Chapter 172: In the Memory

Chapter 172 – In the Memory

Myne kept staring at me for a while .

However, she seemed to not recognize me .

Albeit feeling troubled by that, I took the initiative to approach and greet her .

[Yo, Myne . ]

[… . . who are you?]

Of course… .

It’s just like with Greed . In this world, this would be our first meeting .

Yosh, if this world is truly inside Myne’s mind, then the first thing I need to do is to get along with her . Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to talk properly .

Still sitting while hugging her knees, Myne sat still on the floor .

[My name is Fate . ]

[Earlier today, I met Kairos-san by chance on the battlefield . He then brought me here . What about you, why are you here?]

[I fought Kairos and lost . He took Sloth away from me . ]

[So you’re here because he won’t return it to you?]

[That’s a problem . ]

I sat next to her, watching the ongoing construction work .

[Where are you from?]

She’s probably curious about my appearance . Kairos said earlier that my black hair and black eyes are unusual . It’s a dead giveaway that I’m not a Gallian .

[I came from a place far, far away from here . ]

[A rural area?]

It’d be difficult to explain if I said that I came from the real world .

Meanwhile Myne’s heart was still trapped in the past .

I suppose I had no choice but to try and blend into this world for now .

[Kind of? This place doesn’t seem like a place where people should live either though?]

[It wasn’t like this in the past . There used to be a large city spreading over the area . Kairos and the others have been building everything from the rubble . ]

[Who is this enemy Kairos is fighting against?]

[The enemy is not a particular person . He was fighting against a country called the Gallian Empire . And I’m just a prisoner of war . ]

So they’re fighting against a country?

On that scale it can no longer be called simple battle . It’s on the level of war already .

In any case, I’m more concerned about Myne’s status as a prisoner of war .

[You look quite free for a prisoner . ]

[I lost against him and thus had nowhere to go . That man knows that as well . ]

Nowhere to go… So apparently Myne was an assassin sent by the Gallia empire .

[You too, don’t seem like you have any idea why you are here . ]

[Is it that dangerous to be here?]

[Yes, it is . Moreover, I can feel that you have similar power to us . Very similar to Kairos actually . ]

[Is that why you are willing to talk with me?]

Myne nodded quietly . Apparently in this world, mortal sin skill holders could still sense one another when nearby .

I also felt that sensation . It’s like a magnet attracting each other .

Once you get close, it’s hard to set away .

[There is that . And, for some reason… I feel calm when I’m talking to you . Have we… have we met before?]

Her crimson eyes were scanning my face .

Does this mean she still retains part of her future memory despite being trapped in the past?

What should I do? How should I answer?

Before I could say anything else, Kairos already called to the both of us .

[You two, it’s meal time . Need to fill up that empty stomach . ]

[I don’t want to fight anymore . ]

[Don’t give me that . We need your strength . Fate’s too . ]

Kairos got Myne back up to her feet .

And pushed her from behind while saying,

[You say all that, yet you eat more than anyone else here . ]

[Guh . ]

I knew that as well . She’s truly a big eater .

As I watched Myne walking ahead, Kairos spoke to me .

[She eats even more than me, someone with Gluttony skill . ]

[Just wondering, but where do you get your food?]

[From the empire . We were able to procure some during the previous battle . ]

[That… you mean . ]

[Perhaps it’s because of the Gluttony skill . But I simply can’t have enough to fill my stomach . You don’t want to know how it’s like . ]

[Kairos…what in the world are you?]

[Alright then, eat up . Otherwise you’ll get nothing . ]

The meal wasn’t particularly delicious to be honest .

Kairos let out a hearty laugh, telling me that it doesn’t matter as long as it fills the stomach .

Myne who sat beside me also ate quietly . I see…at this point she probably had already lost her sense of taste, so it also didn’t matter for her .

Perhaps Kairos also thought that I was the same .

[Is it really delicious, Myne?]

[Worse . The food in the facility is better . ]

[What?]

[You can tell the taste of the food?]

[Obviously . This taste isn’t something I can stay silent to . ]

[Really!?]

[How loud . ]

She got annoyed .

But as it turned out, Myne still had her sense of taste .

Then when did she lose it?

Her personality was still the same even now .

[If you like it, then you can have my share . ]

[Ooh . ]

With bright eyes, she started eating the rest of my meal . Of course, Myne had already finished hers .

Kairos laughed as he watched us .

[Now I feel like I should surrender my portion as well . She’s just that feisty despite being a prisoner, ain’t she? Are you fine with that, Fate? Won’t you get hungry later?]

[I’m used to it already . ]

Hearing my reply, the man laughed once more .

[That’s something you should never get used to though . ]

Both of us watched Myne going through her meal merrily .

[At this rate, she’ll ask for more servings . Ain’t that right, Fate?]

[I think so too . ]

[She always do that . ]

After eating her fill, Myne returned to her usual spot .

But Kairos wasn’t going to let her go without a teasing .

[Full already? Nn? What’s wrong?]

I looked at him, something piqued my interest .

[Kairos-san, why do you keep fighting?]

[I wonder why… At first it was to stay alive . And it’s still to stay alive . I’m not fighting for some sort of noble goal or anything . ]

Kairos then looked around, towards the people working on the construction sites .

[Then somehow, I became part of this big family . ]

[To live?]

[Yeah . To live like a human being . All of us here were formerly the empire’s toys . We chose to escape, got here, and fought to keep our freedom . You remember that machine angel from the previous battle?]

[If we didn’t escape, we might end up becoming that thing . ]

According to him, human experiments were commonplace in the empire .

Humans living there had ranks assigned to each of them from the time of their birth . The lowest rank didn’t even have basic human rights .

They’re willing to do anything to understand how the system behind skills, the so-called blessing of god, actually worked .

It’s said that the research was meant to understand the mechanic on how a person could be born with a particularly strong skill .

Apparently, the people here were able to escape with the help from the researchers who disagreed with the experimental methods .

[The person who helped me escape back then was already dead . But his last words,『Live on』left a huge impression on me . Everytime Gluttony skill almost overwhelmed me, those words were what kept me from going over the brink . ]

Kairos seemed to have a better control over the Gluttony skill than me .

However, his condition might be similar to mine .

[You too… Gluttony skill is just troublesome, isn’t it?]

[You should know about it the most, right? I never consider this skill as some sort of a blessing . It’s more like a curse . What about you, Fate?]

[I…I’d be lying if I say that I don’t consider it as such . But without it, I won’t be able to protect the people who are important to me . Even now, I still feel inadequate . ]

[I can understand that feeling . ]

As far as I knew, Gallia perished .

Kairos and his group might’ve won the war . But he’d lose his life for it .

I’m pretty sure that’s the case because it’s what Greed told me .

Suddenly, I felt myself being watched again . When I turned around, there was Myne, staring at me intently .

=====