Was it perhaps too abstract of an explanation?
Or was it simply too unbelievable a story for the people of this world?
The mont Rina heard what I said, she reacted as if it were a ridiculous joke.
Seeing her response left slightly bewildered.
However, I soon realized she was only pretending to act nonchalant and disbelieving.
Tremble.
The hand holding her teacup was shaking as if an earthquake had struck.
She was rely putting on an act, but deep down, she believed .
From Rina’s perspective, it must have been a completely absurd tale—a story straight out of a book about Earth.
A place where neither mana nor magic existed, and not even other races were present.
Only humans lived there.
In this world, people believe they inherited civilization from the elves and tallurgy from the dwarves.
This is the “common sense” that humans in this world fundantally hold—that without the help of other races, they would have achieved nothing.
Considering that monsters exist here, it might make sense. Even now, monsters pose a direct threat to human life.
Clatter.
As I was organizing my thoughts, Rina set her teacup down. Her hand was still trembling even as she placed it on the table.
She then took a deep breath, maintained her smile, and looked at .
While her face displayed a smile, her trembling hands betrayed her.
“Y-you said they were creations, right? Not from other races, but created by humans? Are the humans from your world different from us?”
“They’re exactly the sa. If soone from my world ca here, no one would notice any difference.”
“Are they particularly skilled with their hands, or are they just really smart?”
“If I were good with my hands, I would’ve already created sothing myself.”
While geniuses significantly advance the world, no one can defy the passage of ti.
Technological advancents don’t just appear out of thin air.
They’re the culmination of countless efforts, accumulated over ti, to produce results.
Even the Industrial Revolution, which transford the world, erged in such a manner.
The magic engine, similar to the steam engine, could only be invented because of accumulated technological progress.
“Intelligence, or brains, is also similar. The only thing lacking was ti.”
“Ti?”
“Yes. In my world, humans established civilization around six thousand years ago, according to verified records.”
Hearing that, Rina scoffed incredulously and retorted.
“Elves established civilization 3,500 years ago, and humans did so 3,000 years ago, according to records.
Yet we still don’t have the technology to fly in the sky or sail without wind—not even the dwarves can create such things.”
“But you have magic, right? In my world, science takes the place of magic.”
There’s a famous saying: highly advanced science is indistinguishable from magic.
The reverse would also hold true.
If people from this world saw airplanes or massive cargo ships, they’d wonder what kind of magic was used to create them.
Since magic substitutes for science, the advancent of science is naturally slower.
That said, thanks to highly advanced magic, this world has items like refrigerators, air conditioners, and even ice cream available in the market.
“Well, fine, let’s say that’s true. But how could a creation allow communication with people around the world? That disregards the concept of distance altogether.”
“Don’t you have sothing similar here? Last ti, I saw you talking to Cecily through a communication orb.”
“Then let ask this: can commoners in your world use it too?”
“Yep. Even I used it.”
Though I rarely had the occasion to use it, it wasn’t worth ntioning.
Hearing my answer, Rina opened and closed her mouth several tis, unsure how to respond.
Afterward, she took a mont to organize her thoughts.
During that ti, I took a sip of tea and pulled out a notebook.
It seed easier to explain by drawing pictures.
First, I sketched the airplane and ship I had just ntioned.
Explaining the internet and nuclear weapons through drawings would be too difficult, so I decided to stick with these two.
“Take a look at this.”
“Huh? What’s this…?”
“These are the creations I ntioned earlier—ones that can fly in the sky or sail without wind.”
“…”
Rina stared intently at the drawing.
Though it looked like a child’s doodle, the features were clear enough to understand.
After a long mont, she glanced at and pointed to the airplane.
“…This thing flies in the sky?”
“Yep.”
“How big is it? Is it larger than a carriage?”
“Think of it as a ship that flies in the sky. There are large ones and small ones.”
“… …”
Seemingly understanding my comparison, Rina nodded.
Next, I moved on to the ship.
“So it doesn’t need wind… It can sail without a mast?”
“Exactly. Though so ships still have masts for certain purposes.”
“Is this really possible? What kind of magic is used to make this happen…?”
“It’s science. Just like magic requires mana, these creations need energy similar to mana to operate.”
Hearing this, Rina tilted her head, her blue eyes brimming with curiosity.
“But didn’t you say your world doesn’t have mana or magic?”
“Instead, we have resources that replace mana and scientific thods that function like magic.
For example, the magic engine invented by Ains is similar.”
“…I feel like I understand, but I also don’t.”
Perhaps overthinking it had made her dizzy, as Rina took her hand off the notebook and pressed it against her head.
I waited silently while she gathered her thoughts. Glancing behind , I noticed Ariel fast asleep.
There was still so ti left before Adelia’s training ended.
Even if our conversation got interrupted, I didn’t mind. I planned to explain whenever Rina wanted to know more.
Now that the secret was out, I felt guilty letting her agonize over it alone.
“Phew… What kind of world is this… Did humans really create all of this? Those frail, weak humans?”
“Yes, they did.”
“Then why are we like this? We have mana, magic, and even the gods lending us their power. If you’re right, we should be less advanced than this place, but that’s not the case at all.”
“Hmm… You’ve raised a fair point. The elves were overwhelmingly superior from birth, capable of building civilizations as far back as ten millennia ago. The dwarves are a race with exceptional craftsmanship.
This world has the potential to create not just airplanes but even floating castles in the sky.
However, in reality, we can’t even make airplanes.
On top of that, when you delve deeper into science, there are many imbalances.
Like I said earlier, items like refrigerators and air conditioners—if they could be made, they would be easily created with magic.
Yet, there are things that obstruct such creations everywhere.
‘The gods tend to ddle too much.’
First of all, the gods. They love all races on the surface and grant them power, but ironically, they also hinder progress.
When a difficult problem arises, people simply pray to a god, and that’s it. One example is dicine.
In science, as it advances, so does dicine. But here, everything is replaced by clerics.
Even plagues, bacteria, and viruses can be dealt with through divine power.
As a result, this is a world where the influence of religion is incredibly strong.
‘You said there are gods on Earth too, right? But why don’t they intervene there?’
Luminous explained this before. Once a god intervenes, other gods will start intervening too.
However, there are no instances in history where gods have directly interfered.
Unlike this place, where mythology is considered history, Earth’s myths are just myths.
In the past, wasn’t it Luminous who stopped the rampage of the Savior?
If he hadn’t, the flas would have spread across the world, escalating into a massive war.
If that war had been used as a stepping stone, significant progress could have been made, but it was stopped simply because watching people fight was unpleasant.
There are many puzzling aspects like this, but since every world has its differences, let’s just accept it.
This is a rather complex issue that I can’t interfere with.
‘Secondly…’
Beyond the gods, the most decisive factor is the difference in ‘culture.’ Science and culture develop hand in hand.
Frankly, this is sothing that can’t be helped. Unlike Earth, where there’s a single human race, here, ‘races’ are clearly distinguished.
Each race has its own distinct culture, and on top of that, each race tends to stick together.
Humans, being overwhelmingly nurous, have many nations, but other races only have one country each.
And most importantly, wars are rare.
On Earth, wars broke out at the slightest provocation, but here, aside from racial wars, they’re almost nonexistent.
‘Unless a revolution had succeeded, maybe.’
The revolution referred to as this world’s French Revolution—the Zeros Revolution—ended in failure.
As a result, royalty and nobility began paying closer attention to the commoners.
Honestly, I think it’s fortunate that it ended in failure.
Otherwise, countless royals and nobles would have lost their heads to the guillotine.
In any case, there are so many reasons why this world’s developnt is particularly slow that it’s hard to pinpoint just one.
“There are so many that I can’t pick one. In the world I lived in, humans were weaker than they are here, so they absolutely needed advanced tools.
To make life a little more convenient, a little safer, a little easier to deal with opponents—they took risks and created things recklessly.
Those efforts piled up and eventually resulted in the civilization we had.”
“That’s amazing… truly. Could we do it too?”
“Given enough ti. Technology doesn’t just appear out of nowhere.”
Although progress is slow, it’s not impossible. After all, wasn’t Ains the one who invented the mana engine?
It’ll just take so ti before an industrial revolution happens.
The true essence of the industrial revolution lies in factories.
Factories bring in workers, those workers face oppression, they fight back, and the result of that struggle is…
‘…Communism.’
That’s sothing we need to be cautious about. I’ll have to write this down soon.
While I was montarily lost in thought, Rina, who had been quietly staring at the drawings in her notebook, spoke to .
“So, was there a war like a racial war in that world too?”
“It happened twice. And within just 30 years.”
“Twice?”
“Yeah. And during that ti, for the first ti, a weapon of mass destruction—the one I ntioned earlier that could destroy the world—was used.”
“Wow…”
Perhaps because it was a story from another world, Rina’s eyes sparkled more and more.
Up until now, she had been too overwheld to organize her thoughts, but that wasn’t the case anymore.
Now that she had cald down, everything I said must have sounded fantastical.
After hearing ntion that the weapon of mass destruction, the nuclear weapon, had been used, she picked up her teacup.
I didn’t even realize when it was refilled, but her teacup was full of tea.
“Can that weapon really destroy the world?”
“Yeah. To be precise, it resets humanity’s civilization completely. Not just because of its power, but also because it makes the land unusable.”
“Then it must have been sealed, right?”
“Nope, not at all.”
I replied with a completely indifferent expression.
“There are more than a few thousand of them right now.”
“Puuh!!”
And sweet tea sprayed all over my face.
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