“…… Monitor the Unit......" Whispering this, Lin Yiyan looked at the bookshelf that Charmilles had slipped into again. Her task should only be to observe Lin Yiyan and Yugeo. Then, in the two years since Lin Yiyan left Lulid Village, Shamilles helped Lin Yiyan many times by pulling the hair on Lin Yiyan's forehead and occasionally whispering to himself for advice. Thinking about it carefully, even if Lin Yiyan didn't realize her existence, she could be regarded as a closer partner than Yugeo.

- Thank you.

Lin Yiyan, who read these words in his heart, lowered his head at the bookshelf. Returning his gaze to Cardinal, Lin Yiyan thought for a while and then asked the next question, "That is...... Have you been in this large closed library for two hundred years, looking through the eyes and ears of the demons to find someone who can help you......

"Well, after that, the old body can't directly look up the human violation index. Catch something strange and send the Surveillance Unit there, observing the human who presumably produced the rumors...... This search has been going on. And watching such a person being taken away by the integration knight is not once or twice. The emotionless old body has experienced the discouragement and patience to the point of unbearable. …… To be honest, maybe in the past ten years, the old body has not had the idea that it is time to give up. ”

A wry smile appeared on Cardinal's lips, as if he was explaining the hardships of the past two hundred years.

"While the old man was sitting here observing the world, in order to ensure that he could bring under his command those who had the strength to become integrated knights, the Administrator set up a more active system. That is the true posture of the Four Empires Unification Contest that you and others once aimed at. ”

“…… That's right...... Indeed, I heard that the master who won the tournament would receive the glory of the Knight of Integration—no, if that were to say......"

"That is to say, it will be turned into an integrated knight, and it will become the strongest puppet whose memories and personality are sealed, and who only knows how to blindly obey the high priest. Those families who integrate the knights will receive a dizzying bounty and a status of high nobility. Therefore, even if they have never seen their sons or daughters since, their families, who are nobles or wealthy merchants, will only think, "This is the path my child has chosen." And the knight himself was configured to a place where contact with his family was impossible, a complete break with the past. ”

“…… The quarantine you mentioned earlier is also ......"

"Well, that's what happened - half of the thirty-one Knights of Integration had broken taboos, and half were the winners of the tournament. Eldeliyah, who left you with a sense of pain. Synthesis· Thirty-One is one of them. ”

"I see...... Is it such a secret......" Lin Yiyan let out a long sigh. Was it a lucky result for Soldilina, who was in charge of coaching Lin Yiyan, and Grugloso, who was mentoring Ugeo, to return to their hometown without winning the tournament? If Soldilina's predecessors had defeated Elderlia and then won the Unification Conference, what awaits us in the Rose Garden will probably be the one who has been transformed into an integration knight and lost her memories of the past.

And that's not all. If it hadn't happened to Ryos and Wembel, and Eugeo and I had been elected as House Representatives and had won the conference—or if we hadn't escaped from that underground cell and had been brought to trial, Eugeo would have had a good chance of becoming the thirty-second Knight of Integration, regardless of himself as a natural Fluct Light.

Thinking of this, Lin Yiyan was covered with goosebumps, and only slowly calmed down after hearing Cardinal's quiet voice.

In the course of two hundred years, the Administrator has methodically consolidated his momentum, while the old man has gradually lost hope. So, even if it is an old body, I can't help but have this question: What is the old body doing these things for............"

Charred eyes stared at the high ceiling of the large library. As if seeing the warm sunlight in the cold stone vaulted ceiling, his eyes blinked a few times.

“…… The world you see through the eyes of the unit is beautiful and full of light. The child runs happily on the prairie, the girl's eyes are lit up with love, and the mother smiles lovingly at the baby in her arms—if the old man grows up as the daughter of a furniture craftsman, like the original owner of this body, he should be able to enjoy all this. Ignorant of the secrets of the world, he spent his life ordinary, and finally at the age of sixty or seventy, he was surrounded by his family, reminiscing about his happy past and passing away suddenly - such a life, the ...... that an old body should have"

Cardinal's eyelashes drooped and she snorted in a barely audible voice. Is the vacillation in his voice really just an illusion of his own?

“…… The old body has a hatred for the principle of action engraved in the core of the soul to "correct the mistakes of the main program", so he sets his personality as an old lady who is about to die, as if the light of life has long since been exhausted, just waiting for the last moment of decayed dead wood. Incredibly, at some point, the tone of the old body's voice has become like this. Day after day, through the ears of the demon, he listens to the voice of human society, and the old body is constantly thinking. Why did the gods who created this world allow the Administrator to be arbitrary? Although the so-called god of creation, Stisiah, the sun god Thors, and the earth god Teraria are just false gods made up by the Congregational Church in order to dominate the world, the name Russ as a true god can occasionally be found in the list of system commands. The so-called Russ is the collective name of the gods. Why the hell did they create the soulless mimetic god Cardinal, and why did they have the existence of the Administrator and the old body with two separate principles of action - the more they knew the secrets of the world, the more questions like this piled up. ”

"Slightly ...... Wait a bit. Lin Yiyan interrupted the other party's words in a hurry, so flustered that he didn't even have time to organize the sentence, "Is this the case...... Whether this world is a simulation program made by Russ, or Cardinal's original program with two processes, are you reasoning about these things alone? ”

"It's not something to come up with. As long as there are two hundred years and the database in the Cardinal System, anyone can come to such a conclusion. ”

Database ...... I see. That's where you learned your words that don't look like the dwellers of Under orld at all. ”

"The same is true of the corn soup you drank before. However, for most of these words, the way in which the old body and you understand them is very different...... However, at least the speculation about the world is still on the bull's eye. There is probably only one reason why this world, under orld, is so imperfect as a god-created world, and why the Administrator's ugly system of domination is ignored by the gods. As a true god, Russ wants to see a happy life for the people at all—rather, quite the opposite...... This world exists to observe how people resist under the conditions of being forced by huge external forces to become more and more intense—you also know that in recent years, epidemics and beasts have frequently appeared in the border areas of the human world, crops have failed year after year, and the number of people who die before reaching the average life expectancy is increasing. This is the phenomenon caused by the increase in "Load Parameters" that even the Administrator cannot change. ”

"Load...... Parameter? Speaking of which, I've said something similar before. It's a load test or something......"

"Hmm. To be precise, even now, the pressure is increasing day after day...... If we enter the final stage of the load experiment recorded in the database, the test brought to the world is not comparable to the disease. ”

"In the end...... What will happen? ”

"The pincers that oppress the egg of the human world will eventually crush the protective shell. You know what lies beyond the human realm. ”

“Dark Territory……？”

"Exactly. That dark world is a device set up to inflict the deepest pain on the people...... As mentioned earlier, the goblins, half-orcs, and other races known as the Dark Monsters are formed by the Fluct Light, which is the same as the humans, and only gives the urge to kill and rob. They formed an organization strictly according to the hierarchy of the strong, forming a primitive but powerful army. Although the total number of human beings is only about half, the combat power of each individual is far superior to that of humans. This terrifying legion is eagerly waiting to invade the human realm they call Neum and wreak havoc. I'm afraid, that day is not far off. ”

"Army ......" Lin Yiyan was taken aback. This is not an easy topic. Two years ago, the Goblin Captain who fought for his life in the cavern of the Ending Mountain Range was indeed a true warrior. The thought that there were thousands of such guys made a chill cold through my heart.

Lin Yiyan couldn't help shaking his head and squeezed out a thirsty voice, "...... Although there are quite a few swordsmen and guards in the human world, to be honest, I don't think they have a chance of winning. The swordsmanship of this world is just a special showmanship for performance. ”

Cardinal nodded lightly at Lin Yiyan's statement, "Exactly." …… I'm afraid that in Russ's original plan, the current human world should have formed an army strong enough to fight against the Dark Territory. Humans have evolved swordsmanship and tactics that can be used in actual combat by fighting small-scale goblins, increasing their access to weapons and sacred arts. However, as you know, the status quo is far from that. The so-called swordsmen have no actual combat experience, and only know how to practice the so-called type, and the commanders of the army are superior nobles who are well-fed and indulged in carnal desires. This situation is caused by the integration knights created by the Administrator and that guy. ”

“…… What's going on? ”

"The integrated knights who have been granted the highest level of authority and artifact-level equipment are indeed quite powerful. It only takes eight men to defend the Finish Mountain Range, and the invading goblins can be easily swept away. - However, because of this, ordinary people who were supposed to fight goblins spent hundreds of years without combat experience. The people are ignorant of the impending threat, and are simply immersed in a stagnation called tranquility and chaos......"

"Administrator, does she know that the final phase of this load test is getting closer to starting?"

"I'm afraid she knows. However, she was conceited that she and thirty Knights of Integration alone would be able to defeat the Dark Army's invaders. In order to make her technique work, she was even ready to kill all four guardian dragons that could have been valuable combat power at that time. That companion of yours must have been saddened to hear this story - the one who brutally killed the white dragon who had laughed and talked to Belkuli was the one who had been transformed into a Knight of Integration. ”

“…… It's better not to let him know about this kind of thing. Lin Yiyan let out a long sigh. While thinking about ending the bone mountain that he saw under the mountain range, he closed his eyes, then raised his face and asked, "So, what is actually it?" If the Dark Army were to attack, would the Administrator and the Knights of Integration be able to compete with it? ”

"No." Cardinal immediately denied, "It's true that the Knights of Integration are all battle-hardened warriors, but in absolute numbers, they are too few. In addition, while the Administrator's Divine Spell can be extremely powerful, using the Divine Spell also means exposing oneself to the enemy's range. In the army of darkness, perhaps not one of them can use the Divine Magic—nay, it might be called Darkness over there—on the same foot, but there are as many people as many as the stars who can use the commands of the system. Even if she could scorch hundreds of warlocks with a single thunderbolt, thousands of flames would be inflicted on her body in the next instant, and even if her destiny was huge and she would not be injured to death, she would be forced to flee back to this tower. ”

"Slightly ...... Wait a minute. In this way, even if you and I are lucky enough to defeat the Administrator, won't we be able to change the fate of this world? Even if you get back all the privileges of the Cardinal System, won't you be able to repel the Dark Army? ”

In response to Lin Yiyan's rhetorical question, Cardinal nodded slowly, "That's true." At this point, the old body could no longer think of a means to stop the Dark Territory's aggression. ”

“…… Other words...... Cardinal, are you just doing it for the purpose of erasing the main program that is causing the error, which is the Administrator? It's not because you know what's going to happen in the world...... Is that so......? Lin Yiyan asked in a hoarse voice.

Cardinal fell into a short silence, and after his small glasses, he stared straight at Lin Yiyan with a sad look, "...... Maybe so. ”

The sound of the answer seemed to be fainter than the sound of the flickering lights around him.

"Yes...... What the old body wants to do, if you look at the results alone, will indeed cause a large number of souls to be wiped out, and there is no difference between leaving the status quo alone. But...... If the old body and you sit here like this and do nothing, in the end, ...... I don't know if it's a year or two, but after that, the Dark Legion will set foot on the land, burning down villages, trampling fields, and slaughtering many people. The hell that was present at that time cannot be described in words that the old man knew...... It must have been the most tragic and cruel scene. - However, even if the old body recovers all the permissions and writes an order that can bury all the dark monsters with a single blow, the old body will not use it. If you ask why, even they don't want to be monsters. As the old man said before, there are some things that you can't get a perfect answer even if you think about them for a hundred years. Listen, if the woman named Administrator hadn't appeared, and the world had developed according to its predetermined trajectory, wouldn't it have been said that at that time, the human beings who had formed a powerful army would not have turned around and invaded the Dark Territory and wantonly inflicted violence and killing against the inhabitants of that country?! ”

Cardinal's voice was still calm, but it was like a sharp steel whip slapping Lin Yiyan's ears.

"No matter how the world works, the result will only be that the world will be stained red with blood. Because, that's what Russ wants to see, as a god. Old ...... The old body does not agree with such a god, and the old body will never accept such an ending. So...... When the old body knew that the arrival of the load test phase was inevitable, he came to such a conclusion. In any case, get rid of the Administrator before that point and regain all of your privileges as a Cardinal System. And then...... Let the Under orld, both the human world and the Dark Territory, all be reduced to nothingness. ”

"Attributed to ...... Nothingness......? Lin Yiyan's eyes widened, and he repeated the other party's words mechanically, "What does this mean ......?" ”

That's what it means literally. Delete all Fluct Lights stored in the Light-Cube Cluster, the cradle of the soul. Whether it is the inhabitants of the human realm or the inhabitants of the Dark Country, there is no one left. ”

Cardinal asserted, her immature face was full of resolute determination and awareness, looking at her like this, Lin Yiyan was speechless for a while, and after thinking for a long time, she finally had a general impression of the final solution in the girl's words.

That is...... Since the vast majority of humanity cannot be allowed to avoid a brutal death, should the meaning of euthanasia be imposed on all of them before then? ”

"Euthanasia ......? - No, I'm afraid that's not accurate. Cardinal's eyes closed for a moment as if searching for the word in a database, then shook his head.

"This doesn't happen to people in a world of higher levels like you, which is different from the Light-Cube. Deleting the souls of the inhabitants of this world is just a momentary operation. **The object of the work does not feel anything, and its soul disappears without resistance like a flickering candle flame...... However, even so, the nature of the murder remains unchanged. ”

Perhaps, in Dinal's voice, there is a deep helplessness, but it is clearly powerless.