Chapter 136
"Earth is no longer an environment where humans can live... unlike Earthclear, you see."
"Huh? But... I looked outside through the glass earlier, and people seemed to be living perfectly normal lives."
Alice tilted her head, bewildered. She had just seen people living without a care in the world—indeed, enjoying a more advanced lifestyle than people in Earthclear.
"That's only true here. Do you know why this place is so far underground? Because if we went above ground... we'd be killed instantly."
The words were spoken with such a serious expression that no one could mistake them for a joke. Everyone held their breath.
"This place is in the heart of Tokyo, in the country of Japan. To give you Earthclear residents an analogy, think of it as being in Hexaldor, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Hexaldoria."
"Wait, Japan... and Tokyo? Those were the old names for places in Hexaldoria, weren't they?"
Those were the former names of Hexaldoria that appeared in a mythological tale everyone would know. At Kurusu's words, saying this was the setting of that myth, Parna broke into a cold sweat.
"H-hold on. So... are you saying this is the past? The world from before it became Hexaldoria?"
"No. Earth and Earthclear are entirely different worlds. But they're not unrelated; they have a strong connection. To make that connection clearer, we've sprinkled references to things and names from Earth throughout Earthclear... We presented them as myths so you could understand more quickly when you came here."
As Alice listened, she was overcome by the same feeling she'd had when she looked outside through the glass. Yes, parts of this world resembled things that existed in Earthclear. No—she realized that things from this world had been forcibly incorporated into Earthclear. Now that she thought about it, there had been plenty of things that felt out of place.
The arcade was one of them. When she first learned about human cities, that place had seemed strangely out of place.
"For example... what kinds of things did you sprinkle in? An arcade, maybe?"
"The arcade is one example, yes. But to give you a more obvious one, the geography of the continents is the same in both Earth and Earthclear. The conditions and atmosphere outside are almost identical to Earthclear, too. The only safe places are here and the evacuation shelters in America and Russia."
"Them? No, more importantly... America... and Russia? I've heard of those."
At the mention of America and Russia, Kururu reacted with those words. Parna, who seemed to have realized something as well, wore a thoughtful expression.
"Do you understand if I say that the country once called America is Gridonia, and the country once called Russia is Fortia?"
At that, Kururu and Parna finally remembered, their faces lighting up with recognition. Having pored over the books in the royal capital's library, the two of them knew what those countries referred to.
Earthclear was said to have once consisted of more than 196 countries. But with the appearance of the Demon King and monsters, only three countries remained. One was the Kingdom of Hexaldoria, and the other two were the Kingdoms of Gridonia and Fortia.
"Could it be... this world, too?"
Inferring this from the claim that Earth had a strong connection to Earthclear, Kururu's expression grew tense.
"As expected of the Sage. You catch on quickly... Just as you suspect, only three countries remain in this world, too: Japan, America, and Russia. The others have already been destroyed, and the survivors fled to these evacuation shelters."
"What happened...? What happened in this world?"
Kurusu fell silent for a while, his expression blank, as if remembering that day.
"What do you think... of monsters?"
Just as he finally seemed about to continue, he suddenly asked them this question, leaving everyone bewildered.
The question was so baffling that they looked at one another, unsure how to answer. But Tina soon timidly raised her hand and replied plainly, "They're our enemies. Dangerous opponents we can't even reason with."
"What would you do if you saw one of those monsters?"
"If it's something we can defeat, we'll defeat it. Even if we can't do it alone, we'll fight if we can beat it by working together."
"And if you can't defeat it?"
As if she were being interrogated, Tina hurriedly slipped behind Rex. With an unpleasant sweat on her brow, she peeked out and answered awkwardly, "We run away, like this."
"That's what the situation on Earth is like. You can think of every human here who isn't from Earthclear as being Level 1 in your world. And not just that—they all have the role of Villager."
At last, Takako understood why they had been called heroes, and why the people of this world feared those monsters even more than the people of Earthclear did.
"So those things you mentioned were monsters. If we assume you're all Level 1... then yes, monsters would certainly be a threat."
"Yes... Hundreds of years ago, they appeared out of nowhere. Even the weapons humanity had developed with the science of the time couldn't stand against them. We'd build, and they'd destroy; we'd build again, and they'd destroy it again. They could take on weapons with their bare bodies... There was no way we could win. And how were we supposed to beat an opponent that could give even humanoid weapons—super robots—a hard time? The scientists of that era were at a loss."
They could vaguely imagine the chaos and devastation of that time, but at the unfamiliar words, everyone tilted their heads. Kurusu gave an awkward smile and sighed apologetically. "I guess I shouldn't be talking to you about weapons and things like that just yet."