CH 279

I pray for Roa and Taula’s safety as I walk slowly towards the being looking down at me.

“Splendid splendid.”

The homunculus says as it snaps its fingers with both hands again. Then I feel something behind me.

I turn around, and see there’s another chair there all of a sudden.

It looks a lot like the one the giant homunculus is sitting on, but its size is appropriate for a regular person.

Is it telling me to sit down? It could be a trap but… It’s too late to be thinking about that.

I slowly sit on the white squared chair.

It’s strange. It looks hard, but it feels like I’m sitting on nothing. It looks like a chair, but is it actually just a chair shaped repulsive field?

“Now now, Rust Struna Hartnicks, can we talk?”

“Talk? Then can I ask you your name? And my name is just Rust. I don’t remember having the status to have a middle and last name.”

“I see, Rust Struna Hartnicks. Ah, you may call me Zwei.”

It tells me its name, but won’t listen to the rest. Is there a reason? Is it confusing me with someone else? Zwei? I see, Zwei.

I rack my brain trying to get as much information as possible out of this short exchange. Zwei has shown me it has overwhelming power. I doubt I’ll be able to do much if it decides to start swinging around that power that I don’t even where it’s getting.

That means my priority should be to get as much information as I can.

That means I should ask…

“What is it that you brought me here to talk about, Mister Zwei?”

“Of course, you. You formed contracts with two dragons connected to the ancestors, grasped the power of god, and you are an alchemist who commands the power of curses. I have a warning for you.”

“Warning? Can I ask what it is?”

“Stop raising heroes. You will destroy the world.”

Connected to ancestors? I don’t know what that means, but I know the two dragons are Seilook and An. That means it’s not confusing me for someone else… Destroy the world? Isn’t that what Princess Lily, I mean, the ‘Third Seat of Immorality’ wanted? She was helping me get points for Seilook, wasn’t she…

“Do you have a problem with the world being destroyed, Mister Zwei?”

“I do. I sure do.”

I look directly at it, and Zwei closes its mouth. There’s no expression on its face, but there’s an air of seriousness about it now.

The next question, depending on the answer, could mean my life. Even the question itself is dangerous, but the answer could give me room to negotiate.

I take a deep breath. Taula, Roa, Ahri, Kalin, everyone in the Kagero Institute, and all the faces in Habbafulton and Putaresque cross through my mind and disappear.

“Why won’t you stop me by force? You took Taula away, stopped Roa, and took control of the hole in the air away from me. If you’re so powerful, wouldn’t it be simple to just kill me?”

I’m gambling with my life by asking that question.