บท 90: The Vengeful Anarchy’s Perspective (1)
On the road to Oz, there was a tin-man who desired a heart. It was strange to the point I wondered why, as there was so much freedom in an existence without a 'heart'. I'm pretty sure my life would be so much easier if I was emotionless...
Five years... I lived five whole years without causing a disturbance... sacrificing even my 'Identity' to live a peaceful life... Hehe, why was this world so messed up? Why wouldn't it let me live in peace?
It all started on a typical day as 'Bob'. I woke up due the the sunlight practically shining me so hard that it was hard to ignore it... Though perhaps waking up that was was a good memory now considering how I lived later on. It seemed my friend wasn't exactly a 'morning person' or had low blood pressure considering he was weak to daylight.
"Daddy!" My cute little girl came barging into my room with a similarly tired look on her face. Her pyjama was also a little messy from having ran from her room next door where Bob's mom slept.
"Wake up!" Not even bothering to check if I was awake or not, she jumped into my bed heavily.
Feeling the more awakened after this daughter of mine woke me up for work as usual, a smile formed on my tired face as stroked her hair. This cheeky girl really knew how to make an impact...! My gut hurt just thinking of this morning routine of ours...
"Madeline?"
"Yes, Daddy?"
"Can you NOT destroy your dad's stomach in the morning? How am I supposed to eat breakfast?"
"By eating." She answered from on top of my wool blanket as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I felt my straw-knit bed creaking as if its wooden frame had been severely damaged...
I looked at the cutesy expression on my daughter's face and felt her act was unfair! Why was it she had always used THAT tactic on me?! Despite also being a Water User, she was nothing like my second life's little sister no matter how I looked.
It was like two water bottle originating from separate nations would have different tastes...
This little girl was too shameless and cunning, to wake a person up in such a 'devastating' way... I'm not sure if I should tell her off or not. It wasn't like she didn't have my best interests in mind anyway.
"What is Daddy thinking about?"
"My gut..."
"Let's go have breakfast~"
SHE HAD IGNORED ME!!! God, does my suffering mean nothing to her? She's really pushing it.
Seeing from the corner of my eye that Bob's mom was heading downstairs, I took my time to get Madeline off of me and straighten my back. Doing cardio stretches in the morning really loosened those muscles and woke me up a bit more.
"What? Are not going to eat?" I looked at my little girl who was pouting about something. There was a thoughtful look in my eyes as I put my knee forward and stretched my legs. What was it that Madeline was pouting about in the morning?
I realised what it was after finishing my stretches as my eyes turned to look at the girl on my bed.
A smile bloomed on my face as I properly said:
"Good morning." She smiled in response. A happy vibe emanated from her as I lifted her into my arms to bring her downstairs. It seemed like she was too sleepy to walk by herself as her heavy eyelids threatened to make her fall asleep once again.
"Aren't you going to wake up as well?"
"Don't wanna."
"Grandma is making pancakes."
"I'll eat."
"You seriously aren't going to wake up?" She just ignored me while snuggling up to me like a cat.
When I came downstairs to greet Bob's mom, a helpless expression formed on her face as Madeline drooled on my shirt. Had I been spoiling her a little too much that she acted so unsightly...?
When I was ten years old- (My first life doesn't count since it was on Earth, and the maturity I had in my second life wasn't natural.) No, when Sapphire was ten years old- (Hold up, weren't nobles nurtured in a way to mature them faster?)
Hah... Even now I couldn't quite think of a good example I could use to criticise her. Not that there was a point to it anyway. As long as her moral compass was straight and no one bothered us, all was good in this world... I had no problems.
Putting Madeline in her seat to groggily grab onto her plate and munch on the food on her plate, my eyes turned to Bob's mom. She didn't look like she aged one bit in the five years I lived with her.
"Has Madeline been learning properly?"
"You'd know if you came home earlier..." She spoke while eating her own meal with a peaceful look.
The accusation was written between the lines.
"I've been busy lately."
"Who said to increase your Adventure Rank? You know it's dangerous out there." She frowned, not letting me escape with a lame excuse. It was to the point that I'd felt like answering her more honestly.
"The Demonic Beasts have been getting stronger over the years. It's almost like something's wrong."
"I already know that. It's common knowledge that the forces of darkness have been increasing thanks to the corruption of the Church. Those young fools don't hunt like they used to anymore."
"It can't be considered 'corruption'." I corrected her while my senses expanded to make sure no one overheard this. Blasphemy against the Holy Church could lead to the merciless execution of our family.
"You don't call this corruption? The Demonic Beasts have grown in number, and coincidentally, it all started when they started to refine 'Holy Crystals' using the powers of God." Bob's mom noticed the finger I put on my lip after she spoke.
This wasn't a good thing to speak in front of Madeline. She might grow up with an unusually high distrust towards the Church if Bob's mom kept speaking such words. This sensitive topic wasn't something that can be spoken about in front of her.
The reason Bob's mom was so dissatisfied that time was because she was more of proactive person in politics. Villagers of this world weren't uneducated or dumb, as they had a strict culture of passing down their knowledge to the next generation after them without missing any massive details. Information was also updated through news getting around by Adventurers like me.
In a society where it was common for travelling Adventurers to gossip, there were some veterans who knew their stuff. Not 'completely' compared a entity like me, but close considering experiences.
I knew for a fact that all that propaganda about Holy Mana converged through faith was a dangerous element that threatened the cosmic balance of the world, but what could I do? Those worshippers of God were addicted to making them.
This all started back when the first 'Holy Crystal' was created and the Holy Attribute was first introduced to those of this world. Unlike other Attributes the Light Affinity was capable of transforming itself into, the Holy Attribute was the most 'imaginary' among them. It was to the point that this Attribute was too good to be true.
From what I'd read, the creation of the first 'Holy Crystal' marked the first spark that allowed the Church to grow into such a large religion that spammed the entirety of humanity as a whole.
It was a fanciful power that granted those who used it the ability to heal a hundred times better than those of the Water Affinity. Which was why Water Healers slowly became obsolete and coined as useless compared to other Mages of their kind.
There was nothing outwardly bad about a crystal that can allow Healers to cure illnesses and injuries better than those of the Water Affinity at first, but things slowly changed when 'Demonic Beasts' started appearing in response to the Church.
Nobody pinned the Holy Church back then for the appearance of a new breed of Beasts and instead praised them for creating an Attribute that was effective against these monstrosities that brought nothing but harm. However, those with sharp eyes noticed something was off when children born with this imaginary 'Holy Affinity' after many years.
Like I've been repeating many times. It should be impossible for the humans of this world to gain affinity for an Attribute that doesn't exist. There's a reason people aren't sudden born with the 'Bench Attribute' or 'Truck Attribute' out of nowhere.
The cosmic and magical forces of this world had some sort of equality, but this fragile balance was broken because the people dreamed for an 'Ultimate Good' to appear in this world. This gave rise to the theory that the Church's 'Ultimate Good' had been balanced by an 'Ultimate Bad' among the Beasts. An evil 'Demon Lord' to be more specific.
Why was it no one stopped them from creating more Holy Crystals is this was the case? This of course had to do with the conservative parties among both nobility and believers of the Church themselves. None of them believed mere 'gossip'.
The situation was similar to Global Warming on Earth. Humans knew it made the world worse yet they refused to do anything about it because the short term benefits were far too enticing. The fact that old Nobles could even increase their lifespan using Holy Magic made it so the commoners who had enough with it all the more bothered by it.
Demonic Beasts might not affect those cosy Nobles (other than the Swordwick Household) or those under the Church's influence, but the common citizens found themselves having no choice but to grow stronger each generation.
It was likely because of this that there has been an influx of stronger Adventurers lately. I'd already known to keep my eye on the situation as to make sure the 'Holy War' doesn't happen too suddenly.
I've made too many acquaintances here over the years and didn't want to abandon anybody I'm close to anymore. There's no way I'm running away again like that time before becoming 'Harmony'.
This life will be different from the ones before...!
"I'll keep it mind." These words only made Bob's mom shrug before mumbling to herself menacingly.
I'm not sure if I should be glad by the fact Madeline had fell back to sleep after eating. Looking at the bad, leaned back posture she had... it felt like I was quite the failure of a fatherly figure to her. Who else raised a daughter that acts like such a slob?
From the front door, my neighbour who was part of the regular party I was usually joined almost slammed it wide open as she entered. It was through careful manipulation of my Wind Affinity and great reflexes that I stopped the door just before it made an impact. My hand once again was placed in front of my lips as I shushed the person.
As I actually enjoyed holding my cute daughter close to me in my arms, there was no reason I wasn't going to use this opportunity to pick put her on a straw-knit bed downstairs. They were more comfy than they looked as the last thing I did was cover her with a blanket. It was only once I saw that she was sleeping comfortably did I shift my gaze.
"What brings you here?" I spoke in a quite voice as Bob's mom headed to a wooden rocking chair with her hands massaging her temple. It seemed Bob took notes from his mother on not being a morning person. She seemed to have a headache right now.
"I wanted to call you over since there's a little problem." Yena, the same girl who almost burnt Bob's pants the same day I met him, spoke with an unusually serious expression, unable to hide her worry. I knew something was up just by seeing it.
"Let me get ready first." I didn't even bother to hide my mastery of the Wind Affinity from her as I zipped upstairs and back without making much of a sound. The clothes I wore was the equipment I'd got from my time as a B Rank Gold Adventurer.
From D Rank to B Rank, from Silver Colour to Gold Colour. I hadn't been lazing around these years.
Normally, I'd ask her what was going on, but after carefully asking my Dark Spawns to report their findings and using my magical senses, the results that came in caused my heart to palpitate. What I'd found was enough for me to follow her silently without wasting words or asking too much questions. There was something I HAD to check...!
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
FlowingWaves
FlowingWaves I’ve finally figured out the direction I want to take this current Arc and who the antagonist will be.
Hehe, this is SO like me~ Making the antagonist the main character? I hope you guys won’t get bored as I’ll be finally elaborating on this world through other characters rather than making this a one-man show!
P.S. No, this wasn’t my original plan for the Arc.
I know the name is spoiler-y but I couldn’t find a better one...