Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 139 : Dreistler Family (2)

Dreistler Family (2)

A family said to record the history of the world.

I'd already heard the stories before coming here, but their scale far surpassed my expectations.

'This isn't a mansion; it's a palace!'

Even seeing it from afar, I'd thought it was big, but actually stepping inside, it was even bigger than I'd imagined. It might even be larger than the royal palace of the Talua Kingdom.

'How is this supposed to be a family estate?'

A grand residence bigger than the royal capital itself.

With lands and citizens on par with those of a kingdom's capital.

In fact, it was closer to a Duchy than simply the domain of a single family.

'This place...'

As I went deep inside the enormous mansion, a vast hall came into view. What was surprising was that the entire wall of this massive hall was made entirely of books.

"You found your way here faster than I expected, Clay."

"Huh?"

"Hm? Ah, I guess this place seemed a bit strange to you."

Marvin surveyed the surroundings as he spoke.

"When it comes to discussing stories from the distant past, there's no place better than here."

With a broad smile, he approached the nearest wall.

You could immediately tell the countless books lining the walls had all been enchanted with special magic, making them far from ordinary items.

Marvin pulled out one of the books and handed it to me.

"...!"

My eyes widened as I read the title.

It contained content tied to the Kingdom of Darlos.

"There are books here you can no longer obtain anywhere else, even things like forbidden tomes. But by far, the bulk of the collection is the history of this world. We record the times of countless kingdoms, countless races, and all who live on this star."

"How do you know all that?"

"Because members of my family are spread all over the world."

"So you operate like an information guild, then."

"No, not quite. We don't bother with detailed information like an information guild does. It's literally the history of the star. What we see and feel, what's part of the great flow of history—we record only those things in writing."

Despite that, the information in the book Marvin handed me was surprisingly detailed.

Regarding the Kingdom of Darlos, which walked the path of destruction because of the Dark King, Lugal, there wasn't much information. I only knew rough details myself, and I didn't actually know what kind of kingdom it had been.

'Not only stories of the Dark King, Lugal, but even details about Damian are written.'

The common people didn't know where the Sword God Damian had died.

So every kingdom claimed that Damian had breathed his last within their borders, but it was difficult to determine the truth.

'To think I'd find clues about Damian in a place like this...'

It made me both happy and amazed.

That there really was a historical record that had documented someone like Damian properly.

"I've heard the recent rumors. Together with the late Count Deoric, you resolved some incident in the domain."

"Yes, that's true."

"The fairy forest... That's where Damian and Lugal ultimately headed, so I figured something must have happened there."

Since Marvin knew the original history, he seemed to have a rough idea what had happened there as well.

'Anyway, it's the soldiers and knights of the Deoric family who participated in that battle that spread the rumors.'

It wasn't strange that Marvin had heard about it.

Most people would have thought their stories were just tall tales, but for Marvin, who knew the true history, they must have sounded different.

"Someone connected with the Sword God Damian... Perhaps you truly are the one holding this world's fate in your hands."

With those words, he began to walk away.

"For now, let me explain why I know about Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art. The reason is simple. One of my ancestors directly received a portion of Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art from the Saintess Grancesia."

"What?"

[Me?]

It seemed even Grancesia couldn't remember this.

Perhaps her memory loss was related to this event as well.

"It was a request. She asked us not to leave any record of her in this world..."

"Could it be...?"

"That's right."

Marvin nodded slowly.

"We are the ones who made sure there are no stories of Grancesia left in this world."

This was completely unexpected.

* * *

As guests, Mersaya and I were each given separate rooms.

Out the window was a breathtaking view stretching down the mountainside, but right now, that wasn't what caught my attention.

In the family head's room, I asked Marvin a few questions.

Marvin said that, in exchange for erasing Grancesia from the world's history, he received permission to record Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

The hall lord at the time couldn't bear to see such a peerless technique as Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art vanish from history, and thus, in exchange for erasing Grancesia's name, he obtained it.

Perhaps it was only a fragment, but even with that, the Dreistler family managed to create the strongest martial arts technique still in existence.

'It's complicated.'

Marvin handed me a book while I sat in a daze.

It was a diary written by the hall lord of that era, who had met Grancesia centuries earlier.

"We promised not to leave records or history about her. But you can't exactly help what people write in their personal diaries, can you?"

Saying that, Marvin lightly patted my shoulder and left the room.

He gave me permission to freely come and go from the head's quarters and read as many books as I wanted while staying here.

"What do you think?"

[Whatever I think... I guess the first thing to do is read this diary, right?]

"... All right, I'll read it."

[Stop stalling and just read it, already.]

Grancesia grumbled lightly. She was probably just telling me not to worry about her.

Her attitude made me chuckle, and then I began leafing slowly through the diary.

'Judging by how thick the diary is, it doesn't only contain records about Grancesia.'

Entries written from the time the hall lord was still young filled the pages.

I felt like I was peeking into someone else's personal diary, but I carefully read through it just in case.

The first mention of Grancesia appeared after the hall lord, at age twenty-five, had served for three years as the new hall lord of Dreistler.

==

Year OOO, month O, day O

One day, I heard a story that a precious guest would be visiting the family.

Raising the name of the Altair Order high, the protector of humanity herself would come here.

Why she would come to a family estate in such a remote place, I couldn't understand.

She, the protector of humanity, the divine spear that blocks the armies of demonkin. The very bridge between gods and men—Grancesia Atell—is coming to Dreistler?

I couldn't hide my excitement.

All I could do was hope that the day I'd see her myself would come quickly.

==

It was a brief summary of Grancesia.

It might seem like nothing special, but you could see just how incredible Grancesia's reputation was at the time.

I continued turning the pages of the diary.

At last, there was an entry mentioning the first meeting between Grancesia and the hall lord of that era.

==

Year OOO, month O, day O

Protector of humanity!

The divine spear called the daughter of Altair—Grancesia Atell—has finally visited the Dreistler family.

But for some reason, her expression didn't look good.

Was it perhaps because of the fatigue from climbing the mountain?

Lady Grancesia said that wasn't it.

Upon her shoulder sat a pure white bird, chirping with a clear and beautiful sound.

Just listening to the bird's voice cleared my mind and brought me peace.

However, lady Grancesia was different.

The more the bird sang, the more her face darkened.

When she fell silent, we became flustered and guided her to the VIP quarters.

While being shown to her room, she didn't speak, saying she just needed a moment alone to collect her thoughts.

I'd heard that Lady Grancesia had a very confident personality... Was something bad weighing on her mind?

All I could do was hope nothing would happen to Lady Grancesia.

==

[If it's a white bird...]

Grancesia trailed off, as if something had come to mind.

"Why? Did you remember something about this white bird?"

[No. Like I said, I have no memory of this time period. But as for the white bird, I do have a guess.]

Her voice shook slightly, which was unusual for her.

It seemed she had a bad feeling.

[The white bird is Altair's symbol. It symbolizes freedom and stands for peace. There's also a legend that when divine revelations come, a white bird visits the pontiff.]

"So, this white bird must be fundamentally connected to Altair?"

[Most likely. A white bird isn't just any spirit creature. There's a good chance it was Altair's avatar. For such a bird to approach me... Huu, I just can't understand it.]

I decided to read further and continued turning the pages.

==

Year OOO, month O, day O

It's now been four days since Lady Grancesia arrived.

Early this morning, she came looking for me.

On her shoulder, as always, was the white bird.

Lady Grancesia said that there was something she wanted to request of me.

Of course, I was always happy to help her as much as I could, so I agreed readily.

But I soon came to regret saying yes.

Her request was simply unthinkable.

Grancesia Atell, the great protector of humanity, asked me to erase all records about her from the world.

When I asked why, she said she was not worthy of it.

Of course I tried to refuse, but once my promise was made, there was no taking it back.

So, at the very least, I hoped to keep something of Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art.

After talking with the white bird, lady Grancesia said half would be acceptable.

Even when I received half of Heaven's Holy Ultimate Art, I felt no joy.

Why would she make such an unthinkable choice?

No matter how much I asked, she only answered this.

Soon, ten calamities would befall the world.

So I told her, "Then why not stop the calamities yourself?"

At that, Grancesia shook her head sadly and replied:

She herself was the ninth calamity.

==

"... What?"

I read and reread the last words at the bottom of the diary several times.

I simply couldn't understand them.

"There are ten calamities in total, sure... But Grancesia is the ninth calamity?"

The contents recorded in the diary were quite different from what I had known.

I hadn't heard that Grancesia was the ninth calamity.

The Divine Calamity Altair.

Altair, the lord of this world, was known as the ninth calamity.

'What is going on here?'

And if there were ten calamities in total, then just who was the tenth calamity, which stood above even the ninth, Altair?

My mind was spinning in confusion.