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67 Advance

A large building stood in an area that was partially obscured unless the day was bright. The word ‘unseen’ fits its description very well. It was too far away to make an accurate judgment on size, but Byeong-gap could vaguely see its walls and spire.

‘How far is the horizon again? Five kilometers or so.’

He remembered a story from a science journal that he had read one day. The horizon didn’t show what was fifty kilometers away; five kilometers was more accurate.

“Let’s go.”

“Are you going to look around?”

Dorma asked in a worried voice. Byeong-gap replied, tightening the buckle of his backpack.

“Is there a problem?”

“I’m afraid something dangerous is waiting for us.”

“There’s always danger everywhere.”

Well, from the moment they had crossed the walls, they were already exposed to he was curious. Was there any other civilization here? Maybe they could meet some of the natives.

“There’s something you can gain by taking risks.”

“That’s true.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. Don’t you think that we’re already at risk? And if you think it’s dangerous, we’ll get out right away.”

“Well, I see.”

“Lord, are we going over there?”

“Yes. We’ll find out what it is, Doran.”

“Hehe!”

“Let’s move.”

Byeong-gap’s party moved their legs to the building in the distance.

‘I remember what Ea told me before. We hadn’t seen a spirit or a Grugle in a while. Is this where the spirits live?’

It was hard to imagine anything else living here other than the Spirits. Hopefully, it wasn’t a city of Grugles. If it were the sanctuary of Spirits, then it wouldn’t be so bad.

‘The Spirits can communicate; maybe we can have a good relationship with them. Also, having a city here might mean the soil is okay.’

Of course, there was no guarantee that the Spirits would be welcoming. They could be as exclusive as Heungseon Daewongun. But that was okay. Byeong-gap was confident that he could make them warm up to him and get them on his side.

[TL: Regent of Korea, also known as Prince Gung. The Daewongun’s foreign policy was rather simple, as Cumings describes it: “no treaties, no trade, no Catholics, no West, and no Japan”.]

He ran for a few minutes with excitement.

However, his optimistic expectations of having Ashvilam form its first alliance with the Spirits were shattered.

“Lord, what is this?”

“…Uh, it’s in ruins.”

Nothing but ruins greeted them when they got to the location. It looked like it might have once been a majestic civilization, but now there were barely any traces left of it. Only half-destroyed fortress walls were what they saw of the structure.

The high-rise spire, however, maintained its shape, and it was accurate to what it looked like from a distance.

‘I don’t feel any presence, not even a Spirit.’

There was not a movement of life that could be felt in the ruins.

‘The land is no different.’

Even when they traveled quite a long distance, the surrounding wasteland didn’t change. Perhaps the entire continent looked like this.

“Sniff? Lord, I can smell water around here.”

“The smell of water? Where?”

“That way.”

Doran took the lead and ran forward. They walked around the wide wall to get to the other side, and there really was a big river, or what used to be a big river, there. It looked to have been about the size of the Han River, but now, about seventy percent of it was dry. There were only traces of water running down the edges.

“It seems that there is nothing in this area.”

Dorma murmured while looking at the ruined castle.

“I know. It must have turned into a wasteland when everyone left.”

“It’s different from Somnium.”

It was fascinating to think about it. Wasn’t Somnium situated in a good land? It had clear and clean rivers, and its forests overflowed with the energy of life. But as soon as they came down from the mountain, everything was a wasteland.

‘Maybe the fog was guarding the forest.’

Byeong-gap soothed his troubled mind and turned to the ruined castle.

“Let’s go in for now.”

“Yes.”

“Good!”

They crossed a broken wall whose height was considerable even if it had already collapsed. Climbing up the broken wall and looking inside the castle, Byeong-gap, as well as the Goblins, exclaimed.

“Huh… It’s a different feeling when you see it from such a high place. It’s vast.”

“I know. It’s ten times as big as Somnium.”

“Lord, are you going to build a new place like this?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s going to be this wide.”

He said so and jumped down. The Goblins followed immediately.

“Let’s be careful. We don’t know if there will be anything surprising here.”

“Yes!”

“Okay.”

Byeong-gap and his party began to explore the ruins.

***

“Lord. What’s this place for?”

“Oh, it looks like a bathhouse. There’s a waterway next to it.”

It had been two hours since they started exploring the ruins. In fact, they felt like horses exploring a historic site. Considering the degree of weathering, the place seemed to be hundreds of years old. The level of civilization was considerable for the traces of the distant past.

Moreover, each area was a very systematically designed city with distinct characteristics and personalities. Seeing this place, he realized that what he did to Somnium seemed like child’s play.

The more he looked at these ruins, the more he liked it here.

“Let’s move here.”

He revealed his thoughts while they were having a late lunch.

“…What?”

Dorma, who was looking around as if he found the food quite interesting, opened his mouth.

“Let’s settle down here. It’s kind of ruined, but it’s not completely useless. I think we can use the waterways and roads with a little bit of repair, and there are quite a few decent buildings. The wall is a bit of a problem, but… Well, it’ll work out, somehow.”

“I like it! I love this place too!”

Doran raised her hand in favor.

Byeong-gap nodded and continued.

“There’s a river next to it, and it’s close to Somnium. In fact, I hesitated to take my children out into the middle of nowhere, but this seems like a good place to live. What do you think?”

“If the Lord has decided so, I’ll just follow him, but there’s one thing I’m concerned about.”

“What is it?”

“As you can see, this place is too barren. Would you be able to farm here? Would you be able to raise livestock?”

“That’s fine. I have something in mind.”

Byeong-gap briefly placed his paper bowl on the floor and called out the ancient shop. He moved his finger a few times to buy an object.

It was the all-familiar growth potion.

He opened the lid of the potion and took a sip. Dorma and Doran watched him, wondering what he was doing.

“Would you like a sip?”

“…I’m fine.”

“I’m fine, too. It’s not delicious.”

“It’s sweet and good to drink.”

Byeong-gap said as he took another sip. When there were only about twenty millimeters of liquid left, he poured the precious potion on the floor.

“Huh? What are you doing…?”

“Look.”

The soil absorbed the potion very quickly, like a dry sponge sucking in water. After a short while, a strange yellowish color appeared on the almost grayish soil.

Byeong-gap grabbed a handful of soil, noting that the powdery texture had gone away. Now, it felt moist and had thick particles.

He even brought it up to his nose to smell it.

“Uh… What are you doing, Lord? Why are you putting dirt near your face?”

“Look, it’s a little muddy now.”

He said, showing them his palm.

“We can make the land healthy with the potion. It will work like a super high-performance fertilizer, so to speak.”

He already knew the efficacy of the growth potion. Didn’t it turn chickens into ostriches and sweet potatoes into pumpkins?

Although it was a waste to spray it on the ground, this could transform the wasteland into a rich land.

“As expected, Lord has a plan. So you’ve decided to settle in this place?”

“Yes, let’s do it here. It may take a long time to clear the ground, but it’s better than burying ourselves to work on a different land.”

Dorma nodded, pleased.

“Then, Lord, are we going back to Somnium now?”

“Let’s look around a little more. There’s still some time left until the sun sets.”

After their simple meal, they continued their exploration of the ruins.

Byeong-gap continued to think about how to use this large territory.

‘This building can be useful. As long as we do some repair work, we won’t have any problems using it… I shouldn’t tear things down even if it’s a waste.’

After walking for about an hour, they had finished their tour of the city.

The party stopped in front of the last building located in the deepest part of the city.

“This is… a castle. No, is it more appropriate to call it a temple?”

“Wow, it’s really big. Lord, come on in!”

“Yeah, let’s go in.”

It was a magnificent building supported by dozens of columns. The pillars were each seven or eight meters long. Even though the temple had been torn halfway, its majestic beauty still remained.

They entered the building with pounding hearts, and no matter who went in first, their exclamations poured out either way.

“Wow!”

“Hey…”

“This is absolutely amazing.”

There was no need to turn on their lanterns because the sunlight came in through the broken cracks of the walls.

The cool interior of the building was simply beautiful.

Long chairs made of stone were lined up in a large hall, and in the center was an ornate podium. It looked like a church chapel.

The windows were all covered in mosaic art. When the colored lights were projected into the hall, it gave the effect of a rainbow floating inside the place.

In addition, there were numerous corridors and unknown rooms leading up to the second and third floors.

Byeong-gap felt like a child who had never been to a museum before. He even felt a little silly.

“Lord. You can live here, Lord!”

Doran, who was running around excitedly, exclaimed. Byeong-gap smirked.

“Hey, if you live here, you’ll get lost going to the bathroom at night. This is not a residential facility in the first place.”

“But it would suit you, Lord.”

“So what if it’s big? It’s just too hard to clean.”

“Is that so? Then can I live here?”

“No, it’s not for housing… Well, if Ea sees this place, her eyes will turn upside down.”

He replied jokingly as he scanned the building.

‘This place is totally destroyed.’

One wall had been completely torn down. As a result, the passageway to the back area was blocked. He was about to pass by the area because it was such an insignificant sight when something suddenly caught his eye.

‘Hm?’

He pulled out the lantern around his waist and held it in front of him. The part shaded by the rubble of the destroyed wall was clearly revealed.

It was a large piece of debris, a painting that was originally painted on a rock that he believed to have been part of the wall. It was some kind of mural.

There were several naked women painted there. The other part had fallen off because the wall had been broken down, but the image of one woman was left intact.

Byeong-gap stared at the painting as if he were possessed. It was not because the nude woman felt strange to him but because the woman in the painting looked so familiar.

“Do… Doran.”

“What? Did you call me?”

“Come here.”

He called out to Doran in a trembling voice. She came running and stood next to him.

“Why, Lord?”

“Go stand in front of that picture.”

“Picture?”

Only then did Doran see the painting. She frowned a little but did as her Lord told her to do.

“Like this?”

‘Oh my God.’

Byeong-gap covered his mouth with his hands.

…The woman painted on the remains of the wall was definitely a female Goblin. She had pointy ears, fine black hair, and tanned skin. No matter what anyone said, the woman had many similarities to Doran. They were so similar that goosebumps rose on his arms.

Byeong-gap lifted his head and looked around the building.

‘Is this Ashvilam? The old remains of Ashvilam?’

It was somewhat chilling to think that what they had been gazing upon so far was the legacy of Ashvilam.

Suddenly…

‘……?!’

He felt a strange energy behind his back. Karma and Aura. The wave of power was quite large.

Doran had felt the extraordinary energy, too. She pulled out her sword in an instant and turned to look at where the wave of power came from.

Where Byeong-gap and Doran’s eyes met, there was Dorma.

Dorma looked at the stone statue on the podium as if he was possessed. A black energy rose from him like smoke.

“Madmut…”

He murmured like a madman.

And without time to stop him, he started to run wild.