William considered the current options he had. He could try to deny that English was more than a code language. William didn’t expect that to go well, he’d already pushed that as far as it could go. Any more wouldn’t be a believable lie. Saying it was a secret would work to some extent. At least the deal was that she would stop asking… but that didn’t mean she would stop trying to find out, and that would possibly lead to her finding out things William didn’t want her to know, like the fact that he was already reincarnated twice. Maybe it wouldn’t matter if she found out, but maybe it would. Finally, William decided on what he felt was the best option. He shook his head. “I don’t really remember much more about the language except it was a code. I must have had a reason for doing that, though I don’t remember everything from my previous life.” The first part was a blatant lie, which was very hard for William to successfully pull off with Lorelei. However, her ability to detect lies wasn’t perfect. The second sentence was technically true, and easier for William to say confidently. Of course he didn’t remember everything from his previous life. After all, who would remember what they ate for meals every day, every word that was said to them, every thought that passed through their head? It was still a lie in the sense William meant it to be taken. He hadn’t lost any memories upon reincarnation, at least not any noticeable amount. If he had, they were small details that could just have easily been lost for their insignificance or just the passage of time.
“Tch, fine. Can you tell me what it says?”
“Oh, basically just the same thing as the Ostanan. If you can read this, come find William Stevenson, reward, etc.”
“Ugh, boring. I should have asked you back then. Well then, what are you planning to do next?”
William shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m not particularly good at planning out logistics. I don’t train troops, and even if I did it’s a bit early to train anything but officers. Right? At least, not on a large scale.” William shrugged, “I don’t really have any responsibilities right now. I suppose the best thing would be to assist those trying to learn Shattering the Soul. Though I might not be the very best at it, I’ve certainly had the most training, so I should be able to help anyone at least some.”
“You are the best at it, though.” Lorelei looked at William seriously. “Not just because you trained in it first, either. Your rate of growth in soul related techniques is astonishing.”
“Well, maybe that’s true so far. After all, it’s not like that many people are training in it. However, the order is working on finding those most skilled in soul techniques… and trustworthy. I imagine there will be a few who surpass me.”
Lorelei tilted her head. “Why?”
“Why? There are a lot of people in the world. Chances are, someone will be better.”
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Lorelei sighed. “Is that so? While there is some possibility of that being true, it could also be that such a person is never found.”
“I already considered that, but surely we’ll find someone better. There are probably a few qualified people who have been training in soul techniques for two dozen, three dozen, or even four dozen years. There should be some who have even more experience, though whether or not they will still be alive in a dozen and a half years, or whether they are people we can trust with Shattering the Soul is another story.”
“Plus, if you aren’t the best, then if everything fails it isn’t your fault.”
“That’s… not my point.” William paused to think for a few moments. “I mean, it’s not like I won’t give it my all. If I don’t do that, and we fail to destroy the Demon King, that is when it would be my fault, whether I was the strongest or not. I just think there will be someone better.”
“Was there someone better to be Archmage?”
“Are you kidding? Besides Marius, who was too locked up in politics, I wouldn’t have trusted that post to anyone. Well, maybe Lila, but only with supervision. That kind of responsibility would have been terrible for her. Still, that didn’t mean I was a good choice for being Archmage. I just needed to be Archmage to push people into doing something, instead of sitting around on their hands. I mean, I can’t even do magic. I basically tricked and called upon technicalities and lied about Chris’ abilities being mine to get into that position.”
Lorelei smiled. “Personally, I’d rather serve under a smart and wise Archmage who can’t use magic than under a very powerful fool. Though, in the end I’d prefer to be Archmage.”
“Are you? Do demons have Archmages?”
“Well, not technically, but it would be more correct to say I am than that I am not. There hasn’t been a particularly organized structure among our trained mages for… some time. I have a good amount of sway in some things, slightly more while the Demon King is dead, but while he’s alive he likes to be in control of everything. I could probably have an official position as Archmage and a lot more authority all the time if I became the Demon King’s mistress or something, but I’d rather die. Fortunately, I didn’t have to pick either of those options. Back to you, though. You don’t seem to believe you can be the best at something.”
“Well, it’s pretty unlikely isn’t it? Actually, I just thought of something important. Who developed Shattering the Soul? A demon, right? They should be good at it. Will they help us?”
“Yes, one of us developed it. Specifically to kill the Demon King, in fact. However, he is old, and thus will be of no use.”
“How is that? My grandpa is old and he’s still got very impressive strength. Actually, do demons even get old?”
“Well… you could say that we don’t, but that isn’t completely true. Suffice to say, though this particular person is still strong, he is no longer useful precisely because he is old. As for whether he is good at Shattering the Soul… well, I would say you are better.” Lorelei leaned forward and spoke seriously. “Don’t assume, or even hope that someone better will come along. Assume you are the best, and work to destroy the Demon King. Because I’d really rather live in a world where he doesn’t exist and humans do.”
That was, of course, the entire reason they had first come in contact. “Of course. Being a human, I’d also strongly prefer that we exist.”