62 – (Interlude) King of the Oasis
Dior blinked as he saw a woman who was almost like a girl suddenly appear in front of him.
If you have pure white hair like that….
“Saint of the Holy Kingdom?”
Dior, who was disguised as a man named Urga, stood up from the bench with a puzzled expression.
Then Cynthia bowed her head with an embarrassed expression on her face.
“Tae, meet the Taeyang clan… !”
‘Why… ?’
Dior urgently checked her wrist to see if her magic tool was working.
The magic tool was still operating.
But why on earth was my identity discovered?
Dior looked at Cynthia with a puzzled expression.
Only then did Cynthia realize her own mistake and she started to flounder with a slightly embarrassed expression on her face.
“That, my, is my ability! The power of the moon!!!”
What kind of bullsh*t is this woman suddenly talking about?
In a moment of panic, Dior checked his surroundings to make sure there were no children from daycare nearby.
Fortunately, the quick-witted children were considerate of Dior and were playing far away from where he was.
“… “What does that mean?”
When Dior said this with her sigh, Cynthia smiled with an awkward expression and brushed off the dust on her body.
“Ahahahaha….”
As she watched her awkward movements, she felt so absurd that her shoulders went weak.
Dior sighed and flopped down on his bench again.
“Ha….”
“That… Are you okay?”
“Do you look okay?”
“No… Well, it looks okay….”
“….”
Dior sighed again and looked up at the sky.
The sun was still shining so brightly in the sky that it was annoying.
No matter where you go, you can’t avoid the sun.
I felt even more depressed by that fact.
Dior turned her head away from the sun and opened her mouth, looking at Cynthia who was glancing at her with an awkward expression on her face.
“How did you know there was a dog hole there?”
“… “It is the power of the moon.”
Why does the story of the moon keep coming up?
‘What does this have to do with the mana of the moon?’
Dior frowned slightly as he thought about that.
“Dio… “The reason I know Urga’s identity is because God guided me.”
‘God’s guidance?’
Sometimes in the Holy Kingdom, it is said that there is a madman who claims to be an oracle and does bizarre things….
Dior distanced himself from Cynthia with a slightly reluctant expression.
“After all, it’s better than words….”
As Dior widened the distance between her and Cynthia, thinking that this should not happen, she stretched out her hand towards Dior’s face.
“What are you doing?”
Dior was startled and slapped her hand away.
Nevertheless, Cynthia opened her mouth with an expression of understanding.
“It’s okay. My divine power can heal everything….”
From the time I was born until now, I have always lived a life that only pays attention to what others think.
Therefore, Dior could not help but notice Cynthia’s gaze and her true intentions in her voice.
‘Why….’
Cynthia’s hand went to Dior’s left eye.
Wow.
It was a mysterious feeling.
Because he often got injured while training, Dior also depended a lot on the divine power of the priests.
But there was something fundamentally different from the mana they gave off.
As I surrendered myself to that mysterious, inexplicable sensation, my vision, which had been blurry as if ink had been sprinkled on it, began to gradually become clearer.
He felt like the pain that he could not confide in anyone was healing.
It’s hot.
My vision, which had been clear just a moment ago, began to blur again.
“Uh, uhh!!!”
Then Cynthia, who had been wearing her benevolent expression just a moment ago, hurriedly took out her handkerchief from her arms and held it out.
Dior wiped her tears with her handkerchief that she held out to her.
How much time has passed?
Dior opened her mouth quietly, blocking the sunlight with her handkerchief.
“There is this phrase in a novel written by a man named Lundel, who is called one of the great writers. ‘A swordsman in the slums does not dream of becoming a knight, and a prostitute in the slums does not dream of becoming a noblewoman.'”
“Ah… “I heard there is such an expression.”
“I have only read halfway through this novel. “The moment I saw this phrase, I was so angry that I couldn’t read it.”
That was a phrase from ‘The Slum Dreamer,’ the novel that elevated Lundel to the position of a great writer.
Aben, who was born in a slum away from even the bright sun, lived tenaciously to survive each day.
It was the same on the day of the harvest festival.
That day was the most crowded day in the city of the year, so it was a day when there was little chance of getting caught even if one stole.
Aben prepared a slightly larger pocket than usual, chose the cleanest clothes he had, and left the slum.
While Aben was stealing, he met a girl his age who had been separated from her parents after being hit by a crowd.
Aben, who helps the girl by chance, is invited by her parents, who mistakenly think he is a commoner, and ends up spending a wonderful night together.
Aben becomes intoxicated by it and becomes obsessed with mammonism, and unlike before, he works hard to escape the slums.
With a passion that resembles his madness, Aben finally succeeds as a merchant, acquires the daughter of a poor baron who only had a title, and ascends to the ranks of nobility.
He became the nobleman he so desperately wanted to be.
Nevertheless, due to his unfulfilled desires, Aben shows increasingly extreme actions and eventually falls.
The cause was the betrayal of a subordinate who was bribed by a rival who was wary of Aben’s growth.
The situation was so fatal that I lost everything I had achieved.
Nevertheless, Aben laughs like crazy, as if he is happy about the situation.
And then that phrase appears.
“In the Holy Kingdom, desires are guarded against, but people can survive because they have desires.”
“… “Yes, that’s right.”
“But the desire for something that cannot be achieved drives people crazy. So we all learn, knowingly or unknowingly, to give up.”
“… Yes.”
“No matter how much a flame burns, it cannot become the sun. But I wanted to be the sun. “Even though I knew I shouldn’t do that, I was blind and lived that way.”
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Then I read that phrase.
I felt so sick that I couldn’t turn the book to the next chapter.
“I guess I was blinded by the sun.”
Dior placed his palm on his now clear left hand and muttered.
Maximilian was born with eyes filled with the sun, but for some reason, he was born with the mana of fire rather than the mana of the sun.
So there may be a possibility.
Thinking like that, she eagerly followed behind him.
However, Maximilian excelled in all fields except magic.
Even if I gave up everything and delved into one field, it was doubtful whether I would even be able to beat Maximilian in that one field.
Something so overwhelming and foreign lay between the two.
The day I noticed that was the day I learned to play an instrument.
Dior stared blankly at the sky and continued muttering the story he had been telling as if he was talking to himself.
“I learned a musical instrument. It was also rated as excellent by his father. Even you can beat this! “I thought so, and I was actually able to beat my brother.”
He thought so.
That is, until I saw Maximilian playing the piano with a tired expression, left alone with his mother in the hall where everyone had left.
“He played more skillfully than me. She asked the Empress her brother. “Why did you play so poorly just a moment ago?”
Cynthia already knew what Dior was going to say.
‘It’s the same as the memories from my previous life…’ .’
“My brother said that he wanted to relax and enjoy music with his ears rather than busily following the score with his eyes. Maybe… “He must have been considerate of me.”
“Extreme tsundere….”
“Yes?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing.”
“An opportunity has come to me. For the past 6 years, I have been running with my mind behind me. But before I knew it, he was out of reach even if I stretched out my hand.”
At first, I obviously couldn’t even react properly.
However, as time passed, Maximilian began to steadily block Dior’s sword.
If the sparring had continued as it was, Maximilian would definitely have been standing there at the end.
As it has always been.
As always.
“So I gave up. “A flame should not dream of the sun.”
Dior let out a sigh as if he was relieved.
Then Cynthia looked at Dior and smiled softly.
“I know the ending of the story.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, that ultimately means that Aben was wrong.”
“Yes?”
“Aben said she loved the merchant’s daughter she saw that day. But I mistook that for a desire for material abundance. So even though she rose to the rank of nobility, her thirst was not satisfied.”
Dior looked at Cynthia with a slightly puzzled expression.
“Even though she reached the edge of the cliff, Aben tenaciously survives again with her vigor. But even though she achieved such a miracle, her thirst was not satisfied. Then one day, she meets the girl she met that day on the street. “She is already a mother of a family.”
“… “Is Aben in despair?”
“I was shaken. “She just stumbles and heads towards the slums.”
Realizing too late what she was after, Aben heads to her slum.
And there she sees a shocking sight.
“The knifeman from her slum that Aben gave as an example is the same as the prostitute from her slum. “The sword holder became the courtesan’s knight, and the courtesan became the sword holder’s lady.”
“….”
“He is still a slum knifeman, and she is a slum prostitute. But to each other, we are knight and lady.”
“That’s….”
“It’s a play on words. In the end, their external status does not change. But it’s cool, right? “In the end, it’s a difference of perspective.”
“Differences in perspective….”
“In a slum where there is no light, even a small candle can become a spectacular lighting in a banquet hall.”
Wasn’t this a remark mocking her quick resignation as a have-not?
Was it meant to let people know that each person has a different life?
Indeed.
“Honestly, a fireplace is warmer than the sun in the winter, right?”
Dior smiled slightly at those words and nodded his head.
The sun ultimately appears only half of the time per day.
For the other half, flames replace the sun.
Dior gave that answer and stood up.
“If you’re here to say hello, I’m sure we’ll see you again later at Soleil. “Then I will formally greet you again.”
“Are you going?”
“Yes. “I have to become the king of the oasis.”
With that said, Dior walked towards the imperial castle.
Cynthia looked blankly at Dior and tilted her head.
“King of the Oasis?”