episode_0164

CLVI.

In fact, it was a proposal that I had no choice but to reject the Shadow Spirit’s suggestion to go to the Sumerian kingdom. It may have been an inhumane decision, but I had to make a rational decision.

Because Catherine wasn’t my person. Moreover, the explanation of the shadow inspiration was not enough.

“World Tree? What’s that?”

The shadowy old man’s face suddenly distorted, as if he thought that mentioning the World Tree would bring about some dramatic change.

And the answer is, instead of Shadow Inspiration,

“The World Tree is blessed by the spirits.”

It came from the punishment.

“Spirit’s Blessing?”

“Yes. The blessing of the spirit is said to be a power born by the hands of the god of new nature.”

“God?”

“Yes. It is a power commonly granted to the World Tree, or rather, the Dimension Tree, that allows spirits to maintain an environment similar to the Spirit Realm when they enter within a certain radius of the World Tree.”

What is that?

It’s like a skill in a game where you can completely confess.

The skill name seems like it might be ‘Blessing of Nature’.

The skill effect seems to be something like ‘Maintains the environment within a 39m radius of the caster as the same as the spirit world for 39 minutes.’

“Anyway, so what?”

Yes. That was just enough information to be surprising.

If you are within a certain distance of the World Tree, an environment similar to the spirit world is created.

How does that relate to the conversation we’re having now?

“The spirit realm is a very boring place for spirits, especially if they are not of one of the four major attributes.”

“Hmm. So?”

“That’s why there are quite a few spirits that come out near the World Tree. Since it’s a limited space, the spirits that can come out have to have some skills. So those who have the qualities of a spirit master who can smell the scent of spirits under the shade of the World Tree tend to make contracts with quite superior spirits.”

“Ahh.”

“Furthermore, since the environment under the World Tree is similar to the spirit realm, the cost that the spirit master must bear is significantly reduced.”

The punishment ended there, then suddenly turned his head and glared at the shadowy old man.

“Why, why?”

When the shadow inspiration asked that question, not knowing what to do with that blatant gaze,

“Come to think of it. I haven’t even greeted you yet. To my junior. I guess your life as a spirit is a lot more comfortable these days.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

After the exclamation of me and the shadow inspiration fool dot,

-no!!

A loud answer like you would hear from a private burst out.

Came out.

Behind the shadow inspiration.

A dark spirit appeared behind the shadow inspiration, a real shadow that seemed to rise up and take the shape of a human being.

“The life of a spirit where the junior bows and greets only after the senior bows. Chaam~ It’s so comfortable. Is this the MZ spirit?”

– I, absolutely not! I, I am only concerned about the contractor… … .

Oh, this excuse was a bit lame.

It would be better not to do it. It’s not like that.

“Ah~. I see~. So you were worried that the superhuman spirit master’s divine powers would be insufficient~? I see~? A super high-level dark spirit~? I see~.”

-Ugh! That, that’s not it.

“How many units?”

– This is Genie Tenebella, the three hundred twenty-five thousand two hundred and seventy-five-year-old!!

“I’m a nine-thousand-unit rider. Huh? 300,000? When I was an instructor, the riders I handled were between 290,000 and 440,000. By any chance?”

-Oh, that’s right! Nature!!

“How long has it been since you left the training camp, and you’re still saluting and all? I think it’s all because of my shortcomings. Because I didn’t teach you well. It’s been a while, the training camp director’s son… No, I should contact the training camp director.”

-Yes, I will correct it!

“Don’t you know that they don’t use that word these days? I guess so.”

-I was wrong!!

After that, I continued to swear at the dark spirit of the punishing Shadow for a long time. It was a strange feeling, like I had briefly been to an army I had never been to before.

Why didn’t you stop it?

Why me?

I heard that the punishment was originally a good kid?

Clearly, that dark spirit must have done something wrong. I don’t know what it did wrong, but it must have been so.

Even the Shadow Spirit, the contractor of the dark spirit, is still there.

Of course, judging from the tired look on his face, it doesn’t seem like he ‘didn’t’ stop it, but rather that he ‘couldn’t’ do it.

Again, the contractor inspiration is also sitting still, so why should I?

Anyway, the conversation between the Punisher and the Dark Spirit taught me a few new things and left me with one question.

First of all, the punishment rider is completely and utterly senior.

Just like when we hear our grandfather’s military number, we are shocked to hear that it starts with a year when he was not even born.

‘somehow.’

It was strange that the punishment, which was a spirit from the lightning realm without a spirit king, was being educated to desire… no, to scold… the spirits of the four great attributes where a spirit king exists.

I was just told to do something like PT 8.

It was all because of experience and because he was a former instructor.

The last information we learned was that the dark spirits handled by Shadow Inspiration were superior.

At the same time, the question that arises is,

“It’s a high-level? Not the best? ”

This was it.

At least, since he was a spirit of a lineage without a spirit king, he guessed that the spirit he had contracted with was of the highest level.

“Ah. That? Huh. I made a contract with that guy after I became a superhuman. It was a long time after I became a superhuman.”

That happens sometimes.

When you’re having a conversation with someone, there are times when you get the feeling that something they’re saying casually is a really important part.

It’s still like that now.

“When was it?”

“Huh?”

“When was it? When I made a contract with the spirit of darkness.”

“Before?”

“Our good disciplinary officer said earlier. Dark spirits rarely make contracts with humans. What was your state?”

Was it because it was in front of my daughter?

I wonder if he was afraid that his granddaughter would hear it?

He glanced at his daughter and granddaughter for a while, then opened his mouth heavily.

“I don’t know either.”

“Yes?”

“ Honestly, I, no, and my brother, Papi’s brother and my son tried to tear and kill him.

Juan, his voice as he referred to Dean Hu was still filled with earnest resentment and murderous intent.

Not as a joke or metaphor, but as if he were still living in that pain.

“This is not a joke or metaphor, we were seriously trying to kill that little Juan.”

I couldn’t help but nod my head at the inspiration’s additional comment, which spoke exactly as I felt.

“At that time, I was just a single person who had not even created Shadow. The current Shadow was created by my son. With the Information Guild. With the sole purpose of finding my missing sister.”

“Disappeared?”

“That’s right. After Papi got married, I was locked up for a while and focused on swords. Then my son came to me. He asked for help.”

As expected, this old man still seemed to live in the past. As he gazed at the distant mountains and vaguely reminisced, a smile appeared on his lips.

“When I heard that my daughter had disappeared, I asked for help from the humans I was usually close with and the ones I had some contact with. And I also got rid of those who were getting in the way so that Shadow could gather information smoothly.”

“And finally. We found it. Where Papi is. It’s called Evergreen Academy.”

How did they infiltrate Evergreen?

Well, I naturally had these questions, but I decided to leave them aside. They’re not important right now.

“We first requested to see Juan. And Juan, who had been rumored to have disappeared, appeared in front of us as soon as we showed up. And… … .”

I waited quietly.

I waited for him to open his mouth, without rushing him or showing that I was there as much as possible.

“Juan refused our request to hand over Papi. Outright.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. What was Juan thinking at that time. But we were furious when we heard from Juan about his daughter’s condition, his daughter, his son-in-law, and his granddaughter’s condition.”

That’s worth it.

I also thought that I should have just let him die comfortably or found another way.

“My son and I thought that at least living like that was worse than dying. Just existing without any intention while dreaming the same dream. How is this any different from being undead?”

“Well, you could think of it that way.”

“My son, in particular, was a guy who thought terribly of my sister. When I told him that I would marry a professor instead of a noble family so that I could live like a commoner, he was so happy that he even stepped forward to prepare the wedding. Do you think I would let that guy see my sister like a mummy?”

“Hmm.”

“Moreover, we, no, my son had a promise with Pope Judas. He was promised that he would help him with something and in return, he would receive the great healing method!”

Actually, on the day this inspiration appeared at Dragon Lair, it was Pope Judas who recognized the inspiration along with the Dean.

It turned out that we already had a common face.

Anyway, that’s not the point.

In fact, this is the part of Dean Hu’s past behavior that I found most curious.

Pope Judas.

The part about why you didn’t ask him for help.

The healing magic of Circle 9?

Amazing. How great. It’s life magic that even a great wizard can use.

But isn’t that person a priest who was originally skilled at healing and has reached the level of a superhuman?

What I couldn’t understand most was why the Dean didn’t ask Pope Judas immediately after Catherine’s family was in trouble.

“We didn’t say we would take the children without permission. We suppressed our anger and explained our promise to the Pope. But that crazy bastard Juan was really no different from a madman at that time. He refused, saying that he would treat his son’s family with his own hands. No, he was angry. He was mad. ”

“You’re crazy.”

Although he was originally crazy, the Dean who appears in the story of the shadowy inspiration was truly crazy. To the point that he reminded me of a mad scientist.

“My son couldn’t stand it. No, how could he? His precious younger brother and nephew were being used as clinical trial materials by a human called grandfather! They argued for a long time, bloodshot in their throats, and eventually even got their powers up.”

“Ugh.”

If he even revealed his divine power, then the situation was quite serious.

“I tried to stop my son. But my son rushed at Dean Hu before anyone could do anything. My son, who couldn’t even get through Dean Hu’s defensive magic, drank Diminas.”

“What is that?”

“Ah? Oh, you don’t know. Since you only deal with back alley guys. I thought you would know. Dýnămis. It’s a spell that draws out human potential in an instant. It’s a spell that’s banned from being manufactured on the continent. ”

What kind of English is that?

“At that moment, I also ran towards Juan. After a while, a guy named Fletcher showed up, and he took my son.”

“Really?”

“Killed.”

“Huh?!”

That honest and stubborn Vice-President Fletcher?

No, no. Rather, it may be that he indiscriminately cut down the man who attacked the dean.

“The last thing I saw was my son dying.”

“What is it?”

“Then you say you don’t remember what happens next.”

“Yes?”

This isn’t some kind of cutting magic, just cut it off here.

“When I came to, I was in the island nation of Zipangu, where I had been in Evergreen, and the surrounding area had become so desolate that not even a blade of grass was left.”

What kind of content is this out of the blue!

Of course, even if he were alive now, he would be old enough to not be able to move around comfortably, unless he was a superhuman.

“And next to him was that kid. He introduced himself as the spirit of darkness.”

What is this?

It’s worse than not hearing it.

I feel like I’ve read a lot of works while serializing them.

“Is that all? Don’t you remember anything?”

He sighs and shakes his head.

I couldn’t rush my grandfather, who had a look of self-reproach on his face that I couldn’t explain, so I sighed along with him.

“Wait a minute. What does that have to do with taking Catherine to the Sumerian kingdom?”

“When I woke up, the sight around me was complete ruins. Not a metaphor, not a single weed. The area that formed a large circle exactly around me was completely dead.”

However, that does not mean that you have to go to the Sumerian kingdom.

Especially given the current situation.

There was no need to wander outside and become a target.

“What would happen if the moment came when our granddaughter made a pact with the spirit of darkness, and Papi and Joseph were by her side?”

Of course, these are natural concerns for a father or grandfather, but we have Arcanas who have reached the level of superhumans.

“If that’s the case.”

It was just at the moment when I was about to say no.

[Master. Don’t just practice too much. I think it would be good to go on a trip abroad.]

The punishment’s advice rang in my head.

A unique communication system between Card Master and Arcana.

[Huh? Are you serious?]

[Yes. Furthermore, the World Tree is like the last bastion that protects the dimension. If you are a Master who holds the position of a candidate to fight against the invasion of the Demon World, the World Tree will definitely help you. Whether it is small or big.]

The advice of the Punisher, given with such confidence, made me reject the idea I had originally intended to reject.

“If that’s the case… …I have to go. Of course. I was planning to go from the beginning.”

“Really? I thought you’d reject me. You looked like you were about to reject me. How could I have gotten this wrong? I’m getting old.”

“Of course you’re old, Catherine!”

“Huh? Why, oppa? Oh, should I give you one of these stores too?”

At that moment, I almost nodded without realizing it, but my body, which had reached the level of a quasi-superhuman, quickly grabbed my head that was trying to nod and shook it from side to side. No one would have noticed.

“I noticed you all, you punk.”

Ignoring the old man’s muttering next to me,

“Shall we go on a trip?”

The purpose of calling Catherine was to bring up the subject of her safety.

“Yeohae-aeng?! Travel! Ohhae-aeng? Really? Really, really, really?”

“Yeah. It’s a city called Moderator. You can see other races, humans, and beastmen.”

“Wow! Wow! Wow! Really? Really? Really? ”

“Yeah.”

Catherine asked again and again if it was true, more than ten times since then.

And then he started jumping around and happily asking me the most important thing.

“But when are you going?”

“Huh? Huh? Huh. That’s… … tomorrow?”

“Really?! Hehe. I like it! I really like it! Oppa, you’re the best!”

So suddenly, a trip to the Sumerian kingdom came up.