Chương 368: 363. Earth - III

Gorsazo remained quiet, since he had already heard about most of these things about Earth, but nodded in support. Duv as looked between the two of them, struggling to find words. The disbelief was still written clearly across his face, but his tone had softened from scorn to unease.

"You're saying all of that… is real?"

"It is," Kivamus said quietly.

"And someday, we'll build some of it here." The majordomo looked at him in wonder.

"If all that's true… was there even anything that world didn't have? I can't imagine how life would have been living in that world..."

"Better in most ways, but worse in some..." Kivamus shook his head slightly.

"There were so, so many other things on Earth which would take me a whole lifetime to describe, and new inventions and advancements were happening every single day, but there was a lot we still hadn't discovered or invented. But yes, it's all real. Or at least it used to be." Duvas swallowed.

"Let's say for a moment that I believe everything you've said. But as proof, can you make any of them? Could you make that… airplane? Or that device that stores the knowledge of the world?"

"Not immediately," Kivamus shrugged.

"There's no possible way. Earth didn't reach that level in a day either. It took centuries of progress to achieve all that, starting from a technology level not too different from this world. I don't know if we could reach that point within our lifetimes even with all my knowledge, but I do know I can still build things far beyond what exists here now.

And if we keep moving forward on the path to progress and continue improving our technology, then with my knowledge, I can train and guide other smart people here to keep researching and improving things. If enough bright minds work on it, the path of progress could eventually look similar to Earth's. Does that make sense?" Duvas nodded slowly.

"Kind of..." Kivamus added, "Then think of it this way. As much as I know about advanced technologies, there are simply not enough hours in the day for me to do everything myself—which is why we need people like Syryne—someone who can do a lot with just a little guidance from me. Her creation of acelos medicine is proof of that. I couldn't have done that without putting all my other duties on hold, and she couldn't have created it without my guidance.

But together, we made something which is revolutionary and will save a lot of lives. It's the same in all other fields. That's why I keep saying that I want more people to move here. Just assume if we had a dozen people— researchers —like her living here. We would be able to create a lot more advanced things after that. But what if we had a hundred such people? A thousand? Or even more? Can you imagine the outcome?

During the time I lived on Earth, there were probably more than 10 million people researching the latest technologies. And those were the very advanced scientists and researchers. There were probably 10 times more people there who assisted them, whether as graduate students, or full-time assistants. Either way, that should make it easier to visualize just how vast the gap between Earth and Eranityn is." He took a deep breath, not knowing how else he could explain it.

"Do you believe me now?" Duvas rubbed his hands together, looking uneasy.

"I don't know what to believe... What if all this was just a dream? Dreams can often feel quite real." Kivamus gave a tired smile.

"If you want, I can sketch basic diagrams and blueprints right now for everything I've mentioned. Not perfect, not complete—that'll take far too long, and I don't have a perfect memory—but enough to show workable ideas. No one else in this world could make a usable sketch of a machine which could fly and carry humans on it. But I can create a full blueprint of it. Will that make you believe it?" Duvas snorted.

"I can barely understand half of the simplest blueprints you make even now. For all I know, you could draw a weird flying cow on a sheet and tell me it's an airplane, and I wouldn't know the difference. So there's no way I'd be able to distinguish between your blueprint of a so-called airplane and the chicken scrawl which Lucem claims to be the alphabet." Kivamus let out a laugh, half amused, half frustrated.

"Then I don't know what proof I can give you..." He shrugged.

"But honestly, you don't even have to believe me. As long as we keep improving the village using my knowledge and continue making it more prosperous and safer like we've been doing in the previous half year, that's good enough." Duvas studied him for a long moment.

"That makes sense, and I do want to believe you, but I really don't know how I'm supposed to accept that humans could fly or all the knowledge in the world could be stored in my pocket." Gorsazo frowned.

"Then tell me—how else could he know about these things? You think a dream could ever be this detailed? With this much structure?" He shook his head.

"No. Dreams fade. They drift. They don't give you thousands of pieces of knowledge that all connect properly into something that makes sense. Even ignoring anything which Lord Kivamus could create in the future, things which he has already made in this village can't possibly come from imagination, or someone else would have dreamed of it already. The only explanation is that he really did live a different life in a different world before arriving here." He looked at the majordomo with a quiet certainty.

"And you know it." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Duvas stared at him.

"If you are right, and if Lord Kivamus really did come from a different world, then it has to be some kind of witchcraft, hasn't it? There is no other explanation! And he has to be a..." The majordomo shut his mouth after that, not completing the sentence. Kivamus leaned forward.

"A what? I have to be what?"

"A demon..." Duvas muttered in a low voice, before he joined his hands starting a silent prayer to the Goddess.

"What did you just say?" Kivamus glared at him.

"I am a demon? Do I look like I have horns on my head?" Duvas didn't answer and kept praying. Kivamus had expected that he wouldn't be easily believed, but it still felt awful to be called a demon when he had done so much to help everyone. He was starting to get angry at that accusation, but before he could say anything, Gorsazo pushed himself out of his chair and walked straight to the old majordomo. He gripped Duvas's shoulders, making the man look up at him in surprise.

"Stop!" Gorsazo said loudly.

"Stop making accusations you know nothing about, and just look in front of you." He pointed at Kivamus.

"Look at the young man sitting there. Does he really look like a demon to you? Does he look like someone who would eat puppies for breakfast or something else which is that absurd or horrific?" Duvas stared at Kivamus, startled. Gorsazo went on.

"Lord Kivamus—Steven—arrived in this world only a few days before we reached Tiranat. That means you have known this person for almost as long as I have. So tell me, has he done anything demonic? Do you think the progress in the village happened because of witchcraft he performed secretly? Or was it the blood, sweat and tears of our craftsmen, guards, and villagers? Was it? Stop falling into prejudice which you don't really believe, and use your head! Think!"

A long moment passed before Duvas let out a breath, looking defeated.

"I think... I understand." He removed Gorsazo's hands, stood up, and walked to Kivamus. Then he bent into a deep bow, far lower than a man his age usually managed. Kivamus was surprised to see that, and rose as well. Duvas stayed bowed.

"I humbly apologize, milord. I let superstitions affect me instead of looking at the facts. I used to have a very open mind, but living in a small village of superstitious people for decades had probably affected me more than I thought. It's my fault. But I have seen you staying awake whole nights to work on blueprints of one thing after another. I've seen you eat tiny meals, saying you were already full, because everyone else needed the food.

I've seen you talking to common guards and former slaves like they were your friends. You were the one who freed them, for goddess' sake... I think I've made a horrible error here. Please forgive me..."

"There is nothing to forgive," Kivamus smiled after a moment.

"Just keep supporting me the way you always have, and I'll hold nothing against you." Duvas finally straightened and went back to his chair. He sat carefully, taking a steady breath before he gave a small smile.

"Then… if you are not a demon, you must have been sent here by the goddess... She must have seen how close our village was to starving last year, and how bandits had easily taken away everything from our people, and there was nothing we could do to change any of that. That's why she must have sent you to this village. To help Tiranat and keep it safe from its enemies. There is no other explanation for this, especially if you cannot use your knowledge and science to explain how you arrived." Kivamus shrugged.

"I have no way to prove or disprove that I was sent here by the Goddess you all worship or some other powerful entity. But if you want to believe so, that's fine by me." Duvas suddenly looked excited, and looked at Gorsazo.

"Wait, so that's what you meant by otherworldly! I remember you using that word to describe Lord Kivamus' ideas on some occasions, even though I didn't understand at the time. But that word had been stuck in my mind for weeks since the time you said that he knew about a lot of otherworldly things, but this explains it!" Kivamus laughed.

"You're right. Things from earth can certainly be said to be otherworldly, as much as I told Gorsazo not to use that word in front of others." Gorsazo smirked as he took his seat again.

"Well, what can I say? I didn't have anyone else to talk with regarding the ideas from earth, so instead, I decided to have a little fun at your expense." Kivamus just laughed at the goodnaturedly jibe, knowing that his former teacher only meant well. Gorsazo grinned at the majordomo.

"Now that we know there is nothing demonic happening here, don't you want to hear more stories about Earth? I still enjoy them every time Lord Kivamus has a moment to talk. I'm sure you will love them too." Duvas gave a small smile.

"Well, as hard as it is to believe that there is something called a rocket or a smartphone, I suppose it won't hurt to hear the stories." Kivamus grinned.

"Then here we go."