She Was Both Called God, as Well as Satan - CH 41

Next day.

Today was just as sunny as yesterday.

After the female scholar got over yesterday’s hangover, she fixed various bags to the demons back, reluctant to depart from the fallen country.

Riding on the demon’s back, the girl turned back to the country which was now barely visible in the distance.

“I’ll be back!! I will drink all your wine!!” she yelled from the top of her lungs.

Several hours after departing from the country in ruins.

It was time for her to prepare their lunch.

In the small pot was dried jerky she found in the country, reserved for herself. Beside that was a larger pot mountained with fruits and nuts seasoned with salt.

As one would expect, the contents of the pot was for the demon. Up until now, the nuts had to be boiled in several different batches; now, she could boil and prepare them all at once.

Furthermore, her concerns that the demon would tire of the same food everyday turned out to be empty worries.

The demon happily munched on the boiled dishes once again today.

Watching the demon’s ferocious appetite, she began eating from her gorgeously decorated plate.

… While drinking high grade alcohol she had brought from the fallen country….

The journey continued for several weeks, and eventually she was able to set eyes upon their destination.

Even from this far away, she could see the large walls. The large walls that had collapsed in several places, and more than half of the towers spaced in intervals along the walls had crumbled. Additionally, even though it was noon, there wasn’t any smoke coming from the region.

Looking at this shambled country, she gazed over her surroundings and hung her head.

Until now, a dense forest covered the land, leaving her well covered but as she got closer to her destination, she realised that the greenery was thinning.

By the time she could see her exact destination, the surrounding forest had shrunk to the size of a woodland.

The woodland comprised of trees even more slim than the previous ones and their numbers were also lacking.

Although weeds sprouted here and there, most of the ground remained bare of grass.

Then, she hopped down from the demon’s back and scooped up some soil into her hands. The dug up soil was mysteriously burning hot and felt hard. Because of that, she decided to put the soil into her mouth to investigate it.

Normally, dirt would be slightly acidic and have a prickly smell.

This was due to microorganisms composting, and one would be able to determine the quality of farm soil from a simple taste test.

There was a time when she studied agriculture as a student and had to taste soil from fields.

Thus, she realised an abnormality with the dirt.

“What is this dirt? I’ve never tasted anything this sour.”

She spat out the dirt and disinfected her mouth with some high-class wine.

…And also took the chance to take a sip of the wine.

(Something is wrong with the dirt here. There are no organisms living underground here, no roots of weeds or bugs. This plot of land has been neglected for quite some time, so it’s hard to imagine this was natural. Without a doubt, this was artificially done.)

She cut down a nearby tree with magic to take a closer look at it’s annual rings.

(As I thought… The trees growing around here… they’re all at most 2-30 years old. Up until now, there shouldn’t have been any trees around here at all…….But… That’s strange… This country met its doom around one century ago. After the country disappeared, no one should have come here. So, I think the soil is like this because of something the country did. Hopefully this “something” is demon related. …Whatever, I’m sure I’ll find out when I go.)

She sat back onto the seat fixed on the demon’s back and made her way to the giant ruins.

The castle walls she arrived at were taller, wider and more mighty than the previous walls she’s seen. These also had a variety of defensive magic cast on them.

She looked up to the walls, and began to show a childish expression.

(Based on these walls, this was where the headquarters of the Goddess faith was located. Such a great power existed nearly a century ago…. And all of it was destroyed in one night…How many demons would it take to do this?)

Afterwards, she found an entrance in the form of a huge hole in the wall.

Similar to the previous country she visited, wrecked buildings and random craters just as big decorated the interior of this country.

However, that wasn’t all.

Scattered all about lied humongous demon skeletons, and near the barricade, where the soldiers’ armor had accumulated, there were mountains of demon bones.

This sight shocked the girl.

“Don’t tell me…

These are bones of rock tortoises!?

That’s impossible!! This country killed rock tortoises!?

That’s not just two bodies!!

There are rock tortoises lying everywhere as far as the eye can see!!”

Her surprise was justified.

This demon that reigned over the world with its abnormal strength.

”Rock Tortoise”

As the name implied, they were titanically large tortoise-like demons that carried around a rock-like shell.

Normal tortoises had sluggish movements and were commonly believed to be cowardly creatures but a rock tortoise was the opposite.

Contrary to expectations, its giant body was a lot more nimble than its appearance suggested and its personality was extremely savage.

When a rock tortoise attacked with all it’s might, there was no way to stop it. In fact, a single rock tortoise was able to completely annihilate a large chivalric order.

(When I heard that story for the first time, I thought it was fake…. I can now see how this large demon could wipe out a chivalric order. But what about this country? There are bones of these creatures everywhere. No, not only that. There’s not only bones from mid sized demons but also bones from large demons lying around…)

Now that it piqued her interest, she took a closer look at the demon bones around her.

“Huh? What’s this in this rock tortoise’s shell… is that… a hole?! This country!! They were able to pierce a rock tortoise’s shell!?

Impossible!! This would be impossible nowadays!!

There is no magic that could penetrate the thick shell of this demon!!

…Did this country really disappear one century ago…?

To think their magic was this developed…

The destruction of this country halted the development of magic and technology for more than a hundred years…

If, if only this country wasn’t destroyed… How different would the world be…?”

She thought about this as she walked down the deserted streets.

Many shops were laid bare along the street and at the end was a metropolitan academy.

Most of these buildings were devastated, with only a few of them holding any resemblance to their original shape.

Down this street, she came across a magic stone shop. While the shop was in a partially destroyed state, she was still able to grab a magic stone off of one of the lined up shelves.

Just as she was ready to transfer the magic from old mana stones with familiarised moves into her own stones;

“… Hmm…? … Is that…?

Why is the new model full already? There should still be magic inside the old ones.”

While she wondered with curiosity, she began a detailed examination of the old magic stone she had procured. Then, she noticed something terrible.

Surprisingly, the stones lined up in the store had higher specs than the new models she owned.

This item, which was a century old and abundant enough to be sold in a street shop, performed better than the newest magic stones….

She was assaulted by a wave of fatigue and her legs were shaking.

“What… What is with this country!?

This country was destroyed one century ago!?

It’s been one century!?

But still… they had such advanced magic technology…

The loss of this country is beyond all doubt a greater loss to humanity than we believed…”

Her head still light from the shock, the girl shakily picked up every magic stone she found and collected the magic power inside.

Yet, she wasn’t over. With this discovery, she became aware of the fallen country’s technological capability.

Inside the magitech stores were products she had never seen.

The experimental stores were filled with equipment even more precise than her own and the shelves of bookstores were lined with knowledge beyond her wildest imagination.

All of these were impossible to obtain nowadays.

With a few exceptions, she was dumbfounded with how many articles were commonplace.

“…I humbly receive this blessing…”

She muttered a few words, before putting all of her findings on the demon’s back.

Passing the shopping district, she gazed down on what remained of the country from a small hill.

(I would normally have started searching right away but this place would take way too long.

I should find a starting point. It’s likely that there aren’t any vestiges of what happened to this country in the shopping district. At the heart(of the country)… there are probably some traces in the academic areas near magic institutions…….Hmmm…. This is going to be difficult… First of all, the buildings in the academy area are sealed off and most of them are crumbling.

So basically, even if there are buildings that hold their original shape, the buildings around them might fall, meaning that there’s the danger of caving in. …Maybe… I won’t be able to find a base of operations for today… Well, let’s take things slowly. This country’s not going anywhere.)

Then, standing from behind the demon, she held her wand and used her search magic repeatedly.