Fantasy Starting from the Stone Age - Chapter 174



Only Noblemtl

Episode 174. Spider Witch

Here are three people, in a hot sauna.

In this sauna, they are making a bet. It’s a bet to see who will get out first.

The one who lasts the longest gets the most benefit. However, the longer you hold out, the more your body will be damaged by the heat, and you may even collapse or even die.

They all seem to have similar conditions, but in reality, they are different. Some can last the longest but will hurt themselves the most (Datang), some can’t last the longest but have nothing to lose (Luca Empire), and some can last a long time but have work to do outside (Bapan Tab).

If I had my way, I would use my own strength to knock down the person next to me. But I would still be the one who lasts the longest.

But the counterattack is not easy. The more you fight, the more your body heats up and the harder it is to hold out. If the other one stops fighting in the meantime, it’s over.

It’s not that everyone has become a coward, but rather that they can’t take a gamble. The terrible nightmares they had when they took a gamble are still etched in their memories. So they decide to endure.

As a result, during this terrible 33-year deadlock, Datangdo, Mujikja, and Cheon-geop are all just watching and not moving recklessly. Penkant is just watching for a while.

Instead of pulling out their strongest card, the rookie, each country is hoping that the people below them will somehow resolve the situation.

The rookie is so powerful. So powerful that it overshadows the performances and accomplishments of the non-rookies, in other words, the memes and the feats.

As newcomers run wild and become more active, the number of heroes in the world decreases. Perhaps this is because human will has its limits.

So, fundamentally, in order to improve national power, it must be done from the bottom up. Achievements must be made in the realm of the ‘non-skilled’ – the common people, the great people, and the masters – to support the top of the great pyramid.

The battle of wits has begun. The world situation. A macroscopic view, and a lower-level view instead of the giants called newcomers.

There are many great people in the world, even if they are not new. That Liwaduwan is not a new person either.

While Kikari trains assassins within Datang, strange things are happening elsewhere in the world.

This is the Luca Empire. It is the empire of the Erins that occupied the Eron region.

Although it was much stronger in the past, it has not recovered even after 500 years from the terrible terrorism committed by the current Datang leader, Liwaduwan.

Is the population 30 million? There are too many people who are not counted due to lack of administrative power. Some have returned to being hunter-gatherers, others have become slash-and-burn farmers and cultivate the fields, and others hide in remote areas and farm without even knowing that they are citizens of the Luca Empire.

The terror and disease of Liwaduwan and the activities of the demon tribe have destroyed every corner of the Erron region and the Luca Empire, and the far western region has become an untouchable land for the demon tribe, but they are somehow holding on.

“Who are the people who bring the supplies over there?”

“He is the subordinate of the invincible god of our empire.”

“and.”

In fact, he was a thousand-year-old subordinate, not an invincible one, but the thousand-year-old subordinate simply handed over the supplies as promised.

It’s a kind of trade. Each village receives food resources and in return, they dig the ground, refine minerals, and make weapons that they then hand over.

Or they sell their livestock, or they share the furs they get from hunting and gathering, the fruits and cheese that provide essential nutrients, and other things with the goods that the armies of the thousand eons have plundered.

Overall, the population of the Luca Empire is steadily growing, and is growing under the close surveillance of those whom the Invincible One can trust, and thanks to the steadfast faith that is still maintained.

The three saints are what support the Luca Empire.

The first adult is called the ‘Magistrate’. He is an official who takes charge of the actual household affairs of the Luca Empire in place of the invincible who has neither talent nor interest in internal affairs. The mystery he learned is the ‘Ancestral Spirit’. It is the ancestral spirit of Erin. The Luca Empire is, after all, the empire of Erin, and the racial pride and will have gathered to become a powerful mystery like the Medakbo of Datang.

The second adult is the ‘Saint’. She is a religious leader who can only be a woman. Mystery is, of course, the only faith. While the internal affairs officer actually rules the country, the Saint looks after the people of the empire and heals people.

The third adult is the ‘Captain of the Guard’. Instead of the invincible one, he commands the national army and is in charge of internal security and justice. The mysteries he has learned are those of the natural arts, but he is a genius in battle and a master of many tactics. The one who trains the invincible army is none other than Lee Ja.

What’s unusual here is that these adults were not the first great men.

In short, the consul is the highest and most authoritative person in the aristocratic system of the Lucca Empire, and he inherits the ancestral decree on behalf of the Senate. It can turn into a political issue.

The same goes for the saintess. Her term is for life, but there are many cases where she dies while serving, or is assassinated or dies from an infectious disease. In such cases, the god will choose the next saintess.

In the case of the captain of the guard, strictly speaking, he is of a lower rank than the Anlai of Datang. The first captain of the guard died, and his name was inherited by the most capable one.

Why is this structure like this? First of all, it is incredibly difficult to achieve the level of ‘Anlair’, which changes the very concept of the world. However, before that, it is certain that the ‘butler’, the ‘captain of the guard’, and the ‘saint’ were all proper saints.

They were all killed by Liwaduwan. There were no survivors from the last terrorist attack.

Instead, even if they disappear like that, when they become adults, their descendants can inherit their status. This is also the case with Giriwang Darida. They pass extremely difficult conditions to inherit their status and transform into adults.

‘True adults’ do not appear easily. An army of superhumans is a fantasy. The Invincible Army is incredibly strong, but it is impossible to form an army of only the de-humanized.

Even the qualification of ‘Anlayer’, which is on a different level, is almost impossible to obtain. Including Ol Chaun, who was a rookie in Datang, only 12 people were able to obtain the qualification. In fact, it may be more unusual for there to be 3 people.

Perhaps, they are just some kind of ‘fake great men’ who are just very high in status. They are great, but they are great because they are great, so they gather more will.

But in fact, the Luca Empire had the potential to produce a fourth saint. Strictly speaking, he was not from the Luca Empire, so let’s say he was a saint from the Eron region.

Troubled times. Let me tell you about that person.

“Huk. Huh.”

“Chase it! It’s dark, but it’s big so you’ll be able to see it easily!”

“If you don’t catch it here, consider the empire falling!”

The outskirts of the Luca Empire. A woman runs while surrounded by imperial troops.

That height is a whopping 2m. By the standards of the humans in this world, that is an extremely tall height. Excluding the Gigard tribe, which is a special class, even among Bark and Erin, unless you are of the bloodline of the Invincible One, this is a really rare height.

But you can tell right away by their pitch-black skin. They are the Patchar tribe. The Patchar are about this thick on average. They are a special force dispatched by Liwaduwan to the north.

Although she was an experienced woman, the Imperial Army gradually became skilled at hunting spies. The Patchar tribe, which had great difficulty in infiltrating with just their original appearance, had to use the mystical power of sorcery to change their appearance.

But she was not a transmogrifier, and by chance her magic was broken and her appearance was revealed. It is a pity that if it had been just a little longer, she could have contaminated one of the imperial cities.

And now, they’re running away into the forest, running frantically. It’s already been three weeks since they fled. As expected of the Erin tribe, which is known for having the greatest endurance in the world, the Imperial Army has been chasing them for three whole weeks.

Of course, the magical power in my body has been depleted for a long time. I used up all the donum and homu I had just in case, so now I have no real magical power.

They say that sorcery is a power that comes from emotions, but now the only emotions left in her head are ‘I’m tired’, ‘I’m exhausted’, and ‘Save me’, so it’s impossible to conjure up a plausible spell. It seems clear that the persistent elite forces of the Luca Empire will kill her.

Meanwhile, Patchar’s keen senses detected a sweet smell from somewhere.

‘It’s a person!’

Erin, I know. But the Patchar special forces don’t care and run. If we keep going like this, we’ll die anyway. If we don’t hide in the chimney, or in the warehouse, or even in the toilet, we’ll die.

But, unfortunately, I lock eyes with the landlord.

“?”

“!”

She is an old Erin woman who appears to be of mixed race. She is quite tall, just a little shorter than him. However, the Patchar special forces find out something truly unexpected.

‘You’re a hero. You’re a transmogrifier!’

And what’s even more shocking is that she tilted her head and said something.

“Come in.”

“?”

“You’re being chased. Come in. If you don’t want to, die.”

The Patchar commandos have no choice but to go in. And inside they see something strange. Something almost affectionate.

“Shujorsan spider… … .”

There were several giant spiders scurrying around inside. And a strange smell of herbs and minerals. A pharmacist? A herbalist?

“Aha. So that’s what I thought. You’re from the South, right?”

“… … .”

“Do you even warn your savior?”

“I don’t know if he really saved my life.”

“Hmm.”

But surprisingly, the Imperial forces cannot find her cabin. The Erin woman, who probably used some kind of magic to hide her location, leans back heavily in her chair and says:

“A spy of the Patchar tribe who came to destroy the Luca Empire. Right?”

“Yeah… … . You?”

“Similar. I’m also a wanted criminal. I’m called a witch here.”

The self-proclaimed witch looks back at the special forces.

“I am a priest of the Black Bishop. What is the Black Bishop… … . Well. You probably know better.”

“The Black Bishop, that is.”

The witch waves her hand.

“I know. When I was young, I truly believed that the Black Lord would save us, and that we should live according to his virtues. But as I grew older, I realized that the Black Lord was just a pet spider of the ‘skewer-lover’ Liwaduwan, and that the Black Bishop’s apostle was himself. He infiltrated the empire and told lies in order to destroy it.”

“… … .”

If you know so well, there’s nothing to say. That’s all the special forces agent had to say.

“And yet you believe it?”

The priest of the Black Bishop. The witch drinks the tea that seems to have been there from the beginning, and then slowly puts it down.

“It doesn’t matter who the founder is or what the purpose of the creation was. What matters is whether the teachings are right or wrong.”

“… … .”

“Liwaduwan was a mad murderer, but the knowledge he brought to Eron was real… … . Medicine, virtue. We knew that, and we studied hard and practiced the mysteries.”

“What mystery?”

“Well? Black Bishop faith? It’s a mixture of witchcraft and monotheism. Monotheism is like that too. It’s believing in a god that doesn’t actually exist.”

“… … .”

“I treated the sick and spread the basic methods of treating the sick, but that invincible man persecuted me as a heretic who killed the saint. In the end, all my original disciples and comrades disappeared, and I was stuck in this remote place for a long time. All my disciples left or died. Now, I am the only one left.”

The Patchar commandos saw this as an opportunity. A kind of traitor within Erin, so to speak.

“Want to trade?”

“transaction?”

“I’ve met many heroes. It seems to me that you have already met the first condition of the second molting.”

“… … .”

“I will make you an immortal saint by satisfying the remaining two. What do you think?”

“Then. What do you want?”

“The mystery itself. If the pseudo-black bishop we created was reborn as a mystery, we could actually use it actively. The mystery of medicine… … . I will save my people with that.”

“And you act as a doctor in the Luca Empire, proselytize, and cause rifts. Right?”

“… … .”

The old witch had nothing to lose, and the collapse of the empire was what she wanted.

“I’ll give you 10 years.”

“… … !”

“I am already over eighty. Even if I shed my shell, after ten years my mind will become clouded, and after twenty years I will be bedridden and unable to get up. If you are willing to train with me for ten years and treat others, namely Erins, I will gladly impart this mystery to you. What do you think?”

The Patchar commando licks his lips.

“I swear.”

“Okay. Then. Let’s start training. It’s been a while since I’ve raised a disciple.”

The Patchar Special Forces coincidentally met a superhuman from the Erron region.

What effect will the meeting of these two have? And what will change as a result?

It may all be just preparations for the next era. However, it seems necessary now, at least for the end of the era and for the next era’s main characters to emerge.