“Why…? Why now…?”
I asked the dragon, who was rolling around after losing its limbs.
“Let’s hear everything you know.”
“I—I don’t know anything…!”
“You know something about elves, right? About the origins of monsters?”
“What…? You’re… a human, aren’t you? No way! Why?!”
Hmm? Is there something inconvenient about being human?
Even if you’re surprised on your own, that doesn’t help.
“Is it a problem that I’m human?”
“Ha… ha… It’s impossible. Humans don’t possess such power…”
I see…
“Sorry, I didn’t phrase my question well. Knowledge must be systematized and fundamentally understood; otherwise, it cannot be put into practice. So, let’s start from the beginning. First, let’s talk about elves, who are probably central to this story.”
I said this all in one breath and added one more thing.
“What are elves? Who are they?”
“Fuu… u… Elves are the remnants of the ‘Ancient People’—that’s what they’ve become.”
Hmm… another new term.
“What are the Ancient People?”
“The ancient folk… I don’t know much about them, but they say they appeared riding ships that soared from the sea of stars… With tremendous power, they created seas in this empty world, painted the skies, floated the land, and brought forth life… What you humans call… heh heh heh, ‘gods,’ they are, just like that…”
Hmmmmmm?
Hmmm…?
Wait… Is that really the story?
The ancient people, who have now perished, were like a science fiction future civilization!
It feels like a twist straight out of an old RPG.
Is this a world where Shinjuku exists at the bottom of the World Tree?
Or is it like one where the flower-selling heroine uses Holy magic?
Or perhaps a story where I thought it was a battle with immortal beings, but then suddenly a “First Man” or some alien like Gray appears?
… No, if you say that the mechanism of magic is unusually program-like, it makes sense if it was created by future people who correspond to programmers or people with advanced civilizations!
If it were made by humans in this world, magic would incorporate a more fuzzy process, and elements of faith would intrude. It would likely be so theoretically unsystematic that it wouldn’t be recognizable as a program. Or it could resemble a low-quality fantasy world where “If you imagine it, magic activates!”—more of a craft than a science.
Oh, this is getting interesting.
“I see. What is the relationship between elves and the Ancient People?”
“The Ancient People… were doomed to extinction. Only a few remained aboard the ships. There were various circumstances that prevented them from reproducing, or so I’ve heard…”
“And?”
“The Ancient People… discarded their absolute… ‘power’ for the sake of reproduction… The power you call ‘magic’… they abandoned it. What they discarded, they called ‘Human.’ They became humans…”
Oh, really?
So humanity in this world didn’t evolve from monkeys, but rather, it’s a form of ‘devolution’ from the Ancient People.
Hmm? Wait a minute.
“What about beastmen?”
“Beastmen…? Ha, ha… Oh, right. It’s the same… The Ancient People also took on different traits for survival.”
Ah, I see what you mean.
To survive, they descended to become humans.
But in a more secure attempt to survive, they tried creating various types of demi-humans, exploring different paths.
“Why was it necessary to discard magical power for reproduction?”
“The Ancient People were… like ‘Wraiths’ or ‘Elementals.’ To live in this land, they needed to possess physical vessels and discard their ‘magic’ and ‘spiritual energy’…”
“Is that so? We have magic and can reproduce as well.”
“Ha ha ha… Incomplete, don’t you think? Humans can’t manipulate their ‘magic’ skillfully without using ‘magic’… Unlike us monsters.”
There’s something intriguing in what you’re saying, but I should prioritize my questions.
“Hmmm, so elves didn’t discard their magical power?… Then how did they live? If they didn’t discard their magical power and inhabit physical vessels, they couldn’t reproduce, right?”
The dragon’s voice turns grumpy.
I can’t see its expression, but it’s definitely irritated.
“Ugh… disgusting! They reproduce using ‘boxes’! They implant blood into the ‘boxes’! The young grow inside the ‘boxes’! It’s not the way of living beings!”
Oh, really?
Since they can’t reproduce, are they creating clones or something with mechanical devices?
That certainly might be seen as unsettling from a typical ethical standpoint.
Now, one more thing…
“I understand about the elves. They are greedy beings who couldn’t accept their devolution and wanted to live on in the next era with their power intact. But what about you? What is the origin of you monsters?”
That is… The dragon opens its mouth again.
“Monsters are… the ‘experimental subjects’ of elves and the Ancient People!”
Ah, I see.
“Experimental subjects?… Ah, I see, experimental subjects who reincarnated into beings adapted to this planet while retaining vast magical power.”
“Ho? You’re clever, human… Exactly. We are the result of the profane rituals that the elves used to create their physical vessels!”
I understand now.
That’s why there’s such resentment.
So it’s something like the existence of Mewtwo? I’ve got the general idea (sort of).
“Monsters are all experimental subjects of the elves… those that were abandoned. Since they all possess the ability to reproduce, they returned to the wild and multiplied.”
Hmm.
Well, certainly, goblins and orcs have a lot of reproductive power.
Those so-called Ancient People were probably a type of existence that didn’t have a physical form, like half-spirits, right?
If that’s the case, they probably didn’t care about appearances or the fact that they had to be humanoid.
That’s precisely why various experimental subjects… monsters were created.
So, this is the truth of the world…
“Well then, it seems elves are just fools.”
“……………Huh?”