Chapter 193
Chapter 193
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: The Art of Anecdote (2)
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“No. Even if their lifespan runs out, the citizens of Heaven do not die. They are regenerated into new life through the Art of Anecdote.”
“Then the math doesn’t add up. If everyone can live forever, why is the population constant?”
“The citizens’ lifespans are under Ra’s control. The total population's lifespan is calculated under strict law, which is how it can maintain a fixed number.”
Eternal life and population control were contradictory concepts.
Ultimately, the key was the Art of Anecdote.
But just like Gardlock, Kanya also avoided explaining it. Whether citizen or heretic, everyone seemed to have their convictions, but that didn't seem to apply to the Art of Anecdote.
A contradiction.
The Art of Anecdote, as Shirone imagined it, was a grand contradiction.
They passed through the Forest of the Profane from the Valley of the Whirlwind Serpent and arrived at Heaven.
The group craned their necks to look up at the sky.
Compared to the size of the walls, they were nothing but dust. It was a scale of extremity that humans could not create.
Kanya introduced this place as District 73, adding that there were 820 districts in the First Heaven alone.
Giving up on trying to comprehend it, Shirone touched the wall. He had thought it was stone, but it was metal.
Heaven’s technology transcended the common sense of Shirone and his companions.
“Will it be okay for us to go in?”
“It should be fine. You’re a Nephilim, after all. But I can’t be certain.”
“Then how about we just climb over the wall?”
Climbing a wall that reached the sky seemed impossible, but they had no other options.
However, Kanya shook her head even at that.
“Only authorized drones can fly in Heaven’s airspace. You’ll be shot down. It’s never happened before, but I heard about it from my grandfather. And besides, sneaking in is impossible anyway.”
“Why? It doesn’t look like anyone is guarding the gate.”
“They don’t restrict entry. It’s a matter of law. All information that occurs in Heaven is managed in the Sixth Heaven’s Jebul, where the angels reside. They can measure fluctuations in mass and even the gaseous components mixed in the air of each district, so sneaking in would be futile. Don’t worry too much. Nothing dangerous will happen. This isn’t Purgatory.”
As a citizen, Kanya seemed to feel there was no need to instill a negative impression of Heaven beforehand and reassured Shirone.
As she approached the gate and held out her gauntlet, a red beam of light shot out from a lens and scanned its surface.
As the gate opened, a sound like the world shaking was heard. Covering their ears was useless.
Once the entrance to District 73 was open, Shirone’s group followed closely behind Kanya and entered Heaven.
As the gate closed, the lens flashed.
The newly updated information for District 73 was transmitted to the Sixth Heaven’s Jebul.
Total mass: 49,739,498,847.3423 kilograms.
Carbon dioxide level increase: 0.0000024 percent.
***
The first impression of Shama'in was one of dissonance.
The residential areas of the races were separated by streets, and their cultural styles were drastically different.
The buildings of the Norr were practical, while the buildings of the Kergo were extravagant. And when they discovered the Meka’s buildings, Shirone and Amy stopped in their tracks, speechless.
It was the magic warehouse, Istas.
Square boxes were stacked in layers, freely intersecting with adjacent buildings and shifting their positions.
It didn't seem likely that the Meka had come to the magic academy for a field trip. It was evidence that Meka technology had somehow flowed into their original world.
Kanya passed through the Meka district and came out into a plaza.
Like a cultural crossroads, the plaza's scenery, with various races intermingling, was like seeing an international market in a neutral country.
“Shirone, look over there.”
Amy pointed at a statue of a giant.
It felt different from when they saw it at the Kergo altar. Giants actually lived here. Moreover, they had even fought one.
Why was a giant, revered by the citizens, wandering Purgatory?
Kanya’s house was the same size as the other Meka houses.
If the Kergo pursued ostentation and the Norr practicality, the Meka seemed to pursue standardization.
As they entered Kanya’s house, the building rose to the fourth floor.
Contrary to its inhuman form, the interior was cozy.
Her parents, who were sitting at the dining table, shot to their feet.
He had heard that the Art of Anecdote was for those whose lifespans were ending, but their faces were much younger than Shirone had expected.
Kanya’s mother hugged her two daughters and cried out.
“Where on earth have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
“I’m sorry. There were circumstances.”
“Who are those children? They look like Norr.”
“We went to the Norr’s shelter. To get this.”
When Kanya held out the potion, her mother’s eyes trembled with shock.
She had never told anyone. How could her own daughter know about this?
“You… This is…”
“It’s an awakening potion, made with Norr magic. Drink this before the Art of Anecdote.”
“Lena! Why would you do something like this? I never wanted this!”
“So I’m just supposed to stand by and watch? You went to Purgatory to give medicine to Grandpa, didn’t you?!”
“Who on earth told you that—!”
“Grandpa told me! That’s why he was able to smile until the very end as he entered the Art of Anecdote! That’s all that matters! That’s what family is!”
“What has gotten into you! Then you must also know that my lifespan was reduced because I went to get that medicine! How do you think a mother would feel if her daughter did the exact same thing?!”
Their father, who had been listening with a sorrowful expression, intervened.
“Both of you, stop. What’s done is done. For now, what matters is that you returned safely.”
After calming his wife, he turned to Shirone’s group.
“So, are you heretics, then? From the Norr’s shelter?”
Kanya introduced Shirone and his companions.
“No. They’re from the Land of Earth. They saved my life and Lena’s, and helped us get this medicine. We might have died if it weren’t for them.”
No parent in the world would treat coldly those who had saved their child’s life.
The father invited Shirone’s group into the house.
While the mother prepared a meal, Kanya recounted what they had experienced in Purgatory.
When the story of Shirone being a Nephilim came up, both parents fell to their knees, causing a commotion in the living room.
Only after the group’s earnest pleading did the parents agree to treat them comfortably.
“I see. We’re grateful you helped Kanya and Lena. But it would be best for you to leave this place quickly. Even if you are a Nephilim, those from the Land of Earth are not welcome here.”
“No. We plan to go to the Seventh Heaven.”
Araboth, the holy land of God, was a place so sacred that even daring to speak of going there was considered blasphemous. But Shirone was free from the law, so he could freely speak the words that came to his mind.
“But… there is no way to get to the Seventh Heaven.”
“We’ll have to figure that out from now on. More importantly, I’m curious about the law here. What does it mean for a lifespan to be reduced?”
“It’s just as it sounds. Citizens are granted a lifespan according to the law from the moment they are born. Kanya’s lifespan is 62 years. Lena can live until she is 73.”
“Oh? Lena is the younger sister, but her lifespan is longer?”
“Lifespans can change at any time. Lena received an additional 10 years for singing hymns beautifully as a child. It’s a good thing, but the problem is my wife. Her lifespan is 43 years and 247 days. She now has only one day left.”
Shirone’s heart sank.
Who in the world could know their lifespan down to the last day? If it were him, the mere thought was terrifying.
And yet, Kanya’s mother was smiling. It was because she was certain that Ra’s grace would be bestowed upon her.
“My wife had 20 years deducted from her lifespan as punishment for going to Purgatory in her youth. That’s why she will enter the Art of Anecdote tomorrow.”
Changing a person’s lifespan was a cruel thing. No, he couldn't even imagine it was possible.
If Ra ruled over lifespans, how old was he?
He had heard that Heaven's history spanned hundreds of thousands of years. Perhaps Ra truly was a god.
“What is this Art of Anecdote?”
“Hmm, it seems she didn’t tell you. I suppose she wouldn’t. It’s not something you’re better off knowing. Besides, aren’t Nephilim free from the law? It has nothing to do with you.”
“I still want to know. If I understand what it is, I might be able to think of a good solution.”
“Hmm, if that’s the case…”
Just as the father was about to speak, a clear, ringing voice echoed from outside the window.
“All shall revere me! I am Peope, administrator of the Meka clan.”
Shirone’s group shot to their feet.
The voice was reaching them as if through sound amplification magic. What was more surprising was that the language was being translated automatically.
The ability of telepathy, cast through sound alone without a channel.
If it was magic, it was of high difficulty.
“It seems what was bound to happen has happened. It’s a fairy.”
“A fairy? You mean the fairies I know of?”
Shirone thought of the fairy race living in his original world.
Kanya’s father, mistaking the fairy he was talking about for the fairies here, nodded.
“Yes. The enforcers of the law. If giants uphold the law, fairies are the beings who execute it. You could call them internal administrators. She must have come because of Kanya and Lena.”
“What should we do?”
“If you’re a Nephilim, you shouldn’t have to worry. You are a being free from the law. However… I’m not sure if she will take that into consideration. She has a peculiar personality.”
“What are you doing! The citizens of this house, open the door at once!”
The fairy’s voice came from just outside the door.
This was the fourth floor. And the fairies Shirone knew were by no means flying beings.
When the father opened the door, a dainty creature flew in, shattering Shirone’s expectations.
It was a girl the size of his palm.
She had curly blonde hair, and though her face was small, her features were distinct enough to be pretty. She wore green boots that came up to her ankles, and her transparent wings fluttered at a speed invisible to the eye.
As Kanya’s family knelt, Shirone’s group tactfully followed their lead.
Floating in the air, Peope lifted her chin and spoke.
“I am Peope, the Spiral Fairy. I have personally appeared to conduct a citizen trial.”
Fairies were born from an essence, like a jack-o'-lantern, but they were concepts, not attributes of the natural world.
A single-concept entity.
Therefore, fairies possessed reason and could control the concept that was their origin.
“And so, I will now execute the law. Kanya and Lena, did you go to Purgatory?”
“Yes. We did.”
Kanya’s parents squeezed their eyes shut.
But Kanya herself was calm. It was something she had been prepared for since before she left Heaven.
The only thing that bothered her was… Lena.
“I apologize. I wanted to treat my mother to a delicious meal before she enters the Art of Anecdote, so I hunted in the Forest of the Profane.”
Since the Kergo could freely come and go from Purgatory, she thought using hunting as an excuse might lighten the crime.
But Peope pushed her, as if she had no interest in the citizen’s circumstances.
“Hmph, how dare you speak such falsehoods. What use is food to a citizen who will die tomorrow?”
Kanya’s mother finally shed tears.
Even if the Art of Anecdote was a blessing, what creature in the world did not fear death? Peope had just poked at that precarious emotion.
Shirone felt anger at that fact.
The citizens called the Art of Anecdote regeneration. But the words that came from the internal administrator fairy were a clear death sentence.
The reason it wasn't a simple threat was that he could feel no malice in Peope's words.
It was as if a pure, innocent child was honestly expressing the emotions they felt.
“In any case, I will deliver the verdict. Kanya and Lena, your lifespans are reduced by 40 years each.”
Kanya’s face was blank. A 40-year reduction meant she had less than 10 years of life left. Lena was better off, but even so, she would end her life at 33.
Receiving a 40-year reduction for unauthorized leave was, as far as she knew, a record high.
A year ago, Sail, who was her age, received a 5-year reduction. Mr. Kai, a Norr, received 7 years. Even her mother, in what was known as the unluckiest case, only received 20 years.
But a 40-year reduction? She could accept it for herself, but what was to become of Lena’s life?