Chapter 193: Miracle. (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 193: Miracle. (3)
The Ignorant Spirit first received knowledge from him.
It acquired many things, including language, and finally became clearly aware of its own state.
I see. I harbored curiosity, and I needed someone to ask about the things I was curious about.
The subordinates…? Friends…? It had fashioned from its overflowing power must have vaguely sensed that desire and brought something here that could satisfy it.
Though it had learned much through the knowledge received from him, there were still parts it did not understand.
According to that knowledge, when one encountered something unknown, one had to ask a question to a being who could provide an answer.
[Why does the big fish eat the small fish?]
The first thing it had actively imitated after being born was predation.
It hadn’t known it then, but that was surely its first primordial question—an act born of curiosity about itself and others.
This was undoubtedly the first question it had to ask.
The man seemed to choose his words for a brief moment, but soon, he smiled and began to explain.
“Most living things cannot survive without using other living things as nourishment.”
The spirit already knew this; it was part of the knowledge it had gained.
That wasn’t the part it was curious about.
[By what right?]
It was a contradiction that even his knowledge could not help it understand.
A terrible contradiction committed not just by fish, but by all living things.
According to his knowledge, all life is precious and must never be taken recklessly.
And yet, the very things that harbor that life take and devour weaker things at will.
The law of the jungle. Survival of the fittest. The concepts he recognized as common sense clearly clashed with another common sense: the sanctity of life.
If everyone were a being like itself, who needed neither food nor drink, wouldn’t it be true that no one would ever be hurt?
Why did such an absurd structure exist, and why was power wielded within that absurdity as if it were a natural law?
It was curious. It wanted him to provide an answer. By what right, exactly?
“There is no such thing as a ‘right.’”
However, the words that came out of his mouth were deeply disappointing.
No right? What a letdown. Was he not a being who could answer anything?
“For most living things, it’s something they take for granted from the moment they’re born. The world is an absurd place where they aren’t even permitted to contemplate such things.”
[Are you telling me to just move on because ‘that’s just how it is’?]
“No, that’s not it. No, it shouldn’t be that way.”
His attitude was gentle, as if he were dealing with a child.
“Some might say it’s foolish to challenge absurdity. Certainly, many people just accept it and move on, but not everyone does.”
He intentionally sent another piece of knowledge to the spirit.
“That is why many strive to overcome absurdity, dreaming of paradise and trying to reach it in their own ways.”
A prayer.
Countless desires and goals.
Not all of them could be called beautiful, but everyone harbored something and worked toward it.
“And in the end, even if they couldn’t reach paradise, there were many instances where they moved forward, bit by bit, toward coexistence.”
The spirit wasn’t fully convinced, but the efforts within the knowledge he showed certainly seemed to have value.
However, another question sprouted after hearing his words.
[Then why do they waste? Why do they kill and take more than necessary, and even then, why are they not satisfied, stealing from their own kind and seeking self-destruction?]
His expression stiffened for a moment.
Yet, he did not lose his smile and began to explain again.
“Well, honestly, there might not be a clear answer to that. But if I had to answer, I’d say it’s because humans are weak.”
Weak? The creatures at the top of the ecosystem who ruled the world were weak?
“Yes. Unlike you, humans are imperfect and incredibly fragile. It’s not easy to admit one’s own weakness and overcome it. So they fail, get frustrated, lose their way, and eventually collapse.”
It was hard to understand.
What did denying one’s own weakness have to do with waste, luxury, and violence?
“Perhaps they want to deceive themselves by gaining pleasure and a sense of superiority. Actually, I don’t know about other people, but that’s how it was for me. I really hated admitting I was wrong.”
A bitter, self-mocking smile played on his face.
[You’re like a child.]
“I have no defense for that. You’re right. I was like a child.”
No question was being clearly resolved, yet new questions kept arising.
Strangely, however, this exchange did not feel unpleasant.
In fact, the spirit was starting to like it more and more.
[Why do living things consume themselves to give birth to offspring?]
“…That is a truly difficult question to answer. It’s not something I can give a definitive answer to, and it’s a bit much to just call it simple instinct.”
He pondered for a moment before continuing.
“Still, if I had to give an answer, I’d say it’s ‘possibility.’”
[Possibility?]
“Yes, possibility. Even if I can’t reach it alone, I hope our species can move to the next step. Even if we fail, I hope it leads to other possibilities in the future. Or perhaps, it’s a desire to leave a trace that ‘I’ once existed.”
[What meaning is there in that?]
Meaning. Upon hearing that word, he smiled with a somewhat lonely expression.
“There is no meaning.”
[Hmm?]
“To be honest, I’ve been acting all high and mighty explaining things, but those aren’t the ‘correct’ answers either. There are no correct answers or inherent meanings in this world.”
[I don’t understand what you mean.]
The spirit didn’t understand, but it could at least tell that he wasn’t mocking it.
“Paradoxically, that is why we can assign meaning to anything and agonize over what the right answer is.”
The spirit could feel it.
He truly treasures these words.
He thinks of them as words he must protect, words given to him by someone he holds very dear.
And he had offered them to the spirit.
Why? It had no relationship with him. Was it perhaps because he feared the power it possessed?
Yet another new question had surfaced.
At this rate, would the day ever come when all its questions were resolved?
“In the end, you have to find the answer you can accept for yourself. I can help you a little, but I can’t be the answer for you.”
[Then we’ve just gone back to the beginning.]
“Not necessarily. You’ve come up with more questions, and you’ve learned that you have to contemplate them yourself, haven’t you?”
[It’s too difficult.]
There was still so much it didn’t know. It felt frustrated because the one who seemed to know the answers wouldn’t give them.
So, to gain more of his knowledge, the spirit strengthened its connection with him.
His knowledge, his ideology, the form he considered ideal, what he hoped for when he approached it.
While looking inside him and discovering many things, one particularly black thing caught its eye.
The thing he was desperately trying to hide from it.
Perhaps the answer was in there.
There was no hesitation.
The satisfaction of having its thirst for knowledge quenched—the first such feeling since its birth—was far too strong.
— Get away.
However, the moment it touched that black thing, the connection with him was severed by something.
It hadn’t seen everything yet.
“…Hey, I’m really grateful this time.”
He muttered words whose meaning the spirit did not know.
* * *
For the first time in a long while, I felt grateful for my Authority.
I didn’t think it would happen, but what if it went on a rampage after seeing my past for no reason?
You’ll get an upset stomach if you eat stuff like that.
The problem was that the connection was cut before I could deliver the final blow.
Originally, I was going to play the mastermind role, saying I would become its loyal subordinate and help it find its own answers.
It took most of my knowledge and other things, so it probably knows what I want. This should be fine, right?
Now that the connection was severed, I couldn’t tell what it was thinking anymore, which made me even more anxious.
[I cannot stay in this form.]
The spirit murmured softly.
[I have something I want from you, and you have something you want from me. In this form, I cannot grant that wish.]
Ah, thank goodness. It seems like things worked out somehow?
Squirm.
The entity, which had been like a black slime, began to take shape and harden like a chrysalis before molting.
Oh, that looks pretty convincing.
[I will grant your wish, so you must tell me more things.]
“Yes, of course!”
You’re going to be my master, after all!
[Wait. …Pa.]
“Yes! Huh? What? What did you say?”
A black cocoon, shaped like a crystal, was completed, and the voice could no longer be heard.
I must have misheard that last part, right?
…Pa? As in, Dad?
* * *
He had several desires.
The scream of wanting to correct his mistakes and atone was his greatest wish.
Second was the desire to fix this world into a slightly better place to live and for his precious ones to live their lives in comfort.
The third was a somewhat twisted wish; while treating himself as something that didn’t matter if it broke, he also wanted to forgive himself.
It was likely because he understood intellectually that he was necessary for the happiness of his precious ones.
However, besides those, there was another desire he hadn’t consciously realized.
A desire closer to his foundation, one that had hardened more thickly and viscerally than the previous ones.
After reviewing all the knowledge gained from his head to fulfill this wish, the spirit concluded that a firm connection was necessary, and the form closest to that was family.
However, it couldn’t become his mother, as that role was already too strongly defined in his mind, so it had to find the next most suitable form.
Therefore, a child.
It had received much from him and would continue to do so, so wasn’t that the most appropriate form?
Before transforming into its new self, it saw him shouting something, but it assumed he was just happy that a wish he hadn’t even known he had was being fulfilled.
Humans truly express their emotions in such diverse ways.
* * *
“Ah, damn it. What the hell? I came all the way to the beach, and there isn’t a single woman in a swimsuit. Who cares about some stupid dungeon? Why’d they have to issue an evacuation order?”
The man grumbled irritably, though he did intend to make an effort to keep his promise to his helper.
It was just that since the destination was a beach, he had hoped to play around with some girls and eat and drink some local specialties if the situation allowed for it.
But it was no fun if everyone had evacuated like this.
He was going to clear the damn dungeon himself anyway.
“Don’t you think so?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Ah, don’t be a buzzkill. You’re no fun.”
As the man’s golden hair and red eyes shimmered, the woman beside him trembled and nodded.
“…Man, there are better women out there. Why did they make me go with something like this?”
The moment he reached the dungeon—no, had they called it a nest?—his eyes flashed with interest.
What do we have here? Some were still left. Good-looking women, too.
Seeing them at the dungeon entrance, were they planning to challenge it? That won’t do. Who knows what’s in there? It’s dangerous.
He started to feel motivated.
If they were heroes, they’d be hostile to him, so he hoped they were hunters if possible.
However, in his initial joy at finding women, he hadn’t noticed the males around them.
Ah, what a pain.
But the fact that they had partners didn’t change what he was going to do.
After all, there was no need for a god like himself to follow rules set by humans.
If something he wanted was before his eyes, he took it.
If it was an object with an owner, he stole it.
He had always lived his life that way.
And because there were almost none who could stop him…
He had come to be called a Calamity.
Yet, he considered himself to be of a quite merciful temperament.
In his own way, he always extended a hand once as a ‘chance.’
“Leave the women and all you males get lost. Then I’ll let you live. See? Aren’t I merciful?”
It was the worst possible approach, not even offering a greeting, but he was intoxicated with himself, believing this to be the way of a god.