Hermit Wizard

The Invitation of White Deer (3)

The Truth-Seeker continued flatly.

=Now that the Channels are open, it can be seen by outside Truth-Seekers like us. There are only a few divinities connected to your dimension, and the influence of God isn’t great. It’s a dimension where it can’t happen naturally because of the Heart Fish. Also, the dimensional barriers of the world were very powerful. Therefore, it can be said that there was no ‘outside factor’ that could threaten your Truth-Seekers. =

Its answer contained some incomplete information.

“… You said that as if God is the enemy of a Truth-Seeker. But aren’t Truth-Seekers those who aspire to become gods?”

When it first saw Ghur and I, I remembered our conversation about the smell of sweet divinity.

The Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker gathered its eyes and stared at me, and answered.

=Tyranny of those who have and those who don’t have it happens in any dimension, even by raising the level of existence. I would rather name the phenomenon the providence of the universe. =

“…”

A certain amount of resignation mixed in the will to answer, but I felt the deep anger that lies within it, so I trembled a little.

=Anyway, if the Dragon died in a world without such external danger, wouldn’t it be the ‘internal risk factor’ that could cause it? =

“Internal factor…”

The range that the word could mean was too wide. However, I thought that the Truth-Seeker’s answer wasn’t meaningless.

First of all, it seemed that there was no external intervention in the Dragon’s death, which meant that it was difficult to assume that another dimensions’ Truth-Seeker or God influenced it.

But there was something that grabbed my attention. Obviously, there was no ‘Truth-Seeker’ who knew how the Dragon died.

What if there was a higher-level being than the Truth-Seeker?

Maybe God knew the answer?

I already knew that there was a priest in our dimension who worshiped a God. It meant that although its influence was weak, it wasn’t completely out of the hands of God.

Even if God didn’t cause the Dragon’s death, was it possible to observe it even when it was impossible for Truth-Seekers?

***

Yusu nodded.

“Thanks to Master Yoon, we learned that they were trying to resurrect the Dragon. Of course, I asked questions about it to God. But the answer came back the same as before. No matter what the content was, it was just giving us enigmatic answers to questions about Dragons.”

Even God didn’t tell them that the Dragon in this world was dead but that an elderly named Gon had found it out by prophecy. It was said to be a magical prophecy that had nothing to do with the power of God.

In my mouth, I chewed the words of the God that Yusu gave me.

Was it encroaching or not encroaching? Evolving or not? The moment you qualify to stand at this crossroads, you would have all the answers.

[It probably means that even the residents of White Deer who have crossed the wall are not yet qualified to hear the answer to the Dragon’s identity. If it’s a higher level than that, I think it means a Truth-Seeker.]

‘Does being qualified to stand at a crossroads mean becoming a Truth-Seeker? Well, yeah! The Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker said that it was the one who gets ready for the final choice, right?’

[Maybe there is a connection between ‘to stand at the crossroads and ‘the final choice.’]

I thought it would mean that you should stand at a crossroads and choose something if you became a Truth-Seeker.

Then the meaning of God’s words could be something like this. The question asked by Yusu was that you would get an answer once you became a Truth-Seeker? All those questions about the Dragon.

‘You mean in the end; it’s not going to tell them with its own words?’

There was a willingness not to give any information about Truth-Seekers to the priest who served it, and even that priest was the one who had already completed their first evolution. Instead of asking God, it could only be interpreted as saying to evolve on your own and find the answer.

The Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest was relatively generous to me about this information. It informed me as soon as we met. Our world’s Truth-Seeker was a Dragon.

It was awkward.

‘What’s certain is that if we ask more questions about the resurrection of the Truth-Seeker to God, we won’t get the answer we want.’

[That’s right.]

‘I’m not sure if the trait to not give information about the Truth-Seeker is limited to that God, or if all the gods are the same. But it might be worth trying a different route. In parallel with the plan to capture the executive of the Guardians of the Great Convention.’

[Do you mean you want to get information from other Gods?]

‘Of course.’

[To whom?]

Upon receiving its telepathy, I looked at Parvache. When I kept silent, Yusu continued to empty the plate without speaking to me. He thought I was in deep thought.

[… Don’t tell me, ‘Purbagios’?]

‘Yeah. The scriptures without a final chapter. The owner of Akashic Records. The God that you have served as a spirit will be perfect for information.’

[But the information of this world itself is not recorded on Akashic Records! Even if you ask how the Dragon died…]

‘Can we at least ask for an overview of the Truth-Seeker’s death and resurrection? We don’t even know what this keyword itself means right now. We can’t find anything like this in Akashic Records either.’

Parvache still had the power to browse Akashic Records. The problem was that it couldn’t access information about Truth-Seekers. It was unknown whether that was because of God’s rejection or Parvache’s lack of power, but that road was blocked for now. So, I hadn’t thought deeply about that until now.

However, listening to Yusu’s words, that possibility passed my mind. If you don’t have permission to view Akashic Records’ information, why don’t you ask the owner of Akashic Records directly?

[It takes two things once. One is the possibility that Purbagios deliberately banned the information from mortals. What if the reason I cannot read is not my lack of ability? And another thing…]

It blurted the end of its words, but I could guess what was omitted.

Parvache was still Purbagios’ staff. In other words, those who reached the bookmark of the scriptures without the last chapter, the Akashic Records, can be read.

Before the Spiritualization, Purbagios stamped a seal on its soul, which still functioned as the key to opening the Akashic Records.

But, Parvache was no longer a pure Purbagios priest. After becoming a spirit, it lost its divine power, leaving no power to see God directly and ask questions.

‘I’m not asking you to see and ask the God, Parvache.’

[Then? You cannot be its priest. Because Purbagios’ apostle has not yet come down to this dimension.]

‘It’s not Kaidemos. It’s not like you have to be a priest to get God’s help, is it?’

[You mean you’re going to make a sacrifice and get a spell?!]

I answered with a sense of positivity, and Parvache snapped back at me in surprise.

[It’s too dangerous!]

‘Why?’

[It is theoretically possible. You can get a question-and-answer spell. But I don’t know what it will ask for – as a sacrifice. It won’t be as good as other Gods! It’s not the one who deserves it in the first place.]

‘If I don’t take someone else’s life as a sacrifice, you mean it’s going to take something out of what I have?’

[It is very likely.]

Hearing Parvache’s answer, I wasn’t worried too much. Suddenly, I also thought of that.

At that moment, I wondered what else would be worthwhile among the things that I had in my hand.

I fell into deep thoughts, and my thoughts continued until Yusu coughed with an empty plate in front of me.

***

A few days later, on a desolate night, I met Yusu at the Han River Park.

“Then we will go.”

Yusu, in the form of a human, whistled as if calling for someone. Then I saw something black approaching below the surface of the Han River. It was steadfastly wearing the concealment magic. Unlike Yusu, it seemed to be skilled at the other magics.

“Hmm?”

[It’s a barrier that follows the wizard.]

At the same time, it floated on the surface; Yusu and I also naturally entered the hidden barrier that was unfolded. The appearance of popping out of the river would’ve been invisible to anyone outside the barrier. As soon as those insides stepped on the ground and saw me, they expressed joy with all their bodies.

“Oh oh! Human Guru! Human Guru!”

“Long time no see! Nice to see you again, Human Guru!”

“Come to play more often!”

“Oh? The smell has changed a little. Where did you get hurt? Human Guru?”

Walking out of the river were two dogs of enormous size, likely several times my height.

It was only incredibly large, but the appearance wasn’t very different from a normal dog. It was a huge version of a normal yellow dog and a black dog.

Both talked endlessly, pushing their heads – the size of a rock. Unlike ordinary animals and humans, they had four eyes with a subtle sense of mystery. However, the mysterious energy in their eyes and their active words and actions were one thing.

“Human Guru, what are you doing today? Are you going to meet the elderly again?”

“Wow, where have you been around like that? There are a lot of smells I’ve never smelled some of them before!”

“Right! Really! Oh, welcome. Tell me the story! I’m curious!”

“What’s in that bag? It smells different from when you came before. It’s bothering me! Anyway, I’m glad you’re here! Welcome!”

It had been a while since I had such a welcome like this, so I didn’t know how to react. Come to think of it, the most recent person who said, “Nice to see you again” to me was… it wasn’t people. They were Dell Giants out there in the other dimension.

I suddenly thought that if I made a list of those I had made new acquaintances with in the last year, I thought there would be more alien races from other dimensions and of this dimension than Earthlings.

… Was it a little sad?

“Gyo, Yun, you can greet later. Take us to White Deer first.”

The yellow dog named Gyo and the black dog named Yun answered happily.

“Yes!”

“Okay!”

They then came up and bit Yusu and me, putting us on their necks, and we traveled along the path opened by the gatekeepers of White Deer.

The gatekeepers jumped into the water and descended for a long time. I know that the Han River was originally deep, but enough time had already passed to hit the bottom. Still, Gyo and Yun continued to descend as if they were running on land.

At some point, I couldn’t even feel the energy of the artifacts that I had sprayed on the river. I felt the gatekeepers entered into a certain barrier when opening the road at first, but at that moment, I felt like we had entered a completely different space.

The gatekeepers asked me as they ran through a dark cave where I couldn’t feel anything in the water.

“Hey, Human Guru! How are things outside these days?”

“Fewer people are jumping into the river these days! Is it worth living for humans now?”

“But as if they forget their worth, they just jump in once!”

“Every time, we bite and bring them to White Deer.”

The gatekeepers didn’t even give me a chance to answer anything, and they constantly poured out words among themselves.

“I think humans haven’t changed much in the past or now? I don’t know how many years I’ve lived, and they’re trying to die by themselves. I really don’t understand.”

“Hey, Human Guru. Are you the same? Do you want to die, too?”

Do you want to die, too? The way they said it sounds like a threat if one heard it without context.

I answered with a bitter smile.

“Why do I want to die? I’m struggling like this to try to get a life.”

The gatekeepers who heard my answer said cheerfully.

“Right. Don’t die. It’s pitiful to die!”

“Yes, that’s pitiful!”

“Even if you don’t like this life, it’s stupid to die in anticipation of the next life.”