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174 The Next Threat

 

「Everyone, listen up. I’d like to talk about what comes next.」

「Oho, are we finally going to hear the detailed plan for the new nation we’re building together?」

「No, this is about something even further ahead. Koe-san, could I ask you to explain?」

Koe-san stepped forward and gave a small bow. What she was about to speak of was what she had learned at the very end of the battle in Fathie—what she learned upon defeating the ‘King’.

「When we defeated the ‘King’ of The Vigil’s End, one of the memories that had been sealed within me was unlocked. I’d like to share that memory with everyone present.」

「A memory being unlocked? That’s certainly mysterious.」

「As you know, I’m an auxiliary function of the [Skill Lender] skill. I was given a personality by someone and created for the sole purpose of supporting the user of the skill  [Skill Lender]. That much I believe I’ve already explained. But the memory that awakened this time was not just about me or that Skill, but a memory of the person who created it… No, it’s not quite accurate to put it that way.」

She paused and shook her head before continuing clearly.

「I now know a little bit… about the person who created the very concept of ‘Skills’.」

「……Hmmm!?」

「The person who created Skills!?」

Bellmann and Shizuku reacted with dramatic shock, while Koe-san continued speaking with calm composure.

「Master has suspected this for some time. He’s found it odd how user-friendly Skills are—almost as if they were designed specifically to help humanity survive in this dangerous world.」

「H-Hmm… When you put it that way, I suppose that’s true. Like boneless fish or seedless fruit, if you will.」

「More than two thousand years ago, humanity was faced with an unprecedented cataclysm. Ferocious creatures with strange and terrifying powers suddenly burst forth and began expanding their territory at an alarming rate.」

「Would that be something similar to a Dungeon Break?」

「Yes. The very first Dungeon Break in recorded history.」

Whether there had been earlier ones lost to history or whether that truly was the first, Koe-san’s memories couldn’t say.

What her memories could confirm was that, for humanity at the time, it was a calamity so great it threatened their extinction.

「Back then, there were no such things as Skills. The use of mana and magic was known to some extent, but without any supporting mechanisms like Skills, it was incredibly underdeveloped compared to what we have now.」

「Wait just a minute. According to commonly accepted history, Skills have always existed. People just started using them on their own, right?」

「That’s the general belief, yes. But my memories tell a different story.」

「If that’s true, history professors everywhere are going to faint… Either way, facing a Demonic Tide under those conditions would be brutal.」

「Indeed. It caused immense devastation. But in the end, a certain sage gave everything he had and succeeded in defeating the ‘King’—and the first Dungeon Break finally came to an end.」

「Ah, there was a hero during that time as well?」

「But the sage’s battle didn’t end there.」

The sage who had uncovered the connection between dungeons and the Dungeon Break also learned something else—that these events would continue to occur, and that some dungeons contained monsters with power beyond imagination.

As if sharing in that despair, Koe-san’s expression grew grim.

「The sage was overcome with hopelessness. If things continued as they were, humanity had no future. Eventually, they would be swallowed by darkness. So he made a decision—he negotiated with the world itself.」

「Negotiated… with the world?」

「It might be more accurate to say he used advanced technology to interfere with the laws of reality. As a result, humans gained the ability to convert the mana that flows through the world into a different kind of power. Power to strengthen the body, sharpen the senses, and at times produce phenomena so miraculous they defy explanation.」

Angelina tilted her head upward, deep in thought, and gave a thoughtful hum.

「So either humans became that kind of being, or the world became that kind of place. And that power—was the birth of Skills. Since a human created them, it makes sense they’d be so user-friendly.」

「Correct. The Skills he created evolved and branched out over time, and with them, humanity—once fated for extinction—has managed to endure for over two thousand years.」

However, Koe-san cut herself off there.

Everything so far had merely been a preamble. Shocking though it might be for some scholars, for those of us living in the present, it was little more than an interesting new theory.

The real message began here.

「Why did the one who created Skills also create the special Skill known as [Skill Lender]? Why entrust it to the future?」

Bellman raised the next natural question.

「And why now, precisely? I’ve never seen mention of  [Skill Lender] in any past record. That would suggest it’s not like the heroic tales of chosen ones appearing throughout history to defeat demon kings. Rather, it may be something designed specifically for this exact moment in time.」

「Exactly. That is what I hoped to share with you all today.」

Why was [Skill Lender] created?

Why did I come into this world, two thousand years later?

There is but one answer.

「A battle is coming. I don’t know who the enemy is. I don’t even know when it will start. But I can say this much: a calamity of unimaginable scale will strike this world in the not-so-distant future. [Skill Lender] is the blade that was forged to face it.」

「You’ve all heard it now. We need to prepare for what’s coming.」

The story was so outlandish, the room fell into stunned silence. Shizuku raised her hand solemnly.

「Are you sure about this?」

「It’s what I believe.」

「……Yeah. I think you’re right.」

If this turned out to be a false alarm, no harm done. People could laugh and call it overcautious, and that would be the end of it. But if there was any chance it was true, it couldn’t be ignored.

After all, Asagi and Mayor Vintle had acted accordingly during the last battle, and they were right to do so.

At that point, it was Bellman who spoke up.

「I know full well that neither Marge-done nor Koe-dono are the type to joke about such things, and I don’t doubt your sincerity. But… if we don’t know what this coming threat actually is, how are we supposed to prepare for it? If it’s another Dungeon Break, or a natural disaster like an earthquake, or—heaven forbid—the sun itself comes crashing down from the sky, then surely even the best of us can’t do anything about that, can we…?」