Chapter 184 CH 163: VIRA (1)

[A few hours earlier]

Under the scorching suns, Sol wiped the blood on his hands after taking out the body of the last Taurus alive.

The odor of the blood made him frown a little.

'I should really have gone out with a weapon.'

But how could he have guessed that he would be faced with such a weird encounter?

'I fought more deadly battles and killed more beings in the few days I spent here than in all my life combined.'

He could only be left speechless at how much strife seemed to happen.

When he had heard of the Astral realm and the territories belonging to the divine beasts, he had imagined some kind of perfect utopia where peace existed.

This was even more so since Gabriel was a beast of virtue.

But, once again, the reality was sad.

As such, the result slightly disappointed him,

"In the end, I am still a little too naive."

Murmuring, he turned his attention to Isis.

While he was dealing with the four taurus, he had heard the scream of pain from behind him and looking at the blood leaking from its eyes, it was clear that she had used her skill.

He did not really understand how this power worked, but the effects were astonishing.

'Perhaps I should try recruiting her?'

Thinking so, he walked idly and stopped once beside her.

The last time, he had remarked that she seemed to become closer to him after he showed his lack of fear or disgust.

Clearly, this girl had suffered from some kind of discrimination because of her power.

Sol was not surprised. Few people could take such a sight without any problems. The only reason he wasn't creeped out was that the mind control skill of Camelia was way scarier.

As for creepiness...compared to Milia’s shadows filled with hundreds of bloodshot eyes and the howls of pain, the sight in front of him was just mildly disturbing.

"So, what was the result?"

He could feel her stiffen a little before relaxing,

"What do you think? I obtained Intel easily.”

He smiled and ignored her haughty tone. He now understood that this was nothing more than defensive mechanisms.

"Though, before we continue, how do you plan to deal with them?"

Sol grimaced as he followed where Isis' finger was pointed at.

The group of refugees were sitting and shivering while watching them. Fear was clear on their visages, but not a single one of them even tried to flee.

Clearly, they understood that even if they fled, in this desert filled with dangerous beasts and roaming bandits, all that awaited them would be death.

In order to help the refugees have a good start, Sol left them with about 1000 Vira. He wasn’t worried about wealth causing them problems. After all, the city was more safe than any place in this world.

As long as they weren’t stupid enough to leave the city after flaunting their wealth or didn’t spend in a crazy way, this amount was enough to last them for more than a year and still have leftovers.

‘Sheherazade’ had also informed him that the welfare system in the main city was top notch and as such, they should have no problem.

The money Sol had given them was mainly to help them heal faster and pay for some weapons and equipment in case they decided to go back to the desert.

Though this didn’t concern him. He had already helped them to a ridiculous degree. If they went and got enslaved again or killed, that had nothing to do with him.

----

While they were slowly walking away from the city, ‘Sheherazade’ suddenly questioned Sol,

"Why did you help them?"

Sol wondered what was the goal of this question, but didn’t really care,

"Because I could." He shrugged. He was capable of saving them and he did, nothing more and nothing less.

Isis raised an eyebrow at his nonchalant answer.

"Not because you should?"

Doing something because you ‘could’ or because you ‘should’ clearly carried different meanings. One came from one free will, while the other was born out of a feeling of obligation.

Sol was startled before shaking his head,

"I had absolutely no obligation to help any of them. I would never force myself to help someone if I am unable to."

"...So you wouldn't help if you were unable to?"

"Yep...Why would I? I would rather act for my own benefit first. Said benefits don't involve sacrificing myself for people who have nothing to do with me."

The phrase, ‘Great power means equally great responsibility’ was cool and all, but he didn’t particularly wish to live by this creed. Being a king was troublesome enough. There was no need to try to become some hero of justice because of people unrelated to him.

After all, even though people didn’t really die when they were killed in this world, he didn’t want to bet if he could reincarnate a second time.

"I see..."

Isis nodded to herself, seemingly coming to a decision.

“What was that about?”

"Forget it, let's go."

Shaking his head, he decided to ignore the weird question and changed the topic,

"So, you still didn't tell me about the Intel you got. Also, why did that first Asad and his group attack us?"

Isis put her hands behind her back and began to slowly walk away,

"... Sol, do you know what Vira is?"

Sol took a step beside her and began to follow,

"Normally I would answer that it's the currency, but I guess it isn't just that?"

"Heh, well indeed. Vira also had another name in the past. It was called — Faith Coins."

The wind around them stirred at those words.

(AN: Mixing Isis and Sheherazade names is sometimes a pain. Anyway, as long as the two are together, even if I write Isis in narration, for Sol she is Sheherazade.)