Tower of Knowledge (3)
Tower of Knowledge (3)
The soul (靈) and the body (肉) are often likened to a substance and the vessel meant to contain it.
The soul is the fundamental essence of existence.
The body is the vessel that holds it, the anchor that secures it, something akin to a doll that permits it to act.
Most living beings are composed of a soul and a body.
There are exceptions.
Undead or ghosts, which act solely with a soul and no body.
Races like spirits or fairies, whose bodies are formed from mana.
"To be precise, the body is an empty shell, little different from a corpse with no soul。"人格
But for humans, both spirit and flesh are essential.
If the soul is wounded, it affects the body.
If the body dies, the soul, its vessel gone, vanishes alongside it.
In other words, a body emptied of its soul... simply means a corpse that has already died.
"......"
Earlier, Professor Liana had asked me, 'Are you even human?'
Now the Tower Master of Knowledge was practically telling me, 'We discovered you as a long dead corpse'...
I felt remarkably conflicted.
So conflicted, in fact, that my mask cracked for an instant and bewilderment clouded my face.
"...I did not intend the slightest malice. Those are merely the facts... And you were not a corpse."
The Tower Master of Knowledge, checking my expression, hurriedly added that last part with a trace of fluster.
[How could a human body with no soul not be dead...?]
"This particular body was a different case. The spirit had departed, but the flesh remained alive. Strictly speaking, the soul existed—it simply existed in a different world."
[A different world?]
A world 'different' from this one.
I reflexively seized on that ominous word, the one that had especially caught in my thoughts during the Tower Master of Knowledge's explanation.
"The soul of that body had fallen into another... a similar world, but one in which the Great Cataclysm had not occurred, and existed there."
[...Could it be, that soul...]
The smooth stream of words halted.
After that, the Tower Master's gaze checked my complexion.
"...As you have guessed, that soul was you, Lee Ha-yul."
[What in the...]
Bewilderment settled over my features before I knew it.
[My soul and my body were in different worlds... Does that... make any sense?]
"We, too, could not ascertain the precise cause. However... we are cautiously speculating that it might be the result of a clash related to your species."
[Species?]
"Have you, Savior, by any chance become aware of your own species (種)?"
Species.
I chewed on the word.
[...That I am a Pseudo-Fairy...?]
"If you have not yet fully realized it, I would prefer to be sparing with my words on that matter."
[Pardon? Are you under some kind of constraint?]
"Constraints play a part, but I also hold personal convictions."
Shaking her head once, the Tower Master of Knowledge continued.
"The characteristic known as species can sometimes act as a form of Innate Talent. Fairies, for example, are born with an extremely remarkable affinity for mana and attributes, and one could regard that as a racial Innate Talent."
[I see.]
"You, Savior, do not yet consciously recognize your own species. The moment I forcibly make it known to you, I worry that the changes brought about by that recognition could experience setbacks."
[Mm...]
Question marks kept floating up above my head.
'Recognition of species? I've already figured out I'm something like a Pseudo-Fairy at least. Or is it not Pseudo but a real Fairy? Is there something more here?'
I'd come to resolve my questions, but new questions had only branched off from them.
When I observed the Tower Master of Knowledge with a strange feeling, she dipped her head slightly, as if apologetic.
'Tch...'
Truth be told, I couldn't be sure.
Was she truly lowering her head out of apology, or simply because she didn't want to look at me...?
Even the psychological and emotional predictions I made through observation are, in the end, just predictions derived from analysis.
They can absolutely be wrong.
[...Fine, I understand that part.]
Screw it, I don't know.
Constraints or whatever, recognition or whatever...
Whatever the case, it seems impossible to resolve everything here in one go.
"Yes, understood."
The Tower Master of Knowledge nodded and, with a rather elegant gesture, took a sip of water before speaking again.
"At the time, none of the Tower Masters, including the Tower of Observation, had any time to spare whatsoever."
According to the Tower Master of Knowledge's explanation, finding the original soul that was meant to be in the body—finding me—had been quite a difficult undertaking.
There was the aftermath of the Great Cataclysm to manage, of course, but also delaying the Tower Masters' invasion as long as possible, preparing for it, growing accustomed to the Towers...
"Under those circumstances, no matter how closely they worked together, projecting an observation into an entirely different world to locate a single soul was an extraordinarily difficult task."
The Tower Master of Knowledge, who seemed to be recollecting those days, shook her head.
"In the end, we halted indiscriminate observation and instead dispatched a kind of terminal directly to that world."
[A terminal?]
"...Yes, we placed an observation device attuned solely to that soul into the terminal's hands and sent it directly to find you."
[Among those who sent the terminal, was the Tower Master of Growth included?]
"The Tower Master of Space made a temporary connection, and only the Tower Master of Growth, who excels in the Incarnation Technique, sent a terminal."
[The Tower Master of Growth...]
The Tower Master of Growth.
The portrait I observed in the study.
The appearance of the person I saved by shoving them aside back then.
The Agapanthus flower...
That user who suddenly started a chat with me one day.
...
[...Right. And that terminal found me?]
"...Precisely. We eventually pinpointed the location of the Savior's soul and had been seeking a method to deliver the soul back into the body someday. Before that, the Tower of Observation processed the information she had foreseen into the form of a game, indirectly conveying knowledge about this world."
[I see...]
"...If you found our approach distasteful, I offer my apologies."
[No, it's fine.]
I shook my head at the Tower Master, who was bowing with an intensity that nearly brought her head to the table.
[It wasn't distasteful. It's just... a little complicated, and I feel unsettled, that's all.]
"I am sorry."
[Really, the apologies are fine. There's no need for them. Besides, I can talk to the person involved directly later.]
"...Thank you for your mercy."
[The conversation has gotten delayed again. Would you continue?]
The Tower Master of Knowledge, who had been keeping her head slightly bowed, nodded.
"As I explained before, we located you, Savior, as a way to repel the invasion, and we became certain."
[You became certain that you could stop it with just me alone? Based on what aspect of me?]
"Potential."
[Potential?]
Just that? They were certain they could fend off an invasion that concerned the fate of the world...?
"To call it 'just that' is something I would never dare say. I still remember the scream the Tower Master of Observation let out the moment she observed the Savior's body and perceived the immeasurable, vast potential it contained."
She had discovered a path forward, the Tower Master of Knowledge recounted, and the Tower Master of Observation, who had been crumpled under the pressure, came bouncing and leaping to deliver the news.
"That is why the game was designed so that the player could become anything. The potential you hold, Savior, is unmatched; if you wish it, you can become anything."
[Ah...]
"This world is a truly unreasonable one."
An unreasonable world.
The Tower Master of Knowledge, who had personally endured it for so long, muttered the words.
"There is an unreasonableness where a single, powerful entity can overwhelmingly crush many who are weaker."
Cases where a single high-ranking monster rampaged and ruined one or two nations are more common than one might think.
Countries with small territories collapsed surprisingly easily, and even the states once famed as great powers were no exception—they might have held out better, but the outcome was the same.
"The invading Tower Masters were just like that. They had held their positions as Tower Masters for an overwhelmingly longer span than we have, and they had invaded countless worlds, building formidable strength. The reality is that power accumulated in such a way is too much for a handful of those weaker to bear."
However...
The Tower Master of Knowledge's gaze settled on me.
Her pure-white eyes, holding my reflection, shimmered with complex emotions.
"Conversely, our judgment was that if there exists a being stronger than them, and support exists to back such a person, then we too could be fully capable of stopping them."
[...You judged that I could become stronger than those Tower Masters? Based on my potential?]
"Yes, that is correct."
[That feels strange to me.]
[Even if the potential exists, isn't drawing it out an entirely different matter?]
"That is why we established Siyoram."
'Ah?'
The educational institution founded by the Tower Master of Growth.
A place solely for growth.
"Siyoram is a facility created exclusively for you, Savior."
[For me...?]
"To foster a hero who would sustain the world. Under that pretext, we admit many cadets each year. That is merely a secondary objective. The fundamental purpose is nothing other than your growth, Savior."
Only for me... Those words sounded unimaginably distant.
"Siyoram is safe. We poured our heart and soul into its defenses so that no matter what incident occurs outside, it can be entirely blocked, and it is a place arranged so that you can focus solely on growth. Even if a Tower Master's Incarnation and their army corps were to invade, we could easily fend them off."
A cradle, in its most fundamental sense, is a bed for an infant. Precisely because the baby must be treated like a jewel, the cradle must be absolutely safe.
"And we established the Association."
The World Peace Organization founded by the Towers of Harmonization and Space.
"Under the stated goal of managing the world's safety, the Association has put systems in place so that overwhelming threats can be resolved independently while the Savior is still growing."
They connected languages so people could cooperate, and they connected space.
The Association places bounties on notorious criminals, directly tracking and eliminating them.
When a high-ranking monster appears, they independently cooperate with nearby powers to carry out subjugation, and they mediate disputes between factions, investing great effort into maintaining peace.
"The Observation Corps is still monitoring the Demon Realm, which is a powder keg, and occasionally unearths the most vicious things in the inland regions."
The Observation Corps founded by the Tower Master of Observation.
Even now, the Observation Corps observes and forecasts dungeon outbreaks, the emergence of dangerous monsters, and situations within the Demon Realm all over the world.
With the advent of the Observation Corps, casualties from dungeon outbreaks in particular have decreased exponentially.
"I myself, as the Tower Master of Knowledge, constructed this Floating Island above Siyoram—to inform the Savior of the full story later once you had grown, to assist in that growth, and at the same time, to prevent any unforeseen incident... and I founded the Magic Council so that the fledgling and fleeting discipline of magic could spread far and wide."
[So that's why the Floating Island and the Magic Council... The Magic Council?!]
I had been listening to the explanation in a daze, but at that, my shoulders jerked.
The Magic Council.
The most authoritative and powerful organization of mages in this world.
I myself receive and use material from the Magic Council when I consult texts on magic.
The first founder of that Magic Council... is known to have gone into seclusion long ago.
"Yes, I am the first founder of the Magic Council. My identity and appearance are a falsehood, but I personally led its establishment."
The very head who had supposedly gone into seclusion was now bowing her head before me.
[I see...]
I nodded along with a profoundly bewildered expression.
My head had been aching for a while. Some questions were being resolved, but I was still deeply confused.
"...What I wish to convey, having spoken this far, is nothing else but this."
Around then.
The Tower Master of Knowledge fixed her gaze on me.
Her pure-white eyes stared at me, holding a touch of tension and worry.
"As you can see, we have made many preparations for you, Savior, including matters that we have not yet explained."
[Yes.]
[I am truly grateful for all of those.]
"Therefore, before you graduate from Siyoram, there is no need for you to deliberately venture outside and risk danger yourself."
At those calm words, my body flinched and went rigid.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Ariel Segnis Ternovsia
●●●○○○○○○○(32/100)
｢Tower Master of Knowledge｣ ｢Complicated｣ ｢Confusion｣ ｢Question｣ ｢Doubt｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Nutjob?｣
▽Change▽
Lee Ha-yul → Ariel Segnis Ternovsia
●●●○○○○○○○(32▷33)
｢Tower Master of Knowledge｣ ｢Head of the Magic Council｣ ｢Complicated｣ ｢Confusion｣ ｢Question｣ ｢Doubt｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Normal person?｣