061-080 · 068-ch61

Chapter 61: Facts and Speculation

"Hey, Selene. What would you think if I told you that humans disappeared because of the dungeons?"

At my words, Selene seemed unable to understand what she'd just heard for a moment, showing a blank, bewildered expression.

But after a moment, she seemed to comprehend the content, and her expression grew stern.

"What... do you mean by that?"

"Hey, don't get so angry. Besides, your magic—it's leaking out."

Given how she had frozen an entire city, she must have high aptitude for ice-attribute magic, I suppose.

I thought this as I felt the cold air seeping from Selene and watched frost spread across the room.

Personally, I can only create magic circles through magic power manipulation, so I don't really understand, but I wonder if explorers with elemental magic aptitudes and skills are like this.

That said, Selene's magical power is no ordinary thing, considering the freezing magic that had encased the entire city.

The fact that magic leaks out to this extent just from heightened emotions suggests that magic is closely linked to the mind.

Magic is imagination.

It's creativity.

At least, this is my own arbitrary assumption as someone who doesn't possess magic system skills, but that's what I believe.

Rather, it would be far too inconvenient and uninteresting if you could only use predetermined magic like in some Dragon Q○est game.

"Please explain in detail. What do you mean when you say humans disappeared because of the dungeons?"

Setting aside such escapist thoughts for now, I decided to deal with the Selene who was about to go berserk right before my eyes.

Actually, she really has gone into that "eyes without highlights" mode you often see in manga and illustrations—she's seriously lost it.

That's why I hadn't really wanted to tell Selene about this, but then again, she chose this path herself.

I won't say anything more about it.

"Calm down, Selene."

I began suppressing the magic overflowing from Selene by expanding my own magic power outward.

At least, judging from what I saw of Selene's combat abilities against monsters, I surpass her in terms of magic power quantity.

This doesn't directly translate to output, but then again, I haven't trained half-heartedly either.

No matter how much Selene seems skilled at magic and carries the blood of the Wind People, and no matter how carefully she was raised as a successor to her country without experiencing great hardships, there's no way I'll lose to her when I've been forged in the dungeon.

"—! John... san..."

My magic power entangled with Selene's magic, suppressing its influence on the world.

And the magic that had tried to spill further outward without finding any place to settle was enveloped by my magic power and returned to within her.

Receiving that recoil, she finally seemed to return to her senses.

"Have you calmed down?"

When I spoke to her, Selene shook her head before turning her gaze back to me.

"I'm sorry... I just lost my temper..."

She apologized, but it's not as if she's at fault.

I too had considered that she might go berserk when I told her about this.

"Don't worry about it. You would have learned about this eventually anyway, and it's better to have you lose it now than at some strange moment later."

So there's a part of me that deliberately stepped on her landmine now to let her go berserk while I could control the situation.

"I see... Thank you very much."

"Not sure what you're thanking me for, but if you're calm now, let's continue."

I'm the one who deliberately touched her sore spot and made her go berserk.

There's no reason for her to thank me.

"Now then, this is serious talk. The appearance of dungeons and the disappearance of humans. I'm considering the possibility that these two things are connected."

"And that's why you said humans disappeared because of the dungeons?"

"Well, something like that."

Now then, from here on, I'll speak about the true nature of this world and the existence called dungeons—something I've been contemplating in my heart all this time.

I had actually thought I would eventually discuss this with a large audience through streaming.

Well, think of this as a rehearsal—it won't be so bad.

"First, let's think about this. What exactly is a dungeon?"

At my words, Selene tilted her head.

"A dungeon is... a dungeon, isn't it?"

She's certainly not wrong.

Not wrong, but not correct either.

"Hmm... Then what do you think water is, Selene?"

As if to say she understands even less now, Selene tilted her head again.

"Water is... water, isn't it...?"

"In our world, there's a discovered law stating that water is a pure substance composed of water molecules formed by the bonding of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom."

"Um, what?"

Seeing Selene's eyes widen in confusion, I waved my hand and changed the example.

This analogy might be easy for Earthlings to understand, but for Selene, who has no concept of molecules or atoms, it was probably a bit difficult to grasp.

"Let's change the example. What is the chair you're sitting on right now?"

"It's a chair... no, that's not it, is it? Then... wood?"

Not quite right, but not far off either.

"What is a chair? I think there are various answers to that question. Something to sit on. Something people rest their hips on. A stepping stool. A block of wood. A fragment of a tree. Depending on which aspect you view it from, what you see changes each time."

"So... what is a dungeon? What kind of existence it is—you mean?"

"Exactly."

I'm really not good at developing topics smoothly.

I'll need to work on refining this properly before the real deal when I eventually talk about this on stream.

"In our world, dungeons were absolutely not something that existed from the beginning of the world, from the beginning of the stars. At least, many of the laws currently understood indicate this."

To begin with.

The existence of something like magic power—a special force field that isn't even particles—is something impossible within the scope of physical laws that govern Earth and the universe.

This alone makes it easy to speculate that dungeons are an irregularity for Earth—no, for the universe.

Many of the things happening in dungeons are things that shouldn't be possible in a world governed by physical laws, in a world established by physical laws.

"What about in this world? I've asked beings who exist in this world before."

"There are other people besides me in this world!? Ah, I mean, what about people from countries other than mine?"

"If you mean besides you, then the Wind People and others... would they be called Earth People and Sea People? Those types likely still remain. And as for the latter, unfortunately, the answer is the same as for the people of your country. But let's set that aside for now."

I'm sure she's curious about what the current state of this world is, but that's not the main topic.

For now, let's set that aside and move forward with the discussion of what dungeons are, forcibly steering the conversation back on track.

There are certainly too many mysteries here, and many questions will arise, but please just listen for now.

"Let's set that aside for now. Anyway, I asked beings similar to the people of this world before. One was about when dungeons began to exist in this world. And the other was about where the dungeons in this world lead to."

At my words, Recina audibly swallowed.

"For the first question, I couldn't get a clear answer. Since they said 'since mythological times,' I speculate that it must be so long ago that a thousand years wouldn't suffice."

"I've never read anything in history books about when dungeons appeared either."

"Thank you. And for the second: 'While many dungeons are not like this, some of the oldest dungeons are said to connect from their depths to a different world than this one.'"

Selene seemed to need a few moments to understand my roundabout way of speaking.

Wanting to establish clear definitions is one thing, but this is something I need to improve—being so stiff and formal in my phrasing.

"In other words, even in this world, some dungeons connect to other worlds from their depths—that's what I'm saying."

"From the world John-san came from, you were also connected to our world through dungeons, right?"

At Selene's confirmation, I nod.

"Dungeons function like passages connecting world to world. So then, what uses these passages?"

"Those who use the passages..."

Well then, from here is the crux of the matter.