NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77: Believe, As Always
"Hoo..."
Yila sighed softly. He stood alone on the terrace at night, gazing at the endless stars in the sky... He wasn't lamenting the unfairness of destiny or suffering from the drama of his life.
Perhaps at some moment, he might have done so, but right now, he neither had the time nor the energy.
Next, Yila had to face the Calamity of the Resurrection of the Dead. Tomorrow, he had to remind the people he knew that the upcoming calamity might involve fights with their familiar ones.
Without needing much thought, Yila knew... the souls of Yose and Favignano were probably in Snakeskin's hands. And clearly, Elves would face Elves, monsters would face monsters.
However, according to Snakeskin's words, if those souls returned to the Calamity, they could, based on their subjective consciousness, ease the situation somewhat... So, compared to the "Calamity," it felt more like—
A long-awaited "Reunion."
"Sigh..."
Yila couldn't help but sigh again, feeling a bit conflicted... Since the world was already like this, what was the point of painstakingly dealing with the calamity?
Yila had always been attentive to handling the calamity, as he needed to preserve the world's vital forces as much as possible, which was naturally normal... But now, this meaning felt problematic.
Imagine.
Suppose there are two railways, one with a person tied on it, and the other with five people, and you hold the lever to control the tracks...
Alright, this is the classic Trolley Problem, but...
If moving the lever only delays the death of one side, making them die later instead of immediately... was there any point in pulling the lever?
They were doomed to die sooner or later.
And pulling the lever was exhausting.
...
But reality wasn't a "Puzzle"; reality had accidents and miracles... Maybe, in the end, everything could be properly resolved, avoiding the world's destruction and the scenario of him escaping with the souls of civilization.
But Yila also knew that was a miracle, an unexpected luxury... and this was the most fatal contradiction because he had never been that kind of person and wasn't used to putting possibilities above reality.
The actions to take depended on the current situation; he had always believed this.
But the current "situation," his current rational mind told him—that everything would be useless, and the best choice was to accept it mentally and be prepared to flee with a bucket in hand.
"This is just too awful."
Yila couldn't help but lament, standing by the terrace railing, looking at the dense stars in the sky.
"..."
"Hey, Yila, are you alright? Ever since you got back from the Silver Moon Tree Court, you've been dazed."
Vera's voice came from the corridor behind him. She then walked to the side of Yila, who seemed unresponsive, and followed his gaze... only to see the night sky.
"Is my daze obvious?"
Vera nodded to Yila's question, still studying what Yila was looking at, and said, "Of course, everyone should have noticed... what happened?"
If someone else was often lost in thought, it wouldn't be too strange, but if it was Yila, it was rather terrifying, as Yila's usual demeanor proved he wasn't someone who would be so confused.
However, regarding Vera's "what exactly happened?" question, Yila didn't know where to start, and... he didn't want to spread his negative emotions.
"I'm fine, just thinking about the calamity."
Yila said this.
"You mentioned it at the meeting, right? The Calamity of the Resurrection of the Dead might just be a sparring match."
Vera said, looking at Yila's expression and his lifeless eyes. Usually slow-witted, she was rather shrewd at this moment, saying, "Did something unexpected happen? You look... powerless."
Powerless? That was bad.
"Did others also notice my strangeness?"
Yila asked, and seeing Vera's casual nod, he got the answer he expected. He sighed, "If you noticed, it means my expression control indeed failed."
It sounded disdainful, after all, saying, "if you noticed."
But Vera couldn't bring herself to retort at such a time...
"Did something really big happen?"
Even Vera, usually thick-skinned, asked. She had some speculation, realizing something, "Could it be that you must sacrifice yourself to save the world? Or are you one of the calamities bringing about the Destruction of the World? Or... is the world beyond saving?"
"..."
Vera could guess that?!
"Probably just a lucky guess..."
Yila lightly ridiculed, roughly guessing Vera's thoughts, knowing her wild guesses had some basis. But... Vera might be smart, but she wasn't particularly quick-witted, so her guessing the truth was just a fluke.
"Huh?"
Vera, who didn't hear clearly, questioned.
"..."
Yila sighed again in silence, saying, "Well, fine... talking to you might ease my mind. First of all—this world is indeed beyond saving."
"What?! Wait, in that case, aren't you also..."
Seeing Vera's shocked face, Yila knew what she was thinking and said straightforwardly, "But I'm still saveable. When you all are dead, I will escape to another world... taking the souls of the world with me."
Saying this, Yila explained everything, including Snakeskin's matter, to Vera in detail. Watching Vera's face change from surprise, shock, and fear to finally becoming relaxed... Was Vera really so carefree?
"Oh, in other words, you can still take us when escaping, right..."
Vera said this.
Yila immediately shook his head to correct her: "Not 'take you,' but after you're dead, take your souls along with the civilization's souls and then escape."
But Vera didn't mind Yila's correction at all. She just shrugged casually, saying, "Got it, got it~ I'm going back to sleep then. Yila, you should sleep early too~"
"..."
Yila: "???"
Not understanding why Vera had no reaction at all, Yila still called to her back: "Vera! Don't spread this news recklessly, or it might cause panic."
In response to Yila's words, Vera just gave a thumbs-up and then turned back confidently, poking her thumb at her chest, speaking seriously: "Don't worry; I'm not someone who can't judge the situation."
"Perhaps I'm usually loose-tongued, but at times like this... trust me!"
"..."
"Ha, I trust you..."
Yila couldn't help but chuckle softly, then paused and added...
"As always."
——————————
Five days later, the whole world knew the news.
...
Vera: "Hey, can we reconcile?"
Yila: "At this moment?! Vera, are you joking?!!!!"