The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 99: Gramps Again

[„Asley… Asley, boy… „]

I’m sleepy…

[„Asley… Asley, boy… You can keep on sleeping. Just listen to what I have to say. „]

I’m sleepy.

[„…Excuse me, Asley? „]

I’m! Sleepy!

[„Ah- I assume you are aware that my Master would never willingly wake up in his own dream, sir? „]

[„Ngh… You are Asley’s Familiar? „]

[„Heh heh heh heh…” „]

[„What- What are you laughing at? „]

[„It’s been a long time since I last had a chance to do this, you see… „]

[„What could you be referring to? „]

[„Identify yourself, intruder~~♪” „]

… Goodness gracious, what a rowdy bunch.

[„Oh, I see you are finally awake. „]

[„…Good night. „]

[„I’ll excuse myself as well, then! Good night, sir! „]

[„Hold it right there! What could have compelled you to ignore Me so? „]

[„Bad luck.” „]

[„Ho ho ho ho, but the others would say that you have started scoring well in things, would you not agree? „]

Bah, always so unpredictable, this old-timer.

Even with my new-and-improved appraisal magic skills that I had attained with the help of Melchi, I still couldn’t get a read on this Gramps.

[„I see the depth of your curiosity hasn’t changed at all. „]

[„So… what business do you have with us this time, sir? I’m feeling like a water fountain like now, so I’m not exactly in my most comfortable state!” „]

That’s got nothing to do with this, doesn’t it? I’m also not having the most comfortable sleep, what with there being no Pochi Pillow for tonight.

[„You have met up with young Warren without issue, I take it? „]

[„I don’t know how you even knew that… Seriously, it’s not very nice to eavesdrop on people’s daily lives, don’t you think?” „]

Just like last time, Pochi brought us cushions, and we all sat down cross-legged on them.And I, just like last time, materialized a low table, complete with a ready-to-serve set of tea. The three of us sipped tea in the flat, pure white dimension. As bizarre as it may look from the third-person perspective, I would consider it a scene worthy of nostalgic sentiments.

[„Anyways, how exactly does Warren play into this business? Did you also appear to him in his dreams or something? „]

[„Ho ho ho ho, no – he does not know about Us. He seems to be aware of God’s Will, however – that is all.” „]

[„What do you mean, God’s Will? „]

[„It is in the message he delivered to you. „]

Was the part where he’d told me to head to ‘the place of my beginning’? Wouldn’t that mean the Divine Messenger also knew of its significance?

[„Then just tell me. What does that place have that’s so important? „]

[„That, I cannot say. Go there yourself, and it will be revealed to you. „]

Bah, can this old-timer afford to be this carefree?With the Devil King’s resurrection coming in the near future, I don’t understand why he’s talking at such a leisurely pace.Ahh, that reminds me… I’ve had one thing in mind that I’d like to ask this Gramps in case I got to see him again.But before that, I suppose I ought to get his business out of the way first.

[„All right, then… let’s get down to business. What are you here for this time? „]

[„Hmm, very well. The Devil King will be entering his Fetal Stage four years from now. „]

[„-!! „]

[„Surely the world will be wrapped in conflict from then on. Monster activity will increase greatly, and many towns and cities will fall to ruin in the face of powerful adversaries. „]

That was quite a bit faster than I’d expected. The Devil King in his Fetal Stage would infuse monsters all over the world with arcane energy, turning them ferocious and fortifying their strength. When that happens, it would no longer be safe for an average person to live outside of fortified settlements.And then, a few years later, the Devil King would be born in all his glory.

[„I offer Our apologies – Until now, We haven’t been able to get a feasible estimate of how long it would be. „]

[„When you said monster activity will increase… how much of an increase did you mean…? „]

[„The already-existing monster would be elevated to a higher rank of strength. That, and the long-lost ancient monsters would appear in this world once again. „]

…Wait, wouldn’t that mean…

[„Wouldn’t that means A-ranked monsters would rise to Rank S, and Rank S ones would go up to SS?! What about the already SS monsters like the Ogre King?! How ridiculously strong will they get?! „]

I just remembered something.When it came to monster ranks, I thought the highest to be documented was SS, but in several passages of certain ancient texts, a certain keyword had stood out as quite mysterious. Right – I think it was…

[„They are far beyond what one could classify in relation to everything else. Their time is an era in which the Holy Warriors fight to the limits of their wisdom and power. They shall be called- „]

[„The Apostles of Despair…! „]

[„Indeed… „]

I see, so that’s why it seemed so intentional that the keyword stood out. But in this day and age, where one would rarely catch a glimpse of an S-ranked monster, there’s no way in hell I could imagine how strong monsters above Rank SS could be!

Or rather, they didn’t want to… Could that be why humanity had kept it away from their memories and historical records? Absolute fear wasn’t something one could necessarily prevail over, after all. The Devil King’s existence was that big of a deal. Could it be that… could it be that, by knowledge of the Devil King’s existence, humanity has…

[„That is right, Asley. Faced with the Devil King’s dreadful existence, humanity’s innovations have stagnated. They could not progress onward with such an absolute power in their way. Under normal circumstances, God would have blessed them with His power – so that there may be some progressive minds to lead the advancements of technology and culture. However, the Devil King was, and still is, such a major spanner in the works. That is one reason why there is not much difference in now and the age in which you had been born. „]

[„…I see. Hmm? ‘One’ reason? You mean there is something else?! „]

The Divine Messenger, as if hesitant to say what he was about to, took another sip of tea.

[„Looking at the big picture, it ultimately traces back to the Devil King’s existence, but….. „]

[„Please tell me about it – and don’t be vague. „]

Gramps, seeming to have realized the seriousness of the tone I took, set his cup down on the table.

[„It concerns the deeds of the Devilkin in the Nation’s upper tiers. „]

[„…Damn it! I feared that would be the case! „]

[„M-Master! I’m not getting what that means at all!! „]

The Nation’s upper tiers – Grey, Ishtar of the Black, and Lloyd of the White – was not the Devil King’s advance party, however…

[„The Nation… it’s already being ruled by the Devilkin. „]

(Xemul: And here we have somewhat plausible explanation, why tech. level does not progress in fantasy worlds. The Devilkin Conspiracy Theory.)

[„What?! Then that means-! …What does it mean, sir? „]

[„Quit trying to act cute! Okay, listen up – it means that… What does it mean? „]

[„See?! You don’t know it either, Master! „]

[„Shut up! At least my cute act was actually cute, unlike yours! „]

[„Oh, good gracious… I am starting to worry for you two. Listen well – the Devilkin are not as simple creatures as the monsters. The people placing their faith in the Black and White Chain is no different from them worshipping the Devilkin. With every voice of worship toward them, they grow stronger. During the time without the Devil King to lead them, those of the Devilkin instead strove to become the Devil King themselves. This is it – the organization intends to use Devilkin worship to face off against the Devi King directly and with no reservations. „]

One misunderstanding after another. We had been helplessly operating on a misunderstanding this whole time. That’s right – it had been written so in the Black and White Chain Contract, of all things.

– On the occasion of the Devil King’s invasion, [„the First Party„] shall agree to participate in the battles to defeat the Devil King and provide complete support to the Holy Warriors.-

Back when I’d thought the Devil King’s advance party was hiding within the Nation, I’d also doubted the content of this particular clause.

I was certain that I’d looked cute while doing that, unlike Pochi when she did it. I had wondered – why would they have a clause specifically dictating that they would fight against the Devil King? Would that not clearly put the Devil King at a disadvantage?

And now, the Devil King was definitely at THAT disadvantage. The Nation was already under the Devilkin’s control, and the same Devilkin strove to defeat the Devil King.

In this era, the Devilkin was receiving peak levels of worship, so much so that the Holy Warriors could not be born into this world. Their power could be considered THAT great and dreadful.

I had made a miscalculation. Never would I have expected this quest to defeat the Devil King to turn out to be a three-way struggle. Well, no – they were using humanity as disposable chess pieces. The Devilkin probably would not be against us, given that the circumstances were not thrown off the rails.

[„You could say that the Devilkin has finally taken direct action to take this world for themselves. „]

[„Eh – what do you mean by- „]

[„Well, discussing that topic now would not do anyone any good. Besides, Asley… I thought you had something you wanted to ask Us? „]

The Divine Messenger said as if he’d seen through me. He took a sip of tea while waiting for me to shoot out the question.

And yes, I DID have something I would like to ask him. I had gotten my level to 100, and had started to acquire some positively-influencing titles. From my training under Tūs, I had learned a new method of using magic, and also attained a great deal of strength not tied to my level and numbered statistics.

…BUT – a big fat BUT at that…

What Gramps had said to me during our first encounter in this dream world, that I must ‘devote myself to my studies’ – had I been going in the right direction thus far? Had I disappointed him? Would he say that it had been no good at all? I had a feeling that it had been one major cause of my worries. That was why I would like to ask him, right here and right now.

[„…Gramps, am I getting stronger? „]

[„You still have a long way to go, Master! Your abilities aren’t even on MY level yet! „]

All right, that totally ruined the moment.

(Anna: Lol, that sure did!)

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