Chapter 204: Syncretism

Chapter 204: Syncretism

A piano plays in a theater as a girl takes a step with each movement of the keys.

She dances, not paying attention to the audience, approaching the piano in the center of the stage.

The tempo slows dramatically, and near the end of the piece, the man at the piano notices her.

“There you are, Lucia.”

“You’re still good at the piano, sir. That was beautiful.”

“Not good enough. I owe the audience a more beautiful performance.”

“What about the others?”

“They’re all busy with their own business. I don’t know when we would all be here together.”

The man tilted his head as he carefully closed the lid of his keyboard.

They belonged to an organization called Syncretism.

A hybrid, a flower that blooms in chaos.

It was an organization, but most of its members were too individualistic to work well together, but when they did, they were one of the worst criminal groups on the continent, sowing chaos on a continental scale.

The building, tucked away underground, was his personal theater, a hideout of sorts.

“I’ve heard weirder rumors than that.”

“What rumors?”

“The strange rumor that the head of Syncretism is coveting my flowers.”

“Alas, that one.”

“But there’s no head of Syncretism, is there? Or at least not one who looks like one...”

Lucia whirled around in a dance, tilting her head to look at him at the piano.

“...It’s you, isn’t it?”

“Haha, Lucia wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“Pooh, are you trying to invade my territory?”

Lucia, who puffed out her cheeks as if she was impatient, narrowed her eyes.

The man who had been the recipient of her cute questioning stood up with a grin on his face.

“So, Lucia, did you like him?”

“I thought he was just a nice guy at first, but he had something more interesting up his sleeve.”

“You’ve grown to like him?”

“Phew, love is such a hard thing for me to talk about, I just like flowers...that’s not my role, and you haven’t answered my question yet...”

“...I don’t have any plans right now, but he piqued my interest. I’m just waiting for it to blossom.”

“Hmm... I think the flower has already bloomed.”

“It’s going to be a bigger flower than that.”

“It’s beautiful enough as it is.”

“Don’t worry too much. I’m sure Lucia will be happy when it does.”

“What did you see?”

Lucia asks, and the man stroking the piano reminisces.

“...Chunks of scrap metal, demons with crimson horns sprouting from their heads...and I saw him among them. Distrust, despair...and reunion. Soon there will be war, Lucia.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Haha, that’s understandable, but what matters now is that he will be at the center of that war.”

“War...Is my sister safe?”

Lucia’s eyes widened at the word war, and her voice turned serious.

The most important thing to her was the safety of her sister, Rikua.

“Perhaps...?”

The man shrugged, feeling like he’d been caught in the wrong.

“I don’t want to entrust my sister’s life to such a vague answer, so if he dies, maybe there won’t be a war?”

“...Unfortunately, I don’t think so. His presence will only lead the war into chaos. It’s too late to stop the war itself, and if you intend to harm him above all else...”

He snaps his fingers, and everyone in the theater turns to stare at her.

“...I don’t think you can get away with it, can you?”

They were not living human beings.

They were all his puppets, the audience for his show.

The world called him a marionette in a massacre, a cursed puppeteer.

Lucia’s head snapped around at the dense feeling all around her, and she raised her hands in surrender.

“Well, if my sister isn’t in danger... I’m fine, and I’m having enough fun as it is.”

“Good.”

The man snapped his fingers again at Lucia’s reply, and the crowd that had been glaring at her spontaneously erupted into conversation about the performance.

“But if you’re so worried about him, why don’t you just stop the assassins yourself?”

“Ah, that fifty thousand gold...”

Lucia nodded at the man’s muttering.

“You’ve come to the right place. I’m the one...”

Boom!

He is interrupted by the door opening and Madler entering the shop again.

“...”

He glances at Madler uncomfortably.

“Oh, that’s because I forgot my stuff...”

Madler ducked into the kitchen, grabbed his stuff, and headed back out the door.

“C’mon, I’m the one who...”

He coughed and tried to regain his composure.

“...Never mind. I think you know who I am.”

He didn’t seem to be in the mood, so I decided to let it go.

“Have a seat. You didn’t bring her, by the way, did you?”

“...You mean Sierra?”

I had left Sierra behind.

I’d told her I’d be back in a few minutes with Geppeti and the groceries.

“Well, it’s not something she’ll want to hear. She wouldn’t even know what you were talking about.”

I was thinking the same thing.

As Geppeti and I took our seats, he tapped the table and spoke again.

“Let me formally introduce you to the ‘Earth God’ you’ve been looking for. Well, not really a god or anything anymore.”

“Then what should we call you? There have been many gods on Earth, haven’t there?”

“Call me whatever you want, because all those gods were me.”

“Hmm...”

The gods of various religions came to mind, but I didn’t want to call them anything.

“Loki... What about Loki?”

Geppeti had the same idea, and she suggested it to me.

“Why Loki?”

“It just popped into my head, and I think it’s a similar image...”

“Well, if it’s Loki, is that the guy from Norse mythology? He’s a personal favorite.”

“Then let’s call you Loki.”

“As you wish.”

That was my first encounter with Loki.

Well, maybe not the first meeting, since I had seen him before.

“Well, I like the name, so let’s get straight to the point. The fact that you came to me means that Heneryes told you about me... You’ve noticed that you’re having problems with your awakening, right?”

“Problems?”

Loki tilted his head at the mention of a problem with awakening.

“...If not that, then what?”

“I just came to see you because I think my head has gotten weird.”

“Your head got weird because...?”

“Well, a lot has happened in the last little while, and I was wondering if you could fix it...”

“What happened?”

I explained to Loki what had happened with the girls. The strangeness of their obsession and my feelings for them.

“It has something to do with the crown...”

Loki scratched his head as he listened to my explanation but his next words caught me off guard.

“...That has nothing to do with the crown.”

Loki, who had been casually scratching his ears, said in a firm voice.

“Yeah, but...”

“It’s just your taste, isn’t it?”

“...My taste?”

“In the first place, I looked at your past life, and your taste is the same as it has always been. The bottom line is, you’ve been a weirdo from the beginning.”

I get a clear answer, and Geppeti, sitting next to me, looks at me quizzically.

“So, Lord Zetto, you were like that in your previous life as well...”

“No...”

...Was I?

Now I’m not sure what’s what.

“It’s just an illusion caused by your emotions. Of course, it’s undeniably stimulating, so it might help you regain your emotions... but don’t blame the crown I made for you. It had nothing to do with your ‘strange tastes’.”

I knew my reaction was out of the ordinary, but to say that I only had unusual tastes...? I was at a loss for words.

“...So, you’re saying you have a problem with awakening?”

At times like this, it’s better to change the subject.