Chapter 30
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Prophet (3)
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Path of the Heaven-Defying Son. The first perk that had unlocked when I made the ocarina for Ariel.
The prophet had just uttered that exact term with perfect precision.
"......"
I sit down across from the prophet.
I can feel the eyes beneath the hood boring into me.
What the hell is this guy's deal?
How does he know about my status window?
Does he know who I really am, too?
"Do you know me?"
"No. This is the first time I've seen you, right here today."
"Then why act like you do? What was that term you just said?"
"Just because I don't know you doesn't mean the Otherworld doesn't."
The Otherworld.
I furrow my brow at the familiar term.
I'd definitely come across it while digging into information about Ariel.
A word used not by mages, but by theologians and philosophers.
A world beyond this one.
Encompassing the past, present, and future.
The principles and laws of the world.
Life and death.
They call the world outside all that the Otherworld.
"Can you wield it?"
"How could a mere human claim to 'wield' such a thing? Humans can't control the Otherworld. I merely glimpse it for a moment and pass on a few words to the people of this world."
"Is that the secret behind your prophetic ability?"
"Exactly. The Otherworld transcends time and shows me scenes. I simply recite what I see."
Surprisingly, the prophet explained in detail.
Usually, these types just smirk mysteriously and clam up.
"You're being awfully forthcoming. You sure you don't know who I am?"
"No. I told you, this is our first meeting."
"But you're telling me way too much. It's starting to make me suspicious."
"The reason is simple. You fulfilled the condition of a good deed to reach me."
"What?"
"There are three ways to meet me: chance, misfortune, or good deeds. You entered that alley intending to meet me and are favored by fortune. So the only path open to you was good deeds. That's why I've lowered my guard a bit."
"You know your stuff."
I'm the one at a loss for words now, so I shut my mouth.
I see. So that's what Jack meant by those three ways.
And I chose good deeds.
Damn, good thing I helped that old lady.
Pat myself on the back.
"But it's strange. You're not someone who was meant to be favored by fortune."
"Are you cursing me right now?"
"Are you asking because you don't know? Child of the Reverse Heaven. You were born under a cursed fate. Destined to spend your life envying and resenting others, trapped in inferiority."
"......"
It hits close to home.
Kline Leonhart's fate in the original story.
Jelousing his little sister his whole life until he ends up as the final boss's minion and gets his head chopped off.
That's what the prophet was describing.
No doubt about it.
This guy can really see a lot through the Otherworld.
Even one person's entire life.
"You don't know the reason either, do you? Why I escaped my fated path."
"No. I only glimpse the Otherworld. It doesn't favor me like it does you. So it doesn't reveal all the answers."
"Hmm."
The Otherworld loves me, huh?
Why?
No need to ask.
Ariel.
It has to be tied to my adorable little sister.
"Back to the point. Why did you call my little sister a calamity? Explain that first."
"......"
The prophet fell silent.
Seemed to be pondering something deeply.
"I usually answer those who find me without reservation. Meeting me is guidance from the Otherworld, after all."
"But?"
"But I can't reveal everything to you."
"Why? Discriminating against me?"
"No. Even I can't glimpse the entirety of the Otherworld where you're concerned. How could I see all of a child of the Reverse Heaven, when it's no ordinary human fate?"
"You're dodging again. So why call my little sister a calamity?"
"I mean I can't tell you everything about that part."
"......"
"Does the reason even matter? She's a disaster that shouldn't exist in this world. Calling her a calamity is only fitting."
The prophet picked up the crystal orb.
Inside, I could see white energy.
It looked clumped together, yet flowing at the same time.
A formless power.
"The Otherworld has no form. It's a world beyond the world. How could something from the real realm be symbolized in the symbolic?"
The prophet taps the crystal orb with a finger.
The energy gathers into the shape of a girl.
Uncannily resembling Ariel.
"But if the Otherworld itself takes on a will, it tears through boundaries and manifests. That's what I called a calamity."
"How did you know that?"
"I'm called a prophet for a reason. Listening to the Otherworld's whispers, I knew it would eventually be born. I merely predicted the time and spread the word in the markets."
"You didn't have to say anything. Why spread rumors?"
"Fate."
He throws the vague word back at me.
The prophet spoke as if even he had been forced onto predetermined rails.
"Almost everything in this world flows according to fate. What is uncertain future to us is fact in the Otherworld. I was influenced by it too."
"......"
"Ariel isn't a calamity."
"It doesn't matter what you think. Haven't you seen how others react when they look at your sister?"
"Tch."
He pokes right where it hurts.
As I shut my mouth, the prophet sets the crystal orb down again.
The orb, which had been dyed white, returns to transparency.
"You could say your sister is the Otherworld taking the form of a girl. She's not human. A calamity wearing human skin."
"......"
"An alien that can't blend into society. A reactionary not tolerated by the world. A non-human among humans. Doomed to never be understood until death, forever alone. That's her fate. People instinctively shun her because she could become a disaster."
My hand twitches toward my sword hilt, but I hold back.
Annoying as hell to hear, but what can I do?
I know Ariel is like that.
As her big brother, it pisses me off, but facts are facts.
Still leaves a bitter taste.
I decide to change the subject.
"Fine. I get what you're saying. But here's another question. Lately, my little sister's been acting strange."
"Strange how?"
I tell him about the incident with the bandits when Ariel turned twelve.
The overprotective urge to shield me.
The attitude of protecting the one she loves.
Keeping others from touching the one she loves.
Wanting to monopolize the one she loves.
I explain how it goes beyond protectiveness into obsession bordering on possessiveness.
The prophet falls silent for a moment, then speaks.
"That's the Reverse Heaven itself."
"What?"
"It's your fault."
"How is it my fault?"
"Listen well."
The prophet lifts the crystal orb again.
Inside is the white girl.
Nothing exists beside her.
"Your sister was fated to be born alone and die alone. Doomed to live her entire life in isolation. Do you understand?"
"I've heard it enough times. It's not pleasant, so cut it out. I know."
"No, you don't. You've already veered from your fate. More precisely, this girl was fated to live her life 'seeking forgiveness.'"
"What does that mean?"
"You were supposed to resent your sister forever. Never forgive the superior blood relative. And your sister was supposed to spend her life seeking forgiveness from her brother. You two were water and oil, never to mix."
"......"
The prophet taps the crystal orb again.
A golden boy appears beside the white girl.
No need to ask who.
The white girl begins circling the golden boy, white steam rising more and more.
"But then an anomaly occurs. The brother defies his fate. He stops resenting his sister. Instead, he cherishes her, and her love for her brother is reciprocated. What do you think happens then?"
"......"
"What does?"
"It becomes unstoppable. The inhuman nature that should have been suppressed for a lifetime of atonement is acknowledged and set free."
"You saying Ariel changed because of that?"
"High possibility. In a way, it's your fault. You made a flower that should never bloom come into full blossom."
"Heh."
I scratch my dizzy head.
Troubling words.
In other words, because I showered her with love, Ariel's inhuman side is going haywire.
But I can't stop loving her.
That goes against my principles.
"So what do I do?"
"Take responsibility. What else is there to say?"
"What?"
"You can't undo a calamity that's already born. She was meant to live for a goal she could never achieve, but you made that possible. So you take responsibility and live with her."
"This crazy bastard...... What, marry my sister or something?"
"That wouldn't be bad."
Is this guy Habsburg or what?
"But you don't have to see it negatively. Her inhumanity being unleashed also means it can be properly tempered. If you control her well, her inhuman side can be regulated, and she might live as a human."
"That's a relief."
"Right. Any more questions?"
"......"
I shut my mouth.
Anything else to ask?
Nothing comes to mind right now.
I need time to process the info and plan ahead.
So the important thing is, can I meet him again?
"Will there be another chance? Do another good deed in the alley?"
"No. Once the path is open, you can meet me anytime you want. Just don't expect much. Even I can't glimpse the entire Otherworld. We might meet and have nothing to say."
"Got it. That's fine. As long as I can meet you again. That's all for my questions."
I sigh and stand up.
Lots of unexpected talk, but I get the gist.
Ariel.
Time to think about how to take responsibility for my little sister and keep her safe.
"Wait."
Just then.
A voice stops me as I turn to leave.
"There's one thing I want to tell you."
"What?"
"You haven't noticed yet, it seems."
The prophet raises his head.
I feel the eyes under the hood on me.
"He who nears the ink turns black. He who gazes into the abyss is stained by the abyss."
"......"
"Be careful. You might be getting stained by your sister too."
A single line that needlessly gets under my skin.