64. The Filidia World
"Sophia, got a minute?" Shiro spoke to Sophia.
"Ah, what is it?" Sophia replied.
"Actually, I'd like to ask you about this country—no, this world. History, culture, current state, all of that. I haven't asked a single thing. I figured you'd know a lot about it," Shiro explained.
They'd been diligently testing and training their magic, but only now, after reaching the village, had they realized they'd completely forgotten to verify the world's常识, history, economy, politics, culture—everything.
"Ah, I see. The ins and outs of this world, huh... Ah, fine, I'll tell you myself," Sophia smirked.
"Shiro, good choice. Sophia-obaachan used to teach history at the Magic Academy," Shestia said.
"Oh? Really? That's promising," Shiro said.
"Indeed, we should listen too," Aria added, and everyone settled in to hear.
"Hmm, where to begin...?" Sophia pondered.
"Let's start with history," Sophia began.
It was now the 1331st year of the Sacred Era. The oldest surviving record in this world's history was dated 594 years before the Sacred Era—said to be the year of the "Origin Race's" birth. That was when these species suddenly appeared on this planet. According to legend, it was the goddess Firumia who gathered various races from countless worlds and brought them here.
At the time, there were five races: the Magi, the Dragons, the Divines, the Elves, and the Dwarves.
Each fulfilled their unique roles with race-specific abilities, driving the world's development forward.
But in the year 372 before the Sacred Era, a widespread, large-scale ground collapse occurred due to a massive malfunction of magical devices by the Magi—specifically, a race renowned for their mastery of magic. The incident is commonly known as the "MagiCentral Miasma Catastrophe" or simply the "Great Demon Outburst."
According to records, the city barrier—the mana conversion and barrier device powered by the Dragon Vein—was being tested for further development. The Magi Kingdom’s capital had been drawing energy from the first "Abyss Seal," and they apparently attempted to siphon even more power from it.
The device went haywire, triggering a massive explosion caused by abnormal mana reactions.
The result was the formation of today’s "Demon Grove Sea."
Most of the Magi Kingdom’s territory was transformed into the Miasma Forest. Thick miasma spread, mass outbreaks of demonic beasts occurred, and the ground rose in large-scale upheavals. Even the second Abyss Seal, located to the east of the Demon Grove Sea, was thrown into chaos—so severe that it caused a massive rift across the continent, forming the Demon Canyon.
The third Abyss Seal, located in the Sacred Nation, was successfully contained and sealed by the Divine race, avoiding disaster.
But the event caused a drastic decline in mana and spirits across the Sentria region, leading to unstable magical activation. It took nearly 300 years for the system to stabilize.
The incident effectively destroyed the Magi Kingdom. Today, only a small remnant remains in the west, barely surviving with a tiny territory.
The Magi residing in the Magical Academy Kingdom of Oxtdonia were immediately protected and allowed to stay in the country.
The Dragon race retreated into the Dragon Mountains, and the Dragonkin similarly fled to the northern Dragonkin territory.
The Elves erected a barrier and barely survived within the World Tree Forest.
The Dwarves fled to the western Dwarf territories.
The Divine Humans did what they could before lifting nearly all of them into the Divine Realm. A remnant remained behind, living as humans, dedicated to the worship of the Goddess Firumia, the establishment of the Holy Nation, and the maintenance of the seal. Their descendants are the Clerics of today's temple network.
Those who survived the early days of this era managed to form, sustain, and develop nations.
Their descendants are the nobility of today.
The royal family and the Clerics carry the duty of preserving the legends of creation.
Traces of that age remain in the form of artifacts—magical devices and ancient ruins, sometimes called lost technologies. The three-hundred-year Dark Age was too long; countless technologies were lost.
“This is the story passed down as the world’s creation—and the gist of what’s known as the ‘MagiCentral Miasma Catastrophe.’ And…” Sophia continued.
Then, in Holy Year 0, the human and beastfolk known as “modern inhabitants” descended upon this land.
Where they came from remains unknown. As in the age of creation, they are thought to have been gathered by the Goddess Firumia.
Ever since, the world has seen peaceful development up to the present.
Though the world has repeatedly fallen into chaos, each time the gods descended and left behind what is called the “Divine Magic System.”
The temple magic network—the communication grid between temples, the identity verification system based on magical pattern recognition used in Guild Cards, the spirit-bestowal ritual at age thirteen, the Guild system, dungeons, and so on.
The reason the world remains stable today is thanks to this.
The Saintess desires racial integration and exchange, the promotion of diversity, and peaceful development across the world. That is the shared understanding among its people and the central tenet of their faith.
Shiro thought, —“She says she can’t interfere, yet she’s clearly meddling all over the place.”
『Shiro, regarding this world, according to the records I have, it’s labeled as the Fourth-Generation Test World—“Filidia.” Meaning it’s a special world operating under experimental conditions. The correct understanding is that it provides assistance when the world faces crisis. Infrastructure is provided, but guidance on how to use it is kept to a bare minimum—rules and such are decided by the locals, that is, the people living here.』
(That makes sense. A test world, then. I should ask Firumia-sama for more details later… No, wait—this case of mine is unusual. It’s verging on direct intervention…)
『No, Shiro is purely a human being, making his own decisions and acting accordingly. Not at all guided by the Saintess’s will. In that sense, Shiro is closer to a living magical artifact…』 Mitoka sent through a mental message, though her face bore that faint, familiar smirk she gets when she’s thinking of something mischievous.
“Something like that, roughly?” Sophia said.
“Regarding the monsters in this world—has the current surge in their numbers ever happened before?” Shiro asked.
“Ah, yes. It’s occurred, to varying degrees. The most well-known instance was the global chaos caused by the monster infestation in Sacred Era 921.” Sophia replied.
At that point, it had escalated into a global conflict between races. To resolve that crisis, the Original Race intervened for the first time. Through the divine descent and revelation to all races, the world’s collapse was averted. From that moment, what came to be known as the "Second Divine-Magic System" was bestowed.
The temple network and identity verification systems were established to reduce crime, and dungeons as a resource were created then.
It was at that time that the goddess Firumia explicitly advocated for racial integration and the advancement of exchange.
Most ground-dwellers had always desired peaceful lives, and had little prejudice toward other races to begin with, so acceptance of racial differences progressed smoothly.
The Grand Alliance of All Races and the founding of various guilds were solidified at that time.
"Then, the most recent major incident was the monster infestation that occurred in Sacred Era 1325—the event where Shirena and Altia were sealed," Sophia concluded.
"Have they figured out what caused that monster outbreak?" Shiro asked.
"No, I haven’t heard of any definitive explanation. Both the kingdom and the magic academy conducted investigations and research—probably still are—but the exact cause remains unclear," Sophia replied, frowning slightly.
"Then about the Miasma outbreak..." Shiro began, but suddenly paused—(why did I say "Miasma outbreak"? We’ve never talked about that before...)—his thoughts scattered, and he decided to hold off on asking. Sophia, having caught his words, then—
“Miasma outbreak? I’ve never heard of that before…” — his thoughts scattered, and he decided to hold off on asking. Sophia, having caught his words, then—
——At least, I can’t say I’ve ever looked into the cause of a massive monster surge. Could there be some link to Miasma too? Needs investigation, I suppose. Shiro mused.
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