99. Evil Thoughts
With countless fragments, shards of ⬛⬛⬛ were falling. They were engulfed in flames as they entered the atmosphere, but not even a scorch mark would remain on them.
The moment ⬛⬛⬛ detected an error, what ⬛⬛⬛ had to do was clear. To eliminate the source of the error. Even if it was a tiny part, it was the same as excising the main body itself.
It was an organ created by using a part of the brain to understand intelligent beings who sometimes did incomprehensible things, so if ⬛⬛⬛ excised it, there would be no way to recover it.
But ⬛⬛⬛, who had identified emotion as the source of the error, did not hesitate.
⬛⬛⬛ immediately expelled the organ. However, in that fleeting moment, the small piece determined the direction it would be ejected as Earth.
The bystander must be a bystander to the end. So the fragment thought. It just had to not be a bystander. It just had to live as a resident of that star.
However, even as a fragment, its essence was still ⬛⬛⬛, so it should not directly interfere with the ground.
If it did, it would be destroyed along with the star by the action rules engraved on the main body.
Answers that it did not achieve with its own hands had no meaning. It was a philosophy that a machine could not understand, but because it was a machine, it did not question it.
If so, let's set the stage and create tools. So that they can head down the right path on their own.
As the fragment scraped away its outer shell with the frictional heat of the atmosphere, it took the form of a creature on the ground. In this form, they would not be afraid either.
With a huge impact, the fragment collided with the ground. The fragment, which was not even damaged by that much, immediately looked up at the sky.
Watching the countless remnants fiercely rub against the atmosphere and burn away, leaving only afterglow, the fragment decided on its name.
It came on a day when countless stars fell like rain, so from now on, its name would be Onbyeolbi, not ⬛⬛⬛.
***
I thought I should have asked this a long time ago, but I felt like I couldn't hear it unless we got this close.
When I asked at the beginning of the semester, she openly avoided answering. It could be because we weren't acquainted.
"...Hmm. It's a bit complicated. Do you really want to hear it? Actually, I don't know exactly either, so it's hard to tell you exactly…"
I could tell how much she didn't want to talk about it, as Hoyeon, who was always excited to talk about her hometown, was rarely hesitant.
But to understand the East, I felt like I had to know for sure what it was. The word God came up every time she told me about it.
"I really want you to tell me. If it's hard to say, you can write it down, but… I want to hear it in your voice if possible."
It was a bit pathetic, but I persuaded Hoyeon with the words that it had to be you. It worked, and Hoyeon, blushing and twirling her hair, answered.
"...If you say that much, I'll tell you, but…? Ugh, it'll take too long to do it here…!"
Hoyeon said that and hurriedly started emptying her plate. Seeing that she didn't spill a single drop on her clothes even though she was eating hastily, I couldn't help but think that she was also a member of the imperial family.
She's a bit broken when we're alone, but she's clearly the heir to the Baek Empire.
Come to think of it, one question suddenly came to mind.
She eats more than Anya, so how come she doesn't gain any weight? As far as I know, she doesn't really exercise.
I thought it was normal at the beginning of the semester, but now I was really curious. But I thought it would be rude to ask, no matter how I thought about it.
…She's my friend, so it should be okay, right? I decided to casually ask about it once, using her health as an excuse since she only eats meat.
"...Um, Hoyeon. I don't think it's good for your health to eat so much meat. I'm really worried, so I'm asking. Are you okay?"
She was actually picking out the vegetables with uncanny precision. It's not my place to interfere, but it can't be good for her health to be picky.
"Not at all? I only need to eat vegetables once a month. And even this much meat isn't enough."
What did I just hear? Leaving aside the fact that she said she needed more even though she was eating so much meat, she doesn't need vegetables at all.
"...Ah, that's right. It might seem a bit strange to you. Um, how should I put it. Beastkins… are better than you humans in many ways, but they use that much more energy. So this is a small meal."
Brain, circulatory system, muscles. Some chilling stories came out, so I just decided to nod. In short, her metabolism is more active than humans, so this is a very small meal.
I guess so. I can't tear her insides open like Georg, so I just have to accept it.
"Ah, I see."
"...What's with that lukewarm reaction? Don't you believe me?"
But Hoyeon didn't like that insincere answer, so she picked a fight and pushed me. After a long explanation that I believed her, we were finally able to go to her room.
"Euhm. So… where should I start explaining…"
After scratching her ear and swinging her tail around for a while, Hoyeon opened her mouth very slowly.
"...It would take more than one book to tell you everything, so I'll explain it a bit briefly. To put it simply, it's a kind of tool… at least the gods of this generation are."
This generation. So there was a previous generation too? When I asked about that, Hoyeon readily answered.
"Uh. So, back when beastkins were still human, my mother scattered artifacts like relics on the continent. You could gain divinity through them. She didn't tell me why she did that, but… my mother is recovering their divinity."
It was a complicated story. Maybe she's treating them as failures. I don't know her intention since she didn't say it herself.
"...Well, anyway, let's get back to the main point. The current gods have very clear purposes. Weather, harvest, wisdom, war… things like that. Instead… uh… they need, uh, sacrifices…"
Sacrifices. I had never heard of such a thing. I had never heard of such a background story even in the original story.
Because it was an enemy country. There was no reason to hear their circumstances or stories. It was quite strange to hear stories from a threat that I should have defeated if things had gone as planned.
"Sacrifices? Can you tell me more about that?"
"……Uh, so… There's no such thing as a free lunch in the world. Authority… requires a price. When you wish for abundance, you offer grain. When you wish for luck, you offer gold."
"...When you wish for victory, what do you offer?"
Hoyeon didn't answer. I had a feeling that something dangerous would happen if I asked any more, so I quietly closed my mouth.
There are some secrets that don't need to be dug up.
"...There are some who don't receive sacrifices. Like the god of medicine. Anyway… yeah. There's more to explain, but I'll just do this much for now. There's tomorrow's exam."
Hoyeon seemed to have a sore spot about that story, so she hurriedly started to change the subject. Actually, I've studied enough for now, but there was no reason to coldly leave, so I decided to hang out with her.
"Anya's not here, is that okay?"
I knew what she was doing right now, but I asked formally since she was one of her students.
"I don't think Anya can learn anything even if I teach her now…"
Seeing Hoyeon, who had lost her rigidity from earlier, complaining about Anya in a relaxed manner, I was secretly curious about one more thing.
"Do you know what Anya is doing right now?"
Does Hoyeon know? I was a little curious about that. She's very smart in many ways, but she doesn't seem to be at all in that way.
"...Isn't she partying?"
Uh. She doesn't work at all in that way. I was able to get a lot of good information.
***
After all, the most difficult subjects were over, so all I did was ask Dogeon to stroke me a bit or spend time talking to him.
They were things I wouldn't have been able to do if Anya was there, but for some reason, she didn't show up even during lunch. The party must have been that fun. Those popular kids.
There were more than a few times when the conversation almost turned chilly, but fortunately, Dogeon noticed and skillfully avoided the landmines, so we were able to avoid such a situation.
"...Hehe, there. Just a little more…"
My back also felt much better than when my dad scratched it. The subtle tickling was now turning into an addictive shiver.
…I felt a strange, indescribable feeling, but I didn't care about that. Just scratch me a little more.
I'll do anything for you, talking, studying, anything, I hope the moment like now will continue forever.
But time is something that you can't hold on to, even if you try, so the end was coming after all.
"...It's already this late. I think we can barely make it in time for dinner if we go now. Shall we go?"
I didn't want to go out because I couldn't get stroked like this if I went outside. But I was also hungry, so I really had no choice but to get up.
I wouldn't have to move like this if Dogeon just came to my house.
I even thought about just dragging him away.
…Maybe it wouldn't be bad?