kscans

Chapter 169 - Episode 7: Part 1 Interpretation of Records

"I'll be in the curator's office. By the way, I've become hard of hearing lately, and I can't fight off the advancing years." Fulsy handed me the catalog, and then headed quickly towards the back door, moving with a speed unbelievable for an old man.

"I will guard the library entrance. If someone suddenly opens the door, I won't be able to react. I must keep watch on the library side."

"Claudia. Although we are both Alfina-sama's close aides, we haven't had many chances to speak until now. May I join you?"

"Oh, right. Yes."

After Claudia and Luiza-san bowed together, they headed towards the library door. Even if we are inside the academy, are they really going to guard while chatting?

"Is no one going to help me?" I muttered in the dim archives. By the way, Mia-san, concerning Central Garden Company, should be heading to the Guild Headquarters with Rilka-san and Sherry-san. They are preparing to explain the new city and transport standards to the Chancellor, along with Giverny Company and Kenwell Company.

"I will help you," Alfina-sama said, clenching her small fists tightly.

"Honestly, that would be a great help."

It's not really a job to ask a princess to do, but it is related to Alfina-sama. Besides, there's no doubt that doing a mundane task like this is many times more enjoyable when you're with a girl.

"Hehe. It's been a while since I was here." Alfina-sama smiled at the table by the light-gathering window, where we once sat. Come to think of it, she used to read here in the past. It's hard to imagine her being isolated now.

"That's because the library is used more often these days." Alfina-sama's study groups, for example, often use the library.

"It's all thanks to Ricardo-kun and everyone else."

"N-no, I don't think that's true." Apart from her complicated birth, there's nothing about Alfina-sama that would make people dislike her. It's quite natural that people gather around Alfina-sama now.

"Ricardo-kun is always. What should I help with today?" Alfina-sama looked a little troubled, but when I placed the catalog on the table, her expression turned serious.

"It's not a very auspicious topic, but I want to investigate disasters that occurred as far back in time as possible."

"Disasters. Do you mean those that appear in magic crystals?"

"Precisely. For records from old cathedrals, Alfina-sama is our only hope."

"Yes, some of the phrasing is quite unique. Leave it to me."

What we're doing in the lab now is research to meticulously investigate information about the magic veins at a certain point in time. However, considering the recent abnormal fluctuations in magic veins and the origin of the Crimson Magic Vent that Maytyl-san told me about, we need records spanning a much longer period. There's a high possibility that the past seventy years of tree rings aren't enough.

To understand longer-term magic vein fluctuations, we need to identify past events that can serve as benchmarks. On Earth, this would be like volcanic ash from eruptions, or an increase in iridium from a major meteor impact.

"So, you're saying we should use records of disasters to create markers for periods when ancient magic vein abnormalities occurred?"

"Yes. Although, we haven't even found samples that could provide longer records than tree rings." On Earth, there were 3,000-year-old trees like the Jomon Sugi, but I wonder about here. The trees in the Rubel Wald are untouched, but they didn't seem like they'd live that long. Ferns don't even seem to have tree rings.

"Ricardo-kun's ideas are always amazing," Alfina-sama said, looking at me with respect. It's not me who's amazing, but the people in my previous life who came up with these ideas.

"Anyway, let's gather the books from the catalog the curator made." I decided on our respective tasks with Alfina-sama and headed towards the bookshelves lining the archives. The old records weren't well organized. Books were piled precariously on top of wobbly bookshelves. Cloths were hung, perhaps to keep out dust, but wouldn't that just trap moisture?

◇◇

"It seems the accurate record of the Kingdom's history only goes back 300 years," I said, opening one of the particularly thick books piled on the table. The Kingdom's founding is said to be about 450 years ago, but reading the descriptions from that period makes my head spin. It's half mythology. If the descriptions were true, Alfina-sama's ancestors would have to have angel wings on their backs. Well, even without wings, Alfina-sama is an angel.

"Ricardo-kun?" I found myself gazing at the beautiful profile of the girl, illuminated by the light from the window.

"No, it's an objective evaluation."

"?" Alfina-sama tilted her head.

"I-I meant that records that can be judged as objective facts are important. For example, isn't this map unnatural?" I pointed to a map in the book. It was supposedly a map of the Kingdom from its founding, showing the current territory for over 400 years. However, during that era, for example, the Fellbach Ducal House, Alfina-sama's maternal family home, should have still been independent.

The records show a series of regional rebellions being suppressed from about 400 years ago to 300 years ago. In reality, it's more natural to assume that the "unification" of the lands south of the great river by the state that became the current Kingdom occurred about 300 years ago. This kind of historical revisionism was common on Earth, in all times and places. Past borders could be redrawn by war, or "for the sake of war."

That's not to say everything is a lie, and often, actual events are reflected in some way. And in the first place, information exists as an interaction between sender and receiver.

Fortunately, what we're investigating this time is not history itself, but the events that influenced that history. For example, what was the catalyst for the Kingdom's founding? According to the Kingdom's records, the Empire's founding also seems to have been around the same time as the Kingdom's.

The fact that the two countries share a common language is a key point. Perhaps a large ancient nation broke apart into many smaller countries for some reason, and these gradually unified, eventually becoming the Kingdom and the Empire with the great river as their border.

In that case, there must have been "something" that led to the collapse of the ancient large nation. It's possible it was purely a human problem, or institutional fatigue, but even then, there must have been a catalyst. If we believe that the Kingdom in its current form was established 300 years ago, and the state that became the Kingdom was born 450 years ago, then the cause of the collapse of the ancient large nation must have occurred even earlier.

"For now, events from slightly before 450 years ago are our target. Alfina-sama?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking at this." Alfina-sama was looking at an old book. A picture was drawn across a two-page spread. It was a rough, torn paper collage in a fairy tale style. A city burning from fire falling from the sky. Was that a dragon flying in the sky?

"It reminded me of a fairy tale my mother told me."

"Ah, I see, the story about how if you're not well-behaved, dragons will fly down from the sky and eat you?"

"W-well, I wasn't that badly behaved, but."

"Of course not. By the way, what kind of mistake did you make?" Alfina-sama, with her blushing cheeks, was so cute that I couldn't resist teasing her. Then Alfina-sama covered her face with both hands and shook her head, trembling. Ah, I hit a nerve.

"S-speaking of which, I've heard similar stories too. If it's passed down in various regions, then there might have been a widespread event. Um, the records say it was a little after 300 years ago." The records state that the 6th king of Crownheite fought against a flock of dragons. In my estimation, he was the son of the 5th king, the de facto founder of the Kingdom. This is more recent than the records I'm looking for, but still much older than 70 years ago. It could be useful.

"Ricardo-kun. Actually, my mother said it was a much older story." Alfina-sama leaned closer to me and lowered her voice. Her long eyelashes, illuminated by the window light, and her cheeks, still tinged with red, were right before my eyes. No, no, calm down. The reason Alfina-sama is whispering is clear.

"Are you saying it was much earlier than 300 years ago?"

"Yes." Alfina-sama's maternal ancestors, particularly the hero regarded as the family's founder, apparently fought a flock of dragons. It's plausible that Alfina-sama's paternal ancestors, the Crownheite family, and her maternal ancestors, the Fellbach family, were once rulers of separate nations and each fought against widespread monster disasters.

In fact, there's even a non-zero possibility that this was the cause of the collapse of the ancient great nation.

"That could be a good marker. We should thank your mother, Alfina-sama."

"I-I'm glad." When I investigated, I indeed found similar records in various regions. The dates and descriptions seemed disparate, but the common element was a terrifying monster attacking from the sky.

Wow, this book even depicts a creature with eight wings, independent of its hands. It's similar to Quetzalcoatl, the Mayan monster, I guess. Did they exaggerate out of fear? How naive. In my previous life, we had legends of eight-headed snakes.

"Let's start tidying up now," I said to Alfina-sama after we had gone through all the promising materials. Claudia-san might start worrying about my remaining points of sanity around now.