CH 124

Chapter 124 – The Appearance of Elrond in Japan

“Finally managed to reach a major landmark, but I’m still a long way from my goal, huh?”

I was at home, lying on my bed as I glanced at the <Shop> interface. I had managed to make a lot of money, but I also had a lot of expenses, so it wasn’t easy to increase my funds. That said, I did think that making ¥1 billion in one month was a big deal.

In the past month, however, the Earth had become more and more otherworldly, with S-Rank existences and otherworld fields appearing here and there.

Some of the S-Rank monsters were using World Heritage sites as their strongholds. Although the countries wanted to do something about it, they at least knew that they weren’t ordinary monsters and, as such, didn’t prefer to provoke them carelessly.

At this point, the countries were forced to accept the situation. In fact, the US Air Force had decided to stir up trouble with a S-Rank monster one time, but they were immediately forced to flee. After the American troops were chased away like flies, the higher-ups in all of the other countries issued a notice to their citizens to especially avoid messing with the larger monsters.

They said that those existences weren’t things to be messed with—that sentiment had become the consensus of the world.

“…What will become of humans in the future…?”

Among the otherworlders that I had made contact with, I was able to confirm that a number of them had skills.

However, I still hadn’t encountered hurons or other elfins. I had Sol look around for them, but all I could find were garbels.

My theory that the otherworld was merging with this one posited that it shouldn’t just be garbels being transferred over here. Since Yofel and Ior had also been transported here, I figured it was just a matter of time and that otherworlders would continue to appear one after the other.

“But the only thing I’m afraid of is…”

The thought of a certain existence appeared in my mind.

They had yet to be confirmed, but if they were to show up here, they would surely cause a lot of chaos. There was no doubt about that.

Well, there was a possibility that they had already appeared somewhere on this planet.

“Master, can you hear me?” (Yofel)

At that moment, Yofel’s voice appeared in my head. Up to this point, telepathy hadn’t been possible between people. But in the past month, new products were uploaded to the <Shop>, one of which was [Telepathic Kibidango – All].

It was an outstanding product that allowed telepathy between people, so I naturally bought some and immediately gave them to Yofel and Ior. Now, no matter where they were, we could talk to each other like this.

“What’s the matter?” (Bouchi)

“A huge city suddenly appeared where I am at right now.” (Yofel)

“You were taking the Monkey Clan to clear a dungeon in Hokkaido, weren’t you? What do you mean a huge city appeared?” (Bouchi)

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Seng and the others say that the name of this city is—the Grand Empire of Elrond.” (Yofel)

“What?!” I exclaimed in shock, springing to my feet.

Not long before, I had heard about the existence of Elrond from a garbel named Ze’ev, who had been sent to Earth. From him, I had learned more about the situation going on in the other world and that the Empire was currently at war with a coalition of other nations.

However, although the Chancellor, who had been ruling the Empire from the shadows, had managed to slip through their grasp, the allied forces clearly had the upper hand, and they might have even managed to win.

The imperial capital appeared in Hokkaido…?

“Izu, Izu, can you hear me?” (Bouchi)

“Master, is something the matter?” (Izu)

“Please calmly hear me out. I just heard from Yofel that Elrond appeared in Hokkaido.” (Bouchi)

“…?! I…see.” (Izu)

“We… should go check things out, shouldn’t we?” (Izu)

It seemed my thoughts had already been seen through by Izu.

“Yeah. I’m not sure if anything will happen on the island, but if anything does, contact me immediately.” (Bouchi)

“Understood. Please go safely.” (Izu)

I informed Yofel that I would make my way there right away, then took Shiki with me and immediately traveled to Hokkaido with a [Teleportation Crystal].

After contacting Yofel and meeting up with her, I finally got a good look at what she was seeing.

For a moment, I was lost for words. That was just how shocking of a sight it was.

There before me was Mt. Yotei, a stratovolcanic mountain located in the southern part of the Shiribeshi subprefecture in Hokkaido. It was 1,898 meters high and had also been dubbed ‘Ezo Fuji’, for its resemblance to Mt. Fuji. It was known to many as one of the 100 most beautiful mountains in Japan.

(TL: Ezo is an old Japanese word for Hokkaido. The alias Ezo Fuji basically means ‘the Mt. Fuji of Hokkaido’.)

The top of the mountain looked like it had been sliced off right at the halfway point, and now, there was a city sitting right on top of it. It was surrounded with massive walls, looking extremely out of place.

“T-This… is quite the extraordinary sight…” (Hakumen)

The lopped off mountain was one thing, but the existence of the city all alone on top of it made it look like a badly edited composite photograph.

However, this was reality. The city on top of what used to be Mt. Yotei was none other than Elrond, which was said to be known by every single person in the other world.

“I’d never been to the Empire before, but to think that I would be seeing it like this…” (Yofel)

This was probably an unimaginable sight for Yofel. Seng and the other monkey garbels were also shocked into speechlessness.

I conveyed what I was witnessing to Izu, even she had a hard time believing it at first. After promising to tell her about what we found later, I ended the telepathic link.

“Yofel, did you guys finish with your work?” (Hakumen)

“Eh? Ah, yes. We finished clearing the dungeon.” (Yofel)

“Then send Seng and the others back to the island.” (Hakumen)

Yofel already had a [Teleportation Crystal] gripped in her hand.

“What about Master?” (Yofel)

“Shiki and I will go in and gather information.” (Hakumen)

“Won’t it be dangerous?” (Yofel)

“I have plenty of fantasy items to manage the risk. It’ll be fine.” (Hakumen)

“………Shiki-dono, please take good care of Master.” (Yofel)

“Naturally, this one will protect milord.” (Shiki)

—On Mt. Yotei.

I had been to Akita with my father, who loved to travel, but unfortunately, I had only seen Mt. Yotei from a distance.

But the contour of the mountain really did resemble Mt. Fuji, completely deserving of its alias ‘Ezo Fuji’.

“I never thought that I would see Mt. Yotei from the sky like this, transformed into this state no less…” (Hakumen)

It was a terrible shame that this beautiful landscape had been ruined to the point that Mt. Yotei could no longer be called a mountain any longer.

“…Hm? Milord, be careful. There are beings directing hostile intent towards us.” (Shiki)

Hearing Shiki’s notice, I forced myself to focus up.

Well, if a book suddenly appeared above them in the sky, of course they would be wary. According to the information I had, the people in the city were in the middle of war.

I looked through a pair of binoculars and began to survey the cityscape of Elrond. There was a high wall surrounding the outside and a magnificent-looking building on the northern side that looked like a palace. That was most likely the place where the crowned emperor lived.

The architecture of the city was similar to a medieval European style, as was often depicted in stories about isekai worlds.

However, many of the buildings were broken and in a state of disrepair. Even the palace was no exception, showing signs of destruction. From the circumstances, I could tell they really were in the middle of a war.

In the midst of all of this, I saw people standing on the outer wall with bows and arrows pointed at us. They looked like garbels, so perhaps if I showed them my appearance, they might let their guard down a little.

But there was one thing that caught my attention. There was a figure heading in the direction of Mt. Yotei.

That person is… from that time?!

It was none other than Ze’ev, the garbel whom I had run into when I was clearing a dungeon in a bamboo grove.

I immediately steered the [Jet Book] and began to move in Ze’ev’s direction. But naturally, when he saw me approaching, he entered a fighting stance and held his greatsword at the ready.