A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 250 : Floating Territory (4)

The Floating Territory: Joseon.

At first, Leonardo Louis Button couldn't recall what on earth it was.

But as he searched his memories due to the persistent feeling of déjà vu, he was able to recall a faint memory from an ancient tome he had read sometime in the distant past.

That is to say.

It was when he had just been appointed as an 'Inquisitor' of the Order, gaining top-level information access rights and the qualification to enter the Order's archives.

A part of an ancient book he had read during his days of indiscriminately devouring old tomes had certainly left a record about a 'Floating City'.

『...Rumors about a territory floating in the sky are gradually increasing.』

『Although their credibility has not been secured, these rumors and eyewitness accounts of this floating city are being heard simultaneously from various parts of the central continent...』

In truth, it was hard to say it had any credibility.

Like most ancient tomes shoved in a corner, its source was not accurately confirmed,

And from the beginning, the contents of the book weren't so much a record that clearly defined the 'Floating Territory' but rather, in the process of recording various rumors of the time, it had merely left a note to the effect of, 'There are such rumors.'

…That's why it took Leonardo Louis Button a long time to recall it.

However, the 'Floating City' mentioned in the records of that ancient tome, which documented various rumors circulating at the time, was certainly referring to that giant flying territory that had now appeared above the Northern Subjugation Force's camp.

『...The common features of the floating city are its enormous size that cannot be taken in at a glance, its stealthy method of movement, appearing without anyone knowing when, and its physically impossible speed...』

The various records about the 'Floating City' in the ancient tome had aspects that corresponded with what had appeared before their eyes.

And if Leonardo Louis Button's memory served him right, the most prominent feature of this floating city recorded in the ancient tome was...

『...The disappearance of talented individuals.』

It was that it traveled to various places on the continent and took away those called 'geniuses' from each town.

Of course, there was no direct mention of them being taken, but according to the ancient book's records, wherever there were eyewitness accounts, disappearance cases would inevitably occur.

And there was a record that the subjects of these disappearances were always individuals with unparalleled talent in a certain field.

Well.

It was just a simple record with no evidence and no source, so this too couldn't be said to be certain, but the plausibility created by the series of stories made one guess that it wasn't a completely absurd tale.

『Another point to note was the type of talent.』

The ironic thing was that the geniuses taken by the floating city were talented in all sorts of fields like politics, economics, society, culture, art, and technology, with no particular commonality.

Just two types.

It was the fact that they never took those with talent in 'martial prowess' and 'mana'.

It wasn't clear whether it was intentional or not, but upon recalling that far, Leonardo Louis Button realized a peculiar implication.

For the Order, which was fighting the War against Demons, the most important human resources were precisely the 'geniuses of martial prowess' and the 'geniuses of mana'.

And for that very reason, even though the Order had records of the 'Floating Territory', they hadn't conducted a separate investigation.

Well, of course, compared to the time the ancient tome was written, rumors of the floating city had all but vanished in the present, so there might have been a bigger reason for their inaction.

Even so, if the Order had thought that its talented individuals were being snatched away, they wouldn't have just let it be and would have tried to uncover its identity somehow.

At the very least, it seemed correct that thanks to it not coveting talents in martial prowess and mana, the 'Floating Territory' had been able to remain hidden without revealing its identity until now.

"...This is everything I know. There wasn't much recorded in the first place."

"......"

"Besides that content, the ancient tome just lists various rumors, so its accuracy is rather low."

At Louis's explanation, which unraveled what had been lingering in his mind, Ludwig interlaced his fingers behind his head, leaned back heavily, and summarized curtly.

"So."

"......"

"I get that some unknown lump of rock up there went around snatching up talented people."

Shrug-

"So, what the hell is that Floating Territory thing?"

It was a point that no one had dared to mention, thanks to Kim Satgat's peculiar 'my pace' attitude, but Louis and Kanna also had the same kind of question as Ludwig.

Even without adding any unnecessary details, one could clearly get the feeling that it was no ordinary thing just from its immense appearance.

In the first place, from the fact that it was an organization to which Kim Satgat—who possessed talent superior to Isaac Einstein—belonged while hiding his identity, they could tell that it wasn't just big in size.

Moreover.

『Heheh. As I said, my responsibility is only to pave the way. As that friend with little hair said, it's not something I can hide with my own abilities.』

Shake, shake-

『That is something built up over a long time by our predecessors. I just put a spoon on a fully set table. It's not strange at all.』

『......』

If one connected the words he himself had spoken earlier with the records Louis Button had seen in the Order's ancient tome...

That 'Floating Territory' floating in the sky was a certain faction that had been collecting talented individuals from the surface for hundreds of years.

What they had done with the talent gathered over that long period of time, and how much power they had amassed, was a mystery.

Because the only thing they could tell from looking up at it from below was its enormous size.

Hoho-

Letting out his characteristic hearty laugh, Kim Satgat slightly lifted his conical hat and said.

"Didn't I say it before? Even in Murim, there's a saying to hide 30% of your strength."

"......"

"If it's a legend, there must be a reason why it remained a legend. I hope you can understand that I cannot say everything. However..."

Glance-

"I can tell you that we came with the purpose of helping you."

* * *

When the Floating Territory first appeared, the party had thought that, just like the Veil of the Black Sea spreading out, it couldn't possibly be a good influence on the Northern Subjugation Force.

That was merely due to the fear originating from its immense size and unknown identity.

After encountering Kim Satgat, they had guessed that it hadn't appeared above their camp because of any particular hostile feelings toward the Northern Subjugation Force.

If that had been the case, they could have just dropped that giant mass down below without bothering to stop it.

However.

Not being hostile and 'offering help' were two completely different matters.

"Offering help?"

"Yes. That is what I said."

It was an undeniable fact that the Northern Subjugation Allied Forces were not in a good state.

It was to the point where even U-jin, who had experienced the future, felt that it was impossible to attack the Orc Mountains with the current forces of the Subjugation Allied Forces.

Excluding the Heroes, who were practically mercenaries, the magic of the Priests, which could be called the Order's intact fighting force, had become useless, and as a result, the combat power of the Subjugation Allied Forces had drastically decreased.

The Veil of the Black Sea, which had appeared for the first time in 100 years for some reason, blocked the 'Satellite Magic'—the inescapable net of the allied territories that was the Order's core supply system and what effectively allowed the allied Order to be maintained—through magic shielding, making a continuous supply of mana to the subjugation force impossible.

The soldiers' supply routes established through the Black Sea were also cut off.

And the real problem was the fact that they had to attack the 'Orc Mountains' in that situation.

The higher-species Orcs, whose combat power had been doubled by the Demon King's Army's sure-win strategy of 'Fortification', which hadn't been seen in over 100 years, and the 'Improved Black Olive' created by Isaac Einstein.

Considering all that, the situation of the Subjugation Allied Forces was, by far, the 'worst'.

...But even so.

"...A corps-level force of the Order?"

It was strictly a 'corps-level' force built by the Order.

A massive force that could at least aim for mutual destruction if they clashed with a duke-rank demon race force of the Demon King's Army on the plains.

No matter how bad their current state was, it was only due to the special conditions of the present situation; they were an immense force capable of wiping out several ordinary Demon Kings' territories.

In fact, this had already been confirmed in the few preceding battles.

Therefore, it was a little difficult to take Kim Satgat's words at face value.

Of course, they weren't ignoring the physically impossible aerial maneuvers and the unknown technology that had floated a territory of that enormous size.

Because it was indeed great enough that even Louis and Ludwig, who had the most experience regarding information in the Order, could feel that it was extraordinary at a glance.

But, how should one put it.

Was it that they were unfamiliar with it?

The very concept of someone helping the 'Order's corps-level force' was something that hadn't happened in the last few hundred years, so it felt awkward.

Just as the subjugation war on the Northern Anti-Demon Front had begun without a declaration of war, ever since the Demon King's Allied Army and the Order's Allied Army were divided, it had been a fight between their respective factions.

The idea of a third party intervening in that battle was not something that Louis, Ludwig, or Kanna could accept so readily.

Besides.

"...How do you mean to help us, Wandering Poet?"

They couldn't picture at all what form that help would take.

Well, if it meant dropping that giant mass right on top of the Orc Mountains, that would be quite meaningful help.

But in the first place, if they had intended to help in such a way, there would have been no reason to come and ask like this.

For all they knew, there must be a reason why it had flown through the skies for hundreds of years, hiding its identity even from the Order.

After all, there were few things that would draw more attention than that giant rock floating in the sky falling directly onto the Demon King's Territory.

No one thought that the 'help' Kim Satgat spoke of was that kind of method.

Instead of answering Louis's reluctant question, Kim Satgat, who had been nodding, turned his head to look at Kanna on his right and asked.

"It would be best to have this kind of talk with the one who holds full authority over the subjugation force."

"......"

Grin-

"So, what is the most difficult problem the subjugation force is facing, Commander-in-Chief?"

To Kim Satgat's straightforward question, delivered with a rising corner of his mouth, Kanna answered without hesitation.

"...The Veil of the Black Sea."