Breakthrough with the Forbidden Master

Chapter 338 – Lost Item

“Big brother?”

“Brother, what’s wrong?”

Today, I have to go back to the future. I have decided to go home.

Even though the Chieftain was an elf, he seemed to know about various things in the world, enough to write s on the Surface World, so I think that if he discusses things with Espie and Slayer, he will be able to handle the land issue.

But I’m going to have a talk with Espie and Slayer…… well, unfortunately……

“…… Espie …… Slayer ……”

“Un, Big brother?”

“?”

I have to leave these two behind. For over ten years.

How do I tell them that?

How do I convince them?

From now on, we won’t be able to see each other for more than a decade……

“So, Young man, where will the land be purchased?”

“Hmm? Y, yes…….”

I couldn’t think of any words. But there was no time.

To get to Shiznautmy, we need to move fast.

I mean…

“Uh-huh…… Shiznautmy…… the mountainous area beyond there seems to be within the territory of the Kingdom of Japone, and the mountains are privately owned and for sale…… we’ll buy that …….”

“…… Japone …… beyond Shiznautmy? N, no, Young man. That’s far too great a feat for our humble number to traverse unnoticed.”

“…… Huh?”

In the first place, the problem was that the Chieftain’s people could not get there.

That’s right. You can’t get there unless you pass through the forest and push through the plains.

There were less than a hundred elves in the village, so with that many on the move, there’s a possibility that they will be found.

“Hey, Larou’iph, can you use your warp to get us there?”

“No….. I can’t get that far either.”

If it was just me, Espie, and Slayer, there would be no problem. But, in that case, it means that we will end up abandoning the elves, which would be too heavy on my conscience.

Even if I go back to the future today and betray my precious younger sister and brother, I have to at least resolve this……

“Ha~…… a conundrum indeed……. If only we could employ the ‘teleportation device’ to swiftly reach Shiznautmy… yet, once there, we must surface again, and what lies beyond should be within the warp distance of Lady Larou’iph……

『…… What?』

“…… Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing, Young man. Merely a murmured thought.”

At that moment, Tre’ainar reacted to the incomprehensible words uttered by the Chieftain.

『Teleportation …device? A device…… is it?』

“…… Chieftain…… Teleportation Device? What does that mean? Is it some kind of magic?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s of no matter. The device is just that, a device. As a matter of fact…… scattered across the realms, are devices imbued with Shiznautmy technology, some capable of whisking one swiftly to its namesake.”

『”Huh!?” 』

“Well, truth be told, as I was crafting the map just before, I noticed the presence of one such device nearby, although it lies beyond our employ.”

Tre’ainar seemed concerned about it, so I asked on his behalf, and the Chieftain said something outrageous.

Not magic, but technology? Why is there such a thing?

“That’s ridiculous…… I’ve never heard of such a thing in that place, even though the Demon King Army destroyed the Sorcery City of Shiznautmy, and investigated it afterwards.”

“Ah~, well~, it is indeed so…… unmistakably, it lies much deeper still…… only the city of Shiznautmy and a fraction of its subterranean vaults were vanquished by the Demon King Army…… yet beyond lay depths more securely sealed……

“W-what was that?”

I’ve heard that before.

But, Tre’ainar said that no human could get there, and only a few in the Demon King Army knew about it.

One of them was Jamdi’el. The technology and whatnot that lies deep within… was used to conceive Kron……

And the other was……

“Apologies apologies. Let this tale fade into shadows. Moreover, in truth, this discourse holds no meaning whatsoever.”

“What do you mean?”

“In fact, within those depths lies dormant technology…… Furthermore, to utilize those teleportation devices, a key is requisite. With said key, one may traverse swiftly from the nearby teleportation device straight into the heart of Shiznautmy…… but without that key, it remains an impossible feat.”

“Then where is the key?”

“Hmm~…… I did possess it, yet somehow managed to misplace it…… truly, I… well, at the time, I deemed it no longer of necessity and thus refrained from searching…… Ha~, in hindsight, perhaps I should have made a more diligent effort…….”

Key?

『Child……』

“Y, yes…….”

The key mentioned by the Chieftain was……

“Say, dear, I’m unsure, but…… could this be before our fateful encounter? You wandered aimlessly, devoid of home or destination, until chance led you to collapse within our forest, whereupon me and my companions discovered you…….”

“Hmm? No, the loss of the key occurred quite recently, in truth. It slipped from my grasp as I stumbled and fell into the river, carried away by its current…….”

“Huh!? Fell into the river? I’ve not heard of this!”

“No, it was during my flight from the arranged marriage that I lost it, refusing to be bound to such a fate, I fled.”

Suddenly, a lot of things happened…… wasn’t the Chieftain originally born in that village?

Besides, how does the Chieftain know so much about Shiznautmy?

No, before that, the key is ……

“Hey, Chieftain. Do you mean …… this?”

I took that out of my pocket.

Besides Tre’ainar and Jamdi’el, he was the other person who knew about Shiznautmy.

I got it from Paripi……

“Oh, indeed. That’s the Master Key, not only for the entrance to the deepest recesses of the ruins but also for activating the device nestled within the depths…………… eh?”

At that moment, the Chieftain stiffened as if time had stopped.

But a few seconds later……

“E…… EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHH !?? M, Master Key!? Wh, what!? F, furthermore… th, the very one I dropped in the river and got washed away! Eh!? Why do you have it, Young man!? Did you pick it up!?”

“N-no… I-I got it from an acquaintance…”

The Chieftain ran up to me screaming with his mouth so wide open that I thought his jaw might have fallen off.

No way…

―― I picked it up. No, seriously. Really no lie 100%. I just happened to pick it up after it was dropped.

That Paripi, did he really just pick it up?! What’s more, is this something that belongs to the Chieftain?

“Ha, haha…… what coincidence this is, or perhaps fate…….”

The Master Key dropped by the Chieftain was picked up by the surviving Six Supremacy, Paripi, who gave it to me in the future more than ten years later, and the lost item transcended time and ended up here…… but that aside, one thing that bothers me is ……

『Although the hour is late…… this one…… who in hells is he? Even ignoring his powers and abilities… he is no mere elf.』

Right. Who was the Chieftain?