Chapter 298: Journal of the Hero

We began browsing through the Houou reports inside of the castle.

There a couple of books documenting the damage caused by it.

Apparently, the number of casualties was nothing to laugh at.

As a last ditch resort, the Heroes were summoned, and Houou was sealed.

“Ren, Motoyasu, Itsuki, by your knowledge, where was Houou sealed?” (Naofumi)

“That mountain.” (Itsuki)

Itsuki looks out of the window, and indicates a mountain… It looks like a standard oriental mountain.

He points his finger at it.

“Yep, there.” (Ren)

“That’s right, Father-in-Law, there.” (Motoyasu)

“Fumu… in your games, how exactly was the seal broken?” (Naofumi)

“It was during a quest, right? It revived from the stone structure acting as its seal.”

“I see.” (Naofumi)

In the Spirit turtle’s case, the vibrations caused by the monster destroyed much of the murals depicting it.

But now, we can go through the information at our own leisure. How relaxing.

Hmm?

It’s a journal left behind by one of the Heroes that sealed it.

From summoning to challenging Houou, it has multiple volumes depicting scenes from the start of his life in this world, to his death… apparently.

It’s like that.

Using the wisdom of your ancestors.

Imitating some hero of old to beat or seal a monster.

I mean, school teaches us to act like great people long dead, right?

The journal detailed him being summoned, and chosen as the Seven Star Hero of the Gauntlet. It detailed his daily life of fighting.

I have no idea what his past world was like.

This report says nothing of VRMMOs or Espers. Is he from a world like mine or Motoyasu’s?

This kinda reads like a Web Novel, though it’s based on his real experience.

Something about beating up a guy who pissed him off. A majority of it was just about the guy bragging.

Quit talking about your Harem. That’s just disgusting.

I really don’t care about the touching scenes with your heroines.

His wife number 1 seems to be the princess present at his summoning, but mentioning princesses around us is like stepping on a landmine. The girl’s real name is included.

Including me, are all otherworlders like this?

Anyways, I tried to skim through it, but worried about missing crucial info, so I started reading it carefully.

When will I find something useful?

And wait, leaving something like this for the future generation, what was this guy thinking…?

Was it simply a diary?

I mean, it’s written in Japanese, so this world’s people can’t read it. That possibility exists.

That means that it might be highly dramatized.

At least, I don’t think the individual planned for anyone else to read it.

Otherwise, it would just be embarrassing.

Ren has a doubtful expression.

Motoyasu is… having Midori read it, and is playing with his three’s feathers.

Wait, Midori can read Japanese?

Itsuki is indifferently reading through it. But if he finds anything, I think he’ll speak up.

Just tell us about Houou already.

And… I read through each and every volume of it.

The only books missing are the ones pertaining to Houou, and the ones pertaining to the wave.

If only he depicted his strengthening methods, of how to class up, or something like that.

“Oy, the most important parts are missing.” (Naofumi)

“This is all the information we have on hand.” (Scholar)

Again.

Oy… why do they only have this set of thin books, with the necessary info omitted?

Did someone intentionally get rid of it?

I really want to complain to someone, but it is as it is. There was no useful information.

“… In the past, a war raged on this land. At that time, much of our information went up in flames.”

“The flame really was accurate in the information it swallowed.” (Naofumi)

“I-I’m sorry…”

The scholar apologizes as he reorganizes the reports, and looks over them.

Uwah… this is useless.

But it’s not like complaining will do anything.

“This is the last one. A single manuscript remained.”

I was handed a bundle of paper.

This is more of a stack of scraps than a book. What’s more, it’s full of holes.

Ah, it has a minimal description of Houou.

Houou’s goal is… to win… is prevented.

You cannot seal it during the last set of waves.

And to defeat it, you need to… both… or else…

Here is its attack pattern…

As expected, the writing was unable to withstand the ages. Much of it is impossible to decipher.

I mean, the above was the only thing I could figure out after consulting the rest of the Heroes.

For it to become illegible just before going into attack patterns, are they trying to insult me?

Who was it? Who was so negligent in taking care of this precious manuscript?

“Next is a mural left by the past heroes. Could you please look over that as well?” (Scholar)

“Sure.”

Expecting murals like that in the Spirit Turtle’s city, we stepped into a temple that seemed to be a tourist attraction.

“The armies are lined up strangely.”

At the temple’s front gate, a structure slightly separated from the main body, I noticed a queue forming.

Some merchants are walking around and peddling to the line… When Houou is this close… Their commercial spirit is admirable.

“That is also an area we would like to have the Heroes check out later.”

“Hmmm.”

So I won’t have to ask about it now.

What we need right now is information on our foe.

There’s a high probability that we’re the only ones who can understand what’s written on the mural.

It may just look like a strange pattern to those of this world, but to us, they should become letters.

Like with the Spirit Turtle.

And like that, we stepped into the building.

It appears that this truly was a tourist spot dedicated to the heroes. We continue walking through the stone structure.

The atmosphere feels heavy.

As we walk, our steps echo into the darkness.

A Buddhist priest-like person came to greet us… Even so, I see a few catholic priest-like people as well. What’s going on with this world’s religion?

Flickering candles light the dark temple.

The indie of it was decorated by several statues mimicking the beast.

The gloomy atmosphere only seemed to make me more nervous.

“And? Where’s the mural the heroes supposedly left?” (Naofumi)

On the wall were several works with old writing, and murals of what looked to be from the Mayan civilization. I can’t tell which one it’s supposed to be.

I feel like I’m being given a tour of a strange attraction rather than a monument.

“It’s this one.”

We were led to the deepest part of the temple, where we found a large… fresco.

But… It’s dark. I can’t see the whole picture.

“It’s dark. 「Faust Glow Fire」.”

The Queen lights the dark room.

What was before us truly was a depiction of Houou.

I don’t know if it was done by Heroes, but what’s shown are two large birds, surrounded by a sea of fire.

Just from its looks, I guess it attacks by using its wings, dropping fire, and using its claws.

The birds themselves seem to be like peafowls, with scales on their bodies.

Its tail feathers fanned out to form a… fish-like tail?

It wasn’t red, but a collage of various colors. It was quite different from what I imagined.

One stayed in the center displaying its vibrant colors, while the other circled around it with opposing colors.

But perhaps due to its age, the damage to the mural is severe.

It seems that it’s been preserved well, though.

Its method of attacks were made apparent by the mural.

The first bird would fly to a high altitude, and bombard the ground below with magic and fire. The second would fly low, and attack with claws, and breaths of flame. They coordinated attacks like that.

Of course, this could just be a work of fiction, or an over dramatization. But that’s what was shown.

“It sure has some troublesome attacks.”

It clothes everything around it in flames, and turns the scorched corpses into zombies…

The Spirit Turtle had a similar ability.

Also, the feathers that are produced from its wings can give birth to familiars.

Just how versatile is this monster?

But based on its depiction, and comparing it to the buildings in the background, I don’t think it’s as big as the Spirit Turtle.

Though it probably is of considerable size.

One was slightly bigger that parent Gaelion pre-mortem.

And we have to fight two.

“Ren, was you Houou similar?” (Naofumi)

“Yeah, mostly… But it didn’t have a breath attack.” (Ren)

“There are a few attacks I don’t know of as well. Mine never used its wings to stir up wind. But this one seems to create whirlwinds, and summon tornadoes.” (Itsuki)

“Father-in-Law, the ability I don’t know of is its ability to summon familiars.” (Motoyasu)

So the games were different from reality.

Even so, I think this every time, but why are all the depictions and the other hero’s information full of holes?

They have half-assed info, but with that, it seems anyone would make the mistake.

If I had information like them, perhaps I would have mistakenly challenged the Spirit Turtle as well.

…? Something’s bugging me, but… I can’t tell what it is.

It’s like something’s stuck in my throat.

But it feels like the sort of thing I won’t figure out if I keep thinking about it.