249: You know, the thing you thought you couldn’t know—finding out about it kind of throws you off.

Kyle, the Marquis of the Frontier and the creator of Golden Dune, dies at the hands of the demon race.

But by freezing his body and soul in place just after death, he successfully avoids complete death.

To revive Kyle, we found the hidden village of mages, gathered intel, and now we’re hunting down the hidden village of alchemists.

The team: me, Maina, Persia, Leifan, Jitarou, Jabir, Ryuko, Eva, Camille, Marilyn, Nobuna, Chiyome. Later, Lilirily joined us.

We haven’t found the world tree yet—but instead, we stumble on something insane.

In the ruins of a destroyed alchemist village, beneath a hidden laboratory’s floor, tiny, tiny carvings etched into the stone.

“Craft Walker”

My name was carved into the floor of the hidden room.

◆

This is where this story begins.

◆

Silence settles over the ruined alchemist village.

The first to cut through the thick air was Jitarou.

"Why's Craft's name here?"

"I wanna know too!"

Everyone’s thinking the same thing, right?

Such a damn obvious question—it actually makes me relax. Then I remember what the king’s valet, Van, said. Laugh, he told us.

I mutter to myself.

"Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Let’s just enjoy this situation first."

I slap my cheeks with both hands. Straighten my spine.

"Alright! Don’t know why, but there’s something here. Check this floor stone good!"

Chiyome snapped her head up, and Camille nodded hard, both of them staring at the floor stone carved with names too small to read.

Chiyome stood immediately.

“This floor stone… it comes out.”

“Figured as much. Any traps?”

Camille turned to me.

“None.”

I scanned the group, then nodded.

“Alright. Open it up.”

“Got it.”

Camille slowly pulled out one of the floor stones. Inside, a small space held a single book.

“A book? A diary?”

The cover, handwritten, just said “Diary.”

I’d expected something grand—alchemy scrolls, a relic, something from the alchemist village. But if it’s just a diary, how the hell does this explain my name?

I thought about reading it myself, but everyone’s gonna wanna hear it. Handing the diary to Ryuuko—my maid, Dragon Tooth Warrior, homunculus, artificial monster, familiar, and all the rest.

“Ryuuko, read it out loud. Anyone not interested can go scout somewhere else.”

Naturally, everyone ended up listening.

“Standing’s probably tiring. Let’s get tea ready on the ground.”

“O-oh, right.”

Ryuuko and Leifan quickly arranged tables and chairs, then laid out tea and snacks. Too efficient.

It felt like a picture book reading, but better than standing stiffly. Maina was practically sitting on the front row like a kid waiting for storytime.

“Then I’ll begin, if you’ll permit.”

And so the diary began. The contents sent chills down my spine.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

Pregnant.

I was so happy I bounced around, and the village headman scolded me for it.

But even he got a proper scolding for hearing that.

Obviously. Reflection.

But I think celebrating the whole village’s feast is going too far.

And then, they issued a ban on staying up all night.

Huh. Got nothing to do.

Can't sleep, keep thinking about the research.

Yeah. Since I’m at it, I’ve decided to write a diary. Right now, I’m picking up the pen.

Otherwise, I’m gonna end up staring at my research notes like a creep.

◆

Uh-huh.

Felt like giving up right away. A month or so had passed since the last diary entry.

The research notes are going well, though.

No, we’re still moving, aren’t we? The blight on the World Tree hasn’t stopped.

Measuring the fluctuations in the spiritual energy (pneuma) flowing through the dragon vein again… wait, that was supposed to be a research note.

I’ll write that down over there.

Footsteps. That’s the sound of Butt coming to scold me for staying up all night!

◆

My belly’s getting big.

Heh. Boy or girl?

Butt checks my stomach every day, worried sick. It’s sweet, but I need to stay calm.

The villagers are all counting on the baby. After all, I’m the daughter of the village’s top and second-ranked alchemists. I get it, but honestly, as long as the kid’s healthy, that’s all that matters.

I understand why they’re so eager for the mark of the Dusk Herald. But I’m not going to let them put that pressure on me. And I’ll make sure they don’t push that kind of expectation onto my child.

◆

The magic power… it’s intense.

I can feel it already. Even before birth.

I heard Butt was the same way when he was born.

So this kid might have magic power like Butt—or even more.

Future’s looking bright, but the whole village’s getting way too excited. Could you tone it down a bit?

◆

Lately, the magic sickness is really bad.

Apparently it happens sometimes with mage-type pregnancies. Worse than morning sickness.

Butt made a potion for it. Something that compresses the baby’s magic power until birth.

He took three days off from the World Tree research to develop it.

No surprise—best alchemist in the village. Really reliable.

That said, I’m curious about that magic-compression elixir. Gonna ask Butt for a look at his research notes next time.

◆

Still can’t decide on a name for the kid.

Butt said it’d be good to pick one related to alchemy.

I think we should use Butt’s name and mine instead.

Use Menbuaat and Yenzha cleverly...

Meninza... Yet... Buttunza... huh. I’ll give up on my idea.

Gotta think about boys and girls separately. This is gonna be a pain.

◆

Got a cradle from the villagers.

Handwoven from the finest ferns they could find—came all the way down from the mountains just for this.

This thing’s soaked in alchemical shock-absorbing solution, right? Sweet, but is it too much?

Teach me that alchemy method, too.

Also, there’s a blank metal plate provided.

They’ll carve in the name and birth date.

I’m probably grinning like an idiot right now.

◆

The doctor and Butt both said my baby’s magical energy is going off the charts.

Looks like it’s the magic compression potion’s fault.

No harm to life, and right now it's within normal magical limits, so it's only beneficial. Still, the doctor says it's best to give the antidote right after birth, just to be safe.

If we don’t, the magic will keep compressing forever. Might even interfere with using magic later. Supposedly it’s fine unless the mark’s a terrible match, but still—better safe than sorry.

Imagine a barrel of wine.

Normal wine pours out easily when you pull the cork. But if it’s compressed, thick as syrup, even when you pull the cork, it just oozes out slowly.

According to Butt’s theory, a good match could actually make the compressed state more efficient. But I’m not rolling the dice on that. Let’s just get it undone after birth.

The alchemical medicine was set to be adjusted individually, so it was decided to make it after the birth.

◆

The doctor announced the due date.

Word spread to residents outside the village, and everyone gathered on that day.

Honestly, it’s a bit much. And embarrassing!

My complaints were ignored.

◆

The child arrived earlier than expected.

It was a boy.

Thank you for coming into the world safely!

Butte’s so happy he’s bawling. I’ve never seen him cry like that before.

The whole village is in an uproar. Everyone’s gathered for a feast—preparations are already underway.

A little embarrassing, but I’m happy too.

After talking it over with Butte, we chose a name.

Craft.

The child of Menbuaat Wokan and Yenza Wokan, Craft Wokan.

That’s his name.

In the linguistic form of the Great Magical Civilization, meaning "creation" or "crafting."

Yeah. A good name.

Butte quickly etched the name and date onto a nameplate and stuck it to the cradle.

My sweet Craft.

I’ve got a new dream now. To study the World Tree with Craft, and save the world.

Won’t say it out loud, but... I’d still love to see the Dusk Sigil manifest, really.

============================

Ryuuko slowly lowered her journal.

"The journal ends here. And from the next page onward, the handwriting becomes messy. The situation seems to have changed drastically from this point."

Ryuuko explains, but I can’t focus.

More pressing—was I born in the Alchemist Village?

My mother’s journal?

Too much info. My brain can’t keep up.

Evie mutters, ignoring my confusion.

"Meaning, if we consider Craft’s age, this village must’ve existed as far back as twenty-one years ago. But why’s it turned out like this…?"

Ryuuko answers right away.

"Looks like it’s explained right after this. Shall we keep reading?"

She notices I’m still flustered, glances at me with a hint of concern.

"Yeah... yeah. Please."

I say it reflexively, urging her to go on.

And what came next? Even more shocking than before.

This story had a timeline error, so it was deleted and re-recorded once.

No changes in content.

Only a few typo fixes.

Apologies for the inconvenience.