novelraw Chapter 136 : Chapter 136
Chapter 136 : Chapter 136
Chapter 136: Answer Me, Human (5)
Since when did he see the afterimages of his comrades.
Abel thought he didn't quite know. A sensation regarded as real even though there is not an inch of stimulus. It was called hallucination collectively. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. If the five senses constitute memory, hallucination, which cannot be one of the five senses, was a problem because it disrupts memory.
They should have been dead, but they were lively.
Although they were taking the appearance at the time of their death,
The afterimages that arrived by Abel's side seemed not to have died yet.
Thus they must be questioning. Toward Abel, asking why he does not die. Asking why he remains alive.
“To kill all the Demon Kings.”
Abel answered like that, but,
“It is an unachievable goal.”
Vanessa denied cheerfully.
“Because you are nothing more than a single human.”
That's right.
Abel Argento, the rising star belonging to the Holy Knights of the Royal Capital.
Recall the time when you had just been knighted.
“Surely you haven't forgotten, right? Everyone laughed at you. Saying you are too inflexible even for a Holy Knight.”
“I remember.”
Abel held a smile.
While rowing, he continued his words.
“At that time, I tried hard to keep the duty of a knight. Because it was regarded as a brilliant law to me. I believed the world would change if I solidified my duty.”
“You were arrogant and naive at the same time.”
“That's right.”
“You are the same now.”
You were an orphan raised in a village,
And I was an orphan raised in the slums.
Vanessa muttered like that.
“When we first met, you were a novice Holy Knight. I belonged to the City Guard. We worked together to subjugate a monster nesting in the sewer. Throughout accompanying you, I thought. What kind of guy is that.”
It couldn't be helped.
Looking like a young master of a noble family in a cheap play,
Because every time you opened your mouth, you recited the duty of a knight. I heard you were a commoner and an orphan, but you were too different from me.
Protect the weak.
Resist self-righteousness.
Defend the faith.
Such duty is a culture that only the well-fed can enjoy.
Besides, to be able to see fairies.
To be able to become friends with fairies.
“I thought it was nonsense. Because fairies only talk to the pure.”
Abel listened silently to Vanessa's words.
It was like that once. He must have been innocent enough to build friendship with fairies. Races other than Elves couldn't interact with fairies. Maybe a Troll Shaman could. Fairies didn't easily reveal themselves to humans. Thanks to that, Abel was known as a peculiar figure within the Holy Knights.
“Fairy Knight Abel.”
Right, he thought.
Listening to Vanessa's words, Abel thought.
Once, he was called by such an embarrassing nickname.
“I know your temper well.”
“You always insisted on doing more than one person's share.”
Vanessa spoke, and Maurice chimed in.
“That wasn't all. Didn't you blabber sounds soaked in megalomania, like wanting to save the world. It felt like watching a protagonist in some fairy tale.”
“It probably isn't different now.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Saying you will kill all the Demon Kings. How many worlds are there? Even fairy tales don't write such content.”
“Answer again, Abel. For what reason are you still alive.”
A sneer spread on Abel's lips.
He knew. The fact that the number of worlds is countless, and that it is impossible for one person to subjugate all the Demon Kings.
Wandering about a hundred worlds was the limit. In the meantime, Abel lost his senses. Whatever he crumpled into his mouth, only pain was felt. All resources of the world became poison to Abel. It always felt like he would fall asleep, but he became unable to sleep. It was like he forgot the authority to dream.
“To not create a Hero like me.”
Thus, Abel answered like that, but,
“It is an unachievable goal.”
Maurice denied cheerfully.
“Because you are nothing more than a single human.”
That is right.
Abel Argento, the Hero among ‘The Mother God's Right Hand’.
Recall the moment you met me.
“You probably remember. You told me. That you would liberate me from my family.”
“I remember.”
Abel withdrew his smile.
While rowing, he continued his words.
“Although your family fell, it formed your name like a brand. You were obsessed with reviving the family, and I wanted to eliminate the deep-seated grudge inherited by you.”
“Hmph, you were quite meddlesome.”
“That's right.”
“You are the same now.”
You were an orphan raised in a village,
And I was a noble with sick parents.
Maurice muttered like that.
“When we first met, you were just about to be chosen by the Holy Sword. I was merely a wanted man. Because I was in the middle of assassinating political opponents to raise the family. You tried to arrest me, and I thought. Why must I be caught by a guy like that.”
Wouldn't it be unavoidable.
You must be a Holy Knight with a high reputation, but you are somewhat dim-witted,
And you were talking to me with an expression that looked infinitely laid-back. Asking why I am killing people.
You can choose a different path.
You can forget the family.
You can become free.
You whispered like that after defeating me, but,
I could not do so.
“I could not forgive those who exterminated my family. Becoming free from the inherited deep-seated grudge is impossible.”
Abel listened silently to Maurice's words.
It was like that once. He believed all deep-seated grudges could be silenced depending on effort. Wouldn't deep-rooted resentment also be resolved? Even hatred passed down through generations with blood, he questioned if it could be replaced by something else. Abel was overlooking the solidity of inheritance.
“Hero Abel Argento.”
Right, he thought.
Listening to Maurice's words, Abel thought.
Once, he possessed such representativeness.
“I know your temperament well.”
“You are bound to fail in the end.”
Maurice spoke, and Vanessa chimed in.
“Killing all the Demon Kings is impossible. Saving all the Heroes is also impossible. You don't have enough capacity for that. In the first place, it's not a goal you can handle alone.”
“We didn't even succeed in reform.”
Maurice laughed.
“Don't you know well. Saintess Ion Blanche, she met a death different from ours. Leon died to kill monsters, Vanessa died to protect the Royal Capital, and I died to save you. However, Ion…….”
Maurice trailed off.
He knew. Hierarchy and self-righteousness, power and fanaticism. The fact that what killed Ion was not a Demon King, but countless people.
It would be easier to reform ordinary people than to kill a Demon King, or to save young Heroes. Abel failed to succeed even in that. The subjects who killed Ion believed in the Demon King rather than the Hero, and Abel watched the woman he loved dying due to distrust.
“So be honest.”
Vanessa whispered, and,
“Right. Say it now.”
Maurice also whispered.
“It's mourning, isn't it.”
“Isn't it mourning.”
The reason you cannot die until now.
Isn't it because of mourning? Since if you die, you will become unable to honor the dead. Aren't you clinging to life like this merely to mourn?
Vanessa and Maurice asked like that.
“Wrong.”
Abel shook his head.
“Because I……, do not know.”
Mourning.
I cannot mourn anyone.
Abel whispered like that.
“Because I don't know how.”
RATTLE, it went.
Abel's oars were withdrawn.
The black-dyed oars were placed in the middle of the rowboat.
The energy of monsters became distinct. Before long, slimy lumps became rampant on the Black Sea, and an indescribable stench ravaged Abel's nostrils. The monsters' nest must be located nearby. The need to move by rowboat disappeared.
Abel's lips twitched.
The second chapter of Mother God Theory, ‘Forming Water Current’.
It was a spell available to walk on water.
Green halos wrapped around Abel's feet, and Abel stepped on the water by means of that. TAP, TAP, it went. While walking a couple of steps, lifeless ripples spread on the surface of the Black Sea.
“Regarding the thing called mourning.”
Abel looked back.
He saw Vanessa and Maurice sitting on the rowboat.
“It starts when you recall the deceased to not forget them, but nevertheless begin to forget them. It is completed when you suffer because of increasingly blurring memories, and linger around the deceased's grave while knowing it will be painful.”
I cannot do that.
Smiling softly, Abel said.
“Because I cannot forget.”
Because I cannot forget you guys.
Because it is not painful. Because I am happier than ever whenever I face your afterimages. Because I am persistently glad even seeing your appearance at the time of death.
Because something like a grave doesn't exist.
If I have to say, I am your tombstone.
“So I cannot mourn.”
I do not mourn, but merely obsess more than ever.
Abel muttered like that.
“If that is your intention…….”
Looking at Abel, Vanessa spoke.
Abel had moved away, treading on the water current.
“……We have no choice but to apologize.”
Maurice also spoke while looking at Abel.
The figure of Abel with his back to the two gradually became smaller.
“Because none other than us said it. While facing death, asking you to eliminate the Demon King.”
“It means our wills made you like this. It would have been better if you had rather died together.”
Abel did not hear.
He just moved forward. Treading on the squelching seawater, he drew his beloved sword. Ripples spread following Abel's steps, and the sword blade withered by time sharpened while darker than the Black Sea.
The hallucination disappeared, and reality solidified.
“──You came.”
Thus, in the middle of the sea.
There was a monster.
“I was waiting.”
Intelligent Species, Nodens.
The monster stood on the water current covered with slime.
Two arms and two legs. At a glance, it seemed to possess the same body structure as an intelligent life form.
However, it was different. What covered Nodens's body was something like the shell of a crustacean. Its eyeballs were compound eyes made of calcite crystals, and the saw blade grafted onto its right hand extended long like a knife blade.
“Did you come alone.”
“That is correct.”
At Nodens's question, Abel answered.
“Dealing with you alone is enough.”
Abel and Nodens stood facing each other.
Suddenly, while the seawater polluted black became silent,
“Answer me, human.”
Nodens's compound eyes sank into jet black, and,
“What color is your sea.”
“Why do you ask such a thing?”
Abel shrugged his shoulders.
“It is black.”
Infinitely black.
Abel muttered like that.
“Because you guys polluted it.”
Abel spoke while looking back.
Before Abel's eyes, the Black Sea spread endlessly.
He couldn't feel the movement of life in the slightest.
“Is that so.”
Nodens spoke while looking back.
Before Nodens's eyes, blue seawater was rampant.
Lives dense in the water shimmered at his feet.
“Then it has become self-evident.”
WHOOSH, it went.
Nodens swung the blade.
Taking a stance just like that, he announced.
“We will not be able to mix together.”
Come, human.
Let us decide the owner of this sea.
Nodens muttered like that.