Ch.157The Scales (2)

Ortes pondered the giant’s final question for a long time.

It was a connection he had formed, and also a connection that had formed him. However, Ortes set aside these personal considerations for the moment.

He tried to understand, ‘Why is this question being asked?’

Judging from what the ancient priest of Phoibos had said, he likely regarded Karisia as an incarnation or personification of the Ten Commandments. Translating to a position that exists in this era, Tower Master would be the closest equivalent.

That’s why the ancient priest of Phoibos was convinced that Ortes himself should naturally be hostile to Karisia.

However, there were many suspicious aspects that made the Thunder Giant’s question seem disconnected from the priest’s concerns. If the purpose was to determine ‘whether he had sided with the Demon King,’ there would have been no need to ask in such a roundabout way.

From the beginning, the fact that “return” was placed on the opposite side of Karisia’s scale was an unusual element. If Ortes were to return without confronting the Demon King, the ancient priests’ objectives would likely end in failure.

‘The opposite of return, huh.’

Was the Thunder Giant’s purpose to find a motivation to bind me to this world?

Ortes completed his hypothesis. The easiest way to verify its truth or falsehood would be to look into the giant’s thoughts. Ortes hoped that the history accumulated by the giant, or the sacred relic it inhabited, over the past century would be simple and regular.

“Don’t-open-it.”

For the first time, the giant reacted to his actions.

“Huh? Why not? The person from Hestia explained that I could do anything since I have the proper qualifications.”

Though there might be subtle differences in the details, Ortes decided to be a bit brazen. After all, the giant was the one who had first put on a shameless face and said what it wanted.

“…The incarnation of the Ten Commandments is also within the influence of the sacred relic. By observing the relic, you would also observe that.”

An implication that while Ortes’s eyes might be able to withstand the information load, Ortes himself would struggle to endure it.

“Karisia? Why did you drag her into this? Are you insane?”

Ortes exclaimed while massaging his temple. Given her personality, she would have fired a beam cannon the moment she regained consciousness, along with a rebuke about whether they intended to destroy a valuable relic.

“…”

Unable to answer, the Thunder Giant, despite its enormous size, seemed to exude something like fatigue. Seeing possibility in its attitude, Ortes pressed on.

“You probably summoned me as a counter or assassin against the Demon King who would return someday. This verification procedure with the sacred relic is likely a reliability test for the ultimate weapon you’ve prepared.”

“Reliability? For what?”

“Should I call it character? A personality test to ensure I won’t betray you and side with the Demon King. The priest of Hestia reading my memories from Earth, my original world, was probably for that reason too.”

After encountering the ghost of the ancient priest who appeared unexpectedly when he went to find Phoibos’s crystal, Ortes had continued his deductions about the priest’s ghost for quite some time.

When he met the priest of Hestia, he had given up early and helped the ghost find peace because it claimed “I don’t know much,” but this time he was determined to properly unravel their secrets.

“Originally, our meeting should have been more systematic.”

The priest of Phoibos didn’t use the dream space. Unlike the other two sacred relics, they met directly in reality. Ortes found the reason for this difference in the “temple.”

“I discovered Phoibos’s relic in the sanctuary of its temple. Originally, the other relics should have been found in their respective temples as well. Above all, there should have been a relic at the place where I awoke, providing guidance for the journey ahead.”

There was a moment of silence. The Thunder Giant furrowed its brow—or more precisely, the lightning that contorted to look like a furrowed brow.

“What makes you so certain?”

“This is your life’s great undertaking, isn’t it? Surely you wouldn’t just randomly pick someone and throw them into the world saying, ‘Go catch the Demon King’? I think the proper order would have been to provide information and ideological education first.”

Ortes shrugged and added in a mocking tone. Putting it nicely, it would have been ideological education; putting it harshly, it would have been brainwashing. After all, their only goal would have been to create an ‘ultimate weapon to confront the Demon King.’

“But you see, the state of the place where I woke up was quite a mess. The Ten Towers probably swept through it. The first sacred relic I was supposed to meet went missing in the process, and during the war period, other relics were either looted or hidden, removing them from their original locations.”

Only Phoibos’s relic remained intact in its original place. Thus, the priest of Phoibos could manifest directly in reality, while the other priests could only appear in dreams, at the boundary between reality and fantasy.

“That’s hypothesis number one. Are there any incorrect parts?”

The Thunder Giant merely held up the scale, as if to say that if Ortes wanted an answer, he must first answer its question. But Ortes had no intention of playing along with the giant’s Zen riddles.

“I’ve already received too many questions from you all. Whatever your plans may be, ultimately you intend to defeat the Demon King, and I acknowledge the necessity of that goal. Stop the riddle games and answer my question.”

Ortes didn’t expect the giant to readily answer. In fact, he wasn’t even trying to get an answer from the giant.

Now that he knew Karisia was also inside the relic, couldn’t he just observe Aigio’s scale while avoiding her? He prepared his eyes for proper observation.

However, the giant’s response was unexpected.

“That-is-your-answer.”

“What?”

“Both sides have answered the questions. The scale’s judgment has been made, so now I shall bring the two weights together.”

Kwah-rung! An intense flash of light that dyed the entire world pure white.

All the colors of the fantasy world created by the sacred relic were bleached away, leaving only white. In that moment, Ortes and Karisia saw the same scene. When the two layers where Karisia and Ortes were staying could no longer be distinguished in the complete whiteness, the two spaces merged into one.

***

Damn these priests. No wonder they became ghosts.

I could somewhat understand pulling people into dreams without consent, but dragging in a complete stranger who has nothing to do with our business? That’s going too far.

Karisia waved at me with an expression that appeared almost innocent. Knowing that my boss could fire death beams with that exact same expression, I could only awkwardly wave back in greeting.

I wasn’t worried about her firing death beams at me now. Though I did think the giant gentleman who was supposed to provide explanations might physically evaporate the moment he opened his mouth.

I hoped Karisia’s temperament wouldn’t kick in, allowing the Thunder Giant’s existence to be extended even by a minute or second.

“What did you choose?”

“Hm? Were you also asked to choose something, boss?”

“They kept shoving the scale at me and making me choose between two options.”

From Karisia’s answer, I could get a clue as to why Aigio’s scale had only activated now.

Unlike the first and second instances where I alone was the subject of questioning, this time they had also questioned Karisia.

‘Did they need two people? Is it because of the symbolism of the scale, or is there some other reason? I can’t really tell.’

“They asked me to choose between what I originally wanted and something else equally precious. I was still thinking about it when they said they’d heard my answer well enough, as if there was a time limit.”

“Thinking about it…”

Karisia blinked a few times. I tried to read emotions from her eyes, but it was one of those rare situations where it was difficult to guess. For a while, I had prided myself on being able to discern Karisia’s inner thoughts faster than anyone without even opening my “Eye,” but perhaps I’d gotten rusty from being out in the field so often lately.

“I shall pronounce judgment.”

The Thunder Giant appeared before us two, parting the clouds. Somehow its right side seemed slightly blurred.

“The weight with which you think of each other is equal. Therefore, I shall reveal the true power of the scale.”

“What?”

The scale in the giant’s grasp sparkled. The golden scale shattered into pieces, then transformed into particles of light equal to its mass and approached me.

As the light seeped into me, it inputted instructions. When I had searched for this sacred relic in the Amimone Magic Tower, I hadn’t observed the scale deeply.

I had only read its name and learned its superficial function.

The surface power of Aigio’s scale was the power of Heavenly Mandate.

If one swears on the scale to achieve a certain purpose, the scale imposes certain restrictions but grants heavenly fortune in return. It’s a power that crafts fate more favorably—truly befitting a great deity.

Those who receive the aid of the Heavenly Mandate obtain decisive success at decisive moments. If they bet their entire fortune on a gamble, the best cards would gather in their hand; if they engage in a final battle with an enemy, the enemy’s old wound would act up at the most critical moment.

But I hadn’t included this power among my candidates for use. Because the moment one violates the restrictions set by the scale, the backlash of distorting fate would strike, taking away more than what was gained.

…This was the “surface” function.

The true power of the ability revealed by the priest of Aigio was similar to the surface power.

The surface power shows the path to the Heavenly Mandate and exacts a price if one strays from that path.

The real power was the opposite.

“…First pay the price to obtain the Heavenly Mandate. What an honest power.”