Although the Berkut Martial Tournament and the subsequent spear-making reward happened, the restoration of the ruins at the center of the Sky Island was still progressing smoothly. However, what was surprising that even though this city was from many centuries ago, I could already tell from the lighting equipment that this city was already fully equipped with waterworks and sewer systems, as well as water magic devices like those popularized in Volton nowadays.
「I wonder why civilization regressed.」 「……the Great Spirits would know, but……」 「They wouldn’t tell us, huh.」 「Yes.」
As Great Spirits, Undine and the others had watched the rise and fall of man, so they must know the reason why these civilizations came to their ruin, but for some reason, they wouldn’t talk about what had a hand in it. Do they have their own set of rules? What I first noticed when I looked at the buildings aside from the residences was that they were constructed with the premise that magic devices would be used. It’s the Sky Island so I knew there wouldn’t be water wells, but they didn’t have cooking stoves which were typical in the Continent, and had layouts that seemed to use fire magic devices.
「Because of the circumstances of the Sky Island, it was already a condition that the houses would use magic devices.」 「Perhaps. If they had to rely on firewood, the forest would have immediately been consumed.」
It was definitely an advanced civilization since they built the Sky Island, and it came to no surprise that the city was brimming with magic devices. Actually, if you look at the decaying metal of the streetlights, you could guess that they were were illuminating magic devices.
「Thanks to that, we’re stuck here making a ton of magic devices though.」 「……for a while, there won’t be that many people that would come to this city, so how about limiting it only to the essential places.」
Sophia’s proposal was reasonable. It wasn’t a particularly large city, but it was still enough for a maximum of 10,000 people to live here. I can’t say that its population was smaller in comparison to the cities of this world and in medieval Europe which were surrounded by ramparts.
「Mm mm, I’ll make sure its completely habitable. I’ll make sure they wouldn’t be troubled even if I disappear.」 「…………」
Though by that time, magic devices would be more popular and it might be possible to get simple ones easily. When I said that, Sophia had a complicated expression, but immediately returned to her normal one. There is a racial wall that Sophia and I can not overcome. No matter how long I live, I will inevitably die earlier than Sophia. I have to reflect on it if I reminded her of the parting that would come in the future.
The issue of lifespan, which was one of the reason why Elves were known as a reclusive race, was something that couldn’t be solved by Alchemy.
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Watching Takumi transmute wood, stone, and rubble from the ruins as he rebuilds the ancient city in silence, Sophia recalled the blunder she made in her expression from what Takumi said not long ago. It’s true that she was jealous of Maria, Marnie, and the others who had the same flow of time, but it was not as much as Takumi thought. That was because Sophia had decided on something within her.
(Takumi-sama and Maria passing far earlier than me is an inexorable truth determined by God. That is why……)
Sophia thought she wanted a child once their current busy lives slow down. Right now, she has her duty as his escort, and she was afraid her body would be unable to leave for long periods of time or being unable to fight if she was pregnant, but she thought it might soon be okay to, so she secretly discussed it with Maria and Marnie. Marnie and Maria’s life spans were no different to Takumi’s so Sophia’s feelings and goal were also different but……… Sophia and the others began moving in secret for that reason. They secretly employed the Adventurers Guild to collect the materials, and asked Laeva to make two medicines.
An aphrodisiac and a pregnancy booster…… medicine vital for Sophia’s dream. The Elven race had very weak instincts to leave behind descendants. Moreover, it was physically difficult to bear a child, but the Great Spirit Dryas taught her a recipe to resolve this.
(I will protect the graves of our many children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, their families, and Takumi-sama. Together with children Marie and Marnie bear with Takumi-sama, and their descendants……)
Sophia’s wish lined up with Sylph, Dryas, and the Great Spirits’ purpose. This was for Takumi’s descendants to take over the guardianship of the Spirit Tree and Sanctuary. Some among the children Sophia would birth would naturally be Elves. They seem to want those children to take the lead in managing the Sanctuary, which would be stable by then.
◇
In between restoring the ruins on the Sky Island, I was busy managing the Sanctuary, doing business with the Papeck Company in Volton, maintaining and expanding the base in the Demon Continent, as well as trading with Accuros which Queen Fraal governs when, finally, …… the ruin restoration was finally completed.
「Haa~ it’s finally done.」 「There are some places that we haven’t finished installing interiors and magic devices in, but we’ve reached a point where we can pause.」
I was stretching when Sophia reminded me of something bad.
「……yeah, I know. I have to make extra magic devices.」 「It’s also necessary to prepare for the people that the Great Spirits gave their stamps of approval immigrating to the Sanctuary.」 「Yeah, the Sanctuary’s population is growing and it’s getting cramped.」
The Sanctuary can’t expand any further, so problems show up as the population increases. The restoration of the city in the Sky Island was for that reason.
「I wonder if I can relax for a while.」 「……yes, surely.」