Chapter 172: In the Memory
Chapter 172 – In the Memory
Myne kept staring at me for a while .
However, she seemed to not recognize me .
Albeit feeling troubled by that, I took the initiative to approach and greet her .
[Yo, Myne . ]
[… . . who are you?]
Of course… .
It’s just like with Greed . In this world, this would be our first meeting .
Yosh, if this world is truly inside Myne’s mind, then the first thing I need to do is to get along with her . Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to talk properly .
Still sitting while hugging her knees, Myne sat still on the floor .
[My name is Fate . ]
[Earlier today, I met Kairos-san by chance on the battlefield . He then brought me here . What about you, why are you here?]
[I fought Kairos and lost . He took Sloth away from me . ]
[So you’re here because he won’t return it to you?]
[That’s a problem . ]
I sat next to her, watching the ongoing construction work .
[Where are you from?]
She’s probably curious about my appearance . Kairos said earlier that my black hair and black eyes are unusual . It’s a dead giveaway that I’m not a Gallian .
[I came from a place far, far away from here . ]
[A rural area?]
It’d be difficult to explain if I said that I came from the real world .
Meanwhile Myne’s heart was still trapped in the past .
I suppose I had no choice but to try and blend into this world for now .
[Kind of? This place doesn’t seem like a place where people should live either though?]
[It wasn’t like this in the past . There used to be a large city spreading over the area . Kairos and the others have been building everything from the rubble . ]
[Who is this enemy Kairos is fighting against?]
[The enemy is not a particular person . He was fighting against a country called the Gallian Empire . And I’m just a prisoner of war . ]
So they’re fighting against a country?
On that scale it can no longer be called simple battle . It’s on the level of war already .
In any case, I’m more concerned about Myne’s status as a prisoner of war .
[You look quite free for a prisoner . ]
[I lost against him and thus had nowhere to go . That man knows that as well . ]
Nowhere to go… So apparently Myne was an a.s.sa.s.sin sent by the Gallia empire .
[You too, don’t seem like you have any idea why you are here . ]
[Is it that dangerous to be here?]
[Yes, it is . Moreover, I can feel that you have similar power to us . Very similar to Kairos actually . ]
[Is that why you are willing to talk with me?]
Myne nodded quietly . Apparently in this world, mortal sin skill holders could still sense one another when nearby .
I also felt that sensation . It’s like a magnet attracting each other .
Once you get close, it’s hard to set away .
[There is that . And, for some reason… I feel calm when I’m talking to you . Have we… have we met before?]
Her crimson eyes were scanning my face .
Does this mean she still retains part of her future memory despite being trapped in the past?
What should I do? How should I answer?
Before I could say anything else, Kairos already called to the both of us .
[You two, it’s meal time . Need to fill up that empty stomach . ]
[I don’t want to fight anymore . ]
[Don’t give me that . We need your strength . Fate’s too . ]
Kairos got Myne back up to her feet .
And pushed her from behind while saying,
[You say all that, yet you eat more than anyone else here . ]
[Guh . ]
I knew that as well . She’s truly a big eater .
As I watched Myne walking ahead, Kairos spoke to me .
[She eats even more than me, someone with Gluttony skill . ]
[Just wondering, but where do you get your food?]
[From the empire . We were able to procure some during the previous battle . ]
[That… you mean . ]
[Perhaps it’s because of the Gluttony skill . But I simply can’t have enough to fill my stomach . You don’t want to know how it’s like . ]
[Kairos…what in the world are you?]
[Alright then, eat up . Otherwise you’ll get nothing . ]
The meal wasn’t particularly delicious to be honest .
Kairos let out a hearty laugh, telling me that it doesn’t matter as long as it fills the stomach .
Myne who sat beside me also ate quietly . I see…at this point she probably had already lost her sense of taste, so it also didn’t matter for her .
Perhaps Kairos also thought that I was the same .
[Is it really delicious, Myne?]
[Worse . The food in the facility is better . ]
[What?]
[You can tell the taste of the food?]
[Obviously . This taste isn’t something I can stay silent to . ]
[Really!?]
[How loud . ]
She got annoyed .
But as it turned out, Myne still had her sense of taste .
Then when did she lose it?
Her personality was still the same even now .
[If you like it, then you can have my share . ]
[Ooh . ]
With bright eyes, she started eating the rest of my meal . Of course, Myne had already finished hers .
Kairos laughed as he watched us .
[Now I feel like I should surrender my portion as well . She’s just that feisty despite being a prisoner, ain’t she? Are you fine with that, Fate? Won’t you get hungry later?]
[I’m used to it already . ]
Hearing my reply, the man laughed once more .
[That’s something you should never get used to though . ]
Both of us watched Myne going through her meal merrily .
[At this rate, she’ll ask for more servings . Ain’t that right, Fate?]
[I think so too . ]
[She always do that . ]
After eating her fill, Myne returned to her usual spot .
But Kairos wasn’t going to let her go without a teasing .
[Full already? Nn? What’s wrong?]
I looked at him, something piqued my interest .
[Kairos-san, why do you keep fighting?]
[I wonder why… At first it was to stay alive . And it’s still to stay alive . I’m not fighting for some sort of n.o.ble goal or anything . ]
Kairos then looked around, towards the people working on the construction sites .
[Then somehow, I became part of this big family . ]
[To live?]
[Yeah . To live like a human being . All of us here were formerly the empire’s toys . We chose to escape, got here, and fought to keep our freedom . You remember that machine angel from the previous battle?]
[If we didn’t escape, we might end up becoming that thing . ]
According to him, human experiments were commonplace in the empire .
Humans living there had ranks a.s.signed to each of them from the time of their birth . The lowest rank didn’t even have basic human rights .
They’re willing to do anything to understand how the system behind skills, the so-called blessing of G.o.d, actually worked .
It’s said that the research was meant to understand the mechanic on how a person could be born with a particularly strong skill .
Apparently, the people here were able to escape with the help from the researchers who disagreed with the experimental methods .
[The person who helped me escape back then was already dead . But his last words,『Live on』left a huge impression on me . Everytime Gluttony skill almost overwhelmed me, those words were what kept me from going over the brink . ]
Kairos seemed to have a better control over the Gluttony skill than me .
However, his condition might be similar to mine .
[You too… Gluttony skill is just troublesome, isn’t it?]
[You should know about it the most, right? I never consider this skill as some sort of a blessing . It’s more like a curse . What about you, Fate?]
[I…I’d be lying if I say that I don’t consider it as such . But without it, I won’t be able to protect the people who are important to me . Even now, I still feel inadequate . ]
[I can understand that feeling . ]
As far as I knew, Gallia perished .
Kairos and his group might’ve won the war . But he’d lose his life for it .
I’m pretty sure that’s the case because it’s what Greed told me .
Suddenly, I felt myself being watched again . When I turned around, there was Myne, staring at me intently .
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