NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 144
I first met Oko when I attended my grandfather’s religious activities as a child.
While my grandfather recited prayers, the congregation kept their heads down in silence.
In the direction they bowed, Oko was watching them with a smile that looked quite uncomfortable.
I heard that I crossed paths with Oko after my grandfather had my father, who can no longer be seen.
And it was after witnessing Oko’s powers that I came to regard her as a deity.
Due to her nature, she cannot directly interfere in the Human World.
What did she say again?
She said she’s required to quietly observe the phenomena unfolding as they are, and attempting to change them of her own accord would violate the laws of the universe.
I thought, what’s so great about that power? However, Oko’s abilities truly shone when dealing with divine beings.
While the Human World was an ecosystem in itself and could not be touched, the divine beings were all embodiments of specific concepts.
Just because they interact like humans doesn’t mean they can become something natural.
So she monitored them, controlling their actions one by one, sometimes even erasing a divine being with just a flick of her finger.
My grandfather mentioned that this spectacle appeared like miracles happening for humans, which is why they revered her.
But as a child, what significance did that hold for me?
I just thought, “Well, that’s just how it is,” and moved on.
In that sense, Oko was just a pretty older sister to me since childhood—nothing more, nothing less.
Seeing Oko watching me with fondness would spark my mischief, and I teased her every day.
“If you’re that cute, why don’t you marry me!”
At first, Oko just laughed and played along with my teasing.
Since I was only joking anyway, I brushed it off.
“Well then, Watcher.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“What do you plan to do with my grandchild now?”
“I believe a singularity will come soon, and it will be peaceful even without Leydan. Can I kidnap him then?”
“Well, feel free to do so.”
Hmm.
It was quite bewildering to hear such absurdity seriously uttered.
If they asked who the most comfortable person in this empire was, it would obviously be Oko, my grandfather, and the restaurant owner.
Among them, Oko, having spent the most time with me, would be at the top.
While Oko’s happiness made me happy too, I wasn’t sure if that feeling could even be categorically defined as such.
I didn’t know.
“Where has my will disappeared to?”
“So you don’t want to live with me?”
“You know giving such extreme choices is just you wielding power over me, right?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make sure you see Grandfather and the restaurant owner at least every other day.”
What was she casually pretending to be cool about?
“I still have many things I want to do.”
“Uh-huh, sure. Then I can just wait. I have plenty of time.”
I sensed her unwavering determination not to yield to my counterarguments.
Moreover, the fact that she believed that was enough to leave me speechless.
“Isn’t it something for one so old to be with me…?”
“Hehe, what was that, Leydan?”
Something dark started to creep up behind Oko.
My grandfather suddenly bolted from the scene, leaving only Oko and me at the table.
What? Isn’t he supposed to help if his grandchild is in danger? He just ran away?!
I think I’ll have to go on strike for a week.
“Uh, so…”
“So?”
“I was going to say it’s an honor to have your affection, Oko.”
Despite the usual predictable pattern, Oko froze upon hearing those words.
Nice.
I should amp it up and land a few more hits.
“Um, yeah. I’ve never seen anyone as pretty as Oko among all races, and I haven’t come across someone so beautiful with such a good personality either…!”
“St-stop! You can’t brush it off like that again…!”
Success.
Today, Leydan Tanton managed to survive the Watcher.
Despite her tone sounding like she was lightly chastising, Oko had a visibly delighted expression.
Even divine beings seem to show their true feelings.
“Isn’t it all good in the end?”
“You’ll see later.”
“Haha, even if later, I will still be…”
Just then, I was about to land one last verbal blow to confirm my shot when suddenly a light began to flicker around me.
The light quickly started to take shape, morphing into the silhouette of someone I recognized.
I had to retract what I was going to say to Oko and tensed up.
Ah, she’s coming again.
I’ve never had good experiences whenever this happened.
It wasn’t too late now.
Considering the summoning time of this being, if I got up right now, I could probably predict and avoid it.
Thinking that, I immediately reached for my chair.
But a variable emerged.
It was happening much faster than usual.
As I saw her lower body pop into existence, I tried to get up and respond, but—
“Ugh!”
“…Don’t run away.”
In the end, I couldn’t escape.
Something soft hugged me in an instant, and in an expressionless voice, it spoke while rubbing its cheek against mine.
Since I’d been through this often enough, I didn’t feel too much repulsion, but the thought of Oko witnessing this made me want to avoid it.
Sure enough.
Oko’s face turned red as she shouted at the being holding me, looking somewhat angry.
“Apta! Didn’t I tell you not to treat Leydan carelessly?!”
“…Hugging isn’t carelessly done.”
“He doesn’t like it!”
“Does he?”
The divine being named Apta blinked her kitten-like eyes and gazed at me.
Uh, well.
Apta was quite a beauty like Oko, so was I supposed to say I hated it?
“I’m not sure.”
“See?”
“Leydan!”
Ah, I was trying to phrase it differently.
Due to my slip of the tongue, Oko was glaring at me, furious, as if she could do something right then and there.
“Yikes!”
If this kept up, I felt like I’d be in real trouble, so I quickly pried Apta off me.
Apta looked somewhat disappointed and glared at Oko.
“You’re being selfish. It’s unfair, Oko.”
“…Ugh. I’m just trying to keep Leydan from feeling burdened!”
“But every time I see Leydan, I want to hug him.”
“Can’t you just hold back a bit?”
“You were the first to like Leydan, so it’s contagious to me…”
“That’s enough! I get it, just stop!”
It always seemed like Oko never won any verbal battles against Apta.
How should I put it? Even if Apta would act oddly, she was so confident that Oko’s rebuttals seemed ineffective.
Well, the two of them were still the best of friends, regardless of their squabbles.
I remember hearing that their powers felt interconnected.
If Oko’s power was related to ‘seeing,’ Apta’s felt like it was about recording what Oko perceives somewhere.
These unique divine concepts sounded like they would give me a headache if I studied them, so I had long since decided to ignore them.
After all, Oko said we didn’t have to worry about the other divine beings.
“So, why did you suddenly come here now?”
“Oko, I have something to do.”
“Ugh, now of all times?”
“Yeah.”
Oko made it obvious that she didn’t want to do it.
What Oko referred to as her task was dealing with foreign divine beings trying to invade the empire while coming up with nonsensical logic from beyond the borders.
While weak divine beings were handled lightly while eating together, Apta’s direct summons were typically for stronger targets.
“…Leydan, I wanted to come back after a hard day and comfort you.”
“Just finish it quickly and come back. That’ll be fine.”
Oko looked stunned at Apta’s straightforward answer and threw a punch at her shoulder.
“Ow.”
“You’re saying it so casually! You’re not the one doing it, right?!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll use and then clean him up.”
“Don’t say such strange things!”
Oko ended up throwing another punch, and Apta ran toward me with tears glistening in her eyes.
“Ugh, Oko is hitting me, Leydan.”
“Haha.”
Yeah.
I understood Oko’s feelings too.
She must have been shocked by what I did today, and now being called away before we could spend time together must feel quite bad.
It would be akin to sitting down to drink only to be called by the Knights.
“…Alright, let’s go. It’s my home country, and I should protect it.”
As Oko got up and approached me, she suddenly blushed and awkwardly tried to divert the conversation.
“…Aren’t you going to do something for me?”
Haa.
It would be inconvenient if she kept throwing absurd flirting at me.
Yet, if I didn’t reciprocate, I would feel bad, so there was just no escaping it.
I stretched out my arms, hugging Oko tightly.
This is probably what she wanted.
“Huuh.”
“Come back safely. I’ll wait here.”
After saying that, I gave her an extra squeeze before letting go.
Her face turned as red as a tomato, so it was clear I had charged her up properly.
“I-I’ll go then!”
With that, Oko vanished in an instant, leaving me with a bittersweet smile.
Seeing her do such beneficial things for me without any conditions made my heart feel uneasy.
The reason I was still rolling around in the Knights was precisely this.
I wanted to create a more pleasant world, one where I could peacefully play with Oko, my grandfather, and the restaurant owner.
But there’s not much time left now.
Most divine beings have smoothly blended into human groups, and even bandits attempting to invade from outside are now staying far away from the empire.
“Leydan, what should we do now?”
“Um, good question.”
“If there’s nothing to do, we hug.”
“…I’ll think about that a bit more.”
It was peaceful.
So peaceful that it made me wonder if it could really be this good.
And as history has shown, whenever everything goes well, it often leads to injuries.
I finally began to realize that it had been oddly quiet outside for a while.
Something felt off.
It didn’t make sense for it to be this quiet in the afternoon.
As I cautiously stepped outside, Apta followed me out.
And when I stepped outside, I witnessed a shocking scene and heard the words.
In the place where the palace stood, the Knight Commander of Lintpia was shouting to the populace while holding onto a child who looked to be around ten years old.
“The Empress has murdered the Emperor! From now on, we strip the Empress of her title and label all divine beings as traitors!”