【Musings on Ardyst】The “Phantom Country” Saryunas

‘The “Phantom Country” Saryunas’

Have you ever heard the name of a country called “Saryunas”?

Saryunas was a small country, said to have once existed on Hamejika, the “Golden Continent.”

It is said to have amassed wealth and flourished by producing magic ore in abundance and exporting it to other countries, but alas, it was a country of small scale.

Even if students who have just begun dabbling in history did not know this country's name, it would be nothing to be ashamed of, this author believes.

But, even so.

This Saryunas, among people who love the world's mysteries and unknowns...... in a certain far, far-off country, such people are called “occult maniacs,” and among people like that, it is also a very famous country.

Occult maniacs call that country by this name.

......Saryunas, the “Phantom Country.”

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Now, as for this country called Saryunas, it seems to have lain in a basin (named after the country, it is simply called the Saryunas Basin) surrounded by the Ranrananga Mountains, one of the demon realms of the Hamejika Continent.

As mentioned earlier, because it traded magic ore with other countries, its traffic of people with the surrounding regions was very lively, despite its location in the mountains.

But at one point, an anomaly arises in this Saryunas Kingdom.

The most famous historical document that describes this anomaly in detail is the diary of Sasan Rassharn, founder and first chairman of the Rassharn Trading Company.

In his youth, he was a merchant who made his fortune trading with the Saryunas Kingdom.

I quote an excerpt from that diary below.

“(Earlier part omitted) And then, just as we crossed the mountain pass and the graceful townscape of Saryunas finally began to come into view, that mist began to drift in.

A mist, pure white.

At first, I thought it was merely a mist and paid it no mind, but something is not right at all.

No matter how far we go into the mist, we cannot reach the Saryunas Kingdom.

In this winter season, getting lost in the snow could cost us our lives.

I gave instructions to the caravan and decided to turn back the way we came.

And then, what do you suppose happened.

We had surely gone quite far into the mist, yet after only a few minutes of turning back, we had reached the border pass where the mist had begun to envelop us.

Something ill is happening.

Convinced of this, I turned back the way I had come and left the Ranrananga Mountains behind......”

Similar records remain in other documents, and what those accounts have in common is the phenomenon that ‘the whole of Saryunas is wrapped in white mist, and no matter how far one goes into the mist, one never reaches the streets of Saryunas’.

The surrounding nations of the time were deeply concerned by this situation and dispatched survey teams.

But it seems they could make almost nothing of what this phenomenon actually was.

The means to resolve it were also unknown.

It seems they got as far as learning that this white mist was apparently some kind of magical barrier, but as for how to clear it, they had no idea at all.

And in the first place, the Ranrananga Mountains where the Saryunas Kingdom existed are a demon realm.

Attacked by packs of Ranrananga White Lizards, by Gaharingki, the Golden Bear called the lord of the mountain, and others, the survey teams of the various countries suffered no small losses.

Furthermore, with the start of operations at the Teenidys Kingdom's Zakzak Mine, there was no longer a need to rely on Saryunas for the supply of magic ore, and thus the various nations withdrew their survey teams within a few years.

The Adventurers' Guild, too, has from the very start shown no inclination to get actively involved in the matter of the Saryunas Kingdom.

Though they are named “adventurers,” what they seek is value over the unknown.

In other words, the Saryunas Kingdom, whose unknown would bring no money however much one got involved, was an unprofitable subject for adventurers.

Thus, before many years had passed, almost no one approached the Saryunas Kingdom anymore.

What on earth happened to the Saryunas Kingdom?

What happened to the people within the mist?

Every mystery was left unsolved, and the truth was covered and hidden within the pure white mist.

As time passed, the number of people who knew of the Saryunas Kingdom gradually decreased, and in the present day, some three hundred years later, it has come to the point where debates even arise as to ‘Did a country called Saryunas really exist?’

Time and mist have made Saryunas into a “Phantom Country.”

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Now, regarding the aforementioned debate over ‘Did a country called Saryunas really exist?’, to put it bluntly, discussing this in the first place is nonsense.

The existence of the Saryunas Kingdom is supported by numerous documents and is beyond doubt.

Furthermore, in recent years, researchers from Somatoko Academy on the “Fantasy Continent” have crossed the sea from afar to conduct large-scale surveys.

As a result, it is said, ruins such as roads and building foundations have been found in the basin where the Saryunas Kingdom is said to have once existed.

And furthermore, something even more interesting than the ruins has also been discovered.

......White mist.

The white mist that once covered the whole Saryunas Kingdom and blocked the intrusion of Sasan and the others still exists, in a very limited, narrow area at the center of the basin.

It is unknown what happens if one approaches the current mist.

That magic barriers lose their function as time passes is something the Holy Maiden Consortium often warns about, so many of you are likely aware of it.

The white mist, which once merely blocked intrusion into the country, may have changed its function due to deterioration over the years, and it is not impossible that it could invite something unforeseen.

For those reasons, it seems the survey team from Somatoko Academy did not do anything as reckless as intruding into the mist.

I believe this was a wise decision.

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Now then, this time I have introduced the country of Saryunas. How did you find it?

“Phantom Country.”

If one only hears the sound of the words, it is truly full of romance.

But I do not recommend actually trying to visit the site.

After all, the Saryunas Basin is a danger zone surrounded by a demon realm.

Unlike three hundred years ago, when the highways were relatively well-maintained, one must now cut a path where there is none and advance by striking down monsters.

Unless one prepares a large-scale survey team like Somatoko Academy, it would be difficult to even approach.

In particular, I cannot recommend approaching during the winter.

The Saryunas Basin, with its high altitude and heavy snow, carries a high risk of getting lost.

Furthermore, bloodthirsty and ferocious Ranrananga White Lizards are likely lying in wait for your visit.

It is the kind of place where, however many lives you had, it would not be enough.

Perhaps you might be caught in a blizzard and, before you know it, find yourself inside the white mist.

If that happens...... if that happens, what on earth would happen?

Would it be just as the legends say, and you would simply be unable to move forward?

Or...... would some different phenomenon occur?

I don't know.

What we don't know is frightening.

Romance is romance precisely because it is someone else's affair.

At least for someone like me, a coward.

(Excerpt from ‘Musings on Ardyst’ by Riten Reebs)

That was Bonus Part 1.

With the short Bonus Part 2 next, Arc 10 is over.