Ch.144Chapter 144

I first met Oko when I was young, attending my grandfather’s religious activities.

While my grandfather recited prayers, the believers in front of him bowed their heads and maintained silence.

In the direction they were bowing, there was Oko, watching them with a rather uncomfortable-looking smile.

My grandfather says he encountered Oko after having my father, whom he can no longer see.

And he began to worship Oko as a god after witnessing the powers Oko wielded.

Due to Oko’s nature, direct interference in the human world is supposedly impossible.

What was it again?

He said something complicated about how he literally could only observe the phenomena occurring now, and that trying to change things as he pleased would violate universal law.

I wondered what was so impressive about that ability, but Oko’s power truly shined when dealing with divine beings.

While he couldn’t touch the human world because it was an ecosystem itself, the divine beings were all entities symbolizing specific concepts.

This meant that despite interacting like humans, they could never become something natural.

So he monitored them and controlled their every action, sometimes eliminating a divine being with just a pointing finger.

Grandfather said this appeared like miracles performed for humans, which is why he continued to worship him.

But what meaning could all that have to me as a child?

I just accepted it and moved on.

In that sense, since childhood, Oko was just a pretty older sister to me, nothing more, nothing less.

Seeing Oko doting on me would make me mischievous, and I would often say things like:

“If you think I’m so cute, why don’t you marry me!”

At first, Oko would just laugh and listen to my words.

I was only joking too, so things would just pass by.

“So, The Watcher.”

“Yes, grandfather.”

“What do you plan to do with my grandson now?”

“I think a singularity will come soon when peace can exist without Raedan. May I kidnap him then?”

“Well, do as you please.”

Hmm.

It was rather disconcerting that they were seriously having such an insane conversation.

If asked to name the most comfortable people in this empire, I would certainly list Oko, my grandfather, and the restaurant owner.

Among them, Oko, with whom I’ve spent the most time, would be first.

While I was happy when Oko was happy, could this feeling be considered that kind of emotion?

I’m not sure.

“Where did my opinion evaporate to?”

“So you don’t want to live with me?”

“You know that giving such extreme options is manipulative, right?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll let you see your grandfather and the restaurant owner at least once every two days.”

Why are you casually making it sound like some cool deal?

“I still have many things I want to do.”

“Well, I can wait. I have nothing but time.”

She seemed determined never to yield to my objections.

Moreover, what made me speechless was that this was actually possible for her.

“Someone as old as you, with me…”

“Hehe, what did you say, Raedan?”

A dark aura began creeping up behind Oko.

Seeing this, my grandfather suddenly fled the scene, leaving only Oko and me at the table.

Hey, shouldn’t you help your grandson when he’s in danger, not run away?!

I’m going on a chore strike for a week.

“Uh, um. I mean…”

“You mean?”

“…I was going to say that I’m honored by your affection, Oko.”

Despite the predictable pattern, Oko would always freeze when I said such things.

Good.

I should press the advantage and strike a few more blows.

“Well, you know. I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as Oko among all races, and I’ve rarely seen someone so beautiful with such a good personality…!”

“S-stop! Trying to weasel your way out again…!”

Success.

Today, Raedan Tanthyn survived The Watcher.

Despite her tone sounding like she was scolding me, Oko’s expression had a distinctly pleased look to it.

Indeed, even divine beings have honest bodies, it seems.

“Isn’t it better this way?”

“…You, just wait and see.”

“Haha, even in the future, I’ll still be with Oko…”

Just as I was about to deliver another blow to Oko for good measure.

Suddenly, a light began to shimmer around me.

The light soon began to take form, gradually transforming into the shape of someone I knew.

Because of this, I withdrew what I was about to say to Oko and tensed up.

Ah, this one’s coming again.

Nothing good ever came from these visits.

It wasn’t too late yet.

Considering this being’s summoning time, if I got up right now, I could predict and avoid it.

Thinking this, I immediately placed my hand on the chair.

But a variable emerged.

It was progressing much faster than the usual manifestation time.

Seeing the lower body completely emerge in an instant, I tried to get up and react, albeit belatedly.

“Ack!”

“…No, don’t run away.”

In the end, I couldn’t escape.

Something soft suddenly embraced me, spoke in a monotone voice, and began rubbing its cheek against mine.

Having experienced this often, I didn’t feel much aversion, but I tried to avoid it because Oko would be disgusted seeing me like this.

Sure enough.

Oko’s face reddened, and with an angry expression, she shouted at the being holding me.

“Aghartha! I told you not to handle Raedan carelessly!”

“…Hugging isn’t careless handling.”

“He doesn’t like it!”

“Do you dislike it?”

Aghartha, the divine being, blinked her kitten-like eyes and stared at me.

Uh, well.

Like Oko, Aghartha was quite beautiful, so if asked if I really disliked it…

“I’m not sure.”

“See?”

“Raedan!”

Ah, I was trying to be diplomatic.

Having accidentally spoken honestly, Oko was now furious, looking like she might do something to me at any moment.

“Eek!”

Feeling that things might get serious if this continued, I quickly detached Aghartha.

Aghartha then looked at Oko with a slightly disappointed expression.

“You want him all to yourself. That’s unfair, Oko.”

“…Ugh. It’s because you make Raedan uncomfortable!”

“But when I see Raedan, I just want to hug him.”

“Can’t you control yourself?”

“It’s because you liked Raedan first, so it spread to me…”

“S-stop! Okay, I get it, just stop!”

Whenever I watched, it seemed Oko never won an argument against Aghartha.

How should I put it? Aghartha did strange things, but she was so confident that Oko’s objections seemed futile.

Well, despite reacting like that, the two were ultimately best friends.

From the beginning, their powers seemed interconnected.

If Oko’s power was related to ‘seeing,’ then Aghartha’s ability was something like recording what Oko saw, if I remember correctly.

…The unique concepts of divine beings gave me a headache when I tried to study them, so I had long decided to ignore them.

Besides, according to Oko, I didn’t need to worry about other divine beings.

“So, why did you suddenly come here now?”

“…Oko, we have another task.”

“Sigh, why now of all times?”

“Yes.”

Oko visibly showed her displeasure.

For Oko, a task meant dealing with foreign divine beings who tried to invade the empire with absurd logic.

When facing weaker divine beings, she would handle them casually while eating with me, but when Aghartha called directly, it meant the target was somewhat stronger.

“…Raedan, I wanted to comfort you after your hard day.”

“Just finish quickly and come back. That’s all.”

At Aghartha’s straightforward answer, Oko made a blank expression and punched Aghartha’s shoulder.

“Ouch.”

“Easy for you to say! You’re not the one doing it, so you’re just talking nonsense, aren’t you?!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll use Raedan and leave him clean.”

“Don’t say such strange things!”

Oko’s fist flew once more, and Aghartha ran to me with tears welling in her eyes.

“Waaah, Oko is hitting me, Raedan.”

“…Haha.”

Right.

I could understand Oko’s feelings.

She had been surprised because of me today, and now she was suddenly being called away after barely spending time with me.

How bad must she feel?

It’s like sitting down to drink and immediately getting called by the knighthood.

“…Alright, let’s go. It’s Raedan’s country, so we need to protect it.”

Oko rose from her seat and approached me.

Then, for some reason, she blushed and pretended to be distracted.

“…Don’t you have something for me?”

Sigh.

It’s really troublesome when you keep initiating such unreasonable flirting.

But if I didn’t do anything, I’d feel too guilty.

I extended my arms and hugged Oko tightly.

This must be what Oko wanted.

“Hnngh.”

“Come back safely. I’ll be waiting here.”

Even after finishing my words, I continued hugging her, swaying slightly, before letting go.

Doing so made her face turn as red as a radish, clearly properly charged up.

“I-I’ll be going then!”

Watching Oko disappear in an instant, I smiled bitterly.

Seeing her do such selflessly beneficial things made me feel uneasy.

This was also why I continued to work harder in the knighthood.

To create a slightly more pleasant world where I could peacefully enjoy time with Oko, grandfather, and the restaurant owner.

But now there wasn’t much left to do.

Most divine beings had naturally integrated into human groups, and the bandits who used to invade from outside no longer dared approach the empire.

“Raedan, what shall we do now?”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

“If there’s nothing to do, let’s hug.”

“…Let me think about that a bit more.”

It was peaceful.

So peaceful that I wondered if things could really go this well.

And as history has proven, just like slipping on ice, when things go too smoothly, injuries tend to occur.

I could now realize that the outside had been unusually quiet for some time.

Something was strange.

It didn’t make sense for it to be this quiet in the afternoon.

As I cautiously went outside, Aghartha followed me.

And once outside, I witnessed a shocking scene and heard words.

At the palace, the knight commander of Lintfia was holding a child who appeared to be about 10 years old, shouting to the citizens:

“The Empress has assassinated the Emperor! From now on, the Empress’s title is revoked, and all divine beings are designated as traitors!”