Read Novel Full Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Chapter 175 – The Reason I Came to This World
“Sorry to bother you twice today.”
“No, that’s fine.”
It was a simple exchange as if we were both just checking up on each other.
Since there was only one chair in the inn where we were staying, I sat on the bed and gestured for Ria to sit in the chair.
As soon as she sat down, Ria stared at me blankly.
“…..”
“…..”
I wonder how Ria will react when I tell her the truth.
Today, I’ve seen with my own eyes what can only be described as fear, so even though I want to tell her the truth, my voice gets stuck, and I can’t get the words out.
“(It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s not the present situation that’s important, it’s the future. Tell her the truth and talk to her about what to do, with the attitude of asking for advice from someone who’s older than you in life!)”
“Um, you know!”
“Yeah.”
“I think you already know this, but I’ve also gained some skills from other people…”
“Yeah.”
“I thought that if I didn’t do something about that skinny guy today, the two hunters who confronted Ria would die… So I moved to kill him without thinking about the consequences, and as I expected, the guy ended up like that.”
“Yeah.”
“Then I was able to use things like Slave Magic and other things…”
“Yeah.”
“…..”
“…So?”
“Eh?”
“So?”
My body stiffens under her piercing gaze.
I feel like I’m being soaked in freezing water, but I can’t stop sweating.
“Well… I want to report on the current situation…”
“Is that all?”
“Yes…”
“I already know that.”
I know that’s probably what you’re thinking, but I can’t say anything.
It’s only natural that Ria knows since she manipulated the memories of the men I enslaved.
“We had already predicted that Loki could learn skills from humans. So it’s not a surprise.”
“…Hmm?”
“From our perspective, both of them are creatures that possess and use the skills that Felza-sama has embedded in this world. Therefore, there isn’t much difference between monsters and humans.”
“Ah, Ril said something like that too…”
“That’s not what we want to know.”
“What about the future? Right?”
“Yes. Now that you know that you can gain skills not only from monsters, but also from humans, what will Loki do from now on?”
As expected from someone who has lived a long time.
She understands the nature of the problem.
That’s why I can tell from the atmosphere that makes my skin crawl that the next answer is so important that it could affect my life.
And I don’t have a clear answer.
Even when I honestly write down my current feelings and think about what I should do from now on, I can’t come up with an answer that satisfies me, and I just keep wringing my hands.
No, that’s not quite right.
I’m worried about whether it’s okay to really do what I want to do.
I do not want to go too far.
I don’t want to be overcome by greed and drown, but at the same time, I want to be able to break free from my current, still weak self.
In the short span of a month, I’ve crawled to the ground three times.
The first time was with Ril.
The second time was with King Ant.
And the third time was now.
If I had to say whether I was going to die or not, today was a close call, but even so, when I saw Ria’s face, I felt relaxed and lost consciousness.
Basically, it’s not good to expose yourself to the outside world so defenselessly, and to begin with, it happens too often. And if I continue like this, I’ll die again soon, and I can’t see a future where I can come back to life and continue living in this other world.
Even though I think I’ve become a little stronger, in reality, I haven’t, and in the end, I’ll end up rubbing my face on the ground just like before…
I’m still weak.
There are holes, there are careless moments, there are moments of weakness, and if I’m taken advantage of in those areas, I’ll be easily defeated.
“(It’ll be okay. Have confidence. Acorn―that’s what Felza-sama wants from me, isn’t it?)”
“I won’t lie to the goddess, so I’ll be honest.”
“…Yes.”
“I want to defeat evil.”
There is no answer from Ria.
She continues to look at me with her hardly readable eyes, like a doll.
Don’t be afraid, don’t be nervous, don’t back down… This is the new life that I have suddenly seized!
I clenched my fist tightly and spat out my feelings as I spoke.
I didn’t want to do it out of a sense of justice, but because I wanted to become stronger, and to do that, I wanted to defeat the villains that were allowed to exist.
I’m aware that there’s a personal feeling of “hating evil” involved, as well as a reaction to the past when I couldn’t fight back even if I wanted to.
I definitely didn’t want to end up pampering someone like that and for that person to end up a victim.
I thought that helping people wasn’t unpleasant, and it made me happy when I was thanked.
I didn’t want to see the people who were close to the person who died because of the villain break down in tears.
As if I was pouring out everything I was thinking, I told Ria my honest feelings, mixing in my bad words that didn’t make sense in every situation.
Ria just listened to my words in silence.
I couldn’t read her expression to see what she was thinking.
“The other thing is―I think the reason I was brought into this world probably matches the thing I want to do.”
But my words…
Ria’s expressionless face made it impossible to read her emotions, so she raised the corners of her eyebrows.
“…What do you mean?”
So I told Ria the reason, adding that it was just my personal guess.
“When I first found out that only I could gain skills from monsters, I thought that the reason someone so obsessed with strength was brought here was because they wanted me to defeat a large number of monsters in this world. It didn’t all fit together, but I also saw a status screen that allowed me to check my results instantly, so it seemed like a good fit.”
“Yeah.”
“But actually, I just found out today that humans are also included in the target. So I understand that it isn’t just about me defeating monsters, right? That’s why I was thinking about why this is the case until Ria showed up…”
“…..”
“Remember when we first met, I said I was pulled into a black crack with the words ‘I found it’?”
“I remember.”
“So that means that the one who said ‘I found you’ probably understood my ability, which I don’t know if it’s a skill or a trait, before I was pulled in, right?”
“…..”
I think it’s safe to say that it’s not just a possibility but a certainty.
If it weren’t for this ability, which allows me to gain skill experience points, I would be an ordinary person.
I don’t have any knowledge that would be useful to this world or wisdom that would help civilization progress.
If this mysterious ability were something that was definitely obtained through reincarnation and not through transmigration, then there would be no need to bother finding me and dragging me in…
In other words, it must be my own unique ability.
So, I think it’s natural to think that I was targeted and kidnapped by Acorn.
If that’s the case, what’s the purpose?
When I considered it, I felt that my conversations with the goddesses so far were connected in various ways.
“I want to confirm two things with Ria again, but has this world ever been in danger of being overrun by monsters and the human race―or, to use the way this world talks about it, the race―being wiped out?”
“Yes. There have been cases where villages and towns have been swallowed up by a mass outbreak of monsters, but I don’t think there have ever been cases where a country has been crushed by monsters.”
“That’s exactly what Ril said. In other words, even if I defeat a large number of monsters, they might provide food for the people in that area, but strictly speaking, I’m not doing anything for the world as a whole.”
“…..”
“I guessed from what Ria said when we first met that ‘the names of countries and cities change a lot’, but if countries are created and disappear again and again, then it’s not just the decline of civilization, but there was a time in the past when it was at its peak – a time when it was better than now, right?”
“There were many times. But it was a long time ago.”
“What was the reason for the decline of civilization?”
“…..Everything, war.”
I guess so.
On Earth, war seems to be a factor in the development of chemistry and manufacturing technology, but this is a different world made up of magic and skill.
Then, while war may lead to advances in the analysis of magic and skills, it is unlikely to lead to a dramatic evolution in the level of civilization.
If civilization had declined due to external factors beyond human control, such as a huge meteorite impact like what happened on Earth in the past, then there was a strong possibility that my analysis would be wrong…
I see… if it’s all war…
“It’s all about people in the end, isn’t it? People destroying themselves at the end of their bloated desires, with no regard for the lives of others. As a result, civilization is reset or regressed.”
“…..”
“Of course, the people who start wars think they’re doing it for justice… but from the outside, don’t you think the people who instigate things from the center and cause the deaths of so many are ‘evil’?”
Here, Ria’s eyes widened as if she suddenly realized something.
“Could this be the reason why Loki was called here?”
“That’s just my personal guess. What I do know is that Felza-sama is the god of the Earth I came from, as well as the god of this world. And even though it doesn’t fit the timeline at all, this world is a system that is too similar to the games that are the creations of earthlings, and it’s a system that I’m familiar with.”
“…..”
“So, I don’t know what kind of feelings Felza-sama had when she created this world and watched over it, but if she tried various things and then, when they didn’t work, found a way to make it work as a last resort, then I think it would make a lot of sense if she somehow discovered the ability I have.”
Then, a single tear fell from Ria’s cheek, which had been silent until then.
“Did Felza-sama… not give up on this world…?”
“……”
“Felza-sama… She tried different things and experimented, hoping for the growth and development of this world. At first… she seemed to enjoy it very much, but then it didn’t work out and she started to look sad more and more… and soon, the world…”
Perhaps overcome with emotion, Ria, who had been crying as she spoke, suddenly covered her mouth with her hand.
Was she saying something important?
Her impatience was unlike anything I’d seen before, and I couldn’t help but stare at her, wondering if she was about to touch on the ‘foundation of the world’ that Alicia had mentioned before.
But I mustn’t misunderstand my position.
I’m just a commoner with a connection to the goddesses. I understand that there are some things in the world that I shouldn’t know about.
“…Then maybe Felza-sama hasn’t given up yet.”
“Yes… yes…”
“If that’s the case, I’ve come to the hypothesis that by punishing evil, I might be able to stop the decline of this world… what do you think, Ria?”
She wiped her eyes with her arm and looked at me with slightly red eyes.
“I am the Goddess of Sin. I have said before that sin must be atoned for with punishment.”
That’s right, she did say that.
She also told me before that if it fell under the category of punishment, I should do what I wanted on my own responsibility, and even this time, she asked me if I was going to kill her, and before we went in, she asked me if I was ready to kill them.
I think now that it was as if I was being encouraged to kill, if necessary, without being half-hearted.
“Well, I’m going to do it for my own reasons.”
“Yes, we’ll do it for our own reasons, too.”
Then we had a detailed meeting.
Even though I said I would punish the guilty, if I carried out the ‘execution’ without considering the seriousness of the crime or without considering where I was doing it, it would be a disaster.
Of course, it would be a disaster if I punished someone for stealing a few coins, but I myself have had experiences in the past where I lost my temper and went astray, so I was careful to imagine what might happen next.
To prevent this, Ria and I decided on some “clear rules”.
The first thing we decided was that if I went too far, Ria would take responsibility for bringing down “divine punishment”.
It’s so like Ria, I can’t help but smile when I think about it.
Well, if there’s such a strong sanction, it might be a good reason to restrain myself, so maybe it’s even a blessing in disguise.
And even though it’s only temporary, there’s the law of the lower world, my sense of ethics and values, and Ria’s position as the Goddess of Sin.
Considering each of these, I think I’ve drawn a line that would satisfy Alicia, who would probably be quick to express her disapproval.
As she was leaving,
“Don’t tell anyone I cried…”
I couldn’t help but smile when Ria said that, and…
“Please don’t tell anyone that I almost died again, especially not Feeril!”
When I said that, she laughed and said, “I thought you didn’t want me to tell anyone, so I didn’t,” and then Ria disappeared into the mist.
I was worried at first that I wouldn’t be able to find an answer, but I’m really glad that I talked to Ria.
The thick fog that was hanging over my head has cleared, and I think I’m able to think more clearly and calmly.
That’s why…
After the magic fog had completely dissipated, I suddenly thought about it while hiding under the blankets.
I guess I was wrong to think that Felza-sama wasn’t interested in this world…
Why did my skills have to be hidden so that even the goddesses couldn’t see them?
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