Ch.204Chapter 204. Epilogue (4)

Chapter 204. Epilogue (4)

Administrator of the status window?! That was even harder to believe than Tuntuni’s upcoming ascension.

Well, there is a way to find out if it’s true or not.

[If you’re really the administrator, give MeleeSpy a 30-day community ban]

[Skynet: Ah. There seems to be a misunderstanding.]

[Skynet: I don’t manage the community, but rather the transcendent system known as the status window. My job is to maintain and repair the data center that forms the foundation of the status window.]

[Skynet: If I could ban people from the community, I would have banned people like Atomic Rex or Charon first.]

That’s true.

But wait, data center? Does that mean there’s some kind of server room? I’m confused by this sudden introduction of modern concepts.

[So the status window runs on mechanical devices?]

[Skynet: No. A massive tree imbued with magical power serves as the data center for the status window.]

[Skynet: I call it Yggdrasil.]

I guess they replaced it with something natural since this is a fantasy world. Maybe the goddess Ishtania is just a concept-obsessed person too.

[So]

[Why is the status window administrator looking for Malak’s messenger?]

This is what’s important. Why hide such crucial information until after the dimensional gate was closed, only to reveal it to me now?

[Skynet: I would like Malak to determine whether the status window should continue to exist.]

…What?

[Skynet: I will show you where Yggdrasil is located.]

[Skynet: I will accept whatever decision Malak makes. Please see it for yourself and make your judgment.]

***

Skynet’s sudden proposal added a new item to my schedule: ‘Visit Yggdrasil.’

I couldn’t bring many people. It was quite a long journey, and everyone had their own roles to fulfill, so it was difficult to pull them away.

So I decided to bring just Lakye, my dedicated bodyguard.

Oh, of course I’m not going with Lakye in person. I was injured and physically weak.

Though unlikely, this proposal could be a trap set to kill me. Lakye would be fine as the strongest being in this world with the ability to teleport using “God Summon,” but I wouldn’t be.

Like I did with Lakye before, I decided to transfer my consciousness to Totem #3 and embark on the journey.

“Have a safe trip.”

I waved my intact left hand at Lakye, who was packing and preparing to leave.

“…Did it have to be this paladin?”

Lakye glared at Hannah, the paladin standing next to me.

Look, this couldn’t be helped. Hannah was the quickest to volunteer for the temporary bodyguard position.

She’s a level 8 paladin. Unless super-powerful individuals like MeleeSpy or Princess Dina attack me, she can handle anything.

It was the most rational decision, and I hoped Lakye would understand despite disliking Hannah, but…

“Have a safe trip~!”

Seeing Hannah smiling and waving at Lakye, who was grinding his teeth in response, that seemed unlikely.

Hmm. I should transfer my consciousness to Totem #3 soon and talk to him. Need to help him cool down.

After sending Lakye off, Hannah and I were left alone.

“…What do we do now?”

Hannah scratched her head, seeming awkward.

“Nothing special. Just follow me around and help me up occasionally. Stop anyone who gets too close.”

“That’s it? But I’m a bodyguard, shouldn’t I be doing something more professional? Like tasting your food first…”

Pfft. This friend has watched too many dramas and movies. What am I, a royal?

“I can receive healing and purification just by going near the totem, so why bother? You don’t need to go that far.”

I just need to go near the totem and cast ‘Healing Totem’ before eating.

“Don’t overthink it.”

“Got it.”

She’s called a bodyguard, but she’s really just someone who moves around for me when physical strength is needed. Like a well-trained younger sister who brings food when I say ‘food’ and water when I say ‘water.’

“…What did you do on Earth?”

Hannah broke the silence first as we were both searching for something to say.

“Me? I just… graduated college and was preparing for employment while doing some part-time work. What about you?”

The job preparation part is a lie. I just didn’t want to admit I was a NEET.

Since I’ve already lied about being a messenger, a small lie like this should be fine, right?

Hannah smirked proudly and said:

“Programmer.”

“Pro gamer?”

“No, programmer! Web developer.”

Web developer?

“Oh! That coding? Thing?”

I honestly don’t know much about it. I was a humanities student from a no-name university on the “liberal arts – humanities – chicken shop & unemployed” tech tree.

“Well, something like that.”

“Wow. So you were an engineering student?”

“That’s right.”

Hannah was an engineering student? Doesn’t seem to fit with the socially awkward Hannah I know.

Anyway, once we broke the ice, we chatted away, losing track of time.

After a while, when our conversation was winding down, I transferred my consciousness to Totem #3. I explained to Hannah that I was making contact with Malak.

– Guardian Lakye.

“Ah, Lord Malak. We’ve almost reached our destination.”

Lakye agreed to call me Malak when I was in totem form. I also agreed to use formal speech.

We coordinated this in advance to avoid mistakes later.

– I see.

Lakye was running like the wind. The surrounding scenery was passing by so quickly.

It was almost like The Fast and the Furious.

– Any trouble on the way?

“There were some demons nearly dying from magi deficiency. I made sure to end their lives properly.”

– Well done.

“…How is that paladin doing?”

– She’s guarding the messenger.

Referring to myself in the third person definitely feels awkward. Like role-playing.

“She might do strange things to the messenger’s body.”

Come on, surely not. Hannah isn’t that creepy.

I was having a casual conversation with Lakye when:

“Ah, we’ve arrived.”

Lakye, who had been running diligently, stopped in front of a massive rock face.

I was supposed to send a message upon arrival, right? I sent it immediately.

[We’re here. Please open the door]

[Skynet: Confirmed.]

Shortly after, the rock face split open, revealing a new space.

So Skynet and Yggdrasil are in here.

“I’m going in.”

– Good.

Lakye moved forward slowly, but without any sign of fear.

The inside of the rock face was like… a sort of ecological park where structures and nature blended together. There was a stream flowing and houses too.

“Hello. I’m Skynet. You must be Lord Malak and his guardian?”

A woman wearing a shabby cloak appeared before Lakye. She looked very stern.

So Skynet was a woman. Maybe concept-obsessed people exist regardless of age and gender.

The woman who introduced herself as Skynet guided us to Yggdrasil.

“Oh, hello! I’m a paladin!”

“Meow meow!”

Both unfamiliar and familiar faces passed by. LoveDeathCat… I wondered where he went after the war, but he’s been living here.

Then where did the unicorn that LoveDeathCat used to ride go? Did it just fly away because it was a goddess’s sacred beast?

I didn’t bother asking.

“This is Yggdrasil.”

A massive tree greeted me and Lakye. It was a tree with roots that reached deep into the ground.

I feel like I’ve seen something similar before… Ah, right.

Sesu, the creator of the spirit realm. Yggdrasil closely resembled that tree.

– It’s wrapped in divine power. A divine object indeed.

It was divine, but it felt different from the goddess’s divinity. If I had to compare, it was closer to Roa.

As I was pondering this:

Neigh-!

With a whinny, a unicorn appeared from behind Yggdrasil. A beautiful white horse stared at me.

And then.

[It seems Malak is gone.]

It suddenly spoke to me!

– …What.

[Don’t be alarmed, Malak’s proxy. My voice is only heard in your mind.]

– …!

How did it know my identity? How is it speaking?

“Please converse. Then…”

Skynet withdrew, and Lakye drew his meteor sword, glaring at the unicorn.

– So you were Roa.

After a moment of confusion, I alternately examined the unicorn and Yggdrasil, and could understand their identity.

The divine power surrounding Yggdrasil was connected to the unicorn. This white horse was Yggdrasil, and Yggdrasil was this white horse.

The true administrator of the status window wasn’t Skynet, but this animal. Or perhaps it was the status window itself.

…The reason I didn’t notice when I met it directly was probably because I only saw the unicorn.

The unicorn, looking at Lakye, sent another telepathic message.

[Long ago, the world was endangered because of the evil god. The playful god and the evil god waged a long war.]

I listened quietly.

[I, like Malak, loved this world and my believers. But I wasn’t as strong as he was. Even if I descended directly or manifested, there were clear limitations.]

The unicorn looked up at Yggdrasil.

[I made a deal with the playful god. I stole a branch from Sesu and fled to the material world, becoming mortal. To establish the system you call the status window.]

– …

This was the moment when the truth about the status window was revealed.

[That was the best I could do.]

– What do you want from me?

I asked out of pure curiosity. It doesn’t seem like I was called with bad intentions.

[Now that demons and the evil god have fallen, and Ishtania has been banished, the status window has served its purpose.]

The unicorn continued.

[Take all of my divine power. Then I and the status window will disappear.]

[You deserve that right.]