Chapter 119: CH 118

Chapter 118 – Otherworld Races

When we returned to the island, I quickly gathered everyone at the house for a meeting.

“With the appearance of the Red Desert and the Cloud Whale, the situation is getting out of hand.” (Yofel)

“It certainly is. It wasn’t even a dungeon, but a field that appeared in the city. It’s as if this world is slowly being encroached upon by the other world.” (Izu)

I also agreed with Izu’s input here. However, my thought process was a bit different.

“Rather than the other world encroaching on the Earth, it seems to me that it’s more like the Earth and the other world are merging.” (Bouchi)

“Merging…?” (Izu)

“That’s right, Izu. I had thought up a theory before, that the plane of the other world and Earth, which were normally parallel to each other, were starting to overlap little by little.” (Bouchi)

“…! In other words, Master thinks that Earth and our world will eventually merge completely, right?” (Izu)

“Yeah. The worsening of the dungeonization is something to consider, but so is the additional appearance of elves and beastmen—Garbels, as well. I’m thinking it’s not just due to light pockets, but the effect of the gradual overlapping of the two planes that’s causing distortions in space, which allow a connection between this world and the other world to be formed.” (Bouchi)

“I see. The gap between planes, huh…? Master may have a point here. In fact, there’s a story that our elder told me once.” (Yofel)

Yofel began to narrate a story told to her by the elder of the village they used to live in.

“Light pockets are naturally occurring phenomena that act as doors to other worlds. Our world and the other world are in fact two sides of the same coin. As long as the opportunity arises, it may be possible to move back and forth freely. That was what the elder said. It seemed like a dubious tale, so I took those words with a grain of salt. But after experiencing it for real, I’m starting to think that perhaps the elder wasn’t mistaken.” (Yofel)

Two sides of the same coin…?

“But, but… Why are those planes…? Er, why are those planes overlapping?” (Sol)

Sol’s doubts were spot on. But I didn’t know why.

The world had suddenly transformed, so I didn’t think we would be able to solve that mystery now.

“Izu, what do you think? About the Earth and the other world… Why are they merging?” (Bouchi)

“Let’s see… This kind of thing isn’t among the knowledge available to us Wise Crows, so to be honest, I’m not sure.” (Izu)

“I see… So even you don’t know…” (Bouchi)

“But if Master’s thinking is correct, there’s no doubt that in the near future, the Earth will become a completely different planet. No, that transformation has already arrived.” (Izu)

The new world marked by the merging of the two worlds was already here.

I didn’t know why this had happened, but things that existed in the other world, such as that S-Rank monster and the Red Desert, had entered into our world.

The problem lay in the possibility that not only monsters, but also fields and otherworlders would start being sent over here one after the other. Just like Ze’ev earlier… Oh right, I forgot to bring that up.

“Izu, or Yofel, you too… Have you heard of a nation called Elrond before?” (Bouchi)

“How does Master know the name of the Grand Empire…?” (Izu)

“The Grand Empire, Elrond, is a major power known to all those who live on the other side.” (Yofel)

Izu had doubts as to why I knew that, while Yofel said something that was more or less similar to what Ze’ev had mentioned. As it turned out, Elrond really was a well-known place.

Then, I told them that just a bit ago, I had come across a garbel named Ze’ev.

“To think that even a Garbel showed up via a light pocket… I’ve never heard of light pocket incidents occurring with such frequency.” (Yofel)

“Nor have I. Originally, light pockets are phenomena that might occur only once in a hundred years or so. With this… it seems that the light pockets are closely connected to the merging of the Earth and the other world.” (Izu)

“Come to think of it, Ze’ev also talked about the war situation with Elrond. Do you know anything about that?” (Bouchi)

“War? …Well, that isn’t that unusual, I guess. We elfins may not associate with others, but that’s not the case for hurons and garbels. After all, the Hurons’ poor treatment of garbels is well-known.” (Yofel)

“Is that true, Yofel?” (Bouchi)

“Yes. Hurons are the most numerous and dominant in the other world. Although they don’t have many skill users, they are proficient at creating artifacts.” (Yofel)“

Over here, we’d call that being more technologically advanced.

“On the other hand, garbels are physically strong and tend to respect martial arts.” (Yofel)

She also went on to explain that they gravitated towards having wild dispositions and were generally a bunch of combat junkies. As a race, they were the second-most numerous, and they liked to maintain strong interpersonal ties.

“But hurons have a more intellectually oriented mindset. Garbels are often looked down upon as barbarians that only know how to swing around their crude weapons.” (Yofel)

To sum it up, hurons were geared towards intellect, and garbels towards combat. And elfins, who possessed both, were the least numerous of the three.

“For a long time, hurons discriminated against the garbels, whose appearances resembled monsters.” (Yofel)

Certainly, beastmen had bodies that were a fusion of man and animal. There were also monsters that looked like animals. In fact, even orcs might be able to just barely pass as beastmen.

“As a matter of fact, the difference between a garbel and a monster is the existence of human reason. Some huron scholars consider garbels as existences that were originally derived from monsters.” (Yofel)

“That’s right. The existence of garbels has been under continuous debate since ancient times. But the truth is still very much unknown. But in the end, it is true that garbels have been discriminated against for a long time due to their resemblance to monsters.” (Izu)

Izu concurred with Yofel’s explanation.

You are reading story As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~ at novel35.com

“I see. I’m guessing from the sound of it that Elrond is a nation inhabited by humans?” (Bouchi)

“Yes. They wield a tremendous amount of power and have been ruling oppressively over the garbel towns and villages. Among those garbel townsmen, a number have even been sold into slavery.” (Izu)

“And then that discontentment finally exploded, and the garbels rose up in arms, then?” (Bouchi)

“Most likely. The fearmongering politics of Elrond had impacted not only the garbels, but even hurons of other countries. So they probably colluded to wage war on Elrond, I suppose?” (Izu)

I heard that adventurers consisted of not only the physically-superior garbels, but also hurons.

Although adventuring was a pretty dangerous profession which often involved defeating monsters, clearing dungeons, and so on, it was highly lucrative. It was attractive to poor people living in the countryside, making them eager to pursue adventuring to make a living.

And apparently, the residents of Elrond looked down upon adventurers as dirt-licking dregs, even though they were also hurons. Naturally, adventurers were treated poorly as well. Izu said that it was likely for this reason that many adventurers participated in this war.

“I suppose even Elrond would inevitably be defeated by the likes of a union between the highly talented adventurers and the garbels. Did that Ze’ev person say whether they won or lost the war?” (Izu)

“Well, he did say that they were just one step from cornering the guy who was ruling the country from behind the scenes. But…” (Bouchi)

“But?” (Izu)

“He said that the Curseweaver interfered with that.” (Bouchi)

““The Curseweaver?!””

Both Yofel and Izu were so surprised that they shouted out at the same time.

“Puu? What is a ‘curseweaver’?” Sol asked in between bites of leftover mashed potato from yesterday, seemingly unfamiliar with the term.

“I’m also curious. If you know what it is, then tell me about it, you two.” (Bouchi)

“…The Curseweaver is an entity created by the distortion of the world.” (Izu)

“The distortion of the world…? What do you mean?” (Bouchi)

“It is believed that everything in the world is composed of a balance between yin and yang.” (Yofel)

Kind of like the relation between light and darkness?

“In other worlds, the world is the way it is because the opposing energies are in harmony with each other,” Yofel said, explaining it in slightly easier terms.

Izu nodded and voiced her agreement.

“Balance… harmony, huh? What happens when that’s broken?” (Bouchi)

“Naturally, energy begins to leak out of the vessel known as the world—creating a distortion.” (Yofel)

“Precisely. And that distortion has all kinds of names. Calamity, disaster, cataclysm… among many others.” (Izu)

“Which means, when the balance breaks, then things like earthquakes, hurricanes, and so on occur?” (Bouchi)

“In simple terms, yes. But it’s on a completely different scale, of course. The Curseweaver is a calamity that is a condensation of the energy of all of these calamities, you see.” (Yofel)

“The existence of the Curseweaver is like a ‘curse’ upon the world. No one knows what will happen as a result.” (Izu)

“Yes, that’s exactly why it’s called the Curseweaver. It places a curse upon the world and weaves its path to ruin.” (Yofel)

“I heard that in the past, it was driven away when the world was on the brink of destruction, but I never thought that it would reappear in my lifetime…!” (Yofel)

Yofel gritted her teeth in trepidation.

“Yofel, you said we don’t know what will happen, right?” (Bouchi)

“Ah, yes.” (Yofel)

“But you know for a fact that it clearly means something bad for the world and that it will mean a different environment from before, right…?” (Bouchi)

“T-That’s most likely the case, but… what are you trying to say, Master?” (Yofel)

“……..” (Bouchi)

Is that really the case? If it was, it would explain a lot of things, but is it that my world just happened to be dragged into this, or…?

As if she got what I was trying to say, Izu suddenly jumped up with a start.

“N-No way, Master…?” (Izu)

“….Well, it’s just a possibility, though.” (Bouchi)

Izu and I seemed to get each other, but everyone else tilted their heads in confusion.

“Master, Izu, don’t just leave us out of it. Please explain it to us too!” Yofel pleaded on behalf of the others.

“This is purely my conjecture. But you know how I said earlier that the Earth and the world you guys used to live in were merging, right?” (Bouchi)

“Y-Yeah, but that… N-No… Could it be?!” (Yofel)

It wasn’t just Yofel who understood now. Shiki’s expression also suggested that he did too. Sol, well… let’s just leave her be.

“It’s just a guess, but this situation might just be a calamity brought about by the Curseweaver.” (Bouchi)

You can find story with these keywords: As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~, Read As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~, As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~ novel, As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~ book, As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~ story, As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~ full, As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth's Payback Lifestyle~ Latest Chapter