A New Civilization!?

Bwoong-!

Alren was moving at top speed. Even so, he could not help but keep turning his gaze toward the rear. While showing that restless, scanning look, he finally entered a space where strong winds were blasting in.

Hwi-oooo-!

‘Now that it has come to this, I will definitely survive and get out of here!’

The moment he steeled himself like that, deep down he thought that since he had entered a section where such strong winds were blowing, they would not be able to chase him in there. The dedeudeudeu- sound from the wings tormented his ears along with the violently shaking airframe, but he had grown a bit used to it now, so he did not feel anxious.

‘It’s fine, the wings won’t break. More importantly, they really can’t keep chasing, right?’

The moment he thought that, as he turned his head, something was caught faintly in his field of view. Damn it! Airplanes. More than ten airplanes were approaching as if tracking him. Their airframes were also shaking violently, but they were still chasing the airplane Alren was in to the end.

‘Are those guys insane?!’

Thinking that, he kept moving the airframe as before, yielding to the wind, and he saw some of the pursuing airplanes get caught in the wind, spin around and around, and crash straight down toward the ground. Seeing that, he thought again that pushing through such strong winds was not an easy thing.

‘You bastards. Do you have any idea how much it costs to modify this thing?!’

It could be said that the tail wagged the dog—he had spent more money reinforcing and modifying it than the price of the airframe itself. Even so, it seemed they intended to chase him to the end, because they kept closing in. From that appearance, one thing was certain: their airframes were noticeably fast.

‘They’re fast. And the fact they’re chasing me like this means they can’t let what’s in there be discovered?’

He did not know whether the world had been deceived all this time about the civilization that existed inside that enormous mountain range. They must have been hiding, building civilization and developing. At that fact, he thought that if he escaped the mountain range like this, an enormous outcome might be waiting.

Papapapap!

‘These guys are firing machine guns now?!’

Bullets were passing in all directions. Fortunately, there were no hits. Their airframes were shaking violently too, so they were only firing at random. Still, in that state, if he got hit even by chance, it would be a disaster, and cold sweat could not help but break out again.

‘Please, please..’

Hoping he would not be hit by a bullet even by accident, Alren had to keep flying for a long time. Meanwhile, was it because of the movement caused by reckless maneuvering? Already, about half of the fighters had no choice but to plunge and crash to the ground under the influence of the wind.

With things like this, even the machine-gun fire had no choice but to stop. And the problem was that the condition of the remaining fighters’ pilots was not very good. Unlike at the beginning, every one of them was panting, on the verge of passing out.

Unlike Alren, who had crossed the great mountain range after preparing thoroughly with an oxygen mask and the like, the fighters pursuing him had chased him with sheer malice, without any of that. And the result could not help but lead to them losing consciousness and crashing.

The moment he saw even the last one crash, the feeling of having survived settled on Alren’s face.

‘I lived. They all crashed.’

Relief washed over him at the fact that there were no enemies left to pursue him. But he immediately had to snap back to attention at the state of the still-shaking airframe. He had barely passed through the section where strong winds were blowing, and finally, as he broke out of it, the shaking airframe returned to normal.

‘Whew, I finally got out.’

Joy surged at the fact that he had survived. But soon, sorrow and shock could not help but surge as well. First, he was sad that all the colleagues who had gone with him were dead, and at the same time, the shock of a new civilization being established inside that mountain range was overwhelming.

‘Hurry. I have to get back quickly. What’s my fuel like?’

He glanced at the instrument panel, and it looked like there was not much fuel left. In the first place, they had departed with the goal of the mountain range entrance. They had planned to photograph that place, return, develop the photos, and confirm the existence of ruins through research.

‘But now I’ve found something beyond ruins..?’

Buuwoong-

Before he knew it, the airplane that had escaped the great mountain range was slowly heading toward the simple landing field they had originally departed from. After a little time passed, the moment he confirmed the runway coming into view, he calmly attempted to land.

Clunk, with the wheels touching down, the airplane safely made its landing on the runway. At that sight, the people stationed around were running toward Alren. Some looked happy, and some had stiff expressions at the two airframes that seemed not to have returned.

When Alren stepped down from the cockpit, he could not help but stagger. He had undergone a flight that was far too perilous, so his physical condition was not good. At that sight, one colleague hurriedly approached, supported him, and asked with concern.

“Captain, are you all right?”

“I’m… all right.”

“So Saem and Atom couldn’t come back with you after all?”

“…They’re dead. That’s not what’s important.”

“Not important, what do you mean?”

At the question that sounded like, what could be more important than the deaths of your colleagues, Alren quickly looked around. He was trying to find the soldiers he had seen earlier. Soon his gaze landed on an officer wearing a Gaso (Lieutenant) rank insignia. He brushed off his colleague’s support and approached him with staggering steps.

“Lieutenant.”

“You returned. I’m relieved you returned safely. And I truly regret what happened to your colleagues.”

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“I need to relay what I saw to the homeland at once.”

“Did you see something inside the mountain range?”

At the officer’s dubious question, Alren immediately began to tell what he had seen. As they listened to his words, the expressions of the officer and the colleagues who had come over turned strange. It was the expression of hearing something unbelievable.

“Mr. Alren, is there not the slightest lie in what you just said? Are you telling us to believe that a civilization is established inside the mountain range, and that it is even at a considerably high level?”

“You can’t believe it, can you? If I hadn’t seen it, I couldn’t have believed it either. If I’d only talked about it with words, you would have thought I’d gone mad. But inside that airframe, there are things I personally photographed. There is proof that a civilization exists there.”

As he pointed at the airframe and spoke confidently, the expression of the officer with the Gaso rank insignia held a sense that things were turning strange.

The next day.

Polia Kingdom capital, Pullea, inside the royal palace’s main conference hall.

Around the time it was about to be 10 a.m., with all the ministers assembled, Ian, the king, also entered the conference chamber. Everyone stood to greet him, and the moment Ian sat at the seat of honor, everyone could sit. In that scene, he brought up the information he had heard around yesterday evening.

“Last night, I truly received news that I cannot believe.”

Everyone except a few looked bewildered. In truth, aside from Ian himself, the only ones who knew were the chancellor, Marquis Norwen, and Viscount Rubingston. The two had grim expressions, and the other ministers looked curious, as they did not know what was going on.

“Your Majesty, what is it?”

“If you are suddenly convening a meeting like this, it seems it is no ordinary matter?”

“Is there anyone who knows that there is a fairly enormous great mountain range in the central part of that continent?”

At that question, many shook their heads. Seeing that, he felt inwardly that it would be so. In fact, Ian himself had not been interested, so he had not even known that such a large great mountain range was located in the center of that continent.

“Yesterday, I heard that a man named Alren, the leader of a ruin exploration team that belongs to our kingdom, rode the airplane he had prepared and crossed that great mountain range. According to what I heard, countless explorers had tried to cross it, but not a single one had succeeded, and all had met death.”

At those words, only then did a few speak as if they remembered.

“Come to think of it, over ten years ago, I saw a newspaper article about using an airship to cross a large mountain range. I think it said it crashed, but since it was a foreign matter, I did not pay attention. But it seems this time, someone belonging to our kingdom tried to cross it.”

“He succeeded in crossing that mountain range.”

“Oh, it seems he succeeded. It is something to be congratulated for. But it is a bit strange that you would convene a meeting like this over such a matter?”

“Along with that success, he discovered a civilization established there. He even discovered a city of considerable size, and after being attacked, he escaped.”

“Wh—?”

“What is that…?”

“Hah, are you saying that is true?”

“A civilization that had not been discovered until now inside the mountain range located in the center of the Colonial Continent?!”

Buzz, buzz!

The ministers were exchanging words as they looked at one another in shock at this fact. Seeing this, Ian thought it was not a reaction he could not understand. Even when he first heard this news, he had thought, what kind of nonsense is this?

‘But it wasn’t. The photos haven’t arrived yet, but according to those who developed and checked the photos taken from the airplane that crossed the mountain range, there truly is a civilization inside the mountain range, and even a large-scale city exists.’

On top of that, there had even been pursuing fighters. They were said to have quite fast maneuverability. Though they had crashed while chasing recklessly, the clear fact was that inside that place, a society existed with technology similar to the current world, or seemingly a bit more advanced.

‘How is something like this possible? In such an isolated world, developing would not be an easy thing.’

And the fact that it was technologically advanced made him think that, somehow, there was something special unique to that place. Perhaps there might even be a place connected to the outside world. If not, the level of civilization did not fit.

‘Perhaps there really is a hidden connecting passage that can pass through the mountain range.’

If so, he thought they had to find such a place. According to the report, passing through the mountain range by aircraft itself seemed to be an act that literally put one’s life on the line. It was a place where strangely strong winds struck frequently, and the probability of failure seemed higher than the probability of success.

‘Maybe that man named Alren is just lucky.’

Even if airplanes far more advanced than now came out, he thought it would not be easy to pass through. And inwardly, he thought about how they could make contact with that place. The fact they attacked right away made it seem they had a highly exclusionary atmosphere.

‘More importantly, can we really handle this alone?’

Above all, the problem was that now that they knew this fact, could the Polia Kingdom alone resolve the issue with them? And even though they had strictly ordered silence, because it was an affair beyond the continent, he worried whether security could truly be maintained.

‘Within the kingdom, I’m confident I can make them keep it strictly secret, but an affair beyond the continent… it seems difficult. Still, with my greed, it does seem better if our kingdom alone can make contact with them, at least.’

But the problem was that the place was located in the center of the Colonial Continent. Since it was a long distance of thousands of kilometers into the interior, he did not know whether contact could truly be made. Moreover, for that, they would have to move large forces to search. That was something that would inevitably draw many eyes.

‘No matter what, is it impossible for us alone?’

“Your Majesty, regarding this matter, it seems quite difficult for our kingdom alone to handle it.”

At that moment, when the chancellor, Marquis Norwen, spoke the very fact Ian had been worried about, several ministers spoke as if protesting.

“Chancellor, since it is something we learned first, shouldn’t we be the ones to make contact with them ourselves?”

“That’s right. We do not need others’ help. We can do it with our side alone.”

“Wasn’t it our first contact? I do not think this is something where we can give good profit to others.”

“However, that place is in the center of the continent, so how can we properly make contact?”

At the chancellor’s words, even those who had been objecting had no choice but to shut their mouths. They, too, thought inwardly that that would be the problem. Sending an expeditionary force freely to the center of the continent could also become a highly sensitive issue.

Realistically, it was difficult for the Polia Kingdom to move on its own within the Colonial Continent. Since the chancellor stated that fact accurately, everyone could not help but have troubled expressions.

In the end, this meeting had no choice but to end without reaching any conclusion. And something happened that made even these worries meaningless. As feared, the fact they had kept secret had somehow become known to the world.

From someone’s mouth, it became known that a civilization existed inside the great mountain range located in the center of the Colonial Continent. As expected, once they left the homeland, a major hole in security was inevitable.