Chapter 195
Impelium looked like he had expected that question.
I added some detail to what I had asked.
“Sir Grade, Lady Lepia, and Sir Leon. They are clearly in the underworld, but you said the Embrace of the World and the underworld are different things.”
“……”
“They were all heroes who defeated Demon Kings. Then why are they in the underworld?”
“Because that’s what they wanted.”
I tilted my head.
“They wanted to?”
“How many heroes do you think existed in what you call ‘Mide’s World’?”
“Three… no, wait.” I had to count Trail and Impelium too.
Impelium had also fought against the false Demon King, Velosian, who appeared in Mide’s World.
“So, five including you.”
“Thanks for counting me. Even though I’m a failed hero.”
“Don’t say that. If the world gave you a gift, that means it believed you fulfilled your role, even if you couldn’t kill the Demon King.”
“Heh. Anyway, to answer your question, there were exactly twenty-seven.”
My mouth dropped open.
“The history of Mide’s World is very long. It’s been handled much more carefully and gently than other worlds by you, its creator and god.”
“……”
“But the twenty-fourth hero didn’t do so well.”
“The twenty-fourth…?”
“That’s me.”
He scratched his head.
“As you know, because I only half-succeeded, Velosian survived.”
“……”
“The heroes who defeated the Demon Kings of Destruction, Greed, and Corruption did their part, but the world was still unstable. And they weren’t the type to just walk away and leave it behind.”
He snapped his fingers.
A full Eye of Omniscience appeared.
“It will be easier to show you than to explain. I will show you Lepia’s secret.”
I focused on the screen.
On it, Lepia was looking at her own screen, another Eye of Omniscience.
When was this?
As soon as I wondered, a sentence appeared at the top.
—At the moment she returned home after defeating the Demon King of Greed. In her room.
The Eye of Omniscience really was considerate.
Anyway, on Lepia’s screen, it said:
<Are you saying you will not go to the Embrace of the World?>
“Yes.”
<May I ask why?>
“Sir Grade made the same choice I’m making. So you don’t need to hear my answer, I have the same reason.”
Even back then, Lepia still spoke politely.
‘But I have never heard that she could use something like the Eye of Omniscience. Not in the history books, and not from her either.’
Just then, new words appeared.
<Because the world is unstable?>
“Yes. They said the Demon King was sealed in a place called the Special Room, right? I did defeat the Demon King of Greed, but my battle isn’t over yet.”
<This world no longer requires your care. You have achieved 350,000 fame and even sacrificed something dear to convert it into power. You also inherited Sir Grade’s knowledge by sharing his interest.>
“Three hundred fifty thousand fame?”
My condition had been over a million.
Impelium noticed my confusion and spoke.
“If you compare, my requirement was to surpass 4.8 million.”
“Oh, right.”
“You just need enough to defeat the Demon King of that era. For Lepia, 350,000 was enough to kill the Demon King of Greed.”
So, I only needed to surpass one million to kill Idria, that must have been my condition.
Thinking back, when I fought Idria after reaching 1.2 million fame, it didn’t even feel that hard.
If I hadn’t needed her alive for the Velosian situation, I could have ended it right there.
Wait a second.
“Then Velosian’s minimum must be 4.8 million or higher, right?”
“Well, you will find out when you fight him yourself. Anyway, let’s keep watching.”
I turned back to the screen.
<That means your mission in this world is finished. Leave the rest to those who come after you, and accept the world’s gift. Go to your new world.>
“……”
Lepia shook her head.
“This is my world. At least for now.”
<Lepia.>
“They said Velosian, trapped in the Special Room, is gathering strength to escape, right?”
<Yes. That’s all he can do while imprisoned with Aktion. Velosian studied the Special Room and managed to create other ‘doors.’ In the end, he succeeded in connecting one of those doors to this world.>
That must have happened during Grade’s time.
Grade once said Velosian had given him that door as a gift.
In other words, it was like digging a tunnel to escape from prison, slowly creating white doors similar to Aktion’s red ones, imitating the Special Room, until finally…
He succeeded in linking the prison to the outside world, our world.
‘And then he handed the door to Grade, making him build the Imperial Castle around it to guard it.’
Then Lepia said,
“I need to scold Sir Grade. Why did he just accept it so gratefully?”
<His condition was 450,000 fame. But long before that, he killed the Demon King of Destruction. He was too strong.>
“Are you saying that’s because I was weak?”
<But in his later years, he achieved many great feats as an emperor and finally reached 450,000. Then he gained the complete Eye of Omniscience and learned all the world’s secrets.>
The words continued appearing.
<After learning those secrets, Sir Grade tried to destroy the underground section of the Imperial Castle and break in.>
“You stopped him, didn’t you?”
<Yes. At that age, Lord Grade couldn’t do anything about Velosian. Though honestly, it wasn’t about age, his fame of around 450,000 just wasn’t enough to face him. That’s why I advised him to leave it to the next generation’s hero.>
“Just like you’re advising me now?”
<Yes.>
“And Lord Grade refused?”
<Yes. Only people approved by Lord Grade and members of the royal family can use the door leading underground in the Imperial Castle. He said if he left this world, no one would even see that special room unless a hero was born among the royals.>
“……”
<He really yelled his head off…>
The words began to appear quickly across the screen.
<But really, how could he be sure a future hero would summon his soul? You would need an incredibly strong necromancy spell to call a hero’s soul, ordinary magic wouldn’t work at all.>
“Well, yes. That’s true.”
<But this man just wouldn’t listen! Completely stubborn and unreasonable!>
“Uh… sounds like you have been holding that in for a while.”
The complaints kept coming across the screen for a while.
Lepia waited until the text finally stopped, then said firmly,
“Anyway, I will do the same as Lord Grade.”
For a moment, no words appeared.
It felt as if the screen itself had sighed.
<There’s a big difference between a chosen hero being gifted a new world and simply going to the underworld.>
“Because only souls can go to the underworld, right?”
<It’s more than that. Everything you have learned through the Eye of Omniscience, those are secrets not meant to be known in the original world.>
“……”
<If you fight Velosian and die like this, you will lose all your memories. You will only remember that you killed the Demon King of Greed before your soul goes to the underworld. I told Lord Grade the same thing.>
It looked like another round of complaining was coming, so Lepia cut in.
“Even so, maybe it will help somehow. Some future hero might benefit from it.”
<How could it help if all your memories are gone…>
“My swordsmanship, for example. I’m confident in my skill to teach swordplay.”
<Even the thought of ‘I should teach someone’ will vanish, you know.>
“No.”
Lepia’s eyes were steady as she went on.
“I will want to teach them. If that person is a hero I have acknowledged.”
<…Haa. All right.>
“Don’t be so gloomy. Once I kill Velosian, everything will be over, won’t it?”
<I hate to say this, but with your fame of about 400,000, it’s impossible.>
So Lepia’s fame was 400,000.
‘Impressive. Really impressive.’
My own fame now was over 1.2 million, but that only happened after defeating the Celestial God.
Before that, I had hovered around 350,000 to 400,000 myself.
How had Lepia reached 400,000 in an age with far fewer people than now?
Maybe there were other great deeds never recorded in history.
‘Still, 400,000 wouldn’t be enough.’
Lepia had to know that.
But she smiled brightly.
“I will do what I can. If it doesn’t work, I will leave it to the next generation.”
<……>
“That’s just how heroes think.”
<Heroes, honestly…>
It almost felt like a small laugh came from the screen.
<All right. I wish you success.>
“Oh, right. If I die fighting Velosian, how will the world record my death? As missing?”
<That’s likely.>
“Could you maybe change that? Make it so I died peacefully, running a restaurant back home?”
<What?>
“I may not look it, but a lot of people care about me. If I just ‘disappeared without a trace,’ it would make too many people sad.”
I couldn’t help but admire Lepia’s kindness.
<Understood. Funny enough, Lord Grade said something similar.>
“Of course he did.”
<Well, in his case, if the emperor suddenly vanished, the whole empire would panic.>
“You sound like you have a bit of resentment toward him.”
<Anyway, I will make sure your end is remembered beautifully. The world itself will accept that as a kind lie.>
Lepia tilted her head.
“The world will accept it? So you’re not the world itself?”
<No. I only serve as an assistant.>
“Then tell me your name, at least.”
<…I have been doing this job a long time, but you’re the first hero who has ever asked that.>
“Everyone else has no manners. I know I’m late, but still… what’s your name?”
Something began to appear on the screen.
But then, snap.
The display vanished.
I turned toward Impelium.
“Have you ever heard of the Demon King of Severance?”
“I didn’t cut it off. It disappeared on its own.”
“Then tell me yourself. You have the complete Eye of Omniscience. You should know what that screen really was.”
Impelium chuckled.
“I never checked. I could, but I haven’t.”
“You’re not even curious?”
“Guess that’s where you and I differ. I’m already too busy thinking about the world I’m tending to.”
“……”
“I can’t afford to make the same mistake as Aktion.”
“That’s a terrifying thought.”
“Well, as long as Serad’s around, that won’t happen.”
So that meant both Grade and Leon had refused the world’s gift too.
I felt not just respect but awe for the choices of the heroes before me.
Their fame might have been less than mine, but in their time, they showed what it truly meant to be heroes.
‘They could have just handed everything to the next generation and moved on to a new world.’
But instead, they chose to stay and go to the underworld.
Just so a future hero might one day need their help.
‘And that choice was right.’
Grade, Lepia, Leon.
I owed my life and survival to their help more than once.
Impelium spoke.
“They were born after me, yet every time I think of those three heroes, I feel like crawling into a hole.”
“You don’t need to. You did your best in your own era.”
“But I chose the world’s embrace over the underworld.”
“……”
“I won’t make excuses. I simply had no more regrets left in the world of Mide. I had done my part, sealed Velosian and Aktion, and accepted the gift.”
I looked at him silently.
Impelium averted his eyes.
A quiet laugh escaped my lips.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“What do you mean?”
I answered as if it were obvious.
“If you truly had no regrets, you wouldn’t have helped me at all from the very beginning.”
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