Free Web NovelChapter 21: The Answer Hidden in His Reactions.
"So what is it that you were waiting to do, leaving your fragment in this desolate trial space for so long?"
I asked as the old man immediately averted his eyes and whistled air through his mouth as if trying to appear calm.
"I don’t know what you mean by that, oh great sir. This humble personality stayed here merely to guide the next generation. There was really no other intent involved."
For someone who claimed to spread false news and make people panic, he sure was a lousy liar. Then again, it was probably because he sensed danger from me.
I narrowed my eyes on him.
"Were you perhaps planning to take over the body of whichever descendant entered this space? Maybe that’s why you tucked your soul into this broken sword for so long."
The old man immediately stammered.
"H-how could you even suggest something so vile, oh great sir? I may be many things but I am by no means a thief, nor someone evil enough to do something so... repulsive."
I knew he wasn’t capable of that.
After all, no matter the strength of a soul, the rules of this world made it impossible for the dead to interfere with the living. Most people wouldn’t even be able to see the souls of others under normal circumstances.
In a sense, it was impossible for him to take over someone’s body unless he had some hidden artifact hidden somewhere nearby capable of such a feat but such artifacts absorbed the surrounding mana voraciously and I couldn’t sense any such vacuum.
"Then what were you planning to do?"
I was merely probing him for a reaction.
And he gave me plenty of one.
Meanwhile, my chaotic mind made sure to go over all the interactions we had since I met him until I found something suspicious.
"You were waiting for someone." As soon as those words left my mouth, he stiffened. "Someone you were certain would come one day and complete this trial."
His reaction when I first arrived in this place came to mind. He hadn’t asked for my name or who I was. Instead, he had asked whether I truly didn’t know him, as if I should have.
At the time, I thought perhaps he had expected his descendant to recognize him immediately but seeing his personality so far, he didn’t seem like the type to care about something like that.
"And that someone should have known you were here. So who exactly were you expecting?"
I continued as the old man’s face shifted through several emotions before settling into pure disbelief.
"Y-you... you, what kind of sorcery is this? Is this some kind of mind magic developed in the current era? H-how are you reading my mind?"
So, I was correct. Heh.
A smile appeared on my face.
"Now that your secret is out anyway, why don’t you tell me the rest of the plan as well? Who exactly were you waiting for, what were you planning to do once you met them, and how were you so sure they would come?"
"You know, you seem like a nice guy, so you can rest assured that as long as you don’t mean any harm, I won’t harm you or the person you were waiting for."
I continued with the same tone.
"Hell, I found you likable enough that I might even help you with whatever troubles you are dealing with. So come on, fess up. I have ways of finding things out even if you refuse to tell me, though I would rather not get rough with you."
That was a lie.
Just as souls couldn’t touch the living, the living couldn’t touch souls either without special affinities. Even the bloodlust I was using was mostly a dud meant only to intimidate. If this guy had possessed even a slightly stronger will and a bit more knowledge, he would have realized that.
But naturally, he was a storyteller, not a warrior.
The old man finally lowered his head in resignation.
"Yes, I was expecting someone specific to come, oh great sir, but do what you must. I won’t share who it was or what I planned to do."
My smile widened.
"Let me take a guess..." I continued, taking a step toward him before stopping right in front of his kneeling figure. "You were waiting for yourself, weren’t you?" ƒгeewёbnovel.com
The old man hastily raised his head. His pupils trembled with shock as his mouth opened and closed without a single word for a moment before he finally spoke.
"How could you even know that?"
Actually, I didn’t, not until you confessed so easily at least.
I sighed at the poor and innocent storyteller before me.
Now I understood why he had never truly grown into his power.
Even after reaching the Enlightened rank and later advancing into the Transcendent rank through countless resources, he lacked the one thing mana respected above all else.
Confidence.
He had a strong will but he lacked the confidence to go along with it and maybe that was why, despite being a Transcendent, he was so weak.
"You were certain someone would visit this desolate space and you were certain they would pass the trial, which should have been impossible unless they possessed an incredibly impossibly strong will or already knew in advance when and how the trial would end." freewёbnoνel.com
I continued.
"Seeing hundreds of years into the future is impossible. And since you left a fragment of yourself inside this sword before your death, the person entering would have had to know beforehand that they would come here one day."
"For someone like you to leave a whole fragment of your soul, that person must have been important to you. Either one of your close friends... or yourself."
The old man remained silent.
"That was all I could deduce from everything you showed me. Everything after that was, in a way, just a guesswork."
A faint smile appeared on my face.
"One that you kindly validated through your reactions."
Even as I said those words, I knew there were other possibilities.
A prophecy, for example.
Or perhaps some form of divine intervention that had convinced him someone would arrive in the distant future.
But prophecies worked only one way and the person destined to arrive could not have known about them beforehand. Which meant the possibility I had guessed was still the most likely answer.
"Haaaaaa!"
The old man let out a long sigh as his expression completely crumbled.
"How is that even possible? How could you deduce so much? This must be some kind of magic... or perhaps you are some sort of devil. Someone as young as you couldn’t possibly possess such wisdom."
The old man was completely falling apart.
It reminded me of my first life before I was reincarnated into this world. Back on Earth, most of my clients had reacted in much the same way whenever I pieced things together.
And it was just as entertaining every single time.
I let the old man have some time to settle dowm before I asked again.
"Are you ready to share your plan now?"
