Fantasy Starting from the Stone Age - Chapter 26



Only Noblemtl

Episode 26. Trial and Error

There is a theme that runs through each era. The flow of the times. In other words, how people define the era.

Perhaps the moment the defined word changes, the era changes. And the prehistoric Datang became a very powerful topic.

hero.

To remain immortal beside the great All Chaun.

In short, it is the entry into Mainnirun. In fact, even the Datons were a bit confused about this.

Is it because All Chaun recognizes him that he became a hero, or because he became a hero and All Chaun recognizes him, or because he can live in Mainnirun because he is a hero, or is it because he can live in Mainnirun with high magical power that he is a hero?

But that vague perception, that clear causality, was good anyway. In the end, Darton defined the hero by such a vague impression.

That’s enough. That’s a meme. A mentality. A powerful definition of a concept.

The Datons believed that if they became heroes, they would become immortal, and if they became immortal, they would be able to enter Mainirun, where they would live happily ever after alongside their great ancestor, Ol Chaun.

Then, you must become a hero! The desire to become immortal has become a very strong desire in the Datons.

If Darton had not truly been immortal and could have lived forever, he might have gone down in history as a good man, or lived a good life in anticipation of the afterlife, or accomplished something great, or gone on to wage war and make a fortune.

However, Daton could truly live forever in this world. In the end, the ‘afterlife’ is not that important in Daton’s world. It is better to live forever in the great holy land of Mainilun in reality than in an afterlife that does not exist and is unknown.

As a result, strange things happen to the Daton tribe.

Let’s check it out for yourself now.

A single flame is discovered by the pilgrims and slowly guided towards Dutan.

Dutan will honor his fallen compatriot and console him with appropriate rites and prayers, and save his flame to bring it to Ol Chaun in Mainirun one day.

The Datons who saw it whispered.

“How did that guy die?”

“I heard you tried to become friends with the scaled rhinoceros.”

“It would have been a great feat if it had been successful.”

“That’s right······. The scaly rhinoceros is strong. It’s smaller than an elephant, but it eats less and is easier to ride.”

“But since he’s dead. How many Datons has the Scales Rhinoceros killed?”

Tsk tsk. The sound of clicking the tongue. The Datons can’t hide their disappointment. But no one laughs at the attempt itself. It’s just that they lack the courage.

This is not the first time. Dozens of people have died while trying to perform ‘feats’, and I see them passing by the meadows.

The first hero, Ol Chaun, ran out into the meadows on a stormy day, befriended the spirits, and tamed the spirit trees to make them his livestock.

In short, the people they admire most are those who became heroes through reckless and crazy acts, and it started with befriending natural creatures that do not get along with people. As a result, there are many cases of them getting killed while approaching the powerful and innocent animals of the grasslands.

Dator’s creatures are not easy to deal with even if Daton holds fire.

Many other people die as well.

He died of poisoning while experimenting with various herbs to create a medicine to cure his illness.

Died while touching a rock in a high-magic zone to find out the mysterious properties of the stone.

Died from heavy metal poisoning.

Died from explosion.

He died while trying to build a large temple by carving stones like Manum Lapang.

Even if you look at the reasons for their death, you can see that the prehistoric people, who had a high infant mortality rate and a short average lifespan, were incredibly brave. At least until the infant mortality rate dropped below 2%, they were always prepared to die. They lived with death for eternal life.

Even though the Datons are objectively a cowardly race, they are willing to take on all sorts of crazy challenges and even die in order to achieve immortal glory.

The afterlife is too weak for them, so that’s why. People around them die so easily. That’s why people in the past sacrificed their lives to ‘verify’, ‘prove’, ‘experiment’, etc.

Of course, after throwing yourself into it, Daton’s civilization definitely progresses. And in the process, you gain quite a bit of income.

However, it is not as important as the death of a person. In particular, Ol Chaun, who made his first pilgrimage to save his people, expressed his anger at the number of fires being carried to Mainilun.

A meeting was held where all the Dutans and Chauns were summoned.

“Reka (F*ck)!”

The great ancestor of Daton and the wise god. When Ol Chaun vents his anger, the Datang Oram on the altar burns fiercely.

All Chaun sits on the jeweled table on the altar, seated with the most important ‘Chauns’ of Datang and Manum Lapang who have reached the same level as him, and gathers all the Dutans of each village around him and shouts loudly.

“I can’t tell if these guys are my two-headed men or a pack of lions trying to devour their own kind! The two-headed men must explain this mass slaughter! How many people died when there was no epidemic!”

Actually, I don’t know how many people actually died. I just don’t have a concept of numbers.

But because of that, for the sole reason that he could not be counted, Ol Chaun let out a fiery roar. The village leaders, Dutans, who could talk and communicate directly with him, desperately made excuses.

“Courage and challenge are virtues that even the Lord has shown···.”

“That didn’t mean I was telling you to die! Did you think that as soon as I met Datang Oram, I would dive into the swamp and catch the devil?”

But it is true that it encourages courage and challenge. All of this anger is eventually directed not at Dutan but at those who really should have stopped him.

“Da-dah-dah! We could fill up a swamp with the corpses of the people who died during the last dry season! What on earth have the wise men done to get this far! Have they incited it?”

It was a genuine anger. Dashun Chaun, who had been given the head of the wise men, Moji Palera, who advised Datun to make wise choices, could not raise his head.

“Oh, all right. That’s it. It’s important to gain knowledge and verify it. What else can you verify herbs with but your own body?”

“Die reka (What the fuck)!”

The fire of Datang Oram spreads to the jewel table. Ol Chaun was originally a man with a foul mouth, to the point where he would say “F*ck” on his lips. Contrary to the impression given in the story, he is far from being a kind and gentle person.

But he is also a rational person. He understands that what his people are doing is no different from what the tribes used to do in the past.

I also understand that you want to live there forever. Entering Mainilun.

In other words, becoming a Mainnirun (a person who enters Mainnirun = a hero) is the most important thing for the Datun tribe. Since the first motivation of All Chaun was to become a general, I am not unaware of his feelings.

He tries to find a way as an adult.

“I understand wanting to be a minecrafter. Anyone would want to be like that.”

“Yeah.”

Manum Lapang, who had been sitting down, agreed. The other Chauns also agreed.

“The problem is that neither of us, the parties involved, know what a Mainnirun is. Probably not even Bark Maza.”

“hmm.”

“So, let’s start with this. How can I become a main runner?”

The question is, what happens to heroes? They could only verify it by looking at two existing cases.

Da-Yeon Cha-Woon, the great sage (chief), clears things up with a loud noise.

“When All Chaun became the contractor for Datang Oram, he was not Mainnirun.”

“Because there was no Mainnirun in the Dark Ages.”

“Even if it’s not that, he didn’t live forever anyway.”

“Yeah. I kept trying to get younger, but I just got older. I got younger by fighting the swamp demon, and that’s how I ended up like this.”

“The same goes for Manum Lapang. He was a great architect and sculptor before that, but the moment he completed Mainirun, he reached the same level as Olleh Chaun. Accordingly, it is certain that he achieved great feats.”

The present-day Bokabor Chaun, who is with the swamp demon, Happa Jose, spoke quietly.

“Hey. That’s a bit weird. Then shouldn’t you have gotten younger after winning? Why did you get younger in the middle?”

“Huh? That.”

“That’s because I recited a powerful spell. I guess it’s a separate matter that I’ve maintained my youth.”

All Chaun thinks of his mother. She has become younger, but she has not lived forever.

Niroran Chaun (the Pilgrim’s Friend), a representative of the merchants and artisans, speaks cautiously.

“Could it be that the feat was not to defeat the devil?”

“hmm?”

“You say that isn’t an achievement······?”

“Oh, no. That’s not it. All of you dreamed of starting a pilgrimage to meet all of the Datons. After meeting all of the Datons and returning, you went to the first swamp and fought the swamp demon.”

“I see······. You had already achieved the feat of the Pilgrimage before fighting the swamp demon.”

“That makes sense. So?”

“Of course, it was a great feat to have made a contract with Datang Oram before that. However, I think there was another reason why you were not able to live forever back then.”

All Chaun could tell that it was the only thing that was lacking at that time.

“There weren’t enough people.”

“Yes. It seems that in order to become an immortal being, it takes a tremendous amount of human prayer and cheering. The Pilgrimage of Flames and the Mainnirun were all worth it. In fact, everyone was happy.”

All Chaun hears that and chooses his words carefully.

“Then, should I tell you not to do it unless you are willing to achieve that level of feat?”

“that······.”

“I’m telling you not to do it at all.”

All the representatives of Daton are reluctant. Progress and innovation are important. Perhaps they are as important values ​​to the Daton tribe as prosperity.

But if we take the current heroes as our standard, it is too bleak. Rather than encouraging progress and innovation, it will cause stagnation.

“Oh. But. I think there are two more conditions.”

Manum Lapang, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. Everyone looked at the second greatest being.

“Two? What?”

“One thing is, you have to accomplish something so great that the lives of all of Daton will change completely.”

“?”

Manum Lapang explains with a quizzical look on his face.

“In short, the clothes we’re wearing. In fact, these are different from the leather clothes we wore during the Dark Ages, right?”

“Huh? Uh. Well. Right.”

All of this even led to the discovery of who created the style of clothing we wear today. It was a great innovation.

“So everyone is wearing such well-made clothes, unlike when they wore scaled hippopotamus skins, but······. Even though these are ‘better’ than the clothes of the past, they haven’t ‘changed’ the concept of clothes themselves? So we remember and honor that person, but, how should I put it? We don’t think of them as great. Someone else might make better clothes later.”

Everyone focused on her mouth. They all felt unconsciously that her remark had really hit the nail on the head.

“But what All-Chawn did was different~ Discovering fire and spreading it to everyone. And conquering the swamp. Before that, we used to rub our palms together to make fire, and we couldn’t even go near the swamp during the rainy season. I can’t imagine either of those things······. How did we live like that?”

“I lived just about anywhere.”

“Yes, yes. So to speak, All Chaun made fire his friend and changed life itself, and distorted the very concepts of dry and rainy seasons, grasslands and swamps.

What can I say? The world we see has changed. Of course, good clothes or new food can give us that perspective, but those can be replaced by better clothes or different food.”

“Is that why I haven’t become a Mainnirun even though I’ve completed the Great Pilgrimage, visiting all the villages and even reaching the territory of the Bark Tribe?”

Niroran mutters, wanting to accomplish a feat of pilgrimage that would surpass even the previous Chaun. Lapang nods.

“Yes, of course it’s great. But someone has already done it. It’s great, but there may be a greater pilgrimage later.”

A change that is irreplaceable and completely changes the world.

Manum Lapang seemed to value the condition more than the feat. Everyone nodded their heads when they heard that.

“Then we can stop people from trying to do what they did before. At least with unnecessary buildings and things like that.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So this is the first condition, and what is the second condition?”

Lapin tilts his head as if he himself is not sure, then says.

“Nobody will know what it is.”

“······?”

“When All Chaun first set out on his pilgrimage, he probably had no idea how the world would change. He probably never imagined that all the Datuns would unite to form such a huge Datang. That they would subdue the swamps and raise the spirit beasts.”

Ol Chaun answers to Lapang’s words, who looks at him as if asking for his consent.

“Yeah. Honestly, I didn’t know it would turn out like this. I originally thought I’d catch a demon and grow old and die. I’m a little surprised.”

“That’s it. I didn’t know that Mainilun could do something like this.”

“You designed it, right?”

“I was a designer, but I didn’t know. I couldn’t imagine that it would be this great. Even I thought so, so I guess other Datons thought so too? And before I built Mainilun, I just wanted to make a work of art, but I had no idea that it would turn out like this.”

Lapin mutters.

“I think that Mainnirun is not something you can enter by wishing for it or working hard for it. When you realize it, it is something that is ‘in there.’”

All of this is a look at the heads of each department. They are all hesitant, but deep down they know.

Probably. That’s probably true.

And how enormous the ramifications of that fact will be.

“I don’t think this is the extent to which innovation is stagnating. What are the conditions for achieving feats that cannot be achieved with a clear goal?”

Ol Cha-woon sighed deeply at Da-sun’s carefully spoken words.

“At least it’ll stop the madness for a while.”

It’s such a difficult goal to encourage such crazy things.

But heroes do appear. And quite a few of them. You probably know two of the first 12 mineleaders of Daton, so let me introduce you to the third hero.

She is, as is often the case with those who achieve great things, a tremendous genius.