abcnovels
Chapter 52: Truth
Chapter 52: Truth
< Chapter 52: Truth (3) >
A splendid conference room.
The seven executives of the Saviors of Truth were sitting in various poses.
‘It’s been almost a year since all seven of us gathered.’
One of them.
Hermit looked around with sharp eyes.
Maestro was listening to the fantastic harmony of string instruments and piano, calming his mind and body.
“You still have a boring hobby. Honey.”
A beautiful woman approached Maestro and leaned on him.
“There’s something more fun than this. How about today?”
“Get lost. Lust.”
Lust
Sexual desire.
She was one of the seven executives of the Savior of Truth.
Her provocative outfit that only showed her skin revealed her personality.
“Don’t be like that~ You like playing with your instruments, right?”
Lust pressed her body tightly against him and whispered in his ear as if licking it.
“My body also makes amazing sounds. Not interested?”
Her breath and voice were hot and thrilling. And with her voluptuous body rubbing against him, no ordinary man could resist her.
“This is the second time. I told you to get lost.”
Of course, Maestro was no ordinary man.
“Tsk.”
At his firm words, Lust pouted her lips and pulled away from him.
Then she returned to her original seat and crossed her legs in a seductive manner.
“Keeheehee. You got rejected again.”
“Shut up, Alchemist.”
“I have some time today. How about it?”
Lust chuckled.
“Are you crazy? Sleep with you? I’ll be sure to be pickled in formalin the next day.”
A white man interrupted their conversation.
“I’ll say the same thing to you. Who would dare to sleep with you? I’ll be sure to be a mummy the next day.”
“What are you talking about? Maybe if it was Trickster, but do you think I would do that to our honey?”
Lust’s words made the white man furious.
“This bitch? Are you confessing that you did it on purpose that day? Huh?”
“What are you, a scammer rabbit bastard? Wanna fight?”
“Oh! Fight! And the winner will fight me next.”
Vagabond intervened between Lust and Trickster.
“Why is this fight maniac bastard joining in?”
A mess in 5 minutes.
That was the word that best described the scene right now.
“You’re all the same as ever.”
A woman approached Hermit, who was watching the scene.
“So here you are.”
“So are you. Saint.”
She had beautiful platinum hair and a matching white plate mail.
She looked like a paladin, copied exactly from the image.
She even had a fresh smile that seemed to engrave holiness. Who would think of her as a villain by looking at her?
“By the way, what’s the matter with the urgent summoning?”
“…I don’t know.”
“I hope it ends soon.”
But Hermit knew.
The most insane one among the seven here was this woman. Saint.
“I left in a hurry while cutting off the right arm of a heretic. I’m worried that he might die if I’m too late.”
Saint whispered softly with a thin smile.
“If I don’t cut off his limbs properly, he won’t be saved. What should I do? Oh. Am I taking on another sin?”
“…”
Crazy bitch.
Hermit swallowed that word inside.
“Ah! Hermit. Don’t you want to join our cult? With your skill of piercing blood, excessive bleeding is nothing…”
“I refuse.”
He would refuse even if they gave him a hundred billion. He didn’t want to be with that crazy bitch.
“Hmm. That’s too bad. If you ever change your mind, please contact me anytime.”
“Nonsense.”
It would never happen even if the world turned upside down. That kind of filthy and disgusting torture scene.
“Hey. Don’t be so hard to get. Hermit, if you hear the screams of repentance from the heretics, you’ll surely…”
That’s when it happened.
Creak-
The sound of a huge door opening.
At that sound, everyone stopped their actions and words and quietly returned to their seats and sat down.
Thud thud.
Along with the sound of shoes at regular intervals.
“You’re all here.”
Unknown entered the room.
At the same time, the seven executives stood up from their seats.
“Greetings are over. Sit down, everyone.”
“Yes.”
Unknown sat slantingly on the huge chair in the center, crossed his legs, and propped his chin.
“You all came out of your busy time, so I’ll skip the small talk and just tell you the conclusion.”
At that moment, an image popped up in the center of the conference room.
An image of angels pulling a bow.
“Find this being.”
Unknown’s mouth curled up.
“Find him and bring him to me. He’s a precious guest.”
It was a bright smile like a child who received the gift he wanted for his birthday.
* * *
Reine Linefield.
A half-breed of angels and elves.
She appeared in the book called The War of Sky and Forest and achieved the great feat of stopping the war between angels and elves with her blood and sweat.
Because of that, she earned the title of ‘traitor’ from the angels, and ‘the first great hero’ from the elves.
After the war ended, she succeeded in establishing an independent village for the elves.
…or so they say.
“It’s an honor of our lifetime to have the descendant of such a great ancestor. The Shin family is truly blessed.”
“…Is that so?”
I didn’t even need to ask anything, Jia told me everything.
She excitedly recited Reine Linefield’s achievements from one to ten.
After listening to her, I understood why Jia misunderstood me.
He handled the elf artifacts, used the elf traits, had angel wings, and even wielded a translucent flame that existed in the legend.
This is too obvious.
I would misunderstand too.
“Can I ask you one favor?”
“Of course!”
“Can’t you just act like usual?”
“…What do you mean by usual?”
“First of all, your speech. I don’t mind if you use honorifics, but you’re too polite and it makes me uncomfortable.”
Jia opened her eyes wide.
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“Yeah. Very.”
How should I put it?
It feels ticklish.
“And can you stop calling me ancestor?”
She’s not a parrot.
It feels weird as if she’s a fossil.
“Then, can I call you ancestor instead?”
“Honestly, that title is also very burdensome.”
Jia’s eyes trembled.
“But if I can’t call you ancestor…”
“Are you Hong Gil-dong?”
“…I feel similar.”
“There you go again. Your tone is back to super honorific.”
“Ah.”
Jia covered her mouth with her hand.
“And Jia, you. Lately, when you’re flustered, you keep trying to call me ancestor in front of many people.”
“…That’s…”
Jia avoided my gaze and lowered her head with a sullen expression.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m not blaming you. It’s natural to make mistakes when you mix up titles and names.”
It’s amazing that she managed to distinguish them so far.
“So let’s just unify the titles and names this time.”
“Unify?”
“Yeah. Like we do at school. How about calling me casually?”
Jia’s eyes became as big as lanterns.
“But…”
“But nothing. Just talk casually. Please, I beg you.”
I have to nail it this time.
“Well, at least can we agree on Seo-yul-nim…”
“No. Just call me Seo-yul! Repeat with me.”
Jia closed her mouth tightly and lowered her head, then raised it with a determined expression.
“That… I…”
Then she lowered her head again and muttered.
“Seu-yu… ugh…”
She stuttered trying to call my name.
“Seu-yu-wool…”
Then she covered her face again and muttered.
“Ahh…”
How many times did she repeat this?
“…Okay. Let’s agree on ancestor with polite speech.”
“Ah!”
In the end, I gave up first.
I felt like I was putting too much pressure on Jia.
“Yes!”
Was it that good?
Jia smiled with a happy face.
…Well, as long as she likes it.
“Ah, ancestor.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you one question?”
Jia fiddled with her fingers and looked at me.
“What is it?”
“Well, is your goal still to save the world?”
“…Hmm.”
I don’t know how her train of thought reached world salvation.
But my actual goal is to save the world.
“That’s right.”
If I don’t save it, everyone will die and it will be a ‘nuclear’ ending. There’s no other choice.
“Then the reason why you’re hiding your power now is to avoid the eyes of the enemies who threaten the world?”
This is slightly different.
I don’t have any hidden power, but I have to avoid the eyes of the system and the Savior of Truth.
If I get caught by the system, the vaccine program will kill me.
If I get caught by the Savior of Truth, I’ll die from biological experiments.
“That’s right too.”
I agreed for now.
There was no way to deny it anyway.
“And your low stats are not because you’re acting weak, but because you’re sealing your power?”
I thought it wouldn’t be bad to use the same method that I lied to Ha Si-yeon with this opportunity.
“That’s also because of the enemies’ eyes?”
“Right.”
Jia nodded as if convinced.
“Then the Great Rift is also caused by the enemies who threaten the world?”
The system that I have to avoid caused it, so it’s not a wrong statement.
“That’s right.”
“I see.”
At my consecutive affirmations, Jia’s expression became serious.
“Then can I ask you one more question for the last time?”
“Sure.”
“Ten thousand years ago. The day when all the other races in this world are presumed to have disappeared. What happened that day?”
Jia’s clear eyes stared straight into mine.
“…Hmm.”
I knew this question would come up.
Well, it’s rather brave that you didn’t ask those questions until now.
If I were Jia, I would have gone crazy with curiosity.
Considering Jia’s personality, she probably thought, ‘My ancestor will tell me when the time comes.’
This half-elf incident and the great fissure incident must have exhausted her patience.
Then what should I do?
I could just mumble that I can’t talk as usual,
But thinking about the future when I need Jia’s help, it wouldn’t be bad to tell the truth now.
The hesitation was momentary.
Okay. Let’s talk.
“Ten thousand years ago. A war broke out.”
“A war, huh?”
A war that lasted for ten years.
Commonly known as the ten years of blank.
“Yeah. A world war that divided the world.”
I don’t know why the war started or the exact process. As I said, it wasn’t described in the original work.
But I know the outcome of that war.
“The result was a mutual defeat. There was no winner.”
“…Ah. Did everyone die?”
“No. Not everyone died.”
“Then…?”
It’s true that all the different races disappeared because of that war.
But they didn’t die.
“Do you remember the last demon resurrection incident?”
“Yes. Of course. The demon that was sealed in the field…Ah.”
Jia’s eyes widened.
“Seal!”
“Yeah.”
Not only demons but also many people of different races were sealed and abandoned.
Their seals began to break and they entered the main episode.
“I was one of those sealed ones.”
“My ancestor….”
Of course, it’s a lie.
It’s a credible setting that can convince Jia.
Otherwise, I have no way to explain my existence.
“From now on, a year later, the seals will start to break.”
The ‘revolution’ episode where all kinds of different races reappear on this land, starting with the black demon Mephisto.
“My goal is to prevent another war that will break out after the seals are broken.”
To prevent the war, I have to be at least as strong as the original protagonist.
“If I can’t stop it, the world will be destroyed.”
For me to live.
“That’s all for the explanation. Anything else you’re curious about?”
“….”
Jia just scanned the air with her trembling eyes as if she couldn’t hear me.
She must have been stunned by the shocking stories I told her one after another.
“Jia?”
“Ah. I’m sorry.”
Jia snapped out of it with a start.
“Anything else you’re curious about?”
“Well, no.”
Jia’s expression became blank again.
She must be thinking over what I explained earlier.
“If you don’t understand something, don’t hesitate to ask me again later.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Jia who was lost in thought and I also fell into thought.
By the way, I’m also curious about a lot of things about the war ten thousand years ago, the ten years of blank.
Why did the war break out?
How did all those different races disappear without a trace?
And how did the ‘human race’, which was relatively weak in that fierce war, survive?
Why were all records wiped out?
And so on and so forth.
I asked Shin hyung about this to solve this mystery, but I didn’t get an answer.
He didn’t seem to have any intention of telling me.
At that time, I thought it might be a setting error, but now that this novel has become a reality, that’s probably not it.
It bothers me for some reason.
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