116.The Second (3)
I lifted Parvache’s body and put it on the table. It looked up at with its arms folded.
[Questions? What is it?]
I hesitated for a mont and spoke. I didn’t think I could delay it anymore.
“I just had a dream. You ca out again. It’s not the totem that you’re wearing now. It’s not that toy. It was a figure close to your source.”
[…]
Parvache looked at silently, without shedding any thoughts.
“I think we need to talk about sothing we’ve been putting off for a long ti.”
I tried not to get emotional. It was enough to vent my anger in my dream.
The major premise couldn’t be changed. Parvache was my authority, and it wouldn’t do anything to harm . Thus, it couldn’t lie to .
However, it was possible to answer only part of the truth to my question. My magic that captured him into the authority was rough and crude. At that ti, I wasn’t skilled enough to anticipate and block the number of different cases. In the first place, the contract of authority itself wasn’t executed in the realm of consciousness.
I replied with my guess, “The Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker smashed so of the fragnts in my heart.”
The question was whether he did it.
Then Parvache’s answer ca back without any hesitation.
[That’s right, Min-joon. It was the ‘safety device’ I planted.]
He responded so calmly that I almost beca angry at the mont. I tried to suppress it. I repeated myself once again. Parvache couldn’t hurt . His actions couldn’t be mixed with malice or hostility toward .
I managed to keep my cool and opened my mouth.
“I have two questions. Why did you do that? And why didn’t you tell honestly?”
Parvache turned its plastic eyes, whose emotion toward couldn’t be read.
[Do you rember the first ti I was summoned to this world, Min-joon?]
“Yes, how can I forget.”
[You have first mistaken for a robot in a fictional story, then you were puzzled by my reaction, but over ti you were delighted.]
“…”
[I think your pure wish that summoned through the Channel is probably sothing like this. I want to have sothing that exists only for , with 100% trust, which is entirely on my side.]
100% trust, but I wasn’t sure if that would be possible anymore, even though I knew in my head that betrayal was impossible.
[It’s a coincidence that I was caught in that summon because you made , a ntal body, possess the totem. You laughed purely and were very happy since your wish ca true, but, Min-joon…]
He picked up his words carefully for a mont.
[Have you ever put yourself in my shoes? What did I think right after being summoned to this world?]
“…”
Parvache said, looking down at the robot toy it contained.
[As soon as I was called into this world, the contract was made. How you succeeded that ti is still a mystery, but as a result, I ended up in your authority. Of course, I’m not protesting about it. From the mont the magic was completed, thoughts of how to protect you filled my head. It is the sa now. Emotion or reason does not disappear, but the direction is focused on one place, and even for to exist, I had to find a way to protect you because I don’t have a stable body.]
I nodded quietly.
[And Min-joon, back to the first story, do you know what emotions I felt after understanding the circumstances of coming out to this world?]
“… No.”
Honestly, I never thought deeply. Parvache looked into my eyes and spoke.
[It was a terrible fear.]
“… What?”
[The summoner I need to protect is a young human. However, your wizard’s talent is excellent to the point of worrying about it bursting if soone doesn’t control it.]
He continued talking.
[But there was no knowledge of magic in this world. Now I know that it was because of the Truth-Seeker’s anti-magic power, but there was no clue at that ti.]
His calm thoughts continued to flow into my head.
[Moreover, the seed of the Channel is left on your chest. The Truth-Seeker of the Earth who planted it is missing. Twenty years later, the Truth-Seeker’s ‘harvest’ is scheduled, but you don’t know how to avoid and prevent it. Worst of all, this world was a young dinsion with no record on the Akashic Records. It was impossible to obtain information by relying on the report of absolute knowledge.]
I understand what it was talking about…
[The information is scarce. The danger posed in front of the man who summoned was both absolute and clear. I was desperate to think of a way to protect you.]
“… So, you an you planted that in my mind?”
[Yeah.]
“How did that fragnt lead my way of thinking?”
[Of course, it isn’t like ntal manipulation. I just wanted to get you into the habit of being careful and hiding. Think about it, Min-joon. You were an 8-year-old kid then. A robot ca into your hand, talking to a child who couldn’t understand everything that was going on. There’s no way it’s possible at that age to keep it secret, right? Not only to your mother but also at your school, can’t you rember going around talking about it randomly?]
Yes, so I had a lot of difficulties while attending school for a while.
[The first ti I planted the fragnt was when you were eight years old. Rember the day you collapsed in the kitchen from the flu?]
Aah… yes. At that ti, the kitchen of the house I used to live in was outside, and there was no heating. On the day when no one was at ho, I went out to get sothing and fell on a cold tiled floor.
That day, before I lost my consciousness, Parvache urgently cried out. It said it would intervene in my mind and ask to ‘allow’ it. I replied in my heart, saying, ‘I allow it,’ before my vision beca dark.
[While you lost your consciousness, I moved your body and ca back into the room. The day I first entered your ntal world, I planted the fragnt. After that, I continued to maintain it. Rember? Since that day, you have gradually stopped talking about .]
That was a little different from my mory. I rembered that I stopped talking about Parvache due to the cold reaction around , but…
Parvache was using his hands.
[Even if it is a story no one believes, I thought it would be dangerous to keep leaking information like that. In addition to that, I induced your trust in and thinking so that you learn magic faithfully as I lead. It led you to never give up on magic learning and survival. For example, it is like a will to regain your mind even if your two legs fly away while setting up a barrier.]
“…”
[The fragnt was not completed as soon as it was planted. It was completed on the day when I first offered to teach you magic. It took almost a year to teach magic after being summoned because this preparation took ti. After all, I couldn’t teach magic to a child who couldn’t keep a secret.]
That part was as expected, however…
“You could have told !”
He shook his head.
[At the ti, you were too young to understand all of this. After you were getting older, I was thinking of telling you about this and removing the fragnt myself.]
I threw a sarcastic comnt without realizing it.
“When? The hell… Is 23 years old too young to tell the truth?”
[… Honestly, I was afraid. Min-joon.]
… What?
[The day we first t the Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest… When I learned that the Dragon was dead, I thought about retrieving the fragnts.]
He continued.
[But I put it on hold because I thought that you, who lost your goal in life, could give up everything and beco indolent. Actually, you tended to do that. When I saw you feeling extre boredom, my mind changed. Even though there are still countless Channels left in the world and threats from alien races, you felt helpless. You didn’t stop training at all because there were fragnts I planted. I think so.]
“…”
[You’re still flexible in thinking, and you’re old enough to change your values. The mont the fragnts I planted disappeared, the mont the guiding dium that led your actions disappeared, I was afraid of how you would change. I was afraid you’d neglect your more important life because of your emotions, but…]
He nodded and spoke.
[I don’t worry about that anymore.]
Yes, things had changed a bit, but just because I understand rationally, it didn’t an it kept up with my emotions. I was silent for a mont without saying anything. The stinging stillness sat down heavily on the table.
I opened my mouth after being lost in thought for a while.
“To be honest, Parvache…”
[Hmm?]
“It’s unpleasant. I can’t feel good.”
[I understand.]
“You should’ve told at least at the point where I was able to get the right idea.”
[…]
“I can’t touch the contract of authority that I made then. I just have to be committed.”
That contract couldn’t be anded or renewed at that ti. It wasn’t a magic created through a formal contract like other magic contracts. The case was different. It had to be destroyed and recreated.
I didn’t want to take the risk of breaking the contract, even if it was temporary.
I asked myself. Did I need Parvache despite the suspicions I had confird at that mont?
The answer ca back easily. Yes, I needed him.
“I understand your intentions. The part that you were worried about as a child, but I can’t help thinking that you should have told the truth later.”
[… Yeah.]
“My head understands that your actions were inevitable… but honestly, it’s a bit complicated. So, at least you should make a promise here. Never leave anything weird in my mind that way again. I hope you don’t even control information by telling only part of the truth.”
[Okay, Min-joon.]
I know its intention. However, it couldn’t be overlooked without any concern.
Whew, I took a big breath and swept my face down. I was so tired.
At the last mont, there was sothing I swallowed without saying. The word “if sothing like this happens again…” My head got complicated, so I wanted to run away. I put a hold on thinking, and I thought I would have to spend more ti thinking about what to do in the future.
“Let’s talk again after arranging our thoughts a bit more.”
[Yes, I got it.]
“There’s one more thing I need to check now.”
[What is it?]
“The fragnts that you planted in my heart, it’s clear that it’s already destroyed, right?”
[Yes, it must be.]
“But I keep seeing strange scenes in my dreams these days.”
I explained to Parvache what I had just dread of. A being in a dream that was talking about sothing completely different from my ordinary consciousness. The shell was borrowed from Parvache’s form, but its words and actions were completely different.
After listening to , Parvache thought for a mont and told .
[You said there was sothing like black smoke hovering around that figure?]
“That’s right.”
That was the part I was concerned about. Probably, Parvache seed to be speculating in a similar direction to .
[There is only one thing that reminds of that word in this situation.]
The mories Yodmo took from . 90% of the mories it gave back to without digestion or interpretation. It was said that it was clearly digested and looked like black smoke.
“You’re guessing that mory is affecting , aren’t you?”
[Yeah, there’s nothing special about it other than that.]
“It’s so suspicious. It was like trying to force to feel guilty. But I usually don’t think about it at all? Even assuming that the thoughts are locked in the unconscious, the situation is too blatant. The way it turns out.”
Parvache nodded his head.
[But the unidentified mory was originally from you, Min-joon, but why does it suddenly affect you only now?]
There are probably two possibilities.
“The mory may have a deep connection to my plans for the future, or it may be because Yodmo passed it on to rather than digesting so of it.”
It was initially a tiny, extrely compressed mory crystal. Since Yodmo gave it back to after digesting it to so extent, the outer skin of the hard, iron-wall crystals might’ve been lifted and weakened to so extent. The fact that the mory which was burning with black smoke affected my mind little by little…
[A mory that even Yodmo couldn’t interpret affects you…]
It was very uncomfortable.
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