands felt cold because of the chilling air current. But then she suddenly felt the coldness ease. There was warmth when she reached deep into the ground. Like the heat from a fire.

“Does this mean the tohari is inside?”

“I can’t pinpoint the exact location. I simply narrowed down the area where they could be,” Hawa answered. She had tracked down the tohari using the same method as the thief. But with this, she only confirmed a change in temperature, and there could be other areas with bigger differences.

“Anyways, this must mean it’s somewhere around here…” Hawa dusted off her hands and looked around. Yunael’s face looked much brighter then. Their wandering hadn’t been a complete waste of time, but still, the next step felt like a huge hurdle. They didn’t have enough time to look around this entire place. In the end, everyone’s eyes gathered on one person.

“Well, it can’t be helped,” Chi-Woo shrugged and said, “Let’s dig.”

“…Sorry?”

“Let’s dig into the ground.”

They needed to go underground to get the tohari anyway. Even if they found an entrance to a structure, there could be guards. Thus, rather than going through that, Chi-Woo decided it was better to trespass inside by digging through the ground.

“If Ms. Evelyn’s speculation is right, I’m sure we will find something if we dig down.”

“No…that’s true, but…how will we dig? Should I dig with my spear?” Yunael asked. Though that was the most effective and simple method, Yunael had questions. She was about to ask whether she should dig with her hands instead when light emitted out of Chi-Woo’s hands. Yunael closed her mouth when she saw the light take the form of a shovel.

The item that Chi-Woo earned from the Kobalos’ magic fire pit was finally being put into use. But rather than a fearsome weapon, it was being made into a shovel… It might be her imagination, but the light looked a bit sad. But nevertheless, there was no need for Yunael to worry. As if she had been waiting for Chi-Woo to give the words, Hawa pulled out two shovels from her bag.

“How did you know to bring them?” Yunael asked.

“I brought them just in case. A guide has to prepare for every situation,” Hawa answered.

“I like how prepared you are, but why are you giving this to me?”

“Who else should I give it to?”

Seeing Jin-Cheon, who was a warrior like her, take a shovel without complaint, Yunael also took hers. And thus began their excavation. Since they were heroes who could use mana, it wasn’t such a hard task for them; but among them, Chi-Woo’s efficiency was especially impressive.

“Ohhhhhh!” He did have special equipment, but Chi-Woo moved as if he was one with his shovel, and no one could take their eyes off the spectacular sight. Even Yunael, who was digging through the ground while muttering a string of curses, stopped to look at Chi-Woo in disbelief. He was disappearing into the ground like a drill.

“What…was that guy locked somewhere and forced to dig for a year or two…?”

Surprisingly, Yunael guessed exactly what had happened to Chi-Woo.