Ch.397Who Are You (2)

I have never seen a monster in my life, let alone a proper animal. Occasionally, I might see dogs or cats wandering around the village, or if I’m lucky, a bird might descend from the sky.

Part of it is because I’m always cooped up in the mansion and rarely go outside, but our territory itself is so peaceful that there’s almost no chance to see monsters.

Beasts and monsters would only raid or attack if there was something worth taking in our territory. Before proper development, it’s just a backwater village, nothing more.

Still, very occasionally, a lost beast or monster might appear, but each time, my father personally steps forward and slaughters it.

Let me emphasize—slaughters. Though I’ve never seen it myself, the territory’s residents have testified to it, so it must be one-sided.

Anyway, I’ve never seen even low-level monsters like goblins or orcs, much less skeletons revived through sorcery.

“So you’re saying that Clark… was revived by our sorcery…?”

[Yes, you fools. I even left a message for you personally.]

In this bizarre situation, a skeleton sits proudly before me, speaking confidently. Despite being nothing but bones, his imposing frame is noticeable, perhaps due to the worn armor he wears.

This alone is confusing enough, but this skeleton claims to be my father’s father—my grandfather, Clark Mayshall—and says he was revived by our sorcery.

Unable to believe this incredible story, I shifted my gaze from Clark to look beside him.

Kate was sitting next to him, still appearing intimidated for some reason.

“Ms. Kate?”

“Y-yes?”

“Is what he’s saying really true?”

Skeletons are symbolic of necromancers and one of the main forces of devil worshippers.

The more skilled the necromancer, the stronger their skeletons become and the more they can control.

Naturally, they’re perceived as evil entities, yet here one is, brought directly by Kate, the Grand Inquisitor. It’s a completely incongruous combination.

“Yes… he is definitely the guest Lord Luminus mentioned.”

Kate answered my question quietly. Her voice lacked confidence, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

What could have happened to make her so withdrawn? Perhaps something occurred between her and Clark during their meeting?

The possibility seems high, as Clark appears to be a skeleton with enough intelligence to speak.

To ordinary people, he would appear to be just a monster—a revived corpse summoned by a necromancer. And Kate is a Grand Inquisitor with strong faith.

‘They must have clashed.’

Luminus never actually told her to bring Clark. He only gave an ambiguous oracle to bring a distinguished guest.

I decided I should talk with her later, then turned my attention back to Clark.

[Do you believe me now? And Hawk, you fool, didn’t you ask me to bring my corpse personally?]

Though he was speaking, his jaw didn’t move at all, and golden light flickered in his eye sockets.

Hearing this, my father stood dumbfounded before awkwardly smiling and scratching under his nose.

It’s an unbelievable phenomenon, but his complex expression showed he felt he had to believe it.

“Well… I did say that. But who told you to come like this? If Cardinal Kate hadn’t been with you, I would have split your head with an axe.”

[Hahaha! How amusing. Well, you might be able to defeat me now. I’m just bones, so I can hardly use my strength.]

“Ughh…”

Ariel, who had been watching their conversation, rubbed her eyes and groaned. After rubbing them several times, she looked at Clark again.

But then she tilted her head, seemingly seeing something strange about him. I gently asked her with curiosity.

“What’s wrong, Ariel? Are you feeling unwell?”

“No. That. That.”

[Hohohoho.]

Ariel pointed at Clark, referring to him as “that.” Clark laughed incredulously at her words.

It was an extremely rude remark, but she still doesn’t know that Clark is her great-grandfather. Besides, since he’s a skeleton, it’s natural she would call him “that.”

I was making a mental note to educate her about this soon when she spoke up, clearly confused.

“It’s strangely overlapping?”

“Overlapping?”

“Yes. A person and bones are overlapping.”

At first, I was confused by what she meant, but then I understood. I prepared a notebook for better comprehension.

It seems the soul isn’t dwelling within the bones; rather, the bones are attached to the soul like armor.

When I asked Ariel if that’s how it appeared to her, she nodded vigorously.

“Yes! Yes! That’s how it looks!”

“I see. Since Ariel can see souls, that’s how it would appear to her.”

[Come to think of it, didn’t you say this child is the offspring of the World Tree?]

Clark stroked his chin while staring at Ariel. Hearing this, I opened my mouth with a question.

“Grandfather.”

[Hmm? Why are you calling me?]

“Do you also know about the Biography of Xenon and how this world progresses?”

If he knew nothing, he would have come looking for my father, not me. When he died, I hadn’t even been born yet.

But Clark immediately recognized me as his grandson when he saw me. Moreover, he knows about Ariel’s identity without being told.

This suggests he’s aware of how the world has changed. I’m somewhat curious how a dead person would know this.

[Of course. How could I find peace without a proper funeral? But I couldn’t interfere with the mortal world, so I’ve been wandering here and there.]

“Huh? Do you need a funeral to find peace?”

[Naturally. I used to think funerals were just a courtesy to the deceased, but after dying, I learned otherwise. But regardless, there’s another reason I know about the world’s changes.]

“Another reason?”

I wondered if he might have received divine help. However, the answer from Clark’s mouth far exceeded my imagination.

[I stayed by my son’s side, fearing he might die.]

“…What?”

Father reacted with great surprise. His face showed not so much horror as utter bewilderment.

Clark nodded as if he understood the reaction, then said something unthinkable for an ordinary person.

[No matter what, I left you alone without siblings, so I had to stay by your side out of guilt. Contrary to my worries, you grew up well on your own, but devil worshippers still remained.]

“…”

[Fortunately, I erased my traces well, so no one targeted my son. It helped that your post was in the border region.]

“No. If that’s the case, you should have appeared in my dreams to tell me where your body was. I’ve heard that sometimes deceased parents or ancestors help in dreams. Why didn’t you do that, Father? I could have given you a proper funeral.”

Father challenged him, clearly now believing that Clark was indeed his father.

As he said, there are cases where deceased family members or distant ancestors appear in dreams to offer advice.

However, this is extremely rare, and due to the nature of dreams, most people forget them upon waking, so it’s not very useful.

But Clark answered my father’s accusation with a heavy voice and what seemed like sunken eyes (just a feeling).

[I couldn’t. If I had, you would have realized the existence of devil worshippers. Your mother was already taken by them; I couldn’t lose you too.]

“What? Were those thieving bastards devil worshippers?”

Father asked Clark urgently, clearly shocked.

Father had told me before. When he was about seven years old, he lost his mother to an attack by bandits.

Since there were frequent wars between territories when my father was young, there would naturally be many bandits, but he never dreamed they might be devil worshippers.

[To be precise, they were men bribed by devil worshippers. It was a time of war, so a simple bribe would have been enough. Unfortunately, I was in another region at the time… I’m truly sorry.]

“…Forget it. It’s in the past now. I can only pray she went to a better place. Anyway, what were you doing when you died? You weren’t someone who would go down easily.”

There was a moment of solemnity, but my father quickly changed the subject. The shocking revelations are coming so fast it’s hard to keep up.

Clark took a moment to think after hearing my father’s question, then looked at me. When our eyes met, I stiffened with an inexplicable tension.

Then he spoke quietly, with an uncertain voice.

[Grandson, I hear your book mentions the Seven Deadly Sins? Something like the highest-ranking officials among devil worshippers?]

“Ah… yes. Seven of them: Wrath, Envy, Lust, Pride, Greed, Sloth, and Gluttony.”

[Simply put, I killed all those bastards, and died in the process.]

“What?”

What kind of monster is he? Even Xenon, the protagonist, struggled against just one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Everyone listening was dumbfounded by this story.

An ordinary person might think it was just boasting, but I had heard from Rina before. There were traces of an intense battle in the underground temple.

I also knew that the summoning ritual was only half successful, resulting in my being summoned here. And the cause of all this was right in front of me.

While everyone was too shocked to speak, just gaping with open mouths, Clark tilted his head as if reminiscing about old times while stroking his chin.

[But there weren’t seven, only five. They had similar titles to these Seven Deadly Sins or whatever. Despair, Corruption, Lamentation, Regret, Denial. I don’t know about now, but back then they were the lords—the leaders.]

“And you killed them all by yourself?”

[I used the characteristics of the underground temple. The space was narrow, so they couldn’t use powerful magic. Moreover, the summoning ritual was almost complete, so they couldn’t escape via teleportation. If the space had been wider, I might have only taken down one or two.]

Should I call this modesty? The evidence is so clear that it can’t possibly be a lie.

Yet none of this is known to the world. Above all, as I saw in my dream, he was someone who gave up being a hero.

Combining all this, one question arises:

What mission has our family been given from the past, and what history do we have that made Clark give up being a hero?

It seems to have been passed down through generations, yet nothing is known about it. This is somewhat strange.

[Well, besides them, there was one among the cardinals, but my grandson and this girl took care of him well. Not just that, their very existence has been exposed, and they’re being annihilated one by one.]

“Um… Grandfather Clark?”

[Yes? Do you have something to say?]

“Yes. Did you end the pursuit of devil worshippers in your generation?”

[I deliberately ended it. I was sick of it, and the organization I belonged to was annihilated.]

This confirms it. Though it ended with Clark’s generation, our family had been pursuing devil worshippers from the distant past until recently.

But why did they start pursuing them in the first place? All records were destroyed by Clark, but now the person himself is right in front of us.

With a feeling of tension, I swallowed hard before carefully asking:

“Then… why did our family start pursuing devil worshippers in the first place?”

[Are you curious?]

“How could I not be?”

Red hair and golden eyes. A striking appearance that can’t help but stand out, plus exceptional talent passed down through generations.

Yet not a single line is recorded in history books. There should be at least one line about the red hair, but there isn’t.

This suggests they operated thoroughly in the shadows. What could be the reason?

Perhaps descendants of heroes, or maybe hidden royal descendants?

In a situation where history has been completely lost and nothing is known, Clark finally opened his tightly closed mouth.

[We were slaves.]

And the truth that came from his mouth…

[Slaves yearning for freedom.]

…was something I never could have imagined.