Chapter 152: Round Table (2)

—There are few references to the songs of the minstrel. Nothing special. However, at the end of a certain song, the phrase ‘giant and emperor’ is particularly concerning. Lyrics close to the prophecy that the giant recognizes the emperor and the emperor recognizes the giant. Reading those bizarre lyrics, I’m hoping for some reason that Sophien is happy…

Sophien flipped through the pages of the poetry book again, quickly discovering the verse.

[The emperor and the giant recognize each other, and all humanity and the giants, having otherwise no attachment to the world, are wandering in search of something to replace the nothingness. When a light is turned on in a dark world, darkness will cover the continent. Only then will humans know. They will realize like the giants. In the end, what was lost was a knot, the end that was not given to them. The stigma left like a curse…]

Lyrics lacking a melody. The Emperor closed the book and flipped through the next stiffly.

「Archaeology: Evidence of Giants」.

Many of Deculein’s thoughts were buried in this document. Sophien rested her chin in her hand and read.

—The continent is vast. It must have been the same for the giants. Though they had large bodies and far-reaching wisdom, that alone would not have been enough. However, given more time, they would have been able to see everything in the world. They could have crossed continents, sailed the seas, and reached the end of the world. At the end of it, the giants would have lost their will to live.

Sophien suddenly raised her eyes and looked across from the table. Deculein appeared like a fantasy in the empty seat, sitting upright and reading a book. His thoughts were conveyed in a whisper.

– But the humans couldn’t. A human body cannot handle a world so vast. They couldn’t see it and didn’t dare cross it. Humans harbored the desires of giants, but they did not have towering legs or infinite time. They wanted to step across all the lands of the world, but they couldn’t. They wanted to reach the truth, but they couldn’t. They wanted to be the most powerful being, but they couldn’t. Humans are, after all, ‘dead beings’…

…Now she knew what she had in common with the giant.

“Hmph.”

Sophien knew nothing of the distant future. As time passed, and when the time to return to nature arrived, would she repeat this infinite regression, or would that moment be the last? Until the end comes… but if it was not the last, the end did not exist for her.

“…”

Humans always want their needs to be met. If they don’t have money, they want money; if they have no one to keep around, they want someone. If their dignity is impugned, they want to honor it. So, bizarrely, immortal humans would eventually wish for death at some point. The reason Deculein wanted her happiness came from that contradiction.

“Do you think they would not want death if they were happy all their life?”

Maybe they would. If this life were as happy as this winter, she wouldn’t even consider the thought of dying. However, if you felt happy every second for the rest of your life, you would be classified as mentally ill. In technical terms, you would be suffering from mania.

“Librarian.”

Sophien called for Lexil standing next to her. Lexil bowed his head.

“Yes. I’m here.”

She looked at the cover of the book for a moment.

“Can you erase it?”

“Yes. It is possible.”