Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 75 (Part 2)
Before the sun rose, Rodin checked the loot he had gathered from the bodies of the raiders.
203 gold coins in total, along with some gold ornaments that might have been family heirlooms and documents proving ownership of land and property in some region.
He piled up the items that might be valuable and prepared breakfast. It was the same meal as yesterday.
Water, jerky, and a pinch of salt made up the jerky soup.
“It’s a little better now that I’ve done it once.”
Yesterday’s soup had been a bit bland. He had used too little salt, thinking the jerky would be salty enough.
Today, he used yesterday’s mistake as a learning experience and added a bit more salt. It tasted just right now.
“When will they wake up?”
Rodin didn’t wake the children.
They had a tough day yesterday. They were probably mentally exhausted, so he decided to let them rest until they had recovered.
He closed his eyes and took out the pocket watch. He debated for a moment whether to continue the lesson from the night before.
‘What’s in the lessons further on?’
Rodin sometimes wondered what the point of all this was, even as he received lessons through the pocket watch’s projection. The lessons were heavily focused on language and still at a rudimentary level.
‘I didn’t really think this through, did I?’
The artifact containing the educational projection was incredibly advanced. It felt like if he kept listening to the lessons, he would eventually gain some amazing knowledge.
But nothing was certain. He was just following the lessons with a vague sense of anticipation.
‘I should check this.’
Rodin adjusted the pocket watch, setting the hand to 3.
Level 1 was the lowest, so level 3 wasn’t particularly high. It wasn’t advanced knowledge, so he didn’t have high expectations.
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, runes appeared at level 3. Runes that Rodin recognized, so he understood immediately.
The projection was incomprehensible, but since he already knew the runes, it wasn’t hard to guess what was being taught.
‘Would it be better to learn the language here?’
Setting aside his doubts, Rodin changed the time on the pocket watch. This time, he set it to 6.
‘Ah, this is also about runes.’
Although he didn’t recognize the symbols, he could tell they were runes. The enthusiastic teacher displayed numerous illustrations while explaining.
‘How far does the rune language go?’
Even at 7, 8, 9, and 10, the lessons were still about runes. Although he could understand some runes, there were far more that he didn’t know.
Finally, when he set the hand to 11, the lesson changed. It was about a subject Rodin had always been curious about but hadn’t encountered until now.
‘Swordsmanship lessons. I thought it might be something like this.’
The pocket watch’s lessons were extraordinary. It was undoubtedly meant for teaching someone far above the common folk—perhaps even an artifact designed for royalty.
‘It might be intended for someone destined to become an emperor.’
The projection teacher treated the unknown student with extreme care. Despite following a fixed curriculum, the teacher spoke gently, as if trying to maintain a respectful tone.
‘What about 12?’
Rodin turned the watch to 12, summoning the projection.
The teacher looked directly at Rodin, shook their head, and then disappeared after bowing slightly.
‘What? Do I need some kind of qualification?’
Rodin found it strange but didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he set the watch back to 2 and resumed the lesson.
‘What? A geography lesson?’
As soon as the lesson began, a massive map unfolded before his eyes. Even Rodin, who had seen maps of the continent in books many times, found the map unfamiliar.
“What? Is this the continent? It doesn’t seem like it.”
Rodin compared the map in his mind to the one before him. No matter how he looked, nothing matched.
‘Let’s think of it as an older map. The capital was in the magical empire’s heyday, right? If I use that as the center…’
He tried to adjust the map based on the assumption that it depicted the past.
‘Still doesn’t fit.’
No matter how he aligned it, the map didn’t match. While terrain changes over time, the discrepancies were too significant.
‘Hmm.’
Rodin left the watch at 2 but moved the minute hand slightly. The gigantic map disappeared, and a new one of similar size appeared.
‘Another map? Oh, this one’s the continent.’
Finally, he saw something familiar. The map showed the eastern part of the continent, which roughly matched the present-day maps.
‘So, this was just the eastern part in the past. The central, eastern, and western continents now were just parts of the eastern landmass back then.’
The map showed the land of the Magic Forest and beyond to the west.
This meant that the civilization of the Frouval had existed either during or before the time of the Magic Empire.
The Magic Empire had fallen about 5,000 years ago, and the Magic Forest had arisen at that time. Since then, the lands beyond the forest had no longer been human territory.
‘The same era as the Magic Empire, or even before. I’ve never heard of anything like this.’
The oldest known records dated back to the fall of the Magic Empire. There were almost no records of the empire during its height, and none from before.
‘A truly ancient time.’
Rodin gazed blankly at the ring on his left hand and the pocket watch in his right.
It was hard to believe that these artifacts were at least 5,000 years old. Despite having seen them in person, the idea seemed surreal.
They looked like they were only about ten years old, just slightly worn with age.
‘Hmm.’
The map was not just a topographical depiction; it also had many inscriptions. Place names were written in the Frouval script.
‘Could it be…?’
Rodin mentally selected one of the locations on the map, and a voice immediately resonated in his ear.
―Asakaf. Konahi Hoabira Osseria Monlist…
“What? No way!”
Rodin was so astonished that he accidentally shouted out loud. His voice was loud enough to reach the children, who were still sleeping.
‘The writing isn’t everything?’
It wasn’t just the text written on the map. When he selected the words, it provided the name and a description of the place.
‘Could the Frouval civilization have existed before the Magic Empire?’
What shocked Rodin wasn’t just the descriptive text. All over the map were similar markings, and some of them represented man-made structures.
There were libraries, watchtowers, and research institutes, all built by the Frouval.
This meant that the entire area marked on the map had been under Frouval’s control.
‘The Frouval… What kind of powerful civilization were they?’
It couldn’t have been the same era as the Magic Empire. There was little left of the empire’s records, but the ones that did survive told of a vast empire that ruled over the entire continent.
It was impossible for two powerful civilizations to coexist on the same land.
It was clear now—the Frouval civilization had existed long before the Magic Empire.