Chapter 180: Plan and Request

Chapter 180: Plan and Request

Aiwass had been laughing for a while, but he regained his composure after smelling the fragrance of the tea that Eins had freshly poured. Taking another sip, his laughter came to a complete halt. However, his eyes shone as if he were a young boy.

“Well, that’s a great goal you’ve set, but to achieve it, there are high walls to scale. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, I don’t think I can do it all by myself, and I have no intention of hesitating to seek help from others.”

In response to Aiwass’s questioning as if to confirm, I naturally nodded. Since I had decided to first free my comrades, I couldn’t do it alone.

It seemed like it would be possible to free those who were controlled by binding spiritual arts, but I couldn’t be sure if that would be enough. I had been planning to consult Aiwass about what to do.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. There’s no shame in relying on someone. If you understand that, it’s all good.”

“But I have very little to offer as compensation at the moment. Is that still acceptable?”

“It doesn’t matter. I have some thoughts on that as well.”

However, I understood that in order to borrow someone’s power, I would have to pay a price. In fact, I might even suspect hidden motives if someone offered their assistance to me without any expectations.

As expected, it seemed that Aiwass had intentions of making a request. It appeared that Aiwass, like anyone else, expected some form of compensation in exchange for the help he was willing to provide. While he mentioned having thoughts on it, I could only hope that it was something within my means.

“Let’s put that aside for now and continue our discussion. There’s no need to worry about the binding spiritual arts. Zwei, fetch me that tool.”

“Understood.”

Upon Aiwass’s instruction, Zwei, the crystal orb above, began to emit blue ethereal light. This light seemed to form a pattern in the air, which then astonishingly transformed into a....three-dimensional object right before my eyes.

The materialized object was a large key, about the length of my sword. Both the handle and the body were intricately adorned; but these decorations must have served a purpose beyond aesthetics. Judging by the lingering radiance of the light emitted from Zwei, it likely functioned as a spiritual circuit.

“This is a tool to nullify the effects of the binding spiritual arts. With this, it should be relatively easy to liberate your comrades.”

“But... isn’t this an extremely valuable item?”

“Not really. Zwei can create duplicates of it as much as needed, and it’s not all-powerful. It’s powerless against spiritual arts wielded by me or those even more skilled than me.”

No, no, what are you saying? I had sensed it from the moment I first saw it, but Aiwass was far superior to any spiritualist I had encountered. No matter what kind of spiritual arts the previous spiritualists had used, they were powerless before this tool.

Furthermore, didn’t Eins mention it? Aiwass was the seventh most knowledgeable person in the world. In other words, there were only seven people in the world, including Aiwass, against whom this key would be ineffective. If I found myself in conflict with such individuals, I would have to be prepared for death, and there would be no room for using the key.

“This means you can now free your comrades which is the first hurdle. The next hurdle is deciding where to escape to... Do you have any ideas?”

“I don’t think hiding in some remote mountainous area is a long-term solution. Words of us are bound to spread, and eventually, they’ll send a subjugation party or something.”

“I guess so. Perhaps there is a convenient place for you guys. Zwei?”

“I will display the celestial globe.”

As requested by Aiwass, a translucent sphere representing the planet, which I had seen during our first encounter, appeared. It was a fascinating sight, no matter how many times I saw it.

I reexamined the location on the Enzo continent that Aiwass had previously mentioned. In the center of the continent, a massive mountain range ran across it, dividing it into north and south. The Harlasia Kingdom where I was born, and the empire where my comrades resided were in the northern part.

Turning my gaze to the south, it looked quite different from the north. Though I couldn’t make out the details due to its translucent and uncolored nature, it seemed that the southern part had several sunken regions.

Moreover, that area appeared quite large. Did the southern side have rugged and undulating terrain? Aiwass seemed to be well-informed about many things.

“It’s no lie. With this, we’ve found a solution to the major hurdle you need to overcome. Whether you can successfully escape from the Empire and make it all the way to the south depends on your efforts.”

With that, Aiwass wrapped things up, and I nodded in agreement. Even for a sage like Aiwass, predicting the exact future would be impossible.

We had to adapt on the fly to the evolving situation. The path to survival had to be carved out with our own efforts.

“Now, let’s move on to the matter of the compensation you’ll provide me here. There are two things I’d like you to do.”

“Which are?”

“The first is to secure a piece of land in the southern part of the Enzo continent that I can use as a base for my research. You see, I have a keen interest in the southern region of the Enzo continent. It’s a barren land where resilient flora and fauna thrive, you see.”

A research base in the southern part of the continent, huh? Finding a secure location from scratch would certainly be a hassle. So, why not make use of the place we’ve already stumbled upon? It’s an incredibly efficient approach on Aiwass’s part.

Considering Aiwass’s mansion and this research facility, it seemed essential to secure a piece of land at least as large as the mansion itself. Therefore, the search for suitable land needed to encompass a sizable area. The conditions had become somewhat tougher.

However, it was impossible for me to refuse this offer. The reason being that if I were to decline, I’d have to return the tool that can be called the all-purpose key that I had already received. Without it, I couldn’t guarantee that I would be able to free my comrades. I had no other viable options.

“I’m on board with securing the land. But how should I go about conveying the situation to you?”

“Regarding that, I’ve been thinking about it, of course. At the same time, it ties into the second request. Eins, fetch that box over there.”

“Yes, master.”

Aiwass pointed to a metal box placed in the corner of the room, and Eins brought it over. Would the contents of this box serve as a means of communication with Aiwass?

As I watched with bated breath, Aiwass opened the lid of the box to reveal its contents. Inside the box, an intricate spiritual circuit was etched, and at the center, there was a pedestal. On the pedestal sat a small blue crystal orb. It was stored with great care, but what could this be?

“What is this...?”

“It’s Acht, the eighth sibling of Eins and the others.”

“Master, ya done gone and made us a new sibilin’, huh? It might’ve been nice if ya had told me before.”

“Hehe, surprised, are you?”

Was this small orb the early form of a luminous crystalline life form? If you looked closely, the center of the crystal sphere emitted a faint glow. It was clear that this was no ordinary gem.

“I heard about this from Eins. Luminous crystalline life forms are interconnected, and they can communicate even when apart. Is the idea to take Acht as part of our team for that purpose?”

“Not only that. As I mentioned earlier, this will be the second part of the compensation. I want you to raise Acht. I’m curious about how luminous crystalline life forms grow in an environment separate from me.”

“...Quite the researcher-like idea.”

Luminous crystalline life forms were a race created by Aiwass, and their numbers were still quite small. Moreover, since they had always been close to him, he was probably curious about what would happen if they grew up in a different environment.

But this luminous crystalline life form was also one of Eins’s siblings. Treating such a being like an experimental subject gave me some reservations. My gaze naturally turned toward Eins.

“No need to worry ’bout us. We ain’t gonna just up and die that easily, and we trust you as master entrusted one of us to you. Besides... we’re more than happy to be taken care of by someone who cares for us in that way, ain’t that right, Zwei?”

“Yes, big brother.”

“I see... Alright. I’ll make sure to raise this one well.”

And so, that’s how the discussion between Aiwas and me came to an end. Everything would be set into motion tomorrow. I couldn’t help but tremble at the anticipation of what lay ahead.