“I am a genius.”
Huh?
“Indeed, I am a genius!”
I stared silently at Ser, who enunciated each word like a primary school teacher.
What’s that supposed to mean?
“Does that have anything to do with the magical power leaking into my body?”
“To be precise, it is not magical power, but anyway. As a genius, there are some things I can understand.”
Her enigmatic purple eyes locked onto me.
“Surely, Rubia, you are just like me.”
“If you mean we have the same hair color… I guess we do?”
My hair is silvery-white.
Ser’s is a milky shade, but that’s close enough!
“The similarity is in hair color, but not just that.”
The magical power that had been swirling inside me suddenly vanished.
“Do you dislike humans, Rubia?”
“I do.”
“So do I.”
The corners of Ser’s mouth curled up gently.
“They are a deceitful lot.”
“Absolutely disgusting.”
“Selfish too.”
“To the point it makes me sick.”
Ser’s eyes narrowed.
“Indeed, we are alike.”
Despite my body tensing at her smoothly flowing sentences, I tried to remain calm.
“Well, I can’t be the only one who dislikes humans.”
“Not at all. You’ve lost your family, haven’t you?”
“…What of it?”
“I have too.”
My previously maintained expression crumpled.
“I don’t see what’s the point of this conversation. If you’re trying to irritate me, congratulations, you succeeded. But… I doubt someone like you would do such a thing.”
I took a moment to cool my rising annoyance before continuing.
“Just get to the point.”
“No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense. An incident where coincidences piled upon coincidences occurred. After all that was over, the power that resided in my living body. And this strangely hard-to-kill body.”
“…What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I gathered the key points of what I went through. Is it the same for you, Rubia? Judging by your reaction, it seems so.”
Her eyes, gleaming with a dawn-like light, pierced into me.
“I swear by Yggdrasil, I have done no research on you, Rubia. I neither know your past, what you’ve done, nor your recent actions—none of it.”
I don’t understand what this woman in front of me is talking about.
Why is she saying this?
“If you’re feeling uneasy, I’ll go first. First, I was a genius. Raised in a family of wizards… um, I suppose that’s not important. I entered the Mage Tower at a young age and accomplished many things.”
“Okay.”
“When I turned 19, people praised me as a miraculous great wizard.”
“Impressive.”
“Heh, yes, thank you.”
Ser, who had been stretching with a content smile, straightened her body and set her coffee cup down.
“Then, the lord of the Mage Tower betrayed me. Using my exceptional talent, he attempted to open the door to the spirit realm. It seems he wasn’t originally such a person, but suddenly started acting as if he went insane.”
Despite my thoughts, it was an incomprehensible incident.
“But ironically, the magical formula that the previous lord had spent his life researching was fundamentally flawed, and the spirits were offended by the mere arrogance of trying to summon them. Because of this, every wizard in the tower was killed—starting with the tower lord, the elders… even my parents.”
Coincidences piled upon coincidences.
“But the funny part is, after everyone died, the spirit’s power dwelled in my body, which could no longer use magic.”
The power that resided in her surviving body after all that.
“Then, what do you think happened?”
Ser’s smile deepened.
“…We’re the same.”
“Exactly. I truly am a genius. No, no, perhaps a detective is more fitting.”
Snicker— chuckling, Ser sunk into the sofa, continuing with a lethargic voice unlike before.
“I tried to die countless times but couldn’t. Really, abnormally so. Cutting my tongue, slashing my wrist, drinking poison, jumping into flames, hanging myself, gouging out my eyes, opening my belly to let out my innards…”
A strangely hard-to-kill body.
“The highest-ranking light spirit showed up and healed me at will.”
She raised her lukewarm coffee cup to her lips.
“Why are you telling me this… And how did you find out I’m the same?”
“I suspected you loathed a prideful title enough, so I decided to check.”
“So that magical power-like thing earlier?”
“Correct. But as expected, you too are under the protection of a being of incredibly high status, just like me.”
A tiny water spirit appeared in Ser’s smiling hand.
Kyu?
“I can kill as many spirits as I want like this.”
Kyuuii— Kyaaaaaah!
Kaboom!
“The Spirit King doesn’t punish me at all. Just sits there doing nothing. But…”
As she scanned the surroundings, Ser picked up a knife and quickly stabbed her hand where she had just burst a spirit.
“When I do this, I can feel it. The Spirit King directly moving to interfere with me.”
As soon as Ser finished speaking, the knife embedded in her hand vanished, and the hole in her palm slowly sealed.
Just like my divine power healing me on its own.
Naturally.
Hah…
I kept sipping my lukewarm coffee while trying to piece together the unrelated sentences.
The reason she brought this up out of the blue.
Who Ser, who spent similar time as me, was.
That high being who is protecting us.
By the time the coffee in my cup reached the bottom,
an undeniable, unwelcome conclusion unfolded.
“So, you’re saying… that what happened to me—no, to us—isn’t coincidence but inevitability?”
“Yes, precisely. The death of your family, the power you gained afterward, the various events you experienced, and your survival despite it all—”
“Means there’s a role you must fulfill in this world.”
“Exactly.”
Nodding with a smile, Ser stood and headed to make new coffee.
As I watched her back, I fell into thought.
The role I must take on.
The role I must fulfill as a shaman.
To sacrifice my body to save the world.
I know it.
I know, but…
It’s not that I had to do that just because I became a shaman.
From the very beginning, my existence was supposed to fulfill that role, wasn’t it?
From the moment I was born into this body.
Or perhaps even before that… if it was a predetermined fate.
I would feel disgusted by the world,
not wanting to save such a world,
leaving Erden,
and meeting Noah.
Falling in love with her,
wanting to save the world she lives in,
the world she loves.
All, predetermined.
“It seems you were quite shocked. Please, have something warm to drink and calm down.”
Ser, now seated on the opposite sofa, handed me a cup of coffee.
“…What’s the reason for telling me all this?”
Setting the coffee cup down with a clatter, Ser slowly began to speak.
“I took my time researching various books, ancient civilizations, and everything that happened during the era of chaos. In particular, I delved deeply into Cartia, who is currently with Noah.”
“…You knew.”
“I am a genius. How could I not know?”
Does entering the Mage Tower at a young age make a person so arrogant?
Or was she just born that way?
With my complicated thoughts eased a bit by that presumptuous comment, a slightly relaxed Ser smiled.
“Heh. Looks like you’re starting to calm down. I intentionally threw out a comment you didn’t need earlier. Good thing it worked; otherwise, even I, the genius, would have been quite embarrassed.”
“Since you’re a genius, do you want to guess what I’m thinking?”
“Is it that entering the Mage Tower at a young age turns one arrogant and haughty? That’s not who I originally was. I changed because living this way became easier. And I’m right; I indeed am a genius.”
“…Yeah. Keep saying you’re a genius.”
“Please do not look at me with such eyes. I am not mad.”
“No, I think you’re plenty mad.”
“Did you just expose your innermost thoughts because we got a bit close? You shouldn’t do that. There are many people who would dig into and take advantage of such things.”
“If I spilled all my inner thoughts, we wouldn’t be able to stay in the same place.”
“Ah, I see… That could be true. I wouldn’t want to die either, so I’ll refrain from provoking you any more, heh.”
Watching Ser chuckle and sip her coffee, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Alright, but… it’s true I received help from you, Ser. Thank you. Thanks to you, I’m calmer now.”
“Yes, I’ll graciously accept the praise.”
Amazed by her endless audacity, I too tilted my coffee cup.
And a moment later,
Ser’s fresh voice lifted the air.
“Rubia, you should thank me.”
“All of a sudden, what’s this about?”
“From now on, I’m going to have a rough time. I won’t die, but it’s going to be painfully difficult. However, I thought you should know this, so thank me.”
“What!?”
What is this crazy person saying all of a sudden…?
I thought it was just more nonsense, but looking at the serious light in her eyes… she seemed quite sincere. I bowed my head to Ser.
“Um… okay. Thank you.”
Having successfully extracted my gratitude, Ser nodded with satisfaction and continued.
“Have you not found it strange?”
“…What?”
“Heroes who worked during the era of chaos have all vanished, leaving only their names behind. Even the so-called great Cartia is the same.”
“That’s true.”
“It’s not just humans. Other races have all vanished too. Even elves, dwarves, and demon races, said to have long lives, are all gone.”
“Wait, hold on a moment. You mean they’ve… disappeared?”
“There are no corpses. There’s no trace of war. It’s not like a meteor fell from the sky. They simply all… vanished.”
A light smile remained on Ser’s face.
“Isn’t that odd?”
“Indeed, it’s definitely strange…”
“I pondered over it. The reason why the powerful other races had to vanish. Why the soul of the revered Cartia had to remain. Why I had to connect with the spirit realm. Why you had to become a shaman.”
Her purple eyes bore into me.
“I came to the conclusion: this world runs on human lives as fuel.”
Ser’s complexion turned pale.
“The one who ended the era of chaos was the human Cartia. Hence, the strongest race, humans, were chosen. As the fuel.”
Blood burst from her eyes.
“Strong, exceptional, and high-ranking beings serve as better fuel. However… during the era of chaos, other races were not all humans. There was contamination.”
From her nose.
“Thus, the gods must have flipped that era once more. To filter out the impurities, leaving only pure fuel.”
From her mouth.
“Termination.”
From her ears.
“To make termination bring down the world. And what was created afterward is the world we live in now.”
Her skin began to crack.
“A completed world.”
Her bones twisted.
“A false paradise.”
However.
“Erden.”
Still smiling.
“The tree that connects me to the world, Yggdrasil, is the gateway to Erden.”
Ser proclaimed.
“You, Rubia, are the key to opening that door, I believe.”
Her body collapsed.
[Yet, I wish to believe that even in this era, something still exists.]
Just before she fell and touched the ground.
[Holding the hope of humanity that started from the era of chaos.]
The voice that rode the wind spoke.
[After battling the gods, achieving divine slaughter (神殺), bring forth a new era.]
Another message came.
[The existence of the defier.]
