Ch.213The NPC Approaching the Truth (1)

In my past life, probably 20 years. In this life, definitely 20 years. For a combined 40 years, I had never mixed flesh with anyone until today.

“Shit. This is truly horrific.”

My first time being in a Spirit King’s back hole? Is this what I’ve been holding out for? I feel so disgusted and miserable!!

After pulling my hand out of what was probably that hole of his, I backed away, and after taking a few steps back—

-Stagger.

“Huh?”

-Whoosh!

Before I could collapse backward due to the lack of feeling in my left foot that had stepped on the Spirit King’s back, I felt myself being gently caught from behind as I sank down.

“Jack! Are you okay?! No, you’re not okay!! I’ll, for now! I’ll back away right now?!”

Slightly surprised by the soft sensation completely pressed against my back, I nodded at Miho’s words. She immediately wrapped her arms around my waist and quickly retreated backward.

Ah, she’s in half-beast form? Her hands have transformed into animal paws.

“Sis!!”

“Yes! Here, a potion!!”

As Miho, who had hurriedly carried me away, shouted to Chikuyo, she took out a potion she had been keeping… why did it come from between her breasts? Why was the potion bottle tucked in her cleavage?

“Here, drink it quickly!”

“Uh, yeah… thanks.”

Since both my hands were like rags, Chikuyo put the bottle directly to my lips, and I drank her potion while feeling slightly uncomfortable.

It’s clear she’s looking at me with concern as I drink the potion after getting injured, but it’s a bit creepy how Chikuyo’s face flushes intensely every time I take a gulp.

“Gulp. Drinking well? Hehe, how is it? Is ‘my potion’ tasty?”

She’s not doing this on purpose, right? I really hope not. I pretended not to hear and finished drinking the potion, and Chikuyo was about to retrieve the bottle…

-Snatch! Whoosh!!

“Ah!!”

“There’s no need to keep an empty bottle.”

In the middle of her attempt, Miho snatched the bottle and threw it far into the forest. Both Chikuyo and Miho, these sisters seem to be getting more and more openly dark, which is really concerning.

However, in response to Miho’s action, Chikuyo only drooped her ears and tail, looking dejected without saying anything. She began watching as my hands and feet slowly recovered. But wait, that’s not the important thing right now.

“What about the Spirit King? Did it work, according to plan?”

“Hm? Oh. Just a moment, I’ll go check.”

Since Miho was still holding me from behind, naturally Chikuyo moved first.

Well. If things didn’t go according to plan, we’d have no choice but to enter phase 2, stab his legs, let the ghoul escape far away, and retreat individually. The Spirit King’s fragment was hoping for protection, but the Spirit Elder didn’t want to change the current situation. I tried my best, so I hope this will be enough…

“Lick, lick.”

“…Hey.”

“Let me lick it. It looks so painful.”

While my legs were still not fully healed and I couldn’t move, Miho gently pulled my injured hand and very carefully began licking the wounded area. I naturally thought I should push her away since I had already taken a potion and would heal soon, but.

“Lick, sniff. Lick.”

“……”

Somehow, seeing Miho whimpering and even sniffling as she carefully licked my wounds, I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. I slowly moved my other arm, which was less injured, and placed my hand on Miho’s head behind me.

“Sorry. Were you worried?”

“…Yes. But Jack doesn’t need to apologize. If I had fought alongside you, I would have just been a burden and you would have been hurt even more.”

Has the child matured after going through trials and leveling up? She looks quite adorable with her eyebrows drooping as she says such thoughtful words while diligently licking my wounds.

-Pat pat.

“Purr~”

As I slowly stroke her head, Miho stops licking my wounds and starts purring, vibrating her throat. Geez, why do all our kids love being petted so much?

While I was comforting Miho for a moment, Chikuyo slowly approached.

“Pet me too…”

“When I pet you, you pounce on me.”

“That’s just, my tail…”

“More importantly, what about the Spirit King?”

“Purrrr~♡”

“Whine…”

Are you two fighting over me right now? Miho purrs as if she’s won, while Chikuyo droops her eyebrows and whines. No, more importantly, what happened to the Spirit King?!

“Child who has deviated from the cycl…”

“I told you my name is Jack.”

“Yes, human child Jack.”

Does the Spirit Elder need to add a prefix when addressing someone? The glowing rectangular object that had approached with Salt Non began to speak about what Chikuyo hadn’t answered.

“The Spirit King is now merging with the fragment. A part of his soul has returned and is combining in his mental world.”

“…I don’t really understand, but he was frozen in the same position where Jack had stabbed his butt.”

I see, but I don’t think you needed to specifically mention the butt. Without context, that could cause misunderstandings. I nodded appropriately in response to their words, and the Spirit Elder continued.

“You were thinking of reviving the Spirit King’s fragment, so did you know it was the Spirit King’s soul?”

“…Well, sort of?”

In the game, the Spirit King was already treated as dead. Even when the Spirit Elder appeared, the Spirit King’s existence wasn’t visible. Rather, you could collect the Spirit King’s fragments somewhere around here.

Moreover, the Spirit King’s fragments were meaningless materials that had no use except for the Spirit Mage job among mage classes. However, if you collected all the Spirit King’s fragments scattered across the continent, there was a sub-story revealing that they were fragments of the Spirit King’s soul, but I remember skipping after the first few lines since I wasn’t particularly interested in that story.

“You’re not a Spirit Mage, nor do you seem to have received the blessing of spirits. How did you know?”

I can’t say I knew from playing a game, so I told him about meeting the Spirit King in the mental world. After hearing my answer, the Spirit Elder suddenly sighed.

“Indeed, you are a child who has deviated from the cycle. To be able to communicate with spirits despite having almost no magical power.”

“What exactly do you mean by ‘deviated from the cycle’ that you’ve been saying?”

With the mindset that I’d have to wait until the Spirit King regained consciousness, I asked about what I’d been curious about. While others were just calling me an elf’s child or a beast-kin’s child, why do you keep saying I’ve deviated from something?

“Indeed, you didn’t know. You are completely deviated from the cycle of this world. More precisely, you are walking a path that is not the ‘predetermined cycle.'”

“Predetermined cycle? What is that?”

As I pressed further about the Spirit Elder’s vague words, the three people nearby also began to listen quietly, seemingly curious. And then…

[This continent, Eighth, is destroyed by demons, the Seven Deadly Sins, and recreated by humans in a cycle. You are a being who might break that flow, the [predetermined cycle], a deviated existence.]

Seeing the Spirit Elder interfering with my status window to answer in a way that only I could hear, I became unable to even make a sound.

*

I was so shocked by the Spirit Elder interfering with my status window and displaying text—Korean text that even an illiterate like me could read—that I couldn’t say anything. Shit, this must be what they mean when they say you can’t even scream when you’re truly shocked. I literally couldn’t make a peep.

When the three people started looking at us strangely as our conversation suddenly stopped, I told them I wanted to speak with the Spirit Elder alone and moved to a different spot. Specifically, right in front of the Spirit Elder.

“…What exactly are you? Don’t tell me, the one who interfered with my trial…”

“No. I am seeing you for the first time today, here.”

“Then, how did you interfere with the status window… no, this revelation?”

“I was once worshipped as ‘a god of a race.’ Merely projecting will onto a revelation like this is possible even without great power.”

I didn’t really suspect the Spirit Elder was the being who interfered with me, but learning that even someone as weakened as the Spirit Elder could interfere with the status window if they were a ‘godly’ being was quite a valuable discovery.

It might help me find that bastard who supposedly killed Luxuria in the past, whom I’ll have to meet someday.

“It seems someone interfered with you during Naiad’s trial.”

“…Did you know I received her trial?”

“Of course. She was the first child born between the Spirit King and me. How is that child doing?”

“…She’s doing well as the chief of the beast-kin.”

“I see. So that child is still keeping the promise with her contractor.”

“That’s, nice to hear, but could we get back to what we were discussing…”

It’s good that the atmosphere is becoming like that of a parent happy to hear about their child rather than following a deadly story, but that’s not what’s important right now, is it?

“Yes, we were talking about how this world cycles.”

“And what do you mean by saying I’ll break that cycle? I’m just planning to escape to the Celestial Realm because I want to live peacefully.”

“Your clear purpose makes it even more so. Child, how did you know about the existence of the Celestial Realm?”

“That’s…”

It’s because of the game! The Celestial Realm content is still far off, isn’t it?! In the first place, at a point where Lust hasn’t even appeared in Ponia yet, this world is still in a pre-tutorial state? Of course, I’m certain this world isn’t just a game, but I can’t ignore the similar history either.

However, I couldn’t possibly tell the Spirit Elder such things. I just said I heard about it while working as a forest keeper.

“You’re not skilled at lying.”

“…Most people don’t notice.”

“If I were human, I might have been fooled, but I am the Spirit Elder.”

“Anyway, I somehow know about it, that’s all. That’s not the important part, is it?”

“True, that is not the important part. However…”

The Spirit Elder paused briefly, sighed like a human, and then slowly continued.

“The problem is that no person currently on the ground could possibly know about the Celestial Realm that disappeared about 8,000 years ago.”

“…What?”

W-what is that supposed to mean? The Celestial Realm disappeared?! Shit, wait a minute? Then what about Rei? She’s definitely a Celestial in the story?!

…I was brain-frozen by the shocking realization that my girlfriend might be over 7,000 years old.