Queen’s Garden (1)

Isiel, already aware of it, stepped back, but Cel and the twins were excited.

“Prophecy is a very rare skill granted by the goddess of time!”

“How did she look?!”

“I don’t know. It appeared one day when I woke up.”

“Now the mystery is solved on how the hell you knew to buy the land in the Orails district. Do you know what stocks we should invest in?”

They might die right away, but Kleio was forced to envy the carefreeness of Cel as she talked about stocks.

“No, my skills aren’t that great. Of course, it’s not perfect. So, Arthur, are there any visions you remember about this place?”

“Hey, I don’t know the true nature of the visions until I come across it.”

Kleio shook his head. Arthur’s memory only seemed to appear in useless places.

“I see. Then, listen carefully because I know a little bit.”

Kleio told them everything he knew about the Queen’s Garden dungeon, and Cel organized the contents at the end.

“Okay. We’re gathering in front of the round glass greenhouse?”

“Yes, if we get scattered entering, we’ll see each other there. There are two, but it will be the smaller one, okay? Please don’t rush in before I arrive. And, as Zebedee said, it will be a river, so memorize the [Dry] magic. Be prepared for water.”

“It means that you need a magic ore and a [Fire] magic formula to attack the dungeon. I understand.”

Like Cel, Isiel, who was memorizing the [Fire] magic, nodded.

“If you want to use the magic formula without circles, you need to inject a fair bit of ether into it. Stay alert and always be prepared to use your magic.”

“Yes, yes. ‘All monsters can only be hurt with ether.’ I know that better than you, it’s rule 0 of the remembered world.”

Kleio’s shoulders drooped at Cel’s still neutral attitude. The [Soundproofing][Shield] magic formula was beginning to blur, which meant it was time to go. Tiredness was plain on Kleio’s face, but even though Arthur probably slept less than him, he was still raring to go.

“It would’ve been nice to go after a little sleep.”

“Asleep is trying to deal with you, so it must’ve been part of his plan to do it at night.”

“The second brother uses shallow methods that can be seen by anyone.”

“How many times have you been almost killed by that?”

The Cruel Knights, wearing black belts, swung by the entrance of the barracks.

“Do you need more time?”

“No, let us say bye to Professor Zebedee, and we can get started right away.”

All four had come by fully equipped as if they were worried that Arthur might change his mind even now. Zebedee glanced over them with sharp eyes before scouring the sleeves of his robe. To hand Kleio a bracelet and a gauntlet to Cel and Isiel.

“The magic stone ruby of the bracelet contains [Cold Protection] magic. The [Defense] magic is engraved on the gauntlets.”

Arthur smiled nastily.

“Professor, is there nothing for me?’

“The sword you wear is more powerful than the three items combined. Rely on yourself.”

Two of Cruel’s knights, who stepped back, laughed at Arthur’s frivolous attitude. They would tell Aslan precisely what they saw. The youngest prince, a mere child, wasn’t aware of what crisis awaited him.

‘Even now, he’s working on his image. Yes, the main character is strong.’

The night was worn out, and dawn was approaching. The Door of Mnemosyne was fluttering with a faint blue light. On the crumbling wall, an ancient number ‘4’ appeared and shimmered in gold. Suddenly, Aslan, the Duke Cruel and his knights, and the restless Swain were standing around the door.

“Then, I will be back.”

Arthur bid them farewell lightly like he was going out for a drink and stepped through. As blue light enveloped him, the ancient number turned to 3. Cel and Isiel went in one after another, and Kleio took a step with his eyes closed tightly. It felt like his body was floating, much like when an airplane took off, and the view under his closed eyelids was colored white.

‘A wizard should never go to such a place! I never wanted to get caught up in this hardship!’

.

.

.

Fuha!

Scratch, scratch!

Kleio was struggling in a cold river, much like when he had first come to this world. His mind was shaken and dizzy after passing through the door as he struggled to swim and control his body. He had swallowed so much water that he couldn’t even spit out a simple mantra. At that moment, a strong force grabbed his collar and pulled him to the surface.

“You’re okay.”

“Get up, Lei. The water isn’t deep here.”

Hearing a familiar voice sobered his mind. Then, strength barely returned to his legs. Arthur was right. The water was only deep enough to reach his chin.

“Right? Now, let’s get out.”

“Uh… Thank you.”

Kleio was embarrassed that he had been drowning in such shallow water.

“Thank me later. Your lips are gray. If I didn’t come, you would’ve drowned before seeing a single beast.”

Kleio turned around.

“Have you seen Cel or Isiel?”

“I only saw you.”

“They must’ve fallen on the other side.”

The entrants of the remembered world were divided into two or three groups, regardless of which order they entered in, and fell randomly.

‘I should stick close to Arthur. Though, wasn’t it Isiel who saved me from the last river?’

“You did a good job of setting up a meeting point.”

“Yes, never forget it.”

“Should I?”

Coming out to land, they were in front of the entrance to a low shrub garden. It wasn’t until he stepped onto the embankment that he thought to look back. Beyond the river was a complete void, an empty space devoid of color and light. The sky inside the border was an indigo evening that stood on the edge of gentle darkness. This was the remembered world. At the same time, a familiar golden string appeared in front of Kleio’s eyes.

[Remembered World: The Queen’s Garden]

[-A piece of space and time formed by the broken jewel of the goddess Mnemosyne.

-Stop the master clock to stop the repeat of history. When temporal concurrency is lost, space will decompose.

Note: When the time limit expires, all elements will reset to the starting state.]

[―Remaining time/time limit:

23:59:45 / 24:00:00]

Like Kleio, Arthur stared at a point in space. The string wasn’t a message from Promise, but rather a common message from the dungeon to all visitors.

“Is this the word? It’s more interesting than magic.”

“Yeah.”

“I thought it wasn’t different from our world, but this really is strange.”

The messages from the dungeon were called ‘the word.’ Arthur beckoned a couple of times in the air to try and interact with the words, but the writing wasn’t distorted at all even as his hand passed through it.

‘Fortunately, it’s the same dungeon as in the last manuscript.’

Kleio had been nervous about falling into a place he didn’t know and let out a sigh of relief. All developments had been accelerated, but the setting didn’t seem to have changed significantly.

‘All these remembered worlds have a master clock that maintains their temporal synchronicity. We have to stop it before we can leave.’

He noticed how cold it was as he relaxed. His whole body began to tremble; his clothes still soaked in cold water. Kleio quickly opened a field to dry himself and Arthur. Fortunately, their backpacks were waterproof, so he just had to dry them outside. Once his body was dry, he could feel the warmth emanating from the magical bracelet that Zebedee gave him. Arthur looked at him as his clothes dried quickly.

“Oh, you did this. It’s something that only a wizard overflowing with etheric sensitivity can do.”

Kleio smacked the back of Arthur’s head.

“If you’re sick, then who will fight? I’ll do the breaking of the clock, so you lead the way. Honestly, if it weren’t a desperate situation, I would’ve never come to this kind of place.”

“Yeah. It’s a dangerous place for someone who can be swayed by just the wind.”

“Hey, it’s not funny! [Barrier, defend me!]”

Defense magic started to unfold around Kleio. At the same time, small shrubs struck the golden ether as a message window popped up.

[Lecture Shrub

-Category: Evil

-Level: 3]

The evil level ranged from 1 to 8, having no significant difference from ether levels. It wasn’t difficult to deal with, given the level was correct.

‘A level 3 beast is a piece of cake for Arthur.’

Shortly after the basic message window lit up, gold light spilled out from Promise and hovered as if to point to the high leaves of a shrug several meters away.

‘Why is it like this?’

Kleio soon recalled a passage from the manuscript. The river’s shrubs were clusters, and they disappeared after the golden-leaved head was cut off. When he turned on Perception, it became more apparent. A strong etheric reaction could be felt where Promise had led him. The mana stone was embedded there.

‘Give Arthur the bonus information, not me. Why are you making things difficult?’

Anyway, it was good news the monster was exactly like it had been in the manuscript he remembered.

‘… Let’s think carefully. At my level, I would struggle to kill even such a creature without the manuscript.’

“Arthur, find the golden leaves! That’s the core of this beast!”

From above, more rushing branches came down to try and wrap them up before crashing into the defensive wall. The shrubs along the river were connected to one another, moving in unison to surround Kleio’s field. Arthur, standing at the border of the barrier, cut through the dense branches without difficulty. Beg’s sword was a two-handed blade, but Arthur, who was good at [Reinforcement], was able to swing it with one hand. The branches cut by the sword shattered and turned to ashes.

“It looked like a shrub, but they’re all monsters!”

“Do you have time to appreciate it?”

“You have to appreciate it to find the golden leaves.”

“So, did you?”

“At 3 o’clock. Last one, highest branches! Can I defeat that?”

Arthur glanced as if asking for consent, but he couldn’t see anything. The dry blanches clumped together, and beyond them, ether was gathering and flickering, but it wasn’t easy to specify exactly where.

‘Ha, it’s like a real beast.’

Kleio quickly turned on Perception while managing his expression. Then, as Arthur said, he could see two coin-sized golden leaves swaying in the distance.

“Okay! If you cut them, the first gateway between the river and the garden will disappear!”

“Leave it to me.”

Beg’s sword began to gather ether as golden ripples stood out on edge. Arthur lowered himself for a leap; then, he jumped forward with a mighty push.

‘Go! Arthur-mon!’

Arthur cut through the branches that threatened to crush him as he ascended. In fact, it was a beast even Kleio could slay. While [Achilles’ Spear] wouldn’t work correctly, [Angel’s Fire] would be able to wipe out some shrubbery. But he instead waited for Arthur to take care of it.

‘Aslan was mistaken. The ultimate reward for the remembered world isn’t some mana stone or a magic tool.’

The biggest reward was the dramatic increase in skill.

‘Swinging a sword a dozen times in the dungeon is like swinging it a thousand times outside.’

If Arthur realized that, it would be great. He had decided not to say it out loud, at least for now, however. According to the manuscript, that part was the essence of self-recognition and understanding. It was more difficult to improve one’s skills with the advice of others.

‘It sounds like a goose chase, but you’re the protagonist, so make it work.’

Gradually, the magical formula that formed the defense wall began to blur. He couldn’t see Arthur through the branches, but he could see the bright glow like the sun coming through the gaps. While measuring the timing of putting more ether into his shield, the branches surrounding Kleio turned to ash all at once.

And, holding his sword, Arthur stood beyond the ash with a smiling face. It was a joyous expression of one who realized he didn’t have to hide his strength. At the same time, the message of the dungeon that came to Arthur was also seen by Kleio’s Promise.

[Common Skill:’The Truth of the Light’ is revealed.

―Even in the darkest depths, we find a path to the light.]