Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

Chapter 288 - Guardian

As I secretly watch over them, the resurrection of the third prince and co is completed. It sure has been trivialised. Even though it’s literally a matter of life and death for people. The power of gods can even control life and death. Feeling as if I’ve been shown a fragment of D’s outrageous power, somehow I feel restless.

It’s not like I can’t resurrect the dead myself either. However, that’s limited only to this world where the “System” exists. It’s precisely because the very concept of life and death in this world differs to other worlds that it’s possible to use it here - a limited power. No matter how hard I tried, there’s no way I could resurrect the dead on a world without the System. That is, something that is entirely concocted by D. Before I became a god, though I couldn’t see the upper limits of that power, even since becoming a god I can’t see the depths of that power either. It’s frankly terrifying.

Even though it is the work of a miracle, Yamada-kun only has to pay a minor compensation to use it. He doesn’t appreciate just how extraordinary a thing that is. Merely with the compensation of an increase in the level of Taboo, a work of god can actually be performed. In the first place, if it was possible to bring people back to life so trivially, then I wouldn’t be so attached to life either.

Hmm. Since it would have been problematic if Yamada-kun’s MP had ran out, I’d limited it to three people, but perhaps I should have increased the number of people a bit? Looking at the situation, it certainly seems that Yamada-kun has yet to max Taboo anyway. Well, his Taboo level should have gone up by 3 at least, so it’s not like it’s been futile. Besides, getting Yamada-kun to max Taboo would have been something like a bonus anyway. Or rather, this whole thing has been like a bonus I guess. Even if it had failed I wouldn’t have been particularly bothered about it. I was able to carry out my other objective you see.

I take a good look at the third prince’s soul, now that he’s been resurrected. Yep. Potimas’s soul has been torn off. I’m satisfied just to know that it’s possible to separate from Potimas by dying once.

I’ve already accomplished my objective, so all that remains is to see that Yamada-kun and co safely escape. Will I then be thrown back into that huge mass of people again? No thanks. Let’s hang out here a bit longer, yes let’s do that.

「Shun, just in case, please check the status of the teleportation ring. It’s probably already destroyed and can’t be activated though. I’ll stay here and observe the condition of Leston and the other two.」

「I understand.」

It seems that Yamada-kun is going to check the status of the teleportation ring. The teleportation rings are one of the major means of travel in this world. Since you can cross between continents in an instant, it’s rather handy eh. If you wanted to cross between continents without using a teleportation ring, there’s no other options except to cross the ocean infested with water dragons, or to go through the Elro Great Labyrinth. The ocean is impossibly hard so in practice the Elro Great Labyrinth is the only way.

Yamada-kun and co are headed towards the teleportation ring to check it. Of course the teleportation ring has already been fully destroyed by Natsume-kun’s order. Naturally, I have no intention of letting them cross between continents so easily. Well, since such a thing was proposed “just in case”, I guess they wanted to be able to move about more freely.

The door to the room I’m in opens. To not even knock, he sure has no manners eh.

「You sure are getting up to some nasty hobbies.」

On top of that, that’s the first thing he says on entering. He’s pissed off? I guess so. As proof of that, the way he flumps down onto a chair facing where I’m sitting, is carelessly rough.

「You made Ronant-sama, who was Julius’s teacher, fight Shun who is Julius’s younger brother. While it made for a dramatic development, try putting yourself in his place. Can’t you damn well understand the feelings of Ronant-sama as he chose to withdraw?」

Not much point in asking me. It’s not like I was the one who arranged for that jijii to be here anyway. For the sake of declaring my intention to not accept his protest, I ignore him and drink some tea.

「It’s hardly humane you know.」

Ah, don’t go there. I’ve not human now nor ever have been okay. However, being spoken of like I’m some monstrous fiend is hardly pleasant.

「That’s not very god-like, Kuro.」

So I retorted back. Against the clone of Kuro sitting opposite me, who goes by the name of Hyrinth.

「I guess so. I think so myself, in that regard. A beginner you damn well may be but you’re much more god-like.」

Saying so, Kuro sighed deeply.

「I understand it though. That whatever I say about this matter it’s just venting my anger. I do appreciate that you lot are trying to do your best with your chosen path. However, even so, even so, these feelings are hard to contain.」

He laments. Well, considering he had to let the previous Hero Julius die when he was like a childhood friend with him, and watch Julius’s younger brother go through various bitter experiences on top of that, I’m sure anyone would feel ashamed. But hey, it’s no concern of mine though. I’ve got absolutely no concern for what this guy’s saying when at the same time that he’s administering this world, he’s also been running around accompanying the Hero pretending to be a champion of justice.

「Detachment due to resurrection confirmed.」

Therefore, I’ll ignore those feelings of Kuro and settle things with a report on practical matters.

「I see. If the detachment had not occurred then it would have been necessary to get rid of him again, so that is fortuitous.」

He shows an expression of relief from the bottom of his heart. After all, as Hyrinth he had a considerable amount of contact with the third prince. It’s to be expected that he would have wanted the guy to survive if at all possible. It’s not like I want to pointlessly kill either, so this helps me too.

「That being the case, it might have been better to resurrect the king.」

However, I wasn’t able to endorse his next words. That has the same meaning of wanting to save every human who could be saved. It’s not like you could even do it.

「I understand. You want to say that I’m being overly supportive of one side, right? I’ve entrusted every damn thing to you lot. So I don’t intend to interfere with how you do things.」

「Good.」

You were totally complaining just a moment ago though! I’ll forget about it. Be grateful that I’m so kind.

「Next is, the elf village huh.」

Indeed, indeed. We’re currently moving there. Ah, I just recalled something unpleasant. Do I really have to return to that huge crowd of people? Can’t I be allowed to waste some time somewhere until the movement is complete?

「Since this is you lot I’m talking about, I’m not going to worry. However, he hasn’t been living for such a long time just for show either. Don’t be careless.」

Not exactly a warning I can appreciate. I know all too well that’s the case. We’re prepared for any eventuality, so there’s not even a one in a million chance we could lose. The only difference will be whether we take heavy damage or light damage.

「Shun and co will be returning soon. I’ll excuse myself here.」

Saying so, Kuro left the room.

So long as that man protects Yamada-kun and the rest, unexpected situations will be impossible. Precisely because of that, I can have peace of mind. There is absolutely no chance that Yamada-kun and the others could die. Even if they did, if that man gets serious then he would even be able to resurrect them, like how I could.

The man called Hyrinth is a clone of Kuro. To be more precise, a being who was a stillborn son of a noble from the Kingdom who had a part of Kuro’s soul implanted into the body. While the soul was that of a god, since the body was that of a human, his status values as he grew to adulthood reflected that. Well, since he can use a fragment of Kuro’s power due to the soul connection, if he gets serious then he could make use of his power as a god. Since his body is that of a human with no connection to Kuro whatsoever, his appearance doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to Kuro. From time to time Kuro creates clones like this, and it seems he takes actions that intermingle with human society. I have no idea what his objective is. It’s probably just killing time, or immersing himself with the sentiment of intermingling with the people of this world perhaps - the sorts of things I consider to be far removed from being practical. After all, he has no need to administer this world at all. Therefore he plays around.

However, even if he’s playing around his emotions still get affected. Since he and Julius were close friends, they shared their joys and sorrows. Then Julius was killed by me. I’m sure Kuro had complicated feelings about that. Even though he could logically accept that it was something that was absolutely necessary no matter what.

I guess that’s why. The reason why he’s so concerned about Yamada-kun. I guess he believes it’s atonement or something. In regards for letting his elder brother die. I guess that’s also why he’s gotten overprotective to the extent that he’ll come to me to complain a bit, like just now.

But still, people’s feelings eh. Did that jijii deliberately declare “I can’t win” and withdraw because he was facing his apprentice’s little brother then? That jijii actually had such sentiments as well then huh. I see.

……Well, there’s no need to consider people’s feelings though. I will only do what I need to do for myself. Consequently, I have to return. To the middle of that crowd of people.

……Suddenly, I want to resign from doing what I need to do.

Notes:

“Guardian” - the Japanese word used here is the same as the name of the skill that has appeared before. This is “guardian” in the sense of “one who defends others”.

To be clear, when Hyrinth tells Shun to go check the teleportation ring, Hyrinth is supposedly staying back and watching over the three who were just resurrected, while the rest went with Shun. Hyrinth takes this opportunity to go visit Shiro. The conversation between Hyrinth and Shun is not from a previous chapter. Hyrinth’s speech style here is very similar to Kuro’s, though not identical - I guess he refers to Ronant as “Ronant-sama” due to being Hyrinth and not Kuro - in the chapter before the Great War, Hyrinth uses “Ronant-sama”. He tends to refer to Shiro as “kisama”, which is a very rude way of saying “you”, but it’s hard to convey this. Imagine him as having a slightly old style of speech and a lot of frustrations.

“The ocean is impossibly hard” - Shiro actually calls it a “無理ゲ-”, or “impossibly hard video game”.

“not even a one in a million chance” - literally this is “not even a one in 10,000 chance” in the raw but the meanings are pretty much equivalent.