Chapter 255 – [The Last Days of China]

What I had heard from Lucian was only about Hanon’s death. To put it simply, after death, you choose whether to be a manager or just reincarnated.

Hanon is small in number. That is to say, in the end, they are relatives no matter where they go.

Just as it is said in Korea that there is no family other than relatives across three bridges, if the number is small, all of them are like family in the first place. Of course, it is a race that does not have the concept of blood before blood is mixed.

So I also thought of Shion as just a relative. Even though I am Hannon, it was the first Hanon I met outside of Utopia, so I just thought of him as a relative of a family I didn’t know.

But what? Mother in law?

No, why is my mother-in-law here…

As far as I know, Zion has no family. To be precise, he exists, but he has never been seen since he was born.

“At that time, I was Hanon. I valued efficiency more than feelings as a mother. No matter how young Hanon was, he had basic knowledge and energy replete with ether, so I left thinking that it would be enough….Now that I think about it, it’s really irresponsible.”

“………”

It’s hard to say. The reaction of a person who was comfortable with me and realized that it was my mother-in-law couldn’t be normal.

Even if I am a transcendental person, the emotional changes are the same. No, I’m not surprised by anything, but I was surprised when I realized something I hadn’t thought of at all, so it took time to process this feeling.

Really? Are you really a mother-in-law? Come now? Even though they’re newlyweds, they’re all watching the ball?

“I have no intention of pretending to be the child’s mother now. I have never raised her and have never met her, but she is more of a stranger to her than a parent.”

“………”

It will be the same for Zion.

It’s not that people worry about between the parents who gave birth to them and the parents who raised them. If blood ties had an absolute advantage, she would have chosen the parents who gave birth to her.

Can you consider parents you’ve never seen and never raised? Well, every time I reincarnate, I don’t have much luck with my parents, so at best I meet parents who don’t give much affection, and if I’m unlucky, I die young like now.

This is not a matter for me to judge. It’s a matter for Zion to decide.

“I thought it was just a relative. To say it was my mother-in-law…… Utopia kid would be surprised too. No, isn’t it?”

It is up to her Zion to decide whether or not to forgive her.

I changed my tone to something more polite. Even if you’ve never seen each other’s face, your opponent is your mother-in-law. I don’t know what the mother-daughter relationship will be like, but even my half-hearted conscience is reluctant to speak rudely.

If it’s a relative you don’t know your face, you don’t know, but if you’re a parent, the weight is different.

“Let’s find some time and meet Shion.”

When I gently suggested, she shook her head.

“As long as she was on Earth, she looked happy. My conscience doesn’t allow me to stand in front of such a child.”

Hanon is a race of rare emotions. That’s why Zion and Utopia are mutants, and usually, as she said, they are a calm and simple race that leaves even their newborn children behind.

I knew it when I heard it, but seeing the tragedy right in front of me made me feel quite like that.

It’s as if he’s suffering because of his past dark history… I also thought ‘why did you do that?’ In my previous life. I can understand it because there are so many things I can think of.

“I know that there are things that can be forgiven and things that can’t be forgiven, no matter how much she did in the past. So she can’t meet that child.”

“Shouldn’t you meet the person you need to ask for forgiveness for once?

“……..”

The growth of their children is a law that any parent is proud of. No matter how much she was, she only saw her image, but she would not have seen Shion directly.

In the end, this kind of family issue is a law that the parties have to meet and resolve. It depends on Zion’s opinion, so the result will come out there.

“…Okay. I’ll try to make time next time.”

“Suddenly, the time for the hearing is over… Let’s talk again after work is over, mother-in-law.”

“Are you calling me by that name?”

“For now”

If her Shion can’t forgive her and loses her, then I will lose her too. It may hurt my conscience a little, but I respect Zion’s opinion.

It will create a slight reconciliation mood, but I don’t know if you firmly refuse. That’s why I haven’t decided yet to call her mother-in-law.

She bowed her head and thanked me. There is a special reinforced plastic in this detention center, so the atmosphere is a little dull, but I decided to pass that much. I know we met like this because of something unusual in the first place.

“Ah, by the way, what’s your mother-in-law’s name?”

“You mean my name?”

“Yes, the name Alyssa Nier is a terminal name. No matter how Hanon is, considering that Shion has been aware of her own name since birth, it is only natural that she has it.”

It is impossible for someone who does not even have her own name to give her someone else’s name. Long ago, when utopias had no heart, they had names.

No, the utopia of those days was not utopia, but utopia.

“The name I gave to that child is Shion. Now, if there is a name left for me that is not Hanon… Please call me Ellie.”

“Ellie?”

The name of the terminal is also Elisa, so it seems to be used after the original name. By the way, the name is simpler than I thought, right?

No, I didn’t give it a name, but if I said that I gave it on purpose, the original name was Ellie plus Shion, so it’s Elly, Shion. That is, Elysion.

It may be a little unfamiliar, but Elysion is like a paradise in Greek mythology. Rather than just being happy, it’s just like Valhalla in Norse mythology.

Suddenly, a thought crosses my mind.

Hanon, who sacrifices himself to create a new world, hopes that the world will become a paradise and uses the name of paradise.

Utopia, Zion, and Elysion.

Even if civilizations and religions are different, they are all words that mean paradise or utopia. In Zion, I thought so, and in Utopia, I wanted to, but the third time, I was sure.

Perhaps the other Hanon will use a name I know. Even if you don’t know the name, it must be a word that means the heaven or paradise of civilization somewhere.

“Then see you next time, mother-in-law.”

I have a lot to think about.

*        *    *

I contacted Zion right away. The hearing is also almost time, but I can’t say much when I think of the time to move and do what will be taken away.

[There will be a hearing soon, so why did you contact me?]

“No, I met Alyssa Near…”

[Ah, is that so. What do you say? Like Utopia, what do you call a cousin?]

“It’s your mother”

[…………..]

Zion’s silence is long. Despite her blunt impression, it seems quite ebb and flow that my wife, who talks a lot, remains silent. Even more so in this heavy silence.

[No matter how you do it, I don’t know how to deal with a pad lip out of nowhere. One thing you do to me is enough]

“No, let’s not talk about frustration. It’s really your mother. Mother-in-law.”

[……..Mother in law?]

“Yes, real mother-in-law”

Did the words I said earlier have a nuance close to neukuma? I should have been more specific from the start. Or did Shion deny reality in the first place?

Maybe she was thinking for a while, but Shion didn’t say anything, and then she spoke.

[Then am I now immune to parental drip?]

“No, drip greed here?!”

[Sometimes I wanted to hit you every time you said that. Now you are immune to drip drip! Keep it up!]

“Your parental drip should be immune, but instead, the pad drip takes twice the damage.”

[Oh, that’s fine. It’s because I’m not a good parent anyway]

“……Isn’t that a bit too much?”

It’s a matter for Shion to decide, but it’s a bit much to firmly shake off your lingering feelings.

Of course, as I reincarnated, I often met parents who were not like my parents. Parents who were busy and did not take proper care of them were at least some medicines, and some parents tried to use their children as tools.

In the case of the former, at least I took care of my old age, but in the case of the latter, it is immoral. Even if you become the Lich King, you have to do it……

Anyway, I have affection for my parents, but Shion doesn’t seem to have anything like that at all. If he had been alone since he was born and became aware of himself, there would be no way he would have such feelings in the first place.

[I’m not a child, am I the kind of person looking for parents?]

“Right”

[…I don’t like being treated like a child]

“So you have no feelings at all?”

[I’ve never met, and I’ve never thought about it. I just thought I was an orphan from birth, but the person who suddenly appeared is the same as saying that it was my mother. I don’t have any resentment towards her, but I don’t have any lingering feelings for her]

“That’s worse.”

It has been said that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.

Hatred is, after all, a facet of love. But if you don’t really love it, you don’t care in the first place.

Such is the present Zion. I’ve never thought about my parents in my entire life, so I’m not impressed at all. It would have been better if I had slapped him on the cheek at the speed of light.

[Well, I’ll see you later, but don’t expect anything big. If we meet in a yard where there is no emotion, it will be awkward]

“That’s better… Ah, it’s really time now. See you after the hearing.”

[I hope the hearing ends like that]

“Again, that’s the sound again”

I hung up. It wasn’t long before someone came in and unlocked the door to the detention center where I was nominally held.

“Was the air in society delicious? Mainly in places like Australia, America, and China.”

“Um, John Mattang”

The heavenly sword, Mr. Lee Gyeong-jin, came to take me personally.

The name is what matters. No matter how bad the fight was, it was only natural that the people as well as the high-ranking people would be anxious to take me away as force users.

However, there is no way that one Mr. Lee Kyung-jin would be enough, so I will definitely invite others to write.

“Only one uncle?”

“Oh, that’s not true. Student Baekri was also invited as a witness for the hearing. It seems that I am not trustworthy.”

“It’s true. You’re stronger than Empress Kwonryong?”

“……You have face, isn’t it a bit like asking openly like that?”

“I think it’s worse to praise the truth even though you know the truth. Isn’t that deception?”

Mr. Lee Kyung-jin put handcuffs on me. It was not enough to put on several thick and strong handcuffs exclusively for force users, so I wrapped them up and tied them up with a tough binding rope I don’t know where they came from.

Isn’t this a bit harsh? Even if you do something like this, it doesn’t make any sense.

“It’s for show. What would you think if there were no restraints in front of a monster that killed tens of millions of people?”

“You think you caught the tiger by tying it with a string?”

“Well, at least it’s not as bad as not having it.”

“Your uncle must be suffering too…”

“That’s what the people below are like.”

Soon after I was ready to move, I followed him outside the detention center. There are already a lot of reporters flocking from outside.

Obviously, reporters came in front of my house and teased some of them not to act rashly, but seeing that even after knowing that, I can’t tell if they’re risking their lives to cover a scoop or if they’re just idiots who don’t care about their lives. Most will be the latter.

On the way to the special mobile vehicle, flash baptism pours down. If you look closely, there are reporters who seem to be from foreign countries besides Koreans. I ask a question in Korean with a slightly odd pronunciation, but it takes effort

Looks injured

A lot of questions come to me.

“Mr. Worst! How do you feel now that the hearing will be held soon!!!”

“How do you see the direction of the hearing going?”

“Worst man! Please give me one answer! Worst man!!!”

It’s really useless to see him struggling. It would be much more beneficial to dig into other cases at that time.

I ignored everything and got into the moving vehicle. All the people inside, including Mr. Lee Kyung-jin, are force users. But all of them are clearly nervous.

Even if I can only walk and my whole body is restrained, knowing that I have done something and knowing my powerlessness, knowing that this is useless and preparing for any eventuality is quite a struggle. This isn’t emotional labor.

“Let’s go soon. We have to finish the hearing right away and do what we have to do.”

“…I hope that the thing to do isn’t just about killing people.”

“Human life and death are meaningless.”

“Don’t say anything creepy”

I giggled while joking lightly with Mr. Lee Kyung-jin.

Slowly the car starts. When this car arrives, it will mean that the hearing begins in earnest.

This hearing will be very interesting.

After that, there won’t be time for a hearing or anything like that.