Chapter 24

‘Does she want to be killed?’

No matter how much he hated children, he would never kill them.

“Milady, when a person loses a lot of blood, you know they die, right?”

[Yes.]

“Likewise, when the core runs out of energy, the user will die.”

[Yes.]

“Exactly, so stop with the nonsense.”

Carl thought that his explanation was kind enough for children to understand.

However, Aria still stared straight into his eyes, not showing any signs of fear even after knowing that there was a risk of death.

[But that’s the only method I can use if I want to use my energy in a short period of time, right?]

“That’s right.”

The ‘unique’ method.

Aria made a quick decision.

There was nothing else she could do than to bet everything on this shaman for now.

[Can you do it?]

“I can…”

Carl continued to explain.

“I have met numerous people who chose to take the risks. However…”

They were mainly fighters.

Those humans were all brawns and no brains. They were willing to end their lives if it meant for them to become stronger.

Carl thought that those martial artists were foolish and ignorant.

“If your resistance exceeds that of humans and is closer to amoebas, then you might succeed.”

He stared at Aria.

She seemed to think that she had a high tolerance for pain.

“Do you know the proverb ‘knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom?’ It’s quite a famous proverb in the temples.”

“……”

“Young miss’s energy is so weak that even I, myself, am very impressed to see you still alive and breathing. If I pierce through your core, young miss will immediately stop breathing in 0.1 seconds. So just forget about it.”

He reached out his hand to Aria.

“I’ll escort you out.”

Rather than being considerate, it was an effort to expel Aria as soon as possible.

Aria silently stared at Carl’s hand.

She pondered for a moment. Then, she grasped his hands.

“…!”

At that moment, the Shaman’s half-closed eyes opened in amazement.

He quickly withdrew his hand as if he had just experienced an electric shock.

“What in the… This doesn’t make sense…”

Is it possible for humans to have this massive amount of energy?

The moment Carl touched Aria’s hand, he suddenly felt the essence she was hiding.

It was just a short period of time, but the amount of power she had was unbelievable.

“What the hell are you?”

His snub attitude suddenly changed.

‘I was caught off guard because of her meek appearance.’

At first, he thought that she only wrote on those cards because she was childish or too shy to speak.

But now, he realized that she probably had another reason. 

Aria looked at him.

Then, she parted her lips.

“Siren.”

Aria reached an impasse, and if she couldn’t hide from everyone, she had to choose a reliable figure.

Aria had no other choice. She couldn’t keep her secret for long anyway. Thus, she chose to reveal it to a reliable figure.

The shaman.

He was the only one who could increase her potential.

“Have you heard of Sirens?”

“…There’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

Carl replied hesitantly, gritting his teeth.

He instinctively realized that he was now caught up in a problematic task.

“Damn it. Have you been hiding your powers this entire time?”

It’s no wonder that she’s still alive. 

He thought she had barely any energy in her, but turns out, she was hiding her powers.

“But how could you know about cores…?”

Carl was confused.

Of course, theory and practice were completely different, but they were deeply related to each other, so she couldn’t just dismiss one of them and master the other.

One could only hide their energy after receiving sufficient knowledge regarding it.

‘But I can only do it because I remember my previous life,’ Aria thought.

She could do it because of her implicit memory. She already knew how to manipulate energy in her previous life.

However, her current body was weak, and even her core was blocked.

Most of her powers were sealed. So how strong would she be if it were to be released?

“What in the world are you? How is this possible? This is ridiculous!”

“I know the basics of manipulating energy. But the problem is that the passage where my energy runs through is sealed.”

‘She could manipulate her energy even when her passageway was never breached?’

It was certainly possible, but it was inefficient and abusive to the body.

He had never seen a person who practiced that way.

Carl rubbed his forehead.

“So, how were you able to use your energy without the passageway?”

“I just did it.”

“What?”

Aria nodded her head.

“No, why would you do that?! Why are you doing the same thing as those barbarians when you have such artistic and delicate talent?”

When asked why, Aria had no choice but to answer.

“Because I want to sing. I can only learn to sing by doing it this way.”

“……”

“I sang until I vomited blood.”

Carl was at a loss for words.

‘She wasn’t even treated like a human.’

He understood why Aria hid her voice and didn’t reveal the fact that she was a Siren. 

‘That’s why a 10-year-old told me to break her core without hesitation.’

Carl clenched his teeth.

He didn’t think of himself as a righteous person, but he still has convictions.

Count Cortez, often referred to as the Circus Leader.

He forced Sirens to continue his ‘circus’ and even had one to give birth to a daughter. What’s worse is that when he no longer needed her, he sold her off.

He was a disgrace to humanity, he should have been born as a worm instead.

“Then, I’ll change the question,” he said while trying to contain the anger that just rose to his head.

“Why did you come to me? To learn how to use energy?”

Carl was willing to teach her if she asked for his help.

Seeing her abuse her body like that was heartbreaking to him.

But Aria shook her head.

“Just pierce through my core.”

“Don’t push it. Breaking your core doesn’t mean that you can immediately use your energy. I can’t even guarantee that it would be successful in the first place.”

“No, I can use my abilities as soon as the passage is cleared.”

“And how are you so certain…?”

Well, she was able to hide her energy.

Carl was ashamed of himself. It seemed as though he can’t brag about being a genius anymore.

“Alright, I’ll hear you out. But why do you want to use your abilities so quickly?”

This was it. The problematic question she had been wanting to avoid this whole time.

Aria took a deep breath.

What she had said so far could be accepted by common sense, but after this, her words would only sound like the nonsense of a lunatic.

But she was forced to continue.

“I know the future and I have to change it.”

“What?”

“In fact, what will happen in the future… .”

“Now, wait a second.”

Carl interrupted her words.

“I don’t want to know.”

Aria was momentarily speechless.

She was expecting him to say, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ or ‘Are you in your right mind?’, but he replied with an ‘I don’t want to know’ instead…?

The shaman continued to maintain his overbearing and harsh attitude, but Aria could see that his pupils were shaking.

“Foresight? Did you receive a vision? No, nevermind. That doesn’t matter…”

‘I’m not curious about that.’

Aria was surprised for he easily dismissed the question she was most afraid of.

Regardless of Aria’s reaction, he continued to speak very frankly.

“No matter what the future is, you cannot know or change it.”

“Why?”

“Because each person has their own destiny.”

Destiny?

It was absurd.

If that was the case, does it mean that Aria was destined to destroy the empire?

Why should she bear such fate just because she was born in this world?

“Do you mean to say that everything is based on God’s will?”

“Well even if there’s a God or whatever, there are laws and providence that are already set in the world.”

Aria stared at Carl without answering.

“The world may seem like it’s in disorder, but it’s actually passing by a set of rules. One that is fixed and absolute. It’s like a gear that fits in a set of cogwheels.”

Aria understood where he was coming from.

Just like how apples are red, and how the sky is blue.

Deers eat grass, and lions eat deer.

Divine guidance.

That is the providence of the world.

‘And humans cannot change the future.’

She was also the providence of the world.

“Changing the future is like removing the old gear and replacing it with a new one. We shouldn’t have to change anything else in order for the world to roll again.”

Aria gently bit her lips.

“Does this mean that if I break a law, a new one will come up?”

“You understand quickly.”

She was intelligent. It was unbelievable that she was only ten years old.

The reason she didn’t speak like a child, was it all due to her foresight?

Carl nodded in admiration.

“One must pay the price for changing the law.”

It was possible, but there was a cost for changing the laws of time.

His words made sense.

If she went back in time and saved people who should have died in the first place, she would have to pay a reasonable price for their life in return.

‘I don’t know what the price is, but…’

Aria replied vaguely.

“Strange.”

“What is strange?”

“If the law of time is absolute, then why do I know about the future?”

‘Why am I given the chance to go back to the past?’

Since she knew about the future, she would of course try to change it somehow.

“Destiny, fate, or whatever. I will not fail to change mine.”

‘I can’t just stand still while waiting for my demise… I have to do something.`

“That’s…”

That part was questionable, after all.

Why would a child who would risk sacrificing herself in order to get her core pierced receive visions about the future?

Aria simply came up with the answer.

“Because my will is the will of the world and my will is the providence of the world.”

“…What?”

Carl was shocked.

How did she reach that conclusion?

“The world would have known that I would act like this. God knew. So, I am the world. Make sure you follow my will.”

“You…”

This was absurd.

Carl reacted slowly to all this craziness.

But she said so without hesitation.

She was honestly good at surprising people.

“Of course, it won’t be easy. I may not be able to change much, but I will try. No matter how young I am, I know what is right and I will follow my convictions. If the world is wrong, then I will change it.”

“……”

“The biggest price that I have to pay is if I see everything repeating itself again. I can’t bear to endure that without doing anything. I’ll just take responsibility at the end and pay for it even if it’s a hundred times worse!”

“……”

At that moment, Carl’s eyes wavered.

She sounded mature, but she was definitely a child.

‘She wants to take responsibility for it?’ Carl thought.

She still believes that there’s justice in the world and that she could change anything with her powers.

Everything had already been decided by the greater force.

‘She would live an uneasy life.’

But she still believed in the world.

Carl realized that he had failed to convince her.

Thus he sighed and spoke to her.

“Then, prove it.”