Chapter 128
Chapter 128
“I…”
After a long pause and much deliberation, Sian finally spoke.
“I still hate this place.”
And what finally came out of his mouth was a declaration of ‘hate.’
“I hate this place, and I hate god.”
“…”
“You said God never abandoned me, but what he did was as good as abandonment.”
Sian spoke with a tired face and sad eyes.
“I’m merely a human, yet giving such a human an oracle calling him a hero, and then rewinding time until success… how could those who claim to love me do such a thing?”
No matter how much I want to take the side of the god, with whom I have a personal relationship and communicate daily with through the system, when I hear his words, I simply cannot take their side.
I’m even afraid to ask because I’m scared to hear from them that they really did such a thing to Sian.
Fortunately or unfortunately, questions related to Sian are all censored, saying they’re related to the secrets of the world.
“So, Irina. I hate this place.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why I granted Leilyranda’s request.”
I see. I nodded.
“You can hate this place. You might even wish for it to disappear because you hate it. But.”
“No.”
Sian interrupted me and shook his head.
“That’s not entirely untrue… but I couldn’t stand by and watch Leilyranda, who is in the same situation as me.”
He looked expressionless, drained. But strangely, it felt as though a single word might be enough to make him cry.
I quietly looked at Sian.
Sian Terezia.
The last hero and the forgotten hero. Once a crown prince of the empire, who regressed more than hundreds of times to protect his country.
But ultimately, a tragic being who saved the world by sacrificing his country.
He confessed he despised how the world carried on, still so beautiful, despite the loss of his country.
So he didn’t care if it perished. No, he had said that if destruction were to come again like this, he would rather ruin everything with his own hands.
Leilyranda sought out that man to hasten destruction, requesting something eerily identical to his own goal.
He claimed it wasn’t about the cause; he helped simply because he couldn’t stand seeing Leilyranda suffer the same way he had.
“But…”
But Sian Terezia is currently in Count Seike’s territory, right in front of me.
“But you love this place, Lord Sian.”
He was already a hero who had saved the south from demonic beasts.
He said he hated the world, that this place without his homeland could perish for all he cared, but in reality, he had saved the world.
The look he gave me was one of stunned disbelief, almost as if he were silently reprimanding me for grasping the meaning behind his words.
But I shook my head.
“No. Sian Terezia, you love this place.”
“What are you saying?”
“You love it, and that’s why you ended up protecting it.”
Sian seemed at a loss for words.
“You said you hated this place where your beloved country doesn’t exist, but in the end, you came down to the south without a word and fought the demonic beasts.”
“That was…”
“And so you saved countless people in the south.”
Without a word to anyone, he dealt with the demonic beasts in silence. That’s how he barely secured peace in the South, all while staying in the shadows.
Not for fame, nor for the purpose of protecting his land or property.
“It was just because I couldn’t stand by and watch.”
“Because you couldn’t watch people dying?”
“…Especially the crying of young children, it was distressing.”
The somewhat incoherent reason he blurted out was sad yet affectionate towards the world.
“That’s right. When I see such actions, I can tell how much you love and cherish this place, Lord Sian.”
“…”
“Even if your beloved country is no longer here, and even if that makes you sad.”
Still, Sian Terezia loves this land and loves the people living here. Looking at those living here now, he probably thinks of the people who once lived in his country.
But looking at his attitude, even though he is sad, in pain, and occasionally despairing, there is a very small and solid affection that never disappears.
Sian stared at me steadily with his yellow eyes, without wavering.
And finally, he spoke softly:
“Yes. I love this land.”
“Yes.”
“But my country isn’t here.”
This time, his response really seemed like he might cry. It wasn’t just that he looked like he might cry, but literally, his voice trembled and his gaze became cloudy.
I hastily opened my mouth.
“I’ll reestablish history so that your country won’t be forgotten.”
“…”
“I can’t turn back time now, but I promise you, I’ll rediscover your beautiful country that sank a thousand years ago.”
History about the Holy Empire of Obedih exists nowhere in the world. At most, it’s slightly mentioned as a side branch in the history of some distant kingdom.
I can’t immediately summon an empire that sank beneath the sea over a thousand years ago, but I can recall it back into people’s memories.
“Why?”
“Because you love it.”
“I do love it.”
“You love this world. Lord Sian.”
“…Like you love it?”
I nodded.
“Like I love it.”
The moment I spoke firmly to Sian, I heard a welcome notification sound I hadn’t heard in ages.
Ding.
[SYSTEM | Update completed.]
[SYSTEM | Player Irina Seike’s system access range has been expanded.]
While the previous updates focused on optimizing debt repayment, this time it felt like I was granted access permissions rather than system enhancements.
* * *
[Sorry.]
[We’re so sorry!]
“No!”
[We’re sorry!]
Even though I was about to get angry at them for not coming for so long, I naturally felt excited meeting them after a long time.
With my mood lifted, anger melted away, replaced entirely by the joy of seeing them.
[But you’re happy to see us, right?]
[Yeah, weren’t you happy to see us?]
“…I was.”
That’s why I made an excuse about needing the bathroom and ran out in the middle of a serious conversation with Sian.
The system and I exchanged various conversations.
I believed that even without my access to the system, they would be watching over me closely. Yet, they had no knowledge of my news.
They said they had only heard news about me hastily through the temple.
But how could news about me, who is not on good terms with the temple, reach the ears of the god through the temple?
“So, System.”
[Yes, Irina.]
“This updated thing, is there no way to use it separately?”
[For example?]
“Well, you said my access range has been expanded.”
I don’t see this expanded range as just another system element. My cautious speculation is that it might let me access keywords linked to the world’s setting, including secrets and the destruction from a thousand years ago.
Because the system became unresponsive during my conversation with Leilyranda, who seemed to hold the world’s secrets, and it returned now during my conversation with Sian.
“I thought I might be able to hear the stories that were always censored.”
If the system just gave permission saying ‘yes,’ I was ready to immediately spout out a lot of questions.
[That’s right. You can access to some extent.]
“Then!”
[But we can’t just reveal everything to you.]
[From the beginning, the system and all the quests built by the system were formed to match Irina, the player.]
[Destruction, being the gods’ domain, and the secrets of the world were beyond what was allotted to you.]
That’s right. That’s why all the words were censored.
Only the information I gathered directly from the people here was shared with me. That’s why I occasionally asked Sian questions.
[We’ve modified that part. So you can know too.]
“Then I’m curious. Why did the world’s destruction happen?”
[…]
“I have another question! Why does Lord Sian think the god abandoned him? Leilyranda was originally the female protagonist, right? But why did she regress? Why is she so broken?”
When I poured out a flood of questions, the system restrained me, telling me to calm down first.
[Wait, let’s calm down, Irina.]
“Okay.”
After a brief silence, the system spoke to me as I waited obediently.
[To conclude, I can’t answer your questions.]
“Huh, why not?”
[It’s true that you’ve been given permission, but the realm of the gods is still the realm of the gods. We can’t just tell you.]
[Also, we can’t step forward and tell you things you haven’t asked about.]
[And we can’t just tell you everything you’ve asked about.]
“Then what is the authority given to me?”
The system window itself remained unchanged, but over that long period, the system had been updating solely to grant me this authority.
Nevertheless, if they don’t tell me anything, what’s the point of this update?
[Now, what have we always been doing to pay off the debt?]
“Business.”
[…That’s right, but not that.]
“…Selling ice cream?”
[We’ve been doing quests.]
“Ah.”
The system always speaks to me only in text, but somehow, I seemed to hear a sigh behind those words.
[Until now, we’ve only given you quests indirectly, right?]
[Just by doing quests to pay off debt, doing quests to expand business. And through that, you’ve learned the secrets of the world, right?]
That was usually the case, and Sian Terezia was someone I relied on heavily back then.
[More direct quests will start coming to you.]
“For example?”
[When meeting Leilyranda or Sian and talking with them, there are bound to be many things that seem questionable.]
That’s bound to be the case.
[At those times, quests will naturally come to you.]
[Through those quests, you will approach the truth you want.]
[And hopefully, that will help you save the world.]
“It’s not such a big deal.”
…Or so I thought.
Until I really received that quest.
