[174] 1. Kergo Autonomous District (6)
Shirone had been right. Just from the difficulty of the Rooms of Accomplishment and Sacrifice, it was clear the Kergo people weren't looking for just anyone.
You had to prove your strength in Miro's space-time or be capable of opening all eight rooms at once. If you weren't at that level, you couldn't even enter the Autonomous District, let alone the Gate of Heaven.
"Kanis, I think it's time to take that out. If Shirone won't go, we can't get to Heaven either."
"It's surprising. I didn't expect him to be so intimidated."
"Let's call it insight. His instincts are responding to what he heard. Anyway, let's get started."
After taking the Harvist's opinion, Kanis looked over everyone. He reached out his hand and spoke quietly.
"What if I told you... there was a way to come back here?"
2. Gate of the Gryphon (1)
Light flashed through the room like a current, catching Shirone's party in its reflection. A new turn in events.
Shirone had judged Heaven dangerous because the chance of return was vanishingly small. But if there was an exit, everything changed.
"Explain it in detail. What do you mean by a way to come back?"
"As you know, the Association snatched away the Master's inheritance. We were left with nothing. And we didn't want to lean on Alpheas either. While biding our time, the Harvist dredged up an old memory. When you were at school, you traveled with Arin. She found a secret place Archmage Viltor Arkein absolutely didn't want revealed. Because the memory was erased, even the Association couldn't find this place."
"Are you saying that secret place had a way to return here?"
"No. It's more than that. I'll show you."
Arin drew a cube-shaped box from inside her robes.
Its surface was covered in engraved and embossed patterns. It was almost black, but it flashed iridescent colors depending on the light. There were seams like a cube, as if it could be twisted by hand.
Tess had never seen the object before. But she'd heard about its light play and those impossible patterns until she was sick of hearing it.
"That's an ancient relic. It's made from a metal that doesn't exist in this world, and the surface is carved with runes that hold magical power. I heard it has a powerful lock, so you can't use it until the seal is broken. Right?"
"Right. And to add, the lock's already been released. It can be used right away."
Tess's eyes lit up.
The Elzain family collected information on ancient weapons because such things could wield power strong enough to shake a state.
As far as she knew, unsealing ancient relics was internationally taboo. If a country unsealed a relic, it was basically signaling it was ready to wage war on the world.
"Can I look?"
When Shirone asked, Arin handed over the relic. The others clustered around Shirone's bed.
Shirone rubbed the surface and inspected the seams. Rotating it this way and that, he must have tripped a mechanism: the cube split along a centerline and revealed a glass tube.
Startled, Shirone pressed it, but it seemed fixed and wouldn't close.
Indecipherable characters swam inside the glass tube. Not knowing what it did, they couldn't rule out the possibility of an explosion.
"Wow, it's beautiful."
Tess, raised on relic tales rather than fairy stories, was thrilled.
After Shirone passed the cube to her, she asked Kanis, "What does this do? I can't see how to operate it."
"I don't know the details either. Arin found it. Put it over there."
Tess cradled the cube and handed it carefully. Kanis, who seemed already familiar with it, tossed it to Arin without a hint of tension.
Watching Arin handle it, Shirone realized she hadn't just gotten lucky with the operation.
Most people, on seeing an ancient relic for the first time, would try to infer its function from familiar objects. Shirone himself had pictured a cube or a bomb. But Arin, unbound by form-based preconceptions, could spot an object's peculiarities.
Realizing the power of her keen sight, Shirone listened as Arin explained.
"I don't know why, but pressing certain spots makes it activate. Do this here... then press this part, I think."
A red light sprang from the glass tube and stained the room a blood-red. When Arin set the cube down, Amy covered her face with a pillow and cried out.
"What—it's going to explode?"
Whether a pillow would help against an explosion was doubtful, but she peered through it as if ready for anything and waited.
A high mechanical beep sped up, then resolved into a tone as the red light vanished.
Arin picked up the relic and pointed to the spot where the cube had been, explaining as she did.
"That was the spatial input. It remembered where the cube was placed. I'll try it again."
When she touched the cube this time, the glass tube glowed blue.
Arin looked for an appropriate place and set the relic near Shirone.
The glass flashed white, and a vast black sphere formed where the cube's void hung in the air. An identical sphere hovered at the location Arin had indicated a moment before.
"Oh—what's that?"
Shirone flinched.
It was the black hole he'd seen in Miro's space-time. A power that compresses space and pierces through it. Its purpose was clear.
"Now I get it. It's a portal. A portal that cuts through space-time."
"You got it. It's a device called a MetaGate. This will be our ace. First, let's demonstrate it with the Harvist."
Kanis knew nobody would willingly toss themselves into that black sphere. The lifeless Harvist was perfect for the test.
When the Harvist put its hand into one black sphere, a hand popped out of the other.
Amy and Tess leapt up onto the bed.
The two portals were three meters apart. The Harvist spanned both sides with that three-meter gap. If a person had been used, the scene would have been even stranger.
"Heh heh, it's fun every time we do this."
"Harvist, it's dangerous. Get out now."
Arin said, worried. According to the test, a portal stayed open for one minute.
After the Harvist withdrew and the portals closed, Kanis picked the cube up again and said triumphantly,
"So? It records a specific spot and links space-time—it's a warp device. If we make it remember this place, use it in Heaven, we can always come back."
A ripple ran through Shirone's group as the impossible became possible.
Tess spoke with trembling awe, "This... this is huge, isn't it?"
That an ancient relic once owned by Archmage Arkein—who risked his life to go to Heaven—was in their hands was enough to qualify as a first-rank state secret.
Even more astonishing was that the seal had already been broken.
If word of this object got out, diplomatic conflicts would be inevitable.
This wasn't on the level of the magic circles the Parrot Mercenary Corps used.
What if a single infiltrator reached the castle and activated a MetaGate? Troops would surge in like a tidal wave and the kingdom could be toppled. That was the threat of an ancient relic.
Amy reached the same conclusion. Beyond its tactical use, its monetary value alone was unimaginable.
No matter how much Arkein had left Kanis, there was no doubt this relic alone was worth many times that.
"Could we... sell this?"
She knew it was absurd, but curiosity gnawed at her.
Honestly, she was dying to know. Ten billion? A hundred billion? If they could sell it, future generations might bow before Amy's portrait every night. She understood why Kanis had kept it secret.
Tess considered it seriously, chin propped like an analyst as she examined the MetaGate, then shook her head.
"Honestly, there's no buyer who could afford this. At minimum it would have to be a nation. It's not just the price—the repercussions would be enormous. Outside a state, the only realistic buyer would be the Ivory Tower."
A mage living in the Tormia Kingdom couldn't be free from the Association. Other countries had their own Associations too.
But the Ivory Tower didn't operate by those rules. They pursued magic regardless of world affairs—an ultra-national body whose military might could stand against the world.
"The Ivory Tower is called the world's razor-edge. I don't think even they would move for an ancient relic like this."
"A mage might think that, but it's possible. Look at the Ex Machina incident seventy years ago."
"Ex Machina?"
"It's the name of an ancient weapon held by Cotria. My father said Cotria tried to beef up Ex Machina's security and moved it to a newly built bunker thirty meters from its original position. The international community went insane. It felt like world war could break out at any moment. See what I mean? Just moving an ancient weapon thirty meters caused that kind of reaction."
"That's terrifying. What kind of weapon is it?"
"The Elzain family took part in the intelligence effort but learned nothing. We don't know its shape, its size, not even how it activates. But judging by the reactions of surrounding countries, it's likely a map weapon."
"A map weapon?"
"It's not a field weapon. It's called that because the top brass decide its use over a map. The seal might still be intact, but who knows—seventy years have passed."
A map weapon lacks humanity. A map doesn't mark who lives where, what cultures thrive, or what must be protected. It's a world that can be computed with a straightedge, compass, and pencil.
Kanis listened as others speculated about the relic.
He had no intention of selling the Master's relic. He had kept silent to carve his own sacrifice into memory. He wanted to go to Heaven badly enough to reveal an ancient relic.
"Hmm—Ex Machina, and this is the MetaGate."
Shirone muttered, then looked at Kanis.
"How do you know those names? Arkein said he erased the memories."
"They were written on a note. Just a list of words. Probably so that even if someone found the secret place, they couldn't infer anything. Typical thoroughness from Master."
"What else was on the note?"
"Nothing remarkable. There was no description of Heaven at all. He must not have wanted to reveal it. But we can explore it now. We have a MetaGate. So, what do you think—would this be enough to trade for an Immortal Function?"
It was worth considering. The place that had only inspired dread now held a small thrill. With Kanis, their chance of returning shot up. But... what would he gain from it?
"Why do you want to go to Heaven? Just because Arkein went isn't a reason we can accept. You don't even have detailed information. I need to know your motive before I can decide."
Shirone's insistence on checking every possible trap actually made Kanis trust him more. If they were heading somewhere dangerous, having Shirone along—no mediocre mage—would be far more efficient than going with some incompetent fool.