Ch.155155. Let’s Don’t Mind It

# Day 1 of Properly Wearing the Ring of Exploration

I’ve fallen into an extremely awkward situation.

[Searching for additional information related to characteristics.]

[Favorability: 81/100]

[Favorability: 55/100]

[Favorability: 56/100]

In order, these were the favorability ratings of Celia, Alkine, and Lilith.

Alkine’s went up during yesterday’s drinking session. As for Lilith, I have no idea where hers went up.

Thinking about it just gives me a headache. I decided to just check what they’re thinking.

By the way, Lilith accepted this quite nonchalantly.

-“What are you going to do after reading my thoughts?”

-“I’m not going to do anything.”

-“Then do as you please. Just be mindful.”

She told me to use it while respecting boundaries. She really has a tough personality.

So I checked their thoughts, and they were as follows:

[She keeps looking at you. She wants to keep looking at you. Continuously.]

[She’s hoping you’ll tell her she’s pretty once more.]

[She wants to go back and rest soon.]

…This was truly awkward.

Except for Lilith, they were all thinking about me, which was incredibly burdensome.

Celia was revealing something so intense that the Ring of Exploration’s description became strangely twisted, while Alkine was fixated on being called “pretty,” which I don’t even remember saying.

Lilith was the only one with normal thoughts.

“Hey, guys. Can we just not use this and go back to how we were before…?”

“No.”

“No.”

“They said no.”

It was truly troublesome, but there seemed to be no way back.

All I could do was try not to be conscious of it.

“Let’s head back first.”

I decided to ignore the thoughts of those two and act according to Lilith’s thoughts.

I also didn’t want strange rumors spreading after we left, so I informed Belmont and the four elderly church officials we had contracted with that we would be leaving early.

As for Lina’s punishment, we left that to them and decided to only take the heretics we had originally captured.

I had a feeling that taking Lina would only complicate matters. Besides, it seemed more natural that she was caught causing trouble here.

Anyway. We’re going back.

Phew. Finally heading back.

“Hey, Lilith.”

“What?”

“This is all because of you.”

“Is it really my fault? They’re the ones who did the kidnapping and all that bad stuff.”

Though she said that, her inner thoughts were quite different.

[She feels sorry for causing you unnecessary trouble.]

She’s not being honest.

…No, wait. Why am I using this so casually?

When this thing is attached, I end up using it almost unconsciously.

Anyway, we started heading back with the six bound heretics in tow.

///

The Imperial Palace underground prison. Currently where Fanatic and the other heretics are locked up.

I stopped by briefly.

There was something I was curious about.

“Lugra.”

“…O Chaos.”

Yes, this.

I wasn’t particularly curious about why Lugra, the agent of will and one of the more docile heretics, was part of their group.

“Fate led me here.”

I already knew I’d get this kind of answer.

What I was curious about was the concept of chaos itself. I had no idea why I was being called chaos.

[He feels extreme fear toward you.]

Since the exploration only showed this kind of information, I wanted to hear an explanation directly from him.

“What is chaos?”

“The one who distorts fate. A being outside the realm.”

But after hearing it, I wondered if I should have asked at all. I couldn’t understand what he meant.

“I tried to correct the flow, but it was futile. O Chaos. This lowly one dares to request. Please show mercy to the world… no, even if the world resists chaos, please bestow your mercy.”

If I were to interpret it loosely, it meant this:

I am indeed a character that wasn’t in the original work, and because of that, I’ve become someone who twists the original fate.

Lugra had tried to do something about this twisted fate and ended up joining the heretics.

I understand that much. But the status of “chaos” in his mind seems too elevated to just leave it at that.

Could it be related to the deep darkness that Ludovic saw?

The more I thought about it, the more complicated it became… but I couldn’t ignore what I’d already learned.

So I decided to leave Lugra, who was already imprisoned for being involved with heretics, and just use Celia-GPT instead.

“Celia, what do you think?”

Before she could even open her mouth, a message appeared.

[She’s happy that you’re relying on her.]

I only recently discovered this, but if someone’s thoughts are intense enough, they appear without me actively trying to check them.

I realized this could be distracting during combat. I’d need to either take it off or get used to it beforehand.

Anyway, I asked for Celia’s help instead of pondering alone, and that was a good decision.

“Before that, I want to ask something. Ludion, do you remember the names of the abilities we’ve acquired?”

“I remember. They were… Kairos, Ananke, and Phanes, right?”

“That’s right. These are terms I’ve never heard before, and I suspect they might be proper nouns. Do you know anything about them?”

I hadn’t thought deeply about them, assuming they were just system-given skills.

But thinking about it, from Celia’s perspective, it would be natural to wonder what these names meant.

This world probably doesn’t have Greek or Roman mythology.

Kairos. Ananke. Phanes.

They’re the names of gods related to time, providence, and creation, which are what the girls control.

I only knew that much, so I told her, and Celia came to a conclusion as if it were obvious.

“Perhaps Ludion is also connected to something related to the Favorability System?”

She was suggesting that my ability might be in the same realm as theirs.

It was the best guess for now. Actually, I think she’s right.

But it made me uneasy. If what she said was true, then my ability would be…

‘Chaos.’

The primordial chaos. That’s what it meant.

The moment I had that thought, system windows began to appear rapidly before my eyes.

[They are beginning to take interest in you.]

[They are beginning to take interest in you.]

[They are beginning to take interest in you.]

[They are beginning to take interest in you.]

.

.

.

[They are watching your movements.]

[They think you are trying to know too much.]

[They wish you would no longer interfere with them.]

Along with numerous interests, the will of “them” was revealed for the first time.

…Um. Uh.

“Celia, did you see that too?”

“See what?”

It seems Celia couldn’t see it. It must have appeared only to me.

I subtly informed her that their will had been conveyed to me, and after pondering for a while, she advised:

“Why not just ignore it?”

“…Is that okay?”

“Just don’t interfere as they wish. It’s not like you’re planning to meet them and cause trouble right now, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Then I think Ludion can continue living as usual. Isn’t it your way to think about problems when they arise? Above all… no, it’s nothing.”

Celia hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to say something.

[She agonizes over not knowing what will happen to you after that matter is dealt with.]

But her thoughts had already appeared.

“Please don’t read my thoughts right now.”

I decided not to tell her that I had already read them, given her belated request.

///

There had been many incidents, and the existence of “them” had been confirmed.

But that was my problem, and since the world doesn’t revolve around me alone, I couldn’t focus solely on that.

It had been a day since we returned to the academy. A new week had begun.

“Why does Monday exist?”

“Hey, today’s a holiday, so bear with it.”

I could hear people chattering around.

Yes, today was the day of the final exam results announcement and the beginning of vacation.

As I was wondering what to do during the break, someone approached me.

“Getting along well from the morning?”

It was Lilith. She seemed to be commenting on Celia, who had been clinging to one of my arms for a while.

“Did you check the exam results?”

“Just did.”

“How were they?”

“Go see for yourselves.”

Judging by her tone, Lilith’s scores must be mediocre.

Well, she completely botched the written exam, so it’s to be expected.

No matter how low the weight of the written exam, in the end, the written portion has the biggest impact when practical scores are close to perfect.

When I checked, sure enough, she was hanging out in the lower ranks.

She seems to be putting in considerable effort… but it looks like Lilith has an astonishingly lack of talent for written exams.

In contrast, Celia and I were… lined up at the very top.

The exam was genuinely difficult, but thanks to memorizing various things, I was able to find all the correct answers this time too.

Of course, the top spot would go to Celia…

[Top Student – Ludion]

Wait, why?

I’m sure they had agreed to give it to Celia.

Professor! What’s going on here?