Ch.233Chapter 233 – The Meaning of the Suitable One

After a while, we began heading deep into the lair, guided by Dbell and Rubrum.

To be precise, Dbell was doing the guiding, while Rubrum merely followed behind him.

I was cautiously keeping an eye on Rubrum, whose facial wound had stopped bleeding, when Dbell suddenly spoke up.

[Just walking is rather dull.]

Dbell shrugged his shoulders and looked around, as if wanting to lighten the mood a bit.

[It’s quite a distance to the seal. Would you like to ask me something?]

At Dbell’s words, Rubrum shot him a glare but soon turned his head away. He didn’t seem to want any involvement.

‘Questions, huh.’

Well, I did have a few things I wanted to ask.

About why they called Chris the “suitable one” and about Dbell’s true identity here.

‘Something feels off.’

Since earlier, I’d been feeling a sense of discomfort looking at Dbell—he didn’t give off the impression of being a living being.

It felt like conversing with an inanimate object rather than a living creature. I thought perhaps my nerves were on edge after fighting in the dragon armor not long ago, but it seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt this way, as Beatrice quietly asked:

“What exactly is that body of yours?”

[You mean my body?]

“Yes.”

Beatrice took a moment to gather her breath before asking quietly.

“No matter how I look at it, that doesn’t seem like a living body.”

[Ah, so that’s what it was.]

Dbell continued walking ahead of us as he spoke.

[It’s nothing special. I gained some insight and manufactured this body.]

“Manufactured?”

[Yes, manufactured.]

Dbell said quietly.

[Let me be clear. The real Dbell died long ago.]

“What?!”

Hearing Lara’s startled voice, Dbell chuckled and said:

[I don’t understand why you’re surprised. All living beings die when their time comes, don’t they?]

Thinking about it, he was right.

I’d heard that dwarves live long lives, though not as long as elves, so it hadn’t really occurred to me, but all living things eventually die.

[Actually, come to think of it, when people hear my name, they should first assume I’m an impostor, but you all seemed to accept me as genuine without question?]

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

Asam nodded in agreement while looking at us.

Thinking about it, his reaction was the normal one.

[Would you mind telling me why you didn’t doubt that I was the real Dbell?]

After briefly exchanging glances with Eve, Sarah, and Beatrice, and following a quick vote conducted through eye contact alone, I was once again selected as the representative and spoke up.

“Since your companions are still alive, we figured it wouldn’t be strange for you to be alive too.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Asam asked incredulously.

I glanced at him once, then looked at Beatrice beside me, trying to pass the explanation duty to her, when Dbell looked at me and asked:

[My companions? Who did you meet?]

“Lumen and Abies.”

At the mention of the two Hero Party members—Lumen the lich and Abies the elf who existed in the special state of Einherjar—Dbell nodded.

[Abies, that elf is one thing… but Lumen, that fellow is still alive?]

“Whether we can call that ‘alive’ is debatable.”

Whether a lich, the King of the Dead, should be considered a living being seemed like a topic that required discussion. As I finished my brief explanation, Dbell let out an incredulous laugh.

[Ha, really. Those two think so similarly.]

Though he said that, Dbell somehow looked pleased.

[To get back on topic, as I said earlier, I’m not the real Dbell. More accurately, I’m his replica, possessing his memories and personality.]

“How? And why would you…?”

[As for how, well, I had help from magicians who occasionally visited Ferrarius and craftsmen who lived back then. Right up until I was about to die of old age. And as for why I became this body…]

Dbell’s casual demeanor became a bit more solemn.

Soon, he spoke in a serious voice.

[You know that dwarves aren’t good at keeping records, right?]

“All too well.”

I responded strongly without thinking, having once racked my brain over that very issue before coming here. Dbell nodded in understanding and said:

[We like working with objects, but writing things down or leaving records… honestly, we find it bothersome. We think, why bother keeping records when we can remember things ourselves?]

That mindset needs correction.

I unconsciously put my hand to my forehead at Dbell’s words. Even with good memory, there are limits, and the result was their deplorable state of record-keeping. What kind of confidence was that?

Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one thinking this—I saw Eve putting her hand to her forehead like me, while Beatrice and Sarah sighed and turned their heads away.

[…Well, various things happened, and when I joined the Hero Party, most of the members, including Lumen and Roxanna, nagged me endlessly about keeping records for the future. Even right after our journey ended.]

I heard the armor trembling slightly.

Apparently, he had received quite an earful.

[Even after we returned to our respective homelands, they would nag whenever they contacted me. Then, I had a thought.]

“What thought?”

[Simply put, isn’t the purpose of keeping records to pass knowledge to future generations?]

I felt slightly uneasy at Dbell’s words.

I could somewhat predict what was coming next, but my courage to hear it was slightly diminishing.

[So I thought, if I could create something that would retain my memories and experiences for a long time, I wouldn’t need to bother with records, right?]

“…So that’s why you created the current you.”

[That’s right.]

I put my hand to my forehead again as I looked at Dbell, who seemed somehow proud.

It seemed the Hero Party could defeat the Demon Lord but couldn’t fix the dwarves’ habit of not keeping proper records.

‘Lumen would love this.’

If Lumen heard what was just said, he’d probably smack his forehead hard and seek revenge, saying his words had fallen on deaf ears.

Though in a simple physical fight, the bone-only Lumen would probably lose to an opponent made of armor.

[Well, because I could only transfer my memories when I was near death, the real me didn’t get to see me functioning properly for long.]

That was a close call.

I could only sigh thinking about how important records might have been lost due to one dwarf’s foolish idea.

Ignoring our reactions, Dbell stretched his back and said:

[Well, that’s the origin story of me, ‘Dbell No. 1.’ A great invention created by a great dwarf who mobilized magicians and craftsmen to research and preserve his memories and experiences for future generations.]

The clanking sound from Dbell suggested he was proud of this fact.

After hearing Dbell’s words, Lara nodded and said:

“So that’s what the legend among dwarves was about.”

“Legend?”

“There was a legend that when the world faced danger, the great dwarf would appear again.”

I see.

It wasn’t an impossible legend. And Dbell, pleased with Lara’s words, struck a pose as if showing off his muscles and said:

[As you can see, the great dwarf is alive and moving right here.]

“Ah, yes.”

Even Lara, a fellow dwarf, seemed unconvinced by his display.

Watching Dbell happily boasting, I quietly said:

“…So you’re essentially a being created to preserve records.”

[That’s right. Though there were other purposes too.]

“Other purposes?”

At my question, Dbell nodded, then glanced at Rubrum beside him and quietly said:

[Purposes that have already failed.]

“Failed purposes, huh.”

As I was checking on the condition of my companions, Beatrice suddenly caught my eye.

‘Wait, there was that information.’

Information about a national treasure being stolen from Ferrarius long ago. They said the ruler of the dwarves was greatly angered.

‘I have another question now.’

I thought about asking right away but decided to set it aside for now. There was another question I wanted to ask first.

“You’ve been calling Chris the ‘suitable one’ for a while now.”

[That’s right.]

“What does that mean? And why is Chris the suitable one?”

[Ah, that.]

Dbell moved his finger as if scratching his cheek.

[The suitable one means exactly what it sounds like. It means she’s suitable for receiving Evgenia’s divine power.]

That wasn’t wrong.

Since she could receive Evgenia’s divine power, calling her suitable made sense.

But my intuition told me there was more to it.

“There must be more to it than that.”

At my words, Dbell paused slightly.

“What exactly did you do to Chris?”

I asked with a hint of killing intent. Though he was a fake, Dbell seemed to sense the killing intent, as he answered seriously without the light attitude from before:

[Let me be clear. I’ve done nothing to harm her.]

Dbell looked at me and quietly said:

[I’ll explain. I promise. But first, after we go inside.]

After saying that, Dbell soon moved his finger to point at a hole in the ground.

[Now, if we go through that hole, we’ll reach the seal. Let’s head there first.]

Dbell turned his head again to look at us. And then, in a voice different from before, he said:

[While we wait for your companion who’s undergoing the trial at the seal, I’ll tell you everything I can.]

His resolute, solemn voice filled the passage.

+

Following Dbell’s guidance, we arrived in front of a tightly closed white door.

‘Chris.’

Despite the injury I’d inflicted on Rubrum earlier and the conversation with Dbell, my original purpose of rescuing Chris remained unchanged. I gently approached the tightly closed door and touched it.

-Crackle

A white spark flew from the doorknob. Shaking my slightly numb hand, I quietly said:

“So it’s saying ‘don’t intrude’?”

[Just as you thought. Since you only touched it lightly, it only gave off a small spark.]

Dbell approached from behind and said:

[This seal can only be entered by the suitable one in the first place.]

“What if someone forces their way in?”

[I don’t know what would happen. The life of the suitable one inside might be endangered.]

“Are you sure?”

[No.]

After saying that, Dbell turned his head toward me and said:

[But as they say, don’t go looking for trouble. I’d advise against touching it, just in case.]

At Dbell’s words, I took a small step back. Even though rescuing Chris was the goal, it was better to observe the situation first, given the uncertainties.

Then Dbell looked at me and quietly said:

[Trust the young lady inside. She’ll overcome the trial and appear before you again.]

My companions began to approach from behind. And Dbell found a position where he could see all of us and sat down.

[First, we should start with that seal. Could you briefly tell me how much you know about what kind of seal it is?]

“Only that it was created by the god Evgenia and was meant as a precaution for something.”

After looking at Asam, Eina, Perry, and Mask one by one, I quietly added. Those four probably didn’t know this fact, nor what would be explained next, but I’d have to explain it to them later.

“…And I know that the god Evgenia is dead.”

There was also a hypothesis that Chris had shared with me, but it would be better to ask about that later.

[You know the essentials.]

Dbell looked at Rubrum’s face again. But seeing no change in his expression, he turned back to us and quietly said:

[Then let me get straight to the point—the meaning of the term ‘suitable one.’]

Sitting down on the ground, Dbell looked up at us.

[It’s not simply an expression used because she can receive Evgenia’s divine power.]

After examining each of us, Dbell spoke again.

[The term ‘suitable one’ refers to someone who can inherit Evgenia’s divine power and become a new god.]

Dbell’s words quietly echoed around us.