145. Spokesperson of the Planet

You've met Gura's superior, haven't you?

Yes.

In the Rasparta organization, Gura is second to one person only, and her superior should be...

The leader of Rasparta.

My goodness...

It's not such a big deal, is it? Even I have met the leader of Rasparta.

I used to be someone who had a bearing on the future of Bifrost after all.

What surprised me is that you didn't kill that person when you saw him.

Hmm... how would you know I hadn't given it a try?

And then?

Do you know how he appeared?

Huh? How? Does it matter?

Of course. It's on the eve of Niz's assassination.

I was too nervous and hesitant to sleep in my own room.

Then a figure slowly emerged from the earth...

Wait a minute... The last part didn't make sense to me. Emerging from the earth?

There's no floor in your bedroom?

Ah yes, let me correct this. Emerging from the floor...

Wait a second... do I look stupid in your eyes?

It's true! Why don't you believe me?! I'm telling nothing but the truth.

Okay, what's next?

I gave the stranger three shots. He was a terror to witness after all.

But the bullets were like being shot into the mud. The bullet holes on him gradually recovered to squeeze the bullets out of the wounds.

He said his name was Solomon, the spokesperson for the planet, that is, the Ancient One.

Truth be told, your words are hardly convincing.

Don't interrupt. I'm not done talking yet.

Well, okay. Go ahead...

Then this Solomon guy started to preach... He kept talking about something that would only happen in fantasy fiction.

For example, the planet used to be in great order. It was the pollution from outside that led to the deterioration of the mountains, rivers, animals, and plants...

The Ancient One was like the Discipline Commissary on the planet... Something like that.

He used the words ''the Discipline Commissary''?

Of course not. I'm just explaining what he said from my perspective.

Okay...

Then he said that the Ancient One would ''merge'' the mountains, rivers, animals, and plants into an orderly whole every once in a while.

But the Ancient One could not eliminate the source of the deterioration. So the world would be polluted again.

After the last merging, the Ancient One was almost killed due to the betrayal of his disciple. That is why the merging has been postponed until now.

Did he really believe he could convince you with all the nonsense?

Not really. He was not just talking; instead, he brought up those images in front of me, just like playing a movie.

Images are more straightforward than words after all.

Then what? You became a disciple of the Ancient One as well?

I pretended to be a believer of the Ancient One and told him how much I worshiped the Ancient One.

I also said I was about to assassinate Niz. If I succeeded, I would make all people in Bifrost believers of Rasparta.

He didn't buy it, did he?

I think he did... Or he would not have asked Gura to help me break out of the prison and allow me to play with the Relic component in the hands of Sui.

...

Now, what do you think of my intel?

Very weird, I would say. So weird that I think what you said is true.

You mean it?! As a former researcher, I would not come up with such nonsense by myself.

So these things...

Fenriru, Aiken, Mori and Niz... they all know.

Why didn't they tell us?

So what? If they told you, you'd feel all the more upset and confused.

Well, let's call it a day.

Do you take me as a kid who likes bedtime stories?