The man, dressed in a three-piece suit, dominated my vision with his striking appearance.

He was someone who had the qualification to sit on the divine seat. There was no need to wonder about his identity.

A god.

“Gasp...”

“Ah!”

My breath caught in my throat. Fortunately, Tesilid quickly grabbed my hand, and I could breathe again.

[As expected, humans struggle to achieve a divine vision with their 9th rank.]

The arrogant voice carrying divine authority seemed to resonate directly with my soul, not just my ears. Then the god's gaze shifted to Tesilid.

When Tesilid tightened his grip on my hand with a look of caution, unexpectedly, a pleased voice responded.

[Yes, do not let go of that hand. It seems your rank, which almost reached the divine seat, protects this child.]

“...Who are you?”

[I haven’t allowed you to ask any questions yet. For now, the divine vision with my precious apostle takes priority.]

“...”

My mind latched onto key words.

Precious apostle.

Divine vision.

‘Could it be...?’

It was then.

[What do you mean by ‘could it be’? Didn’t you see the indirect messages?]

“...!”

I hurriedly checked the delayed message window. What appeared was...

[‘The Herald of the World’ gazes at you with a look that says you are very cute.]

[‘The Herald of the World’ gathers all seriousness to appear magnificent before you.]

[‘The Herald of the World’ realizes that exposing divine authority caused you to have difficulty breathing, and regrets it.]

[‘The Herald of the World’ hastily hides the divine authority but struggles as it doesn't go well.]

[‘The Herald of the World’ grows irritated at his overwhelming strength and begins seeking ways to awaken you to the 10th rank.]

[‘The Herald of the World’ tells Tesilid Arzent not to let go of your hand... ]

[‘The Herald of the World’ feels a bit disappointed that you don’t recognize him... ]

[‘The Herald of the World’... ]

...

Friendly messages. Though they clashed with the arrogance of the god before me, at this point, the answer was clear.

“Uh, Herald?”

[Yes.]

The god, now in modern attire, wiped away his arrogance and smiled softly.

For a moment, I thought if there was a god of beauty, it would look like the Herald. I became even more confused.

“Really...?”

[Yes.]

“Are you really the Herald?”

[Yes, I am.]

“Ah, no, wait.”

[What?]

“I thought our Herald was a chubby, balding department head...?”

[‘The Herald of the World’ feels extreme divine blasphemy!]

[...You imagined me like that?]

“Ah, no! I didn’t imagine it, it was the Libra and the Creation Economy who said so...”

[Ha, those guys?]

The god’s wrath made my hair stand on end. The Herald quickly noticed my state and seemed to hastily calm his anger.

It seemed the anger control was successful, but I still felt the need to ease the mood.

“You look so amazing, Herald.”

[Of course. I am an amazing °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° god.]

The Herald scoffed, crossing his legs. His supreme arrogance was still evident, yet...

[‘The Herald of the World’ feels very pleased that you think so.]

The system message I glanced at confirmed the truth. I struggled to hold back a smile that was creeping up on me.

“God...?”

Meanwhile, Tesilid was frozen, staring up at the divine seat with eyes that had forgotten even to blink.

[Yes. My true self is ‘The Herald of the World.’]

“...”

The god’s affirmation made the tremor in Tesilid’s sea-colored eyes grow more intense.

After all, due to the fact that I had been communicating through indirect messages until now, I was able to adapt quickly, but Tesilid’s reaction seemed more normal.

So, to avoid startling him, I gripped his hand firmly.

“It’s okay. He’s a good person.”

Unlike gods like “Strict Order and Goodness,” he was different. Tesilid, after a moment, gave a faint reply.

“...I know.”

Having understood the situation, I was now able to think more freely.

I looked up at the divine seat and spoke.

“So, by offering ritual wine in the ritual’s holy grail, I could meet the Herald.”

[Correct.]

“Is today’s special schedule, which the Herald prepared from the morning... for this?”

It wouldn’t be strange for a god to know the future.

Yet, as soon as I spoke, I felt an uneasy tension.

Would it be presumptuous to say that being granted an audience with the god is a special schedule? What if it displeased him?

However, my worries were unfounded. The god, high on the distant platform, smiled as he answered.

[Of course, Ayleth Rodeline.]

“...Ah.”

What was this?

The moment he affirmed and called my name, my heart seemed to throb sharply.

Such a strange feeling.

Strangely... my heart swelled.

Really strangely...

[Huh?]

“I’m not crying.”

[You are.]

“No, I’m not.”

[What? You’re crying. Here, take this handkerchief.]

“I’m not crying!”

I received the handkerchief that had appeared in the air and blew my nose with determination.

Just as the tremors in my chest were calming down, the Herald spoke.

[You must be wondering why I allowed you to approach me with ritual wine.]

“Yes.”

[There are things I wish to show you and reveal to you. You are worthy of approaching the truth.]

Truth.

The weight of the word sank heavily into me, like an anchor dragging me down.

The Herald’s gaze fixed on Tesilid.

[Tesilid Arzent, your information is less than Ayleth Rodeline’s. To facilitate communication, I will need to elevate your knowledge.]

Beep—

The god’s finger pointed at Tesilid, and a glimmer of light like a firefly seeped into his forehead.

“Ugh...”

Tesilid winced, groaning as if feeling an intense headache.

“Tesilid? Are you okay?”

“...I’m fine, child. It’s just that the amount of information that entered my brain for a moment was overwhelming.”

He straightened his posture, wiped his forehead, and removed his hand from his temple.

His sea-colored eyes seemed unusually clear, as if they had attained the truth after years of training.

Tesilid slowly began to speak. Words were one of the best tools for organizing thoughts.

“I see. That answers something that had always puzzled me.”

“...”

“The child seems to have near omniscient knowledge of this world, but it felt as if she had never directly seen those things. I’ve always wondered...”

“...”

“It wasn’t ‘seen’ with her eyes. It was ‘read’.”

His sea-colored eyes turned toward me.

“You’re what they call a ‘possessor,’ right?”

“...!”

His voice seemed to penetrate not my ears, but my heart. I gasped, my breath catching.

Possessor.

The unexpected revelation left no time for mental preparation.

It felt as if my mind had been sucked into a vacuum. Despite that, I desperately tried to think.

For him to know that I was a possessor...

That meant...

It meant he realized that all my knowledge had been a voyeuristic result of observing his tragic life.

I suddenly feared how he would react.

Voyeurism was inherently an unpleasant act.

What if he was disgusted?

What if he hated me?

At that moment, I felt a firm grip on my hand.

“Child, I know what you’re thinking. But it’s okay. Look at me.”

“...”

Only after hearing his soothing voice, did I muster the courage to meet his gaze.

His confession transformed my anxiety.

“Child, do you know what was the hardest part of my repeated regressions?”

“...”

I couldn’t respond hastily. However, he gave a bitter smile, as if it were unnecessary to think too hard, and continued.

“It was loneliness.”

“...”

“Every time I regressed, the world would reset, leaving only me. My experiences, my feelings, were all negated, and the sad, unjust, and painful memories I had couldn’t be shared with anyone. So, no one...”

“...”

“No one could understand me. No human.”

One of his hands cupped my cheek.

“But then you appeared. For the first time, the only person who could understand me.”

First.

The only one.

The meaning of my existence made my heart beat painfully. He smiled at me like sunshine.

“You know what I said before? That as long as you understand my life, that’s enough? That as long as you show me as much compassion as the people of the world?”

“...”

“That’s what I mean when I say you are my world, Ayleth Rodeline.”

Ah, I see now.

He was already someone who could love even my secrets back then.

A sigh of relief escaped from me without my realizing it. I could feel the weight I had been hiding inside me melt away without leaving a trace.

It was then.

[As expected, conversation is an efficient problem-solving tool. Don’t be afraid, and talk to me more often.]

...Even though it was true, his words now sounded annoying.

I felt a bit resentful for the abrupt revelation of my secret, but since it was something my god had done, I decided to accept it without criticism.

“Yes... Thank you for your kind words...”

[Now, let’s begin the real story.]

The deep voice instantly made the atmosphere turn serious.

[Tesilid Arzent. Now that you have the same amount of information as Ayleth Rodeline, you will understand. ‘Strict Order and Goodness’ sought to buy time to restore divinity through your regression. Using the well of eternal life and the save points, it was a plan for 100,000 years.]

“...”

[But an ironic thing happened. The vessel of the divine essence, Mu Elinas, recovered divinity slower than the vessel with only a tiny bit of divinity in you. Of course, it hasn’t fully formed yet.]

“...”

[If you had spent more time in the abyss, you might have filled in the parts where this world was lacking.]

The lacking part in this world.

It was the gods.

In other words, Tesilid could have become a god and would have come to protect a world that hated him.

“That... seems like a more dreadful punishment than the abyss.”

Without expression, Tesilid spoke again.

“‘The Herald of the World,’ I wish to ask a question. May I?”

[Granted.]

“‘Strict Order and Goodness,’ what happened to it?”

[Good question. That’s what I was going to show you.]

With a snap of his fingers, the space to the right of Tesilid and me changed.