Chapter 82

TS Original Protagonist Wants to be the Perfect Cheat Original Protagonist Timing is Important in Revealing the Word of God* (been dealin

TS Original Protagonist Wants to be the Perfect Cheat Original Protagonist

Timing is Important in Revealing the Word of God*

(been dealing with a cockroach infestation the past few days)

(tl note: 裏設定 refers to settings that are hidden, not directly written in the book but is spoken of by people involved in the production. Closest translation is Word of God, a statement regarding some ambiguous or undefined aspect of a work. It comes from someone considered to be the ultimate authority, such as the creator, director or producer.)

──And that is the record of my journey so far.

Ahhh, talking about yourself feels good, huh.

She listened with such a beaming face, it really put me in a good mood too. Daat is a good listener.

Well, since Daat was inside "me," she probably already knew most of this even without me having to talk about it like this.

"Not really. My consciousness only became this clear recently, and until then, it felt like I was dreaming the whole time. So, I’m glad you talked to me like this."

Hmm, I see.

Still, I’ve got to praise her again for mastering human language in that state. As expected of an archangel. So smart.

“Ehem.”

Cute. Unlike the cool Eight-chan, Daat can pull off being cute too… impressive.

Now then, I’m more or less done with my story. Now it’s your turn.

Please explain. Okay! Let’s make this easy to understand and go with an interview style!

──What is your name?

"? I’m Daat."

──Your occupation?

"I’m a former archangel. After I died, I did a bit of spirit guide things for you. Though I was more like a god of pestilence, really." (tl note: Spirit guide refers to an entity that remains as a discarnate spirit to act as a guide or protector to a living incarnated individual. God of pestilence is used to refer to a person or thing that causes trouble or brings bad luck )

──What do you mean ‘after you died’? Are you dead?

"Yeah, I disappeared about a hundred years ago. Before that, I was in the world of the abyss, doing what you’d call goddess-like things, but… I fought a Qlippoth of the abyss──his name was ‘Bacikal’… and we ended up taking each other out."

──I see… When you say about a hundred years ago, could that be connected to the time the Holy Dragon Ain Sof came to the human world?

"…Yeah. It’s likely that Ain Sof noticed I had disappeared and sensed the Abyss becoming active. So to prepare for that time in the near future, he granted my power──supernatural abilities──to humans."

──Supernatural abilities are your power!? Does that mean the origin of supernatural abilities was in you, Daat? Genesic Daat-chan.

"They’re mostly another thing now. But there’s no doubt. Even if it’s faint, I can feel the same power as mine from supernatural ability users."

──This is a surprise. But if you were dead, how did the Holy Dragon manage to do that?

"Before I completely vanished, I transferred what little power I had left into a book and returned it to the World Tree… Then, Charon-nee-san, the will of the World Tree, told Ain Sof about it, and he scattered that power into the human world."

──I see, I don’t get it. What are you primordial archangels supposed to be in the first place? Suddenly dropping original settings like this, if this were a fanfiction, the readers wouldn’t be able to keep up, you know?

"That’s harsh. Hmm... how should I explain this? Charon and I are a bit special, even among angels. We sisters were beings born in prehistoric times in order to support the World Tree Sefira at the time."

When a mysterious character reveals the long-awaited truth, the more mysterious their actions have been up until then, the more confused the people watching become. The information that should be disclosed causes a traffic jam, and things get all complicated, so it's pretty hard to pull off. Geez, Daat can be such a scatterbrain.

Well, smart as I am, I’ve been doing my mysterious play while carefully thinking about the balance, so I’m good, but in her case, as someone who had just suddenly stepped onto the stage, it's very serious.

As I was thinking that and giving her a sympathetic look, she let out a deep breath.

It seemed like she’d come up with a good way to explain.

"Let’s see… I’ll play the role of an old granny and tell you an old tale."

It’s amazing that when your estimated age is in the hundreds of millions, you become such a transcendent being that you don’t really feel like a “granny” anymore

But an old tale? …Nice, if she tells it like a picture book, it’ll be easy to follow. I straightened my back, listening intently with keen interest.

Daat, the beautiful girl granny angel, began to speak in a gentle voice, prompted by me.

Once upon a time, in a certain world, there was a single tree.

That tree, which had stood in the center of the world since the birth of the planet, was a great tree of abundance that brought forth life to the heavenly realm and was an indispensable existence for all living beings.

The holy beasts called the tree of life “Sefira” and revered it as the World Tree.

But even the World Tree was not eternal. Like other plants, Sefira too had a lifespan.

A slow death was coming toward toward the World Tree. For the holy beasts who had prospered thanks to Sefira, it meant a crisis for the world.

Sefira themselves* gradually lost their strength and feared the withering of their own existence .(tl note: I’m assuming that Sefira and the Demon King are genderless)

Perhaps more than anything, they feared the impact their destruction──their death──would bring about to the world.

──In response, the Will of Sefira caused the fruits of light and darkness to fall from their branches, giving birth to two angels.

The angel born from the fruit of light was named “Charon,” and the angel born from the fruit of darkness was named “Daat.” And to them, the Will of Sefira gave a mission.

──That was to use the powers bestowed to them to ensure the continuance of their existance… the continuance of the World Tree Sefira.

Mustering the last of their strength to give birth to the two angels, the Will of Sefira entrusted their old friend, the Holy Dragon Ain Sof, to act as their father before falling into an eternal slumber.

The two angels were born with the power necessary for the survival the World Tree within them.

Charon possessed the power of “light,” and Daat possessed the power of “darkness.”

With those two powers, Sefira could survive.

The remaining sisters of light and darkness understood their mission and worked together with their old friend Ain Sof and their allies to ensure the perpetual continuance of the World Tree at all times.

And so, Fairy World overcame the crisis of the World Tree Sefira, the first one to arrive.

──But a short time after that, disaster once again rained incessantly.

From the depths of the sea of clouds, the dreadful Demon King appeared.

The Demon King, accompanied by ten monsters, descended upon the heavenly realm where the holy beasts lived. With an exceedingly brutal nature and the power to eradicate everything, they exerted all their effort for destruction in an attempt to plunge the Heavenly Realm into ruin.

──Rising up against this threat, the Holy Dragon Ain Sof and the sisters, the primordial archangels, fought for what seemed like an eternity.

Originally, the “Abyss” was not terrifying enough to be a threat to the world.

While their habit of mechanically destroying whatever was before them was dangerous, even ordinary holy beasts could still deal with them, and at first, they weren’t that much of a threat.

However, for them, complete “death” did not exist, and they possessed the ability to reincarnate repeatedly, gaining greater strength each time they were extinguished.

Particularly, even among the abyss, the being called the “Demon King” had existed in this world since before even the birth of the primordial archangels, and by continuing to reincarnate over an overwhelming amount of time, they had become a special being with power rivaling that of a god.

After a very long battle──the Holy Dragon Ain Sof finally succeeded in sealing the Demon King.

At the same time, each of the ten monsters that the Demon King was leading underwent a transformation.

The monsters that had only mechanically destroyed what was in front of them began to have their own will.

Some of them returned to the Abyss, while others remained in the Heavenly Realm to continue fighting the holy beasts.

For them, it may have been a battle to establish their own existence. Before long, these ten monsters became referred to as the “Qlippoth of the abyss,” and were feared by everyone within the Heavenly Realm.

By the time the conclusion of the conflict with the Qlippoth was visible, the world stood on the brink of collapse.

The World Tree Sefira had been wounded in the fighting and was once again in the crisis of being at the end of its life.

One of the causes was that the powers of Charon and Daat, which were originally supposed to be used to support the World Tree, had been used in the long battle against the Demon King.

──Faced with this crisis, the two archangels each made a decision.

One would offer up her very existence to integrate with the World Tree, prolonging the life of Sefira.

And the other would head toward the world of the abyss and set forth to have a dialogue with the Abyss so that such a conflict would never happen again.

The former was Charon. The latter was Daat. They both understood that this was a fundamental solution that only they could accomplish in this world, missions imposed to their very existence.

Daat poured most of the power of darkness necessary for the continuance of Sefira into a single book and entrusted it to Charon in person. That book, called the Book of Sefira, was held by Charon with great care.

Because of that, Daat lost most of her power, but there was no need to worry.

Unlike the Heavenly Realm that was overflowing with light, the world of the abyss she was heading toward was overflowing with “darkness” comfortable for her.

──The two parted ways, Daat’s figure disappeared beneath the sea of clouds, seen off by her comrades in the Heavenly Realm.

Charon, who remained in the Heavenly Realm as the other half of the pair of sisters, offered herself to the tattered World Tree and guided Sefira, which was on the brink of collapse, back to stability by assimilating into the will of a new World Tree.

Once the prospects of the restoration of the Heavenly Realm looked brighter, their old friend Ain Sof, extensively exhausted from the great war, and Charon, who had become the Will of the World Tree, reflected on what had happened and to ensure such a conflict would never happen again, using the power entrusted to them by Daat and themselves, created new guardians who would protect the Heavenly Realm in their place.

Thus, the Ten Archangels of Sefirot were born. Gathered by the side of the King who had been born ahead of them, they swore in their hearts to guide the world in place of the Holy Dragon and Daat.

"And they all lived happily ever after."

"...No, it wasn’t happy at all. What are you talking about?"

"Whaaat?"

Don’t Whaaat? me. That’s the reaction I want to make.

I coolly jabbed at Daat, who has been narrating the events that happened in prehistoric Fairy World while playing the harp.

Her folk tale was about memories of the great war where a being with hidden boss vibes called the "Demon King" once attacked the Fairy World and the whole course of events.

In the end, Daat set off alone on a journey into the world of the abyss, while Charon-sama became a human sacrifice. Although the destruction of the world was avoided, it’s hard to say that ending was a bittersweet one.

…These are probably the details of the dream I had this morning.

"That’s right."

I see… No, but, I see.

To think the Ten Archangels of Sefirot had that kind of origin… If they were created based on Daat’s power, then I guess the situation of their birth is kind of similar to mine. Ah, but Keter was already born in that dream, so to be precise, it’s just the other nine who became archangels, derived from Daat.

…Huh? If that’s the case, that means the supernatural ability users in the human world, people who had Daat’s power take root into their bodies, share the same origin as the Ten Archangels of Sefirot. Supernatural ability users were angels…?

"Haha, Keter and the others would probably hate that, but that’s one way to look at it."

Hohou, Charon-sama should’ve just told me that.

If I’d known about that background, I would’ve done my angelic play with majesty. I could’ve become a third force, primordial archangel certified, saying, “I am T.P. Eight Olishua… My true identity is Archangel of Earth Daat the Second!”

"...Is there really a need for that? You’ve already been plenty angelic as is. Way more than me."

You… you think so? Fu, fufun, you've got me there!

It’s troubling that I just end up conducting myself perfectly even without knowing anything. Or should I say my coolness is etched on a subconscious level? blush

“...I’m kind of irritated.”

Why?

"It’s jealousy, okay? Jealousy. I used to feel that way toward my sister too… I can’t help but think that if I was as cool as you, maybe I could’ve saved much more lives."

…No, I’m going to feel troubled if you say something like that, or rather… Um, I’m honored.

After all, unlike me, you were born with a special mission.

You’re not living things that would be satisfied at living as you like and only doing what you like like me, right?

"I did what I liked to in my own way, too. But you…"

Oh… the mood’s getting heavy for some reason.

Daat looked at me with a meek expression, with eyes that seemed to be looking at something sorrowful. Her gaze was beautiful and full of affection like that of the Holy Mother, but I could tell this wasn’t the setting to poke fun at her.

I could guess what she was thinking.

Even if it wasn’t a big deal for me──it was something unacceptable for the tender-hearted her, something she’s wanted to apologize for this whole time.

So I said nothing and waited for her to speak.

“…I’m sorry, ────. The reason you suffered from that illness.. was all because of me.”

Calling out the “my” name in my previous life, Daat bowed her head deeply.

No, um… don’t do that. It reminds me of my mom crying in secret, saying “I’m sorry I couldn’t give birth to a healthy child.” Please stop…

Her overly earnest behavior made me feel embarrassed, but as my gaze wandered suspiciously, she looked even more apologetic.

The cause of death in my previous life that she talked about──It was from illness.

It was an incurable, idiopathic disease that even modern medicine had no treatment for… I’d never thought I would come here and ascertain the cause. You never really know what's true in this world.

“When I died in the world of the abyss… a fragment of my soul that should’ve returned to Sefira crossed over dimensions and ended up straying into your world. As a result, it got mixed into the cycle of reincarnation that should’ve been circulating properly… Eventually, you were born.”

Apparently, the world in my previous life that I was in also had the actual existence of the concept of “souls.”

According to Daat, normally, a single soul that matches the vessel settles into it and a life is born, but in the case of me in my previous life, in addition to mine, there was another soul──Daat’s soul, which had wandered in from another world, and it ended up mixing with mine.

As a result, an irregular existence that contained two souls in a single human vessel was born.

That’s who I still am now.

“The burden of housing the soul of an angel in a single human vessel was just too much... That’s what gnawed at my body as an incurable illness and ultimately led to my death, right?”

“I’m really... sorry... I’m so sorry, ────! It’s my fault you got involved in this...!”

“...It’s okay. You becoming me was an accident, right? Nothing could be done.”

Yeah, it was the so-called “reincarnation accident.” We both had strange experiences.

Daat’s soul didn’t intentionally get mixed in either, and she probably wanted to be properly reincarnated in her own world.

So this matter wasn’t anyone’s fault. That’s what I sincerely believe, and even now that I’ve learned the truth, I don’t feel any resentment toward her.

“...You really are more like an angel than me.”

“I’m not an angel, I’m an original protagonist.”

“Original protagonists are amazing...”

Yeah, original protagonists are amazing. You can praise me more, you know.

...Well, I’m also human, so it’s not like I don’t have any feelings about it.

But if I had to compare it, it’s the state of mind of being satisfied after being immersed in the lingering memories of a beautifully finished story, and after a while, the official source would reveal a delicate Word of God.

Like, “That setting’s a thing?”

I feel that even if it's to preserve consistency in the story, if it makes the story dull, then that would be getting the priorities backwards.

Of course, whether there's a delicate Word of God or not, the warm emotions I felt when the story concluded won’t be completely tainted──Well, once it becomes a memory, it becomes eternal. The point is that the entire thing’s a story that’s already ended.

“That’s why I have no reason to resent you.”

“──”

“Besides... the past me was happy. Sure, my body was weaker than everyone else’s, and I didn’t have much time to move vigorously, but... I was also surrounded by a kind family and friends I got along with, so it was really fun! I want to share the feelings I had back then with you and Charon-sama, too.”

“...”

As I conveyed those true feelings I once had without embellishment, deliberately being disrespectful, I gently patted her bowed head.

...Hm, it should feel the same Eight-chan’s hair, but when I touch it like this, it feels different for some reason. Maybe because it’s not my own?

Then, directly facing each other, I exchanged looks with her, who had raised her head, from up close and smiled softly.

“So you too, don’t say things like that. Sure, I do feel guilty for everyone who worked so hard to save me, but... that’s my punishment, not yours.”

I’m sure my former self was more accepting of his life than anyone else.

Even the guilt I feel toward those around me, that belongs to me. It’s my precious feeling. That’s why I won’t hand it over to anyone.

“My life is mine. No one gets to complain. Not Daat... not even Eight.”

“...I see.”

Alright, and with that, this conversation is over!

The gloomy talks about the past me wraps up here. Got it?

"...Thank you, Eight."

? Why are you thanking me? If anything, I’m the one who should be thanking you.

"That’s my line, Daat. You’ve been watching over me all this time, haven’t you? Thanks for giving me those happy times."

To tell the truth... I didn’t just notice someone else was inside me a little while back──ever since I stole Chesed’s power from Mea-chan, I had been feeling a sense of discomfort.

Like, “Am I getting more compassionate?”

At first, I thought it was the Chesed’s influence, but looking back now, I think it might’ve been because you were beginning to regain your “power” and waking up.

"...So you noticed."

With that much sense of discomfort, that’s just natural. I may look like this, but I am pretty sharp... Did you think I was just a happy-go-lucky original protagonist? Too bad, it was Eight-chan.

...Well, including that, let’s talk about various things.

When I said that, Daat gave a troubled-looking smile and accepted.

…As a result, all sorts of things happened, and for some reason, a screening of Fairy Savers ∞ in one sitting started here, and, well… I couldn't help but think, "As expected of Charon-sama's little sister."

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