Your Ring is Awesome

Chapter 37

Seeing her in the form of a young girl, I knew my hypothesis was correct.

“I found it curious. Tracing Oracle’s activity logs, it was clear they began moving before I was even born, yet they were always a few steps behind. So I thought about it. I wondered what the reason could be.”

Angela once told me that one of the most common methods mages try when pursuing immortality is something called ‘soul transference.’

Simply put, it means switching bodies.

The closer the body you switch to is to your original, the higher the chance of success. But even if it succeeds, Angela explained, there’s almost a 100% chance of serious problems with memories or ego.

Hearing that, I was certain.

The woman who came to me, introducing herself as Asero Kerkera, was definitely a crazy woman.

And therefore, undoubtedly, Asero Kerkera herself.

“You’ve transferred your soul into the body of a homunculus, a clone of yourself, and have continued to live on. As a side effect, you’ve suffered significant loss and confusion in your memories and ego. Isn’t that right?”

The subject I’m talking about right now is not Asero Kerkera.

Asero Kerkera is merely the first case of soul transference I’ve witnessed directly.

I’m talking about the girl in front of me.

Since I don’t know if she knows that I contacted Asero Kerkera, I can’t recklessly say anything about her.

“…Quite the deductive reasoning. So, have you figured something out about my identity as well?”

Ah, so that means living for so long through soul transference itself is correct.

This pretty much confirms that this girl is the head of Oracle.

Good. I’d like to reveal her identity if possible, but confirming this is enough for now.

“Identity. To be honest, I haven’t narrowed down the candidates yet.”

Though, I have deduced that she has a deep connection with the Moon Goddess.

“Hee, so there are things even your great Eye of Heaven can’t see?”

“You have a talent for spouting obvious things idiotically.”

“………”

The Eye of Heaven is not omnipotent.

It’s even further removed from prophecy, precognition, or clairvoyance.

Let’s say there’s someone who eats bread every morning.

I’ve discovered that this person eats bread every morning, and also that they’ve run out of bread today.

Then, in the world inside my head, it naturally paints a picture of that person going to buy bread after work for the next day.

Doing that on a global scale becomes the view I usually have.

In reality, it’s somewhat more complicated, as you have to consider various factors like environment, disposition, flow, circumstance, time, and conceivable variables, but to put it simply, it’s roughly something like that.

Therefore, if there’s information I don’t know at all, or if the basis for my conjectures is scant, my imagination inevitably weakens.

But that’s alright.

I can always supplement what I don’t know.

“I thought you knew a lot about the Guardian Clan? Well, I suppose it’s more surprising if you knew the details, seeing as you couldn’t even get close because of the Sun God’s blessing.”

“…You knew that much?”

Another correct answer.

The question of why he neglected Laplace’s Demon, which they were guarding, even though he knew of the Guardian Clan’s existence, was also resolved.

When Hans Volf said the Oracle didn’t know the key’s location, he meant she didn’t know its ‘current’ location.

Sylphid had been wandering around the entire continent at my request, after all.

The fact that she didn’t know its form was also probably true.

It feels like she remembered it the moment she saw the ring, facing me now.

Otherwise, the keyword “ring” at least should have come up a long time ago.

I wanted to confirm everything that had been confusing me with this opportunity, but unfortunately, even my opponent wasn’t a complete fool.

“Enough! That’s enough! I know perfectly well the Minister deliberately drew me in! That accompanying the wolf’s final moments was also to get me to come here myself!”

Discovered faster than I expected.

For the record, it’s true that I wanted to be with Sylphid in her final moments, and it’s also true that I burned the corpse to prevent it from being exploited later.

There are countless ways to utilize the corpse of a Guardian Beast, after all.

However, it’s also true that I used the encounter itself.

“There’s no point in talking anymore! I’ll just be played for a fool! So, the story ends here! Hand over Laplace’s Demon immediately!”

“If you want it that badly, why don’t you try and take it?”

“Eek!”

At my provocation, the girl gritted her teeth and spread both hands, creating a huge magic circle, but that was it.

He knew better than to act, for he knew best that it would all be in vain.

Laplace’s Devil cannot be extracted unless its owner dies.

But Laplace’s Devil possesses the power of ‘Absolute Defense.’

It cannot be taken without killing the owner, yet the owner cannot be killed.

“It’s quite a ring, this. Being a Myth-era artifact, it possesses more than just defensive capabilities. Many useful functions, I’d say.”

Like undoing enchantments cast by mages.

Of course, its defensive capabilities are the most outstanding.

Thanks to it, I was able to simply pass through the Hydra poison barrier during the Academy terror incident, and nearly nullify the explosive device simply by embracing it.

The only drawback is that when Jessica uses sleep magic, or attempts to control me with mana, pretending is a real pain.

“What will you do? Stand there and wait for me to starve to death? Or take the Academy’s civilians hostage and try to coerce me?”

Either way was welcome to me, but as I said, the other party is no fool.

The girl erased the magic circle and sighed.

“Enough. There are few things as foolish as allowing oneself to be provoked and ruin things, knowing full well it’s a trap.”

“That’s a fair point, but there’s something you’re overlooking.”

Namely, that this entire meeting was a trap from the very beginning.

In the next instant, a streak of light shattered the window and pierced the girl’s chest.

“Gah?! This mana… Acero Kerké! That wretched woman still lives, even in this era, to interfere…!”

Then, a second, third, fourth, and fifth streak of light ravaged the girl’s body without leaving a trace.

As an aside, the current situation had not been prearranged with Acero Kerké.

However, as she said before, she claimed to always be watching me, so she must have been eavesdropping.

I don’t know the exact reason, but I suspected that she, who loathes the Oracle, wouldn’t stand idly by at the appearance of its leader.

“Tch!”

A barrier, belatedly deployed, protected the girl’s body.

Then, along with the barrier, the girl’s body slowly faded away.

“Running away, are you?”

“Why? Try stopping this, would you?”

Impossible. I may have defensive measures, but I lack offensive ones.

The owls, intelligence agents, knight order, imperial army, and the mages of the Magic Tower, including Angela, are protecting the Academy.

If all of them, plus Acero Kerké, were to join forces, perhaps they could have secured that girl.

But the Academy would be a complete mess, and countless casualties would ensue.

I despise more than anything else in this world the notion of sacrificing the few for the sake of the many.

Because she was sacrificed for that vaunted greater good.

So, I refrained from doing it, even though I could have.

Above all else.

“Well, I suppose even the Minister would be troubled if their playmate disappeared, wouldn’t they?”

“…………”

Blast.

That was my secret, one I kept locked away from everyone.

A truly devastating blow at the end.

“If you ever tire of their company, you’re welcome to come this way. Until next time, Minister.”

With those words, the girl vanished completely.

Come this way, is it.

That, above all, is utterly impossible.

I dedicate my all to honoring that promise, but at times, this world that snatched her away fills me with an unbearable loathing.

And so, every now and then, half-joking, half-serious, I tell His Imperial Majesty that I wish to retire, but he refuses to grant it, no matter what I say.

Perhaps if I *could* retire, I might have, but considering the current situation, it seems impossibly distant.

In the end, my retirement will undoubtedly have to take the form I originally desired.

To add to that, the girl said “until next time,” but a situation like this will never happen again.

The most likely reunion involves my being kidnapped, perhaps.

But that’s a matter for later; for now.

“I suppose I should start cleaning.”

I turned my gaze back as I entered the storeroom to find a broom.

—

Back at the Oracle’s base, the girl deactivated the barrier and ceased her performance of suffering.

Her body, riddled with holes and tattered, was fully restored in the blink of an eye.

‘So cautious, Minister.’

If the Minister had attempted to capture or eliminate her, who knows what might have happened.

Even with the Oracle’s entire force deployed, defeat would have been all but assured.

However, in exchange, the Empire would have suffered a blow that would certainly lead to its downfall.

‘Though even so, it would be meaningless if we were to perish first.’

She relented, willingly enough, for that very reason.

“Haa, so tired.”

Despite suffering negligible physical damage, she felt incredibly fatigued.

“…I suppose it was a worthwhile endeavor, all things considered.”

Exhausted but wearing a satisfied expression, the girl headed towards her bedchamber.

—

“Haa, haa, haa, haa…”

The moment the girl vanished, Acero Kerké collapsed, desperately gasping for air.

The combination of the ultra-precise sniping from outside the city limits, the constant anxiety of remaining undetected while observing and listening, and the high-level magic employed to inflict damage upon the girl had drained her strength in one fell swoop.

“That girl just now… the Oracle’s head.”

Acero Kerké struggled with all her might to properly recall what she had seen and heard.

Her memories and sense of self had long been blurred.

Though she called herself Acero Kerké, even she couldn’t be certain if she truly *was* Acero Kerké.

Magic too.

She couldn’t discern whether her current abilities were what she once possessed, or merely remnants left after the collapse of her memories and identity.

Only a single mission remained.

“The Oracle… must be stopped…”

She didn’t know *why* she had chosen a path of opposition against the Oracle, but one thing was certain.

If the Oracle wasn’t stopped, the world would face destruction once more.

That, above all else, she *had* to prevent.

“Only then can the spirits of those who died be appeased… Died? Who…?”

Clutching her head as if in torment, Acero Kerké then vanished from the spot.