Son of the Hero King

Chapter 739: It's not capitalism

Sol frowned heavily as the question of his name before his reincarnation repeatedly struck his mind. By now, he was starting to realize something eerily strange about the matter.

For some reason, he had never truly pondered why he could barely remember his past life.

The suspicious elements regarding his past life and reincarnation did not just stop there, either.

Memories related to trivial general knowledge were extremely vivid in his mind. Even before he became a Duke and enhanced his computing abilities, he could easily recall trivia about mythologies and cultures from Earth, to a frightening degree, in fact. However, he did not remember ever studying mythology.

What did he even study?

Blank, he could not recall anything.

Which country was he born in?

Another blank. He could not even force himself to remember as though it had never existed.

What were the names of his parents? What kind of friends did he have? Where did he live?

Blanks after blanks after blanks.

Then…Who…Who was he even?

He was…

He did not know…

Sol groaned as pain shot through his mind like hot steel searing his flesh. He closed his eyes as he felt blood flow from his lips. The cognitive disorder affecting him was causing a mana reflux overload.

Someone else in his place would have had their mana veins rupture entirely, but Sol was able to stop the violent flow.

“Sol!?”

“What is going on?”

Ambrosia and Echidna immediately stood up and screamed at the surprising sight while Anubis observed the shocking ordeal with impassiveness. They only calmed down after Sol raised his hand, signaling that he was, in fact, alright, before wiping away the blood from his lips.

“What just happened?” Sol coughed out the rest of the blood that had clogged in his system before all of it evaporated with just a snap of his finger.

Through all of this, Anubis stayed silent. His eyes could see through the exterior of all individuals and observe their souls directly. Though observing Sol’s soul was not as easy as in the past, it was still somewhat possible as long as he made sure to protect his own soul at the same time.

Something flickered in his eyes as he observed Sol's lost expression. He arrived at a certain conclusion, but now was not the time to expose it. He needed more information before he could reach certainty.

“I might have an idea.” He mumbled a little.

“What is it? Don’t make us wait?” Echidna was the most worried of them all. If before she had only placed her hope in Sol thanks to his extraordinary birth and talent, now she was fully certain that he would be the one to help her accomplish her dream. How could she watch as anything happened to him?

Anubis ignored the grating scream of the lunatic woman and spoke in a somber tone, “Your soul is jumbled. I believe you absorbed too many memories. Your sense of self is getting negatively affected.”

He showed three fingers. “For the sake of argument, let’s say that there are three you. The one named Adam. Your self that was on earth, and your current self. Out of the three, one was an ancient god, and the new one was about to become a god as well. But what about that other personality? I am sorry to say this, but it was nothing but a pathetic normal mortal.”

A bitter smile graced Sol’s lips— a sign that he could not refute Anubis’ words. He may not remember who he was, but even the most exalted status on Earth was nothing compared to what he was currently or what his original soul had been once upon a time.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“I have two hypotheses. No…” He hesitated a moment, but in the end, Anubis readied himself. “Three. I have three hypotheses.” He scratched his head before sighing. “1st. Adam's memories are slowly overwhelming you. As the weakest set of memories and the ones who were from a time when you were nothing but a powerless mortal, it’s not impossible for those memories to slowly get erased.”

“... Adam has been working on keeping the memories in check for a long time. But he fell asleep after exhausting himself recently. So I can’t say that it isn’t an improbable hypothesis.” Sol readily accepted.

“2nd. You are the one who erased those memories from your mind. After all, you feel no particular attachment to Earth, unlike me. It’s possible you unconsciously erased those memories yourself to cut your past from yourself.”

“Hum…” Sol pondered on the next hypothesis, “I would like to say no. But it’s hard to know. What I can say, though, is that the current me would never discard anything simply for such a petty feeling.” He could not help but frown at his own uncertainty.

“Then this leaves the 3rd possibility. Someone or something tampered with your memories at an unknown moment. But if this possibility is correct…

“I did not want to bring this one as there is currently no basis. But you can understand to a certain extent.”

Sol's expression grew complicated. The manipulation of the soul was by no means an easy feat. This was even more so for him who lived all his life until not long ago in the Tower.

For someone to manipulate his memories like this. Only a few people came to his mind. More precisely, only two.

Adam and Luxuria.

Sol slowly calmed down. The gears in his mind moving faster than ever.

Adam had already once interfered with Sol's mind. Back when he reached the Duke realm and faced Ymir in his Mindscape.

Sol only regained memories of that time because Adam judged he was now able to protect his mind from the goddesses.

This set a precedent, and yet, Sol did not believe Adam was the culprit.

Adam was unlikely to have directly or intentionally interfered. Sol did not believe he fully understood the man, but he knew one thing. Had Adam wished to harm him, there would be nothing he could do.

Even after he became King, if Adam did not personally restrain the flow of memories, the entity known as Sol would have been completely erased by the sheer weight of Adam’s eons of existence— he was just that much of a monster.

Moreover, Adam had no reason to affect Sol.

What about Luxuria? She had a direct hand in his reincarnation, and he was her Blessed up until recently.

Manipulating his memories would have been easy when he first entered this world.

As for her motive?

If she were the culprit, he had an inkling about what could have been the reason.

His fingers started rattling on the table, and he sighed.

“Let’s talk about more important things.”

Anubis frowned. “Do you still want to ignore the problem?”

“No. This is definitely a somewhat serious problem. But the reality is… there is nothing I can do about it. For now, at least. No matter which of the possibilities you presented ends up being real. I am powerless to change the current situation.

“Since this is the case… Rather than waste precious energy on meaningless activities, we should focus on what is truly important— becoming a God.”

He smiled, “With that in mind. Ladies and gentleman, let's put our minds together to accomplish this glorious endeavor.”

His calm demeanor was alien when faced with the new revelation about his memories.

Anubis simply sighed and nodded. He understood why Sol cared so little.

How could Sol care about something he did not even know he was missing?

“Very well. Let's start with the 12 Chakra Opening, then. Your help will be precious.”

Sol nodded. Pleased with himself.

Kali, Theresa, and Arachne were working on Lustburg's technological advancement.

Now, Anubis, Ambrosia, and Echidna were working on the Magical Advancement.

This also means I have both the father and the daughter under my employment.

His eyes twinkled as he remembered something.

Currently, a large part of the Lustburg Administration was maintained thanks to Isis' extraordinary efforts. However, even she had limits on how many undead she could control simultaneously.

Yet, behold! The King of Necromancers in the flesh was sitting in front of him.

A blazing smile was plastered on Sol's face as he gazed intently at Anubis, causing the King of the Underworld to slowly scoot backward in unease.

His intention, honed through a thousand years of war, told him he would not like what Sol was about to ask.

“I refuse.”

“I said nothing yet.” Sol gave him a calm, good-natured smile.

“I know, and that is exactly why I said it preemptively.”

“Hear me out.”

“Begone, vile demon! Your sweet whispers will not sway me.”

“I mean… aren't you the demon?”

“This is discrimination!” Anubis screamed.

“You are the one stereotyping your own race.”

“Your words do not reach me.”

Sol pinched the bridge of his nose but then decided to use his ultimate attack.

“Ten photos of Isis eating cake outside with her friends.”

“Hum?” Anubis stopped but then cleared his throat, “If you think some photo can buy me…”

“Another ten photos of Isis in cute clothes and one of her discovering an amusement park.” Sol did not lose a beat.

“.... Then you are absolutely right.” Anubis immediately folded.

What could he do? He was nothing but a weak, doting father.

Sol made a V with his fingers in victory while Echidna and Ambrosia watched with lukewarm gazes, wondering who between the son-in-law and the father-in-law was the worse idiot.

In the end, they both sighed. Realizing that such a question was meaningless.

“So. Now that we have come to an arrangement. What do you want me to do?” Anubis asked, carefully placing the precious photos Sol just gave him in his pockets.

“Simple, really. Undead unpaid labor.”

“What a vile capitalist you are. Not even letting the dead rest.” Anubis mumbled.

“I like to call it resource management.” Sol shrugged, clearly unbothered.

It was not like the undead could go on strike now, could they?