CH 219

『In the beginning, the spiders were a small, tiny ＜thing＞. It was incapable of even thinking, so the memories of that time are hazy. The only thing they remember clearly is the【hunger】』

Yukikaze recounted the history of the spiders.

I listened in a posture where I could draw my katana at any time.

『The birthplace of the spiders was a space of absolute zero temperatures where vacuum and darkness reigned. It was a harsh environment that no living thing should be able to survive in. Naturally, even the spiders perished. However, faster than they could die, they would spawn offspring. Through the hundreds, thousands, billions, trillions, and decillions cycles of death and rebirth, the spiders evolved』

「What kind of number is a decillion?」

Please teach me, Yukikaze-sensei.

『A "decillion" is 10 to the 60th power, indeed』

「Got it, thank you very much」

It's hard to picture in my head.

『The spiders began to migrate. There was no purpose to it. They had simply lost interest in the environment they had adapted to. The spiders went on a voyage. The journey was a long, lonely, and hunger-stricken one. And during their wanderings, what they stumbled upon was――――――』

「Humans」

Gunmerry cut in.

「From the very first contact, the differences between humans and spiders were clear. The spiders' first communication was predation. They took energy from flesh and blood. They robbed knowledge from brains. They stole various evolutionary forms from genetic information. They were predatory creatures that were impossible to have a dialogue with, so two hours after first contact, it was decided that myself would have to dispose of them」

He looked in a serious mood.

Killing intent laced his voice.

『That was a fascinating experience, said the spiders』

「Myself had never been defeated in battle. Myself would never lose. Therein lay the miscalculation」

『The spiders held an absolute advantage. They had more lives than even Guns-Memory could kill, so much so that they could be said to have almost infinite lives, and an evolutionary speed that transcended all known species』

You must be joking.

If such creatures existed, they would devour the world, the planets, then the entire universe.

「But myself didn't lose」

『Yes, you didn't lose』

「Based on the spiders' evolutionary speed, myself estimated that there were only "2 minutes and 30 seconds" before they would exceed myself in performance. So, myself used their own evolutionary capabilities against them. Souya, what is evolution?」

「What, you say……」

When the conversation turned to me all of a sudden, I was troubled.

「It's about adapting to the environment………I think?」

「That's one of the correct answers. The spiders were starved beasts that grew by preying on the creatures―――――no, the civilizations they came in contact with. In other words, they're the ultimate【counter-adaptation[1]】creatures. That's why I【countered them with regression】」

「Huh?」

That sounded like a play on words to me and I couldn't understand what he meant.

「Evolution is the process of adapting to one's environment. No, it's a term of praise for things that have flourished as a result of adaptation」

「Huh? Huh?」

I understood each word by itself, but I couldn't grasp the overall meaning.

『Team member Souya, people who grow up with no lack of heating and cooling in their homes become vulnerable to temperature changes. That's about what it is』

「I see~」

But what's that got to do with anything?

「My【regressive evolution strategy】can be simply explained as【defeating guns with bows】」

「I see」

I don’t understand.

「The difference in performance between an assault rifle and a bow is as great as heaven and earth, but with a musket and a bow, the difference in performance is minimal. In fact, there are situations where the bow has the advantage」

「That's true. Depending on the terrain and the types of guns and bows involved, it can be a competitive contest」

It also depends on the way one fights.

「That's the crux of myself's strategy. By lowering myself's technology level to the point where victory is just barely achievable, myself is able to win by using myself's advantages in experience and knowledge of how to use the technology. Many of the spiders' fighting techniques were copied from myself. In a sense, the spiders had tremendous faith in what myself was doing in combat.

That was where an opening lay.

In the end, all the spiders could do was imitate myself in a "monkey see, monkey do" manner. Even if they had learned the history of humankind from the people they had devoured and had the people’s memories of how the technology came to be, they just didn’t understand it.

The weakness of these stupid spiders is that they can only imitate, and they’re too stupid to discern what's inferior and what's superior. Stupid, stupidd~」

『Is that supposed to be an insult? said the spiders. Yukikaze personally finds it childish』

「Yukikaze, are you sure the spiders didn't do anything to you?」

『Moumantai(no problem)』

Why Cantonese?

「That said, it was a tough battle for me as well. It wore down myself’s performance to the very limit. However, since myself is the strongest, myself carried out the strategy smoothly. From guns to bows, from bows to spears, from spears to clubs, from clubs to barehanded, in that way, myself lowered the technology down to a primitive level. The stupid spiders were easy to fool」

『The spiders have a question for you. Guns-Memory, you also copied the spiders' technology. Isn't it shameful to copy someone you have such contempt for?』

「………………Myself has no idea what they're talking about」

『You also created a layered space and then inserted quantized mechanical parts into it, which is known as the Norman's Effect. The copy and replication technology you used in conjunction with that is also derived from the spiders' technology. Guns-Memory, you were ripping off their technology as well』

「My ripping off is a clean ripping off」

『That's difficult to understand. What is a "clean ripping off"?』

「Ah, ahh, ahh」

Gunmerry shook his head, implying, "I can't hear you."

But well, they sound imposing, but I can't read them at all. I can't figure out their intentions.

「So, what happened after that?」

I'll try to move things along.

「Myself won. That's all」

『No, it was a draw, indeed. They have it on record that both sides stopped functioning at about the same time』

「That's where there's an absolute difference between myself and them. Myself had people myself wanted to protect, and myself succeeded in doing so. There’s no greater victory than that, no greater honor for a man」

『………………I see what you mean, the spiders said begrudgingly, indeed』

There's one man here who doesn't understand it.

I removed my hand from the scabbard and raised it.

「I now have a vague~ and shallow~ understanding of your history. I can get why you summoned Gunmerry, since you guys have history. So, what do I have to do with any of this?」

『Team member Souya, please be patient and hear a bit more of their history』

「Hmm」

I don't like long stories.

I also don't want to know everything there is to know about the ones I'm trying to eliminate. It'll dull my will to fight slightly.

『The next part will have people whom you have a connection to, team member Souya. Specifically, Lola and Lumidia』

「Wait, Lumidia?」

I can see how Lola would be involved. She's the one who resurrected the large spider.

But what’s Lumidia’s involvement?

「After our fight to the death, myself and the spiders fell into a deep sleep in a certain place. Through the passage of many years, greenery flourished, turning the simple clearing into a dense forest of trees. It's called the Beastkin Forest nowadays」

『And then, the spiders awakened before Guns-Memory did. Lola's dragon blood was what had triggered the spiders' awakening. Lola was a guest general invited by the beastkin. At that time, the Beastkin Forest was engaged in a protracted war with【invaders】, indeed』

「Invaders?」

The bunch from Elysium popped into my head.

「They were elves who had been forced to flee the center continent. They forcibly seized control of the Forest of the Little Ones, which had a friendly relationship with the beastkin. That forest was later renamed Heures Forest」

『The spiders have memories of the elves' barbaric ways. If you unravel the history of this world, you'll realize just how cruel the elves were』

「Cruel………」

Rana and Ea's faces came to me.

It may be the positive bias I have for them speaking, but this isn't something I can accept easily.

『Lola tried to use the spiders to wipe out the elves. But the spiders, having awakened after a very long time, were in a state of intense hunger. And the place where their hunger directed them to was the Odoriji spire, which was teeming with adventurers』

「And that's what led to the legend of Heures, huh?」

To the legend of the Fog Caster and the Divine Archer.

「That’s not exactly right. When myself sensed the spiders' awakening, myself also started up. At that time, myself contracted with a young girl from the beastkin tribes. She was the daughter of her tribe’s chief, and she was distressed by Lola's actions」

「A young beastkin girl?」

Who the heck is that?

She doesn't appear in the legend of Heures at all.

「Her name was Snowberry Hupolon Jagshank. She later became known as the hero who sealed me away. At her request, I worked with Lumidia and Heures to defeat the spiders」

『That was a miscalculation. The spiders had regressed from eating the inhabitants of this world and gaining their knowledge. Their hunger was not sated, but only increased. The only thing that can satisfy the spiders’ appetites is an advanced civilization, thus the level of this world was too low to satiate them in the slightest』

「Even in myself's weakened state, myself was able to win with ease」

『No, Guns-Memory, you wouldn’t have won without help from collaborators. It's cowardly to call for reinforcements in a one-on-one fight』

「Winning is all that matters」

『Distasteful, so distasteful, said the spiders from the bottom of their hearts』

「You, who fled into the dungeon rather than finishing the fight, are the ones who are distasteful」

『That was done to protect Lola, who was gravely injured. To humans, that's a virtue』

「Using a woman as a shield(an excuse) is the height of distastefulness」

『Lola's body is significantly smaller than that of us spiders. It won't provide much in terms of defense―――――Yukikaze will explain this to the spiders, indeed』

I'm starting to see the truth behind the legend of Heures.

Because of that, I have one question.

「Gunmerry, I have a question for you」

「What is it?」

It's precisely because I'm married to an elf that there's one thing I need to know.

「Lumidia was killed by the elves. Why?」

「Myself did not see it happen. But myself has an idea as to why. It's ultimately just conjecture though, so do you still want to hear it?」

「Tell me」

No matter what the reason is, I won't turn against the elves of today. The past is the past. That's why I have to learn about it and then conceal it.

「Lumidia was a capable and decent woman. She would help the weak and foil the strong. The reason why she agreed to help the elves was partly to take revenge on Lola. But her help also came with the condition that the little ones would have their homeland returned to them」

『In Lola's memories, Lumidia was a whore who had a habit of seducing people even though she was useless at everything but archery』

「Shut up, you stupid spiders. The next time you insult a woman, myself will take out myself’s cold fusion reactor from the alternate-layered space and make it self-destruct」

『That would certainly cause the spiders to sustain critical damage, but that would also cause you to cease functioning completely, wouldn't it, Guns-Memory? What's the point in doing that?』

「Yukikaze, shut up for a second」

This is the important part.

「Souya, myself would like to reiterate that this is just conjecture. ………Currently, there's no hair or hide of the little ones. There's not even any stories or lore about them that have survived to this day. In other words, they were probably wiped out completely by the elves. And Lumidia was assassinated because she objected to that」

『………………』

Yukikaze was shaking, looking like she, no, the spiders had something to say.

「What is it?」

『About the little ones, if you consider a mutated variant to be the same race, then they've survived』

「A mutated variant?」

『It was only for a short time, but there was a time when many of them were deep in the dungeon. They're a race referred to as goblins』

「………………I see」

Is it ironic or just a strange quirk of fate that the demon king, who was dumped by an elf, is now the king of goblins?

『The story has gone rather long, but the spiders want to get to the point, it seems』

「Please do」

I'm feeling heavy-hearted after learning about the dark past of the elves, but we're finally getting to the heart of the matter, huh?

『According to the spiders' detection organs, a certain entity from the center continent is on its way here. That entity is expected to arrive in six days』

「A certain entity?」

『It’s the entity that has repeatedly destroyed the civilizations of this right continent and hindered the progress of humankind. Team member Souya, it’s the man who, just like you, possesses the power of curses』

[1] Counter adaptation is the adaptation of an organism (as in modification of behavior, physiology, or form) in response to an adaptation of another organism with which it regularly interacts. For example, if a plant evolves to contain toxins in its leaves, insects that eat its leaves counter-adapt when they evolve to be able to withstand the toxins.

Only the final part of the chapter wasn’t a lore dump but what a shocker, huh? Or maybe not, since Melm had already predicted it. But wait, if you read that last sentence real carefully……

And it’s time for clarification! The Gunmerrys are referred to as “小人(lit. Little Person”) in this story. I’ve been translating that as “little ones”, but it can also be small person, midget, or any (fantasy) race that’s smaller and shorter than humans like dwarf, gnome, halfling, hobbit, and so on. I chose to use “little ones” because the author had used wordplay with that term that necessitated that I didn’t specify which(For example, in the arc “King of the Little Ones”, it seemed like “little ones” was referring to Gunmerry at first, but turned out to mean the children). And yes, it’s actually left unspecified until the very end, but from the author’s hints(Mainly the Gunmerrys’ appearances, ie their red pointy hats), my guess is that they’re “gnomes”. Isn’t it interesting to have goblins be a mutation of gnomes though? I mean, red caps and all, so there’s a link…(yes, I’m thinking about garden gnomes) But, tldr, “little ones” is actually an unspecified race.

By the way, I’ve tried researching it pretty hard, but I have no idea what the “Norman’s effect” is… Here’s the original just in case someone knows: ノーマンズ効果 Please comment if you have any idea, though keep in mind it could be made up. Thanks. Also, this explains how the spiders and Gunmerrys keep increasing in number.

Edit: See, I knew I simply needed to have faith. Thanks to my patron leo for pointing this out to me! The Norman's Effect could be a reference to Norman L. Allinger, who published a book called “Molecular Structure: Understanding Steric and Electronic Effects from Molecular Mechanics" (2010) which is about modern computational chemistry, that discusses looking into solving problems from a quantum mechanical point of view

And what did you think of all the new information about the racial tensions of the past? FYI, it isn’t just world-building for depth or just for the sake of it, it becomes relevant later… Also, could it be that the fog caster Heures was an asshole much like the elf who tricked the Demon King and was only using love to manipulate Lumidia? And did you think you had already learned the truth behind that entire affair back in vol 3? There’s so much more to it, huh? Keke, this author is just brilliant at stuff like this.

Well, much more to come, so stay tuned!