Chapter 139 – Episode 138 – The Beginning Of Everything (1)

This winter was unusually cold.
Hespölte, the Holy Nation, which boasted a relatively mild climate, rarely saw snow even in winter, but this winter, heavy snow fell and piled up high.

Even worse, people were freezing to death in droves, and the ‘River of Life,’ a massive river that ran through the city, even froze over, shocking people.

It was rare for people to freeze to death in Hespölte, which usually boasted a mild climate even in winter, and it had been 100 years since the ‘River of Life,’ a massive river that ran through the city, had frozen over due to the cold wave.

It wasn’t that Hespölte had never had cold winters. There were times when severe cold waves hit. There were times when people froze to death.

However, it had been 100 years since the majestic river… the massive ‘River of Life’ that ran through Hespölte had frozen over, and this alone showed how extreme this cold wave was.

People said that this record-breaking cold wave was due to the declaration of the Holy War. Following the locust swarms that swept through the southern part of the continent and the epidemics that swept through the north, the record-breaking cold wave that swept through the south where Hespölte was located led people to seek the cause of these disasters in the devil.

The devil, who only appeared in old classics, had reappeared, and disasters had struck all over the continent. People wondered if this was unrelated to the Holy War.

…Well, in fact, locust swarms and epidemics were common occurrences throughout the continent. The record-breaking cold wave in Hespölte was certainly an anomaly… but how many times have there been anomalies?

It was all about how you framed it. Events that had happened last year and the year before were packaged as disasters, and people found it plausible.

Perhaps that’s why this winter, the sky and the ground froze due to the record-breaking cold wave, and even people’s hearts froze cold.

Snowflakes carried by the bone-chillingly cold wind in Hespölte, which was always mild, were now nothing to be surprised about.

The citizens of Hespölte, who once welcomed the first snow even in the cold, now just indifferently stepped over the white piles of trash that accumulated on the ground.

Thanks to our party’s strong bodies that transcended ordinary people and the divine power that filled our bodies, we were able to move without much trouble despite the cold.

Even young Carsilra, who had awakened her magic, was running around and playing in the snow with childlike innocence, so Carsilra, who was the only one having fun amidst the people who were bundled up and walking busily, stood out.

Haa.
As I watched Carsilra, who was happily rolling around in the snow while puffing out white breaths, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

The sight of people bundled up with their faces red from the cold, in contrast to our party, who were unaffected by this raging cold wave, was a scene that clearly showed that this place was different from the modern world.

The ruling class here are transcendents. Transcendents with unimaginable power.
That power is passed down meticulously through bloodlines, and naturally, in such a world, the lives of ordinary people were bound to be worse than in the world I lived in.

Popular revolts? Peasant uprisings?
In our world, large-scale revolts by the lower classes are threatening, but here, they are not threatening at all. Even if thousands or tens of thousands of peasants revolt, they are easily annihilated by dozens or hundreds of elite knights.

That’s why many of the lower classes here live because they can’t die. It’s a truly appalling environment. I’ve seen pictures of poor workers during the Industrial Revolution, and the lives of people here were even worse than that.

Of course, the Holy Nation of Hespölte has a higher overall quality of life than anywhere else in this world… but even here, it’s still difficult for the lower classes to live.

‘But when Diana and I were orphans for a year, we said there was nothing difficult. There’s the question of how accurate young Diana’s memory is… but surely Diana’s memory can’t be wrong. There might be some embellishment or nostalgia, but if it was really hard, it wouldn’t have been embellished. Is it really because Hespölte is wealthy that our year of orphanage life wasn’t difficult?’

A question I had never thought about before.
Since I was set as an orphan in the game, I naturally assumed I was an orphan… I thought so. But the thought that came to mind as I listened to Diana’s past stories was that it was strange.

No matter how wealthy and generous Hespölte is, how could an orphan’s life not be difficult? Is that even possible? Even now, in the remote areas of Hespölte, people are sometimes found starved to death or frozen to death.

Hespölte also has slums and slums, and of course, criminal organizations exist. No matter how much law enforcement is strengthened, criminal organizations survive tenaciously like weeds, so they suffer from violent crimes such as kidnapping and human trafficking every year. I know this well because I rescued several children who had been trafficked when I went on patrol.

But the fact that Diana and I, who had been beautiful since childhood, lived as orphans without any danger and even managed to make a living… was very strange.

While I was deep in thought, Irian exclaimed. When I looked to see what was going on, she was closing her eyes on her horse and nodding her head.

“Haaa. Really… amazing, your hometown. There are so many buildings taller and bigger than the Grand Temple. The streets are full of people… they all look neat and wealthy. Self-propelled carriages and machines like telepathy… it’s amazing.”
“Hey. Open your eyes and look around. It’s been hours.”

I was now tired of Irian, who was closing her eyes on her horse and constantly exclaiming. After the memory sharing this morning, Irian had been constantly recalling the shared memories, and at first, I was happy, but it was only for a while… it was tiring after doing it for hours.

The modern civilization high has worn off, but she’s still like this. She should accept it seriously like Diana.

Our Diana is accepting the memories relatively calmly. She should learn from Diana and be a little calmer… huh?

“……”

……She’s also closing her eyes on her horse. Is she sleeping?
The way her center of gravity naturally shifts with the rocking of the horse looks so comfortable.

She doesn’t just admire like Irian, but she’s also amazing for closing her eyes and recalling the memories she received while casting temperature control magic on the horse in the midst of the cold wave.

A few hours ago, in the morning.
Diana and Irian, who had received the memories through sharing, were initially confused.

The two of them had never imagined that there was another world, so it was natural for them to be confused by the memories of another world that were conveyed through memory sharing. Imagination is only possible if there is something to base it on.

The surprised reactions of the two, who had vividly received memories of another world that they had never imagined before, were quite amusing. I also got a modern civilization high.

However, as time passed and the two of them couldn’t come to their senses, I started to feel frustrated instead of high.

“Hey guys?”
“……”
“……”
“Diana? Irian?”
“……Just a moment.”
“……Be quiet.”
“……Yes.”

That’s how big the shock and confusion that Diana and Irian received was, and it was around lunchtime that I was able to discuss the quest with the two of them, who had been recalling the memories I had shared for a long time.

The discussion about the completion of the quest, the new sub-quest that had appeared, and meeting the chief cardinal of Hespölte was what happened until lunchtime.

The conclusion was to return to Hespölte and meet the chief cardinal first. The biggest reason was that it was only a day’s journey from Hespölte, so there was no burden in going back and forth, but apart from that, the bigger concern was what relationship the chief cardinal and this system had.

Diana is a saint, but her faith in God is not that strong. She’s just a saint, so she’ll act piously… a mere facade of faith.

Come to think of it, seeing this girl using divine power like crazy as a saint, I wonder what kind of being God really is. Even I, who am close to an atheist, have the ‘Saint’ trait and possess divine power comparable to a saint.

Anyway, unlike Diana and I, who are just saints in name only, Irian is from the ‘Light’ family, one of the most prestigious families in the Holy Nation of Hespölte, and has a strong faith.

As a descendant of the Light family, which has produced paladins for generations, Irian, who had grown up listening to praises of God since childhood, had a strong faith, and it seems that the shock was even greater because she had a strong faith.

It was fortunate that it was imprinted in her head through memory sharing, otherwise, if I had told her through conversation, I might have fought with Irian, who had a strong faith.

Is it a good thing in the end? If I had told her through conversation, she could have dismissed it as a lie or avoided it by thinking I was mistaken, but thanks to having the truth forcibly shoved into her head, there was no way to avoid it.

The memories I have… even if it’s not the deep parts, the basic modern science is gradually revealing the birth and mystery of humans, and this world is also created by humans… or the possibility that some alien being, not an absolute concept of God, is reigning as God, was enough to shake her faith.

Perhaps that’s why she’s so immersed in the modern civilization. Rather than thinking deeply and shaking her faith, she’s simply ignoring it by looking at the exotic modern culture.

The reason why Irian is overreacting so much, unlike Diana, who is calmly recalling the memories, is probably because of this.

As I was thinking about this and that while heading to the Grand Temple of Hespölte, we arrived quickly. The Grand Temple, which looked red in the sunset, felt unfamiliar today.

“Diana. Irian. I’ve contacted Cha Hyewon… when she arrives, tell her what’s going on and wait together. Lilis, take good care of Carsilra. I’ll meet the cardinal alone.”
“Are you sure? If I go with you…”
“No. We can still know what’s going on even if we’re separated, right?”

Diana, who understood that I was whispering, smiled faintly and nodded her head. Irian also nodded her head with a look that said she couldn’t help it since Diana agreed.

I stroked Carsilra’s head, who was looking at me with a worried expression, and lightly patted Lilis’s butt.

“Yurian?”
“……Ahem.”

I had to quickly move towards the temple because of the glares from Diana and Irian.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Yurian.”