Chapter 1084 – Following the Trace

000

“Reaction… Extinction…?”

Darwin looked intently at the monitor and couldn’t help but mutter that when he saw the reaction of the disappeared expedition team.

Darwin had been scolding Descartes for sending out the Meteorites and losing them, but as he took his eyes off the monitor for a moment, the expedition’s magical response went beyond the detectable range.

“What happened? Descartes!”

“If you ask me… Since even the Meteorites were defeated, they might need to do some maintenance as well. Well, didn’t they set up a barrier or something?”

In response to Descartes’ seemingly unreflective attitude, Darwin ordered him in as calm a voice as possible, even as the veins on his forehead rose.

“… Look at the visual information. The last place I was at would have been ‘Naryongsan Mountain’.”

Then, Descartes would scratch his chin a little and say with a skeptical attitude.

“There are not many drones left. If you react, you might be shot down by the other party.”

“But you can’t leave me without a response!”

“… That’s true too.”

Acknowledging her hysterical screams, Descartes tapped the keyboard a few times using only one hand, as he was accustomed to doing.

Then, the format of the image displayed on the monitor changes along with noise.

When color images that look like they were actually shot with a camera begin to flow in and be transmitted in a place that was like a radar screen.

I began to see the sky and the ground, the forest and the road, filled with the raw red color that was characteristic of Naryong Mountain.

The thing that filmed it was a living camera drone created by combining Descartes’ drone and Darwin’s organism.

However, when the expedition’s letter ‘ㅇ’ was not visible even to the drone’s eyes, Darwin once again spoke to Descartes in a command tone.

“… Let me look around a little more.”

“Okay, okay. I understand.”

It’s Descartes, and he answers briefly as if he were dealing with a younger woman and operates the drone remotely.

Then, when the height of the camera was thought to have risen a little, the image rose upward with a popping sound.

The creature attached to the camera must have tried to film from the sky by moving its wings.

The wide pit in the center of Naryongsan Mountain seemed to have already been cleaned up to some extent, and I wonder if there is anything of concern among the areas that can be seen from the sky.

Darwin silently stared at the image on the monitor, and then-

“Here.”

He raised his hand and placed his finger directly on the monitor.

The place she was pointing to was the fork in the road just before going over to Chukyongsan Mountain after getting out of the pit and walking a short distance.

“Hmm? What’s there?”

“You can’t see it with your old eyesight, but there’s something. Stay quiet and get closer!”

Although Descartes was slightly hurt by Darwin’s words, he did not show it and slowly let the drone go down that direction.

Then, we were able to confirm that camping equipment such as tents, including a rather large ‘pot’, were abandoned there.

“… It looks like the room of a debt collector who ran away at night.”

Descartes expressed his sentiments like that, and Darwin would take a look at the baggage.

“Why did you throw away your camping gear? If you pass through Chukryong Mountain and come to Guirong Mountain, you will need at least one more day… Are you planning to walk up the mountain range without sleeping? And, what is this pot?”〈 Br〉

“Oh, that’s it. This is a convenient tool that automatically activates the cooking magic inside when you add the ingredients to create an appropriate dish. We also have the latest model in our mansion.”

When Descartes pretended to know, Darwin reacted as if he was a little fed up.

“… You mean young people these days use things like that? Cooking is probably best done by hand.”

“Could it be that Madame is also of the faction that claims that the best spice in cooking is ‘love’?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Descartes shook his head when Darwin asked him something strange.

“What you say is unconvincing…”

“That’s the end of the nonsense. The first thing to do is to guess why we abandoned our luggage here. If we really had chosen to march without sleep, it would have been the perfect opportunity for us…”

“I guess he was short-tempered like young people are.”

Darwin doubts the phenomenon, and Descartes tries to accept it in moderation.

The two people stared at the screen.

“Check the footprints.”

“Ugh.”

Descartes was tapping his keyboard before Darwin finished speaking.

Then, the drone came down completely to the ground and got close to the ground, as if it was putting a camera on the ground.

When the precision camera starts operating, even the smallest traces caused by the weight of the person remaining on the ground are displayed on the video without being missed.

Then, there were several footprints left here and there, moving here and there-

The line of footprints was finally walking towards one side.

The direction is not towards ‘Chuknyongsan Mountain’, which is the normal route.

Next to it.

I could see it heading towards a canyon that exists between mountains.

“──.”

When Darwin saw that, he closed his mouth.

“Hmm.”

Descartes sighed, as if it was a little unexpected.

And silence surrounds the two once again.

“These footprints must be the latest ones, right?”

“That’s right.”

Maybe it’s not the expedition, but the footprints of past victims.

When Darwin, who thought so, asked Descartes as if to confirm, Descartes just nodded his head.

Then-

“─Ha.”

And Darwin broke the long silence again and opened his mouth to speak.

“Ahaha! Haha!!”

And, it’s not surprising that she bursts into laughter when she hears the story.

Seeing Darwin like that, Descartes almost burst out laughing, but he held back by huffing and clearing his throat.

“Really, Artis!? You really dragged the expedition team into that tyrant’s territory? Ahahaha!! No way, I never thought you’d go that far!”

Of course, they also knew what kind of place it was.

Now the realm of the fallen wild god.

Since it is a place teeming with wyverns, Darwin has also stepped into their territory several times for the purpose of experiments.

But that is also a story from the past.

Not only were the experiments that could be done with wyverns limited, but even if they had fallen, the number of wyverns under the protection of the god of reproduction was a threat.

It is the current returner’s policy not to interfere with Wyvern’s Canyon as much as possible, in order to avoid scratching and causing debris.

But who would have guessed that it was none other than the expedition team that walked into that canyon.

“Whoa… Whoa…!”

And, after laughing for a while, Darwin finally stopped laughing and took a deep breath to prevent breathing difficulties.

“Would you like some tea?”

If Descartes leisurely offers Darwin a cup of tea.

“Hehe… I see. Let’s get some warm milk tea to help you sleep better.”

Darwin sat down on a chair and faced Descartes, smiling genuinely and leisurely for the first time in a long time.

“Sleep. Are you sure of victory, madam?”

“Of course. No matter how strong each of them is, they are powerless in front of that number of Wyverns. No matter how powerful the barrier is, if Arctus, who has the concept of ‘invasion’, descends directly, the barrier will be torn like a piece of paper. It will disappear.”

Thinking back to how she had almost been killed by Arctus once in the past, and thinking about that fear falling on them this time, she couldn’t stop laughing no matter how Darwin it was.

“I see. That was good.”

Descartes raises his glass as he says this, as if congratulating Darwin on his victory.

But when Darwin looked at Descartes, he tilted his head and asked.

“Isn’t this bad for you?”

“Hmm?”

Descartes makes a voice that implies the meaning of why.

Descartes seemed a bit nervous, but Darwin didn’t care and just pointed it out to him.

“So, does that mean your granddaughter also went into Wyvern’s canyon?”

“… Ah.”

Only then would Descartes remember Fleur’s existence and let out a small exclamation.

After a while.

“Wait, wait a minute! Fleur! Wait! I’m going to save you!”

As Descartes stood up and said that, he tried to run somewhere.

Crack!

When the sound was heard, Descartes would fall to the ground with a scream and place his hands on his hips.

“Huh, my waist…!”

“I don’t know what they’re doing… It’s too late to go rescue them now anyway. They would have already become food for the Wyverns.”

Darwin would look at Descartes as if he were pitiful.

“Well, why don’t you take this opportunity to take some youthful medicine? Then, you can give me a new granddaughter and make as many people as possible again.”

“…”

When Darwin said that the human mind did not exist, Descartes did not say anything for a moment and just patted himself on the back with his hand.

001

Well, he’s alive and well.

His granddaughter too.

Attis is also a distant descendant of Darwin.

“Obviously… It’s here.”

As Laila said that, he scratched his head and looked at the huge site where only the pattern remained.

“Are you sure?”

If Artis asks Lila that question, Lila will nod her head once again.

“According to the information remaining in Laplace’s memory, there was originally a returner’s mansion here.”

However, contrary to those memories, what remained before their eyes was an empty lot so wide that not even the letter ‘ㅈ’ of the mansion could be found.

After parting ways with the Guardian, Lyla followed the guidance of Laplace’s remaining memories and finally arrived at the coffin of the Returner—

I was going to do it.

However, I faced an unexpected situation where there was nothing in that place.

“It was said that the Returner’s Mansion moves periodically… Did it move to another mountain in the meantime?”

If Sasha says so.

“If I were to use this to get to where the mountains were in the beginning, I might cry.”

Kuon’s face turned pale, and he muttered.

“Calm down, Kuon. I wouldn’t have gone that far.”

As if to appease Kuon, Laila made a hopeful statement.

“Is there something, a clue?”

Amelia must have tilted her head and asked at Lila’s words.

“Yes. Should the circumstantial evidence say that?”

While saying that, Lila looks around.

The evidence she gave to her group that the returnee’s coffin did not go far away was as follows.

First. If the regressor’s pipe is moved using physical methods.

Naturally, if a huge mansion, which, according to Schrödinger, even had a basement, were to be physically moved, traces would remain.

For example, a huge cavity is created in the area where the basement was, or vibrations reverberate when the mansion moves.

Moreover, if it moved like that, the nature of the forests and mountains in between would have been destroyed.

However, there were no such traces on this mountain or any other mountain.

Right now, the forests near this vacant lot didn’t look like a single tree had fallen.

Then the second.

If the method of moving the returner’s coffin uses ‘magic’ or some kind of technology.

Maybe this is realistic.

If you use magic, you can ignore all the physical space in between and move the mansion itself to another place.

‘Substitution’ or ‘transition’.

There were many expected technologies, but in either case, the bigger the object to be moved and the farther the distance, the more magical power was needed.

According to Laplace’s memories, it had not been that long since the returner’s coffin was moved to Gwiryong Mountain.

However, it was reasonable to think that the magic power had not been gathered yet to attempt another transfer.

At Lila’s explanation, the group would nod as if they understood.

“So, you mean you can follow the traces of magic or something like that?”

When Aine speaks as if she finally understands.

“Hey, by the way, I’ve been looking for traces of magic earlier, but I can’t see any…”

Sasha looked around with the hunter’s mark in her eyes, but she didn’t see the slightest trace of magic.

“If it weren’t for the transfer a day or two ago, that might be the case. All the magic scent has already dissipated.”

While Lila nodded her head as if she could, she stared at the pattern left on the ground.

“What should we do? Let’s spread out and search around here.”

“Splitting up power is not recommended.”

“Then, how about sending out a scouting party like we did at Narongsan Mountain?”

At a time when Artis, Quartz, and Kuon were each expressing their opinions and looking for a way to resolve the situation.

“Ah. Is this a magic circle?”

As Lila said this, she struck a pattern on the ground with her staff.

Bean! When a cute sound rings out.

Light begins to flow from the pattern spread out in the clearing, and the party standing on it looks around in surprise at the sudden phenomenon, and then focuses their attention on Lila.

“W-Layla!? What did you do!?”

“Ah, no… I think the pattern on the ground is a fairly old-fashioned magic circle. I just lightly channeled magical energy to analyze it…”

“I wonder if he reacts this much to just lightly sending out magic power!”

This was the moment when Schrödinger became angry at Lila’s excuse and raised her voice.

“…”

Everyone else’s eyes will be on Schrödinger.

“Why, what’s wrong…?”

“Schrödinger, you… Your body…!”

Schrödinger’s body was turning into light from beneath his feet and disappearing.

“W-what is it? I can still feel my feet, but why can’t I see them?”

“This… Is a transfer! The information remaining in the magic circle must have been the ‘transfer’ location…!”

Lila looked at Schrödinger’s body and spoke a little embarrassed-

After finally shaking his head, he tightens his grip on his staff once again and begins chanting.

“You. The ruler of heaven and earth, who governs time and space. You have spread the heavenly capital made up of my land, my blood, and my body… Good! Gaining control…! Everyone, this way!”

If Lila says that, all the other party members who have metastasis slower than Schrödinger will gather to her side.

Schrödinger also tried his best to move his feet, but he couldn’t get closer to Lila because he had no legs.

“Hey! Laila!”

Schrödinger raised his voice again.

“Sorry Schrödinger! But I won’t go far away!”

With those words, Schrödinger and the people around Lila simultaneously disappear from the top of the magic circle.

Then, the magic circle gradually lost its light, and only gentle silence was left in its place once again.