Chapter 53: The Shrine Maiden (2)
I was left speechless, staring blankly at Ea as she placed her hand proudly against her chest with a triumphant air. My gaze drifted there without thinking—but I quickly looked away. I meant her hand, of course. Her hand.
"Mmhm! Anyway, as the administrator of the Twelve Heavenly Stems and the overseer of Shinshi, there is little about this city that I do not know. Please, ask me anything you wish, my master."
"…Hmph, very well. Then tell me what I want to know. If you truly know everything, then you must also know the answer to this."
"Not everything," she replied with a gentle smile. "Only what happens within this city."
"Then speak. Tell me everything about Monkyspanner's death—and all that is connected to it."
The fury I had swallowed began to rise in me again.
I would uncover the ones who dared touch what was mine. And I would hunt them down.
The warning window had clearly read: [Enemy Guild]. That meant a guild had been audacious enough to attack the Twelve Branches—protected by countless wards and defenses, buried deep beneath the mountains.
What I would do about them could come later. Vengeance must be measured against capability. If the enemy proved too powerful to face, then I would have no choice but to endure, biding my time for another opportunity.
That was how I had always survived. Even in the real world—how much hatred and rage had I held for the one who caused the accident that left me crippled? But in the end, all that fury had to be buried.
The one responsible had been the son of a powerful corporate executive, belonging to the highest tier of society. In a world where the laws of corporations outweighed those of nations, the only reason I even received compensation was due to my parents' desperate struggle and the connections they managed to leverage.
There had been an unbridgeable gap between me and the one I longed to take vengeance upon—a gap so vast I could not even look up at it. And the "compensation" thrown at us like scraps had been enough money to live on for a lifetime, and better jobs for my parents.
With no path to revenge, the only option had been to bury the rage, to let it fester inside. That was when I learned: without strength, even the right to cry out in grievance is denied you. Even tears are a luxury for the weak.
"Speak, Ea. Tell me everything."
Information—that was what I needed now. I had to know whether the enemy was someone I and the Twelve Branches could actually stand against.
Up until the end of Yggdrasil, every invader I had faced was manageable. Bandits, raiders, small guilds—those I could wipe out on my own. Within the Twelve Branches' domain, with the guild weapon backing me, I had been strong indeed.
In our prime, I hadn't even needed to raise a finger.
The Twelve Branches had been unmatched. In Jotunheim, our base server, we had been untouchable; across every server and alliance, our strength ranked in the top three.
Twelve Beast Kings, a hundred and eight generals of the Ain, and over a thousand elite guild members—who could stand against that power?
But that time was gone. They had all quit, and only I, with the NPCs, remained.
Before the shutdown, our guild rank had plummeted to around 14th place. That was the last I remembered. Even with a great many NPCs, the fact that I was the only active player caused our standing to collapse.
After the guilds had merged, we had climbed back to 3rd–5th in the single-guild rankings for a time. But in the end, one by one, they had all left, until only I remained.
So if this enemy guild was one with numerous players, ranked above us, then immediate revenge would be impossible. Recklessly challenging such a power could only lead to another Monkyspanner—a death, and our items stripped away. That, I could never allow.
But I could gather information, slowly sharpen my blade, and prepare. The Twelve Branches were no weakling force, and the enemy, surely, was no untouchable god.
Up until the very end, we had still been a top guild. There was no reason we could not bring them down. But for that, I needed information. I needed to know who the enemy truly was.
"Come now! Quickly!"
"…Master, perhaps you should calm yourself. You seem… overly agitated."
"Do I not have every right to be? While I slept, someone—who knows who—invaded my guild, killed my NPC, and stole the relics entrusted to him by a former guildmaster. Do you expect me to let that stand? You observe everything in this city. Surely you know who did this? At least their appearance, if not their name. Speak, Ea!"
"I am sorry, Master," she replied with serene finality.
"But during your slumber, not a single person has ever invaded the guild. Since the Twelve Branches fell into this world, not once—over all these long years—has there been any act of intrusion or hostility against us."
"What?"
"As I have said, Master—for the past two hundred years, the Twelve Branches have had no contact whatsoever with any hostile force. In other words, it is impossible to identify the cause of Monkyspanner's death. My observation extends only to the affairs within Shinshi."
My mind went beyond dazed—it went cold.
"Then why did Monkyspanner die? If it wasn't an invasion—"
"As you already know, in recent decades Monkyspanner had been stationed at an external outpost, the so-called Dragon's Dream. Most recently, he judged that a threatening force had appeared outside and left again to sever the ties to that outpost. It was then, while outside, that he appears to have been attacked by a hostile guild and killed. In such cases, the alert only indicates that a subordinate guild NPC was attacked. The Twelve Branches themselves were not directly targeted—hence, the system only recorded that a hostile guild initiated hostilities, nothing more."
"So… you're telling me the identity of the enemy cannot be determined?"
"Regrettably, yes."
"..."
I cooled my head and sorted the facts. Come to think of it, even back then, when guild members clashed with hostiles outside, there had been no warning messages. There were countless hostile guilds, and minor skirmishes out in the field were so common they were practically daily life. If an alert popped up every time, no guildmaster could keep their sanity.
Thus, even without a guild name, it made sense. The only reason an alert appeared at all was because Monkyspanner had been flagged as an important NPC. But since the attack happened outside, the aggressor could not be pinpointed. That was the reality.
"In other words—we can't know who the enemy is."
"Correct. But I can show you related information. Would you like to see it?"
"…Do it."
"As you wish, Master. Please wait a moment."
Ea spread the wings rising from her shoulders and ascended above the World Engine. When her hand touched its surface, the gentle radiance brightened, and before me appeared a projection—like a floating holographic image.
It was a recording of a council meeting. From a third-person view, twelve priests, the three governors, and even an outsider had gathered. It was the very Council of the Twelve High Priests Monkyspanner had mentioned in his explanation.
The outcome was as he had said—but its content proved fascinating. A Tenth-Tier instant death spell. Super-tier magic. And a custom-made vampire NPC… Yet what drew my eye most was the outsider.
"Ea, who is that?"
"You mean Chaa. His true name is Tsaindoruks Vaision, though in this world he is called the Platinum Dragon Lord. Roughly one hundred and sixty years ago, during the 'Runaway Incident,' he captured some of the defectors who had slipped outside and requested direct negotiations with Shinshi. Since then he has maintained relations as an 'ally of Shinshi,' and holds the authority to attend priestly councils. Occasionally he exchanges information with the priests. His age is indeterminate, and his race is believed—like you, Master—to be a type of dragon."
"…I see. That one intrigues me. No further information?"
"He appears to know much about the Six Great Gods and the Eight Greed Kings. It seems he has either spoken with them directly, or seen them in person. Based on that, his age is estimated at over six hundred. His true body resides in a floating citadel in the sky, guarding something, and thus cannot move freely. He instead sends out suits of armor imbued with fragments of his will. Even in that form, he is strong enough to fight evenly with a battle-class priest. His true combat ability remains unmeasured. As for the true body, he has always refused any attempts to take images or recordings—so no data exists."
"…Then my first move is clear. That Chaa—I will capture him."
A powerful figure of this world… now I had taken interest. More than that, before I could identify my enemies, I needed to learn more about this world itself. In a guild war, scouting the field was the most basic principle. If the enemy could not yet be seen, then I would widen the scope—grasp the entire picture.
I needed to learn exactly how this world differed from Yggdrasil. Monkyspanner's information had been useful, but it was not enough. Compared to the 150 years he claimed to have lived here, what he gave me was far too shallow.
"Better to strip everything out of someone who knows more. Monkyspanner gave me fragments, and others will only have scraps. But this one… that dragon—he clearly knows much. Taking it from him will be faster, and far more convenient."
"He is an ally of Shinshi, Master," Ea reminded softly.
"That decision is mine."
Ea turned her face toward me, and I felt it—the gaze of Ea, the eyes of the World Engine itself, fixed firmly upon me.
But I am the master. Even if such words wound her pride, this is something I cannot compromise on.
"I am the master. I make the decisions. And that creature—though he calls himself an ally—has hidden all the knowledge he has for one hundred and fifty years. Clearly, he only intends to use us for his own ends… such a one is no ally. Then we too shall use him as thoroughly as he has used Shinshi. For too long he has feasted on the passivity of this city. That ends now. I am awake."
"Fufu… truly a bold judgment—no, a dragon's judgment, my master."
At my firm declaration, Ea descended, smiling softly. She folded her wings and sank to her knees before me. With her hands clasped to her breast, she bowed her head with reverence.
"Yes. As you command. I, Ea, am the angel who serves none but my master. My sole purpose is to carry out your will."
"Good. Then from this moment forward, summon that one—Chaa, as he is called—in the name of Shinshi. If there is to be battle, I will meet him outside before he ever sets foot in this city."
"My lord, will you truly confront him yourself? Surely summoning the other priests would be enough. There is no need for you to move personally…"
"No. For now, my awakening must remain secret. I have no intention of standing before the other priests."
"…? I do not object, but why is that, Master?"
I had expected the question. Yet I could not tell her the real reason: that I was unsettled, unprepared. Ea may be the one I trust most, but there was no need to expose my raw weakness to even her.
"I cannot trust them yet… let us say that."
"Ah… I see now. You have only just awakened. Of course. I, Ea, understand your heart completely."
She lowered her head without another word. At least she understood. Ea truly is someone I can confide in—too capable, almost overwhelming, yet bound solely to me, able to grasp even what I leave unspoken.
That is what makes her terrifying.
It is not that I doubt the loyalty of the other NPCs or priests. But their brilliance makes my own inadequacy stand out all the more. And beyond that—two hundred years separate us.
I am their master. Yet I cannot truly share in their two centuries of toil. I can read the records, hear their reports, but I can never feel those years as they did. How can I meet them with no empathy, no common ground?
I am not ready. I need time—time to sort myself, to stand before them not as a fraud, but as their master.
But Ea saw it all. With only a few words she laid bare the heart I wished to hide. She reached straight to the bottom I had tried to conceal. It was too much… far, far too much. A sigh escaped me.
"Hah… are you some mind-reader? I barely spoke, and yet you seem to know everything I think."
"I am an angel, Master. When it concerns Shinshi and you, there is little I do not know. Do not underestimate big data."
She clicked her tongue playfully, wagging her finger as if scolding me, smiling with her eyes still closed. I could only laugh bitterly in surrender. Curse those Yggdrasil developers—stuffing the World Engine with 'administrative assistance' functions. Even here in another world, I can't escape their meddling.
"…Enough. You already know what I want. Prepare for my departure."
"Yes, Master. Leave it to me. I will deal with the priests."
"If anything happens, contact—no. You'll manage well enough. I trust you."
"Yes… and please, come visit me again in this form, Master."
Don't be ridiculous, woman.
With that, I activated the Zodiac Ring and teleported to the First Floor.
The time I had spent speaking with Ea was only a fraction of that with Monkyspanner, and yet the exhaustion was several times greater.
And at the last moment, as I shifted away, Ea's serene, smiling face—so dazzling at first sight—now felt strangely suffocating.
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