성황의 아이들 [3]

504

504. Manta Tribe (9)

It's still dark in the early morning.

Logan looked out over the fog-covered island of Peridereo from the empty deck. His face was soaked with exhaustion, perhaps the aftereffects of the informal meeting that had lasted the night.

Of course, it wasn't a big deal for a Sword Master to stay up all night for several days. However, the mental fatigue that came from a problem that couldn't be easily answered was something he couldn't help but feel.

'We have to come to a conclusion before noon, whatever it may be.'

This will either convince General Lysander to help the Mantas, or withdraw the fleet before the artifact is activated again. Neither of these will be easy tasks.

In fact, there was a third option, which was to stop the relic's operation completely and subdue Lord Manta, who was running wild in pain, as a demon. However-

'It's impossible after all.'

If you didn't know at all, you wouldn't know. You should have known that they have reason and emotions just like humans.

They were in such dire straits that they even sought help from Logan, who had come to subdue them. I could not bear to commit such a cruel act against them.

'Lord Mantara... ... .'

Logan thought carefully about the stories he had heard from the Mackerel Manta Tribe.

In fact, the meeting between him and the Manta Tribe itself was not that long, as the tedious process of exploring each other's intentions was completely unnecessary.

Logan could not understand the Manta language, but he could discern the truth from the vibrations of their vocalizations.

Also, the Manta Tribe can sense the general truth and lies through the interpretation of Lord Sharon. It seems that the communication method they exchange, called 'thoughts', is very difficult to hide the emotions that accompany it.

So the truth that Logan heard from the Manta tribe was all things that were hard to believe even after hearing them.

* * *

The Manta tribe has had the unique characteristic of sharing a group consciousness since birth. This characteristic has led them to higher spiritual achievements, but the side effects that come with it are also considerable.

An exchange of emotions and memories that happens without pause, even if you don't want it. A violent storm of madness that spreads and amplifies like lightning to the entire species the moment one individual loses their senses.

Because of these characteristics, they inevitably had to rely on external processing devices to maintain mental stability.

"So when they learned that they had lost their race's essence, the Mantas accepted their fate of extinction. It is said that most of them would rather face death with a clear mind than lose their wits and become beasts that harm the Delcross people."

However, their leader, Lord Manta, had a different view. If death was unavoidable, wouldn't it be better to sacrifice just one life to save the whole group?

"So, after much thought, Lord Manta decided to make himself an 'external processing device', a 'race essence'."

There was a model to refer to: Oracle.

Of course, it was impossible for her, a Manta, to create a well-developed salt crystal like the Kornsheim clan. So, in order to perform a similar role, the size of the salt crystal itself had to be extremely large.