Chapter 708: Inquiry (3)
The proposal from Iwan, offering to help break free from fate.
With that proposal, the tense atmosphere in Zone Z suddenly turned cold.
Sounds vanished, the air grew chilly, and the mood turned awkward.
It was akin to making an inappropriate joke at a funeral.
Naturally, people’s reactions didn’t stray far from that comparison.
Most people frowned as they looked at Iwan, as if wondering what on earth he was thinking.
Yet, not everyone scowled. Among them was someone who maintained the same expression as usual.
The very person to whom this absurd proposal was made—Oliver.
"An intriguing proposal."
Unlike the others, Oliver took Iwan’s proposal seriously.
His reaction caused a ripple among the surrounding people, but Second raised a finger to his lips, and the unrest soon subsided.
“Do you believe him?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, interesting. Didn’t expect you’d trust me right away. I even prepared a whole persuasion strategy.”
Iwan then pulled a script from his coat and tossed it to the ground.
Whether it was a joke or not was unclear, but Oliver remained earnest in his response.
"Unlike with others, I don’t see any sign of sin from you, Sir Iwan."
"I’ve been living far too kindly, haven’t I?”
Iwan replied with a blatant lie, without so much as a blink.
Oliver did not refute it, simply looking at Iwan with silent, deep eyes that seemed unfathomable.
Under the weight of Oliver's gaze, Iwan, with what little conscience he had left, promptly surrendered. Apparently, a shred of decency still lingered in him.
“Alright, alright! I admit it. I’m a terrible man. I have a stack of IOUs to prove it. So, please, stop looking at me like that. It’s terrifying.”
Obliging, Oliver withdrew his gaze, and Iwan let out a sigh.
“Seriously, it’s unjust. Let’s be honest—who lives without ever committing a sin?”
“I agree.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s difficult to live without ever sinning, even for me... I understand.”
“That sounds like you’re just humoring me.”
Iwan smiled with a knowing look, but Oliver continued their conversation without responding to that remark.
“Are you, Sir Iwan, someone from beyond this world?”
“In academic terms here, yes. But don’t think too grandiose—I'm not some spirit or demon. At base, I’m human. Just a little more handsome, if I say so myself.”
Though his final words were peculiar, his statement overall astonished everyone.
Iwan's words defied common sense.
No, it wasn’t just a matter of sense; his words transcended the listeners’ understanding of reality.
Someone from another world?
They couldn’t begin to fathom how to react.
But Iwan didn’t particularly care.
He wasn’t planning to make everyone understand, anyway. Only one person’s understanding mattered—the one standing in front of him. Fortunately, he seemed to accept it, more or less.
“I understand.”
“Really?”
“If there are spirits and demons, then surely someone from another world could exist, too.”
“Logical, can’t argue with that.”
“However, I am curious as to how you became someone beyond this world, Sir Iwan.”
“Nothing much to it. One percent effort, ninety-nine percent luck. It just kind of happened while struggling through a great upheaval in my own world. You could think of me as a wanderer, or a refugee of sorts, on a larger scale. Alright?”
“…Did your world also face a cataclysm?”
“There’s no end to it if I explain. Let’s save that story for later. Right now, that’s not what’s important, is it?”
That was absolutely true.
While his past was intriguing, what mattered more urgently to Oliver was the current issue at hand.
Whether or not to accept Iwan’s proposal to break free from the shackles of fate.
At least for Oliver, that was the most important matter right now.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape all suffering.
"Indeed, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is exactly the right expression. The Archive has lasted for over a thousand years, so the timing is roughly right."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean my proposal is that valuable. It’s no simple feat to escape fate."
Iwan’s words carried a rare sincerity. Oliver couldn’t deny it.
Oliver himself had struggled to break free from fate more than anyone, only to realize how futile it was.
This was why, after regaining his senses, he had remained seated so listlessly.
Knowing that no effort would make a difference left him with no other choice.
Recalling those memories, Oliver felt a sudden, powerful urge to accept Iwan’s proposal.
Escaping from pain was an instinctual drive, after all.
"May I ask why you’re making such an offer to me?"
“Such curiosity.”
“It’s an extremely generous offer.”
A sweet offer that had come at just the right time. With heartfelt sincerity, Oliver made his request. Eventually, the mischievous Iwan revealed his reason—a completely unexpected one.
“Let’s call it sympathy. A feeling of pain at others’ misfortunes… What’s with this atmosphere?”
The mood was indeed odd.
The people who had been silent earlier grew even quieter, and Child frowned as he looked at Iwan, an expression of disgust on his face.
Oliver, the only one still conversing with him, was also taken aback.
It was only natural—hearing the word “sympathy” from Iwan was surprising enough. But what was even more unexpected was that he meant it sincerely.
Iwan protested.
“Hey, what’s with this reaction? Humans are beings who can pick up litter while jaywalking. This silence is wounding.”
“Oh, I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way… It’s just that… It’s been a long time since anyone has pitied me.”
Actually, to say it had been a while would be an understatement. Even back at the orphanage and in the mines, what Oliver received wasn’t sympathy, but contempt. True pity was extremely rare and uncommon in his life.
Iwan explained.
“Think about it. There’s a burden here, the heaviest and dirtiest one in the world. Painful even to lift. Do you know who’s left to carry it?”
No one answered, but everyone listened.
“There’s a god who created the world, and His most beloved, shining Son. There are countless other esteemed ones, too.”
Iwan gestured to everyone around Oliver—the people of Marie, the Select, the Fighter Crew, and the Development Opposition Committee.
“But all of them are sitting back with their hands off, leaving it all to a kid who was born just the other day.”
Iwan’s finger, which had been pointing around, finally landed on Oliver’s face.
He then returned to a jovial tone.
“So, I made the offer. It’s just too damn frustrating. You feel the same way, don’t you?”
Oliver couldn’t deny it. In many ways, he agreed with Iwan. When Oliver first guessed his true nature, his immediate reaction had been exactly as Iwan described—"damned unfair."
Why him, of all people? It was maddening enough to drive him to strike a deal with Puppet. All he wanted was just, simply…
“I can’t guarantee it, but breaking free from fate might allow you to return to the happiest days of your life. Back to when you wandered freely, unbothered by anything, following your curiosity.”
It was a deeply tempting offer.
Looking back, those were probably his happiest days.
Just after leaving the mines, without knowing how to converse, without common sense or knowledge, he had been free to pursue whatever he wished without constraints.
Everything was a joy, and everything was freedom. What if he could have stayed in that state?
He wouldn’t have worn himself out like this, seeking out people he knew.
Seeking to counteract the acts of the sinful.
Though he wanted to stay still, he couldn’t stop, not with the memories of people like Professor Kevin, Joanna, the late Merlin, Rossburn, and Derek pushing him forward.
He wanted to go back.
They were all precious memories, but he also wished to return to that time when he knew nothing.
Is that wrong? Is that selfish? Just as he thought this, a young girl’s voice interrupted him.
“Um, excuse me…”
He barely heard it, but it was a familiar voice—Nora’s voice.
One of the children in Joe’s care, Nora was someone Joe looked after personally because Oliver had killed her older brother.
For that reason, Nora had once attempted to poison Oliver, though the attempt ultimately failed, and life had gone on peacefully for them both.
Now, the girl pushed her way through the crowd and spoke.
Though visibly trembling with fear, she summoned every ounce of courage to speak.
Everyone’s eyes were on Nora.
“I-I apologize! I will… I will take him back!!”
Joe’s friend, Double-gun Sam, moved through the crowd to pull Nora away. He knew something was different about Oliver’s demeanor, and he was being cautious.
“No, let her stay.”
Sam froze in place, as though someone had physically held him back.
Oliver slowly approached Nora and asked,
“What’s the matter, Nora?”
He asked her what she wanted. But in truth, he already knew.
It was easy to guess what Nora desired—to plead for Joe’s release from prison.
It was remarkable for such a young child to act on behalf of an adult, but he had grown somewhat weary of these requests.
Perhaps he had simply seen too much of the world, or perhaps it was his own state of mind, or maybe he had grown tired of people asking for things over and over again.
Still, he decided to hear her out. For some reason, he felt he might gain some hint about how to respond to Iwan’s proposal.
"...You… You don’t intend to keep your promise, do you?”
“...Excuse me?”
“Our promise. I asked if you plan to keep it.”
Trembling, Nora looked at him, her eyes and voice firm as she asked if he would honor his word to her.
“What... promise was that?”
“You told me that if I ate all my meals and got plenty of sleep each day, you would sincerely apologize to me.”
“...”
“You asked for time, so you could truly mean it.”
“...Yes, that’s right.”
Oliver replied. He remembered saying that to her before he left for the New World, before he went to see Joanna, and before his encounter with a demon.
In fact, it was more of a request than a promise.
“I forgot.”
Oliver replied shamelessly. His encounter with “The Burnt One” had left such a strong impression that all else had faded from his memory.
That being’s words, calling him a “noble being,” had shaken him so deeply that he had completely forgotten.
Consumed by his own affairs, he had no room in his mind to remember a promise made to a young girl.
Sniffle.
As a consequence of his neglect, it was Nora, not Oliver, who now rubbed her tear-filled eyes.
She looked heartbroken and betrayed, yet beneath the hurt lay an even deeper emotion.
She cared for Joe. To her, he was family.
“It’s alright… even without an apology.”
She lied.
“But, could you at least grant me one favor?”
“Goodness…”
Someone murmured at her audacious request.
At that moment, it was dangerous for anyone to ask Oliver for a favor, but Nora wasn’t foolish enough not to know that.
In the past, she had attempted to poison him out of a burst of anger. Yet she, too, had changed, having learned how her actions had troubled Joe.
Nonetheless, she decided to take the reckless step, calculating that this would be her only chance, judging by the conversation between Oliver and Iwan.
Responding to her daring request, Oliver let out a sigh.
“Ha... Ha, ha.”
He laughed instead of speaking.
Everyone around him tensed up. Most of them had never heard Oliver laugh before.
So naturally, they were unsure how to react. They simply looked on in surprise.
“Eve. Pandora.”
Oliver called out to the air.
With his summons, two women emerged from the crowd.
Pandora, who appeared in a new body, and Eve, now inhabiting a fake body fashioned from a tree that Oliver had crafted. Thankfully, it seemed to be functioning well.
Until Oliver called them, both women had remained hidden, silently waiting. At his command, they appeared.
“There is something I need you to look into. Can you handle it?”
Oliver got straight to the point.
Pandora and Eve each inquired what he wanted to know.
“Puppet is preparing something in the capital city of the kingdom. Could you investigate? I heard a few things about it from Wallace.”
Wallace, one of the leaders of the Kel Liberation Army.
He had first met Oliver upon discovering that the crown prince of the United Kingdom was a demon worshipper, and finally fled to Landa with a druid.
That druid had also known that the crown prince was connected not only to demons but also to Puppet, and that Puppet was using this connection to orchestrate something significant.
Pandora replied,
“Yes, I can, Father.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, I actually know a little about it already. I did some private research and uncovered a few details.”
“What are they?”
“They are currently preparing to summon a demon at the heart of the kingdom’s largest and most advanced city.”