Chapter 210: The truth of heaven (4)

“I don’t understand. Why do you make these kinds of contracts? I understand that, as the administrator of Ingris, you cannot intervene in the affairs of heaven. But you also follow the laws. Selling lifespan to a heretic doesn’t seem like a normal task.”

The administrator blinked, puzzled.

“You’re very direct. Normally people know these things and still pretend not to. But that’s fine. I have the ability to acquire concepts, that’s why I’m the librarian of Ingris. For tens of thousands of years. Do you know what that means? That I can’t do anything here. That’s why I need words. So I can escape from this place.”

It sounded absurd. But in theory, it was not impossible.

A mara’s lifespan must be close to immortality. No one knew how much she had left, but if she kept accumulating words, one day she would achieve it.

“So you want to become the Akashic Records.”

“Hahaha! Exactly! By controlling the information here, I understood it. I can also become a god. But I’m missing one thing. I erased the information on how to leave this place. I have to complete it! That’s why heretics are my main clients. If I manage to get out of here, I will be greater even than Ra.”

Harvest spoke through the mental channel.

‘Canis, this woman is dangerous.’

To Canis, she also seemed somewhat deranged.

Someday she would gather the words and complete the Akashic Records, but no one knew when.

Even so, he could understand her situation.

If he himself had been locked in a library for tens of thousands of years, he would have gone mad too.

Little by little, madness began to seep into the administrator’s eyes.

“Are you going to do it or not? You’ve been hesitating for a while. Don’t tell me you have other intentions?”

A bluish energy began to envelop the mara’s body. Her hostility was overwhelming.

If he didn’t accept the deal, it would immediately turn into combat. But could he win? If he died here, all his companions’ efforts would be in vain.

‘Canis, it’s dangerous. You must be careful.’

Canis had already calculated the risk.

The offer to increase lifespan in exchange for a single word was tempting for anyone.

To be honest, the first thing he thought about was himself and Arin.

If his lifespan increased to 300 years, what more could he want?

But they didn’t do it.

The unlockers who came 200 years ago fulfilled the contract, increased Kadum’s life, and returned to their world.

The reason was simple.

They had to reveal their names.

That’s why Canis also did not gamble with his own life.

Was it really safe to reveal his name to a mara capable of controlling all information?

If she came to know the word “Canis,” he couldn’t imagine what demands that half-mad mara might make.

‘I know. But we can’t keep stalling forever. We also have to deactivate the meca system.’

Seeing that Canis remained silent, the administrator’s face twisted like that of a monster.

She was about to lose control.

‘Even if she’s only a first-level mara, facing her head-on is disadvantageous. The only option is to accept the deal and buy time.’

It didn’t seem like giving away a word would cause anything serious.

But those who came 200 years ago clearly said it was not a good deal.

Considering that history is always influenced by those who record it, that meant they had suffered a huge loss.

‘Even so, they made the deal. That’s certain. What the hell really happens when you sell a word?’

Canis tried to imagine the situation from 200 years ago. He couldn’t think of anything.

At that moment, an idea crossed his mind.

If his master had also been in Ingris, what decision would he have made?

‘I got it! That was it!’

Canis gave instructions.

‘I’ll buy time. You look for the panel with the serial number from the note. There must be something written there.’

‘What are you planning? Even if it’s the method to enhance dark magic, you can’t use it right now.’

‘No. My master knew there was an administrator in Ingris. And even so, he left only the serial number. That means it might not have been what we were looking for.’

‘I understand. Alright. But the number is complicated, it will take me time to find it.’

Harvest, hidden in Canis’s shadow, dissolved into darkness and moved to another place.

“Alright, let’s make the deal.”

When Canis spoke as if he had given in, the administrator’s face immediately lit up.

“Good decision! So, who? Shall we increase your lifespan?”

“No. This time it will also be Kadum.”

“Oh? Is that so? I don’t know who he is, but he’s quite lucky.”

“But this time don’t increase it. Return it to its original state. Ingris can do that, right?”

The administrator blinked, confused.

She had seen countless people ask to increase their lifespan, but it was the first time someone asked to reverse it.

A malicious smile spread across her lips.

“How interesting. It seems there’s a story behind this.”

Canis responded with the same smile.

Kadum, chief of the Kergo tribe, was letting his people starve to maintain his immortality. Canis, who knew well the suffering of hunger, despised him.

In any case, he was someone who had lived 300 extra years thanks to money taken from his own people.

Not killing him outright and simply returning him to his original lifespan was already merciful enough.

“Alright, alright. I like this.”

The administrator began to frantically manipulate the central control device.

Canis feigned interest while observing what she was doing. He didn’t understand machines, but seeing them in action might help him later.

“Done. I’ve restored his lifespan to normal. Of course, there are variations depending on the person. Each one perceives time differently. But this subject probably won’t live much longer. By removing 300 years, he is practically at the biological limit.”

“It doesn’t matter. He’s lived long enough.”

“Hahaha! For a human, he lived quite a lot. And now…”

Canis stepped back in shock. The administrator’s gaze had changed.

He had expected it, but seeing how abruptly her mental state shifted sent chills down his spine. He could only hope Harvest would act faster.

“Contract completed! So, shall I take your word?”

“Ghk!”

Canis grimaced as a sharp headache struck him. He didn’t know what kind of ability it was, but it was beyond the rules.

The problem wasn’t the price, but the contract.

If it was a transaction established as a mutual contract outside the rules, it couldn’t be broken without violating the principle of equivalence.

“Damn it! Wasn’t I the one who chose the word?”

“Hahaha! Of course you are! I’m just testing things a little. Hmm? Alright, let’s see what words you have… Ah, this one is good. This one too! I like them all, I’m going crazy!”

Seeing the administrator shout with an ecstatic expression, Canis corrected himself.

She wasn’t just a little unstable. It was an obsession comparable to that of a nerd driven mad by numbers.

‘Harvest, how much longer?’

‘Wait! I’ve already found up to the second item.’

If he was only at the second serial number, there was still a long way to go.

Canis thought about buying time with magic.

But magic wouldn’t activate. Every time he tried to form a concept, she erased it immediately.

‘Damn it so this is her ability.’

The administrator’s out-of-rules ability, mental editor, allowed her to freely edit the thoughts of the contract target.

The ability she was using on Canis was called recommendation, and it consisted of editing his thoughts to induce suggestions.

He could recover his original thoughts if he exercised his right of rejection, but for a brief moment he would lose his ability to reason, which was fatal in combat.

“How is it? You’re dizzy, right? Eyes. Anger. Companions. Concentration. What else should I edit?”

“Damn it!”

Canis clenched his teeth to keep his train of thought. Each time a word disappeared, the associated linguistic structure collapsed, as if a part of his mind became completely empty.

“Hahaha! Now you understand, right? How important a single word is? Two hundred years ago, that human sold me the word mosquito. He said he hated it or something! And do you know what happened?”

‘Harvest!’

‘Almost! It’s the last item!’

Canis couldn’t focus.

Even if he activated rejection, she scrambled his mind so violently that he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

Satisfied, the administrator lifted him by the neck.

She looked fragile, but the strength of a first-level mara exceeded all limits.

“That human went insane after having nightmares about mosquitoes for days. Can you imagine it? They appeared in his dreams, but he didn’t know what they were. Any human would go mad like that. Hahaha!”

Canis understood how much history could be distorted.

That it wasn’t a bad deal? They had lost a companion. The value of a single word was, in the end, a life.

“You’re a fraud.”

“Oh yes? You had your own plans too.”

The administrator, still holding him by the neck, turned her head.

The panels from the area Harvest had passed through had all been removed.

He was probably trying to find unknown words to sell.

“Hehe, not a bad idea. But that’s impossible. You can only sell words to which you’ve already given meaning. I already explained that. Don’t you have the capacity to learn?”

Canis’s face turned blue. Blood was no longer reaching his brain.

“Come on, hand it over and rest. Otherwise… you’ll die here.”

‘Ha… Harvest…’

‘I found it, Canis!’

Harvest ran his hand over the record engraved on the glass panel.

Since he perceived the world through vibrations, the content was transmitted directly through the mental channel.

Canis’s eyes, nearly blank, regained focus.

“Alright. I’ll give you the word.”

“Hehe, good choice. Let’s see… what word will it be?”

Recommendation was a powerful ability. But the true terror lay in coercion.

It activated through contract and permanently took the word offered by the target. Its consequences were directly tied to life.

The administrator, eyes filled with madness, awaited Canis’s answer.

She knew he would go insane, and yet he still had to offer a word.

For her, this was the most exciting moment.

“Yu…”

The administrator frowned slightly. She didn’t like words that started with “yu.”

“Yu. Re. Ka.”

Canis collapsed to the ground immediately. Gasping as he clutched his neck, he looked up.

The administrator was trembling, her face pale.

“You… how… do you know my name…?”

The panel with the serial number left by Akein contained nothing related to dark magic.

It was a record about maras.

More specifically, about the administrator of Ingris, Eureka.

Eureka had not been insane from the beginning.

On the contrary, she had been a mara who helped intellectuals by editing their thoughts to facilitate new ideas.

Most likely, tens of thousands of years of solitude had driven her into that state.

“N-no! It can’t end like this!”

Canis knew Eureka, and now he had forgotten her.

That meant that, at that moment, a Eureka who could not exist did exist, and therefore she had to disappear according to the law of causality.

“No! I was so close! I was going to become a god! Say it! Say who I am!”

“I’m sorry, but…”

Canis smiled faintly.

“I don’t know who you are.”

Shock filled Eureka’s eyes. Her pupils rolled back, and a piercing scream echoed through the walls of Ingris.

When Eureka disappeared, the out-of-rules ability was released, and Canis regained his concepts.

“Ugh… I really don’t want to go through that again.”

Canis collapsed to the ground. If Harvest had taken a little longer, he would already be dead.

Or perhaps he was already in the afterlife?

“Canis, are you alright?”

“Yeah… more or less. If I rest a bit, I’ll recover my mental energy.”

Ingris, without its administrator, felt empty.

Canis looked at the place where Eureka had disappeared. Loneliness was also a painful word for him.

As if reflecting that feeling, Harvest spoke.

“She must have been very lonely. Tens of thousands of years in a place like this…”

“They said maras only reset. In her next life… she’ll probably have a better one.”

After a silence that felt almost like mourning, Harvest spoke again.

“But Canis, there’s something you should know. The moment you touched the word Eureka, part of Akein’s memories were restored. It seems it was some kind of keyword.”

Canis, as if he had understood something, suddenly stood up.