Chapter 296
Chapter 296
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 296
Chapter Title: The End of a Long, Ill-fated Relationship (4)
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Though not much time had passed, the residential area was already well on its way to being restored.
It would have been a struggle if demonic beasts had attacked during that time, but according to Mayuri, their presence near the residential area had dropped significantly.
Perhaps the demonic beasts had been frightened by Shuten-doji's demonic aura and had fled far from the area.
“Kim Se-hyeon. I'd like you to stop by Tokyo before you return to Korea.”
“Tokyo? Why?”
“I have something to give you.”
Yaogami seemed reluctant to say more in a place with so many people, so I didn't press further.
Besides, I had to go to Tokyo anyway to meet the Prophet again.
There was no particular reason to refuse.
“Alright.”
“I will make time for you whenever you're ready.”
It hadn't even been two days.
And yet, seeing how his attitude towards me had changed so drastically, it seemed that relationships between people could truly change at any moment.
“Yamato Guild, excluding the Osaka branch, all personnel will return to base!”
And with that, the Yamato Guild was the first to leave Osaka.
At the very end, I thought I saw Doje glance my way and smirk, but I had no idea why.
“So, we've defeated the Disaster and caught Cromwell. Does that mean we can go back to Korea now?”
“...Ah.”
Jun Bo-ra's words suddenly reminded me of something.
Even though I had a spare dimension stone, Disaster Eater hadn't activated.
Could it be because Lasty absorbed its very existence?
“Kyuu?”
“...It's not your fault.”
What's done is done.
Considering Shuten-doji possessed the property of ‘immortality,’ there was a high chance Disaster Eater wouldn't have activated in the first place.
‘I need to raise her to a certain extent, without her regaining her memories.’
If she remains in this infantile state, the whole point of subordinating her will be lost.
The Declaration of the End alone isn't enough to make it worthwhile.
If she could at least speak human words, she'd be able to exert power comparable to the twins.
“Min-woo, do you think our powers can evolve even further?”
“Why the sudden question?”
“When we were fighting the yokai, I only caught a faint glimpse of it, but I felt like this blue color could turn white.”
“I'm not so sure... But isn't blue fire hotter? That's what we learned in science class.”
“Mmm... I don't think it's simply a matter of temperature.”
Overhearing the twins' conversation, I was inwardly impressed.
Not bad.
Jo Min-ah had just noticed the existence of White Flame, one of the three supreme flames and the power she was originally meant to possess.
The Witch of White Flame.
Would Jo Min-ah be able to reclaim that renowned name?
“Oh, right, Hyung. That person, Kibou, asked me to give you something.”
“What is it?”
“Uh, it's... Huh? Huh? Where did it go? Uh oh?”
“You gave it to me because you thought you'd forget, you idiot. Here you go, Oppa.”
“Whoa, you scared me. I thought I'd actually forgotten it.”
Jo Min-woo let out a long sigh of relief.
No wonder Min-ah gets anxious about him.
I chuckled and tore open the letter.
[I have something to tell you. I expect to be staying in the hospital for a while, so please come and find me there.]
That was all the letter said.
Judging by the beautiful handwriting, the letter was written by Kaede, not Kibou.
Kibou himself has terrible handwriting.
“I'm going to the hospital. After that, we'll all head to Tokyo and go to the Yamato Guild's headquarters. Yaogami said he'd give us all gifts as a token of his apology.”
“Really!?”
“I was just thinking I needed a new sword. I'll have to get a good weapon out of this.”
The word ‘gift’ was enough to get everyone chatting excitedly.
I hurried toward the hospital.
‘I'd planned to have a calm discussion with the Prophet once all these incidents were over.’
For me, that was the main event.
Plus, Hwang Chan-jin's comment that ‘an incident is likely to occur’ was weighing on my mind, so I had to quickly take care of the remaining tasks.
“You've come. Is your business finished?”
Kibou was lying quietly in his hospital bed, reading a book.
A light breeze made the curtains flutter.
This space alone felt detached from the atmosphere of the rest of the world.
“I asked Kaede to step out for a moment.”
“Is this something you have to keep secret even from Kaede?”
“No. I asked her to leave because I thought the topic might be sensitive for you, Se-hyeon-nim.”
Kibou gave a strange smile.
I sat down on a nearby chair.
“...To be honest, I was only pretending to trust you.”
Kibou confessed, as if he'd made up his mind.
“I had received warnings about you through my sponsor for some time now. That you were the most dangerous person to watch out for. They even gave me a special skill to see for myself.”
“Who is this sponsor?”
“I'm sorry. I cannot say.”
Kibou smiled bitterly.
Even without him saying it, there were only a few who would take such a stance.
Among them, if it was someone deeply involved with a ‘Hero,’ the answer was practically set in stone.
“The Cautious Herald of Light.”
Kibou answered with another strange smile.
Archangel Gabriel.
Is he now trying to openly keep me in check?
‘Just as angels aren't always on humanity's side, the same goes for Gabriel.’
In fact, he's closer to despising humanity.
He didn't appoint a ‘Hero’ to save humanity, but merely as a formality to show that they were on the side of justice.
You could see that in how he appointed Kibou as a Hero but didn't actually give him enough power to defeat a Disaster and save the world.
“Anyway, with the power he gave me, I can see other people's information. Including the fact that you have a peculiar ability.”
“...You know what my unique ability is?”
“Main Player. I thought it was an ability fit for a protagonist.”
“...”
My relaxed guard shot up in an instant.
How could he see my unique ability slot, which appeared blank even to the administrator Besial and all the other sponsors?
‘The power given by Gabriel.’
Does that mean Gabriel can see through it too?
The angels are probably a bit more deeply involved with the system than the devils are.
No, even so, it's strange.
If Gabriel knew about my unique ability, he would have tried to check me from various angles.
He could have contacted the administrator Besial long ago and plotted to put me in a difficult situation, and if so, Besial would have reported it to me immediately.
But I hadn't heard anything of the sort from Besial.
‘Or is it the opposite?’
Did he tell Kibou to be wary of me beforehand because he knew what it was?
...In the end, nothing was certain.
Except that my guard was raised, sensing something was up.
“The rank is also magnificent. EX. I was truly surprised.”
“The Prophet is EX-rank. You're EX-rank too. I don't think it's that surprising.”
“No, that's not what I mean.”
Kibou shook his head firmly.
“Your power is different from mine. My regression and the Prophet's future sight are Ex-rank. But your power is listed as EX-rank. You might think it's a simple typo, but it's not.”
“...”
It was something I'd never even considered.
I immediately used Extreme Eye to check Kibou's power again, and then checked my own.
What Kibou said was true.
“The rank attached to my regression is Exceed... meaning ‘transcendence.’ But yours is different. I once entered a dungeon that was listed as EX-rank. That's when I learned that EX stands for EXTRA. Yours probably means EXTRA as well. They both start with 'ex,' but their meanings are vastly different. Exception. Your power is, quite literally, an exceptional power.”
It felt like a thunderclap in my head.
Why didn't I realize this?
Even after seeing Ain's memo, my mind never went in this direction.
‘A power outside the system.’
What Ain mentioned in the second memo.
It clearly included the phrase, ‘creates a power outside the system.’
‘To think that's what EX-rank meant.’
“Was that helpful?”
As I stood there, speechless from the considerable shock, Kibou spoke with a gentle smile.
“It was a huge help. Thank you.”
“I'm glad. It's nothing compared to what you've done for me, Se-hyeon-nim.”
Kibou's head turned toward the window.
His gaze was fixed beyond the horizon.
Looking toward some distant, faraway place.
“You said that compromising appropriately with reality is the path to happiness for the greatest number of people.”
Then, at some point, Kibou spoke again.
“Because I kept clinging to my ideals, I was unknowingly causing Kaede hardship. For someone who can't even make the person most precious to them happy to discuss such things is perhaps absurd.”
“...”
“But I will continue to pursue my ideals. Even if it is nigh impossible. I believe that is the reason I am a regressor and a Hero.”
Kibou (希望).
There was a reason his name meant ‘hope’.
Seeing Kibou with such a heroic expression, I felt I no longer needed to worry.
“Yeah. You can do it.”
“Are you leaving already?”
“I have a lot of other things to do.”
The moment I stepped out the door, I met eyes with Kaede, who was coming in with a plate of cut fruit.
Before Kaede could say anything, I gave a quick bow and hurried away from the hospital room.
I hope you'll be happy this time.
I wished them well inwardly and headed to where the others were waiting.
***
“You're later than I expected.”
Next up was the Yamato Guild in Tokyo.
“Did you bring the rest of your party?”
“I wasn't the only one you needed to compensate, was I?”
“...Now that you mention it, you're right. Understood. However, I called you because I had something to discuss with you, so I'll have to call someone else for them.”
“In that case, may I guide them?”
A woman I'd never seen before approached from the opposite hallway with a smile.
No, to be precise, it was the first time I was seeing her in person.
Jun Bo-ra seemed to recognize her too, and nudged my arm.
“Se-hyeon. That person is definitely...”
“I think you're right.”
Himegami Sakura.
The guild master of the Yamato Guild, and the daughter of the Emperor.
Seeing as Yaogami handled most of the frontline affairs, I'd assumed she was just a figurehead, but judging by her expression, she didn't seem to have any complaints.
“Then, I'll leave them to you.”
“Leave it to me. I'm always indebted to Jun-ssi, so this is the least I can do.”
Yaogami silently adjusted his glasses.
Come to think of it, he wasn't wearing them before, but he is today.
Is he the type to wear glasses when handling office work?
“Now, everyone. This way.”
The twins glanced back at me worriedly, but Cha Eun-ha patted their backs, and they continued on.
“So the rumors were true.”
“What rumors?”
“Those kids and the kendo girl. That you raised them—people who shouldn't be strong at this stage—to S-rank, or the equivalent.”
“Word travels faster than I thought.”
“It's only natural, since the information spread to all the Salvatio across the world after the incident in America.”
‘The entire world...’
America has already been all but taken over by the Salvatio.
If Xie hadn't taken a liking to me, they might have swallowed up China in short order as well.
Japan would have been no different.
With the dictatorial system of a single guild called Yamato already in place, swallowing the guild means swallowing everything.
There are still forces like Seimei opposing the Yamato Guild, but I knew their resistance wouldn't last long.
“Are you getting scared now? To face the Salvatio of the entire world. That's the path you're walking. A 'rebellion' that might require you to turn not just against us, but against the world itself. Those kids have started walking that thorny path, following you without knowing a thing. Heh. Come to think of it, the name of your group is Rebellion... isn't it?”
“Think what you will.”
“Well, I didn't mean to mock you.”
Yaogami chuckled and pointed to a table.
I sat at the spot where tea had been prepared in advance, and Yaogami sat opposite me, lacing his fingers together.
“I'm thinking of leaving the Salvatio.”