Chapter 450 (1/2)

Chapter 450: 450

Aegir POV–

「Alright then, explain yourself . 」

Tristan, who sat down on my left side, scrunched up his face as he received uncomfortable stares from Erich and all the staff officers .

「Where should I start…… well, I had to interpret the contents of the book first . I investigated the parts missing on the pages of this book with that of another book and other various testimonies . The details are in this book, so let me read a paragraph……gueh . 」

When Tristan places the stack of papers on the table, Erich and the staff officers stare more intensely .

I give his back a shove .

Tristan loves researching and has a desire to explain it to others .

However, we don’t really want to know about the history or background of the unknown weapon .

What we need to know is the ident.i.ty of the weapon, and more specifically, the countermeasure .

「You can tell Irijina the details later . So, what are those things? And how do we deal with them? Talk about that first . 」

I see Celia trying to take advantage of the opportunity and push Tristan in the stomach, but I take her hand away .

「Ah . 」

Celia’s face turns red .

「Why does it have to be this way…… ahem . Err, I don’t think you’ll get the first 10% if I don’t explain, but fine……」

If we’re using extreme logic, it really doesn’t matter what the thing is .

As long as we know how to send it flying, that’s enough to get full points .

「Geez, soldiers can be so…… whatever . Starting with the conclusion, I don’t know how to actually stop those things . 」

The staff officers groan in disappointment and Erich clicks his tongue as he shoots me an angry glare .

「Hey . 」

「Punishment time . 」

Celia and I tag team to poke Tristan in the sides .

「Gu, gueh, ow, stop it! You’re jabbing my organs! I’m not finished yet!」

I reluctantly withdraw my hand and gently wrap my hand around Celia’s to stop her .

「Aau……」

Celia blushes again .

「That’s why I said we can’t get anywhere unless I give some explanation . Regarding what that thing is, I looked at the clue which the Margrave picked up…… the cinders left by the fireball . And the result of my investigation found that it was mithril . 」

Tristan places the string-like piece of charcoal that I gave him on the table .

「Mithril? You mean that legendary metal……」

「Who would have thought……this burnt thing is that? Unbelievable . 」

Each member in the a.s.sembly hall let out voices of disbelief and I also tilted my head curiously .

Mithril means it’s the same as my Dual Crater, but comparatively…… no, it can’t be compared anymore with that strange being inside .

「Obviously, it’s not pure mithril . There are other metals mixed in such as copper and tin……as well as some other material which I couldn’t figure out . Ultimately, one conclusion we can draw is that the weapon is not of this world . I don’t believe it was created by South Yuguria and it’s very unlikely it came from the Federation or the Empire . 」

Tristan stands up and begins pacing back and forth like he does when lecturing me .

「Mithril is, like someone just said, a legendary metal . It’s not unheard of for it to be used in swords or armor, but treating it as a disposable projectile is practically insane . It’s like launching a gold nugget with a catapult . I am almost certain, even though this is merely speculation on my part, that since mithril has magical properties, the enemy’s weapon uses some kind of magic . 」

In the end, Tristan went on like he usually does .

Erich and the others still listened to him through his occasional pa.s.sionate rants, so I guess it’s alright .

「What do you mean by it not being a weapon of our world? Doesn’t it exist at this very moment and stand in the way of our army?」

The staff officer whose name I don’t know is right .

「Yes . So we first need to investigate where it came from . Bring me that book . And that as well . 」

Tristan makes a grasping motion .

Normally, I’d kick his a.s.s, but Erich and everyone else is looking at me as if telling me to hurry up .

「Celia, take it to him . 」

Celia rises abruptly in a huff and hands Tristan the book .

「This is the folklore of a savage tribe . This one is a chronicle of war from ancient times, ahaha, it’s the story of how a hero led two hundred people on a mountain and defeated a great army of five million . I wonder what the logistics would be like, or whatever . Next we have the superst.i.tion of the countryside……and then, this is……the delusion of a religious leader . This is the autobiography of a self-proclaimed adventurer, or probably the idle gossip of a drunk wanderer . For some reason, one week after taking one year to climb to the summit of the mountain, he chased after the hidden treasure of the bandits, but ended up sliding down . 」

Erich is getting irritated at how Tristan is going off on a tangent . Hurry and get back on topic .

「Anyways, after gathering up this collection of useless information……I found this . 」

Tristan takes the old musty scroll from Celia, who pinched the edge with two fingers and held it away from her body, and spreads it on the table .

Everyone, including me, leans forward .

「Ancient Jirubiru technical civilization? A boat without rowers that runs using steam and gears, mechanical puppets indistinguishable from humans walking around the town, utilizing the power of magic and lightning, the town staying as bright as day even during nighttime――how stupid . 」

If I wanted to hear this kind of story, I could have treated a braggart at a bar with some alcohol .

In a Rafen bar, people were talking about how a strange man was abducted by a round flying luminous object and had his body played with .

I remember it well because the next day, there was a weird incident where cows in the nearby farm had their guts ripped out without suffering any external wounds .

I lose interest and get ready to give Celia the ‘OK’ sign .

Celia’s can’t wait to kick Tristan’s a.s.s .

「That’s what you would normally think . If not for this . 」

Tristan rolls the scroll out and reveals more of its contents .

There was a rather crude ill.u.s.tration depicted on the paper .

It was a rock that was roughly cut into the shape of a cube .

The light emitting from the cube was blowing up the ground along with people .

Drawn next to it was a smaller rectangular object spraying innumerable specks that turn the ground into a sea of fire .

Then, with a loud clunk, cups and maps on the table were flung to the floor .

It was Erich who swept all of it away with his arm .

「Is there anything else we know about this Jirubiru?」

「Not really . The name of the place was shown on the scroll, but it can’t be found on any maps today . This scroll is at least four hundred years old, yet it describes an ancient civilization, so there’s a good chance this was thousands of years ago . The name of the nation and place has likely completely changed since then . 」

Erich slams his fist on the table annoyingly .

He was frustrated unlike the slight disgust he felt earlier .

I know how Tristan talks .

He is different from Leopolt who is straight to the point and is more like Adolph who tends to prefer lengthy explanations .

「I know you and I know that there is something you found out . Spit it out . 」

Tristan scratches his head and then opens up a new book, which he recently wrote in .

「That was all I know right now . I couldn’t find any other doc.u.mentation . So what I’m about to say is my theory . 」

Tristan picks up the map Erich knocked off and puts it back on the table .

「The river use situation, the war description of the opponent and marching path…… if we put them all together, we can surmise Jirubiru existed here――」

He draws a circle on the map with his pen .

It was within the territory of the group of city states .

「Inferring based on the depiction of the terrain of the mine, I believe there wasn’t a precipitous mountain before . That’s because there is a bridge drawn across the gorge . 」

Tristan draws a smaller circle inside the first circle .

The place highlighted is――

「Ruratapolis……Gyruzilpolis――Meldorapolis . 」

「「「Meldora!!?」」」

Everyone spoke at the same time .

It was obvious now that he mentioned that name .

「I don’t know the weakness of this weapon . After all, this is the first time I’ve heard of its existence, besides you won’t find a single person on the Central Plains who is knowledgeable about it . Unless you are a ghost who is hundreds of years old . 」

An image of a beautiful woman flashes in my mind, but I restrain myself .

「However, there should be a clue in that place . With so many of those weapons, they could not have been buried in the field, so they must have found ancient ruins . It’s more unnatural to think the weapons were carelessly laid out in the open . 」

I stand up immediately .

「Let’s get going to Meldora . 」

But Erich lets out an anguished voice as he grasps his bangs .

I don’t think there’s anything to be troubled over .

「It’s not that simple . Meldora is already behind us . If we were to head there, we’d have to retreat in name alone……they would see it as a rout . 」

So what?

It doesn’t matter if we win in the end .

「We just experienced a case with traitors recently . If they see how the state of battle has turned on us, they might show up again . ……plus, we also have to account for His Majesty . 」

He whispers the final bit close to my ear, ensuring that I was the only one who heard it .

Celia strained her ears as much as possible to catch those words, but that shouldn’t be a problem .

「I’m not saying no because the king’s memory is getting worse . This Tristan, I’m sorry to say, has no special rank or t.i.tle, and shouldn’t be speaking in the war council to begin with . No matter what I say, I can’t explain how the entire army’s policy was changed due to someone of such standing . Worst case, His Majesty’s suspicion will return and he might march over here . 」

That would be terrible .

「Then what if you made it my opinion……」

I’ve accomplished quite a bit somehow or other .

I don’t think he would view the idea as a strange one if he heard it came from me .