[599] Tree without roots (1)
Sirone’s spirit permeated the light.
It was the reason I could open my eyes even in a group of lights that could not be brighter than this.
‘Here…’
I didn’t feel like I was standing there as if my body had disappeared and only my mind remained.
I raised my hand, but there was nothing. I could see everywhere, but I couldn’t see anything.
At 0:00:00 minus 1 second in the upper layer of Istas, where even time was lost, Sirone came face to face with Guffin.
“Hexa.”
As I turned my mind to where the voice came from, a shimmering shadow appeared in the distance.
The closer they got, the clearer their appearance became, but as if they were not going to allow any further approach, the waves of light disturbed the sharpness.
‘Are you really human?’
Sirone was not convinced.
The black silhouette obviously had a face and limbs, but because of the distortion of the light, the whole body was as long as a stick, and in some parts it was as thin as if it were cut off.
“Are you a guffin?”
Guffin didn’t answer, and the thought that he could disappear at any moment made Sirone nervous.
“Answer me! You have an obligation to speak to me! Who the hell am I? Are you Ikael’s son?”
“Hexa. You are the result.”
Sirone did not want to be called Hexa.
“I speak so you can understand. I am very angry right now.”
Guffin’s voice, which had not been answered as if choosing words, continued.
“You have no cause.”
“What…”
Where in the world is there a being without a cause?
“You are the result. It’s an absolute coincidence. That’s why you’re free, and that’s why you can fight.”
Even if I couldn’t accept Guffin’s words as truth, I felt like I was going to collapse.
“You mean you have no parents and no reason to be born?”
Wouldn’t even the dust floating in space have more meaning than this?
“Answer me! Are you saying that Ikael is not my mother?”
“Once upon a time I was a mother.”
An inexplicable anger surged up.
“Stop talking and speak plainly! Come out this way! Don’t hide there, show yourself!”
“I am in front of you. It’s just that I’m not in front of you.”
Are Guffins Crazy?
They were talking in the same language, but I couldn’t understand a word.
“Don’t analyze, accept. Take it as a whole and become one. That is Ultima.”
Sirone realized it only in the state of Jikji.
“cancellation. You don’t exist now.”
Because he doesn’t exist, he can’t be called by anything, and Sirone can’t put him in front of him.
“I don’t ask for a lot. I just want to understand. Who am I? How do I know?”
“You will know everything when you know everything.”
It wasn’t a pun or a turn around.
For a guffin that transcends human thinking, this is the only sure answer.
“When you know everything…”
It was the same as having to reach the end of the truth to interpret it by human standards.
“How can I meet you?”
“Beyond infinity.”
It was the last phrase left when looking at the records of the Gaians in the ruins of heaven.
“Beyond… infinity?”
Sirone manages to continue the conversation with Guffin, but this is not the only solution.
“How is that possible?”
Anyone who knew what infinity was would have thought the same thing.
“You mean there is no end? But how can I get over it?”
“Why do you think there is no end?”
“Isn’t that obvious? The number continues endlessly…”
“Have you ever reached the end of the number?”
Sirone shut his mouth. Of course, it has never been reached, but that is why it is called infinity.
“Infinity is just the biggest concept that humans can think of. see the ultimate Cross infinity at the end of infinity.”
Sirone asked again.
“You mean… there is no end?”
“there is.”
Guffin’s answer was firm.
“And beyond that I am.”
The silhouette of the guffin gradually began to shrink.
“Wait! I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“I told you everything. This is the end of my existence.”
When the upper level is closed, you won’t find guffins anywhere in the world.
“I will be waiting for you at the end.”
The guffin shrunk to a point and a huge storm of light rushed in from where it disappeared.
Although no external force was involved, Sirone’s mind was as dizzy as if it was swept away by waves, and at last it began to disintegrate into the smallest units.
“wait. Wait…”
As the light faded, I could see the back of a hand reaching out towards the guffin, at which point Sirone’s eyes closed.
* * *
“Sirone! are you okay? Sirone!”
When Anchal patted his cheek, Sirone’s eyes flashed open.
“Huh!”
As if it had been disintegrated and put back together, the shock of reconstructing all of my senses hit me.
“Here?”
“Out of Estas. you ran out the door I immediately followed him, but he was knocked down.”
As her senses stabilized, Sirone’s eyes half-closed.
“Have you met Guffin?”
Ahnchal asked before falling asleep.
This was also a key piece of information from the upper echelons of Estas, but Sirone wasn’t sure.
‘Have I met a guffin?’
I remember having a conversation in the light, but it didn’t feel real enough to convince me that I must have been dreaming.
“I don’t know. But this is for sure.”
A single tear trickled down between her closed eyelids.
“I… have no roots.”
Sirone fell into a deep sleep again.
* * *
“So you’re leaving?”
Vice-principal Olivia tilted her teacup as she faced Anchal who had come to pack her things.
“Because I got all the information I wanted. I must report to His Majesty the Emperor. Valkyrie, of course. Then all the countries of the Three Kingdoms and the Seven Kingdoms will know.”
I wondered if Anchal would hand over the confidential information to another country, but he had no intention of intervening in politics.
“It will be good for you anyway. Since the upper floors are closed, there’s no need to shut down Istas.”
“Well, that must be good news for the seniors. One strong competitor is gone.”
“Of course I’m a pro…”
Anchal looked back on his school life.
“The current graduating class is pretty strong. Same with Dante Canis Fermi.”
It was a name that was also imprinted in Olivia’s mind.
“Why did you tell me? Wasn’t the incident in the upper levels a top secret?”
Anchal smiled.
“You don’t believe me. I’m really going to share information with Valkyrie. It’s too big a lump for an empire to contain. And…”
Anchal remembered Sirone waking up this morning.
“Even if I say nothing anyway, the person involved in the incident is still attending school.”
“Well…”
The secret of the upper echelons heard from Anchal was surprising.
“Yolga threw a ripple into Miro’s mind, and the ripple continued, giving Sirone the option of exiting the labyrinth’s space-time. Are we just living within a pre-determined time?”
“I can’t be certain. I think so. Time is not fixed, but we have the conviction to make the same choice.”
Like Yoga who knew death and moved on.
“It’s a belief.”
Anchal put on his backpack and stood up.
“I have to stop. Because time is tight. Say hello to Sirone instead.”
“Isn’t this going to hurt Sirone?”
“I can’t tell. Because I am also just an accessory of the empire. But…”
Anchal said after thinking for a moment.
“I will do my best as the director of the Jincheon Space Agency. Tell me to call anytime if you need my help.”
“I will.”
Even in the Jincheon Empire, being in touch with the director who handles confidentiality was a network that ordinary people could not imagine.
“Then…”
“Wait. One more thing.”
Olivia called and stopped the temple heading to the door.
“Giving Sirone a chance to choose means that Miro remembers the incident in the upper classes, right? How could that be?”
After the Erase Guffin, Miro should have forgotten about Yolga’s death.
“well. I have my doubts about that too. After all, Miro is strong enough to be called transcendental. But at the same time, I also felt like this. Perhaps Yoga’s death changed not only the memory, but the human being itself called Miro.”
“Hmm, that might be the case.”
Anchal shrugged.
“After all, it is just a home. Only Miro knows the truth.”
“okay.”
Only Miro would have known.
* * *
“Paray!”
On the second basement floor of the Marika Hotel in the Roblanc Kingdom, a drinking party was going on as usual today.
No one was unaware of the maze that had been brewing in the hotel since days ago, and she tied the tavern’s record by emptying twenty-one cups of polka.
“This young lady is amazing! Twenty-one glasses of polka! I was the one who saw the legend when I was 16. Is a new legend born today?”
“Just one more drink and we’ll hit the record high! After 34 years!”
Upon hearing this, Miro held out an empty drinking cup.
“My name cannot be left behind the adjective ‘best’!”
While people shouted praises, Sein dragged Miro with a tired expression.
“Stop drinking. You are really drunk now.”
“Hey, how are you? Today is a good day.”
It was the day when the politician supported by Miro pushed through the agenda in a secret meeting that was being held secretly at the hotel.
“I’m leaving soon, so I’ll go and enjoy Roblanc’s specialties to my heart’s content.”
“No matter how much you drink, you can’t stay sane. We have to think about the crisis situation.”
Miro, whose cheeks were flushed red, pointed his finger in a disheveled posture.
“Ehe, so you’re just waiting until I get drunk and pass out? to be silly Okay, let’s try it.”
Miro set the glass down on the table and shouted.
“I challenge you!”
“Good! Hey everyone gather! It is the moment when a new legend is born!”
Sein let out a sigh.
‘What is the reason Miro is doing this?’
He had a personality that would not fall into play, but I had never seen him drink so much.
“This drink, Sein, is called polka.”
Miro rested her chin on the table and looked at the two-colored streams of water filling her glass.
“I don’t even want to know.”
“From long ago, the fishermen of Roblanc enjoyed two kinds of liquor. Fort made in the North is distilled, and Enka made in the South is fermented. So, when going out to sea, a fight broke out between the northern and southern people over which alcohol was better. Then the captain, who was worse off, made an offer. Rather than fighting like this, let’s mix it up and drink it together. That was the beginning of polka.”
Looking at Fault and Enka whirling in the glass, Sein finally realized Miro’s heart.
“What does parei mean?”
“You and me, all of us.”
“….”
The polka is complete.
“ruler! If you only drink this, the lady is the best!”
“Drink! Drink! Drink!”
Miro raised his arms and smiled broadly.
“Good! Start!”
As Miro grabbed the glass, everyone muffled and the strong drink gulped down her throat.
“Uh…!”
All the drinkers in the tavern jumped to their feet when they saw that the last drop had been emptied.
“Wow! Success! It’s a record high!”
Dozens of people shouted at the same time as Miro took a deep breath and a large inhalation.
“Paray!”
“ha! It kills the mood!”
Miro stuck out his tongue and collapsed on the chair, but Sein didn’t nag anymore.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“huh. drank to overflowing Let’s leave in the morning.”
“Will you remember when you wake up?”
“Whoops. It doesn’t matter, even if you don’t remember.”
Miro looked up at the ceiling and said.
“Emotions remain.”
“…Right.”
Perhaps because he was drunk, the light coming down from the lamp was blurred.
‘Are you watching over Yolgana?’
She was small but gigantic, and though she was the lowest, she looked higher than anyone else.
Miro raised an empty wine glass towards the beautiful face shimmering in the halo of light.
“For the future that my sister and I will create…”
Paray.
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