Chapter 9
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Finally, the Star We Meet
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Any normal person would freak out.
The fact that I'd entered someone else's body.
The way he was staring right at me.
The reverse would be the same.
Wasn't it no different from some stray ghost latching on?
From that perspective, Luke wasn't normal either.
This holy knight wasn't surprised or afraid.
He simply read my irritation and curled his lips.
【Just as you appear in my memories.】
I've never even seen your face once. What are you talking about?
I feel it every time, but this holy knight senior only spouts things I can't understand.
Thump-.
A single massive pulse rose from my heart.
It felt just like the signal from a fully charged battery.
Luke Seid turned his body.
Just like when we first arrived at the cliff.
'Does he have enough strength now and plans to move?'
Standing at the edge of a cliff battered by fierce winds, with a sheer drop at his back.
I could never do that, not even if I died and came back to life.
【A star is a dream, a conduit for souls.】
Luke removed his helmet.
The brief freedom of vision was once again curtained by golden light.
Lush golden hair cascading to his navel whipped in the wind.
Deep, dark gold hair, just like Luke's eyes.
【I saw you.】
Luke swept back his hair and pulled his double-edged sword toward his face.
Moonlight fell on his face, reflected in the blade.
It was a face that stopped your breath.
Why wouldn't it be?
'It's me......'
No illusion.
The hair and eye color were different, but it clearly resembled me.
'Two eyes, two nostrils, two ears-.'
【You must have seen me too.】
'Me? I saw you, sir? Is this some dream after death?'
As I puffed out my cheeks, Luke's cheeks puffed out too.
【Seeing through each other's eyes—that's more precise.】
Could you explain?
"Shall I explain?"
I spoke in Luke's voice.
Before I knew it, I was starting to influence Luke's body bit by bit.
I wanted to raise a hand and scratch my cheek, but it hadn't gone that far yet.
"Preparations are complete."
Having spouted something incomprehensible again, Luke took a step forward.
He paused at the fork in the path.
Gazing toward the waterfall, Luke let out a sigh of relief.
"It seems the Red Dragon Knights haven't discovered the area behind the waterfall yet."
"That appears to be the case. But since it's a section where mana is sealed, maybe they just can't sense it?"
It wasn't a wrong assumption—Luke's lips curved in satisfaction at my observation.
The path leading into the Sanctuary was narrower than the passage.
His armor occasionally scraped against the stone walls.
Luke proceeded cautiously, helmet tucked under his arm, illuminating the way ahead with his double-edged sword.
Kindly explaining things I was curious about or interested in.
"Sleep is the time of the soul. Those with spirit see dreams during that soul-time. They simply don't remember."
Sounds familiar.
It's not that we don't dream; we just don't remember.
"A star is the medium and conduit connecting souls. Dreams show glimpses of other worlds through the stars."
"It shows souls connected by stars."
"Correct."
When I was little, I had those kinds of dreams.
Dreams that continued in a series.
Endless adventures in the dream world.
Sometimes I'd look forward to sleeping again just to see what happened next.
I wasn't the only one.
Family, friends—everyone.
"The stronger the spirit, the clearer and longer the view of the other side."
"What's the relation between spirit and age?"
I recalled how, as we grew older, those dreams gradually stopped.
"Not age. It's worldliness. Whether the dust of the world covers your spirit, or you preserve it despite that."
Ah, I get it.
Something about purity, right?
"Even if spirit weakens and age advances, dreams seen through the star aren't forgotten. Just not remembered."
In dreams, Mom flew through the sky, one friend fought wars every day, another swam underwater.
Someone repaired machines in a spaceship-like place, and someone else...
"But at some point, like a stone tower crumbling when its base is pulled out, the memories revive."
Ah...
I'm such an idiot.
I think I finally understand why Luke, standing on that cliff, shared his life story with me.
Luke had pulled out the base stone.
"The scenes I saw in dreams as a child were through Kalruk Seid's eyes."
"Correct."
Correct-.
Our shared conversation echoed off the stone walls.
"Luke, with your superior spirit, must have seen me for a long time."
"Yes. It was a fascinating world."
Luke's heart pounded.
He must have found the indirect experience of my world through dreams quite entertaining.
"It was very early. Kalruk fell from his horse. Were you alright? I woke up startled. It was around when I entered the beginner academy."
I asked about a memory that surfaced strongly.
Probably the year I started elementary school.
The speech and vocabulary were still hard to adjust to inwardly, but what can you do.
Luke's lips curved warmly.
Now I couldn't tell if it was me smiling or Luke.
"I was fine. It was the day Father the lord gave me a horse as a birthday gift."
Luke was clearly the terse type.
Even just how he emphasized the key points.
No habit of rambling like me.
"It was a beach sandfield. A Kojak suddenly burst out from the primeval forest."
"So that was a Kojak."
I didn't remember details, but I recalled Kalruk's horse being startled by something.
A creature with dark mustard skin, huge build, walking upright.
It inwardly reminded me of an orc, though the skin color differed.
"It wasn't trying to attack me. It had fled to the sea from a beast too. It gave me precious fruit, apologizing. That's how we became friends. I haven't seen it since leaving home. It's probably still waiting for me in the forest."
One of Luke's few friends.
"You must miss your friend."
Luke's heart tinged with longing.
"Yes. Father, friends...
Luke's head habitually turned that way, then stopped.
The moon was in that direction.
Hidden by the cave wall.
Anyway.
To sum up his words: from the start, we were souls connected through a star.
Occasionally seeing each other's worlds through dreams.
Luke had watched my life quite clearly and for a long time.
Meanwhile, I just thought they were recurring dreams and forgot.
Difference in spirit, I suppose.
'Hard to believe, yet strangely convincing.'
For some reason, it felt like our time together was short.
I might be at death's final gateway.
Meeting briefly with the soul connected by the star on the other side, then vanishing forever.
If so, more than regret, I needed to resolve my curiosities as much as possible.
That's the kind of person I am.
"Do you know why I came to visit you, Luke?"
"You're most curious about that."
I nodded.
Whoever nodded, probably both of us.
"The land of wisdom holds many tomes. The product of millennia of research by Hellite's priests. I can only speculate based on that."
Surprising, yet welcome words.
It meant I could learn the reason to some extent.
As the passage suddenly lowered, Luke ducked to avoid hitting his head and continued.
"Souls form bonds through stars. As each other's stars."
You said that earlier, you punk.
"Invisible stars. We live unaware of each other's existence."
Knowing would be the weird part.
"Hellite priests define it as balance and non-interference."
Ours is a broken balance, then.
"When one side's realm grows excessively high, balance breaks, and interference occurs."
"For example, if you devour the Insight Ability and ascend realms—"
"That's right. The other side could become an idiot or a madman."
Hmm.
Listening quietly, it stung—idiot and madman hit home.
Yet it cleared up my questions, a relief.
Glad my guess was right too.
"By any chance..."
Then what about this hypothesis?
I wanted to ask if others experienced it too.
People yelling curses at empty air on the street, muttering as they wander, or just visibly insane at a glance.
Time was precious, so I didn't ask.
But Luke had peered into that thought too.
"Your guess is probably correct."
"Unfortunate for them."
Even if they don't suffer dazzling starlight like me, becoming fools due to superior souls from another world is pitiful.
Rumble-.
Footsteps suddenly boomed.
The light from the double-edged sword bouncing off walls no longer returned.
"Light—"
Amplified divine power illuminated the vast cavern.
A natural cave untouched by any light.
The Sanctuary, deeply hidden in Negaf Arron.
"You asked why you came."
Ah, right.
"God called you."
"I don't believe in God."
"Do as you will."
Luke's tone was gravely solemn.
"And I chose you."
I couldn't ask.
I fully received his dignified, earnest sentiment.
"O star I've finally met, when I met you, I received the revelation of trials. A revelation of the star, and thus of God."
Ah, so that's why he went on about the star's voice.
"The star's voice led me here."
Like one gathering strength before God, Luke walked with relaxed power.
Thud-, thud-.
The weight of steel boots fully transmitted.
Clank-, clank-.
The armor's screeches made me swallow dryly.
"To protect Hellite, I strove and prayed ceaselessly. Through the star, God answered. I chose to survive, breaking the Holy Knight Order's code."
That resolve led you here, Luke.
"The reason I sought this Sanctuary with you..."
"A sacrifice for the trials, I suppose."
Luke didn't answer.
Well, disappointing.
Being alive felt good.
But if the body's owner tells me to leave, what can I do?
He strode across the cavern.
Crack-. Crack-.
A ping-pong-ball-sized stone kicked underfoot, crushed by heavy armor.
Just like my plight.
A pebble tossed by insignificant fate.
"This way."
At the end of crossing the light-swallowing vast cavern stood a rock blocking us.
Not a naturally split or broken stone wall.
A rock barricading something with its bulk and weight.
Luke groped the gap between the rock and cavern wall.
"No gaps, as expected."
Meaning it couldn't be pushed aside.
He moved to the rock's center.
Placed his hand on it.
"Hellite's Star commands: open the way."
Hummmmm-.
Light resonated, the rock trembled.
I felt it.
Divine power filling Luke's body sucked into the rock.
'How brute-force is this power?'
At this rate, wouldn't it melt or explode the rock?
Luke's chest ached fiercely.
Me too.
Soon, most of Luke's divine power was gone.
The double-edged sword had long been unsummoned.
"The star heard the zeal to protect the Holy Kingdom and gave the answer: this signifies the realm beyond Crystal."
I doubted my eyes.
The solid rock, infused with divine power, rippled like waves.
Luke's hand sank right in—shunk-.
"I'm going."
Urgent footsteps echoed from behind.
Voices followed soon after.
"Over there!"