Spending My Retirement In A Game

Chapter 798: The Irngrad's Secret

"The real Eisen is honestly just as rude as you, so I must admit that you've done your research at the very least," the King of the Giants said with a grunt in his voice and his lips bent into a smirk. And immediately, Eisen just let out a deep, loud sigh on instinct.

"Not this again..." the old man muttered slightly. From how things had been going since he entered the city, he expected that the King knew that Eisen really was who he claimed to be, but apparently he was vastly mistaken in that assumption. That's why he couldn't really help himself but react like that even though this had happened many times with the different clan chieftains.

"What was that?" the Giant King asked, his smirk quickly turning into an annoyed frown. But Eisen simply hid his own displeasure and smiled back at him, "Nothing, nothing at all. But I just need to take this opportunity to make it clear to you, that I am indeed the 'real' Eisen."

The King, the Irngrad of the Giants, slowly pushed himself of his throne, and took a few steps toward the being in front of him, "That's what you say. Sure, you sound like him, and you look like him, but... things like that aren't hard to emulate these days. Particularly those... 'artificial' people tend to have some unique abilities to them."

Eisen listened to the Irngrad's words, and couldn't say much against that right now. With how many different kinds of magics existed in this world, really anything was possible. Before Eisen could come up with a response, the giants' King continued, "So, how do I know you're not one of those? A devil so confident in his disguise that he can't even be be bothered to hide his true form?"

"Do you think that's what the Artificials look like? No, they're just regular people. This is just my demonic form. Since my abilities are lower than they were in the past, I'm unable to reach the true stature of a giant without using this ability," Eisen tried to explain. Though in reality, that was a bit of a half-truth.

By now, he was coming closer and closer to the true size of a giant, but it wasn't perfectly close yet. Even so, he could get large enough with just his abilities as a giant that if he added the size of his True Demonic form onto this, then he would be a lot larger than most giants naturally were.

"And that's supposed to convince me? How in the name of all the gods would it be possible for someone like Eisen to lose his power? If he had done so on purpose, why struggle so much to regain said power? And if it were forced upon him, who in any of the realms would have the power to do so? Not even the gods would dare stand against him, combined in strength," the King pointed out.

Eisen noticed that the Irngrad's expression and body language was slowly shifting. At first, it seemed like he really wasn't taking Eisen seriously, but that more and more seemed to have been nothing but an act. A facáde put on to play the role that he was supposed to. That he was expected to.

Instead of that mask, what Eisen was now seeing was a young man that was filled with hope and fear and joy and stress, each taking their turn in the forefront of his eyes.

"...There's a reason, there really was. I don't know if you'd believe me if I told you right now, though, but it had to happen this way. There just was no other way," Eisen tried to explain, but clearly the King didn't want to hear it anymore.

He balled his fists, his knuckles turning white, but trying to hide his tension in his face at the very least, "I will give you a chance to prove yourself. There is only one thing that could actually convince me, because this is a secret nobody beside me and Eisen know."

"You knew me? I mean, him, or however you want to see it," Eisen asked surprised. He didn't feel even an ounce of nostalgia when looking at this man, so he was sure it wasn't really that simple.

The Irngrad scoffed, "No, of course not. I mean, I would have liked to meet him sometime, but he was always 'too good' to meet me. I'm the King of the country he was born and raised in, can you believe his guts?" he asked, relaxing a little bit for a few moments, before continuing, "We simply know the same secret, him and I. A secret that literally nobody else is capable of knowing.

A commandment from the gods, basically. The current Irngrad, and the five individuals that reached the peak. Everybody else simply... forgets. Even if they're told. Not that I've tried to do so myself, since there are certain...

consequences with doing so."

Eisen raised a brow. That sounded eerily familiar to him. Not that he was remembering the secret in question, but thef act that everyone who is told forgets about it. Was this secret used as a test-run for the system that's in place to make sure the people of this world would forget about earth, even if the players told them? That was sort of a pattern recently.

More and more, Eisen would uncover mysteries of this world that plagued him and many others at times, and a lot of the time, the truth behind the mystery was that Eisen or the others were helping create the 'system' that is in place for the players. The rules, boundaries, and abilities they all held and interacted withirn in this world.

"Alright, I... I have a lot of secrets, you see. Could you narrow it down a little?" Eisen asked, and the Irngrad nodded. He turned his head slightly, and for a moment it seemed as if he started staring into empty space, but it didn't take long for Eisen to realise that he was looking in the direction of the symbol of this city.

"What is the true name of that 'Statue'?" The Irngrad asked. It was a simple question, but for some reason it made Eisen's chest tense up. He nearly flinched at the question, even though it was so much more harmless than what he expected to be asked. Even if he didn't have any clear idea of what would come out of the Irngrad's mouth in the first place.

The old man thought for a moment, but no matter how much he tried, nothing popped up in his mind. With his connected he was to his past memories lately, albeit involuntarily, he expected at least 'something' to float through his head. He doubted the Irngrad lied and made up an impossible goal on the spot, so he should know this.

He had to know this, somewhere deep down, he simply had to summon the memories. However, soon enough, Eisen realized that nothing was coming to him. Instead of trying to trick him or try to figure out some hidden meaning behind the Irngrad's words, Eisen closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm sorry... but I don't remember right now. It might come to me soon, or a week from now, or in a month, or well... never, but..." Eisen started, and he noticed the Irngrad's energy drop immediately. You could tell that he was disappointed, as though he had been hoping that Eisen could prove himself.

"I see... in that case... I'm sorry, but there is no way I can believe you are who you are. Even if I did know for a fact that the one and only Eisen stood in front of me, if he couldn't remember... I think I would deny it anyway," the young man pointed out as he turned around, heading back toward his throne.

Before Eisen could interject with some other way to prove himself, the Irngrad continued, "But... don't worry, I'm on your side anyway. In stopping this war, I mean."

Eisen was taken aback. From what he heard, the current King was quite hotheaded in regard to things like this, "In that case, isn't everything alright? If even the King doesn't want a war, then we can stop anything from happening."

"...You know just as well as I do that it's not that easy. If we're attacked, you can trust that I will not hesitate to grind our enemies into ash. Not to mention, I don't have the same power that Kings in the other continents may hold. Yes, I reserve certain rights within the council and may make the final decisions, but my voice is still just a single voice amongst many. Rather...

it may be less than that of the other council members. My role is to bring the voices of the clans together into one, not overshadow them with my own."