The Names That Should Not Be Spoken
There was a mountain of information we had each gained from the other. The number of questions I wanted to ask Mir was enormous. But out of all of them, I spent countless hours turning one single question over in my head, carefully selecting the only one I would ask her.
“You’re going to ask right now?”
“Isn’t it better for both of us to get it over with quickly?”
“Well… I guess so.”
Mir nodded and stared straight at me. Her eyes said she would answer anything I asked. After filtering and filtering again, I finally spoke the one question that remained.
“Cross Gun.”
“Huh?”
“Cardin.”
“What are you even saying…”
“Perfect Accuracy, Lazy Shut-in Who Just Wants to Sleep, Mint Choco Sweet-and-Sour Pork Lover. You don’t know them?”
“Who are those people?”
Acting? No. Mir had said she would give honest answers. Her expression as she checked my reaction in real time didn’t look like a lie or performance either. So did that mean she genuinely didn’t know them?
“They’re the original owners of the techniques you used.”
“What?”
“I said they’re the masters of the skills you showed me.”
The moment I said that, Mir’s face gradually hardened. Had she really not known?
“I’ll let you ask a question. How exactly are you able to use those techniques?”
“…How do you know their names?”
“Wasn’t I the one asking questions?”
From that answer, it seemed she knew of them but didn’t know their names. So that was it.
“I… saw them in dreams.”
“Dreams?”
“Yeah. At some point, I started seeing the lives of people who possessed the same power as me through my dreams. I thought I was just an illusion I created, or maybe a version of myself from another world… but hearing your question, it looks like all my guesses were wrong.”
“Then why don’t you know their names?”
“I don’t remember every little detail. Just the way they used their power and the paths they walked.”
Honestly, Mir’s words were hard to believe. Watching players’ journeys in the form of dreams? But I couldn’t simply dismiss it. After all, I myself was a special case, so maybe something like that really was possible. The thought kept circling in my mind.
“Is that the end of your question?”
“…For now.”
“For now? Hey, that’s not fair!”
The bet had been for one question. So technically, the reward for winning the bet ended here. But there were far too many things that felt insufficient or unsatisfying to just let it go like this. In fact, I now had even more information I needed to know than before asking the question.
“Then let’s take turns asking one question each from now on. Considering the bet, you must have things you’re curious about too, right?”
“…Fine. Then I’ll ask first.”
“Do as you like.”
Maybe because I had asked first, this time Mir decided to question me before I could speak again.
“How do you know their names?”
“That’s…”
“Answer honestly. Don’t try to dodge or act weird about it.”
“…Got it.”
I thought for a moment before slowly opening my mouth.
“We fought each other?”
“What’s with that questioning tone at the end? And fought? How? These people don’t even exist in this world.”
“Okay, it’s my turn to ask now.”
“Hey! That’s so stingy, you have to answer that!”
Stingy? Whatever. I immediately threw my question at Mir.
“If you saw their journeys in the form of dreams, doesn’t that mean you know this world’s future?”
“Not perfectly, but I know some of it.”
So her memories weren’t complete after all. Still, knowing the future was a completely different matter. Besides, exactly which point in the future did the things she remembered belong to? Was it the part where our current story—the part called the prologue—was unfolding? Or after that? I’d also heard rumors that the Incarnations of Light experienced a story slightly different from the normal prologue. Could it be related to that?
“It’s my turn now, right? This is a continuation of my earlier question. Tell me how you fought them.”
“We fought with our honor on the line on the land watched over by the Goddess. Even if you ask how, it was basically just decided by luck.”
It wasn’t a lie. The description of the place where PVP battles occurred explicitly mentioned that the Goddess was watching. Though during my entire time as rank one, I never once saw even a glimpse of the Goddess herself.
“The land watched over by the Goddess? And decided by luck…”
She probably wouldn’t understand easily until she grasped the concept of PVP.
“Let’s end it with this next question.”
“I still have a lot I’m curious about.”
“But class is almost over.”
There were only a few minutes left. At my words, Mir frowned but nodded. Since she was also an academy student like me, she couldn’t ignore class either.
“Are you still seeing memories of those people in your dreams?”
“No. Strangely enough, I haven’t had any dreams since entering the academy.”
Since entering the academy. So she stopped dreaming from the very beginning of the game. ‘I still have a few questions left, but this is enough for now.’
I had a rough idea now of how I should treat her and how I should act in this place. She probably felt the same. She might not know that I could see the future, but she would at least realize I wasn’t an ordinary student. That last question was probably to confirm that fact.
I held my breath and waited for Mir’s question. Soon, a completely unexpected one flew at me.
“What’s your relationship with the Heavenly Demon?”
“…….”
The sudden mention of the Heavenly Demon’s name made my body freeze for a moment. How had she inferred my connection to the Heavenly Demon? Had she, like Libra, met people related to the Heavenly Demon before?
‘Wait a second.’
But that guy Mir… hadn’t she just said “Heavenly Demon”?
“…What did you just say?”
“I asked what your relationship with the Heavenly Demon is.”
Heavenly Demon. A name that should never come from Mir’s mouth. Everyone in this world called the Heavenly Demon the Sword God. The title Heavenly Demon was simply what users had called him. But she had spoken that name. Had she seen things about the Heavenly Demon through her memories as well?
“Heavenly Demon, huh…”
“Ah, maybe you know him as the Sword God. The power you use is exactly the same as the Sword God’s. Can you explain how that happened?”
Thinking I hadn’t understood the name, Mir kindly corrected herself. I broke into a cold sweat internally but answered her question obediently. There was nothing risky about this one.
“You know that weapon I obtained at the academy, right? The power came from that weapon. You and the rest of our classmates all saw it, didn’t you?”
“That dark sword… So power can be inherited that way too?”
“Do you know anything about the Heavenly Demon?”
I asked just in case. Any information about the Heavenly Demon that I didn’t know. If she told me, I would definitely be able to take one more step toward uncovering his secrets.
“The questions are over now, aren’t they? Let’s go back.”
But Mir drew the line, informing me that our mutual questioning time had ended and that we should head outside. Honestly, I wanted to stay longer, but since I was the one who had first said there wasn’t much time, I had no choice but to accept that we had to stop here.
It didn’t take long after we emerged from the dreamlike clouds created by Alkahest for class to end. During the break before the next lesson, Mir moved to a seat away from Zeon and recalled the final question she had asked him.
It had been a question using the new title for the Sword God—a name unknown to the people of this world: Heavenly Demon. Zeon had definitely reacted to the name Heavenly Demon. And she had also obtained the decisive clue about how he had acquired the Heavenly Demon’s power.
“To think it could be obtained through a weapon as well.”
It was true that the black sword Zeon had obtained back then had given off a different aura from the weapons the rest of them, including herself, had received. She just hadn’t realized it was connected to the Heavenly Demon.
“Ah, I meant to ask about this too.”
In her memories, during the time she had fought the Heavenly Demon, she had seen someone among the countless people who looked similar to Zeon. She wondered what their relationship was. At first she hadn’t thought it was him. If she had to guess, maybe a Zeon from another dimension? But after this conversation, seeing how he knew the people who appeared in her dreams, she now wondered if the person who resembled Zeon from back when he fought the Heavenly Demon might actually have been him.
“Will I be able to do it well?”
In her dreams, they had all possessed immense power and shaken the world with their names. She imitated their strength and used it, but could she truly obtain power on their level?
‘Maybe I should act together with Zeon.’
It was like keeping a variable by her side. His strength was one thing, but he also seemed to know information she didn’t. He would be helpful.
‘Still, I should check his growth potential, right?’
Since they were going to the Imperial Palace during summer break anyway, she would tell him about one opportunity before then and see how far he could grow. She happened to know of one incredible opportunity that would be enormously helpful for Mir’s growth, so she could just tell him about that.
‘I should tell him about the Soul’s Training Ground.’
Completely unaware that Zeon was already training hard there, Mir secretly lifted the corners of her mouth and held back a laugh. As if she had bestowed something truly amazing and was proud of herself.