Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~

Episode 63: Ancient Truths and the Treasure Vault

“U, uu…”

Before us, there was the figure of the Sky King, who had been dragged down from the throne and made to sit on the floor.
According to Rex, he said that it would be troublesome if the magic item throne had other defensive functions.

“Now, shall I ask you why you were claiming to be of royal blood?”

“Eek!?”

A helmet of a golem that had been split in half was thrown at the Sky King, who had been groaning since earlier.
If you didn’t know Rex’s personality, it would seem like he’s saying, “Next, you’ll end up like this.”

Yeah, but Rex seems a bit rougher today than usual.
Well, this cool and forceful feeling isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Ah, but that’s just a general opinion, okay?

“O-our ancestors were once humans who lived in the Sky Continent…”

Finally realizing it, the Sky King starts speaking.

“It seems that the Sky Continent was attacked by enemies during the final stages of the battle against the demons.
It was rumored that it was either to take control of the Sky Continent or because a secret weapon to defeat the demons was brought to the Sky Continent.”

“So, does that mean the Sky Continent was destroyed by the demons?”

Rex asks about the mystery of the collapse of the Sky Continent with a serious face.
When you think about it, this is a historic discovery.
I’m getting a little excited.

“I don’t know the details.
It is said that the Sky Continent was either crashed into another Sky Continent, which was the demons’ base, or that the Sky Continent was used as material for anti-demon weapons, but the ancient documents left by our ancestors did not contain detailed information.”

Huh? So in the end, we don’t know the exact reason why the Sky Continent collapsed?

“Then why did you claim to be of royal blood?”

“Eek!”

A broken sword is thrust into the silence once again in front of the Sky King, who tried to remain silent.
Yeah, it was already broken, but it got stuck in the floor.

“O-our ancestors were refugees who escaped from the collapsing Sky Continent! In order to stabilize their lives on the surviving Sky Island, and to unite the fearful people, a new royal family had to be created, as written in the ancient documents!”

“I see, that itself is not so unusual.
In past history, there are many stories of self-proclaimed royal families who opposed the oppressive ruling families that may or may not have been true royal blood.”

Surprisingly, even though Rex knows that the Sky King is a fake royal, he doesn’t say anything to blame him.

“Humans are ignorant about things outside their own land, so it was probably better to have the setting of being royalty from an unknown country to unite everyone.”

“Why an unknown country? Wouldn’t it be better if it was a known country?”

Rex smiles wryly at my question.

“Ah, if we do that, then another problem will arise.”

“And what is that?”

“If it’s a known country’s royalty, then the anger could be directed at you, saying that the Sky Continent was destroyed because you didn’t do your job properly.”

I see, their own place was completely destroyed.
Well, I would be angry too.
Even I would be.

“And if someone among the refugees claimed to be from a country that was hostile to the country they were seeking refuge in, it would also cause trouble.
So it’s better to pretend it’s an unknown country.”

Ah, yeah, that would be troublesome.

“But is it okay to claim to be royalty from an unknown country? If someone asks where it is and there happens to be someone living nearby, wouldn’t it be exposed?”

“Probably, but at that time, they were probably pretending to be royalty from a small country living on a different Sky Island, not within the Sky Continent.
If they said they came for diplomatic purposes, they could probably deceive others.”

Wow, you come up with such things.

“And if the leaders among the refugees at that time cooperated to manipulate information, it wouldn’t have been difficult to create a fictional royal family.
As long as there weren’t any exceptional charismatic leaders, there should have been collaborators.
I think the descendants of those collaborators are probably the nobles of this country now.”

When Rex glances at the Sky King, he looks dumbfounded, as if to say, “How did you know?” It seems that Rex’s reasoning was correct.
But really, he’s so knowledgeable about the history of that time, like a scholar.
I wonder who this person really is?

A top-notch warrior and magician, capable of healing magic, repairing and creating magic items, and even building houses.
Furthermore, he is knowledgeable about history like a scholar.

Hmm, I wonder who he really is? His parents seemed like ordinary villagers.

Oh, right, Minna and the others were training in Rex’s village.
I should ask them about that next time.

Hmmm, even though they were in the midst of the incident, it seems that their ancestors were ordinary people, so they don’t know the details.
What is known is that the Sky Continent was attacked by demons and that the Sky Continent really did collapse.

Hmm, is this the limit of the information we can obtain? There might be some historical documents left in the fortress, but since the weapons deployed there are outdated even for that time, there probably isn’t much useful information left.
I think this Sky Island was probably treated as a remote and isolated land.

I guess it’s time to stop getting involved with this country and move on to the next one.
Oh, right, I should ask about that too, just in case.

“By the way, why do you call yourselves Sky people?”

Yeah, that’s been bothering me.

“Why, you ask?”

“Yes, why? It’s not necessary for you to come down to the surface if you’re going to live on this Sky Island, right? There doesn’t seem to be any trade going on either.
I thought it might be because of food shortages, but there are many undeveloped lands on this Sky Island despite claiming to be a country.
If they were developed, I think there would be enough food self-sufficiency.”

They’re not challenging the monsters on the surface, but that doesn’t mean they’re just defeating monsters out of goodwill.
After all, they receive tribute.
But despite that, the tribute consists mainly of food, and I don’t quite understand the reason.

“That is because… our country is suffering from a serious food crisis.”

“A serious food crisis?”

I was surprised by the unexpected answer.
This Sky Island doesn’t look like a place that would suffer from such a food shortage.

“In addition to this Sky Island, we had another Sky Island called Forest Island, which was covered in forests with many animals.
At that time, we could survive with the food obtained from the fields on Forest Island and this Sky Island alone.
But one day, a black, giant monster suddenly appeared.
That monster occupied Forest Island and not only that, it started attacking the fields on this Sky Island as well.”

The Sky King continues his story, moving his arms like wings in a theatrical manner.

“Naturally, our ancestors fought against the monsters.
But even with the power of the magic items from the Sky Continent, they couldn’t match the monsters, and furthermore, other monsters were attracted to Forest Island.
As a result, Forest Island turned into the monsters’ territory.”

I see.
So the hunting grounds that provided food were taken by external enemies.

“Why didn’t you expand the fields on this Sky Island?”

The Sky King lets out a dramatic sigh in response to Liliera’s question.

“Of course we tried.
But as soon as the scale of the fields increased, the monsters started attacking.
As a result, in the current Sky Island, we can only produce a minimal amount of food that the monsters won’t attack.”

I guess when the fields reach a certain size, the monsters recognize it as food.
Like, “There’s a lot of food here.” On the other hand, if it’s a small amount, they probably ignore it, thinking it’s not worth the trouble.

“That’s why our ancestors sought interaction with the surface.
They thought of trading with the surface to obtain food.”

Huh? Trading with the surface? Then why did it end up like the current relationship?

“For some reason, the people on the surface mistook us for messengers from the heavens.
It was written in the diary of the previous generation that the fact that the town was being attacked by a horde of monsters at that time also supported that misunderstanding.”

Ah, I see.
If you were praying desperately to God and suddenly people with wings appeared from the sky, it’s natural to have such a misunderstanding.

“It was fortunate that the monsters on the surface could be defeated with the power of our magic items.
Since we didn’t have any industries that could be used for trade, we succeeded in establishing a trade by protecting the people on the surface and receiving tribute.”

What a desperate and down-to-earth truth.
Well, maybe that’s just how reality is.

Yeah, it was lucky that the magic item was in the shape of wings.

“I see.”

There are such circumstances behind the events on the surface.

“So, in the end, why the name Sky people?”

“That’s because our ancestors thought it would be more impressive to be mistaken for messengers of a mysterious god living in the sky than to simply answer honestly as humans living on the Sky Island…”

Well, I had a feeling about that.

“Well, that’s fine.
It’s like a mutually beneficial relationship, right?”

“I-I’m grateful that you say that.”

In other words, if I were to reveal the truth here, their source of income would be gone.
Although they deceived the townspeople, it seems that they did protect them from the monsters, so there’s no need to cause a fuss.

Well, now that I don’t have any more questions I really want to ask, let’s go back quickly.
It seems that we won’t be able to make them apologize for attacking us, and if anything, getting more involved will only result in unnecessary expenses.
Besides, we can tour other Sky Islands, it doesn’t have to be this one.

“Well then, we’ll be going like this.”

“W-What!?”

After making a decision, I urge Liliera-san to go back.

“W-Wait! Please lend us your power!!”

Calm-san and the others stand in our way, as if saying they want to hear our master’s story first.

“Even if you say that, we attacked without even hearing our circumstances.”

“Ugh, that’s…”

“We’ve already asked what we wanted to ask, and we don’t intend to stay on this island for long.”

Yeah, I haven’t felt like helping since I saw the way nobles and knights act.
Ah, I wish I could have been like this in the past.

“Please! With your power, you should be able to fight against that monster!”

“But you don’t have any rewards to offer, do you?”

“W-What!? Rewards!? Even though I, the king, am asking!?”

Oh dear, he’s still acting like a king.

“Only the people on this sky island who believe you’re a king would fall for that.
It has nothing to do with us.”

“What!?”

“R-Rex-sama…”

Calm-san and the others call out to us as we try to leave the room again.

“We understand that it’s a selfish request.
However, could you please lend us your power?”

“We sincerely apologize for our rudeness.”

And the two of them bow deeply to me.

“Please lend us your power.”

Even if you say that, we’ve already crossed the line where we can make concessions.

If they really wanted my power, they should have sought my cooperation when they found out I was a magical item engineer.
The captain of the knights and the captain of the royal guard both testified to that.

Considering that Calm-san and the others attacked us on the orders of their master, the Sky King, there might be some room for leniency.
However, Barudi-san’s response was still unacceptable even considering that.

“Ugh… Th-That’s right! The treasure vault! I’ll give you the magical items stored in the treasure vault! Magical items can be valuable even on the surface!”

The Sky King suddenly says something strange.

“Magical items from the treasure vault?”

“Yes, in my castle’s treasure vault, there are many magical items of unknown use.
I’ll give them to you.”

“I see.”

Magical items, huh? Even though they’re of unknown use, looking at the magical items used here, I can’t expect much from them.
Or rather, don’t recommend items whose purpose is unknown.

“Y-Your Majesty!? Are you serious!?”

Calm-san and the others are in a panic at the Sky King’s suggestion.
Is there some problem?

“Of course! Yes, I’ve decided! I’ll give you permission to enter my treasure vault!”

Well, I could just ignore it and go back, but there might be something good that the person himself hasn’t noticed yet.
I guess I’ll just take a look for now.

“This is the treasure vault.
His Majesty says that you can take whatever you want from here.”

Calm-san, who brought us to the treasure vault, explains in place of the Sky King.
Well, for some reason, the Sky King is also here.

“What do you think of my treasure vault?”

He’s boasting, but…

“So this is the treasure vault.”

Yeah, it’s clearly just a warehouse.
And it’s a mountain of junk as far as the eye can see.
Seriously, it’s all old magical items and stuff that’s useless.
It would definitely be more effective to just use magic normally! And all these magical items are outdated, so their performance is low to begin with!

I understand why Calm-san and the others are in a panic now.
Even if they’re magical items, they probably didn’t see any value in recommending items whose purpose is unknown.
Yeah, that’s normal.

“This won’t do.”

There were even items that were not only useless, but also broken.
I don’t know how to fix them, but I guess they were left because it would be a waste to throw them away.

“P-Please, please look until the end, Rex-sama!”

Calm-san desperately tries to stop us.
It’s like the words of a salesperson at an unsellable store.

By the way, does the Sky King understand the value of these magical items? Just because they’re old doesn’t mean they have value, you know?

“What do you think? Do you feel honored to be allowed into my treasure vault? Are you moved?”

I hope you don’t expect me to be grateful for being allowed into the treasure vault.

“And within this vault, there may be magical items that you desire.
Feel free to choose whatever you like.”

…He really doesn’t understand the value, huh? It’s like being shown off a pebble you picked up.

“Hm? What’s this…”

Among the mountain of junk, I focus on a certain box.

“Is this…?”

I pick up the box and open its lid.
There’s nothing inside, it’s empty.

But I have a certain conviction from the feeling I get from the box.
Yeah, this could be a good prank.

“What’s wrong? Do you want that box?”

The Sky King speaks to me as I hold the box.

“Yes, can I have what’s inside too?”

I say that and open the lid to show the inside of the box to the Sky King.

“What? There’s nothing inside.
At most, there might be some small trash or dust.
I can give you as much of that as you want.”

Alright, I got him to say that.
I close the lid for now and turn the box upside down to look at the bottom.
When I look at the overturned box, I notice a small gap at the edge of the bottom panel.

“Yeah, there it is.”

I insert my nail into the small gap on the bottom panel and open it.
Inside, there are clearly not just ordinary items, but parts that are definitely not just a box.

“W-What is this!?”

The Sky King, who saw the contents, exclaims in surprise.

Yes, the box had a false bottom.
I put the switch inside and close the bottom panel, then flip the box over again.

And when I open the lid, it is filled with a blackish-purple mist that wasn’t there before.
Without hesitation, I stick my hand into the mist.

“H-Hey!?”

Ignoring the Sky King’s voice, I grope around inside the box.
Then, even though there was nothing inside just a moment ago, my fingertips touch something solid.
I grab it and pull it out from the mist.

“This is… a necklace.”

Yes, what came out of the box was a necklace.
However, it was clearly a valuable necklace with large gemstones embedded all over it.

“What!? What is that necklace!?”

The Sky King is wide-eyed at the sudden appearance of the necklace from the empty box.
Ahaha, he really didn’t notice, did he?

“Could it be that the box was also a magical item?”

Liliera-san, as expected, quickly realizes that the box was a magical item.

“Yes, it’s called the Magic Box.”

“Magic Box? It’s like a magic bag… Wait, could it be!?”

Oh, she already figured it out.
Maybe it was too obvious.

“Yes, exactly.
This is the ancestor of the Magic Bag.
The box has a pocket dimension inside, where you can store a large number of items.”

Saying that, I take out various items that were stored inside.
Gems, accessories, swords that are more like decorations with large gemstones, and various other items were inside the Magic Box.
And all of them were clearly valuable, with gold and silver craftsmanship, and large gemstones.
There’s quite a lot of them, and this could be a fortune.

And this Magic Box, which contained so many items, was disguised as an ordinary box with a hidden switch.
The previous owner must have really didn’t want anyone to see the contents.
Well, thanks to that, the Sky King didn’t notice these hidden treasures.

“If you want us to take on the request, all the contents of this box will belong to me.
Is that okay?”

I confirm with a smile to the Sky King.

“W-Wait, wait! Just wait a moment!”

The Sky King, whose expression changed, tries to stop me.
But I won’t wait.

“So, if you want us to take on the request, all the contents of this box will belong to me.
Is that okay?”

“W-Wait! That box is mine! So, the contents of the box are also mine…”

“Your Majesty!”

“No, they’re not!”

The greedy Sky King tries to break the agreement, but Calm-san and Barudi-san stop him.

“Your Majesty! If we can defeat that monster, we won’t have to worry about food!”

“That’s right! We can gather treasures later, but we can’t defeat that monster with treasures alone! Please be patient, Your Majesty!”

“What are you saying! That box is mine! So, it’s only natural that the contents of the box are also mine!”

“No! You must not say that! What we need is not money, but food! If we can’t get food, our country will collapse!”

“N-nooooooo!!”

In this way, the Sky King, who had been forced to give up the treasure hidden inside the box, transformed his frustration into a roar.