Chapter 98: The World’s Truth

「The world has seen growth? 」

I involuntarily listened to the words that the Emperor professed.

Then, he stood up and pointed to the bag I was carrying.

「Open it and take a look. The seed of the tree of life, in other words, the seed of the world tree, that you probably carry with you.」

As the Emperor said, I grabbed the now-shining bag with the two seeds I had received from my mother.

The light seemed to come from the seeds in this bag. When I took them out, I saw that those two seeds were shining in my hand.

And the changes didn’t stop there.

「What is this…are they sprouting? 」

A crack ran through the middle of the two seeds, and a gigantic sprout emerged from it.

「A little while ago, I saw that light outside the window. It’s probably the light from the direction of the city you were living, in other words, it’s the light that sprouted from the first seed of the world tree you had planted.」

Something crossed my mind upon hearing the Emperor’s words.

Certainly, before I set off on my journey to find the rest of the seeds from the world tree, I planted them in a slightly elevated place a little far from the city.

Since then, I had returned to the city and checked the place from time to time, but unlike my monsters’ harvesting, the seeds of the world tree didn’t seem to germinate at all.

Suddenly, I became worried. Could it have sprouted? At this timing? But why?

「Actually, the world tree sprouts like this. You see, this world has special mechanism.」

「Mechanism? What do you mean? 」

The Emperor’s narration was too vague, so I involuntarily asked for an answer.

In response, the Emperor clearly answered to my question.

「In other words, raising someone’s growth level will lead to the growth of this world.」

The moment I heard that answer, it seemed like all my doubts about this world had been resolved.

World. Growth. Man. World Tree. Hero. Monster. Hero system. Demon. SS-rank. Role.

In other words…

「My growth had an effect on the seed of the world tree that I was growing, and it encouraged its germination. Is that what you mean? 」

「That’s right. 」

In response to my answer, the Emperor nodded with a satisfied smile.

「When you first met the goddess, didn’t she tell you? She wanted you to continue the creation of this world.」

Come to think of it, I remembered her saying something like that.

「The meaning of that word was exactly what she meant. The current world is still incomplete, it’s in the middle of its creation.」

「What? 」

In the middle of its creation?

No, no matter how I looked at it, it looked like it was completed, right?

I was taken aback by such a ridiculous remark, but the Emperor gave me a brief explanation.

「In other words, this world is originally a world that is only completed through the human’s growth. This world created by the Goddess is nothing more than a foundation. Do you have a rough idea of what a human’s growth refers to in order to grow the world?」

If I thought about the system and the role of monsters in this world so far, the answer naturally came out.

「Physical and mental growth. That’s why defeating monsters in this world was seen as an essential part of life. It was humans promoting growth by defeating monsters. In other words, that’s what monsters are. It’s their role.」

「Exactly. 」

The emperor nodded at my answer.

「This world is, so to speak, a world that was born to raise its people to higher realms. Defeating monsters raises the level of physical growth, and by being active in various fields such as cooking, the promotion of culture and others, raise the level of mental growth. Do you understand the reason why the hero system was born?」

「…The hero system was created to encourage the growth of such people. Perhaps the Demon King is the same, an existence prepared as a final goal for people to complete their growth, a wall to overcome. Judging from Lily’s story, a SS-rank monster also provided a path for such growth.」

「Great, that’s right. 」

The Emperor praised my answer as expected.

I didn’t care about it since I wasn’t here to hear his praises.

「And when a person reaches a certain level of growth, all ten seeds that existed in the Tree of Life will sprout on this land and become a new world tree. At that time, the growth of this world will be completed, and the world will be a new one, leading to an evolved world.」

I see.

Was that what it meant to be in the middle of its creation?

「By the way, what kind of changes will happen to the current world once it becomes completed?」

「Even I don’t know. Everything has to be done after we achieve that growth. But at least, humans who have contributed to the evolution of the world will be given the evolution they deserve.」

「What do you mean? 」

「It’s a so-called evolutionary level up from humans to gods. We, the Seven Great Heroes, have received a kind of creation skill that can only be possessed by gods.」

Evolution from human to God?

The scale had grown again.

「You may have been told by the Goddess, but the creation skill, that is, the power to create something from nothing, or the ability to recreate it, is a skill worthy of God’s domain. It has a power or the qualification to reach a realm close to that of a god, and when the growth of this world is completed, grown humans with those creation skills will also evolve into gods. In other words, the growth of this world may be considered a trial quest for the birth of a new heavenly place with gods. 」

What? That sounded ridiculous.

Wait a minute.

I was once told by the goddess that I had that creation skill.

In fact, I actually sprouted the seeds of the world tree and contributed to the first step towards that goal, so…?

「Hmm, does that mean…can I also become a god? 」

「Of course, you will be the first person to achieve it. If you wish, when the evolution of the world is completed, you will be able to upgrade your evolution level from human to God.」

Se…Se…Se…Seriously!???

Stop!! My brain couldn’t keep up with this massive amount of ridiculous information!!!

Ahhhhhh…!!!!

Wait a minute.

I took a deep breath.

I had to calm down.

Oof, oof.

Okay, calm down.

Well then, I had to review everything from the beginning again.

This world was currently in the process of being created.

In order to complete the evolution of this world, humans who lived here had to grow.

In order to for their growth to increase, there were roles such as monsters and a Demon King.

And once a person reached a certain level of growth, the seeds that existed in the Tree of Life would become the World Tree.

If all ten World Trees grew in this world, the growth of the world would be complete.

Alright, I figured it out.

Got it.

Yes, but wait a minute.

「Then you didn’t really need my existence, did you? 」

From what I had heard, it seemed that roles such as the hero system, monsters, and the Demon King existed and functioned in order to grow the world.

But the Emperor quietly shook his head.

「You probably don’t know, but there are actually very few people who have made a great contribution to this world. It’s true that the hero system has accelerated the growth of people since they use it to seek wealth and power.」

I see

Indeed, Fitis said so when we first came to this Empire.

The previous aristocratic system was switched to the hero system, and various reforms were made.

However, the system had just switched.

If I thought deeply about it, it was a self-evident truth that those who had attained a certain level of status and wealth stop growing there.

「Even before the hero system was created, the growth of this world was in a state of stagnation. Due to the aristocratic system, there were only a few people who struggled to grow on their own, resting on their very nature. I tried to promote human growth by using various means such as conflicts with other nations, but it showed just a slight effect.」

Was that so?

This guy dared to call himself the Emperor and made him hated by each nation.

In order to inspire a hero who could be called a tyrant to defeat himself.

「But you appeared in this world. The only human hero in this world who can raise the world tree alone.」

After hearing that much, I could see the full picture of the Emperor’s plan for the first time.

「In other words, this time, by encouraging your growth, the seeds of the world tree that you have sprouted, and the growth of the world hastened at once.」

「I see. 」

Was that so?

He knew quite a lot, didn’t he?

Was that why this guy had been playing shady until now?

It seemed like I was being used from the beginning to the end, which made me angry, but thanks to this guy, I was able to achieve my goals in some ways.

However, there were some parts that didn’t make sense.

「Is that all? According to what you said, the original form will be for the inhabitants of this world to grow on their own and cause the world tree to sprout. An outsider like me cheated on that. Then, even if the world evolves, isn’t it too late for humans to evolve?」

「That’s true. But at this time, it doesn’t matter if the world has evolved first. As I said, in this growing world, each and every human being is a candidate to become a God. Some people are able to complete their own growth and evolve into gods, while others are free to live in this world as human beings. Above all, the creation of this world is to be completed now. That’s the top priority.」

The moment the Emperor muttered those words, his face had a look of impatience that had never been seen before, and a look that was frightened by something.

Did that self-righteous and arrogant Emperor make a mistake?

After thinking about that, I looked at his face again, but his usual expression had already returned.

「No matter what, it’s best to be early when it comes to the evolution of the world. You and your companions, who are the contributors to that new world, will definitely be able to evolve into gods. As I said earlier and as you can see, it’s not a bad story for you either.」

No, no way! The story unfolded too quickly, and I still couldn’t digest it!!

「That’s the truth I just told you. Now that my role is over, you can do whatever you want with me. Ah, don’t worry about brainwashing. It won’t last long. The brainwashing of the people you know should have already been lifted. It’s not something that would last forever.」

Saying this, the Emperor quietly kneeled in front of me and hanged his head as if to present his neck.

「Come on, do whatever you want with this neck. 」

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Even though I looked absolute like this, I was just an ordinary earthling.

I was a good citizen who normally followed morals and manners.

But a murderer? What was he talking about? I decided to say NO!

「I told you at the beginning. If you win, you can do whatever you want with me. Even if it looks like this, I’ll honor my words.」

No, even if he said so.

As I was thinking carefully, behind my back was my little sister with a smile on her face as she clenched her fists.

「Then, for the time being, I will prepare myself to kill you slowly if my brother hesitates☆」

Scary. My sister was scary

That said, the moment I tried to stop Hell…

「…Wait…」

I heard a stranger’s voice behind my back.

When I looked back, I saw a tall man in black clothes along with Fitis and Isu-chan.

「Isu-chan! Fitis! Both of you are safe! 」

「…Ye…Yes! I was able to safely rescue Fitis-san…! 」

「Lord Kyou. I’m sorry to give you so much trouble. 」

As soon as I saw the two of them, I called out to them, and in response, they rushed towards me at the same time.

When it came to Fitis, she hugged me by embracing my chest. Isu-chan’s face turned bright red when she saw it, and Hell began shouting “Ahhh!” as usual.

「Elder brother…」

「…Rostam. It’s enough, everything from here on is my responsibility…In a sense, you are also a victim…You don’t have to carry it anymore… 」

When I looked over, the tall man from earlier rushed over to the Emperor Hero’s side who was still kneeling and called out to him.

Before long, the tall man faced me and knelt down like the Emperor Hero next to him and asked for my forgiveness.

「…Cultivation Hero Kyou. I, Zahak, am the culprit. Everything is on me…Rostam’s tyrannical behavior is my fault…If you want revenge…Then, do it to me…The Emperor Hero… was just being used by me… 」

The sudden confession of a man who called himself Zahak left me perplexed again.

What the hell was happening here?

While I was perplexed, Fitis spoke firmly as if she was convinced of something.

「…Lord Kyou, the Emperor Hero Rostam is not real. 」

「Huh? 」

In response to Fitis’ remarks, all the reasoning that crossed my mind was now meaningless. Then, the next words completely stopped my thoughts.

「This Emperor Hero is someone who had his memories manipulated in order to play the role of the Emperor Hero, isn’t that right? The real hero is Zahak, who possesses manipulative creation abilities.」

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