Chapter 85 (2/2)

Isaac simply smirked and locked eyes with Mazelan when he asked. The two stared at each other as if they were having a staring contest, but Mazelan sighed first and turned back to the object.

“You really are insane. Anyway, the firepower of the otherworlders was indeed great, but it wasn’t enough to pierce the skin of the werewolves when they were berserk. There were a few weapons that managed to critically wound them, but the otherworlder’s army couldn’t hold up against the physical prowess of the werewolves, who were supported by the combat knights attached to the emissary convoys. After 30 minutes of combat, they were all killed. Central wanted to at the very least save the scholars from the other world to gather information, but by the time the messenger arrived, it was over. According to the report from Count Cicleon, the man who seemed to be the leader of the otherworlders was the last survivor. He was beating on that object like a lunatic in a frenzy and then committed suicide.”

“I’d be in shock too if that didn’t explode when I was prepared for death. But aren’t you worried about keeping it here even if it’s just a dud?”

“It’s not a dud.”

“What? It’s not?”

“According to the otherworlder cooperating with us, the laws of physics differ between both worlds. It was this difference that prevented it from exploding. It is still fully operational as of now.”

“… It seems this had been kept here for some time. Don’t you think something might break after so much time has pa.s.sed?”

“We’ve been regularly enchanting it with preservation magic, so it should be fine even after a thousand years.”

“Really?”

Isaac knocked at the gla.s.s, wondering what would happen if it were to explode here. Afterwards, he breathed on the gla.s.s and doodled onto the fogged gla.s.s before looking at Mazelan.

“Thanks for showing me around. This place is like a museum. It was quite interesting. So what’s left?”

Mazelan began opening the door at the end of the corridor without a word. Unlike the dark corridor Isaac was standing in, the next area was brightly lit with white lights, almost reminiscent of a scene from a sci-fi movie in the futuristic era. Isaac complained in his mind ‘another corridor?’ as he followed Mazelan, but he was the only person complaining at this point.

“After getting control of the camp, Central moved all equipment in the camp to the exhibition you just went through. The camp itself was preserved too to be used as a research facility for the Forbidden Lands when suddenly the gate that had been closed opened.”

“Did the Yankees come again?”

“Yankees? What’s that?”

“Just a name we call them.”

“Really? Anyway, when the gate opened, our scholars residing in the camp selected a convoy of emissaries. They wanted to show evidence for the atrocities they committed and demanded an apology from the otherworlders who were coming here as rear guards. But what first pa.s.sed through the gate weren’t otherworlders but surveillance equipment.”

“Hm?”

“We were also confused, but we knew the equipment was connected to them, so we wanted to begin negotiations through the equipment. But the machine suddenly attacked the emissaries. The sudden attack killed the emissaries, and the knights who were their escorts destroyed the machine in vengeance. That is when combatants from the other world began pouring through the gate.”

“They started shooting without saying anything? They aren’t the type to just brute force their way like this.”

“We only found out why they did that after much later, and by that time, many lives were sacrificed. When the gate closed again, the other world forces could no longer receive supplies, and the knights who escorted the emissaries only managed to defeat them at the cost of every single one of their own. They managed to capture a few prisoners, but every scholar who could speak the language of the other world died in the first ambush. It was a long time before we could gain information from them, since we couldn’t make conversation. We had to teach them our language and then learn their way of speaking. Only then could we begin interrogation.”

Isaac began to detect a small inconsistency and tilted his head while Mazelan continued.

“By the time we could barely understand what they were saying, a lot of time had already pa.s.sed. We then tried to extract information from them. But Central couldn’t help but feel empty after realising that they were simple grunts. Well, the army seemed to be grateful for learning about many new combat theories.”

“Um…”

It had been bugging Isaac until now, but everything Mazelan had said was in past tense.

“And after 10 years had pa.s.sed, the gate opened again. It seemed they were prepared this time, and war machines began pus.h.i.+ng through the gate, their army following closely behind. But we weren’t just playing around all that time too, and we made our preparations to face them. The gate closed once more, and the otherworlders fought a battle they were destined to lose.”

“…”

“With that, there is a battle every 10 years when the armies of the other-world invade and we defend…”

“Wait!”

“Hm?”

“There’s a question that popped into my head…”

“What is it?”

“The gate opens every 10 years you say?”

“That’s right.”

“… Then how long has it been since you’ve been fighting these battles every 10 years?”

“We’ve fought over 20 battles.”

Isaac placed his hand on his forehead, a headache seemingly sprouting from Mazelan’s answer.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not saying this because I’m from that world, but if that much time had pa.s.sed, there’s no way this world could last no matter what you guys tried. But I can’t understand how you guys managed to survive until now.”

It was a world where scientific research was accelerating every day. If 300 years had pa.s.sed since then, the armies you’d see in sci-fi movies would have become reality. There was no way this medieval army could last against it even with magic support. It was something Isaac couldn’t understand as someone who lived with the benefits that science had brought to him.

Mazelan nodded at Isaac, seemingly understanding what he meant.

“I think there’s a saying in your world, you need to listen until the end.”

“That’s not a saying. Wait, was it?”

Mazelan ignored Isaac’s comment and continued on.

“After the second battle, we began to question why the gate opened every 10 years. 100 years pa.s.sed in our world, and after successfully defending against 10 invasions, our scholars answered the questions of why the gate opened every 10 years and why the equipment of the other-world remained the same despite 100 years having pa.s.sed.”

“… Don’t tell me the time flow of the two worlds are different?”

“What the. Why were you so confused when you already knew the answer?”

“…”

Isaac was at a loss for words. He only mentioned it since it was a common trope in fusion fantasy settings, but to think that was correct.

“We don’t have an accurate conversion rate since we don’t know the laws of physics in your world, but according to the somewhat inclined information we extracted from the prisoners, the 10 years that go by here is equal to 30 to 45 days in your world.”

“… I guess you guys can last if that’s the case.”

“If the time flow was the same between the two worlds, this world would have become your colony just as you said before. We’ve suffered ma.s.sive casualties from the firepower of your world in the beginning. But we earn 10 years each time, and we most definitely didn’t waste it. Each time the battle ensued, we gained more information about the otherworld, and the equipment we stole from them are amazing catalysts for our civilization’s progression, allowing us to evolve rapidly.”

“If you’ve fought more than 20 battles, then that means it’s been over 200 years since the gates have been opening. Yankees aren’t this stupid you know. They aren’t one to simply pour forces down the gate like brutes. How did you survive?”

“… The other-worlders invaded us in a variety of ways. From clouds that incapacitated our knights to a battalion made of war machines and even a giant machine that could destroy boulders with a single blow. There have been many times when we almost lost the camp. Even now, we quiver at the absolute cruelty of your bacteria-based biological weapons. And after the 10th battle, the number of different flags they used to declare their origin increased in number.”

“Of course. Even the Yankees would find it difficult to supply all of the manpower and resources going through the gate for such a prolonged struggle. I guess you guys did well to last until now. It wouldn’t have been easy if our world united against you.”

“Although the sacrifice was great, time was on our side. We just needed to wait until the gate closed. It seemed they also learned the lesson and began withdrawing when the time for the gate’s closure approached.”

“I can understand that you guys used the information gained from this to jump to the modern era, but how come the military, the most crucial inst.i.tution, is still using swords?”

Mazelan sighed in response to Isaac.

“It isn’t impossible for us to create magical artefacts similar to these ‘guns,’ but the information regarding otherworlders is top secret. We will begin manufacturing it in the worst-case scenario, but the appearance of guns will bring about chaos in our world. It’s a weapon that is simple to use yet greatly increases one’s ability to kill.”

Isaac began to ponder for a moment before he continued.

“So the basic military training all citizens of the Empire go through, the evacuation training that happens in Gabelin on the same day as Campus’ graduation, and the many provincial wars that occur throughout the Empire. Are they all to create a standing military force experienced in warfare?”

“That’s right. They are strategies to prepare for the worst case when we’ve failed to defend the gate or if the gate becomes stable and otherworlders continue to pour through it.”

Isaac looked at Mazelan with pity, soothing him.

“You must have it hard.”

Mazelan seemed to remember the pain he’d gone through when Isaac said those words. Mazelan sighed and dropped his shoulders.

“I could complain about it for days, and still it wouldn’t be enough. These Empire officials who know nothing about what’s happening behind the scenes complain about it every day. The high n.o.bles of the Empire have been suffering from chronic gastric ulcers because of the stress for generations.”

Isaac began patting Mazelan’s shoulder without even thinking. Mazelan quickly realised the unbefitting act he’d shown to Isaac and coughed before changing the topic.

“Ahem. Back to the point. Although we managed to steal this equipment, just handing it over to our brightest scholars to make it was like demanding them to trans.m.u.te rocks into gold.”

“Heh. I guess without proper knowledge on basic science, it’d be like having blind men describe what an elephant looks like. But didn’t you say you had prisoners? Can’t you just use them to find out how to make it?”

“The prisoners only knew how to use the equipment, not make it. And our world doesn’t have the Geneva Convention like your world does.”

“Does that mean you guys tortured them?”

“That’s the reason why the Dark Royale grew in power. Feeling threatened by the equipment used by the other-worlders, the Grand Council determined it was more efficient to simply extract their memories and throw them away.”

“Efficient?”

“It seems the costs of feeding and monitoring these prisoners add up to quite a bit with enough time. Not to mention the facility needs to be secret, and with the costs to maintain it all… It was much more efficient to just extract the memories.”

“… Why don’t we make something like a Geneva Convention?”

Mazelan smirked and looked at Isaac.

“With who? Your world?”

“…”

Unable to say anything, Isaac simply avoided eye contact. Mazelan snorted triumphantly and moved onward. Isaac, who followed for some time, asked a question.

“So who is this Queen? Even those from Dark Royale mentioned her name when they were talking.”

“She is the sole otherworlder who cooperates with us, and other than military equipment, she played a critical role in upgrading our infrastructure to that of your world’s level. Even those from Central’s Grand Council show utmost respect when addressing her. The Dark Royale doesn’t like this fact and complains about it from time to time. And the Queen said that she’d like to speak with you.”

Mazelan approached the door that blocked their way. After pressing a few controls, the thick steel doors opened automatically. Isaac was curious who this could be and stepped in, but Mazelan didn’t budge.

“Hm? Aren’t you coming with me?”

“This is it for me… I’ll see you later.”

The thick steel door creaked its way back to a close. Mazelan’s troubled face disappeared behind it. Isaac looked around his surroundings. The large room was most definitely a laboratory. All kinds of test equipment were arranged with memos decorating every corner, making it quite the dizzying sight.

Looking around, Isaac saw a woman typing away on her laptop. The woman raised her head, sensing someone was here. She smiled brightly and approached Isaac.

“It’s been a while, Sergeant Kim.”

The beautiful woman with her straight black hair and horned gla.s.ses. A woman engraved in Isaac’s mind despite only conversing with her once.

“Researcher Han Yoo-rah?”

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