Alomitsu - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Wedge

In 1368 AD, medieval Europe.

This era was described as “the era of ignorance and superstition,” with “religious speech above personal experience and science.”

This era was also called the dark age.

Yes, I came to the edge of this dark age in the Middle Ages for some reason. No one put scientific theories in their hearts and always believed in the gods that do not exist.

However, these things were no longer important now. I only cared about how long I could live. I no longer had any illusions about whether I could return to my original era.

It was raining heavily outside, and the window made of ashlar was constantly leaking rainwater. Being impoverished, I could no longer make up for this window. Even the window covering seemed precarious in the heavy rain.

The heavy wind in the dark kept turning the paper under my pen, but I still had to continue writing. The quill in my hand constantly made me irritated because of the insufficient ink.

I sat on a creaking chair and looked at the oil lamp placed on the table. It flickered and dimmed, and it was possible that it would go out at any time.

I stepped into a forbidden place, and I deeply regret it. If there was really a god out there, please let me survive this. I will definitely not touch this forbidden place again and return to my carefree lifestyle.

I turned my head and looked at the box next to the desk. This box was made of terracotta embossed. I couldn’t tell its age, and I wasn’t the only one. The archaeologists of this era also couldn’t figure out the age of this box.

This was the box left by my grandfather, who died of a heart attack. When I saw him for the last time, his whole body was rotten and his face was horrified, but the doctor’s answer was the pain caused by the inability to breathe, so he ruled out the cause of murder.

This box contains a lot of newspapers, books, and yellowed envelopes edited by my grandfather, but some papers broke into pieces when picked up due to the age, and the information obtained from them was extremely limited and rich. Mysteriously, it came to this century with me and was later discovered by me.

However, based on the clues I have obtained, I called the things recorded in these documents “Alomitsu.”

This pronoun had never appeared in history, and has never been spread in the mouths of others, everything was a mystery. The origin of this terracotta box began with my grandfather who was an excellent sailor in 1855.

Grandfather and his shipmates heard that mermaids appeared in the Black Sea. In these turbulent times, if they caught a mermaid, they would earn a huge reward, and they wouldn’t have to struggle in their little corner of society as they have been.

My grandfather was not an atheist, and he was even horribly stupid. He attributed everything to God. This stupid superstition also allowed my parents to take me away from my grandfather early.

Grandfather sold the house in 1896, and even the donkey he relied on had been sold just for the unrealistic mermaid. At that time, the ship hadn’t been invented for long. For a regular civilian like him, if he wanted to rent a steam boat, he needed to pay an extremely high price.

My grandfather sold everything, and on the grounds of being unwell, he cheated some of the money from my parents that year. With this money, my grandfather rented a steam boat and took his group of shipmates to the Black Sea. The calm sea that day reflected the sparkles of the sun, It looked like a beautiful day out, and my grandfather was extremely confident about it.

However, it was not surprising that my grandfather did not catch a mermaid. Instead, with this terracotta embossed box full of strange patterns, my grandfather who lost everything was ridiculed by others.

But my grandfather still stubbornly said that this was God’s guidance, and the things inside must be treasures. When they opened it, all they found were documents and papers, and the musty sheepskin scroll.

This discovery by my grandfather attracted the attention of all walks of life, but when everyone discovered that the paper came from the Black Death, which was an item from the early 14th century and the 1950s, this caused many people to panic.

They all shouted that my grandfather was crazy. He brought demons to everyone here, and my grandfather went to jail because of this. Because no one dared to touch it, the clay box was held by people and thrown into the seabed again.

But my grandfather still firmly believed that this was the guidance of God, and everyone really thought that grandfather was crazy that time, including me.

When my grandfather came out of prison, he somehow managed to find the box again. He took the box and lived alone in the village forest. He was not discovered until his body was covered with maggots, which also attracted more people, thinking that my grandfather sold his soul to the devil.

It seems that the God my grandfather believed in did not bring him to heaven, but left his body in the world, otherwise his body would not be eaten away by nature.

The year my grandfather died, I was twenty-eight years old. In 1896, my father and I came to the place where my grandfather lived. The remote village in the jurisdiction of Constantinople was obviously the capital, but it was in a mess.

In the forest where my grandfather died, the tomb-keeper used his never-extinguished oil lamp to forbid the devil to live under this sacred church. The devil he was pertaining to was my grandfather.

My father and I had no other way but to dig a grave for him in a corner of the forest. Our relatives had been notified of my grandfather’s death, but none of these relatives and friends wanted to see my grandfather. They also believed that my grandfather was cursed by the devil.

The day before the burial, I was too tired to dig, so I came to the log cabin where my grandfather died for a little rest. I looked at this log cabin very suspiciously.

How did my grandfather live under these conditions?

The roof of the cabin could directly see the sky, and the smell of rotten soil was also floating in the cabin. Even if the door was open and the roof was leaking, the smell could not be dissipated.

It smelled like curry, and it also smelled like paprika, which made me almost spit it out. I walked to my grandfather’s bedroom and saw an engraved statue on the table, which revealed an ancient mystery but with a terrifying feeling. If you connected it with the word God, you could only say that it represented Cthulhu.

I put this statue in my pocket, and I could bring it to my archaeological instructor for investigation. Besides, there was no reason for me to stay here. There were no other ornaments except for the dilapidated bed and table.

When I was about to leave this uncomfortable cabin, I found an irregular round hole on the right side of the cabin. I was curious and reached out to touch the round hole. Unexpectedly, when I touched it, I discovered that it looked and felt like a green slimy liquid.

Bird droppings? Or was it some kind of beast liquid? I walked out the door and looked outside the round hole. As expected, the outside of the round hole was like a green liquid coated with honey.

This time, it attracted my curiosity. What are these liquids? The body fluids of beasts and insects couldn’t amount to so much. I really had never seen this kind of fluid.

I glanced at my father and found that he drank a sip of the inferior wine he loved, while muttering. My mother once advised him not to drink anymore, but my father had never listened. Thankfully, at least on this occasion, this was good as it allowed me to explore.

Seeing this scene, I picked up my father’s belt and walked towards the corresponding direction of the round hole.

It was noon in the forest now. The sun was mottled, and the branches tangled upside down were like the shadow of a witch’s hand on the damp soil.

Full of desire for adventure, I walked straight for about ten minutes and smiled when I saw the dark cave in front of me.

There might be hidden secrets in it like the green slime, which would definitely satisfy my desire for exploration. Maybe I would discover a new continent like Columbus, and I would stay in history from now on.

At that time, I was not afraid of anything. I was full of curiosity about the world and imagined being admired by the world like a great man.

I flipped over my father’s belt. This belt was a small portable bag that could hold wine, guns, tarps, and small bottles of oil.

There was also a reason why we often carry these. The great Edison invented the lamp for us to watch the ranch at night, and in order to prevent thieves from stealing the sheep, it was more convenient to use oil lamps. As long as there were branches or wood fires, they could be lit. They could drive away wolves or other beasts.

I chose a relatively sturdy tree stick on the ground. I wrapped the tarp around the top of the stick, poured the oil on the upper part, and then set the oil on fire with flint and steel. I lifted the burning tree stick with my left hand. I took out the flintlock with my right hand and shot it when necessary to drive away ferocious beasts.

What I was going on now could be called an expedition, and I had to ensure my safety. Especially because in the stories I heard, a cave was most often a bear’s residence.

“I will only go in for a short while, and I will come out immediately. I also need courage like Columbus.” That’s what I thought in my mind, and I hesitated at the opening for more than a minute. Finally, I took a deep breath and walked into this deep and silent cave.