273 – Discourse
“The annoying intruder has disappeared.”
Juliet spoke in a light tone, as if all the problems had been solved.
It wasn’t even funny. The biggest culprit of this situation was none other than herself.
In the worst case, there was a possibility that defeating Drakan could have negative effects.
In other words, the woman in front of her right now may be the most dangerous enemy.
I raised my guard to the extreme and asked while glaring at the other person.
“···What on earth is your purpose?”
Even the Joker, which was already a trump card, was used. If she had a secret secret from Juliet, she honestly didn’t have the confidence to fight back.
But she won’t know exactly what my condition is.
Therefore, there was a high possibility that I would not make a hasty move, thinking that I could use the same magic again as before.
You must definitely take the initiative in this strange lull.
Make them think they will suffer extreme damage if a battle breaks out.
Fortunately, Juliet answered my question by shrugging her shoulders as if she had no will to fight right now.
“Please don’t misunderstand. “I am not your enemy.”
“Are you telling me to believe that now?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but we don’t need to fight at all. Rather, they are moving towards the same purpose.”
It’s so shameless that I’m so angry that I burst out laughing.
Not only did he lie under my wing and stab her in the back, he even joined forces with Drakan to kidnap Sharon. So now we don’t have to fight? Are we moving toward the same goal?
If you are appealing to past feelings, it is too late.
If he had told me in advance before our relationship became so bad, or at least if he had secretly visited me after the terrorist attacks in Paris and told me the whole situation, I would have been willing to patiently listen to him.
But in this world where they attacked the academy, injured innocent people, and even kidnapped Sharon, they were all just a useless family.
No matter what happens, our relationship will not be restored.
We can never again go back to being the director and secretary looking at each other and laughing and talking like before.
“Dr. Franken.”
One word suddenly came out of her mouth.
As she stared blankly, unable to understand what he meant, Juliet slowly added her words.
“Meeting Dr. Franken, my and Sharon’s father, again. Because that’s my goal. “Are you sure your purpose was the same as mine?”
···It is true that I was looking for Franken.
In that sense, if we said that our purpose is the same, it would be difficult to completely deny it.
Even so, that doesn’t mean you can completely understand her actions with just one word.
“If that was really the goal, why did you kidnap Sharon?”
“I need her brother’s help to call her father.”
“What about the attack on the academy?”
“It was the best way for me, who was being chased as a criminal, to contact my younger brother at the academy.”
Juliet answers questions immediately without hesitation.
In fact, I was more upset by such a confident attitude. She would be better off now if she admitted that her own actions were wrong, even if it was just acting.
“Then why did you go under Count Monte Cristo and join the Resistance in the first place? “If your goal is really to meet your father, revolution has nothing to do with it.”
If you go back in time, it was difficult to understand from the beginning.
What on earth are you aiming for by joining the Resistance and doing something like this?
“Because he is the apostle of the sun god.”
“Apostle…?”
What does the Count being an apostle have to do with Franken’s whereabouts?
“An apostle is a being who moves according to God’s will. “You know this much.”
“···So?”
“It moves according to its will. “How much do you think this is?”
It was an ambiguous question that was difficult to understand at once.
“Do you think you are moving by your own will? Have you ever even suspected that someone’s will was involved?”
“···What does that mean?”
“Are you denying it even though you know? The apostles are puppets who act solely according to God’s will. Just as the Count moves for the wishes of the Sun God, you too are being controlled by the Goddess behind you.”
It’s not worth listening to seriously. After all, they’re probably just making up something plausible to sway me. Even if you answer sincerely, all you’ll do is play to the other person’s tricks.
“The gods use humans to change the world as they want. Didn’t the goddess naturally speak to you at the moment of critical choice? “Wasn’t it unnatural the moment you met her and made her contract?”
A small whispering voice penetrated my ear and I began to force myself to open my head.
Memories of the past.
Questions that were overlooked and considered trivial.
Doubts that began to grow weakly at some point.
“Maybe you noticed it deep inside. “But he must have deliberately cut off the thought and ignored it, saying it couldn’t be that way.”
I forcibly covered my ears. I felt like I would really fall for her words if I listened any further.
But…
I couldn’t deny the content itself.
“You asked why I went under the earl. Because he is a pitiful puppet playing to the will of God. Could it be, so to speak, sympathy? “My father tried to create a world just for humans against the gods.”
My head was pounding. The sudden influx of new information and the seeds of doubt she had toward the Goddess that she had been harboring all tangled together, turning her mind into a jumbled mess.
“It’s quite ironic considering that the purpose of the Resistance is liberation and independence from those in power. The return to the theocratic era that he desperately wanted would be the furthest thing from a revolution. That’s why he can’t help but pity the count who lost himself after being manipulated by God.”
Juliet stopped her explanation and looked at me quietly for a moment.
The emotion contained in her eyes was not hostility toward her enemy. Rather…
“That’s why I pity you too, Phantom Thief Raven.”
It was a feeling of sympathy filled with regret.
“I pity you for being brainwashed by a goddess whose name you didn’t even know and believing that her life of stealing jewels was her true worth. Have you ever thought it was strange? You, who were just an academy student, became a phantom thief without any resistance, and yet you left behind something like a notice that was unnecessary. “Is it really your own will?”
Finally, Juliet extended her hand to me.
“We are not enemies. Rather, they are allies with the same purpose. “If you were my father, he would free you from the evil goddess.”
I stared at that hand blankly for a while.
Soon, I raised my hand and stretched it out slowly, as if responding to her suggestion.
Tap!
He slapped her hand away.
“I am not controlled by anyone. “All the choices I have made so far are the paths I have decided on myself.”
“···Even after facing the truth, you deny it to the end. “That’s foolish.”
“You don’t know, but I am a special being different from others.”
I am a stranger who does not belong to this world. Therefore, it is not bound by the laws that govern Middle Earth.
In other words, even if what Juliet said is true that all the apostles are puppets of God, it does not apply to me.
Furthermore, isn’t there absolutely no basis for that guy’s claims to be true?
It is quite possible that he is lying and telling reasonably plausible stories.
“Are negotiations broken down? “It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do.”
“Don’t do anything nonsense. “No matter what you do, I won’t take it lightly.”
He uttered a warning and immediately took out a card.
In fact, her condition was already so messed up that further battles were impossible, but she had to be stopped no matter what.
“It was definitely great earlier. To be honest, she never thought you would beat her. “You were a much stronger and more dangerous man than I thought.”
Despite my threats, Juliet had a relaxed attitude.
Contrary to what he says out loud, I don’t think he is wary of me at all.
“But it’s already too late.”
“···What?”
“The whole ceremony ended while I was talking friendly with you.”
“What is that…!!”
I hastily glared at the back. Sharon was sitting on her knees, looking exactly the same as before.
In the first place, she continued to carefully monitor Sharon’s condition while talking with Juliet.
“Are you relieved that my younger brother is alive and well?”
“···What did you do?”
“As you know, our sisters are not ordinary humans, but homunculi, artificial life forms. “Maintaining life itself is not very important.”
Little by little, my anxiety became more vivid.
“They just transferred my brother’s consciousness core to me. In human terms, would you say it is the soul? Do not worry. Because it’s not dead. Just put it back and it will be restored to its original state without any problem. Of course, until then, it will be nothing more than a breathing doll that has lost its soul.”
“···Put it back. Right now!!”
Juliet covered her mouth and smiled slightly as she continued to say what she wanted to say.
“Do you know why she needs her brother’s core? My ability is distortion, and my younger brother’s ability is observation. “When these two things are separated, they are imperfect, but when they come together, they can unleash true power.”
Juliet is spinning around in her seat while trying hard to explain something she is not curious about at all.
“Observation of distortion. In other words, you can see ‘something’ that does not exist in reality.”
At the same time, small cracks and cracks suddenly began to appear in the air.