[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 264: Discussion (3)

...****************...

Noir probably won't answer that question again. Noelle chose to change her question.

"Chronoa authorities ... Can you explain it a little? "

『Ohh, are you curious?』

The voice that appeared felt like it was teasing her, but Noelle did not care. He only snorted as he glanced at the little mouse who was as if he was smiling cunningly.

"so. That might help me later."

Noelle had gotten too deeply involved, and she realized that there was no point in worrying about things.

He was also often involved in strange situations, so it was no longer surprising if he fell into the same situation.

『Hehe, I will not explain it in detail, because it can also have a bad effect on you. In essence, all the authority that Chronoa has represents the power that 'He' has; Creation, Imagination, Power, Resurrection, Restoration, Life, and Death.』

"I understand … "

It was a little complicated, and hearing it instantly made it feel very unreal. But what's possible, Noelle has no choice but to accept the absurd.

"I've heard quite a bit about the gods from Anastasia, but ...it's really surprising to hear it in more detail."

Noelle recalled the night that Anastasia suddenly interrupted the conversation, and made the topic drastically turn into a discussion about the gods.

Feeling that it was enough for all that information, Noelle intended to stop asking, but—

『Hehe, the information you got from that woman has really been twisted. None of them is right.』

This time Noelle frowned.

"Whatchu mean? "

『One thing you should remember. Don't trust Anastasia.』

" … Give me a reason to believe the warning."

Noelle doesn't trust Anastasia. But, if Noir had already said that, then it must have been serious.

Noelle could not imagine Noir would joke around while giving a warning.

『There are many reasons, and I will tell you. First of all, all the knowledge Anastasia gave you was misleading. All wrong. Gods are not born in such a simple way.』

Indeed, if Noelle thought about it again, the manner of the birth of a god was so ambiguous, and seemed easy. As long as there is a concept that composes it, a god will definitely be born.

『That part is not so wrong. Gods were indeed formed from concepts, and that concept was the name of their honor. But, not all concepts will give birth to gods. You can imagine how many gods were born if all concepts could shape that existence.』

The word concept itself has the meaning of 'founder', so what Noir said is not wrong.

Everything in this world has concepts, even simple things like plants or insects. If every concept was able to give birth to an existence called a god, then this entire world would be filled with the existence of 'them' themselves.

Now Noelle thought about it; it was ridiculous.

Anastasia then explained that the concept that composes it is 'love and hope of mankind'. But, it has existed since the time in which dragonoids hidu. Anastasia should have been born a long time ago because of that.

Noelle naturally got up from her lying position, and began to think hard.

After hearing Noir's explanation, Noelle's trust in Anastasia had already disappeared. He didn't know why all this time he wasn't surprised by the explanation, but it felt like something was working behind the scenes.

Right, it was like there was something controlling his mind to believe every explanation Anastasia gave.

『Hehe, did you just notice? Now try to let go of your guard a little. I'll try to change some things.』

"What are you gonna do? " asked Noelle suspiciously.

He might not have believed in Anastasia, but he still did not really believe in Noir. To be exact, he would not be able to believe it.

『Just do the little things. Calm down, you'll stay awake.』

Before Noelle could say anything, something like it had been burnt to the ground from her. It was not painful, but it felt so strange, that Noelle felt something was awkward.

"What are you really doing? "

『Simple only. I erased your memory of all the explanations Anastasia gave me. I also erased the memory of the angel you saw first.』

(Ahh, yes .. I used to see angels .. )

Noelle tried to remember the angel's form or name, but she could not find anything that matched what she was looking for. The memory of the angel had completely disappeared.

Moreover, all the information Anastasia had given her while still in Suiren city also disappeared.

He remembered that Anastasia had appeared in the middle of his conversation with Charlotte, but now he did not remember anything Anastasia explained.

『Ahh, I shouldn't erase the memory of the star weapon. That's pretty important.』

"You're fucking."

...****************...

Noelle lay back down and sighed.

"By the way, you checked my memory, right? "

There's no way she hasn't. After all, in order to erase the specific memories of the things Anastasia explained, Noir would definitely have to check all of his memories one by one.

『That's.』

After hearing the answer she wanted, Noelle gave a brief nod.

"Then, you must know about the thing that's been bothering me all this time."

『Hehe, about time repetition, huh? 』

"true."

Noelle was grateful that Noir really went straight to the core, and did not make much pleasantries on this topic.

"What I want to ask is, is it all real? Is everything really as I thought? "

Of all things, the most annoying is the frequent repetition of this natural time Noelle. He barely knew anything, and all things continued to run around him even though he himself did not know the situation.

In the end, Noelle could only guess.

The key characters in this case must be Charlotte, Levina, Nix Regina, and possibly Chloe.

They are the ones Noelle thinks have something to do with time repetition. Especially Charlotte, Nix Regina, and Levina. The three of them almost certainly had a direct connection to it.

Noelle sighed and took out a black mask from her spatial warehouse. The mask was still the same as the last time Noelle saw it. There was no sign of damage, though it nearly exploded as Noelle tried to perform a small experiment on her.

This time, Noelle was intending to do the same experiment.

The 'Domination' authority he had should have already become stronger than last time. That was due to his contract with Noir, which made Noelle's control over that authority better.

Noelle tried to 'dominate' the mask once again, but the result was still the same. There was something protecting the mask, although it did not feel as strong as before.

Right now, he did not have much clues. This mask is the only one.

"No, wait .. I think I forgot something … "

Muttering uncomfortably, Noelle then tried to dig into her own memories, and finally—

"Ahh, that's right. There's still a guy named Harold."

It was embarrassing to admit it, but Noelle had completely forgotten about that person.

Arguably, the man named Harold was the best clue to this situation, because most likely, he had once interacted directly with the person suspected of being Charlotte from another timeline.

"I think I'll call him later … "

Unlike what she did to Olivia and Chloe, Noelle had not cut off her connection to Harold at all. Which meant, the man could be summoned at any time to this place.

『Hehe, I don't think I need to answer that. Everything is as you think.』

The immediate confirmation from Noir made Noelle somehow sigh in relief. Even though he shouldn't have done that.

From what he thought, the previous timeline, where there were the existences of Archons like Levina and Nix Regina, was a completely chaotic timeline. Moreover, himself seemed to have a lot of involvement in it.

"I don't want to think about the answer, but .. Who is Estelle Finnegard? "

Noir once mentioned the name when his contract with Noelle was just made.

『Keh-hehe, you should know the answer.』

"Ughh … "

Noelle really didn't want to think about the answer. However, however, the name was directly related to all the great things that happened to him. There was no way he would not be involved with that name anymore.

Noelle just doesn't want to admit it, that Estelle Finnegard is her own name.

...****************...

The next morning, after finishing her daily practice, Noelle went straight to the burial area.

Although he tends to be indifferent to others, Tian and Rita are good people who care about him. Noelle couldn't just forget everything they did to her.

It was only a short while, but Noelle was quite happy to have known the two of them.

Although it was cold, Tian was a considerate old man, and had helped him a lot. And although Noelle hasn't talked too much with Rita, Noelle already knows that Rita is the kind of person who befriends others regardless of any gains or losses she will receive. It was the kind of person Noelle found the least.

The month of October is almost over, and the days are getting colder with each passing day.

Noelle naturally wears thicker clothes, with a church-typical black-and-blue coat and a red scarf wrapped around her neck. He walked quietly to one of the shops near the cemetery.

The store sold flowers, and they were quite cheap. After buying two white flowers that he did not know, Noelle walked into the cemetery, precisely to the tomb of Tian and Rita.

Tian and Rita were buried in an adjacent place, so it was not difficult to visit them. Their location was also not that far from the entrance gate.

Going to the tomb of Tian and Rita, Noelle then realized that there was someone who was also there, holding the same two flower bundles that Noelle had.

"I don't think you're going to come here" said the man—Louen.

Louen smiled at Noelle, and waved her hand as a gesture to ask her to come closer.

"I'm so sorry for them."

Without making small talk, Noelle immediately made her point while staring at the two gravestones bearing the names of Tian and Rita. Then, he placed each one of the flower bundles in each of their tombs.

Noelle got back up, and fused her palms together. He didn't know what prayer to give, but it wasn't a problem even if it was just words of condolence like 'may be quiet there'.

"Felis .. yesterday visited."

After finishing her prayer, Noelle turned her head to the side and smiled faintly upon hearing the news.

Previously, Felice refused to attend Tian and Rita's funeral service. But fortunately, she was able to meet them after getting a little advice from Noelle.

(Although I'm not sure what that could be called advice.)

"I'm sorry I just visited today. I had to serve my house arrest yesterday."

"Well, I understand that," Louen replied with a small laugh.

He then narrowed his eyes while watching Rita's name displayed on the tombstone.

"I didn't know he was going to go first."

Hearing that, inevitably Noelle became curious.

"How long have you known? "

Noelle knows that Louen and Rita have known and been friends for a long time, but she's just curious.

"Say ... since we can walk? We are from the same village, and there are not many children our age in the village, so we can be very close."

Louen closed her eyes as memories flooded her illusory vision.

"I was eleven at the time, and Rita was only two years older than me. But I already thought of him as a big brother" he said with a small laugh.

"We went to play like the usual days. There was a small church that Rita and I used to visit. The people there are very kind, and will give us gifts every time we help."

"Rita and I were helping them count the stock in the warehouse, but that's when everything changed."

" … "

Noelle remained silent, and patiently waited for Louen to finish her story.

For the most part, the past story between Louen and Rita is quite reminiscent of her own with Olivia.

"The church is pursuing the Swallow Life Order, and they happen to be in our village. They ... planted explosives in every corner of the village, except the small area around our church was at that time."

"I and Rita didn't know anything. We're still counting supplies, when a powerful explosion suddenly occurs."

"Of course, as children, we didn't have the ability to protect ourselves from the explosion. We fell unconscious, and by the time we regained consciousness, the village was already destroyed."

Louen sighed, smiling wryly as the memories of her and Rita digging through the ruins of the building appeared in her mind.

Rita painstakingly digs through the ruins of her house, but all she sees is the body of her family already in a terrible state.

The blast was so powerful that the warehouse where the two were at the time had to receive an impact, even though it was not planted with explosives.

"That's amazing, isn't it? We lost everything in a matter of seconds. I still can't imagine how they could involve people who don't know anything about the situation. They actually blew up the peaceful little village, only to erase any trace of their existence. Haha, that's crazy, isn't it? "

Noelle doesn't understand that. She and Olivia had the same thing.

The two of them went exploring the forest for only a few hours, but when they returned, there were only the corpses of the villagers left.

In retrospect, that was probably the only time where she almost cried.

Noelle doesn't really understand the feelings of others, but she knows how it feels to be left out or to leave people who care about her.

"Rita lives with full intention to take revenge on them. Just yesterday he was able to meet his bit of grudge, but I think it came with a fair pay."

Louen then shook her head while smiling resignedly. It seems he no longer knows what he should do.

All this time, she lives with Rita only to accompany her on her journey for revenge. But now he has lost that goal.

"Well, I don't have much time left anyway."

Those words made Noelle doubt.

" … What do you mean? "

"I made a contract with the God of Redemption. Her honorary name is 'He Who Demands Redemption'. Hehe, from the name alone you already know, right? "

" ……… "

Noelle could imagine it herself, but it was quite faint. Only this time did he know the existence of that god.

"This contract gave me a new magic, called execution magic. This magic can make me prevent an opponent from dying until torture is inflicted on him."

It sounds very much in line with its name. Noelle thought that the magic was worthy of being used by the executioners to execute the prisoners.

"But like any other contract. There must be something I give to 'Him' in exchange for this power."

Noelle already had a guess about what it was, but she chose not to say it. He let Louen tell him himself.

"This contract continues to erode my soul. I have made a contract with 'His' for eight years, and I have not counted how many years I have sacrificed to have this contract until now."

"In fact, at this second, his contract continued to erode my soul. Maybe, at most I can only live to six months away."

That's unsurprising. Noelle thought that Louen would at least last longer than that. But, six months might still be too long for him who had already lost his purpose.

At present, although it looks alive, Louen is very resigned to his life. He just waited until death approached him alone.

"My life is not long. That's why, Noah, take care of everyone at the bar. Of all things, the bar was the only one that made Rita smile. I want to protect her, but I can't. Therefore, I think I can trust you."

(Ahh .. I expected .. )

The people in this bar are too nice. They were very accepting of Noelle, even though she had just joined them. There's no way Louen would leave something as important as that to someone she doesn't trust.

They are very kind, and their kindness feels very painful for Noelle who lives with a false identity. Sticking to them is like a parasite, and will go away after no benefit can be obtained.

This isn't true, Louen shouldn't have handed it to her. Noelle kept thinking so as her eyes narrowed in the heat.

There's still Dexter, and the Captain. That's why, don't leave that to him. Noelle wanted to scream, but she couldn't. His words choked as he looked at Louen who was smiling sincerely at him.

"You know? At this moment, it was painful to see the faces of the people in the bar. Therefore, I plan to leave. Back to the village where Rita and I were born. I plan on staying there until this contract erodes my life."

" … I can't promise that, you know? "

Noelle answered while clenching her hand.

His identity as Noah Ashrain already had a red mark on the church view, so perhaps the name would not last too long.

Actually, Noelle had already finished her affairs in this city, and she had also made a little peace with Noir. He planned to leave, but it was impossible when those words were uttered to him sincerely so.

"It doesn't matter if you want to keep it or not. Giving it to you is my own decision, and I won't regret it."

In the end, Noelle did not say anything, and only saw Louen leave the funeral.

The man may never be seen again at the bar.

" … He didn't even say goodbye to everyone."

...****************...

After spending time at the funeral, Noelle intends to go to the bar. However, his steps suddenly stopped when he saw a human figure standing not far in front of him, he said,

He's a man, probably in his mid-twenties.

The part of her that caught Noelle's attention was her appearance. The figure of the man made him widen his eyes.

The man had silky silver hair, with a pair of beautiful obsidian black eyes.

...****************...