Chapter 534: An Orchestra For You, Part 14

Author's Preface

Schrödinger's Star Legend Gacha

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In the deepest part of the "Embassy"... in what amounted to the Clan Chief's, or rather, Dirnadia's office, I was facing Dirnadia.

"Wake up already, Emul. This is related to you."

"Kyuu..."

No good. She's not recovering for a while.

"Sorry, please continue."

"Understood... To begin with, Dordona was a hero, but... his heroic tale was not his alone. That tale has been passed down as a story of dragon subjugation accomplished by four heroes, including Dordona."

"I see... and among them was the name of Vash... Vysache."

"The Traveling Rabbit Vysache, a rabbit who travels the world carrying a staff and a blade... Upon parting ways with Dordona, he made three promises. Namely, two verbal messages to be passed down to future generations, and one 'Coordinate'."

Coordinates... and verbal messages. It seems Dirnadia intends to start with the two messages.

"───First. Ye who have crossed the surging waves... Be nostalgic, and seek your mother."

".........Mother?"

If we're talking about my mom, she's currently geeking out over Goliath Beetles with Aunt Yvonne, who works at a reserve in Africa and is basically a real-life Amazoness.

She says things like, "They're banned from import, so maybe I'll take a trip to Africa soon?" but she's seriously capable of doing it. I mean, I know she's got travel brochures for Colombia and catalogs for mountaineering gear in her room, okay? She's interested in Goliath Beetles, but apparently she's also aiming for a wild-caught Ricky Blue variant.

"Even we do not know the details. Despite our long lifespans compared to yours, this is a promise that has been passed down for a very long time."

I see. Vash's true age is becoming more and more suspicious, not that this is anything new.

But if I think about it seriously, it basically boils down to "where do player avatars come from?" From a meta perspective, with a few exceptions, we spawn in the plaza in Firstia, but any player who has experienced the depth of ShanFro's world-building would naturally think this:

───Wait, is there seriously an insane amount of lore behind the players too?

There actually was. Starting with Wethermon-san, the yakuza rabbit, and the AI whale woman have been dropping hints here and there, so it's pretty much practically confirmed at this point.

And combining those fragmented pieces of information with this current "message," you could say it's eighty percent confirmed...

Three colossal spaceships exist, collectively named Bahamut. One of the remaining two ships is located in Firstia.

"That's a way more important item than I thought........."

No, wait, is it a miracle that all three parts were even together in the first place? That underground space... the laboratory that some guy named Edward used until his dying moments, I clearly reached it through illegitimate means, but... maybe it was a place I was originally supposed to visit after progressing much further in a Grand Quest or something.

"I have an idea about what that message means. I've definitely received it."

"Umu... Then, onto the next promise. This one involves us as well... 'When a brave warrior worthy of the Giants' acknowledgment appears among those from the surging waves, grant them the path to the Lowly Great Tower, and march together.'"

"The Lowly Great Tower?"

What's with that contradictory name, like a push-pull door? The fact that I can't completely deny it as physically impossible is also something. Right, for instance, if you build the first floor deep underground and only the top floor sticks out of the surface, you couldn't not call it a lowly great tower... Wait, buried in the ground?

"............"

"What is it?"

"No, my brain just twinged a bit."

Just now, it felt like I was about to touch upon some outrageous truth... Something like, I can't specifically say what it is, but it felt like my finger caught on a puzzle piece......... Like a spark just ignited.

"Sunraku of the Areadbhair, we of the Odin Clan acknowledge your strength. Therefore, if you wish it, you may head north alongside Fione."

"Why specify Fione?"

"Because my sister was the one who discovered you first."

"I see... And the last 'Coordinate', is that the route to the Lowly Great Tower?"

"No, it is not. That is simply an addendum to the second promise."

So that means this third "Coordinate" is an entirely separate matter...

"The final Coordinate... is this 'Drawing'."

"Hmm?"

What I thought was a pillar turned out to be a wooden box, which Dirnadia opened with her own hands. Inside was some kind of parchment-like paper—though I had no idea what kind of animal skin it was made from—rolled up to look like a giant spear or a literal pillar.

Dirnadia is about three meters tall, and since she's holding it and it's about the length of a wakizashi to her, from my perspective, it's straight-up a spear or a small log.

The exceptionally wild... beard? Or whatever was used to tie it into a cord was untied, revealing what was drawn on the inside of the giant scroll.

"...What is this?"

"Umu. It is a 'Coordinate Drawing' drafted and passed down by generations of Giant Clan Chiefs."

Ah... so we've got a 'master artist' on our hands...

What was drawn on the confidently unrolled scroll was, how should I put it... um......... a doodle drawn by an elementary schooler? More accurately, a picture with jagged outlines drawn by someone who sucks at drawing? The colors are a mess, the patterns are weird... I could draw something a bit better than this.

Hahaha, look at this penguin, its wings are detached. And this weirdly shaped animal over here... a softshell turtle? No, wait, maybe a turtle with an oddly bumpy head? It looks like they're sumo wrestling or something......... wrestling...............

..................Hmm?

"Hnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!?!?!"

A thunderbolt that couldn't even compare to that twinge from earlier coursed through my brain. This shape, this overly unnatural outline, the animals, the beasts, the continent...!!

"It's a map!!!"

"A map? No, this is..."

No, there's no mistaking it. I remember now. The shape of this softshell turtle here, despite some minor discrepancies, almost perfectly matches the overall map of the Old Continent. Unlike the New Continent, a continent-scale map of the Old Continent is already fully mapped out and posted on strategy sites, which is why I recognized it.

And the weird penguin on the left, the two colored dots of azure and crimson in its center, the strangely green area near its head... There's no mistaking it.

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

This is an extra-large bombshell that even makes me dizzy. After all, just making this public would cause Tottori the Shimane's clan to lose all of its existential value.

What's insane is that more than half of the world's secrets are exposed in this single sheet. First of all, the Genesis Beasts, right? The defining features of each area on the New Continent, right? Even disregarding that, the torn-off penguin wing indicates that there's an island down south.

"Hmm?"

There's some kind of weird spotted pattern on this torn wing............ An oval shape like a French baguette is extending upward from a black circle.................. Ah, is this a Rabbit Mark?

"It's Rabituza........."

Rabituza is absurdly huge. It's at least as big as Thirdrema, if not bigger. Well, in reality, it's mostly farmland so there isn't much to see... But its defining feature is that the entire perimeter is surrounded by a strange mist or haze, so no matter how hard you strain your eyes, you can't see the horizon or the skyline.

So whether it was somewhere on the New Continent, or if it was an island... This map finally gives a definitive answer to that lingering question.

Rabituza is an island located beneath the New Continent—in other words, to the south. How about a vacation? The ocean in this game is hell, to put it mildly, but would the shallows be fine? Though according to Araba, there are apparently incredibly active sea anemones with legs at the very least.

Now then, let's get back to the main topic. This map... The fact that generations of Giants have painstakingly copied and passed it down means it's safe to assume the design is almost identical to the original.

And the fact that it's a drawing related to the promise with Vysache means that these "Arrows" were also drawn by Vash.

"An arrow going from Rabituza, across the ocean, through the frontline base, to a circle mark on the Old Continent side..."

Well then, Aniki......... Just what in the world are you plotting?

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Author's Afterword

By the way, Dirnadia-san is incredibly artistic. She's a true master artist to the point where she perfectly copied the previous generation's coordinate drawing.

Or rather, there hasn't been a single 'master artist' (derogatory) among the successive Odin Clan Chiefs. Which means......... Even Vash had a period where his drawings sucked.