[170] 1. Kergo Autonomous District (2)
- What on earth happened?
- The Galiant government, having made a fortune from tourism, got greedy. So they cooked up a new business: human tourism.
Silence spread across the mental channel.
Everyone understood what "human tourism" meant.
Tess didn't merely guess. Having studied political science, she knew exactly what had happened between the Galiant government and the Kergo.
- They made the worst choice humans can make.
- Right. The Galiant government went beyond treating Kergo ruins and culture as attractions—they treated the Kergo themselves as a commodity. At first it wasn't obvious. They stationed natives along the routes so visitors could gawk from wagons. Then ownership took hold. It escalated into human hunting. Mercenaries captured boys and girls and sold them to nobles at high prices.
- It's lucky there wasn't a war.
- It's the fate of people left behind by civilization. Kergo's military isn't weak—at least not weaker than Galiant's. But politically they couldn't compete. If children were being taken, the culprit was obviously the Galiant government, yet there was no proof. They must have spent a lot to erase the evidence, but human hunting was still profitable enough to continue. The Kergo were helpless. If they fought on mere suspicion, the natives who depended on tourism capital would be thrown out on the street. In the end they had no choice but to make a pact: open the ruins, but seal off access to the autonomous district. They closed the gates, and it's stayed that way.
Amy felt the Kergo sorrow keenly: a people forced to open their ruins even though their sons and daughters were being sold to nobles.
But regardless of their situation, the important thing was that the circumstances had grown dangerous.
That was also why Kanis had raised the issue.
- But that's not the main point. There are bound to be villains among the natives, and precisely because of people like them the lup is trafficked. In any case, the natives in the autonomous district won't look kindly on us. I don't think a physical clash is certain, but we mustn't let our guard down.
- Then isn't Shirone in danger too?
- No, that's unlikely. Kergo opened the ruins partly for money, but not only that. The Chamber of Achievement and Sacrifice means something special to them. The Kergo have been waiting for someone for a long time.
- Waiting for who?
- I don't know. An angel… maybe?
- An angel?
Amy repeated, but Kanis gave no answer.
Arin checked the time and shut the mental channel.
- Sorry. I want to save my mental energy, so I'm closing the channel. Even if it reconnects later, you won't be surprised anymore.
Telepathy is magic, so it drains mental energy. A channel that exchanges real-time information eats away at the mind like a firewall.
When the channel closed, Amy looked straight ahead. As her hearing opened, the creak of the rails filled her ears.
The minecart slipped into the cave's darkness.
@
They had arrived at an underground city.
It lacked theatrical grandeur, but its tunnels—split like an anthill—and the expanded plazas at their junctions were astonishing results of living in harmony with nature.
Amy, slipping back into tourist mode, looked around. Her initial excitement lasted only a moment before dismay clouded her eyes.
Kergo life clashed with the scenery. Everyone was starving and gaunt. It was worse than she'd expected when she'd been told Kergo were hostile to outsiders.
Old people who looked like war refugees shuffled along the tunnels. Those who couldn't walk leaned against earthen walls, clutching children left in their care and closing their eyes.
The bleakness seemed to cry out. This place was an anthill, and they were the ants.
Elderly people burdened with heavy loads forced themselves one more impossible step and moved on. In a corner, bent grandmothers wove baskets from bark.
"Is this really the Kergo Autonomous District?"
No one answered Amy. The assumption that this tribe owned the valuable ruins proved false.
Kanis felt a nameless anger and gripped Arin's shoulder. Her shoulder trembled too. She remembered life in the city of hell called Radum.
Both knew hunger was the world's cruelest pain. Thus… these were the most tormented people imaginable.
"Hey, come over here."
The native who had driven the minecart beckoned them. His expression made clear he didn't want outsiders to see this scene.
They rounded a bend where the path curved like rapids and came to a blocked tunnel. A single torch burned on the wall.
Amy glanced back the way they'd come. Because they'd taken a long detour, any commotion here would likely go unnoticed from outside.
The native led Amy's group up to a man.
He folded his arms, set his jaw, and looked exactly like what one would imagine a true Kergo to look like.
His upper-body muscles were more developed than Rian's, and a black tattoo streaked his face. In both ears he wore earrings made from a predator's canines.
When Jis spoke to him, he introduced himself as Mahatu.
Amy remembered hearing the name Mahatu before when someone mentioned descendants of warriors. A name that meant "warrior"—and he truly was one.
"Um, so this is Mahatu. He raises lup and supplies it to the shrine."
Amy guessed the black tattoos marked those who managed the lup. If white marked those who performed the ritual, black might mark those who prepared it.
Because Arin hadn't attempted telepathy on Mahatu, Amy's party had to wait for Jis to translate.
Tess thought that was the right call. Judging by Mahatu's temperament, he wasn't a run-of-the-mill strongman. If the schema's sensory network could detect telepathy, touching the speaker would be risky.
While everyone was thinking that, Mahatu's words suddenly began to make sense.
Amy turned and saw Arin smile.
- So you tried after all? He looks pretty strong. You're tougher than you look.
- No. I didn't cast telepathy on Mahatu.
- Huh? Then how did you translate?
Arin discreetly pointed at Jis.
Only then did Amy realize: Arin had cast telepathy on Jis, who was speaking to Mahatu.
If you only intended to eavesdrop on surface thoughts, there was no need to touch the speaker. That was another strength of Arin's ability.
"Palcoa is dead?"
"Yeah. The Freeman organization won't buy lup anymore. They're planning to leave the island soon."
Jis admitted it plainly. Having met the organization's head, there was no way to hide the truth.
As expected, Mahatu's expression darkened. He glared at Amy's group and snapped his eyes wide.
"Then who are those people?"
"They're not here to buy lup. They came on business."
"Business? Don't you know no outsider may enter here except for lup transactions?"
"I know that, but we had to notify you of the deal's cancellation. And about the permits here…! Oops!"
Mahatu shoved Jis and stepped forward. His clenched jaw twitched and his eyes looked ready to spit fire.
He scanned the group and fixed his attention on Amy. Not because he thought she was their leader, but because she alone met him with a provocative stare.
"The Freeman sent you? Are you members of that organization?"
Jis hurried forward to translate. Even in this, he fulfilled his duty—his sense of responsibility was exceptional.
Of course Amy had already understood through Arin. But she couldn't reveal that, so she answered a beat later.
"No. But we know the Freeman well."
"How well? Would you stake your lives on it?"
"Of course. We actually did."
The lie slid out easily. They had fought with their lives on the line, so it wasn't entirely false.
"Then you could cover the balance."
"The balance? What balance?"
"Palcoa paid only a down payment and took eight kilograms of lup recently. He hasn't paid the remainder."
Thinking of Palcoa, Amy snorted. All bark and bluster, then stingy about credit.
Still, if money was owed, it had to be addressed.
"Even if we'd die for each other, we're not the type to lend money, but how much are we talking?"
"Ten thousand gold."
"What? Ten thousand?"
Amy's eyes widened. Jis, translating, looked uncertain about the unit.
But Amy knew through Arin that it was exactly ten thousand gold.
She'd thought eight kilograms of lup was nothing. Ten thousand gold—no, since a down payment had been made, it implied at least ten thousand or more.
A question sprang up.
Palcoa must have paid huge sums for lup over five years. How could the Kergo be living like this?
Selling just eight kilograms of lup could feed every person in the plaza for a year. It made no sense.
Jis tried to placate Mahatu.
"I'll report the balance issue to the organization. They'll either return the lup or pay the remainder—it's up to them."
Not confident, Jis looked to his friends for agreement.
Tess nodded. If Marsha and the Freeman valued honor, they'd pay.
Bolstered by her support, Jis spoke boldly.
"So that's settled, right? We'll pay the remainder later, so for now let us stay here."
"I don't get it. What is your real purpose in coming here?"
Amy asked.
"We're waiting for a friend. She went into the Chamber of Achievement and Sacrifice. She should come back here soon."
Her tone was sharper than before. Seeing people like Mahatu or Palcoa make huge sums while ignoring their own people's hunger made them all seem the same to her.
"The Chamber of Achievement and Sacrifice?"
Mahatu scrutinized them. Judging their temperament rather than their looks, he sneered.
"Dream big. Give it up and go home. Your friend will be waiting outside."
"Hah! How would you know that?"
"It's obvious. This isn't an altar built for rookies like you. Countless impostors come to the Kergo ruins—to buy lup, to get gold. You send a friend into the altar and come begging, and you think she'll be allowed through? With petty tricks like that you'll never pass."
"Who do you think you are? Have you considered how many people outside have been addicted because of lup trafficked from here?"
"Lup is a sacred thing. You're the ones abusing it as a drug. And I don't need to hear the pathetic excuses of foolish outsiders. You've always been like this—judging our things and trying to take them. But it's not that easy here."
"We won't leave. Not until we know whether our friend passed the Chamber."
"With your skills? Never. Tell us your true purpose for coming."
The native who had driven the cart spoke up.
"Maybe they're thieves. Here to steal gold."
The native's face lost whatever pretense of a smile remained. If they weren't here for a lup transaction, then to him they were the outsiders he hated most—nobles.
"All the more reason not to let them in."
"Why not search them? If they've smuggled weapons, our villagers could be hurt."
Mahatu, though an enemy, did not want to lay hands on a woman. It was humiliating for a warrior.
Still, he remained silent because he understood what his comrade's words implied.