683 – Jornes’ Revelation Stone

I have no idea what to make of this. Neither the depiction of a past civilisation, nor the Foren on the ceiling connect to anything I know. All I can take from it is that the prehistoric civilisation destroyed by Foren was surprisingly developed.

『Master-dono, why don’t we take a look at the stele?』

『R-right, let’s.』

As proposed by treant, I lower my head to look at the stone slab. It seems that the mural and this stele are from different ages. The stele might have been made a lot later.

At any rate, if I read it, I should gain some new information. Hopefully it’ll let me know where I am.

A large number of letters are carved into it. I have no idea what it says.

…The [Grisha Language] skill doesn’t cover reading ability. It would be so much more convenient if it could do both though…

『…Aro, can you read it?』

“U-umm… A little bit! I’ll try my best!”

Aro brings her face closer and begins earnestly trying to read. It’s clear she’s struggling, however.

…In the first place, she was just a young girl before. Compared to my previous world, the literacy rate here is probably much lower, and the Lithovar tribe probably doesn’t have much need for writing.

『If it’s too hard you can give up, Aro.』

“I-I think I can reads bits of it! But, umm… These letters are a little different from the ones I know… It’s probably super old, so some parts might be a little different…”

Ahh, it sounds tough. I bring my head next her and look, but can only tilt my head to the side in confusion.

“If it’s just picking up the broad meaning by skimming it, I think I can manage.”

『Could you give that a try?』

“S-sure! Umm… Liyos… isn’t right. Libias isn’t right either… B-but it looks like a name, so I’ll just go with that for now. This is the warning stone of Libias…”

『The revelation stone of Jornes.』

The [Telepathy] comes from right below me. Aro and I look at treant.

『Master-dono… If you don’t mind, allow me to read it to you.』

Treant embarredly hides his mouth with his wing and appears to clear his throat.

『You can read!?』

“N-no way! How come you can read it!?”

『I haven’t seen much writing, so I didn’t notice until now, but… Apparently, as long as it’s written in the Grisha language, I can read text no matter what era it’s from.』

Treant puffs up his chest with pride.

『Wh-why just you!? I didn’t think you had a skill like that…』

Suddenly, I recall the fruit that he once ate.

【[Fruit of Wisdom: Value L (legendary)]】
【A fruit created by god and given to the primordial humans.】
【To the primordial humans, it bestowed language, civilisation, magic, technology, and caused war.】
【The language and power of the time have been passed down through blood, and still takes root to this day.】
【Having fulfilled their purpose, the trees of the fruit of wisdom were burned to the ground by angels.】
【Now, in the farthest lands where no humans tread, only a single tree remains.】

It was the mysterious fruit we found on the westernmost Giant Tree Island, also known as Adam Island. He ate it and gained the [Eater of the Fruit of Wisdom] title skill.

『…R-right, you did have that.』

“Treant-san… That’s amazing, but, I-I can’t believe I lost in terms of language ability…”

Aro mumbles, clearly shocked. Both a former human Dragon of Revelation, and a top-ranking undead mage have apparently lost to a tree ghost in literacy.

“Ah… But, at least we’re the same, dragon-god-sama!

『Y-yeah… That’s nice…』

Aro seems strangely happy, so all I can reply with is ‘that’s nice’.

Still, the Revelation Stone of Jornes? I think Jornes was a Saint. If I remember right, her name was mentioned in the description of the armour that the clay brave was wearing.

【[Evil Ahriman: Value L]]】
【[Defence: +255]】
【The strongest Saint of the generations, [Jornes], followed a calamity of a dragon and used that dragon’s flames to craft this armour.】
【Though it was originally supposed to be clad in holy light, due to the armour reflecting its creator’s black heart, it instead carries an intense curse.】
【Due to the power of [Jornes’] prayer, the armour is constantly surrounded by a barrier that reflects magic.】
【However, it is said that the heart of whoever wears it is consumed, crippling them.】
【Four successive generations of Heroes tried to use the armour to defeat the Demon Lord, but all of them without fail suffered a tragic end, and so it was sealed in a labyrinth below a royal castle for a very long time.】

…Based on that description, it sounds like Jornes might not be the most trustworthy, but I guess it’s okay to at least read what she wrote. I also don’t know what her circumstances were at the time, or for what reason she made the armour, so there’s no point saying anything now.

『Then, I’ll read it, master-dono, Aro-dono.』

『Please do.』

He begins to read out loud.

『I am Saint Jornes. This place was once a vast ruin. However, I believed that this mural and staircase should be preserved and concealed, and so built a great cathedral to the Holy God here. I believe I am the one who has most touched on the secrets of the world…』

I suck in a breath.

As I thought, we’re back in our world. This is probably Lilixira’s Holy Country of Liarm… specifically, the basement of the Great Cathedral.

『For the sake of the future Saints, and for the sake of the Saviour, I shall write everything I can here that will not incur the wrath of the Holy God. I shall write about the Holy God… about God’s Voice, and about the birthplace of God’s Voice, the old world before it was destroyed by the Evil God Foren… the Utopian Ideal.』

The birthplace of God’s Voice!? Hearing it is impactful, but I knew on some level that there was a civilisation that was destroyed by Foren. I was vaguely under the impression that God’s Voice must have had something to do with that civilisation.

But the Utopian Ideal…? That’s got to be to about this cityscape.

I glance at the mural. A single look is enough to see it was a super advanced culture.

Neither in this world, nor in the world I was in before, have I seen a place like it. However, there are some parts I can understand.

Antenna-like things stand out, as well as some sort of machinery. And yet, their construction falls completely outside my common sense from Earth.

Perhaps it is the result of a scientific civilisation developing for a long time in a world with magic.