"So that means the Roadstones can already be used?"
Hearing this good news, Kal's eyes lit up.
In the game, the role of the Roadstones had seemed rather unremarkable. Broadly speaking, they were only used to save some travel time and, along the way, do a couple of inconsequential tasks.
But that was only in the game. Once such a great weapon was placed in reality, the meaning it carried would be entirely different.
Kal did not know exactly how long all of Westeros was from south to north, but he did know that if a man traveled alone on horseback, even taking two or three months on the road would be perfectly normal.
And once one possessed Roadstones and could cross that long distance in an instant, the meaning behind that would be on the same level as dragons.
It would directly serve as a strategic deterrent, while also bringing the greatest convenience to the centralization Kal was gradually preparing to build next.
It could be said that once the Roadstone plan succeeded, the most important piece would be fitted into Kal's rule over Westeros and his reforms.
And besides that, the other reason Kal wanted to bring a magical technology like the Roadstones into this world was this:
Aside from allowing travel within the same plane and reducing time on the road, another seemingly insignificant function of the Roadstones was that they could break through the barriers of the existing world and enter other dimensions.
The gods of the world of ice and fire were very strange. They seemed to exist, and yet not exist.
They could interfere with the material world in a low-intensity manner, but Their own existence was not within the material world.
What Kal wanted to do was see whether, with the power of the Roadstones, he could try to find out what the so-called Lord of Light, R'hllor, really was.
If it worked, then this idea had a chance of being realized.
As for how the story would develop by then, that could wait until then.
There was nothing wrong with making preparations in advance, because Kal was not certain that after he truly killed the Cold God—or rather, obliterated the plan the Cold God had been scheming for thousands upon thousands of years—whether he would then become the enemy of gods such as the Lord of Light, R'hllor, the Drowned God, the Sea God, the Wind Goddess, or even the Three-Eyed Crow.
But whether that would happen or not, he had to prepare for it.
In response to Kal's question, Erevi first gave a slight nod, then shook her head.
That left Kal puzzled.
"It succeeded, but it did not fully succeed."
As she spoke, Erevi set down the tool in her hand and rose to her feet, her fingers touching the rune-carvings etched into the stone stele, as though she were sensing the flow of magic within them.
"How so?" Kal asked.
"The Roadstones are ancient technology, and they also involve the dangerous element of space. Even in ancient times, this was a dangerous magical technology. That is also why, when you found these things, they were in such a ruined state."
"Besides the loss of ancient civilization, those defects must certainly have had something to do with it as well."
"And now, although the technical issues seem to have been solved, actual testing still remains to be considered."
"There is also the matter of energy."
"I am not sure whether the Bat Witch's crystal eggs can still be used, whether they can also be used in this world, or what unknown dangers might come with using them."
"In short, there are many problems. All of them must be resolved one by one before we can achieve what you want."
Erevi went on to explain all the technical issues concerning the Roadstones to Kal.
Hearing this, Kal more or less understood her concerns.
He stroked his chin and looked at the single intact stone stele before him. With a faint furrow in his brow, he said, "So, in the end, it means some unknowable problems still remain hidden in the mist, and we need more practical testing, yes?"
"Yes, clever King Kal El."
Erevi said it with a smile, then turned around and wrapped an arm around Kal's waist.
Kal kissed her forehead as a reward.
"It seems it will still take time, but fortunately I have a great deal of patience. We spent a year solving the Roadstones' technical problems, and I do not mind waiting another year to verify the reliability of the technology."
The matter of the Roadstones was of great importance, and for the moment it was the most important secret Kal possessed within the realm.
So on that basis, he did not mind remaining patient a little longer.
He knew well that rushing things would only lead to failure.
Only by making the most perfect preparations could he truly face what lay behind all this.
Kal's understanding made Erevi all the happier.
"I will handle this matter well. Do not worry, my love."
"And besides, I can feel the child in my belly. He will be true life, not a moving puppet from that world."
"And the process of bearing him will also be a normal one, not the brief span it was in that world."
"Kal, I am very much looking forward to this true child of ours."
Nestled in Kal's arms, Erevi gently touched her flat belly, a soft glow blooming across her face.
Kal was not surprised by this in the least. He laid his hand over hers, and together they felt the life growing within Erevi's belly.
"Your race is elven, and I am human, so... about how long will it be before our child can meet us?"
From the moment Erevi arrived in this world, she had truly awakened and, in terms of the laws governing her being, become a life with an independent self, rather than an NPC run by code.
That was also why, after arriving in this world, Erevi never returned to that other world.
Because she knew that, for her, that world was false—a prison that held her captive while she knew nothing of it.
But in this world, she was a complete person, a free life with a soul.
Feeling the warmth coming from the man behind her, Erevi slowly closed her eyes.
"I can feel it. About three years, and he should be able to meet us."
"He will be the first life of a new race ever born in this world, Kal. I am looking forward to it very much."
"Perhaps he can become a hero, like the heroes recorded in the mythic epics in those books."
Erevi closed her eyes, her voice full of longing and anticipation.
Kal, however, had no extra thoughts on the matter. He felt that either way was fine.
"Whether he becomes a hero or not, he is still our child, and I will still love him."
"However..."
At that point, Kal suddenly thought of something that had long left him puzzled, though he had never understood its meaning.
He looked down at Erevi in his arms and softly called, "...Erevi."
"What is it?" The dark elf witch raised her head to look at the man before her, so handsome he seemed scarcely mortal, her eyes carrying a trace of confusion.
Kal held the witch in his arms a little tighter, his expression thoughtful. "There is something I have always wondered. It seems that I do not really have any reproductive barrier with humans—or with other living creatures either... do you know why that is?"
Kal's gaze was intent when he asked this question.
Because in the game world, if it was only treated as a game, it had not seemed strange. But once many things became real, certain tiny and inconspicuous flaws began to stand out all the more glaringly.
For example, the matter of Kal's lack of reproductive barriers.
He could have children with humans, with halflings, and with giants.
He could also have children with elves, with succubi, and even with monsters such as bat banshees and spider banshees.
Oh, and there were also dragons, orcs, goblins, and the trolls Kal least wanted to remember.
Yet that was not even the most frightening part.
Because the most frightening part was that when Kal used the magic called [Summon], which in truth ought to have been called "Transformation," when he turned into a horse, a centaur, even a wolf, or something else, he seemed to possess the same function.
So although Kal had never tried it, he knew perfectly well that, in theory, he could make any female creature pregnant.
And that inevitably made him think of a certain famous king of the gods.
While Kal held Erevi in his arms and felt a little troubled by this, Erevi raised her head to look at him.
Then, as though it were only natural, she said, "Your Grace, King Kal El, perhaps you feel confused now, but what I wish to say is that you need not be so."
"Because for a god with the great work of creation to his name, having such things is perfectly normal."
"It belongs to your very existence."
Faced with that answer, Kal's smile turned only more bitter.
He had the nagging feeling that, without realizing it, he had already set foot upon some road of no return, and was still sprinting forward along it with his head down and no notion of where it led.
"All right. Let us leave that question for now. I think I really do need time to digest this troublesome matter."
Kal did not care overmuch whether, in essence, he might truly be a god.
After all, as someone whose self-awareness was still that of a human, there was no use agonizing over the matter.
And if, a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, even ten thousand years from now, he was still alive, then by that time he could slowly fret over such questions.
Because by then, even if he were not a god, it would no longer matter.
Though even now, signs of it had already begun to appear.
The eighth god of the Seven, a god among men.
He did not know whether he might truly steal the godhood of the Seven because of this—or whether the Seven did not exist at all, and his own existence was instead the very thing that proved the meaning of the Seven's existence.
His head was a mess. It felt as though he were about to grow another brain.
...
While the many troubles Kal wrestled with about himself had not crossed the Narrow Sea and reached the eastern continent—
...
A few months earlier, with the coming of winter, this land too had begun to take on something of the same air.
And ever since that vile crime had been committed in Vaes Dothrak, the sacred city of the Dothraki, the petty villains responsible had naturally enraged the masters of this place.
The khals of the other khalasars in Vaes Dothrak blamed Drogo for it and demanded that he severely punish the criminals who had committed such an evil deed.
And they would offer no help at all, because this too was punishment for Drogo's khalasar.
Because the people who had done these things were slave servants belonging to his khaleesi wife, he ought to bear responsibility for it.
So Drogo left in anger.
Daenerys Targaryen remained in Vaes Dothrak with her child, Rhaego, waiting for her husband to lead his riders out to punish the culprits and recover her stolen dragon eggs.
And from the day that happened until now, three full months had already passed.
And today was the day Drogo was returning to Vaes Dothrak with his khalasar.
Early in the day, Dany came holding Rhaego in her arms and waited at the gate of this city of horselords.
Jorah Mormont stood quietly at her side, his gaze from time to time falling on Dany, or on Rhaego.
Above the three of them, the Horse Gate towered high. In his mother's arms, Rhaego sucked his thumb and looked curiously at the two grand statues.
The Horse Gate was an arch formed by two gigantic bronze stallions. The horses reared on their hind legs, their forelegs leaping high, and their four hooves met more than thirty meters above the road, forming a pointed arc as they faced one another from either side.
Rhaego seemed to have taken an interest in them.
Dany looked upon her child with a face full of love, as though he were her whole world.
And just then, the sound of hooves came on the wind.
Looking up, she saw a cavalry force from a khalasar rapidly approaching along the distant road.
Drogo had returned.
A smile curved Dany's lips.
At the Horse Gate, it was naturally not only Daenerys and her people who were waiting. The leaders of the various Dothraki khalasars had all come with their bloodriders and were waiting here as well.
The crime committed by Daenerys's slaves and servants had been too grave. This matter had to be washed clean with blood.
No blood might be spilled in Vaes Dothrak, so they had to come here to witness Drogo and his khalasar's apology to the sacred city.
A red horse broke ahead of the rest, kicking up dust as it came to a stop before Dany.