CH 294

The man who called himself Pojun the Lindwurm was floating in the air in front of me.

Pojun had a full, white beard on his face. His eyebrows were also white.

There were numerous deep wrinkles running across his face, indicating that he was quite advanced in years.

Both the face and overall form gave me the impression of an eastern dragon. The kind who would grant you a wish.

However, the big difference with those dragons was that he had no arms or legs.

So he was like a snake or worm.

Not a dragon, but a kind of demi-beast.

“The Under World is a place where dead souls from the Demon World, Celestial World, and Human World gather.”

Upon saying this, I realized something.

Now that I thought about, there were not many people in the Demon World who knew about the Under World either.

It was mostly just some of the high-ranking races. I had only learned of it recently myself.

“A place where dead souls gather… I see. Such worlds exist, and that is where you have come from.”

“Yes. And now I have a question. Were you talking about Lesser High King Yamato? The one who went missing long ago…”

“King Yamato is the one who made this world in order to protect our ancestors. We sometimes call him Founder Yamato. But I’ve never heard the title, ‘Lesser High King.’”

Never heard it? In the Demon world, everyone knew of Lesser High Kings, just as they knew of Lesser Demon Kings and Demon Kings.

“In the first place, where are we? Not this specific place, but this world.”

“What a strange question… This is the world that King Yamato created. The Garden. A place that is ruled by different laws than the Human World.”

“Human World? So we’re in the Human World, not the Demon World?”

“Yes. To be precise, it’s a ‘different world’ that King Yamato made inside of the Human World. While the Demon World is our homeland, we were told that it is impossible to return.”

“…I see.”

I was starting to understand.

Unless Pojun was pulling my leg, this really was the Human World. Or an Other World, perhaps.

So my soul had been reborn, not in the Demon World or Celestial World, but in the Human World.

(But aren’t people usually reborn as babies? I appear to be an adult man?)

“Is there a problem?”

“Tell me. My body right now…what do I look like?”

“You seem to be able to move just fine. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with your ability to function.”

Damn it. He didn’t get it.

“Is this a human’s body? Or some other race? Which is it?”

“Ah, it is neither. You are currently what we call a ‘Personification.’”

“And what is that?”

“A ‘temporary vessel’ used so that the high-rankers can mimic a human.”

A temporary vessel for high-rankers to mimic humans?

What the hell? It exceeded my understanding.

“I’m sorry, let’s go over everything again. My name is Golan. I used to be in the Demon World. Then I died. My soul went to the Under World. I told you what that is. I thought that I was going to be reincarnated, but I’m here, in a temporary body. I’m very confused right now. So tell me what you can about this world.”

“…Ah… I do not mind explaining it to you. But where should I begin?”

“In that case, just tell me about this place.”

“Very well. About this place… It was a long time ago, and I’ve only heard stories. But I will tell you what I know.”

And like that, Pojun the Lindwurm told me about how this place came to be.

Ultimately, it was quite shocking.

So this really was the Human World. A separate world made inside of it.

But while humans lived in the Human World, they did not know about this place.

“We have strict orders to people who go down into the Human World. They are to never speak of this place.”

Who gives the order?

Apparently, it was Pojun, as he was the manager of this place.

It had been four hundred years since he gained the position over this Sealed Tomb.

He managed the building and the Personifications. And he intended to work for at least another hundred years.

As for this ‘King Yamato’ that he talked about, I was quite sure that it was Lesser High King Yamato.

There were people here who were nearly a thousand years old, and this world had existed for as long as they could remember.

And so this world was much older. It would have to be over a thousand and five hundred years old.

It could even be over two thousand years old.

Someone who had lived that long, and was capable of making a place so big… It could be no one but Lesser High King Yamato.

Especially if this place really was in the Human World.

And there was another shocking thing about this world.

It was filled with mana.

I had no idea how hard it would be to create a place within the Human World that was filled with mana.

However, if he could do it, then he really was worthy of the title, Lesser High King.

Pojun continued to talk.

He then told me that this ‘Other World’ was separated into four blocks.

Each one was based on one of the four seasons, and so together, this was the Garden of Four Seasons. The four gardens were named liked this:

The Field of Everlasting Spring

The Coast of Everlasting Summer

The Forest of Everlasting Autumn

The Village of Everlasting Winter

You could think of the world as a cake. Cut it into four equal pieces and assign them clockwise: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

Actually, there was a place in the center where they all met, and you could not enter it. So perhaps it was more like a donut.

Apparently, I was currently in the Forest of Everlasting Autumn block, which made it the third one.

It was a comfortable climate, not too hot and not too cold. And there many of the non-combat races lived here.

“I understand that this place is called the Forest of Everlasting Autumn. So, what do I have to do to meet this King Yamato?”

“I see. King Yamato is in the Field of Everlasting Spring. But it is very far away, and so you will have to travel for several days in order to visit him.”

“So, each block is very big then?”

“Indeed, they are. Furthermore, you cannot go directly to the Field of Everlasting Spring from the Forest of Everlasting Autumn, and so it will take time.”

That’s right.

It was on the opposite side of the donut.

Since they didn’t share any borders, I would have to travel through the other blocks.

I could only reach Yamato through the Village of Everlasting Winter or the Coast of Everlasting Summer.

This world was rather annoying.