Hermit Wizard
Chapter 65

The Soul Flows High (10)

“I want to see all the records of the contact between the Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest and the Dell tribe in history.”

“Why do you bet there will be such a thing?”

A faint smile caught on Elder Kapal’s mouth. Rather than having bad feelings, it was more like a feeling of interest in how I knew about it.

“You said when you first came to this tower. Silver Forest is called the forbidden area. It’s an area that you should never enter.”

“I see. Except for you two, there is no precedent to come back alive after stepping in, regardless of whether it’s Dell or Ashpim.”

“When I heard that, I thought this way. This world’s Truth-Seeker hates or is reluctant to contact the mortals. It must be a sign of rejection that it never wants others to enter its territory.”

But I couldn’t feel any of that.

“It was different from what I expected when I saw it face-to-face. It didn’t seem to mind at all. No, should I rather say that it enjoyed the conversation?”

I knew it was curious about the Channel on my chest. It was also possible to assume that it didn’t kill us exceptionally because of its origin and the Dragon’s background story. However, the mixed feelings of its sentiments were clearly mixed with more joy.

“Ghur, do you remember? The Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest said this. ‘Even if mortals become extinct because of the Channel, I will not intervene. I just feel sorry for them.’?”

“It must be because human is such an insignificant existence to it.”

“Yes. But is it weird? For saying that, it had a pretty long conversation, right? Even explaining this and that kindly.”

Ghur nodded his head as if agreeing. I think its attitude wasn’t just because my Seed stimulated its nostalgia. Profiling in its own way…even if the other person is a low-level creature with no cell scraps, the impression of being a chatterbox who wanted to have a conversation once it was interested in someone was still there, right? Of course, it was my overestimation, and everything could be the whims of a nearly immortal being. But…

“I still doubt it. If there is no reluctance to contact with mortals, why can’t all those who entered the Silver Forest come back?”

“Okay, look. The phrase entered the Silver Forest itself has a meaning. Surrounding Silver Forest is a barrier made of tens of thousands of trees. It’s a powerful barrier whose purpose is unknown. However, there is no power to block entry from the outside, right?”

The Elder and Ghur nodded.

“Aside from Ghur and me, has anyone who has stepped into the Silver Forest died immediately? Or did they go deeper and then lose track?”

“I heard it’s the latter.”

“Look. If it didn’t want any visitors in the first place, The Truth-Seeker could just add more physical properties to the barrier, but it didn’t. Maybe there is some other reason for their disappearance other than the Truth-Seeker’s hostility.”

Unless the Truth-Seeker had a hobby of enjoying meaningless killing, it was a little strange to leave the door wide open as if it wanted people to come in as much as they want and kill them when they actually went in there. Perhaps what happened in it was something else that had nothing to do with the Truth-Seeker’s will? In our case, the Truth-Seeker directly intervened in the entire process of calling and returning us back. However, it was questionable whether the same consideration would have been given to all other visitors. Visitors whom it didn’t have interest in were simply neglected, and the result was they went missing?

And, what was that massive barrier for in the first place? I made a barrier that detected the approaching Ashpim Giants with one of the Enchanted Wood a little taller than me. That killed them with a magic attack. With just one branch. However, what purpose was the barrier that the Truth-Seeker created with tens of thousands of Enchanted Wood trees, which was far more powerful than mine? Ghur described him as a lazy guy stuck in Silver Forest who didn’t come out anyway. Was it because Truth-Seeker spent most of its time in the forest simply because it was lazy?

“Anyway, if the Truth-Seeker had such a tendency, I guessed that there would have been another case like me. I wondered if there were any records of the Dells’ contact and conversations with the Truth-Seeker.”

“Hmm. That’s a good guess. There’s a record. It’s an ancient, old record before the Silver Forest was created.”

I knew it! My prediction was right.

“But how did you guess? In other words, the fact that our kind has it. We’re not even close like the Ashpims.”

I didn’t dare to tell them that I had taken out the Ashpims’ memories instead of trying to talk to them in this way.

“I felt it while we were talking to each other in the past, and you knew really in detail about the Truth-Seeker. Knowledge, such as the kind of power the Truth-Seeker possesses, isn’t common. Even in another dimension.”

In particular, given that the level of magic was falling behind, I also swallowed up the words that the level of information is abnormally high. I guess Dell’s distant ancestors heard this information directly from the Truth-Seekers. Was the Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest always the Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest? From the moment it first appeared in this world, had it been stuck in Silver Forest and avoided any contact with mortals?

If that were true, there was no way this detailed story would be passed on to Dell, to those who didn’t seem to have had many interactions with other dimensions. If this was what Elder Kapal and Ghur both knew at the level of common sense, I thought that some of the information left in their literature might contain more details. The more in-depth and more detailed information that the Truth-Seeker gave itself.

***

Elder Kapal went to the next room to get the scroll of related records. I wondered if she would ask for something in return, but there was no such hint. Did she like the silk I gave her so much? Ghur also moved to help her. While I waited, Parvache delivered his thoughts to me.

[Honestly, I am in doubt, Min-joon. Could he have even told them the sensitive topic of the Truth-Seeker’s death and resurrection?]

‘I think the possibility is half and half. It thinks they’re too insignificant, that it could have told them everything.’

[Hmm.]

‘Anyway, it’s going to take a little longer for our keyman, ‘The Greatest Wizard of All Time’ Kim Kyung-hwan, to do his part, right? There is nothing bad about trying.”

I didn’t know when the executive would be in my hand and how much they would know. It was ambiguous to wait for Kim Kyung-hwan’s growth. In the meantime, what if he suddenly resurrected? I should dig as many burrows as I could.

‘The resurrection they are aiming for maybe a characteristic of a Truth-Seeker. Isn’t the person who knows that the most another Truth-Seeker?’

[Well. However, it is impossible to go to Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest and ask it. No matter how light-mouthed it is, we cannot comfortably hold its throat. It’s a being that can leave us powerless at a moment’s whim.]

‘No. So, Parvache. Why can’t you see information about Truth-Seekers in the Akashic Records? If that’s possible, we don’t have to be like this in the first place.’

[If I could open all the information, I would not be Purbagios’s staff, but the god itself, you idiot.]

The access to Akashic Records was said to be the power of the priest who enshrined Purbagios. Purbagios, whose true name was “A Scripture without the Last Chapter.” A contradictory god that existed as scripture that recorded faith and praise for something greater than itself and at the same time was a god itself.

Parvache was both a wizard and a priest who served Purbagios before the Spiritualization. It was said that some of the power at that time continued even after the Spiritualization. However, he was no longer a priest now.

“You have been waiting for a long time.”

The wait was much longer than I thought. A few hours later, Kapal and Ghur came out with several scrolls each. Was it more than I thought? Both spread them all on the floor.

“I didn’t think there would be so many?”

“In history, this town has been one of the strongest groups of Dells around. Rather than others looting their records, they were mostly looters.”

That means not all records were produced here. I couldn’t read their characters. Parvache walked around the scroll and looked at it for me. It was a unique color, so I tried to touch it with my finger. It was leather that was much more discolored than the map I borrowed earlier. It was quite long, but there were no stitching marks.

“What kind of animal skin is this?”

Ghur responded calmly.

“Is there any other creature like this around? Of course, it is the head of the Ashpims. The skin from the forehead to the back of the head was cut vertically and thinly.”

“…”

“If you catch one, you can get many scrolls of this length. You know, their heads are cone-shaped, right? After picking the neck, make a long vertical cut with a gap. Then grab it under the chin and pull it straight out to peel it out. Like peeling off a Gardabit.”

Parvache gave a supplementary explanation. Gardabit was a fruit that resembled a long melon.

“Now it is close to the lull in the war—the war between Dells and the Ashpims. But in the distant past, fierce battles raged on. At that time, it would have been much easier to get an Ashpim’s head. It seems like many of these scrolls were made in those days.”

“…Oh, I see.”

At that time, Parvache, who had finished reading, came to me.

“Do they have a record of that?”

[…Hmm, I see one thing.]

“What is it?”

[The Truth-Seeker of the Silver Forest, that guy really gave these people all sorts of information from a long time ago.]

“Can you read all the oldest records among them, Spirit?”

Elder Kapal asked. I couldn’t understand what she said.

“Didn’t you read all of this?”

She shook her head.

“Some of the old scrolls have different texts. Still, the word Truth-Seeker wasn’t forgotten even after time passed so that I could guess it like this. However, in the records that are over a thousand years old, there are also phrases that I cannot interpret. It is preserved by magic, but the older the record, the more interpretation methods have been lost.”

Thanks to this, a rare sight unfolded in Elder Kapal’s room. A spirit from another dimension read the text left by Dell’s ancestors. It was then interpreted to the descendants of the recorder. Although the scrolls were made at different times, Parvache first read the record describing the farthest past.

=This is a story told through an old Dell song. A long time ago, a time when a shaman and chief named “Hot Tree” ruled the tribe. A great being whose head reaches the sky visited the tribe. It spoke without making a sound.

“The number has increased considerably. Sing the song that is delivered to you.”

Hot Tree came forward and sung a song to pray for a lot of prey to be caught.

“It’s like a prayer to Mother Nature. It’s primitive. I came too early. Is it the same with other lands?”

Hot Tree shouted before the great one disappeared.

“Great Being, who are you?”

It answered.

“I am the Truth-Seeker of this world.”=

Parvache moved on to the next record.

=xx days of xxx.

A great entity that all of Dell’s eyes couldn’t capture visited the village. The frightened chieftain ran out of the village. The shaman knew that it was the god named “Truth-Seeker” in the record.

“Oh, Truth-Seeker God! Have mercy on us!”

It answered.

“What bullshit are you talking about. Am I God? If I had already become a god, would I be doing this here?”

The shaman trembled with fear and cried.

“I’m not connected with any gods yet? Well, it is still too early for the apostle to come.”

“Truth-Seeker God! If you are not a god, who are you?”

He answered.

“Okay, listen. What is a Truth-Seeker?”

The shaman was amazed at the story it had told and made a real change. They were transcendental beings that open the door to the world. The great one who stood on the threshold to become a god.

“I’ve been waiting. You guys finally made up the text. Since the time has passed, the story that is handed down has become richer, right? Sing a song. Recite a poem.”

In a hurry, the village elders gathered to sing songs and recite poems.

“…You all are still immature and unintelligent. I will come later.”

The Truth-Seeker disappeared, clicking its tongue.=

Parvache read that far, and then it skipped several scrolls. Most were said to be duplicates of similar content. Then he stopped at a point.

=xx days in xxxx.

The Truth-Seeker, who was only handed down in the record, appeared in front of the tower. The elders left all the little ones and warriors in the tower, and they decided to go out on their own. Twelve elders representing the village stood in front of the Truth-Seeker. That there was no meaning of resistance could be seen from the sense of Mana and presence.

“You who has jurisdiction over the gates of the world, what is the great one who dwells closest to the divinity doing in these trivial villages?”

The Truth-Seeker responded telepathically, expressing a feeling of great joy.

“Oh, the rhetoric is quite advanced? I’m curious about your literature. Recite a poem.”

“…”

The elders couldn’t talk easily.=