Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Governor-General
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After several days of testing, about fifty individuals had proven their skills.
They were a mere one-twentieth of the total applicants, and the fact that over half of them were graduates of the Union school was, in many ways, astonishing.
According to the examiners’ reviews:
‘The overall standard was high. If anything, I think many cases were judged too harshly.’
‘There were some kids who were at a disadvantage. A lack of charm, perhaps.’
‘Quite a few of them would have passed if they had applied last year.’
‘For starters, the level of those three is just too high.’
The successful candidates—Loan, Sophie, and Lucas—waited for their turn in front of the Union main building, where the third exam, the interview, would take place.
Lucas, dressed in a suit and tie with his hair neatly parted to one side, looked very tidy yet somehow awkward and comical. He wore a nervous expression and repeatedly wiped his forehead.
Sophie finally frowned and asked.
"Are you really okay? Why don't you take off that stuffy-looking tie?"
"No. I'm feeling great right now."
"Great? You're sweating buckets."
"..."
Lucas was particularly bad at talking with adults.
So, having an in-depth interview at Union was no different from stepping into hell for him.
Moreover, watching a succession of people emerge from the main building with slumped shoulders only intensified his anxiety.
"Some take a long time, while others come back quickly as if they gave up halfway through. I don't get what's going on..."
Loan patted Lucas's shoulder and said.
"What are you so nervous about? You even attended the school for two more years than us."
"...That's a huge help, Loan."
"I have to help a friend. They say this interview is about judging good character, after all."
Loan read the flow of mana and lightly dodged Lucas's playful fist.
Thanks to that, Lucas seemed to relax a little. Just as he was about to make a more serious move...
The voice of an administrative staff member was heard.
"Next interviewee, Loan."
Quietly, all eyes turned to Loan.
Loan felt pleased at the thought of finally being able to enter the Union main building.
A soft, relaxed smile betrayed no hint of nervousness.
He had been thrown into the world at the age of three, begging from adults, reciting stories, and boldly speaking his mind.
He had nothing to fear.
"Yes."
"Go on up."
Loan slowly climbed the stairs and stood before a massive door.
Creeeak—
The door opened on its own, as if reacting to Loan's Convection.
Even in that moment, Loan found inspiration.
‘Is this a magic circle that corresponds with a visitor's mana? It's hard to examine it from here.’
It was an incredibly delicate and intricate magic.
Loan's heart fluttered with a bit of excitement.
‘This way, I suppose.’
There was no guide, no staff inside, yet his heart seemed to know where to go, his steps naturally gaining purpose.
Loan walked down a long corridor with a high ceiling and only stopped when he reached a vast hall.
His gaze first fell upon a very large, seven-sided table standing alone in the center of the hall.
Then, to the seven chairs, each placed at the center of one of the sides.
No one was sitting there, in the seats that seemed to symbolize the seven divisions of Union.
‘Weren't the Commanders supposed to be conducting the interviews? Or have they just not arrived yet?’
As he stood there for a moment, he suddenly felt a voice.
-Come to me.
It wasn't heard. The thought simply reached his mind.
It was as if his own recitations, which pushed mana outward, had been stripped of their sound, leaving only the thought.
It was an astonishing and strange moment, confronting something he'd wondered if was even possible.
Loan took one step, then another, toward the place that was pulling at his heart.
Beyond the seven-sided table were two symmetrical dead-end corridors.
As he approached the one that was calling to him, a small door opened on its own, just like before.
In the midst of an overwhelming atmosphere of mana that instantly poured over him—
Loan hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should step inside.
Perhaps she heard the voice of his heart.
"Come in."
This time, the voice was real.
The sound gently pushed through the atmosphere to reach Loan.
As if drawn, he took a step forward.
He wondered if this was what it would feel like to enter someone's belly, where mana was densely accumulated.
Even the Convection of mana surrounding his body lost its flow in the dense atmosphere.
It was like a small stream meeting the great ocean and having its current completely stripped away.
In contrast.
The space was simple.
It had a very tranquil feel. Neither large nor small, it was someone's living space.
However, it was filled with an immense warmth, thanks to the sunlight pouring in through the wide windows on all sides and the mana that saturated the room.
As his eyes adjusted to the halo of light, the objects in the room began to come into view.
There wasn't much: a small bed, an even smaller table with two chairs, and a single dresser.
And a woman with very long ears, her eyes covered by a black blindfold.
The simple, oat-colored clothes she wore made her seem almost like a country maiden.
Despite her plain appearance, the powerful energy extending from within her was proof that she completely dominated the mana in this room.
Her head was bowed toward the table, upon which sat a stack of papers, likely containing information about the interviewees.
Just as Loan wondered how she could read with her eyes covered.
"Welcome, Loan."
It was that voice.
The one that had called him here.
He still didn't know who she was.
Only that she was strong, solid, pure, and incredibly warm.
Loan then realized that the most supreme being he could ever meet was right before him.
If not a goddess...
Then perhaps, a state he himself had to reach.
‘Could I ever reach this level?’
As the thought crossed his mind.
"Sit."
Loan did so.
All thoughts were instantly erased, and the very options of refusal or politeness never even entered his mind.
Instantly heated tea, steaming, trickled into a small cup, which then slid smoothly toward Loan.
Loan bowed his head slightly, took the cup, and had a sip.
Its refreshing coolness and its heat were both unfamiliar and comforting, causing his eyes to widen.
"It seems to suit your palate."
"Yes, it's very... hot, yet refreshing."
"That is because your body is unusual."
"My constitution, you mean?"
A body that cannot accumulate mana.
He hadn't told anyone, and the only two who knew had even made a vow of secrecy, but—
Loan simply accepted that there was no way the person before him wouldn't know.
"It must have been very difficult for you."
He had never particularly felt that way. He had lived like that his whole life, so he had simply accepted it as his reality.
There was no other life to compare it to.
"You must have been lonely."
He couldn't bring himself to say, ‘I'm not lonely because I have people I love in my heart.’
That was a comfort he often offered himself.
He should have said he came to Union because he no longer wanted to keep people only in his heart, but.
"And yet, you've grown up so well."
She already understood.
Even with her eyes covered, it felt as if she were looking at Loan in detail.
No, it felt as if she had been watching him not just now, but for a very long time.
It wasn't strange. It was welcome.
The fact that there was a being so much more supreme than himself, who saw the world with his eyes closed, was simply wondrous. And yet.
Drip—
For some reason he couldn't understand, a tear rolled down his cheek.
There was no emotional turmoil.
He wasn't sad, nor was he particularly moved.
‘What's wrong with me?’
It was like when he first saw the halo of mana, or when he felt the presence of the people who remained in his heart.
A certain comfort in not being alone.
A fulfilling feeling, as if the life he had lived was being completely acknowledged.
If he had to put it into words, it was probably something like that.
Loan wiped away the tear and forced a smile.
He thought it was impolite.
"Your heart is pure, but your body is not. It is tempestuous, yet its foundation is remarkably calm."
Loan glanced down at his wildly beating heart.
She continued.
"You have a strange child with you as well."
He could feel where her blindfolded gaze was directed.
As he was about to lower his head toward the distinct bird footprint on his shoulder...
Suddenly, with a soft whoosh, a footprint appeared on the table, and Aul materialized.
"Uh..."
Aul made no sound, remaining perfectly still where it had appeared.
Looking down at the floor without raising its head seemed both incredibly rude and yet somehow respectful.
A flustered Loan said.
"His name is Aul."
"I see. I will watch over him as well."
For a moment, neither spoke, with the statue-still owl between them.
As the silence stretched, so did Loan's deliberation.
Should he tell her, this woman who seemed to know everything, about the vision he had seen?
But he didn't know when another opportunity like this would come.
Finally making up his mind, Loan spoke.
"I have a question."
"Go on."
"Can the future be changed?"
"The future is not set, so it cannot be changed."
It was an unexpected answer.
He was about to ask if it wasn't the other way around, but then he realized her words were also true.
He was momentarily lost in her words, but he soon found his bearings and asked what he needed to ask.
"I asked the wrong question. 'Was what I saw the future?' would have been the correct one."
"If you have seen the future, from that moment on, it is no longer the future."
This too was a riddle-like statement, but Loan applied the thought that ‘an unbroken stone is still a stone’ to decipher its meaning.
But he still needed a degree of certainty.
He wanted an answer. He didn't want to reach enlightenment on his own at this particular moment.
A heart that just wanted to be coddled like a child.
As if reading his thoughts, a soft smile formed beneath the blindfold.
She said.
"Achieve it according to your will."
Loan was silent for a long time.
The blindfolded woman waited through his silence, and at last, Loan found his answer.
‘It doesn't matter what I saw... I will simply strive to prevent a certain possibility. No, that's probably how humans have always lived from the very beginning.’
His path was finally clear.
A signpost given by an absolute being.
"I understand what you mean."
A faint smile appeared at Loan's answer.
Simultaneously, the mana in the room shimmered gently. A breeze entering through the window naturally intertwined with the mana and enveloped Loan.
The enriched atmosphere felt as if it were naturally seeing Loan off.
Along with that breeze, Aul also vanished.
Loan asked.
"Is the interview over?"
A silent smile served as her answer.
Loan was soon pushed out as if by the mana in the room, passing through the hall and down the corridor.
A smile was imprinted on his heart.
One he wanted to see again.
A smile he felt he had known from the beginning, but had long forgotten.
The door opened, and all eyes focused on Loan as he trudged down the stairs.
Lucas, who had been anxiously waiting but hadn't dared to go up the stairs, stamped his feet impatiently.
Sophie also waited for Loan's words with a tense expression.
But an administrative staff member greeted Loan first, saying.
"Congratulations on becoming a member of Union."
Using unexpectedly formal language.
"Ah... thank you."
Loan didn't know how he knew, but he bowed his head in response.
Sophie, who had stuck close to him, looked up and asked.
"What is it? Did you pass?"
"I think so."
"What did they ask?"
"Umm... something like a riddle, I guess."
This time, Lucas asked.
"Who? Who's conducting the interview?"
"I thought it might be the Commander. But they were wearing oat-colored clothes, not white?"
Lucas tilted his head and asked back.
"Oat-colored? That can't be right. I'm sure it was white. Was it stained?"
Then, the administrative staff member chimed in with a bright smile.
"That was the Governor-General."
"The Governor-General?"
Lucas was so shocked his voice cracked.
To be interviewed by the most supreme being.
Lucas's heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest.
"Next interviewee. Lucas von Passau."
And just then, his name was finally called.