Chapter 176

〈 Chapter 177 〉 Twin (4）

*

“The First Humanity is literally the First Humanity. To be precise, it existed before the current humanity.”

“Before the current humanity?”

“Well, to explain that, I guess I need to start with how this world was created.”

She pulled out a blackboard from somewhere.

Then, pointing to the empty blackboard, she said, “This is the primordial world.”

“Uh?”

“To be exact, in the beginning, this world did not exist. It was simply filled with chaos, a substance that links dimensions and merely fills space.”

She drew a dot in the middle of that blackboard and continued, “From that chaos, a seed of creation was born. That is the Creator God, ‘Shijo,’ who is worshipped by the church and the god who created this world.”

“Shijo…”

“There’s no distinction of gender, but let’s just say she for now. She remained alone in chaos for quite a long time. Until she felt the emotion of loneliness and created other gods.”

She enlarged the dot representing Shijo and began to draw smaller dots around it.

“All other gods were created by sharing parts of her concepts. The gods of Light, Darkness, and Water were mostly born at this time.”

“Does that mean not all gods were created that way?”

“Yes, some gods were born by sharing concepts from those already created. And there are, although rare, gods that were born in reverse by humans.”

That rang a bell for me.

‘The God of Connection.’

The concept of connection must have emerged only after humans were born.

“But even after creating gods, there was a problem. Since they were part of her, there wasn’t much difference between them and her. Talking with those gods was akin to talking with oneself.”

I could get a vague sense of that.

I had experienced something similar during the fourth trial.

“She pondered what the problem could be, even observing the forms of humans in other dimensions. Eventually, she saw the appearance of humans in one dimension.”

She drew a human figure on the blackboard.

“And thus was born the First Humanity. Not just a lump of concepts, but a being with the physical form of ‘human.’ However… the First Humanity also had flaws.”

“Flaws?”

“The flaw was that having no flaws was a flaw. They only had physical bodies but their minds were still borrowed from the god. They ultimately couldn’t satisfy the god and were cast aside.”

She marked an X over the head of the First Humanity.

“And so the current humanity was created.”

She drew another human figure next to the First Humanity.

Then, she drew something that looked like a thread near its chest.

“The difference between them is… that they contain a bit of chaos within them.”

“Chaos?”

That was something I hadn’t even imagined.

“There’s chaos inside their bodies?”

“Yes, all current humans carry a certain amount of chaos within them. That’s why humanity can possess uncertainties that gods lack.”

Uncertainty.

That was both a strength and a weakness.

“The lifespan that current humanity has emerged from this chaos. The concept of lifespan did not exist for the First Humanity. Moreover, the more critical flaw was that they became intolerant of chaos.”

“Wait, if chaos is inside them, why are they becoming intolerant?”

Of course, I already knew what happens when humans are exposed to chaos.

Their bodies collapse, and their selves disappear, turning into Chaos Beasts.

But how was that related to the chaos within their bodies? I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

Luel answered my confusion, “Chaos has a tendency to revert to chaos. When it comes into contact with external chaos, the boundaries that compose a person gradually crumble and… collapse.”

Having explained that, she pointed again at the empty space on the blackboard.

“Thus, the newly born humanity could not survive in this chaos-filled space. Consequently, Shijo finally created the current world for them.”

She drew a large circle in the center of the blackboard.

That was the current world.

“A world devoid of chaos, filled only with her concepts, like light and darkness, water and fire. In this world, she began to create other plants and animals, finding joy in it.”

She quickly sketched a few trees and animals on the blackboard.

“It truly was a time of peace. The gods roamed the land, making contracts with humans in need of help, and most relics infused with the power of gods were born in this period.”

As she reminisced about that happy time, her expression suddenly stiffened.

“That is, until they were discovered.”

She pointed at the figure of the First Humanity drawn next to the current humanity, which had been marked with an X.

“The First Humanity survived outside of Shijo’s attention. They formed their own groups, secluded from the dwelling of humans. Specifically, it was somewhere above Ice Valley.”

She marked a circle a bit further up from the northern area where Ice Valley was located.

“So, what do you think humanity thought when they discovered them?”

Humans with eternal lifespans living in a place they were unaware of.

The emotions they would feel upon first learning about them were obvious.

“Jealousy, envy, spite.”

“Exactly. So, the people of Ice Valley, who first discovered them, kidnapped some of the First Humanity. And… to monopolize the secrets of immortality, they killed all the remaining First Humanity.”

She spoke calmly, but that was quite a shocking history.

“No way… they went that far?”

“Humanity is far more brutal than one can imagine.”

Luel wore a bitter expression.

“Moreover, they didn’t just kidnap them, but subjected the First Humanity to all sorts of torture and biological experiments. It was undoubtedly a hellish scene, but since the First Humanity lacked chaos and didn’t possess a self with the perspectives of humans, they didn’t even resist.”

However, there was one thing in her words that caught my attention.

“Wait, what do you mean they didn’t have a self with perspectives like humans?”

I could understand that I, being mixed with human blood, could have such a self, but the only First Humanity I knew, Freira, didn’t fit that description. She clearly had human-like emotions.

“You’ve met gods, haven’t you?”

“So?”

“Didn’t you think their way of thinking was slightly different from humans?”

That was true.

In fact, it wasn’t just slightly different.

Gods had a strong tendency to obsess over the concepts they possessed.

“That bit of difference is what the original form of the gods was. However, through interacting with humans, they have become who they are now, with emotions and selves.”

“So, that means…”

“Yes, once they made contact with humanity, emotions and selves began to emerge in the First Humanity as well. If there are any First Humanity that have survived to this day, they would surely be hard to distinguish from humans.”

I finally felt like I was getting a clear outline of the First Humanity.

At the same time, I grew curious about my parents.

‘Freira apparently couldn’t have children.’

So, was there another survivor of the First Humanity?

While I was lost in those thoughts…

“I do know one survivor of the First Humanity.”

That was precisely the information I needed.

“You know one?”

Does that refer to Freira?

Or someone else?

“She is…”

Luel spoke the name with a dark expression.

“The High Priest.”

*

“How annoying.”

After finishing the morning dishes, Lucy muttered as she rolled down her sleeves.

It didn’t affect her stamina at all, but it was a little bothersome nonetheless.

‘Now then…’

There was quite some time left until lunch preparation.

In other words, it was free time.

‘Luel must be teaching Lucy in the study.’

Yusera, unexpectedly, was deeply engrossed in reading a book related to commerce in the library.

She was now completely alone.

‘This is probably the best time I’ll get.’

With Allen keeping Luel tied up in the study, she felt a bit guilty towards Luel, but there was something she wanted to check.

‘The basement.’

The basement where Luel had spent most of her time cooped up.

She couldn’t enter there due to it being related to the duties of the Water Sage, but she felt like she would go crazy thinking about it every time.

‘What on earth is down there?’

And before leaving, the Divine Seat had left her with a hint.

‘I wonder if that really works.’

Before she knew it, she arrived at the Owl Statue.

Reaching her hand into the shadow behind the owl’s ankle, she thought, ‘It’s still here.’

Fortunately, it seemed Luel had not discovered it.

What she pulled out from there was a conch shell.

‘Memory Conch.’

A mysterious conch that remembers the last voice it heard.

She had been able to retrieve this from a hidden place, following the Divine Seat’s advice.

And its use was clear.

‘It’s telling me to remember Luel’s voice and then go to the basement.’

The intent of the Divine Seat, of no one else, was that.

If so, it meant that there was definitely something in the Water Sage’s basement she needed to know.

‘What on earth could it be…’

For some reason, she felt tense.

Of course, it might turn out to be nothing when she actually checked.

No, it should be nothing.

She hoped Luel would still be the same ordinary Luel she knew.

The girl who promised her adventures, smiling brightly.

But given how much she had changed, there was a high possibility Luel had also changed somewhat.

‘First, I need to check if the voice was recorded properly.’

Thanks to the conch shell’s shortcomings.

This conch only recorded the last voice it heard, so if any other voices mixed in from when Luel entered the basement yesterday to now, it would be useless.

­“As the Water Sage, I command you. Open the door.”

Thank goodness.

Luel’s voice was recorded perfectly.

No, the unusually low voice suggested it was actually the Water Sage’s voice.

‘Then…’

She cautiously brought the conch close to the Owl Statue, being careful not to make any sound.

Creeeek, creak.

Then the sound of mechanisms starting up began to resonate.

‘Success.’

Soon, the Owl Sculpture lifted up, and an elevator appeared.

‘But…’

She hesitated one last time while looking at the elevator.

‘Is it really right to go down there?’

Suddenly, Yusera’s words flashed through her mind.

‘Allen rated her higher than himself.’

Is it absolutely correct just because it’s a directive from the Divine Seat?

Of course, her Divine Seat hadn’t given incorrect directives very often, but questions still arose.

Going down to the basement felt like a rather important decision.

‘Luel…’

For her beloved younger sister.

Which way would be the right choice?

*