Chapter 215: The Story’s Progress

Chapter 215: The Story’s Progress

No matter what language they spoke, everyone could understand one another? Klein’s attention skipped directly past Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina’s first sentence and landed on the second, which appeared to have no major issue at first glance.

Although this was the world inside the book created by Travels of Groselle, where anything was possible, the details of certain matters could still reveal certain problems!

What Klein cared about was not the fact that everyone could understand one another, but the method by which that understanding was achieved.

Has this world solidified a rule similar to universal language comprehension? Or is there a consciousness standing above everyone, helping complete the work of simultaneous translation, just as I do at the Tarot Gathering? If it’s the former, a target who doesn’t understand Jotun would clearly hear an unfamiliar language but still grasp its meaning. If it’s the latter, what they hear should be the languages familiar to them… Because he himself had mastered several ancient or supernatural languages, Klein could not make an accurate judgment right away. He slowed his steps slightly, came alongside Danitz, and asked in a low voice, “What language did you hear Groselle speaking just now?”

Danitz froze for a second, then recalled and said, “A language that felt a little familiar but also unfamiliar. But I could understand everything he meant.”

The supernatural language he had fully mastered was ancient Hermes, followed by Elvish. When it came to Jotun, he could only be considered an absolute beginner.

Mm. A rule similar to universal language comprehension… Comprehension on the mental level… This shows that the underlying rules of the world inside the book can differ from the outside world, originating from its own setting. But the changes also seem unable to exceed certain limits. That point remains uncertain and requires verification. After all, I can’t rule out the possibility of some Fool-like existence accomplishing translation through mental communication… Edwina really is perceptive and good at observation. The problem she discovered points directly at the essence of the world inside this book… As Klein thought, he entered the large, dark cave at an unhurried pace.

As for the strange problem in the histories told by the members of the protagonist’s party, he was not surprised at all. He had even been waiting for such details to appear.

Klein had long known that the major Churches and the nations of the Northern Continent were consciously destroying or hiding information, concealing the true history of the Fourth Epoch, the Third Epoch, and even the Second Epoch. Naturally, the contents circulated in the outside world were different from what members of the protagonist’s party, who had once lived during those eras, understood.

And this was also one of the reasons Klein had taken a certain risk to enter the world inside the book!

Inside the spacious, well-ventilated cave, three humanoid beings were scattered around a bonfire that gave off light and heat.

One wore an extremely plain white robe. With his back to the fire and his face toward the stone wall, eyes closed, he prayed intently. He was a middle-aged man with wrinkles but not yet old. His brown hair was cropped short, and his shoulders, arms, calves, and feet were all bare, covered in all kinds of old scars.

Beside him, a young man was asleep with a rock as his pillow. He wore heavy, tough black full-body armor, and a black straight sword flashing with cold light stood planted beside his hand. His facial features were sharply defined, with obvious Loen characteristics.

Sitting opposite those two was a man in his thirties, dressed in a bizarre style that made others uncomfortable. He wore a pointed, hard black hat, and the buttons of his coat were placed one high, one low, in chaotic disorder—neither symmetrical nor harmonious.

In addition, the toes of his leather boots curved sharply upward, rather like those of a circus clown.

The man had a decent face, flaxen hair, dark-brown eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. Even seated, he gave off a sense of arrogance.

Edwina pointed at him and said, “Viscount Mobet Zoroast of the Solomon Empire. A gentleman who can steal others’ ideals and dreams.”

“No need to be so tactful. Hello, everyone. I am a Sequence 5 of the Marauder pathway, a Dream Stealer.” Mobet chuckled, appearing not at all like the arrogance shown in his bearing.

A member of the Zoroast family… The one parasitizing Leonard’s body is an angel from this family. Perhaps they know each other? Heh. I now know the names of Sequence 5 and Sequence 4 of the Marauder pathway, but I still don’t know the corresponding Sequence 7 and Sequence 6… Many thoughts flashed through Klein’s mind while his expression remained unmoved.

At that moment, Anderson had already greeted the man warmly. With the ease of someone already familiar, he asked, “Honestly, this is my first time hearing of Dream Stealer. I only know Marauder and Swindler. There should still be two Sequences missing in between.”

“Have Beyonders of this pathway become so rare? Doesn’t Edwina know? Sequence 7, Cryptologist. Sequence 6, Prometheus. Haha, let me introduce everyone.” Mobet warmly pointed toward the praying man whose back faced them. “The devout ascetic Snowman. He believes in the Lord who created everything, the omniscient and omnipotent God. You don’t need to mind him. He is completely sealed inside the world of his faith. But in battle, he will be a very reliable companion. Hey, Snowman, at least say something.”

Receiving no response, Mobet smiled bitterly and rubbed his chin.

“This is the treatment I often receive. Perhaps you’ll find it hard to imagine, but when I first entered this place, I was still an arrogant, restrained, well-bred noble. Yet the endless passage of time changed everything. Heh. When your companion is a giant who only knows how to laugh foolishly and shout slogans…”

When he said this, Groselle, who sat on a rock, gave a simple, honest smile and raised his hand to scratch the back of his head. In that single vertical eye, there was none of the ferocity and brutality that giant legends desperately tried to depict.

Mobet shook his head, then pointed toward the ascetic Snowman.

“And this one might not say a single word for years or even decades. Siatas, meanwhile, is a very violent woman. If she has even the slightest emotional fluctuation, she’ll beat me up. Sigh. As much as I admired her back then, that is exactly how much I, uh, fear her now. So I can only take the initiative to talk, to talk to them. Otherwise, I would definitely have gone mad!

“Fortunately, Longzel came later. He’s fairly talkative. Hey, Longzel, wake up. There are new companions!”

The black-armored knight who had been asleep slowly woke and opened his eyes, looking toward Klein and the others.

Suddenly, with the sound of metal clashing, he stood up at once and stared at Klein.

“A Loenese?”

“Yes.” Klein nodded frankly, discovering that this former Loen soldier, who had gone missing for more than 165 years, showed not the slightest trace of age. His black hair fell loose, and his blue eyes were sharp, making people subconsciously want to obey.

Longzel displayed obvious bewilderment, but he quickly reined in his expression.

“Do you know the Edwards family of Backlund?”

“There are many Edwards families in Backlund,” Klein replied simply.

“The Edwards family at No. 18, Delahel Street, Northwest Borough,” Longzel asked urgently.

Klein shook his head.

“There is no longer a Northwest Borough.”

“No longer a Northwest Borough…” Longzel repeated the other man’s words softly, his voice growing quieter and quieter.

After several seconds of silence, he breathed out.

“I don’t know how many years have passed outside, but it should be a very long time. Edwina told me the specific year, but I can’t remember what year I entered… Most of the time, I am asleep. Time here feels as if it has solidified.”

Mobet Zoroast chuckled when he heard that.

“That’s just your bad luck. Before that, when we traveled through cities and villages, everything was wonderful.”

He looked toward Klein, Anderson, and Danitz.

“At the time, we lived in places with humans and intelligent species. We married again and again, and again and again watched our wives grow old, weaken, and die. Heh. Before a new member joined, we would forget our purpose and live ordinary, peaceful, happy, relaxed lives for decades or centuries. The only bad part was that we couldn’t have children of our own.

“Then Longzel arrived. We entered this ice-and-snow-covered region and hunted many monsters, but gradually began to sleep and rarely woke, until we encountered Edwina.”

In other words, time flows normally in the world inside the book. What maintains the story’s progress is some kind of power influencing the protagonist’s party. Before a new member joins, before the book turns a page, they will stay at the previous node and do other things… This resembles the mental, spiritual level of language translation…

Can that be reversed to mean that the towns and villages inside the book world are developing normally and realistically? Mm. We must find the King of the North, Ulyssan, as soon as possible. Otherwise, as time passes, we too will suffer that influence. We’ll sleep in a muddle-headed state, or forget our main purpose and stay here for a long time, until new members are swallowed into the book and find us… Klein was silent for several seconds and was about to speak when Edwina beat him to it.

“There is no need to worry about this issue anymore.

“We will soon encounter the King of the North.”

“Why?” Anderson and Mobet asked at the same time.

Edwina looked around.

“Before I entered, there were only a few stuck pages left in the travelogue.

“And now, you have entered as well and found the camp. More pages must have turned. The story is approaching its conclusion.”

Mobet nodded almost imperceptibly, agreeing with Edwina’s judgment. Anderson, meanwhile, muttered softly over words like “stuck pages.”

Edwina then introduced Klein, Anderson, and Danitz and took a seat beside the fire as a demonstration.

Klein removed his hat, held it together with his cane, and slowly sat down. Looking toward the talkative Mobet Zoroast, he asked, “Have you heard of the Tudor Empire and Trunsoest Empire?”

He did not circle around the subject. He asked directly. That was Gehrman Sparrow’s persona.

“No.” Mobet shook his head. “Edwina already asked me. Heh. In my time, Tudor and Trunsoest, like our Zoroast family, were great nobles of the Solomon Empire, loyal to the Black Emperor.”

So the Tudor and Trunsoest families were both traitors to the Solomon Empire… Klein thought for a moment, then asked, “Aside from you, what other nobles were there in the Solomon Empire?”

“Many, many.” Mobet smiled and glanced at Longzel. “Augustus, Abraham, Zaratul, and so on, and so on. In my era, the Church of Evernight’s mortal enemies were the Church of the God of Combat and the Eggers family of the Southern Continent. Meanwhile, the Churches of the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom opposed one another, all hoping to receive the Solomon Empire’s support.”

He paused for two seconds, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

“In those days, gods walked upon the earth, not the astral world.”