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Chapter 98 – The Envoy of the Lutein Kingdom (4)

A dark figure stood in the center of the audience hall.

“…You!”

Elene’s face twisted in anger.

The being that had devoured and destroyed her kingdom was right before her eyes.

The Tower Master spoke.

[It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’d like to have a conversation with you, if that’s alright?]

[A conversation? Why should we?]

The entity refused the offer.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t a refusal.

It was a pure question of why they should engage in a conversation.

It was close to genuinely not understanding the need for it.

The dark figure, Nano, looked at Elene and Aaron.

[What are you doing? Why are you rejecting us?]

Elene’s face filled with anger at the question.

“How dare you ask that! Why reject you? Isn’t it obvious? You swallowed us up and killed us!”

The Lutein royal castle had been overtaken before they even realized it.

An unknown alien force had replaced all of them.

In that sense, Elene’s anger was justified.

However, Nano couldn’t comprehend her rage.

[We perfected you. Why are you angry? I don’t understand.]

‘Ah.’

Ketal nodded to himself.

‘So, that’s the type they are.’

“You, you!”

Just as Elene was about to explode in rage, Ketal intervened.

“Calm down first, Elene.”

“K-Ketal.”

“You seem to want her.”

Nano didn’t respond.

It looked at Ketal with a clear expression of emotion.

Ketal continued to speak with a carefree smile.

“But it’s strange. If you want her, you could just take her, couldn’t you? Why aren’t you doing that?”

The Nanos could exchange with each other.

When Elene’s movements were halted, the Blue-Green Knights disappeared and Adamat appeared suddenly.

This meant they had exchanged forms with each other.

More importantly, the Nanos had their own consciousness.

No matter what Elene’s will was, forcibly seizing her shouldn’t be difficult.

But Nano wasn’t doing that.

Nano spoke.

[There is no reason to answer.]

“Let’s not be so harsh.”

Ketal said with a bright smile.

“Humans don’t act without reason. Depending on why you want her, she might come with you.”

“What, what?”

Elene’s pupils widened.

She tried to say something, but the Tower Master stopped her.

[Stay still for a moment.]

The Tower Master chuckled and looked at Ketal.

[You’re quite sharp for a barbarian.]

“You want her, but as you can see, she won’t move as she is now. But if you explain in detail… she might come with you.”

[…….]

“I understand why she resents you, but that’s in the past. There’s something more important to focus on now, isn’t there?”

Nano fell silent, seemingly contemplating.

Barbosha swallowed nervously.

After a moment of silence, Nano spoke.

[We each have independent consciousness.]

“It seems you’re not a collective consciousness.”

[The moment she rejected us, she gained a consciousness separate from ours. She is the same type as us, but does not move with us.]

“That’s the concept.”

[In general, there is no problem. But she perceives and rejects us.]

Ketal muttered with an intrigued look.

“So, to change Elene into your form requires her consent.”

Elene was clearly aware of and rejecting Nano.

As a result, the Nanos within her were also rejecting their own kind according to her will.

It wasn’t a strange thing when you think about it.

When they replace humans, they fulfill that human’s desires.

Those who fear death lose their fear of death, and those who fear gaining weight don’t experience changes in weight.

Similarly, because Elene rejected the Nanos, she was no longer in harmony with them.

‘It’s like a kind of bug.’

A program that doesn’t operate as intended and runs freely.

Elene and Aaron were such bugs to the Nanos.

‘They seem quite influenced by the minds of the humans they replace.’

Ketal looked at Elene.

“Elene, they cannot replace you.”

“That’s… right.”

Elene had a complex expression.

She couldn’t quite grasp whether she should be happy that she could exist in her current form, or sad that she had received confirmation that she was the same kind of being as them.

The Tower Master, who had been quietly listening, spoke.

[Then what about Farman, the knight? Why aren’t you taking him? He wouldn’t reject you.]

[There is no need. He can return to us anytime. If necessary, we can contact him, relay the information, and bring him back.]

[So, you need to be in close proximity to exchange information.]

The Tower Master muttered, as if storing this information in his mind.

[Alright. I understand for now. But I have one more question. Why do you need her?]

Elene and Aaron were a minuscule part of the whole.

There seemed to be no particular need for them.

[Is it to understand why she rejects you? To understand humans?]

Were they trying to analyze why humans rejected and feared them?

Were they trying to identify their flaws and change?

The Tower Master thought Nano wanted her for the sake of coexisting with humans.

It wasn’t a strange thought.

Although Nano had replaced the Lutein Kingdom, they hadn’t taken any further actions.

Even though more than a year had passed since the Lutein Kingdom was replaced, no significant problems had arisen.

Diplomatic relations remained unchanged, and the people’s sentiment wasn’t particularly negative.

‘There wasn’t any sign of additional replacements either.’

The Tower Master had been meeting people from the Lutein Kingdom over the past few days, but none of them had been replaced.

They were truly staying only within the Lutein Kingdom.

From a human perspective, they couldn’t understand it, but they didn’t seem to be acting out of pure malice.

Nano replied indifferently.

[Replication.]

[…Replication?]

[We are very few. The more of us there are, the better for replication. Elene and Aaron, even two units, are significant.]

The unexpected answer left the Tower Master momentarily taken aback.

[What do you intend to do by replicating?]

[We will bring freedom to the world.]

[…What?]

[You are incomplete. You wish for things but fear the consequences and act accordingly, fearing the unavoidable. You are incomplete and flawed.]

Nano declared.

[We will make you complete.]

* * *

Silence ensued.

Barbosa shook his head, thinking he had misheard.

The Tower Master, after a brief pause, spoke.

[What do you mean by making us complete?]

[Why were you born?]

Nano’s voice carried a genuine question.

[You are born and die in a moment, close to a mere instant. Were you born to return to a meaningless state? Surely not. Thus, you fear and dread death.]

It wasn’t incorrect.

Every human dies.

But they fear that death.

Throughout history, many rulers have sought immortality.

Living their brief lives in constant fear of an inevitable future.

Nano couldn’t understand that.

[If that’s the case, you should have been born without the existence of death in the first place.]

Nano looked at the lich.

[You are an entity that should have died but took a distorted form to avoid death. You are also proof of your contradictions.]

[I can’t deny it.]

A lich is a being that stores its life in a phylactery to avoid death.

An entity that rejects the death it was born to accept.

[It’s not just death. You beings are flawed and incorrect.]

You wish and desire things, but fear the accompanying circumstances and fail to act.

[A human born with a disease who cannot live long. A human who fears gaining weight and cannot eat freely. You are beings full of contradictions from the start.]

To Nano, humans appeared flawed and incorrect.

[It’s not just you humans. This world itself is flawed.]

Things rot and decay over time, and life eventually dies.

This unreasonableness and changing environment seemed like contradictions to Nano.

[But you are not at fault. You are simply unfortunate beings born that way. Therefore, we will make you perfect. You will no longer fear death. You will be able to act as you wish. You will live eternally, not just for a moment.]

Nano continued speaking very calmly without any change in tone.

[This world will maintain a perfect form.]

“…”

Silence lingered.

The Tower Master spoke with a wry smile.

[So, you intend to replace this world itself.]

[We will make the imperfect world perfect.]

[Do you think people will accept that?]

[What’s the problem?]

Nano’s voice genuinely sounded puzzled.

[Your consciousness will continue. What you fear will disappear. You will become perfect beings. There is no reason to reject it.]

Malice without malice.

The words brushed past their minds.

Ketal spoke.

“You seem to lack such contradictions.”

[We are perfect. Therefore, we will make you perfect like us. We are offering you a favor.]

[This is the worst.]

The Tower Master muttered.

It was the worst scenario he had imagined.

Laughing softly, he spoke again.

[One more question. Where did you come from?]

[I don’t know. We were in the place you call the forest.]

[…Humans visited that place, didn’t they?]

[They did. We replaced all of them with our presence. We acquired your knowledge then.]

[…]

The Enchanted Forest.

A forest that appeared ordinary on the surface but held no meaning.

However, any human who entered never returned the same.

The Tower Master was certain.

These were the owners of the Enchanted Forest.

They were the existence of the Enchanted Forest.

Unconsciously, the Tower Master looked at Ketal.

Ketal was looking at Nano with a peculiar expression.

[Until now, we were hindered by strange constraints, only replacing those who came to us… But those constraints no longer exist.]

Nano’s voice sounded somewhat excited.

[We will consume this contradictory world. And we will grant perfection to the world.]