194. When the cause and belief disappear
“What?”
Aria, perplexed by the slimy mud, tried to explain something to me, but my eyes followed the mud.
“Eh, why is this like this? Obviously when I saw…….”
Embarrassed, Arya tried to explain something, but she didn’t even have to listen.
Because I seemed to know roughly what the situation was.
‘It must have been tricked.’
I can’t explain anything other than that.
My soul in the first playthrough?
The first time I heard it, I wondered, but when I calmly thought about it, I quickly realized that it was nonsense.
“Arya, stay calm and explain the situation.”
“Oh yes!”
Aria, who was trying to collect the mud again, starts talking right away at my words.
“That’s right. Since it was vacation, I went back to her hometown to clean, chop firewood, catch animals, and help her parents… ….”
It starts like a child explaining that he has done his vacation homework.
“But suddenly there is another door in front of our front door, isn’t it? Luckily she wasn’t there to make her stew just in time. She saw that… ….”
As I was talking, I clapped my hands in pairs as if something had come to my mind and I was surprised.
“Oh, Mom! I have to tell my family that I am here!”
Aria says that she must have been embarrassed by her sudden disappearance. It seemed like it would take a little longer to hear the story.
* * *
Late evening.
After hearing all the stories about the Claire General Store, I was lost in thought for a while.
Erika has already left for a long time, and Aria has also returned to the dormitory. She returned to the academy anyway, so she decided to spend the rest of her vacation here.
After finishing her street performance, Owen briefly returned with a proud expression, but she left to wash up.
Finden Ai hasn’t come back since she went out to play since she blew it out the window earlier.
In the end, all that’s left is me, the Dark Spirit, and Stella with the horns sprouting. So, Velika was sticking out.
[If you wear white gloves, you are the great devil of deception.]
Belika answered with an expression that annoyed her even thinking about it. She didn’t seem to get along very well with him.
[My name is Learic. I didn’t want to see it for a while, but it was stuck in a strange place.]
I don’t know how long the Archdemon’s period of time is, but if it’s the Archdemon of Deception, I and the Dark Spirit were also involved.
Because he was the original owner of Remegeton, a spirit stone that we have been using for quite some time.
[…] ….]
A dark mage with his head down with his mouth tightly shut. Beside him, Velika continues her words without even noticing.
[Didn’t he say he runs the store? Don’t think about what to buy Just think of living as a loss.]
“Yes.”
[It’s not just about paying the price. At some point, your life may be for sale.]
I immediately thought of Ophelia.
She didn’t even have to ruminate on the words of her woman who wanted her love to be with her.
[Even the great devils don’t know what his real face is. Because he is a guy who likes to deceive others.]
“… ….”
[But there is a face I use often. A white-haired young man. I don’t know why, but he keeps using it?]
A white-haired man.
Aria also quietly looks at the Dark Spirit, remembering that this is the keyword she had mentioned.
“Do you know anything else?”
[Ah, um.]
The hesitant Dark Spirit answered awkwardly.
[I don’t know much about the Great Devil.]
I may not want to say it, but I haven’t forgotten what he said the other day when we fought Magan.
As if chasing him, I grabbed his horse by the tail and immediately asked.
“I heard that you are descended from the child who received Remegeton.”
At those words, Velika also quietly turned her head to look at her Dark Spirit. Her expression darkened.
I wondered if it would be obvious when I saw that Leme Geton recognized her as her master.
[This is a story from a very long time ago. It’s just bloodline. I tried to find Remegeton while I was alive, but in the end I failed.]
“… ….”
[And you know that it was very futile.]
I’m going to point out that Lemegeton was a trap given by the great devil of deception.
There was still something lingering in her.
‘Someday.’
If I can save the continent and bring peace. This time with the dark mage will also come to an end.
She was also a dead person after all, so she had to go to rest.
But before that.
Now I have no choice but to admit that the desire to release her lingering attachments, which she often showed me, had settled in me at some point.
[Anyway, if you want to fight Learic, you’ll have a lot of trouble. In the distant past, when demons beat each other, only the number I killed Learic exceeded double digits.]
In short, it meant that even if you thought you killed him, you still need to doubt whether he really killed you.
[By the way, can you chase the general store?]
Belika nodded her head in line with the dark priest casually passing the topic to her general store.
[That’s why. From what I’ve heard, it seems pretty difficult to find.]
“There is a way.”
I have a thread wrapped around my hand, but even if I use it, it’s not easy to chase it.
Because I have to follow the general store that wanders everywhere on the continent with my feet.
[Really?]
[You can chase after him?]
“I’ll let you know tomorrow. I want to be alone today, so I’ll step aside for a moment.”
Beckons and asks the two to move away. Both the Dark Mage and Velika were taken aback by the sudden banquet order.
After listening to a few grumbles, I was able to send them out.
“Whoa.”
Dense darkness.
You wouldn’t think there was anyone inside if you saw it from the outside because there wasn’t a single light on.
I can’t believe I’m leaning against that softly pushed back chair and closing my eyes for a while.
Flinch.
The thread tied to my right hand started to react.
Even though there is no wind, the gentle swaying tickles the back of my hand.
When I slowly opened my eyes, there was an antique purple door in front of me.
The nameplate on the Claire General Store.
Because I knew it would come.
Without reaction, I get up, grab the doorknob, turn it, and step inside.
The inside was exactly as Arya had said.
It was dark, and there was nothing on the stalls. Traces of the fierce battle with Arya were left here and there.
“Welcome to the Claire General Store.”
A white-haired young man standing over the counter in the distance. The white glove on his hand revealed his true identity to me.
“Learic.”
Learic, the Great Demon of Deception.
Even though his own name was called, he asked with his expression unchanged.
“Is there something you are looking for?”
I opened my mouth as I headed towards the counter as he said that he would guide me if there was anything I was looking for.
“What I hope for is you.”
“… ….”
“That’s why I came here because I’m alone.”
Aria’s conversation with Learic. We were able to infer a lot about Learic through that brief conversation.
From noble mtl dot com.
On the other hand, Raeric too.
He must have thought about Arya and me in many ways, and I expected that he would come to see me in person to check it out.
The information that Arya unknowingly put into her mouth was something that the great demon of deception could not stand.
“Don’t act like a merchant, just say what you want.”
When I said that he was calm, he laughed in amazement and crossed his hands.
A stack of cards popped out from there.
“Do you know the magic of matching cards?”
Show the front of the card so that only you can see it.
“This is a magic trick in which the customer guesses the card without looking at it.”
It was one of the common magic tricks.
But I knew he wasn’t saying that because he wanted to show me some magic, so I didn’t bother.
“I can do it like magic, not magic.”
Before I even consider the difference between the two, he hands me one of the cards spread out on the counter.
“This is the card you were thinking of.”
Took.
Clover 8
It was just a matter of choosing the first card, and if it was the correct answer, it was the correct answer.
“Aha? It was Clover 8, right?”
“… ….”
“I don’t know what card you picked. But I got it right.”
“Is that because of your ability?”
“Exactly. I don’t know what the guest wants.”
“… ….”
“But I can give you that.”
There was no need to add the word “In a twisted direction.”
“By the way. A very strange guest came today.”
Rareric took out a card from his open card hand. He puts it under the deck of cards.
“Isn’t this time, actually, already passed once?”
Charleureureuk.
“The continent is being reset once and starting again.”
A card that was clearly a single card unfolds as a stack of cards.
Therefore, there were two stacks of cards on the counter.
“Isn’t it ridiculous? But at the same time, I was also excited. Ah, it’s been a while. I’m so excited.”
“… ….”
“If that is true, after all, isn’t this world full of deceit?”
If you peek into the abyss, the abyss also peeks into you.
We investigated the Archdemon Raeric and inferred several things from the conversation with him.
Learic, on the other hand, had been inferring about us for a short time.
“Deius Verdi, the memorial serviceman who killed four great demons…… No, Shinwoo Kim.”
“… ….”
“It was truly amazing. I didn’t know that the day would come when I would sell a product called the soul of the first round.”
“Although it was fake.”
As I recited it as a warning, he grinned and shook his head.
“It’s not real until you know it’s fake.”
It is sophistry.
But he was a person who enjoyed such sophistry.
If I tried to refute it logically, it was almost certain that I would be hit back with sophistry again.
“There is only one reason I came here. Shinwoo Kim, please share your memories.”
“… ….”
“I’m curious. How did this world start the 2nd round! I wonder if the creators of God had let go of their hands even then!”
“I refuse.”
“Don’t do that.”
The counter placed between us disappears. Not only that, but the entire general store is dyed in darkness and melted away.
But it wasn’t just threats or intimidation adjustments.
It was a soft feeling that couldn’t be called killing.
“I can show you what you want most that you don’t even know.”
Learic laughs like a whisper.
“You can also find out what you value.”
It sounds like a threat, but it was appeasement. It’s pretty sweet too.
“Since I took this general store from the dwarves, I have seen several groups of humans. It was really fun.”
A white-haired man approaches me in the dark.
“You know what? Most people don’t know what they really want. The devil is the exact opposite.”
“… ….”
“Especially for people like you who live buried in their beliefs.”
Leah Rick smiled sarcastically, pressing his fingers against my chest.
“If you show me all the information you know, I will grant your wish.”
“Salvation of the Continent.”
Let’s reply in a calm manner, and Learic giggles.
“Is it a cause? There are quite a few people who give such an answer. But that’s not the essence. It is simply too much responsibility.”
Learic stretched out his hand as if he had expected it. Inside, a white orb radiated soft light.
“Leave it to your instincts. Let’s go together to find what you want, having laid down your cause and beliefs.”
“… ….”
“Kim Shin-woo, what is your real wish?”
Soon, the white sphere in Learic’s hand gradually began to change into the shape I really wanted.
I’m curious too, ngl 👀