Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: When Great Cause and Beliefs Disappear
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"Huh?"
Seeing the mud stretch out limply, a flustered Aria tried to explain something to me.
But my eyes were fixed on that mud, chasing it.
"Wh-why is this happening? When I saw it, it was definitely..."
The flustered Aria tried to explain, but there was no need to hear it out.
I already had a rough idea of the situation.
*I've been had.*
There was no other explanation.
My soul from the first playthrough?
When I first heard it, I wondered, but upon calm reflection, it was nonsense.
"Aria, stay calm and explain the situation."
"Y-yes!"
Aria, who had been trying to scoop up the mud again, immediately began her story at my words.
"So, it was vacation, so I went back home to clean, chop firewood, hunt beasts, help my parents, and all that..."
It started like a kid bragging about finishing all their vacation homework.
"Then suddenly, another door appeared right in front of our front door? Mom had gone to make stew, so luckily she didn't see it..."
Mid-sentence, something occurred to her, and she clapped her hands in exaggerated surprise.
"Oh, Mom! I have to tell my family I'm here!"
Aria fretted that they must be panicking since she vanished so suddenly.
It seemed like it would take some time to hear the full story.
* * *
Late evening.
After hearing everything about Clere's General Store, I fell into thought for a moment.
Erika had left long ago, and Aria had returned to the dormitory. Since we'd already returned to the Academy anyway, she decided to spend the rest of break here.
Owen came back briefly after finishing his street performances, looking proud, but then left to wash up.
Pindenai, whom I'd shooed out the window earlier, hadn't returned—probably out playing.
In the end, it was just me, the Black Necromancer, and Stella with her horns sprouting out—which meant Belica had emerged.
[White gloves mean it's the Archdemon of Deception.]
Belica replied with an expression that said even recalling it annoyed her. It seemed she didn't get along well with him.
[Name's Learic. I wondered where he'd been hiding all this time—turns out some weird spot.]
I didn't know how long "all this time" was for an archdemon, but the Archdemon of Deception was connected to me and the Black Necromancer.
The Spirit Stone we'd used for quite a while—Remegaton—had been his originally.
[...]
The Black Necromancer kept her mouth shut tight, head bowed.
Oblivious, Belica continued beside her.
[The guy runs a shop? Don't even think of buying anything. Just existing there is a loss.]
"Got it."
[It's not just about paying. One day, you might find your whole life sold off.]
Ophelia immediately came to mind.
No need to revisit the fate of the woman who wished to be with her love.
[No archdemon knows his real face. He loves tricking people too much.]
"..."
[But he has a face he uses often. A white-haired young man. No idea why, but he sticks with it.]
White-haired man.
Remembering it matched Aria's keyword, I glanced subtly at the Black Necromancer.
"Anything else you know?"
[Uh, um.]
Hesitating, the Black Necromancer gave an awkward reply.
[I don't know much about archdemons.]
She might not want to say, but I hadn't forgotten what she said during our fight with Magan.
I grabbed the tail end of her words and pressed.
"I heard the child who received Remegaton was your descendant."
At that, Belica also turned to look at the Black Necromancer, whose expression darkened further.
I'd suspected as much when Remegaton acknowledged her as master.
[That's an ancient story. Just bloodline, nothing more. I tried to find Remegaton in life but failed in the end.]
"..."
[And I realized it was all pointless anyway.]
She pinpointed that Remegaton was a trap from the Archdemon of Deception.
Yet she still seemed to harbor some lingering attachment.
*Someday.*
If I saved the continent and peace came, these times with the Black Necromancer would end.
She was ultimately one of the dead and needed to find repose.
But before that.
At some point, I'd come to accept the wish within me to resolve the lingering regrets she sometimes showed me.
[Anyway, fighting Learic will be tough. Back when demons scrapped among themselves ages ago, I "killed" him over two digits' worth—and still had doubts.]
In short, even if you thought you'd killed him, you had to keep suspecting.
[Can we track that general store?]
The Black Necromancer naturally shifted the topic to the store, and Belica nodded.
[Yeah, about that. Word is, it's hard to find.]
"There's a way."
I had the thread ball wound around my hand, but even with it, tracking wouldn't be easy.
I'd have to chase a wandering store across the continent on foot.
[Really?]
[You can tail that guy?]
"I'll tell you tomorrow. I want to be alone tonight—give me some space."
I gestured for them to leave.
It was sudden, and both the Black Necromancer and Belica looked flustered.
After hearing a few grumbles, I managed to send them out.
"Hoo."
Deep darkness blanketed the room.
With no lights on, no one outside would think anyone was inside.
Leaning back into the plush chair, I closed my eyes for a moment.
Twitch.
The thread ball tied to my right hand began to react.
Though no wind blew, it swayed gently, tickling the back of my hand.
Slowly opening my eyes, there before me stood an ornate purple door.
A sign reading "Clere's General Store" hung on it.
Knowing he'd come, of course.
I stood without reaction, grasped the doorknob, turned it, and stepped inside.
The interior was exactly as Aria described.
Dark, with nothing on the shelves. Traces of her fierce battle with Aria lingered here and there.
"Welcome to Clere's General Store."
Far off, beyond the counter, stood a white-haired young man. The white gloves on his hands revealed his identity to me.
"Learic."
The Archdemon of Deception, Learic.
Even as I called his name, his expression didn't change as he asked,
"Looking for something in particular?"
I headed toward the counter, speaking as I listened to his offer to guide me.
"What I want is you."
"..."
"That's why you came when I was alone."
From the conversation Aria relayed with Learic, we'd inferred much about him in that brief exchange.
Conversely, Learic would have pondered Aria and me from various angles—and anticipated I'd come directly to confirm.
The info Aria unwittingly let slip was something the Archdemon of Deception couldn't ignore.
"Cut the merchant tricks and say what you want."
At my flat words, he smiled as if intrigued, clasping his hands together.
A deck of cards emerged from between them.
"Know the card-guessing trick?"
He fanned them so only I could see the faces.
"The one where I guess the card the customer thinks of without looking."
A common trick.
But I knew he wasn't just showing off magic, so I didn't interrupt.
"I can do it not as a trick, but like real magic."
Before I could even ponder the difference, he slid one card from the fanned deck on the counter toward me.
"This is the card you had in mind, right?"
Thud.
Clover 8.
He'd just picked the first one, and if it was right, it was right.
"Ah? Clover 8, was it?"
"..."
"I don't know what card you picked. But I got it right."
"So that's your ability."
"Exactly. I don't know what the visiting customer wants."
"..."
"But I can give it to you."
No need to add "in a twisted way."
"By the way, a strange customer came today."
Learic pulled one card from the fanned deck and placed it at the bottom of the stack.
"Isn't it that this very moment has already passed once?"
Shuffle.
"The continent reset once and started over."
What was one card spread into a full deck.
Now two decks lay on the counter.
"Absurd, right? But exciting too. Ah, it's been so long since I felt this thrilled."
"..."
"If that's true, isn't this world full of deceptions?"
When you peer into the abyss, the abyss peers back.
We'd investigated Archdemon Learic and inferred much from our brief talk.
Learic, in turn, had inferred about us in that short time.
"The necromancer who slew four archdemons, Deus Verdi... no, Kim Shin-woo."
"..."
"Truly astonishing. Never thought I'd sell a 'first playthrough soul' one day."
"It was fake."
As I murmured like a warning, he smirked and shook his head.
"Real until you realize it's fake, isn't it?"
Sophistry.
But he was a being who reveled in it.
Logical rebuttals would just get sophistry in return.
"There's one reason I came, Kim Shin-woo. Share your memories with me."
"..."
"I'm curious. How did this world turn into a second playthrough? Were those 'gods' still sitting idle?"
"I refuse."
"Don't say that."
The counter between us vanished. The entire store drowned in darkness and melted away.
But it wasn't mere intimidation or pressure.
A soft sensation, not quite killing intent, shot through my body.
"I can show you what even you don't know you truly desire most."
Learic chuckled whisperingly.
"And the things you cherish—I can uncover those too."
It sounded like a threat, but it was persuasion. A very sweet one.
"Since I took this store from the dwarf, I've seen all sorts of humans. Quite entertaining."
In the darkness, the white-haired man approached me.
"You know? Most humans live without knowing what they truly want. The opposite of demons."
"..."
"Especially those buried in convictions like you."
Learic pressed a finger to my chest, smirking mockingly.
"Show me all you know, and I'll grant your wish."
"Saving the continent."
At my nonchalant reply, Learic giggled.
"A grand cause, huh? Plenty say that. But it's not the essence. Just excessive sense of duty."
As if he'd anticipated it, Learic extended his hand. A white orb glowed faintly within.
"Entrust it to pure instinct. Let's find what you want without grand causes or convictions."
"..."
"Kim Shin-woo, what is your true wish?"
Soon, the white orb in Learic's grasp began shifting into the form of what I truly desired.