Chapter 115
I could express that in one word.
It was a massive stone resembling the Gwanggaeto Stele.
The Heroes' Stone.
A stone where the First Expedition directly commemorated their footsteps and carved their names, steeling their resolve for the unknown ahead.
While Lana added that its exact name was “Stone of the Great Expedition”, Rei was already standing before the Heroes' Stone.
"Ooh...! So this is... quite big? I like it."
Rei touched the Heroes' Stone and tapped it.
Though I felt I should stop her, I let it be, thinking what harm could it do.
While Rei could easily break rocks, that wasn't unique to her.
Since the First Expedition left it, considerable time must have passed, but seeing it intact suggested they must have taken some measures.
There weren't even any guards, with only us around.
It was surprising since I expected more people, given it was officially recognized as one of the traces left by the First Expedition.
"It's like the First Cliff. Sounds grand, but meaningless beyond sightseeing."
"In the early days of discovery, many expected arrangements or legacies they left behind, but that's ancient history now. These days it's just something people look at once when they come to the Third Floor."
Now that they mention it, true.
If the First Expedition had left something, the City Hall or Explorer's Union wouldn't have left it like this.
Before that, the Grand Duchy would have claimed ownership rights as descendants and taken it.
"It's not easy to destroy either. The stone itself is incredibly hard."
"It's Eternal Stone. It maintains its place without weathering even after ten thousand years."
"Harder than the Second Floor labyrinth."
Signs of processing appear only in the letters carved in the stone's center.
The surface was rough and uneven, looking like it was just erected as-is after being quarried.
Following Rei, Leaf and I approached to examine the Heroes' Stone.
By this point, Rei's excitement had already faded, and she was looking around the ground and surroundings for anything hidden.
"Hmm... I can't really make it out."
Leaf was referring not to the stone itself, but to the letters carved on it.
Having seen it before, Lana spoke from a step behind, "It's not grand content. Just names."
"Like 'Roman Sun was here.' That kind of thing."
Not sure why she used my name as an example, but Mea was right.
The letters carved on the Heroes' Stone were ancient words no longer used.
The same letters used in Cordelia's journal we found.
I tried reading the letters haltingly.
I'd been learning lately since it would be troublesome to go back to the city for translation if we found something like Cordelia's journal again, but fortunately, it wasn't difficult content, and being names, there was no problem reading them.
[Here, we, together, leave our mark.]
Though probably more archaic in nuance, that was roughly how my interpretation ability read it.
And below that, in the middle section below where names should be, one part read smoothly unlike the above text which I had to read while concentrating on each character.
[Cordelia Wollstonecraft]
I felt almost glad seeing the familiar name.
Then I read the other names written above and below that name one by one.
[Robard McManus Hon]
So this was him.
The Great Robard.
Leader of the First Expedition and founder of Res Limen.
His name being at the very top proved he was truly the leader, not just claimed as such by the Grand Duchy for glorification.
Then next.
[Benedict Karazan]
[Kiaran Weghill]
[Naipol]
[Rodion Petrov]
[Ulrika Maibritt Runvihausen]
Quite grand names.
"Is this all?"
I kicked around the ground below the last name at the stone's bottom, wondering if there might be more.
"Yes. That's everything."
"Makes sense, right? Others probably had similar thoughts."
Though the Heroes' Stone remained intact being Eternal Stone, they said it had become buried over time.
The current Heroes' Stone was what was excavated and placed for easier viewing.
During that process, they must have checked thoroughly for any writings.
I heard some people even recklessly tore up the area looking for opportunities.
"There is some decoration though."
Though the Heroes' Stone was rather plain with just names written, there was one flower drawn as if attempting some decoration.
"There was much talk about that. Some said it was a map. A code. A magic formation... But in the end, it was proven meaningless."
"True. Doesn't seem like anything special."
Maybe they gave up because the Eternal Stone was too hard?
When I asked out of curiosity if it could be broken, Lana answered it was possible.
"It would be impossible for me. But the Guild Master could probably do it."
"A Pioneer could do it?"
"Probably. No one's tried. Even Enigma's madman didn't attempt such a thing."
I see.
Though it was pure curiosity, for some reason Lana's gaze toward me seemed to become somewhat disapproving.
That's unfair. I can be curious.
Don't you agree, my Devilish Ladies?
[Well, it's like you. A devilish idea.]
[Huhuhu. Destroying others' carefully built tower... excellent evil deed, covenant-bearer.]
That's too much.
Leraje and Procell's words made me feel even more wronged.
I was really just curious.
[Pact-bearer.]
Ah, yes, Lady Seir.
Lady Seir is different, surely.
Her voice sounded more serious than usual.
Is she thinking of words to comfort me?
As I waited for her next words with slight expectation, what followed was something beyond that expectation.
[That flower. Only that was carved by someone different.]
"What?"
A voice escaped involuntarily.
At that, everyone doing their own things looked at me at once.
"What's wrong?"
"Roman?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Just had something to think about."
I brushed it off and moved slightly away from the group.
Then asked Seir again.
Can you tell that apart?
[Every action has a purpose, and beneath purpose lies some wish. I can read that.]
She was a Devil who fulfilled wishes because she was the Duke of Origin.
Just as Procell sensed temperature and Leraje sensed prey's life.
She, too, sensed wishes in traces left by those with intent.
[That alone contains a different wish.]
Though it wasn’t detailed since too much time had passed and she could only get information through me as a fragmentary medium, the difference was clear.
Then is it just like graffiti where someone else wrote they were here too?
There's a lot of that, isn't there?
People writing "so-and-so was here" on great ruins.
I couldn’t just dismiss it as ugly modern behavior since even ancient Vikings did it.
However, Seir denied my speculation.
[For that, there was a connection. Though it might be one-sided, there must be some kind of connection.]
And that connection most likely didn’t stem from positive emotions, she declared.
§
Except for the Second Floor which was so changeable it had no fixed points.
The Third Floor, like the First Floor, had fixed ruins.
Of course, already excavated ruins were like steamed buns without filling or dumplings without stuffing but ruins still retained some value.
Not tourist value like the Heroes' Stone, but material value.
Because monsters spawned naturally.
In the Abyss at least, "Aristotle, you were right" was possible.
Monsters spawned naturally in places where environmental conditions and mana flow matched appropriately.
And simultaneously, these naturally spawned monsters increased their numbers through reproduction.
Usually, strong and numerous monsters appeared in ruins because ruins easily fulfilled these natural spawning conditions.
However, of course, there were cases that deviated from such rules among these ruins.
When the environment changed and mana flow became distorted due to Explorers' indiscriminate excavation seeking quick riches or destruction from monster battles, the natural spawning conditions broke and the ruins' role as what could be called a game's dungeon disappeared.
Surprisingly, natural spawning conditions were quite lenient so such cases took considerable time.
Sometimes they broke down in just a few years when great artifacts were found and huge numbers gathered, but usually, it took a century.
Explorers called ruins where natural spawning had stopped, essentially dying like human natural death over that time, "dead ruins”.
And now, the ruins where we were was exactly such a dead ruin.
Forgotten Temple.
Excavated in the early pioneering days of the Third Floor, it was now a place where no trace of monsters could be found no matter how hard one looked.
Long abandoned by people, it had returned to nature, buried in the Third Floor's greenery.
But today was different from usual.
"As expected."
The temple, buried in people's memories and usually silent without human presence, was clearly announcing that someone had come seeking it.
There were prior visitors.