Chapter 43: A Necessary Condition

“Have you ever visited that place again after leaving Flora?”

“Umm, no. Not yeet…”

Paul, who was chewing on a snack he had just put in his mouth, not expecting to be spoken to, mumbled in reply.

Khan pushed a teacup towards Paul.

“Then I would recommend you visit that place again. Flora is probably changing rapidly right now. The biggest reason it was difficult to properly check that place until now was because of the status effect called ‘Deathly Chill’.

But now that the ’cause’ of it has left that place, what has been hidden until now will become easier to discover. Including things about the God of Death.”

“…Then someone who has been waiting for the God of Death might come to that place?”

“That’s right. And there is a high probability that someone who doesn’t want that will also go to that place. So it would be a good idea to go there at least one more time before that. However…”

Looking at Paul, who was blowing on his hot tea and drinking it, and Khan next to him, Eclie carefully continued.

“Paul, I do not recommend you go alone.”

“He will go with me.”

“That’s not it. You are an exception. Is your name Khan? Your strength is trustworthy, but Paul is not. It would be better for the future to wait until Paul’s strength has grown a little more, but that would take too long.

So Paul, I recommend that you find people who can protect you and, at the same time, protect themselves, and go together.”

In other words, Eclie was now telling Paul to go to Flora in a party.

‘Parties are uncomfortable…’

But Paul was not a good fit for party play.

When he went around with people, he had to maintain a certain level of decorum and etiquette, which was rather tiring.

On top of that, it didn’t match Paul’s leisurely playstyle.

“Do I have to do that?”

“I am only giving advice. I am not a person who forces you to do something.”

Eclie shook his head at Paul’s question.

“But Paul. I am concerned that you might be mistaken about one thing.”

“Huh? What am I mistaken about?”

“I am talking about thinking that the person sitting next to you is the same as you.”

Eclie said, turning to look at Khan.

“You may not die even if you die, but that person is not.”

Paul silently put down the teacup he was holding.

“This is not a dungeon. Unlike a dungeon, the flow of time is constant, and immortality is only given to those who have received the blessing of Rasis-nim, like you, Paul.”

“…I was roughly thinking that might be the case.”

“Paul.”

Khan called him softly.

“…Then that’s a relief. It would be better to see my advice as being for that person rather than for you. I hope you will keep in mind that that person could die while protecting you.

So if you ever go to Flora, I hope you will be mindful of this point.”

Seeing Paul lost in thought, Khan opened his mouth with a displeased voice.

“Do not frighten him so much. I can protect my own life. The same goes for Paul.”

“Arrogance brings misfortune.”

Eclie looked at Khan nonchalantly.

Honestly, from his position as a cardinal, the man before him was nothing more than a monster.

He felt an instinctive aversion, and an ordinary person would have been intimidated by the pressure.

Although he had heard the story of the God of Death from Rasis, it was an unavoidable reaction because a person who had already turned into a monster would not return to being a person.

It was just that his god had told him to cherish him and to help him, so he was sitting here and having a conversation.

“It is alright to think about it a little more and then make a decision. However, at the latest, in three days… please visit this place again before that.

You remember the believer Yulia who guided you here, don’t you? I will speak to her. If you come to her within the deadline, she will guide you to me.

She is a tight-lipped child, so you don’t have to worry about the rumor spreading.”

“Then I will do that.”

At those words, Paul nodded his head.

Seeing that, Eclie suddenly felt like he was about to sigh.

These were two people who might bring a huge incident to this Arcana Continent in the future.

But one was too ignorant of the ways of the world, and the other was too weak, so he couldn’t help but be worried.

Swallowing the sigh that was about to escape, Eclie smiled benevolently again.

“Then shall we get up now? I will be waiting to see you again next time.”

***

Ding!

[System: The content of the [King of the Forgotten] quest is updated!]

As he left the prayer room, the system, which had been quiet for a while, popped up.

Paul walked down the empty corridor with Khan and checked the quest.

Since he had continued without checking the added and changed chain quests while they were talking, a lot of notifications had piled up.

Paul skimmed through them and then finally checked the content of the most recent quest.

□ [King of the Forgotten] [?]

└ □ [Chain 6| Hidden Story] [?]

▼ Unlike the God of Life, ‘Rasis’, the ‘God of Death’ known to the public has no name. And we commonly call beings whose names have been forgotten ‘It’.

To summarize, it is like this. In the very distant past, the gods, fearing the God of Death who could even kill them, committed an act that they should not have. However, they could not completely eliminate the God of Death. Therefore, they put the God of Death into an eternal sleep. In addition, they took away his name so that all living beings would forget ‘It’.

Now, no one knows the name of ‘Death’. There is no publicly recorded history. An era was destroyed to erase the existence of ‘Death’, and a ‘blank history’ that no one knows was created. That is the story you just learned.

You have learned the ‘hidden story’ that the gods wanted to hide through Rasis.

This is a great achievement that no one has ever accomplished. It must be very interesting for you, an adventurer. But if you continue to pursue this matter, you may incur the wrath of the gods and become hostile to other gods.

Also, ‘meddlers’ from other temples will appear to hinder your actions. They will not hesitate to use any means to take your life and to push the ‘Death’ by your side back to the bottom of the dungeon.

But nevertheless, if you find out the name of ‘Death’, your great achievement will be widely known throughout the world.

※ The future course of this quest will be determined by your choice.

※ This quest is linked to the main quest.

※ This quest is a chain quest.

※ This quest can be abandoned at any time during its progress. However, if you abandon it, you cannot challenge it again.

Reward: Fame, Next Chain Quest

“Hmm.”

Paul tapped his mask and thought deeply.

In <Arcana Chronicles>, which had a high degree of freedom, there was not just one way to clear a quest.

As they say, all roads lead to Rome.

There was a difficult but certain path to success, and there were also ways to go around or accidentally find a shortcut.

There were that many unexpected and diverse methods.

So, Paul was combining the various hints he had received so far and was contemplating whether to take the long way around or to look for a shortcut.

He knew very well that his skills were far from enough to clear this quest.

So, even if he moved as the NPCs told him, it would be difficult for him to clear the quest.

“…”

Paul, who had been walking blankly, stopped and held out his hand to the wind spirit that was following the two of them.

And he opened his mouth with a gentle tone.

“Will you come here?”

「Me?!」

「Or me?」

「What?」

At that, the spirits tilted their heads and glanced at Khan, then flew over and landed on Paul’s outstretched palm.

Paul smiled and tapped the nose of the spirit sitting on his palm with his finger.

As he tickled it with his finger, the spirits burst into laughter.

“I have a favor to ask of you. Ah, it’s fine if only one of you grants it.”

「What is it?」

「We don’t do it for free!」

“I know that very well, so if you grant my request, I will also grant you one of your wishes. How about it?”

As the spirits were contemplating what to do, one of them raised its hand and shouted.

「I’ll do it!」

“I knew you would say that. Thank you.”

Paul let out a short laugh as if he knew that would happen.

Then he threw open the corridor window.

At the same time, a strong wind blew in from outside the window.

Once again, Paul’s robe fluttered.

Since the two were on the top floor, the beautiful scenery of Hwion could be seen clearly from the window.

Paul took in the scenery with his eyes and opened his mouth.

“Go to the ‘Red Desert’ right now and deliver a message. If you go, you should be able to find [Epin] without much difficulty. You can tell him this. That his friend Paul is waiting at the place they always meet.”

「Just that?」

“Yes, it’s a very simple task.”

「Alright! You have to keep your promise!」

Watching the spirits fly out the window quickly, Paul combed his wind-tousled hair with his hand and waved.