NOVEL NEXT Chapter 697
“Are you, like, hoping that the Crown Princess gets executed soon?”
As I was collecting the gossip about Erichiton one by one and adding them to my karma stack, she popped a crispy meringue cookie into her mouth.
“Honestly, I think the bounty is a bit excessive, meow. If she’s already aligned with the Demon King’s Army, that’s already a pretty miserable position to be in, meow. It’s her choice, so why does the Imperial family need to intervene? Wow…! This is delicious, meow!”
“Huh?”
Burp! “Sorry, meow. The curse is just so intense, kyaaa…”
Erichiton’s face turned red.
“How can she not even tolerate one illegitimate child and still claim to unify this vast continent, meow?”
What a silly Erichiton.
It’s only natural to issue a bounty when someone with state secrets aligns with the Demon King’s Army.
To be fair, Erichiton was not objectively dumb.
“Is she actually doing better than I thought? She became the Crown Princess without a bloody incident, just by skillful maneuvering.”
Still, the reason I kept thinking she was silly was…
“Anyway, I wish this dreadful war would just end already, meow. Ahh, I want to go play by the sea, meow.”
Erichiton was, in many ways, mismatched with the medieval era.
She was too compassionate and… quite fragile.
That means her emotions are very delicate.
If she had ever participated in a succession war, she would be the first to get killed.
[Witch, or rather Crown Princess, are you crying?]
[Why again? What are you curious about?]
[Just curious. I didn’t know someone like you could shed tears.]
I had nearly fallen for that compassion more than once.
Deciding I shouldn’t get entangled in conversation any longer, I got to the point.
“Your Highness, could you grant me one request?”
Grrr! “For our cute Lady Na-me’s request, what could it be, meow? The meringues are delicious, and I’m having an enjoyable tea time, so feel free to ask, meow.”
Erichiton responded with grace.
Our rapport was at an all-time high.
“I’ve been searching for my mother for a long time. So I’d like to ask you. Since you have a wide influence in Kaizen, I thought you might know something about her whereabouts.”
“Well, should I know her appearance or something, meow? That would be necessary, don’t you think, meow?”
“Desert, oasis, red clay house.”
“Meow?”
“Do you truly have no memory of meeting a woman in such places?”
[
Switching to Admin Mode]
[Language filter: Lv.4]
“I pet your head.”
“I have no memory of going to the desert, meow…”
[Language filter: Lv.3]
“Her name was Seol-ah.”
“Seol-ah?”
[Language filter: Lv.2]
“Erichiton, really do you not remember?”
[Language filter: Lv.1]
“Hoo, suddenly my head…”
[Language filter: Unlocked]
“Really nothing at all?”
“Are you talking about Seol-ah, my friend on a moonlit night?”
My heart sank with a thud.
Crash-!
Dishes clattered to the floor.
I climbed onto the dining table, grabbed Erichiton’s shoulders, and shook her.
“More. Just a little more detail, please.”
“Wha-what are you doing, Lady Na-me! Huh? The curse?”
“I got rid of the curse! Hurry up and tell me!”
“What power…!”
While I kept pushing Erichiton, I expanded the concept of ‘moonlit friend’ into thousands of meanings.
Moonlit night.
Midnight, full moon, lunar eclipse, high tide, moon halo.
Friend.
Ally, oath, understanding, advice, loyalty.
I couldn’t figure it out.
Not until Erichiton opened her mouth.
“It’s not the person you’re looking for, but a very young—”
“Yeah, that’s right! That’s it! Where did I see her? What did she say? Please tell me!”
Erichiton picked up the knife that had fallen to the floor.
“… Who are you?”
“Please.”
“Who, who are you! Where is this place! I definitely died…! A barrier? Yeah, it must be black magic, right? Are you a necromancer? Reveal your true identity!”
“…”
I staggered and plopped back onto the chair.
Luri, who was watching from a distance in the garden, rushed over.
“Mom.”
“Could you step outside for a moment…?”
“Yes.”
[Luri: Currently offline]
With Luri’s physical form disappearing in an instant as the connection to Virtual Reality dropped, Erichiton’s wariness toward me grew even stronger.
I bit my lip and wiped my flowing tears with my arm.
If any trace of Seol-ah’s spirit still remains in this world, I often resented why I couldn’t see my mom, only the erosions.
I could perfectly dream of Seol-ah appearing.
I longed to meet Seol-ah more than anyone else in this world.
I didn’t want to live a life burdened with revenge once more.
But given my nature, that seemed to be the only option.
I devoted my life to exterminating the erosions that killed Niobe.
If I had felt even a sense of emptiness after achieving my grand goal, it would have been different, but…
[Just let me die like this.]
I was smiling, filled with happiness.
[…]
Noble of a sad demeanor, but in reality, my eyes and mouth were laughing like a madman even until my heart was pierced.
[My long-time friend Hiasen. Don’t think about anything else. The only thing you need to do is pierce my heart. With my blood, open your path, and turn everything I’ve built into yours. Purge the opposing nobles and establish a center that spans all empires and principalities. Lead the army to purify the demons in the Eastern Continent. Then the demons will leave the Western Continent too.]
[…]
[And then, on the statue will be inscribed: The great leader who concluded the great erosions.]
I had a strong premonition that I would follow the same path in this life as I did in my past life.
Never able to escape the cycle of revenge.
Perhaps not even in the next life.
“Ugh. Hic…”
My vision was blurred by tears.
What if Saetbyeol saw my face outside the capsule and teased me? That shameful thought.
Still, if she had any sense, she’d make sure Luri wouldn’t see it.
But above all, what was most humiliating was…
“You… are you, by any chance, the Crown Princess?”
Erichiton, hesitantly stretching her hand toward me.
“Ugh…”
“Is that Asha? Oh no, you’re cursed to become a child!”
“No!”
Erichiton came really close, gently wrapping her hand around my head.
Pow-
She pulled me in tightly until my face was buried in her chest.
The weight of her chest settling on the top of my head was overwhelming.
Pat pat-
“Don’t touch my head.”
“Being prickly, makes you the Fourth Princess, doesn’t it?”
“If you know—”
“The nightmare of the evacuation parade still haunts me. When I was in agony over that, a woman with black hair came to comfort me.”
“Huh?”
“Is she the one you’re looking for?”
*
When I emerged from the capsule, it was late at night.
Dad decided to prepare a separate dinner for me.
“Na-me, aren’t you hungry? Now that work is done, you should stop using the capsule and take a good rest today.”
Professor Cheon was placing a piece of bulgogi on an already set spoon.
He seemed considerate, not wanting me to have any trouble digesting the food, so he picked out the meat from a tendonless part and served it.
“I’ve already slept for 12 hours in the capsule. Yawn. I’m no longer tired.”
“Is sleeping in a capsule the same as sleeping in bed?”
“I got it. I won’t do it anymore today.”
“Okay, Na-me, would you like some fruit? Melon or pear?”
“Please give me the melon.”
Crunch-
Biting into the melon, I fell into thought.
“Even if it’s Valpurgis, Mind Uploading shouldn’t be possible.”
The paradox of body-mind transition.
It’s been strictly proven that you can’t perfectly recreate a physical body in a virtual reality that can upload a real mind.
So Erichiton’s words nagged at me.
[Yeah, that’s right. There was desert, oasis, and such as backgrounds. I didn’t have a conversation when I was bounding around like a beast, but I often said that.]
What the heck is Seol-ah’s identity?
[I don’t perceive the past; I only remember it. So I had a daughter, but it’s sad she isn’t my mother.]
“The fact that I can remember but not perceive the past…”
I’ve had that experience too.
It felt just like when I looked back at my first life in the past life.
Some say it resembles viewing family photos taken when you were young.
The sentence about having a daughter but not knowing who the mother is made it even more confusing.
You could potentially not know who the father is, but not knowing who the mother is nonsensical.
Because if you give birth from your body, that child is essentially yours.
Erichiton said she couldn’t be wrong about having heard that over a hundred times.
[You met her over a hundred times…?]
[Your eyes are terrifying! Back then, I had a curse that made me act like a silly puppy!]
“Could Seol-ah’s brain map exist somewhere in the virtual reality?”
Erosions, in and of themselves, hold an overwhelmingly vast amount of information.
In cosmic terms, they’re like black holes.
So what if, during the seven years I was trapped in the capsule, the erosions interfered with another open world through its vastness?
Seol-ah and I likely got trapped almost simultaneously, meaning the seed number of the open world shouldn’t vary much.
But even if Seol-ah’s brain map actually exists, due to that earlier paradox, it wouldn’t be Seol-ah anymore.
Just like how Adella and Ayase Naomi had no relation to each other.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Will you be alright after eating that?”
“Yes, thank you for grilling the meat so well.”
“Nothing to it. When my daughter is working hard, I should at least do this. If you feel peckish later, just call me. I’ll make you some corn cheese.”
“Corn cheese? Oh, then in one hour?”
“Haha, so Na-me wanted corn cheese! I should have made it as a side dish during dinner.”
“No, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to eat the melon.”
There are many ways to communicate with Erichiton without necessarily using the capsule.
I felt like I should turn on the hologram projector first and have a lengthy talk.
As I opened my door…
“Hey there.”
“Did you have a good meal, sister?”
Two food monsters were lounging comfortably on my bed, watching a movie.
Crisp-
They dropped snack crumbs all over the white blanket.
“Oops, I dropped it. Slurp! I cleaned it up nicely. Is there a problem?”
“Aren’t you on a diet?”
“Not today, it’s a cheat day, so no worries!”
A clear imprint of Cheon Saetbyeol was left on the white blanket.
I narrowed my eyes and turned my gaze to the movie.
It was a classic black-and-white film featuring gents and ladies.
Suddenly, the gentleman started lifting the lady’s skirt.
18+?
“What the heck are you watching? Saetbyeol, Luri, do you know where my hologram projector is?”
“Um… well…”
“What are you hiding?”
“Uh, no! Nothing at all!”
I turned to leave but suddenly lifted the blanket.
Eep!
A shimmering hologram shone from under the blanket.
“What are you doing, Erichiton? If you’re going to watch, do it boldly.”