Chapter 707 – Restoration of Expungement (11)
“Just put your hand on the statue.”
When I agreed, Nefertiti told me how.
“The magic on this statue, I couldn’t activate it alone.”
When she placed her hand on the lizard-encased gem, she felt something like liquid rise inside the gem. It looked like a hologram and stopped after filling half of the jewel.
I recalled the details of Nefertiti that I had experienced in the underworld before and said.
“To unlock this psychic ability? It seems that something like this is necessary.”
“Yes.”
─Nod. Nefertiti pulling her chin.
Perhaps this was what he wanted to ask of me. I interrogate the soul with rune magic… No, maybe that was why I watched them interact.
It’s me, Wolfheddin’s authority, so the soul and Samba Samba lie down and eat rice cakes.
I put my hand on the back of her hand. I’ve made up my mind, but I won’t hesitate.
A moment…
As our hands covered the statue, mana rose from inside the jewel.
Not mine, not Nefertiti’s.
Still, the turquoise mana filling the jewel was not threatening at all. As Nefertiti and I watched, Mana took the form of her spell.
Opened Odin’s eyes.
It was this spell, the magic to save the voice.
《Ah- ah-. Can you hear my voice well?”
The entire statue swayed and emitted a vibrating wave resembling a man’s voice.
Unfamiliar but not unfamiliar It’s like I’ve heard of it.
Hit. When he peeked into Nefertiti’s memories while searching for Equinox’s memories.
It was the voice of Nefertiti’s brother that I had heard then.
Nefertiti’s eyes widened. Her lips parted as if to force her words out.
“I can hear you. What the statue is saying is correct. Although it is the voice I gave it.”
However, the statue’s voice was one step faster than her words.
《This mindset is a message that contains a little bit of my soul with the power of the statue. I want to pass this on to my sister, but in fact, I can’t help it even if you’re someone I have no contact with.”
Hearing that voice, Nefertiti’s lips closed.
Was it like that? I didn’t want to notice. She had hoped that perhaps her brother’s voice would answer her own words.
But Nefertiti’s brother was an ordinary priest.
He would not have the ability to leave a part of his soul as an alter ego like the bicorn prophets or Odin. I studied Nefertiti’s complexion and listened to her voice.
《For whatever reason, if this statue fell into your hands and fulfilled the conditions I set, there must have been a reason for that. It’s something you just have to accept.
Even so, as the older brother of a child, I will use the function of this statue as a message to my helpless little sister. If you’re dissatisfied, I won’t listen.”
─Hmm. A small coughing sound blended into the voice.
“Nefi, it’s me. Your brother Kadir.”
《… Yes.”
Nefertiti answered softly, but as if it was a recorded voice, her brother continued his words.
《At first, he spoke in full form, but when I listened to it again later, it was nothing. This is roughly the 8th revision, right? I’ll calm down and speak as usual, so you understand.
The reason I deliberately left my thoughts like this is because I wanted to be prepared for anything that might happen to you or me. So, if I’m still alive with my eyes open, if it’s turned off, turn it off right away? If you don’t want to have a good night later.”
The message was like a voicemail left by my older brother, who quarreled with his younger sister every day, on his way home from work.
A normal voice and a normal way of speaking.
Nagging for treating Nefertiti as a child.
So the message seemed to escape from her memories buried with emotions.
“Still, even if you want to hear it by yourself, you won’t be able to. Although our family was born with priestly abilities, spiritual sensitivity doesn’t increase through training.
It might come in handy later when you’re using your body or learning divine magic, but I know a little bit about your psychic powers. This message will require a psychic of at least the same level as you.”
Khadir meant that Nefertiti did not want to hear this message alone.
“I’m sorry if I made you look forward to it, but there is no such thing as hidden power in our family. I hope you graduate from breaking and eating herb pots while playing with a whip with a horse bridle.”
《… Forget about it now.”
Nefertiti murmured. It was something he said to me.
I smiled and nodded.
“Shall we go back to the story? Although there is no such thing as great power, our family has its own story. It’s a boring narrative, but it’s a story with the intention of leaving a term ahead of the embarrassing sound, so if you’re bored, turn it off quickly?”
Having said that, about 30 seconds of silence.
If the jewels on the statue hadn’t shined, they waited to the extent of worrying that they might be out of order! Kadir paused for just as long before she resumed her conversation timidly.
《… Well. If my good Nephi didn’t listen to me like this, nothing good would have happened to me. Great. Then let’s be a little more serious.
Do you know the country of Azteca? It was discovered after the Age of the Gods, and it is also famous for the fact that some countries came into contact with it during the ancient civilization and fled in fright.”
Are you Aztekara?
Even if I twisted my head at the very unexpected introduction, the recorded message just continued.
“I can imagine how you would feel if I had left you right now. When I lose someone I depend on, I feel embarrassed and sad no matter how much.
It was the same with people after the Age of Gods. How surprised must the king of humans, who used to be a proxy ruler, to see the gods who actively helped the world go silent?”
I thought it was time for a history lecture again, but Nefertiti’s brother was a macho man. TMI was a fodder for attention to keep it as short as possible.
《Another long time passed, and one day, a pharaoh who couldn’t even leave a name suddenly thought of it. Peace has continued for thousands of years since the gods left, but will that continue?
People who thought the same were also looking for a way. Humanity had not yet graduated from the gods, and at that time the pharaoh happened to know about the existence of the god Aztecan worshiped.”
Azteca’s wooshin. The god of cannibals receiving human sacrifice.
In mythology, don’t there always appear monsters that feed on heroes or gods?
Wooshin was such a being.
A monster that can bite Odin’s or Thor’s arm and keep an earthen pot even if it roars. A god of savagery and slaughter who does not rule over humans.
If a human can become a god, there is no law that a monster cannot.
“‘An evil god is also a god’. Pharaoh said he believed so. As we Narmer-Nile gods are beings who come and go between good and evil, his faith was strong. To the extent that he accompanied his son and sent him to Azteca.”
In particular, they are the gods of Narmer-Nile, which have a more dual character.
There is a myth that a benevolent goddess became a goddess of slaughter and made a sea of blood, and her main character, Inra, had a separate identity when she was beaten up.
Besides, aren’t the gods of Narmer-Nile – like the pictures on the murals – beings who are depicted as having animal heads? Even if it’s a metaphor, it’s true that he’s an existence with that aspect.
It seems that the pharaoh saw that the Aztecan god of war was also like that.
‘It must have been a misunderstanding.’
It was a mistake to try to understand anti-intellectualism with a rational mindset.
Was it because he thought, ‘If it was a simple monster, even the people of Azteca would obey it, but there was no way they could serve it as a god’.
Or, even if he really didn’t think so, did the flow of the times–that’s why the anger of other nobles and people, and the situation in the country didn’t allow for a different conclusion?
“Whatever the reason for making that choice, the pharaoh’s judgment was a mistake. His son and expedition were almost all eaten. Like the expeditions of other ancient civilized countries that had visited with similar thoughts.
Naturally, the pharaoh took all the blame and responsibility. It means that the end of the true Age of Gods has come to the desert country as well as being bitten by Wooshin.”
Voices of displeasure at the ending with a bad aftertaste continued incessantly.
《After that, the pharaohs, as humans and demigods, wanted to become the pillars of the hearts of the people on behalf of the gods. … 》
It was as if I could clearly imagine the figure of a man shrugging his shoulders.
“Well, I didn’t mean to engrave my spirit on this statue just because I wanted to say this.
This lizard statue is said to be the stolen property of our ancestors who participated in the expedition at the time. It is fortunate that it is not a cursed item, but the real problem was before that.”
… Kong Kong! It seemed that Kadir, who was imprinting his thoughts on the statue, had beaten the jewel.
《Didn’t you tell me how well priests were in the days when the kingship came from the gods? Our ancestors were roughly like that too. Of course, who among the priestly families in this country is not like that?
However, even if he grabbed the string, he still held the reins of the camel that had fallen into the sand hell. It’s a secret story that parents tell their children because they don’t know this and don’t get caught up in future purges.”
《… You heard it from your father.”
Nefertiti, who had been listening with mixed feelings, murmured. Kadir also giggled.
“I really want to know what that means. Knowing this isn’t a problem that will dramatically change your life or mine, right? When I heard this, I thought, ‘So the person who goes to work at 4 am kept talking to me until 2 am?'”
Maybe it was because I had the experience of being caught by my drunk father and listening to sermons when I was young and dying of sleepiness. I laughed at Kadir’s joke.
Still, I understood roughly what the baby was.
‘To put it bluntly, it’s like the poor Jeonju Lee family.’
Old glory is old glory.
The Nefertiti I saw was an ordinary child holding herbs and running to her brother who worked in a church. For those who live in the present, it is a past history that they do not need to know.
It’s just that some of the priests might have seen the Pharaoh and his descendants—they were in the same position as the agents of the gods at the time——and that fact was definitely something to be aware of.
There is no law that something like the genocide of the Wang family during the Goryeo-Joseon transition period will not happen.
《The ancestor seems to have wanted to return this statue to its original owner, but it’s funny. If that’s the case, either steal it from the beginning or not.
Someone in the ancestors must have decreed the dementia ghost who asked his children to get rid of the cheap shit without leaving anything behind.”
Kadir sighed, leaving behind a mumbling that showed his personality.
《… This is the secret history of our family left just in case you didn’t know. And from now on, it’s my complaint that I’m worried about how this kid will make a living when he grows up.”
“I am not a kid. Now I’m older than my brother.”
Even though she knew that it was nothing more than talking to herself, Nefertiti responded as if she was crying. She couldn’t have heard, but Kadir giggled as if in response to her answer.
“If you’re still listening to this, you can stop worrying. If I handed you the statue, I probably did it with this in mind.”
Clearing his throat, Kadir confessed his intentions.
“Finding someone with a high level of spiritual sensitivity like us is a star in the sky. To find such a person, you must at least take care of yourself and be self-reliant. Then you, who are listening to this story, must be at a level where you won’t starve to death. Right?”
Prediction that Nefertiti would 100% do that.
It actually went round, but it was a correct prediction. She is a mithril class adventurer. Even if it wasn’t for me, I could have saved someone to activate the statue.
Even Kadir would never have thought that her sister would become a master-class warrior, igniting her vendetta against a warlock, but she did.
“Also, even if it’s not that, the blood will be passed on to the children. Are you listening to my voice while meeting her handsome husband, building a happy family, and holding cute children?
Nefertiti looked at me involuntarily.
─Ugh! Brünach also oscillated. Uh huh, I’m not talking about you. I’m nose
“It would be nice if my brother was here! My little Nefi, even now, listening to my story, you haven’t even kissed a guy, haven’t you grown up? If that’s the case, brother, I’m very sad~.”
《… It’s useless nonsense.”
《Ah~ I just imagined for a moment that I was successful alone and was listening to my irresponsible older brother’s nonsense, but my brother was so pitiful, what should I do~.
Will you be okay though? I hope our Neffi is like that. Of course, you held the hands of your beloved Seobangnim and her sons and daughters tightly and laid your hands on her statue, right? Right?”
I hope you like it because your brother is a character-breaker.
How can a person be so nasty? I’m glad I don’t have someone like him. There are people in the world who make fun of people like this.
More than that, how do you see this aspect now from your brother’s standards? My younger sister was like that, let alone had that kind of experience, and I had only a daughter like a rabbit and a father like a bear.
《… This.”
Nefertiti holding the statue in her hand as if in a tantrum.
I bet you don’t intend to break it. I’m worried, the statue said.
“Neffi. Don’t think strangely, just live happily.”
《Song.》
Startled, Nefertiti gradually and powerlessly placed the statue on her lap.
《… Without knowing anything.”
《I rewrite the mind of the statue every year at least.》
Turquoise mana glittered inside the jewel.
“You, who I just covered you with a blanket for, were a little kid memorizing how to make scented candles. But now you hold back even when I tease you, and you’re listening to me until now.”
《… …》
“I guess nothing good has happened to you or your surroundings.”
Within a year, the statue turned on in the hand of his younger brother without being able to renew his mind.
It’s not strange that he turned it off a long time ago or ran to hit him in anger, but he just kept holding on to the statue and listening to the story.
Absolutely no younger brother was lucky enough to activate it.
Every time Kadir carved his thoughts into the statue, something he worried about happened.
And if you think about this conclusion differently, it means that the man who once carried this statue in his bosom was contemplating every year what to say after he died.
Advice for her sister who has no blood outside of her own.
Even in the middle of those immature days when Nefertiti believed that the happiness of his childhood would last forever, for years and years.
《Either I went to the goal long ago, or I must be in a state where you can’t do anything with your own strength.》
Kadir, who showed off his amazing reasoning skills, mixed his heart with a desperate sigh.
“Then I’ll say it one more time, so treat it as a will and listen carefully.”
《… Brother. I.”
《If my existence is enough to influence your life, pay me back with your happiness equal to that share. If my absence had no effect on your life, you can forget about your older brother who used to make fun of you.”
The light of the jewel dimmed. The words left by Nefertiti’s brother were coming to an end.
“Make love, Nefi. It’s harder than revenge or desperation, and it’s just as valuable.”
Kadir said.
It’s as if whether 10 or 20 years have passed, something is weak and clumsy, and that’s why all the thoughts of the cuter sister are in the palm of your hand.
“Still, I believe you can do it. That’s it, the end of the will.”
─Tap. The light of the jewel disappeared.
The statue would go back to being a normal sculpture.
《… A person who still only says what he wants to say.”
Following her statue, the stone-hard Nefertiti threw back her head as if pulled by a thread.
“But, I wanted to hear a little more.”
Water glistened through her hair. I involuntarily hugged her. Nefertiti placed her statue and wrapped her hands around my waist.
And then.
“——Ah, that’s right. A tip from my older brother.”
─Chijik! The jewel’s light turned on again.
If it wasn’t for Odin’s eyes, I would have known only where she really was watching.
“If you fell in love first, you lost. Sometimes you have to surrender to be loved. More than!”
─Tap! A jewel whose light is cut off again.
Nefertiti and I stared at the statue for a few more minutes, expressionless, until we realized that she was really done, then we let go of her eyes.
“… Brother, you were a very individual person.”
“Yes. It looks like Nord.”
“It’s surprising enough to be astonished.”
When I was shocked, Nefertiti laughed and twisted her head at me.
“In love, whoever falls in love first loses?”
“Are you inclined to be like that? However, it doesn’t start unless one of them falls in love with it, so it’s unavoidable.”
“… Yeah, that’s right. Okay.”
As if Nefertiti knew very well, she tugged at her chin cautiously and resolutely, like a researcher about to conduct an experiment that would determine the future of this world.
Then she tied a clean white cloth used for pouring perfume on a small stick.
A minimal flag that fits in the palm of your hand.
It was a white flag.
“I lost.”
─Shake it. Our fourth-dimensional girl staring at me and shaking a stick.
It was truly her own, novel way of confessing.
