The Weight of the Seat
by Afuhfuihgs
A fierce debate continued endlessly.
,”To face the Cult Leader, we need Roel’s power. That means we kill the Immortal Roman and immediately persuade Roel. Do you understand that we don’t have time to spare? With Roel as he is now, there’s a good chance he’ll move before us.”
As Raelan presented his opinion in a low voice, Eunice immediately opposed him.
,”But nothing changes that way. Ross, who massacred the citizens of Ludwig in another world, ultimately failed. Shouldn’t we approach this differently this time?”
,”The problem is that we don’t have time. Don’t you know that it takes time just to gather the troops from the North and send them secretly to the South? We need to decide on our actions today so we can invest time in persuading Roel.”
Raelan, who wanted to abandon Ludwig, and Eunice, who wanted to minimize the damage somehow, clashed in their opinions.
Escaping from the two people’s argument, Ellie was talking with Estelle, writing and organizing information about the Immortal Roman on a portable chalkboard. Luna and Lamine quietly watched the debate, lost in thought.
The debate, which had been running parallel, eventually turned into persuading me, who had the power to choose.
With a face full of annoyance, Raelan turned to me and said.
,”As time passes, you’ll think it’s fortunate that only 1.4 million were sacrificed. Now that Bella has become Empress, there’s no more time to delay. Unlike the mass murderer Ross, we’re destroying Ludwig with the power of the North alone. It’s a plan unrelated to the mass murderer Ross from another world.”
In response to Raelan’s persuasion, Eunice said with a desperate expression.
,”You’re the last Ross. You have to create a new landscape and turn the previous Ross’s failure into success to escape the continuous failures. I strongly believe that giving up the citizens of Ludwig will be bad for persuading Roel, who has memories of the previous world.”
I ran a hand over my face and asked the two of them for some time to think. Raelan and Eunice nodded with dissatisfied faces and continued to glare at each other, continuing their relentless debate.
My head was so complicated that I got up from my seat. I wanted to escape the debate for a while and organize my thoughts. I approached Ellie and Estelle, who were organizing records about the Immortal Roman and talking.
,”What are you doing?”
In response to my question, Ellie and Estelle said without turning around, their eyes fixed on the chalkboard.
,”We’re looking for a way to nullify the Immortal Roman’s abilities. If it’s magic, we might be able to find a way.”
,”Do you think there’s a possibility?”
In response to my question, Ellie sighed deeply and said.
,”No, it’s likely to be lost ancient magic. If we had enough time, we could continue to investigate and find a way, but… it’s impossible within a week.”
Even as she said that, she didn’t seem to give up, as Ellie compared the paper with information about the Immortal One to the chalkboard and fell into thought again. Estelle, who was next to Ellie, put her hand on her hip and said.
,”I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Raelan or Eunice’s opinions. I think both opinions have their own advantages. But the direction of the choice is completely different. Depending on which opinion we choose, our ending will definitely be different.”
,”…I know.”
I am now at a crossroads of choice. Depending on which strategist’s advice I choose, the story ahead will be completely different. I felt a heavy sense of responsibility for having to make a choice that would determine the fate of the world.
I needed some time to think alone, so I moved away from the others to a secluded spot in the basement. Leaning against the wall, I sat down on the floor and looked at my companions, lost in thought.
Eunice’s words hit the nail on the head. If we killed the Immortal One in the same way as Ross from another world, there was a concern that Roel would refuse to be persuaded, thinking that he was repeating something that had already failed once.
Killing the Immortal Roman to ruin Roel’s plan, and becoming a new alternative of salvation as Raelan had said before, remains unchanged.
That means we have to prove the possibility of change to Roel by killing the Immortal One in a way different from other worlds. I felt that was the most important goal in this matter.
But I don’t know another way to kill the Immortal One. The reason why Ross from another world became a mass murderer was also to prevent the resurrection of the Immortal One by eliminating all the hosts that the Immortal One was parasitizing.
Is there really a way to kill the Immortal Roman without killing the innocent citizens of Ludwig?
As I was pondering for a while, a shadow suddenly appeared, blocking the light and darkening my vision. When I looked up, I met Luna’s eyes as she approached.
Luna, who took the seat next to me without a word, smiled as she gathered her legs in front of her chest.
,”You looked like you were having a hard time worrying.”
At Luna’s words, I sighed as if to prove it.
,”Because I have to make the right choice to save the world.”
,”You can do it. Ross is a writer who creates good stories.”
With those words, Luna held out something she was holding in her hand to me.
,”This is…?”
,”I asked Amber-ssi to get it for me. She said to remember again what kind of person Ross is and what path he should take.”
With those words, Luna handed me an acorn.
Acorn.
A small gift received for saving a village child.
It was something that had a really big impact on me when I was lost and wandering in the early stages of possession.
As I blankly stared at the acorn in my palm, Luna covered my hands with both of her hands and looked straight at me with her blue eyes and said.
,”I believe that Ross will become a hero who protects everyone.”
Luna’s voice was full of faith in me. I wanted to repay that faith, and I had a strong desire to prove it.
Suddenly, I remembered what I had to do. Luna’s words showed me the path I had to take.
Like Luna said, I just need to become a writer who creates new stories. I can defeat the Immortal Roman in a way that Roel has never seen before and show him new hope.
I handed the acorn I was holding back to Luna.
,”Keep it. I think I’ll need it again next time.”
When I said with a smile, Luna nodded with a bright smile.
,”Tell me anytime you need it in the future. I’ll always be by your side.”
I got up from my seat with energy. And as I walked towards the table where everyone was, I took out the Lily Mask from the space warehouse.
I materialized the essence of the writer, covered the mask with my soul, and wore the mask.
The distractions in my head disappear. It feels like I’m extremely focused at this moment. In the stillness, I was able to find the scattered clues and flow.
The story is not a short story. It is connected by its own flow. I can reattach and modify this to create a new story.
,”Stop.”
At my short word, silence fell on the table where they were fiercely debating. Eunice, Ellie, and Lamine, who had never seen me wearing the mask, looked surprised and wary.
,”You’ve learned how to wear the mask properly from Estelle.”
Raelan laughed as if he found my masked appearance amusing.
I stared at Raelan without a word and then turned my gaze to everyone. I could instinctively tell that it was time to make a choice.
I said in a low voice.
,”I will not kill the citizens of Ludwig. Our only target is the Immortal Roman. Just one person.”
At my words, Eunice sighed in relief with a relieved expression, but Raelan frowned as if he couldn’t accept it.
,”I hope you haven’t forgotten the problem that to completely kill the Immortal One, you have to kill all the citizens that Roman is parasitizing.”
,”I know.”
At my answer, Raelan scoffed and asked.
,”Then how do you plan to kill the Immortal Roman without killing the citizens who can become hosts?”
I could naturally recall all the information about the Immortal Roman in my head without having to look at the setting book. I was the writer who created the character of the Immortal Roman, so this was an easy task.
,”Roman’s abilities are not omnipotent. There is a range called Ludwig, and there is a limitation that the body being parasitized must have magic power.”
I turned to Eunice. Eunice, who received my gaze, shrugged her shoulders and met my gaze with anxious eyes.
,”The clue to attack the Immortal One is already in front of us. I think Bella’s radical method was wrong, but the core of it can be used in our plan as well. Eunice, think about it. What did we miss?”
Eunice is a strategist who reads the situation. She hasn’t fully demonstrated her abilities yet because she lacks experience, but she definitely has the ability to produce clear results if given the materials.
Eunice, who slowly pondered my words, widened her eyes and jumped up from her seat, running to the portable chalkboard where Estelle and Ellie had densely written down Roman’s information.
Eunice, who was examining the contents of the chalkboard and muttering to herself in a voice so small that it could barely be heard, turned her body. Unlike before, I could tell that Eunice had read the situation as I intended, with a confident expression.
Eunice slowly explained what she had realized to everyone.
,”The Immortal One accepted the Yuron tribe, a minority in Ludwig with innate magic power. To increase the number of people he can parasitize. That’s why Bella from another world fed poison liquor to soldiers with magic power. With the aim of preventing the Immortal One from resurrecting by not having anyone with magic power in Ludwig for the Immortal One to parasitize.”
,”Everyone knew that, right?”
At Lamine’s point, Eunice smiled and stretched out her index finger, drawing a circle in the air.
,”Think about it the other way around. If there’s no magic power, the Immortal Roman can’t parasitize. In other words, to resurrect in the body of the host that the Immortal One was parasitizing, a certain amount of magic power is absolutely necessary.”
Everyone nodded at Eunice’s explanation. I raised my hand to stop Eunice’s explanation and turned to Ellie.
Ellie, who received my gaze, shrugged her shoulders with a flustered face and slightly pulled her upper body back. It was a reaction that my gaze was burdensome.
,”…Why me all of a sudden?”
It seems that Ellie still hasn’t understood her role even after listening to Eunice’s explanation. I gave Ellie a little help so she could realize it on her own.
,”Magic power depletion.”
,”Huh…? How can I… if you say magic power depletion without any context…”
Ellie, who was slurring her words, bit her lower lip slightly and froze as if she had frozen.
Ellie shouted, her obsidian eyes sparkling.
,”We’re forcibly causing magic power depletion in all the citizens of Ludwig! If there’s no magic power in the host’s body due to magic power depletion, the magic power needed for resurrection will be insufficient, so the Immortal One won’t be able to resurrect!”
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