8 – Meeting Old Relationships 3

“…… Goddess?”

“It may not be the same goddess as the image in your head, but she is also called that name, so feel free to use it.”

It was in a dream, but it was not in vain.

It would be accurate to say that the goddess descended in a dream.

From Chaejin’s point of view, it wasn’t a pleasant encounter, but she wanted to meet her at least once because she had a lot of questions.

“Nice to meet you. I am Han Chae-jin.”

“I don’t have a name, so call me whatever you like.”

“Okay. But until now, you haven’t shown your face once, so what happened to my dream all of a sudden?”

Of course, he didn’t show his face even now, but that didn’t matter too much in the current situation.

The goddess answers Chaejin’s question in a calm tone.

“I was waiting for you to come back to this world and go to sleep. I had a lot of stories to tell you.”

It’s as if she’s saying that originally it was impossible to even make contact.

“First of all, I would like to thank you for your efforts to save the world. Being born and raised in a peaceful environment would not have been easy, but he is amazing.”

I don’t want to hear compliments.

What Chaejin was most curious about right now was the main topic.

Can’t a person with the name of a goddess control a single human?

Why is it that the hero has been neglected to suffer like this and is now saying thank you?

“Thank you for recognizing my hard work, but more than that… ….”

Chaejin said what she was thinking.

At that, the goddess smiled softly.

I couldn’t see her face, but mysteriously, the information that she was doing it seemed to enter my head.

“Yes. As you might have guessed, it doesn’t interfere much with the world. It’s because of the causality rate, which is often said. Divine power, the power they believe comes from faith, is also just a line of mana changed by emotion.”

When people in the Holy Land hear it, she says it’s blasphemy, and her face turns red.

“Originally, it would be impossible to appear in your dream as long as you use the law of causation by exerting the power of divine protection, but now it is a fairly special situation. The rate of causality that I can handle is proportional to the power of the catastrophe that has appeared in the world, because the demon’s clone that has been sealed and awakened has become considerably stronger.”

Chaejin had no way of knowing whether what she said was true or false.

But for now, I decided to believe it.

Not because she trusted the Goddess, but because she didn’t believe in the current situation, and she knew that if she doubted herself, she would only make herself stupid.

“So what is the Goddess position? Does the Goddess want to ask me to save the world too?”

“Yes. Even if there is no problem with perishing itself, it is quite difficult to succumb to the power of demons and be eaten.”

“What should I do with this? I was in such a bad shape that I didn’t have the will to shoulder that burden any longer. Are you going to take away at least the protection?”

She shook her head quietly.

“Prophecy that has grown beyond a certain amount cannot be retrieved arbitrarily. This is also due to the causality rate mentioned earlier. Even though I had no intention of retrieving it in the first place.”

“Why? They say they don’t have the will to do anything like a hero anymore. It would be better to summon a new hero.”

“It’s the same with uncertain fate. I am designed to rule out emotions and make judgments based solely on possibilities. I just decided it was the right thing to do in the current situation.”

Hearing that, Chaejin fell into doubt.

It’s like the existence of a goddess just wants a hero to save the world, passing on the responsibility without a proper solution…….

Rather, she had a stronger desire to do it.

“Doesn’t the goddess know everything about what I’ve been through?”

“Yes. To put it emotionally, it was ‘disgusting’.”

“Do you have anything to say about him?”

“Yes. There was nothing I could do. As for the manageable causal rate, the limit was to establish a summoning system and bestow blessings.”

“It is a nuisance to call someone without permission and ask for sacrifice.”

“So, I made it so that I could give up and go back anytime. It would be correct to say that it had to be done. You have no obligation to save the world. Betrayal was caused by dealings with humans…….”

“That’s funny. If you do that, who will go through the trouble to save the world? There is no guarantee that you will be compensated.”

“That’s why you are so great. Your motive for saving the world is your own heart itself rather than a reward.”

“… ….”

It was an existence that made me have nothing to say.

In any case, it seemed certain that he was a being far removed from humans.

When you look at what you say or do, you feel like you were made for a special purpose and not born naturally.

“What would you do if I saved the world by defeating the demon clone and then destroyed the world again with my own hands?”

“There are no sanctions. I don’t even have the ability to do that. On the contrary, if that happens, I will be happy. All I have to do is stop the world from being eaten by demons. If not, I don’t care what happens.”

“Are you saying that you are a human in the world under your control and would not be in trouble if all the other races died?”

“Yes. First of all, I don’t like humans very much. I am structured to have a crush on those who have a radiant will like you. Conversely, I feel hostility towards those who are ugly and have black will. And most humans have ugly, black hearts. I am saying this to give credibility to the fact that just because I am called a goddess, I am not in a position to protect life, including humans. Their life and death are not important to me.”

Chaejin smiled.

It was somehow funny that she found a small commonality in the goddesses who seemed to never be able to mix.

Then the goddess turned her subject and spoke her other words.

“You know what? There are various worlds in this universe, and there are various races, but only humans have ‘free will’ among them.”

“Freedom…… Will?”

“All races other than humans have a part of their emotions governed by a great will. Let’s talk about ‘Elf’, which is also familiar to you. Elves do not betray their faith. Failure to keep promises is considered the greatest sin. Not because their will is virtuous. Because that’s what it’s supposed to be.”

Certainly, I’ve heard of it from Elua.

Elf slaves are preferred because they have a beautiful appearance, but they risk their lives to keep what they promise.

Even if it was not intentional, if he thought he had betrayed the other person or as a result, he would suffer from guilt and die of his own will.

That’s why elves don’t make promises.

If you are caught and subjected to torture, you have no choice but to do it.

For that reason, elves hate humans.

Yes, from their point of view, who value promises as much as their lives, people who break promises are bound to be disgusted.

“However, humans are not subject to any other being. Life must be selfish to survive for a long time. According to that instinct, humans are more selfish than any race, ugliest than any race, and have weaker will than any race.”

“Then why did the hero become a human… ….”

“Because you are selfish, ugly and weak, you can be all the more altruistic, noble and strong. There are strong things because there are weak things, and there are beautiful things because there are ugly things. Humans are the weakest beings, but humans are also the strongest beings. Hero, even though you are so frustrated and disappointed in others, there is still a part of your heart that has the will to save the world for the innocent and weak.”

…… Did i have something like that

Even Chaejin herself couldn’t understand her heart.

“Hero, I won’t ask you to sacrifice yourself to save the world once more. However, I would like you to find it. A human being with a will that is brilliant and noble enough to move your heart, who is extremely disappointed in the existence of a human being. And please pass on his divine protection to that person.”

“Inheritance of Divine Protection…… Is that possible?”

“Originally impossible, but now possible. It’s a situation where the clone body has been resurrected from the brink of extinction and has become stronger.”

“What if you don’t even want to do that?”

“I have no choice but to blame my shortcomings. Just know one thing. After this world is devoured, it may be the turn of your world called Earth. If that happens, you will have to wait for the summoned hero to save the world. Just like you did, he put all the blame on him.”

“… ….”

After saying those words, my vision seemed to blur, and then I woke up.

Tadak- Tadak-

Felt like the sound of a campfire burning.

There was someone next to me.

“Who are you?”

“You shouldn’t sleep while controlling the fire. If it wasn’t for me, it would have gone off, this.”

A light green long-haired woman wearing a leather protector over her clothes that cling to her body.

With a bow on his back, long ears…… She was an elf

“Nice to meet you, human warrior. It’s been a while.”

Her name is Annelian.

She was an elven ranger who once fought cooperatively.

“How do you know where I am?”

Annelian pointed her nose at herself.

“Elves have developed a different sense of smell. In the case of beasts, it is simply a good nose, but we can remember and imprint our smell. The more familiar the smell, the wider the detection range.”

As she said that, she held out a piece of dark cloth.

“I got it by chance while fighting together. Your blood. It smells rotten now, but I found it with this anyway.”

An elf’s sense of smell.

This was the first knowledge I came to know.

“So what is the matter?”

You’re probably asking me to save the world that is in danger again anyway…….

Chaejin thought so, but the words that came out of Annelian’s mouth were quite unexpected.