The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 68: The Fire Spirit

Episode 68: The Fire Spirit

At the landing site, there were about twenty tents set up. Among them were large tents with round shapes and sturdy frames. It seemed preparations had been made here quite a while ago.

When the airship landed, many people who looked like scholars gathered around.

“So this is the airship. Just like the documents said.”

“I never thought it would actually fly in the sky. Living long has its perks.”

Various other voices rose up, and people started boarding the airship one after another. They completely ignored us. It seemed they had gathered the relevant scholars here for our journey to the sacred Mount Magna.

For a moment, I wondered why they had to come to such an inconvenient place—wouldn’t a nearby town have been good enough? But seeing everyone boarding the airship, they were probably here just to see it.

As proof, I could hear people saying repeatedly, “Fly it, fly it.” But the captain kept saying only one thing: “We can’t. The magic stone doesn’t have enough magic power.” The captain had it tough.

“Please use that tent over there. Once these people calm down, we’ll give an explanation about the sacred Mount Magna. Until then, please wait.”

Captain Brown said that, then immediately returned to the airship. I wonder if he’s okay? I started feeling a bit uneasy. The tent prepared for us was spacious enough that all of us could fit inside with room to spare.

“Looks like we’re departing tomorrow morning. I guess it’s impossible to fly at night, right?”

“I’d think so. You can’t land if the ground is too dark.”

Tomorrow, huh. I’m starting to feel nervous. If possible, I’d like to get it over with quickly.

But apparently, I wasn’t the only one feeling nervous. Everyone was quieter than usual.

“Hey, if we end up fighting the Fire Spirit, do you think my sword will work?”

“I seriously doubt it. I mean, it’s basically a mass of magic power, right? It’s the same as trying to cut a Ghost.”

Elise said that while tilting her head repeatedly. Jill’s usual kind of comment warmed up the tense mood like sunlight breaking through clouds.

“But still, Ghosts can be cut with a silver sword, right? Do you think a silver sword could cut the Fire Spirit too?”

Apparently, Jill had several swords. I hadn’t noticed because he usually only used tough steel swords known for their hardness.

“I still don’t think it’ll work,” 

Elise said, putting her hand to her chin. She seemed unsure whether it was okay to think of Ghosts and the Fire Spirit as the same type. I personally think they should be treated as different things.

But Jill pouted after hearing her response. Maybe he was thinking he’d be the only one who couldn’t contribute. Let me give Jill some good news here.

“If we turn your sword into a magic sword, I think it’ll be able to cut it.”

“Magic sword!? Fel, what’s that?”

“It means adding an ice attribute to your sword. It’s like a weapon version of the Freeze Armor we used before. If we do that, maybe we can cut the Fire Spirit.”

Jill’s eyes sparkled like the sun. I think there’s a real chance we’ll have to fight the Fire Spirit. We can’t keep hunting Big Fire Turtles heading to the Fire Spirit forever. I don’t want a life that ends like that.

“Alright! If we do end up fighting the Fire Spirit, use that on my sword. That way, I’ll be able to fight too.”

“Can you do that with my weapon as well?”

“Of course. Depending on how strong the Fire Spirit is, I think we’ll also need to use Freeze Armor on Ardan. But now that I think about it, the magic consumption is going to be insane.”

And on top of that, we’d need to use Freeze Barrier too. I’ll need to coordinate with Lilia carefully. While assuming we’d end up in battle, we continued our strategy meeting until the scholars returned.

—

As evening arrived, we were finally called to a large round tent that seemed to serve as the command center.

Inside, we found Captain Brown looking exhausted. He was probably dealing with the scholars all this time.

The scholars seated around the table looked lively. Maybe they got to take a short flight. I wonder if tomorrow’s flight will be okay? I heard they could use small magic stones to recharge the big ones. So I hope they managed to replenish it.

Still, it might be impossible in a place as empty as this.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting. From here, we’ll talk about what we know. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. We might end up having to pause for dinner, but that’s fine.”

I had a bad feeling. Could it be that we’re going to have to listen to them talk on and on? With tomorrow coming up, I’d really like to wrap this up as soon as possible.

“Let’s start with what’s in the crater.”

And so, the scholars’ explanation began. Of course, it was long, and the talk continued even after dinner ended.

According to them, near the center of the lava pool in the crater, there is—just like the rumors say—a small island. And on it stands a stone pillar. The scholars called it an “obelisk”.

And they believe that this obelisk may have some kind of connection to the Fire Spirit. The scholar who discovered the small island spent several days on the crater’s slope. And by chance, they managed to spot it when the rising smoke briefly cleared. That’s some serious persistence. Scholars are amazing.

No one had actually seen the Fire Spirit with their own eyes. Because of that, the scholars studied legends scattered throughout this world, deciphered ancient texts found in ruins, and researched what exactly the Fire Spirit might be.

As a result, they discovered that Spirits had appeared in the past as well. Tracing it further, it seems that not only the Fire Spirit but other Spirits appeared simultaneously and turned the world upside down.

They concluded that this might have been the reason the ancient super civilization vanished.

Apparently, once again, living creatures on the surface may be facing a critical situation. Whether it’s just the Fire Spirit or if the other Spirits will follow is still unknown. Scholars from every field are currently investigating.

By the way, it seems that the only Spirit near the Kingdom of Fortune is the Fire Spirit. In other words, if we can somehow deal with this one, things should be okay for a while.

According to the ancient texts, it’s written that “the Fire Spirit may be able to share its power with the monsters that are its kin.” In other words, that giant Big Fire Turtle was likely a monster born as a result of the Fire Spirit giving power to its kin, the Fire Turtles.

“Then, are monsters being created by the Spirits?”

“That’s a possibility. Right now, we don’t know which monster is kin to which Spirit. But if the research progresses and we’re able to classify all monsters, that’s likely what it will mean.”

Are Spirits enemies of mankind? Even so, magic stones are useful in so many ways. The ancient people used magic stones to generate electricity. And they used that to power their machines, too. Maybe they’re not entirely enemies.

But they are trying to turn the world upside down, right? That part I don’t really understand. Could something have happened to make the Spirits angry?

If that’s the case, we might get attacked the moment we reach the Fire Spirit. Maybe it would be best to take a safety-first, defense-heavy approach as we head in.