C169 - Kerugo Autonomous Region (1)
After sending Shirone to the Room of Achievement and Sacrifice, Amy and her group arrived at the eastern altar.
When Jis showed his pass, the native opened the stone gate.
Jis interpreted that the ride had arrived.
Amy and the others nodded, but Canis and Arin seemed uninterested.
Amy's group nodded, but Canis and Arin seemed uninterested since Arin had understood the native's words through her telepathy, one of her psychic abilities.
The mine wasn't very deep due to the operation of the cart.
A railroad track was installed along the soil covered with volcanic ash, and the natives who had the minecart ready were chewing gum and welcomed them.
Although he had a gentle expression, Kerugo's characteristic intense gaze still remained. It was foreign, as if it had been transplanted from someone else's eyes.
Jis also felt an eerie feeling. However, like a professional tout, he approached with a smile on his face.
When he extended his hand for a handshake, the native obliged.
“The person in charge of Loop has changed. I'm Jis, the new contact."
"Jis? You don't seem like someone for this job."
The Kerugian judged his character at a glance. Loop smuggling was a serious crime, punishable even by death. But Jis looked too gentle for a contact.
"Where is Falkoa? He always came in person to pick it up."
"Oh, he's dead."
"Dead? Deceased?"
When the native gestured cutting his throat, Jis nodded.
The natives looked like they had a hard time believing it. Falkoa was strong. He was also a man who had some similarities to Kerugo's tendencies. He was suspicious that the contact person who came in on behalf of such a person was Jis.
"You have the pass, right?"
"Of course. Here, take a look."
The smile vanished from the native's face as he snatched the pass.
Amy's group tensed up. They thought having the pass would suffice, but the native was more cautious than expected.
Moreover, they hadn't come to buy Loops.
Falkoa is dead and there will be no more Loop transactions. It was obvious what would happen if the natives found out about this.
The pass was genuine.
The native's suspicion couldn't withstand the tangible evidence.
The natives guided the group to the minecart.
It was large enough to carry six people with room to spare. A seesaw mechanism for pushing the vehicle with leverage was installed.
The native operated the seesaw to move the vehicle.
It was usually a two-person job, so Rian tried to help, but he turned away awkwardly as the native glared at him.
The native's strength in moving the vehicle was impressive. However, the distance to Mount Toa was over 20 kilometers. Using strength all the way could lead to exhaustion.
As the track went downhill, the speed increased. It felt like the air in their stomachs was dropping all at once.
As the slope became gentler, the road became flat, but the speed did not decrease. It was designed to receive gravity by finely adjusting the tilt.
Certainly, with this principle, it would be possible to reach the autonomous region faster than a carriage.
"Ugh! This is incredibly fast."
"I know. Better hold on tight."
The shaking of the cart was severe. If it flipped over at this speed, their lives would be at risk.
Amy and the others quietly sat down. Then the native smirked and muttered something under his breath.
Due to the noise, it was hard to hear, but it was clear that the words weren't kind.
As the minecart took a curve, it felt like one side lifted off the ground. It wasn't actually a sharp turn, but the speed made it feel more intense.
Arin grabbed the cart's edge and pulled Canis's sleeve with her other hand. As they entered a straight route, she asked Jis.
"When will we arrive?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe another 20 minutes. It's my first time here too."
"But you must have heard something about it, right?"
"Not at all. You heard earlier. This is a route so secret that only Falkoa comes and goes. Not even the higher-ups know much about it, let alone the common folk."
Arin calculated around 20 minutes. Before arriving at Mount Toa, she needed time to explain her abilities to the group.
Telepathic Magic is on the borderline between eavesdropping and confession.
If she dominates with psychic waves, she can infiltrate even the innermost thoughts, but there was the disadvantage of having one's abilities discovered.
Due to the nature of psychic magic, if the ability is revealed, the effectiveness can decrease as the other party becomes wary.
Therefore, she often eavesdrops on thoughts that float to the surface by sending out weak mental waves that are usually imperceptible.
She extended her Spirit Zone into the native's shadow. She then extended five more tentacles and attached them to her group, excluding Jis.
Arin, who had finished preparing, asked the native.
"How much longer will it take?"
When the native heard her speaking in Kerugian, he turned to Arin. If they were facing each other, he would have noticed the difference in lip movement and pronunciation, but Arin wouldn't make such a mistake. The noise of the cart and the speed also helped distract him.
“We’ll be there in about 10 minutes. But we need to go further in from there. The autonomous district has steep slopes, so we can't get there by cart."
Amy and her group were surprised when the native language was interpreted. But no one's expression changed. They weren't immature enough to show their emotions on their faces.
After listening to Jis's interpretation, they realized that his interpreting skills were not that great. Perhaps Arin's telepathy was more remarkable.
- Arin, did you do this?
The reason Amy pointed out Arin was because her red eyes had manifested involuntarily a moment ago. If she were to describe the feeling of penetrating the Spirit Zone, the only way she could say that it was like a gentle breeze blowing.
If it weren't for self-image memory, she wouldn't have noticed her thoughts being eavesdropped on.
- Yes. I connected the psychic channel.
- Are you really reading my mind?
The thought of Arin reading their most private thoughts was terrifying.
Fortunately, she shook her head.
A Psychic Archmage could easily dominate the graduate level student, but they would still be captured by self-image memory.
One reason Arin was wary of Amy was due to her being the owner of red eyes.
- You do not have to worry. This is like a kind of tunnel. In the realm of psychic magic, human psyche is classified into 12 layers, and this is related to the 11th layer, the surface psychology. Since only the thoughts that have passed through the final filter are transmitted, it is impossible to know one's innermost thoughts.
- Then what is the 12th layer?
- That is the realm of reason above the surface. Things like forced smiles or pretense. Anyway, if you strongly resist, the channel will be disconnected. Of course, if you say no, I'll disconnect it myself.
- No. It's a very convenient ability if you only read the surface level of psychology. Let's keep this state.
- Thank you. I've excluded Jis. Right now, the transmission channels to the other people are blocked. I'm going to open them now. Just don't show it.
As Arin opened the transmission channels, thoughts from Rian and Tess flowed in.
-...I want to speak too! Why can't I...? Oh? I can hear now.
- Me too. Tess, can you hear my voice?
- Yes, I can hear, I hear. Wow, this is really amazing.
Amy realized how convenient Arin's abilities were. Even though they were looking in different directions, numerous conversations were happening through the psychic channel.
It was also interesting because it was a type of magic she hadn't encountered in magic academy.
Dark magic is a non-mainstream field. Although it is a series with excellent application capabilities, it has fatal weaknesses.
The attribute of darkness is weak against light.
In addition, Physic Magic was difficult to attempt against opponents with higher mental power than oneself.
But at the level of someone like Arcane, the story changes. And Canis and Arin were direct disciples of Arcane, who rose to archmage status through dark magic.
'Awesome. This would really help tremendously. Oops!'
Amy glanced at Arin, worried that her emotional surge had brought her innermost thoughts to the surface.
Arin responded with a smile. Despite Amy's calculating thoughts, she was just happy.
Human hearts are often more centered on desire and selfishness than what appears on the surface.
Having spent her life reading such emotions, Arin found a kind-hearted inner thought to be nothing of concern.
In any case, telepathy magic will work wonders in times of emergency or even during combat. Canis and Arin's joining made them feel even more secure.
- Hohoho! This is so much fun! Amy, aren't those natives annoying? He was sneakily looking at my chest earlier.
- Is that so? It seemed to me like they were ignoring us.
- I'm getting hungry. I wonder if there'll be something to eat when we arrive?
The psychic channel was filled with chit-chat, complaints, and grumbling.
Rian and Tess, who were unfamiliar with magic, tried to somehow use the channel by squeezing out unnecessary thoughts.
Strictly speaking, these thoughts cannot be called thoughts. It was a moment proving that the environment dominates the mind.
- It's so noisy I could die. Arin, lower the volume. Or just turn it off..
As Canis spoke, the volume of voices traveling through the psychic channel diminished. It felt like whispering in one's ear.
Since they weren't distinctly audible without concentration, the conversation gradually dwindled.
Tess, who was having fun chatting, protested.
- What, why did you lower the volume? I can't hear well. Turn it up, quick.
- Don't use the psychic channel unless it's for strategic conversations. Do you think this is a gossip room for women? And it's Arin's ability. Who are you to tell her to turn up or down the volume?
Tess clicked her tongue. Still, her unchanged expression indicated she hadn’t completely let her guard down.
After the small talk passed, Arin explained the reason for demonstrating her ability.
- As you know, it's called Telepathy Magic. I didn't do it to Jis. He's an outsider, and I don't want my ability to be known. Even if he could be trusted, reacting to my ability could expose us to enemies.
Since Jis could understand the natives anyway, it seemed they could quietly get by as long as he didn't make it obvious.
- But this is a really convenient ability.
- Hmph, consider it as one of the rewards of the alliance. I don't know if Shirone has passed the test's gates, but if we form a party, using Arin's ability will be essential.
Although Canis boasting about his partner was irritating, it was undeniably impressive.
- And one more thing. The reason Arin used telepathy was because there's a fact we haven't disclosed to you.
- An undisclosed fact? What are you talking about all of a sudden?
Amy's eyes sharpened. Although the condition of Shirone's success was involved, the emergence of a new variable in their temporary alliance was not welcome.
- It's nothing special. It wasn't deliberately hidden; we just didn't think it was necessary to inform you. Anyway, there was another reason Arin and I tried to pass the test's gates. Contrary to your expectations, the natives of Kerugo are not friendly towards outsiders. They're rather hostile.
It was certainly not a big deal. They never expected a warm welcome with applause from the start.
However, they thought there was no reason to be hostile.
The autonomous government and the Kerugo tribe had chosen a symbiotic relationship, and many natives influenced by civilization lived in the ruins.
- The reason they're hostile to outsiders is because of a mistake made by the Galliant government. When they entered the island 100 years ago, they promised significant compensation to the natives. TRealizing they couldn't stop the flow of time, the natives agreed to negotiate. That's how the tourism business started. Did you know that initially, even the autonomous district of the natives was open? But now, interaction has been completely cut off.
- Hmm, I can understand that to some extent. My dad also faced strong opposition when he first entered the colony. It's an inevitable part of history.
- There is that aspect, but the Galliant government went way beyond that. They were excessively overbearing.
Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)