Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint
Chapter 344: Mosaic Town

The Juggernaut came to an abrupt stop.

The sudden jolt sent my head snapping forward as if I’d run into something.

The furniture around me shook and objects toppled to the floor.

I was elegantly sipping tea in my chair so the unexpected stop made me spill the tea right onto my clothes.

The old saying that “water overcomes fire” turned out to be true—because hot water burns hotter than fire.

“Ah! Hot!”

I quickly shook out my clothes to cool the tea.

The mysteries of nature never ceased to amaze me.

Just a few flaps of fabric were enough to cool the hot tea.

This is magic, and this is nature.

Resorting to Qi or magic over something like this would be ridiculous.

“Woof! Woof! Woof! Earthquake! Earthquake! Danger!”

“Azzy, this isn’t the ground. There are no earthquakes here.”

Meanwhile, Azzy was hopping around in panic.

Maybe the smooth journey on the Juggernaut so far had been too comfortable, making her forget that this wasn’t solid ground.

She probably thought the Juggernaut was part of the earth itself.

“What’s going on? It’s never shaken like this before.”

The Regressor wondered aloud, but only one person could answer her question—Peru.

Naturally, everyone turned their eyes to her.

“…Perhaps.”

With all eyes on her, Peru slowly walked to the window.

There was a small window in the Golden Ark, but it was currently covered by thick curtains, placed there by Tyr’s firm insistence.

Peru lifted the curtain slightly and gazed outside.

She muttered softly.

“…We’re close.”

Peru was usually short with her words, but in this case, there was no need to elaborate further.

In this land, there was only one place we could be getting close to.

The Golden Lord.

As if in agreement, we all left the cabin.

We climbed the narrow stairs and stepped onto the deck, where the sunlight made us squint as we took in the surroundings.

In one corner of the cramped deck, Aurea huffed and puffed, just as startled as we were.

While Peru was busy calming her down, I made my way toward the ship’s bow.

The landscape that had been hidden by the Golden Ark gradually revealed itself.

“I didn’t notice while we were cooped up in the cabin, but the scenery has changed a lot.”

Upon reaching the bow, I muttered as I took in the view before me.

On one side of my vision was an endless sea of cornfields.

The towering stalks were so tall that if a person walked through them, only the very top of their head would be visible.

It looked like the edges of the field had been dug up for harvest, but in comparison to the whole, it was like a single claw mark on a vast surface.

If all this corn were gathered, the Fallen Dominion wouldn’t have to worry about food for several years.

But this seemingly endless ocean of corn abruptly stopped at a certain point.

Just beyond a small stone wall lay a city—a beautiful city entirely built of white stone, from its foundations to its rooftops.

The city had water canals flowing through it, winding streets, and, in the distance, a grand, majestic palace that towered over everything else.

It was undoubtedly a historic city left behind by a great civilization.

“This isn’t the Golden Palace, is it?”

“…No.”

“Then it’s something made by the Golden Lord, right? The fields and the city too.”

If it weren’t for the fact that this was the Fallen Dominion of course.

Looking at it again, there was something off.

I didn’t need to search for it.

The sight of vast cornfields right next to a huge city was strange enough on its own.

“What a completely unplanned city. There’s no water source, yet they planted a field of this size right next to a giant city? After a few weeks, the field will dry up, and the city will become a breeding ground for disease and insects. The city will rot away.”

As I muttered to myself, Hilde, who had been observing the city with interest, chimed in.

“Hmm~? The city doesn’t look like something worth pitying, though? Sure, it looks grand and fancy on the surface, but it’s completely lacking in artistic sense. Honestly, the Military State is prettier than this!”

“I’m not an expert in art, but I doubt it could be worse than the Military State. At least this isn’t a bunch of square blocks piled together.”

“Father has zero sense of aesthetics! Can’t you see how unpleasant it is?”

Aesthetics?

Feeling uncomfortable over something you can’t even eat seems strange to me.

Beauty is too subjective.

As someone who can read people’s minds, I don’t even have a standard for it.

If it were something universally agreed upon, that would be a different story.

“Here’s a hint! Look at the columns. Then you’ll see it!”

I followed Hilde’s suggestion and focused on the columns in the city.

Temple columns.

Bridge columns.

Building columns.

Each one served a different purpose and since they were built by different people, their construction methods naturally differed.

Sure, architectural styles changed over time, but even then, the details varied.

Humans always add their own spin when re-creating something.

But this city was different.

All of the columns were identical.

The bridge columns, temple columns, and even the decorative columns lining the streets—they all looked the same.

There were slight variations in size, thickness, and patterns, but It was like they were branches from the same tree.

“It didn’t bother me at first, but now that you’ve pointed it out, it’s hard to ignore.”

“And that’s not all. Look at the brick patterns, the stacking methods, the layout of the buildings, and even the arrangement of city blocks. It’s all the same. A repeated pattern. This is downright eerie.”

Did she notice all of that from the beginning?

While the rest of us were staring at the cornfields and the city as a whole, she had been examining every column, pattern, and block.

Should I say she has sharp observation skills or that she’s a bit unsettling?

Either way, the more I heard from Hilde, the more discomfort built up inside me.

It wasn’t because of the “knowledge” I gained from reading her mind—it was because my senses now understood what she meant.

It’s hard to put into words, but there’s just something unsettling about it.

The city is grand and magnificent, but the more you look at it, the more your eyes feel like they’re being tricked.

It’s like staring at a forest where mosaic tiles have replaced all the leaves.

I guess aesthetic sense is just an extension of instinct.

I shrugged.

“Well, it can’t be helped, right? This city was built by the Golden Lord alone.”

The Golden Lord’s power might be godlike, but the world he creates is limited by what he can imagine.

He might be able to create everything, but that doesn’t mean he knows everything.

In other words, the flaws we see in this city are proof that the Golden Lord is not perfect.

Hilde giggled like a child who’d uncovered a secret.

“The Golden Lord might be a great alchemist, but it looks like he’s not much of an artist~ No matter how great he is, he can’t do everything, huh? Heehee.”

No one in the world can do everything alone.

Not even the Golden Lord.

But Hilde’s mockery didn’t sit well with Peru.

Her face darkened as she approached.

“…So. What will you do?”

“Do what? We’re heading to the Golden Palace, aren’t w– Ah.”

Right.

Why did we come outside again?

It was because the Juggernaut suddenly stopped and we came to check it out.

We got distracted by sightseeing.

“…Look down.”

At Peru’s words, we all peered below.

The Golden Ark was tilting, its bow raised as it spun uselessly in place.

A giant lift was positioned beneath it, with colossal pistons on either side.

The lift had dug into the bottom of the vessel and was pushing it upward.

With the wheels no longer touching the ground, the treads spun helplessly in the air.

Although Transmutation Travel is theoretically perfect, it still relies on contact with the ground.

If the vehicle is lifted into the air, it can’t move.

Lifting the Juggernaut was certainly one way to stop it.

But considering the subject, it was absurd.

“It lifted this huge chunk of metal?”

The Juggernaut is an enormous hunk of metal bigger than most buildings.

Its interior is packed with machinery that only the Golden Lord could design and it’s encased in super-heavy, super-durable alloy.

Even trying to lift it would crush any ordinary lift.

But that thing… The pistons’ strength and material must be beyond belief.

“…That’s Atlas Winny. Equipment of the Dominarch.”

Peru explained.

“…He stopped the Golden Ark. Probably to prevent it from destroying the city.”

Looking around, we saw Dholes mounted on vehicles watching us from the side of the Golden Ark.

It seemed the city had been empty not because of coincidence, but because the people had fled after seeing the approaching Golden Ark.

“Well, from their perspective, it must’ve looked like a giant hunk of metal going berserk and charging toward their city. Let’s just apologize and take a detour, shall we?”

“…No. We’re here.”

Peru stopped the Golden Ark.

As she withdrew her power, a faint horn echoed, signaling the engine’s shutdown.

The endlessly spinning treads gradually slowed and stopped.

Before long, the Golden Ark lost its momentum and cooled down.

- Pshhhhh…

A soft hiss of air released from the pistons below.

For a brief moment, it felt like the whole vessel had become lighter, before the Golden Ark tilted heavily to one side and–

- Thud

It hit the ground loudly.

The lift had also stopped functioning.

The clash of the iron giant had come to an end.

The world grew momentarily silent.

In that hollow stillness, Peru spoke.

“…The Dominarch is one of the Golden Palace’s closest aides. If he’s here, then the Golden Palace is close by… we’ve arrived.”