Chapter 3: The Unaccustomed Time Traveler
Translator:Henyee TranslationsEditor:Henyee Translations
âYouâre here,â Jon said without turning his head. He just looked at the verdant woods in the distance.
Hearing the similar words, Angor recalled what he said to his brother just a while ago and couldnât hold back his mild smile.
âYes, Iâm here,â Angor replied while pointing at the medicinal salve on the desk, then gave the mute servant a questioning look, who in turn shook his hands back at Angor.
Angor sighed in distraught, took the salve and sat beside Jon.
âTeacher, you disregarded the doctorâs words again?â Angor screwed the glass bottle open and carefully applied the green colored salve upon the wilted limbs of his teacher.
âIt does not matter anymore,â Jon showed a trace of yearning and sorrow in his eyes. âIâm near my end now. âItâ will not let me live.â
âWhatâs âitâ?â Angor suddenly surveyed the surroundings in alert. âYour enemy?â
Jon stayed silent for a while, and shook his head. âThere is no enemy here. My enemy... is in another space.â
Angor asked the mute servant to go away unconsciously when he realized his teacher was going to talk about this âother spaceâ. The servant wouldnât tell anyone about it, but Angor would do this every time, just in case.
Even now, Angor couldnât even imagine where his teacher really came from.
Jon was from another world, or another planet. He came from his home to this unfamiliar land because of an accident.
After his âtransmigrationâ, Jon was saved by Angorâs father, and thus the story afterward.
Originally, Angor did not believe this so-called âtransmigrationâ. However, as Jon taught him more and more knowledge which shaped the concept of microcosm and macrocosm into his mind, Angor trusted it. The knowledge was all theoretical, but Angor already did his own calculation and realized how valuable the knowledge was. It was far more valuable than what the current education in Goldspink Empire could offer.
He still had some doubt deep inside his mind, true, but he was already beginning to believe it.
After making sure that the mute servant closed the door and walked downstairs, Angor asked in a whisper, âSo... Who is this âitâ you mentioned?â
Jon stayed silent again, then gave Angor an irrelevant question instead.
âDo you believe that the world can have its own consciousness?â
Angor was surprised and left speechless by the sudden question. He considered for a while before carefully giving out his answer, âYou mean... The Gaiaâs Consciousness?â
Of course, this was a non-existent topic in Goldspink Empire, and there was no âMother Earth Gaiaâ in this world. The concept was from Jon, and Angor initially considered it as another mythology tale of the other world. He didnât expect it to be mentioned now.
âClose,â Jon nodded, albeit weakly. âI used to be a devoted believer of science. There were people talking about how the end of science is god, which I never trusted. However... Ever since I came here, I felt something was slowly changing, and this includes the âGaiaâs Consciousnessâ.â
Jon looked at the flourishing mountain far away. âMy body began to fail without apparent reason after I came to this world. I asked my Parasitic Chip to do a thorough examination. There werenât any pathological changes. In other words, Iâm not ill.â
Angor knew what his teacher meant even though he was not sure what âParasitic Chipâ was.
âYouâre not ill, then why...â Angorâs doubt deepened further while looking at his teacher who was abnormally skinny now. Jon just got past his 50s, but nobody would question it if anyone said that he was already beyond his 80s or 90s.
âHow did I come to this?â Jon muttered to himself, and shook his head. âI couldnât answer this question half a year ago. But... since Iâm half inside my grave now, âitâ looks reassured, which allowed me to understand the source of my condition.â
âSource?â Angor looked at Jon, puzzled.
âRemember âGaiaâs Consciousnessâ I mentioned? My guess is... This world has a giant, aggregated consciousness. It runs indifferently, with absolute fairness. It rejects all foreign souls, it is the consciousness of the world. As for my body... Maybe it did this to me,â Jon turned to look at Angor. âTo put it simply, my body is unaccustomed to this land, because I donât belong to this world.â
...
Inside the well decorated hall, under the crystal glazed chandelier, two figures sat on both sides of a long rectangular table. Both of them had several fully armored knights standing behind them.
On the left, was the next title successor of the Padt Manor, Leon Padt, wearing tightly-knitted eyebrows.
On the right sat a middle-aged man wearing silver armor, a big brown beard and obscured face, Eton Morn.
Count Eton Morn, a member from the Morn Family, the backbone of Goldspink Empire. A family that lived for centuries and famous for their bravery and combat skills.
Currently, a great number of elite members of the family were fighting against the Heylan Imperials on the front line. Nobody knew why count Eton suddenly decided to visit Grue Town.
There was only silence. Knights on both sides stood against the presence of the other family, which became more overwhelming by the second. Naturally, the fierce and powerful knights from the Morn Family quickly gained advantage over the ones from Padt Manor who never witnessed a fight. One of the Padt knights even lost grip of his sword because of the tension, which fell onto the floor with a loud CLANG. With this, Leon frowned again and could only speak first:
âMy apologies. My knights donât really know the conventions,â Leon waved a hand, his knights immediately saluted with a bend and took one step back. The simple gesture easily diffused the surging momentum of the Morns. âIs count Etonâs sudden visit about supplies for the front line?â
The Heylan Imperial was not big, but most of their land were islands, scattered between the Granblue Ocean and the Storm Sea. Goldspink Empire didnât have much naval force so they could only set up passive defenses along the shorelines against the invasion of Heylan.
When the defense dragged too long, fueled by the lack of fresh water near the sea, the responsibility of supplying food and water fell upon several towns and cities nearby. Grue Town was one of them.
Here, the supply was taken care of by the Padt Manor alone, thus the townspeople usually did not know about this. As the owner of the Padt Manor though, Leon knew very well of his responsibility.
âThanks to the Padt Manor, if not for you our vanguard camp would not make it through these months,â Count Eton showed his courtesy first, then abruptly changed the topic, âThere is nothing wrong with food and water supply, I came today to inquire about something.â
âAbout?â Leon raised an eyebrow.
Eton chuckled, which wasnât really clear behind the beard. However, Leon did not catch any hint of joy from Etonâs eyes.
âViscount Padt, have you ever heard of the Morning Dew?â