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Bride Ship command room, on the way to Sky Island.

“Before we talk about Sky Island, I want to tell you a story from a long time ago. Is that alright?”

The expressions of the group turned rather grim. Especially Yan looked visibly worried about what more I had to say regarding the Order of the Goddess.

“Alright. Let me summarize briefly before diving in. The ‘Ancient Humanity’ that created the Spirit Devices are what you refer to as the ‘Primordial Gods.’ Bam, bam, bam.”

“…Huh?”

“The Twin Moon Goddess is also Ancient Humanity.”

“…….”

The Saintess seemed to be losing her grip on reality.

“Saintess, this is different from what the Order of the Goddess claims. Just think of it as some heresy.”

“Tha, that…! No way…! I can’t handle this truth!”

“Then you can just change it.”

“…Huh?”

“You just have to adapt your explanation to fit mine. I don’t really care what the Order of the Goddess says about the world. I’m not particularly interested in the world’s truth staying known either. My job is just to defeat the Demon King’s Army and Asydia.”

Knowing the world’s truth and deciding what to do about it is up to the Diere family.

“You can just think of it as ignoring the nonsensical ramblings of historians. It’s not really important anyway.”

“So….”

“The Sky Island we want to go to is one of the ruins left by the Ancient Humanity. Hmm, since ‘Ancient Humanity’ sounds vague, let’s just call them ‘Ancient Gods.'”

From my perspective, Ancient Humanity and Ancient Gods are pretty much the same, but referring to them as Ancient Gods better suits the idea that they ‘created’ a world.

“The Ancient Gods created the world, established the laws of the universe, and their power formed what we now call the Spirit Devices. All of the Ancient Gods have vanished, leaving all sovereignty to the living beings of the world.”

“Is that… humanity?”

“No. Dragons.”

“…Huh?”

“In the beginning, humanity did not exist. The beings known as ‘humans’ didn’t exist at all. Do you know why?”

No one could answer.

“I’ll give you a hint: a long, long time ago, well before the magical kingdom that is said to have been destroyed tens of thousands of years ago was even formed, the continent was home to dragons, orcs, elves, vampires, beastmen, and many other intelligent beings. But there was no such race as humans. Why do you think that was?”

“…I don’t know. Wasn’t it so that all races originated from humans?”

“Correct. 10 Bel points for Droniel.”

“Uh?”

The look on Droniel’s face was one of confusion, but a correct answer is a correct answer.

“Yan is in no state to answer at all, and Rosmas seems to be completely lost?”

“…There’s no such mention in the elven history records.”

“None at all about creation myths?”

“Aside from the fact that elves were born from the World Tree.”

“That’s also correct. 10 Bel points for you. In the beginning, when dragons and orcs came into being, the elves were born from the World Tree. Lucius, do you have any guesses?”

“…….”

Frowning in contemplation, Lucius struggled to come up with a response.

“…Sir Celcius took human form, right? Is that related?”

“No. His human form was just a preference.”

He just takes on the appearance that suits him or his woman due to our connection. Celcius has nothing to do with it.

“The reason humans didn’t exist at first is that the Ancient Gods were human.”

“…….”

“The category of ‘human’ belonged to the gods. No wings, no beaks, no tails, two eyes, and two arms and legs. The reason to distinguish humans from other ‘sub-humans’ was that humans were gods.”

“That’s… what even.”

“However, the Ancient Gods… can only be discussed because the Moon Goddess was human.”

“A god… was human?”

“Yes. Of course, the humans back then are nothing like present-day humans; they differ more than humans and ants do.”

Though the word human may be used together, the referent of that word is different.

If modern humans refer to ordinary people living on the ground…

…then the humans of antiquity were divine beings encompassing all races.

“Master, how do you know this?”

“The Holy Sword has been passed down since ancient times. The Holy Sword has existed since this world was created. The Ancient Gods who formed this world left records at places where the Holy Sword or the Holy Sword itself is. I verified that.”

“Creating the Holy Sword… creating the world… creating beings different from humans… then what exactly are the Ancient Gods and the Moon Goddess?”

“Simply put, you could call them ‘humans who became creators.'”

I’m not entirely sure about the specifics. I only know what I know, and I didn’t live in that era.

All I can say is that there’s only one being left that could be called an Ancient God.

“I don’t know how many Ancient Gods there originally were, but the only remaining Ancient God who can impact the world is the Moon Goddess.”

“…What about the Red Moon Goddess, who is in opposition to the Moon Goddess?”

“She perished 500 years ago. Until then, she might have been a creator of the world.”

“…….”

It’s the influence of Demon Lord Belphegor. No matter how divine the gods are, they couldn’t influence the Intermediate Realm.

Even though they created the world.

“So, the Moon Goddess is up there in the Blue Moon…?”

“I don’t know about that.”

“…Really?”

“I think there’s no need to listen to stories that offer no benefits.”

Well, to be exact, it’s more about another ‘humanity’ that was betrayed after creating a civilization and humanity based on this planet.

“The reason I brought this up is to warn you that there are traces of the ancients on Sky Island. No matter what happens, don’t be surprised.”

If there’s a place where the most ancient data is preserved, it must be Sky Island.

“Any questions?”

“…Master, is there another place other than Sky Island where ancient stories are recorded?”

“There are. Spirit Devices. If a spirit enjoys storytelling, it has no reason not to share ancient tales.”

For instance, Belselphia.

“We’re almost heading to Sky Island so I thought I’d mention it.”

“…Huh?”

“Didn’t you know?”

I pointed to the map that popped up on the monitor.

“Look at the route. It’s getting closer to red, right?”

“It’s just red….”

“It’s just red for now. Everyone sit in your chairs. And put on your seatbelts. I won’t start until everyone is secured. Lucius, go help everyone, then come over here.”

Under my strong tone, everyone took their seats, and only after Lucius helped them secure their seatbelts did they look at me anxiously.

“Lucius, hold onto this.”

“This is…?”

“It’s the Bride Ship’s engine.”

I pulled out the magic core storage device that was down beneath right in front of the captain’s seat.

“Leave the Kraken’s magic core as it is and place your hands here. You would probably be able to respond to the situation right away, but just in case.”

“…Here?”

“Yes.”

I pointed to a handle attached to the side of the magic core storage device.

“And your feet go here.”

“…Why must I place my feet under your armpit?”

“There’s always a reason. Do you not trust me?”

“…Understood.”

Lucius glanced at the others and obediently grabbed hold of the handle.

Vroom.

The ring of the Holy Sword that Lucius wore began to emit a golden light, and I used the controls at the captain’s chair to modify the Bride Ship’s navigation information.

“Alright. From now on, the Bride Ship is set to ‘Vertical Ascent.’ All crew members, please fasten your seatbelts tight.”

“Uh…?”

“Vertical ascent?”

“Correct.”

Vroom, vroom, vroom.

The bow of the Bride Ship began to rise gradually.

“What, what is this?!”

“We’re flying into the sky. Did you really think we would just float up here like this?”

I slowly waved my palm upwards while facing forward.

“This is how it works.”

“You didn’t say it would turn out like this!”

“If I had said it…”

Seeing my party in shock made me smile involuntarily.

“That would be boring, wouldn’t it?”

“Witch!!”

“Call me Captain! Lucius, you—”

“…It feels like I’m slipping.”

Lucius, still gripping the handle with both hands, slowly began to pull his feet back.

“Excuse me, Master.”

“Of course.”

Vroom, vroom, vroom.

Beyond 30 degrees, beyond 45 degrees, the ship started tilting more than 60 degrees.

Back facing down, eyes straight forward, but those eyes were staring straight at the sky.

Vroom, vroom, vroom.

The feeling of rising was intense, and while my party trembled at the unprecedented sensation…

“Lucius. We’re ascending thanks to the Holy Sword’s magic.”

The ship that had been drawing a gentle curve was now completely tilting vertically.

The thrusters at the back of the Bride Ship started expelling magic, and I confirmed through the sub-monitor that everything was in perfect order.

“Trajectory clear. Main engine, boosters, everything clear. We’re heading straight for Sky Island. Lucius.”

“…I truly apologize.”

Feeling like he was hanging from the ceiling, Lucius brought his feet down.

He wasn’t wearing shoes, and I made sure Lucius’s toes went between the back of my captain’s chair—right in my armpit.

It was as if Lucius was standing with his feet wedged beneath my armpits while lying on the floor above.

Lucius simply stared at the ceiling.

“Let’s go. To Sky Island. To obtain Lucius’s Spirit Device.”

Bride Ship.

“Maximum output—!”

 

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