Chapter 150 : Chapter 150
Chapter 150: Lost Time (3)
Simply put, Pariah, who was originally the most trusted subordinate of the Second Generation Shurine—the ‘Rine’ who is here now—staged a coup with a faction that sought to end the Second Generation Shurine's rule.
And Rine, who was consequently driven out, became the ‘False God’ used to secure the legitimacy of the coup.
The ruler whom they had worshipped as Shurine until then was merely an imposter of the First Generation Shurine who had lived in this land during the Age of the Gods.
She became the scapegoat of propaganda written by the victorious side.
…Well, if you were to ask if the ‘Second Generation Shurine’ was purely a victim, that would be a difficult question.
There were certainly parts that needed to be scrutinized.
However, the essence of the matter remained as such.
Rine was driven out.
As a result, the ruler of Shurina, who was once worshipped as the God of Time, instantly became a slave who lost all her memory and power due to a ‘curse’.
Pariah, who succeeded in the coup, was hailed as the liberator who drove out the false god, and his comrade, the current Governor Kurt, expressed his will to carry on the spirit of the hero who had suddenly disappeared after the revolution.
As a result, he received overwhelming support, became the first Governor of Shurina, and was still governing Shurina.
Pariah, who had suddenly vanished after the coup, remained as a statue in the city square, still protecting the city, and his comrade Kurt became the Governor and remained in the ‘Divine Palace’ where the god they once served sat, ruling the city.
For a period of 30 years.
By human standards, this period in a republic would be called a ‘dictatorship’.
But perhaps because the Elves perceived this period as merely a fleeting moment, Logan explained that everyone still seemed satisfied with the current atmosphere.
“Well… although I’m telling you this, this is what we call the latest information, but in fact, it’s all information from several years ago.”
Logan added that they themselves weren't sure what the situation was most recently.
“If Krom, which you recently visited, was an island isolated from the continent among the 12 Cities, Shurina… feels like a place isolated from the timeline.”
Though both were Elven cities, Krom was a very dynamic city where new news was constantly heard, as they were always fighting amongst themselves, like beyond The Wall.
But Shurina, since that incident 30 years ago, was a very tranquil city where nothing happened, as if time had stopped.
At least, it appeared that way from the outside.
“Excuse me…”
At that moment, Miki suddenly raised one hand cautiously and asked.
“That person, Pariah, you said he suddenly disappeared?”
He said he had been listening, but this part was hard to understand.
“That is correct. No one knows why he disappeared or where he disappeared to. All that is known to the world is that he vanished after the revolutionary forces occupied the Divine Palace.”
Logan, who replied, responded in a tone that suggested even he didn't quite understand it.
“We have also tried to track his whereabouts. However, we were ultimately unable to find any clue. Even his survival status remains unclear.”
“The Kapers, tracking his whereabouts…? Why?”
The plot thickens here.
“Well, in fact, Lord Pariah was a Kaper.”
“…!”
“He was a high-ranking Kaper who had been active as a Kaper for a very long time. When I first became a Kaper, he was already someone admired as a legend among Kapers.”
Logan said he had met him in person just once.
“The impression that he was a very humble person, compared to his reputation as a legendary Kaper, still remains. Ah, Silverhand might have met him often.”
At Logan’s gaze turning to him as he said this, Toric stroked his long beard and replied.
“I also haven't met him in person very often. Even when I first became a Kaper, he was already a high-ranking Kaper whom a fledgling like me couldn't easily meet.”
He made an expression as if reminiscing about those times.
“The impression that he was not like an Elf remains deeply with me.”
“Not like an Elf, you mean?”
“Elves have a very long lifespan, do they not? So they often don't easily understand the lives of other races whose lifespans are much shorter than theirs.”
Elves’ lifespan is known to be close to a thousand years.
As such, humans like us who live barely a hundred years, and even Dwarves who can live for several hundred years, must seem like ‘mayflies’ in their eyes.
“Moreover, he was a Northern Elf. That tendency was stronger among Elves who had less interaction with other races. But he thought like a human.”
Toric immediately continued.
“It was probably thanks to having been active as a Kaper for a long time and living alongside various races. Anyway, that impression remains deep with me. Ah, and of course, his skill was second to none. He was a truly amazing person in many ways.”
In short, Pariah was treated as the Kaper of Kapers.
Moreover, he was a perfect hero who also possessed a character befitting that title.
Therefore, Miki, who was listening to the two men's stories with interest.
“Then the revolution in Shurina must have been him, as a legendary Kaper, seeking to overthrow the false god who was oppressing the citizens…!”
Began to show a somewhat excited expression, as if he had just heard a new heroic tale of the Kapers he admired.
But.
“That is…”
“Hmm…”
He ended up tilting his head at the subtle reaction shown by the two men.
“Uh… is it not?”
“The thing is… actually, when Lord Pariah started the revolution, he was no longer a Kaper.”
“What?”
“He left on his own. For reasons that we still don't know. Naturally, all the high-ranking Kapers tried to dissuade him, but his will was so strong that we couldn't stop him.”
“After he quit the Kapers like that, a few years later, that news suddenly came from Shurina.”
That he had succeeded in the revolution and liberated Shurina from the false god.
“There were many incomprehensible parts about Lord Pariah during that period. That's why, as Logan said before, we tried to track the whereabouts of the man who suddenly disappeared… but we couldn't find him at all.”
“He completely vanished, leaving no trace, as if he had never existed in this world from the beginning.”
Considering that finding those traces is the specialty of the Kapers, it meant he hadn't merely ‘hidden’.
“Well… if it was the person we Kapers knew, I think he probably vanished because he understood well that power is bound to corrupt, and he wanted to relinquish it himself…”
“Since the revolution was successful, power would have shifted to him whether he liked it or not.”
“This part is entirely our conjecture. If we ever get the chance, we would truly like to know.”
They would know soon.
Because we were going to Shurina to unearth the truth of that day.
Rine’s lost memory and self were buried along with that truth.
***
“Excuse me…”
While we were all eating together after returning to the accommodation, Lily started the conversation like this.
“Sister Rine, you said that you… don’t remember anything from before you were captured by the merchants, right?”
As if the story she heard from Logan today kept bothering her in a corner of her mind.
At Lily’s words, Rine quietly nodded.
“I’ve always thought that it was very strange that such an excellent mage as Sister Rine was in such… a predicament.”
It couldn't be helped.
We all knew Rine’s skill well now. Even now, without having fully recovered her original power, she was already one of the top-ranking experts on the continent.
But how on earth could those weak slave merchants treat Rine as a slave and take her around?
“…It is a bit strange.”
Ibi, hearing Lily’s words, agreed that it definitely made sense, and looked alternately between me and Rine.
Of course, after being branded with the ‘Slave Brand,’ she wouldn't have been able to use her power carelessly, and thus couldn't resist at all── that story, at least, offered some explanation.
However.
“In the first place, how were those pathetic bastards even able to capture Rine?”
This part could not be explained at all.
Naturally, it was because of the ‘curse’.
Stripped of her power and will, she was captured as a slave without being able to resist even those pathetic bastards.
If so, who cast that curse?
This question was bound to follow.
Of course, the two had no way of knowing that Rine had been afflicted with a ‘curse’, so they didn't ask about that part.
However.
“…Perhaps, could it be connected to that story we heard today?”
It seemed they could definitely sense that the ‘Shurina Revolution’ was not merely some kind of background story for the city we were going to next, one that was good to know but fine to ignore.
“…Are you saying there's a possibility she got caught up in the revolution at the time?”
Lily nodded slowly, with a somewhat cautious look.
Although she didn't add anything more, that meant, in the end.
“This girl was on the side of that god or whatever and got chased out?”
She was on the side that ‘lost’ the revolution.
Well, it seemed they couldn't possibly guess that she was the Shurine herself who was dragged down at that time, not just someone on the losing side, but that couldn't be helped.
Anyway, at Ibi’s remark that directly hit the mark, everyone flinched and watched Rine's reaction, but Rine, seeing her companions' reactions, instead tilted her head slightly, as if asking what was wrong.
Just like a person listening to a story that had nothing to do with her.
“…So, you still don’t remember anything, right?”
When Rine nodded silently again, Ibi finally let out a short sigh.
“Fine, whatever. I guess we’ll find out once we go.”
…If we could even go, that is.
“──Found you.”
The next day.
As we were finally about to leave Tiaria, an Elf suddenly appeared before us.
“Y-You are…!”
Toric, upon seeing the figure, immediately couldn't hide his shock.
Moreover.
“……!”
Even Rine, who was always expressionless, was instantly thrown into a noticeable state of agitation.
Seeing the reactions of the two, the other companions also immediately realized that this Elf was not an ordinary person and began to show caution.
……Be careful.
Even the ‘Primordial Demon King’ himself.
…That person is dangerous.
Even the ‘Primordial’ who intended to make gods kneel at his feet, spoke like this.
Because the person was the one who ‘killed a god’.
“Lord Pariah…?!”
Liberator Pariah.
He had revealed himself before us.
‘Already…!’
Even I, who thought I would meet him someday, was completely unexpected by the timing.
“Shurine…!”
To decisively kill Shurine—our companion Rine—whom he had failed to kill before.