Editor 64

The Queen’s Garden (1)

Isiel, already knowing the inside story, stepped back, but Chel and the twins made a fuss.

“Prophecy is a stigma that only appears to priestesses of the goddess of time, and even then, it’s extremely rare! That’s amazing!”

“What does it look like!”

“How would I know? I just woke up and it was there.”

“Now the mystery is solved. I always wondered how you managed to buy up land in the Oreils district so eerily well. Don’t you know which stocks are going to rise next?”

Kleio even envied Chel’s nonchalance, talking about stocks when they might die at any moment.

“No, my skill isn’t that great. It’s certainly not perfect. So, Arthur, is there anything about the ‘Remembered World’ in your visions?”

“Hey, I don’t even know what the visions are about until they actually happen.”

Kleio shook his head. Arthur’s memories only appeared when they weren’t needed and never when they were.

“Sigh, alright. I know a bit about the ‘Remembered World,’ so listen carefully.”

Kleio told the children everything he knew about the “Queen’s Garden” dungeon.

Chel summarized the information at the end.

“Got it. So we’re supposed to gather in front of the round-topped glass greenhouse, right?”

“Even if we get separated inside, meet there. There are two greenhouses, but it has to be the smaller one, got it? You must not enter until I arrive. And just like Zebedi said, if you fall, it’ll be a river, so review the [Dry] magic circle. Keep the white phosphorus magestone protected so it doesn’t get wet.”

“So for dungeon raiding, you definitely need white phosphorus magestone and the [Ignite] magic circle. Understood.”

Isiel, who had also memorized the [Ignite] magic circle like Chel, nodded. Fortunately, the white phosphorus magestone was kept at the school for experiments, so they decided to take it with them.

“If you’re going to use a magic circle without a circle, you need to inject ether for a while, so one person should cover. Stay alert inside and always be ready to draw up ether.”

“Yeah, yeah. The zeroth rule of the ‘Remembered World.’ ‘All monsters can only be harmed using ether.’ I know that better than you do.”

Kleio slumped his shoulders at Chel’s still completely unruffled attitude.

The [Defense][Shielding] magic circle, which he had extended twice by injecting ether again, began to fade.

Now it really was time to go.

Kleio’s face was smeared with fatigue. Arthur, who must have slept even less, still looked lively and energetic and clicked his tongue.

“Damn, it would’ve been better to get some sleep before going.”

“Aslan wants to deal with you before any news gets out. Calling you in the middle of the night was probably part of his plan.”

“Second brother always uses shallow tricks that anyone can see through. Maybe that’s what you call honest.”

“And you, who nearly died several times to those ‘honest’ tricks, have no right to talk. Even right now, you’re in mortal danger.”

No sooner had the shielding magic circle gone out than knights of the Cruel Order, wearing black sashes, flung open the tent entrance.

“Do you need more time to prepare?”

“No, as soon as we say goodbye to Professor Zebedi, we can go in right away.”

The four of them finished getting ready and came out of the tent. The knights hurried them along as if worried Arthur and his friends might change their minds even now.

Just then, Zebedi, striding over with his robe and beard flying, made the two knights step aside with a sharp glare.

The magician, rummaging in his robe sleeves, handed a bracelet to Kleio and a gauntlet each to Chel and Isiel.

“The ruby in that bracelet contains a [Cold Resistance] spell. The gauntlets woven with gold sand magestone are engraved with [Defense] magic.”

Arthur, who had been watching, grinned and teased.

“Professor, don’t I get anything? Why do only they get magic tools?”

“That longsword you’re wearing is stronger than these three items put together. Save yourself.”

At Arthur’s flippant attitude, the two Cruel knights, who had stepped back, snickered.

They would surely report exactly what they saw to Aslan.

A thoughtless youngest prince, a child who doesn’t even know what danger lies ahead.

‘Even at this point, he’s thorough with image-making. Well, that’s the protagonist’s determination for you.’

By now, the night had worn out and a hazy dawn was breaking.

The Door of Mnemosyne shimmered with a faint blue light instead of the forest on the other side.

Above the crumbling wall, the ancient numeral ‘4’ glowed gold.

Before they knew it, Aslan, the Duke of Cruel, Cruel’s knights, and an anxious Swain were all gathered around the door.

“Well then. We’ll be back.”

Arthur, as if going on a simple outing, casually waved goodbye and dove into the door. As the blue light enveloped the boy, the ancient numeral above the door changed to ‘3.’

Chel and Isiel followed right after, and Kleio, dragging his feet, closed his eyes tightly.

His body felt like it was lifting off the ground as if on an airplane taking off, and even his vision beneath his closed eyelids turned white.

‘In the previous draft, magicians never went into places like this! I never intended to get caught up in this mess! My fate!’

.

.

.

Puhahh—!

Splash! Splash!

Kleio flailed in the cold river water. Just like the first time he came to this world, a flood of random thoughts raced through his mind.

Swimming or whatever, his brain felt so shaken during the passage through the door that he couldn’t control his body. He swallowed so much water he couldn’t even utter a simple incantation. He couldn’t breathe.

Then, a strong hand grabbed the collar of his coat and hauled him to the surface.

Sploosh—!

“Cough, cough, cough!”

“Get a grip and stand up straight, Ray. The water isn’t deep here.”

Hearing the familiar voice, Kleio snapped to his senses. Only then did his legs gain some strength.

Arthur was right.

The water only came up to Kleio’s chin. Arthur, being tall, had his head well above water.

“See? Now let’s get out.”

“Uh… thanks.”

Kleio was embarrassed to have nearly drowned in such shallow water.

“Thank me later. Your lips are blue. If I hadn’t come, you’d have drowned before even seeing a single monster.”

Feeling awkward, Kleio changed the subject.

“Did you see Chel or Isiel?”

“I only saw your commotion.”

“They must have fallen elsewhere.”

As expected.

Entrants to the “Remembered World” were split into two or three groups at random, regardless of entry order.

‘Normally, Isiel would be with me, but this time it turned out this way, so I have to stick close to Arthur so the guy doesn’t get himself killed. Whew.’

“Like you said, Ray, it was good that we divided up roles, split up supplies, and set a meeting place.”

“Yeah, don’t you ever forget this favor.”

“As if I could.”

Coming ashore, they found themselves at the edge of a garden made of low shrubs.

Only after stepping onto the low embankment did he think to look back.

Across the muddy river, there was nothing but a complete void.

Neither white nor black, neither bright nor dark—a space utterly empty of any color.

Inside the boundary, the sky was an indigo evening, with soft darkness settling all around.

This was the “Remembered World.”

At the same time, familiar strings of text scattered before Kleio’s eyes.

[“Remembered World: Queen’s Garden”]

[“—Shards of space and time condensed by the shattered jewel of the goddess Mnemosyne.

—Please stop the ‘Master Clock’ to halt the repetition of history. If temporal simultaneity is lost, the space will be dismantled.

Caution: When the time limit runs out, all elements are reset to their initial state.”]

[“—Remaining time / Time limit:

23:59:45 / 24:00:00″]

Arthur, staring at a point in the air just like Kleio, let out a low exclamation.

The string of text was not a message from “Promise.” It seemed to be the dungeon’s standard message visible to all entrants.

“Is this the ‘Word’? It’s even more mysterious than magic.”

“Right.”

“I thought this place was just like the forests of Albion and not that different from our world, but this really is something else.”

In ancient records, the dungeon’s messages were called “the Word.”

Arthur, seeing a dungeon message for the first time, waved his hand through the air a couple of times in fascination. The text didn’t budge at all.

The “Promise” messages had been the same.

‘Thankfully it’s not a different dungeon. Just like the previous draft, it’s the ‘Queen’s Garden.”

Kleio, who had been nervous about being dropped somewhere completely unknown, let out a sigh of relief.

Everything was happening faster, but the settings of the “Remembered World” didn’t seem to have changed much.

Well, it would be hard to change such a distinctive idea.

‘All these “Remembered Worlds” have a “Master Clock” that maintains the world’s temporal simultaneity, and only by stopping it can you return outside the door.’

Once the tension released, he felt cold.

The temperature inside the dungeon was only a bit chilly, but soaked in cold water, his whole body shivered.

Kleio quickly opened his field and dried his and Arthur’s clothes. Luckily, the backpack was waterproof, so just the surface needed wiping off.

Once dry, he could feel the warmth from the magic bracelet Zebedi had given him. A gentle heat spread from his wrist.

Arthur, marveling at how quickly his clothes dried, looked himself over and grinned.

“Oh, to be shown such favor! Only a magician with an overflowing ether response could do that.”

Annoyed by Arthur’s joking, Kleio smacked him on the back of the head.

“If you get sick, there’s no one to fight. I’ll handle smashing the clock, so you lead the way. Honestly, if it weren’t a life-or-death situation, I would never have come in here.”

“Exactly. For a weakling who staggers in the wind, this place is dangerous from the get-go, isn’t it?”

“I’m not kidding, so don’t let your guard down! [Barrier, protect me!]”

A defensive magic circle quickly activated from Kleio’s field.

Thududududu—!

Crack! Ssshhh—!

Snap!

Branches of low shrubs crashed into the golden ether dome.

At the same time, a message window appeared.

[River Shrubs

?Classification: Monster

?Level: 3]

Monster levels ranged from 1 to 8. There wasn’t much difference from ether levels, and if the level matched, it wasn’t hard to deal with.

‘A level 3 monster is nothing for Arthur.’

Right after the basic message window flashed, a golden glow spread around “Promise” and then scattered off, circling the high leaves of a shrub tens of meters away.

‘What’s going on?’

Kleio quickly remembered a passage from the previous draft. The river shrubs were a collective entity, and you had to cut down the leader with golden leaves to make them disappear.

Activating “Perception” made it even clearer. At the spot indicated by Promise, he felt a strong ether reaction. The monster’s core, the magestone, was embedded there.

‘If that’s the case, why not give the bonus info to Arthur instead of me and make things easier? That guy always does things that make no sense.’

In any case, the monsters seemed to be appearing just as they had in the previous draft. It was a huge relief.

‘…Let’s look on the bright side. If it weren’t for the draft, even these mooks would be tough for someone at my level.’

“Arthur, find the golden leaves! That’s the leader of these monsters!”

Branches surged in from above and below, trying to pierce and entangle human flesh. Each one was weak, but there were so many that if they caught your arms or legs, you’d soon become a victim.

The trees and leaves trying to close in on Kleio and Arthur broke off when they hit the barrier.

The shrubs lined up along the riverbank were all connected.

The leafy branches soon surrounded Kleio’s field, even surging overhead.

Standing at the edge of the magic boundary, Arthur easily sliced through the dense branches. It was a light movement.

Berg’s sword was a broad two-handed blade, but Arthur, skilled in ether [Enhancement], could wield it one-handed.

Branches cut by the sword scattered and turned to ash with strange sounds.

“No matter how you look at it, they just looked like ordinary shrubs, but they were all monsters!”

“Is this the time for commentary?!”

“You have to comment to find the boss.”

“So, did you find the golden leaves?”

“Three o’clock. The last one, highest branch! If I take that one down, we’re good, right?”

Arthur glanced for confirmation, but of course, Kleio couldn’t see anything.

The dry branches rustled and whispered together. There was a blurry ether mass in the distance, but it was hard to pinpoint.

‘Man, what beast-like eyesight.’

Kleio kept his expression in check and quickly activated “Perception.” Just as Arthur said, two coin-sized golden leaves fluttered faintly in the distant darkness.

“Yeah! If you cut that one, the first barrier between the river and the garden will disappear!”

“Leave it to me.”

Sharp Berg’s sword absorbed ether, golden threads tracing every ripple on the blade.

Arthur crouched low to leap. Then he sprang forward at tremendous speed.

‘Go! Arthormon!’

Arthur charged straight through the grasping branches.

In fact, at Kleio’s current level, he could have passed this barrier alone.

There was no need to take out [Achilles’ Spear]. He hadn’t used it properly yet, but even just burning the shrub monsters with the [Fire of the Angel of the Marquis] he’d designed would have swept them away.

But instead, he waited for Arthur to cut down the monsters.

‘Aslan got it wrong. The ultimate reward of the “Remembered World” isn’t magestones or magic tools.’

The greatest reward you could get from a dungeon was a dramatic leap in skill.

‘Inside a dungeon, swinging your sword just a few dozen times can improve your skills as much as swinging it thousands of times outside.’

If Arthur realized that, it would be perfect. Kleio thought about giving him a hint, but stopped.

According to the draft, that was a key that had to be recognized and understood on one’s own. It’s hard to improve your skill just from someone else’s advice if you don’t realize it yourself.

‘Whether it’s the blessing of ether or whatever, it sounds vague, but since he’s the protagonist, he should get it right.’

Gradually, the defensive magic circle forming the barrier began to fade.

Arthur was nowhere to be seen, lost among the branches, but through the gaps, Kleio could see the sun-bright sword aura flashing.

As he was timing whether to inject more ether into the shield, all the ominous branches surrounding Kleio turned to ash at once.

Fssssss—

Through the drifting ashes, Arthur, sword in hand, turned around.

He was smiling.

A look of pure joy at this adventure, at this moment when he didn’t have to hide his strength.

At the same time, Kleio could glimpse the dungeon message that appeared to Arthur through “Promise.”

[Shared Skill: ‘Haegupseong’s Slash’ is activated.

—Even in the deepest isolation, you discover a sword path toward the light.]