"My Lord, it is... Fine, as you wish." The voices obliged begrudgingly, "We shall return to recoup and come back well-prepared to stop that bastard. Just, please make it snappy?"

"But of course." I nodded, "Even still, this outcome does not change the current plan much. I will still have to wait in this city until the ship returns."

"That's true..." The gust of wind muttered, "So, how do you plan to spend the next two days? Gonna go sightseeing? You always did enjoy long walks."

"How did you know that...? Ah, never mind, you are but a part of me, so of course you do." I smiled, "Why not? Shall we depart for the next town over?"

"Oof, but that's... That's kinda far, I mean—10 kilometers by foot is a little..." The gust of wind meandered around the idea, "Our feet are gonna fall off by the time we get there, won't they?"

"Of course not, it is merely walking, after all. No energy to be expended." I smiled, "Besides, do you even have feet? You do not seem to possess a corporeal body."

"Well, true that. In any case, it'll take a super long time." They continued to make excuses.

"Nonsense, 10 kilometers by foot takes me 2.5 hours on the dot." I began walking down the road to the next town, "Just enjoy the scenery, breathe in the fresh air, and you will find yourself at your destination before you know it. Besides, we do not have any other business for the next 2 days, so a mere four to five hour long trek should only help shorten the wait time."

"Sigh, if you say so, my Lord..."

Thus, we began walking down the dirt road together. Well, I say together, it is more like I am walking alone, with the added bit of small talk every now and again. Though I must wonder how that looked like when I was in town—Just a man talking to an imaginary being about how the world came to be. I see, never before did I understand just how important taking your pills is, but thankfully this time I seem to be quite sane apart from that. No visual hallucinations, no fearful memories resurfacing to haunt me again. Just a somewhat sassy being that is apparently a million sassy beings in one.

"My lord, if we may be so bold to ask—How is the modern era?" The wind blew gently next to me.

"The modern era?" I furrowed my brows, "Quite the interesting way to ask how I have been doing."

"No, we didn't mean... Never mind." They sighed.

"No, I understood your intentions with the question." I chuckled, "However, I cannot give you a fair and unbiased opinion, as I have only ever known about this very "modern era" you speak of. I have no other accurate point of reference."

"We see." They rephrased the question, "So then, do tell us how your life has been since birth, Meil Deram of Oden."

"My life has been... quite fair, I would say." I thought, "I have experienced many highs, and thus equally as many lows. I have been tossed away by my birth parents at a very young age and was forced to traverse the desert alone, but I thankfully found Joseph to take me in."

"Yes, Joseph, you mentioned him before. Your "father", was it?" They seemed skeptical.

"Yes, that is what I know him as." I recollected warmly, "Now the memories are flooding in, truly—A lonely old man with a heart of gold and a knack for drawing naked women."

"Another pervert..." The voices whispered amongst each other, "First that bald bastard, now him? What has this world become since Ouroboras' departure from the throne?"

"Be that as it may, he was the only person who saw me at the entrance to Oden and did not think twice to call me his own." I smiled, "In fact, I was later told in life that he was actually on his way to leave his birthplace of Oden when he saw me there and decided to do anything he could to stay back."

"How noble, even back in our days Oden was quite far away from everything, only having some similarly sized quiks nearby to work with. He must have known that he couldn't take you with him to where he wanted to go, so he ditched a life of adventure to take care of you."

"No, he wanted to run away because he was facing many legal troubles for his illustrative works." I sighed, "He drew the blacksmith's daughter in his signature nude style without realising she was under age."

"Oh."

"Thankfully, he had me to clear up the issues after I learned some basics in law." I nodded, "Yes indeed, to him, I daresay I must have been a godsend."

"If only you knew..." The voices stifled their laughter.

"He was an incredible father figure to me..." I sighed, "But he was killed, alongside all of the other Oden citizens."

"That is quite the shame." The gusts of wind mellowed out.

"But I gained a new family to protect." I smiled, "I also had a good friend in Oden named Apollo."

"Yes, it's no surprise that you got along well with the humans." The voices seemed proud.

"But he died in the massacre just like dad."

"Oh, right."

"I had gotten my wish fulfilled when Lune helped me go to the Mobius Awards, a highly prestigious event held every ten years that would award the first place team with a fully paid scholarship in a Simpletonese University of your choice."

"Of course, you surely won with ease." They praised me.

"Somewhat, but the event ended up being a long-running trap set up by some despicable nobles and we almost died." I sighed, "Plus we got split up and I got captured and enslaved in a labor camp."

"What a turbulent life you've led, my Lord..."

"Yes, but I made some friends out there and we all made it out, so thanks to Lune's money he lent me I safely enrolled in Simpleton."

"Apologies, my Lord, but we are a bit confused." The wind did not seem to know where to blow, "Would you say your life was good, or not?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"It was balanced. Both good and bad, as it should be."

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By now, we were nearing the forest that was serving as a natural barrier between the two towns. It was not a big or dense forest by any means, being just unaccessible enough outside the paved path to not be safe for foraging. I have also heard that about two years ago some animals have attacked Cardina's southern forests, so I might have to be wary even. Nevertheless, we pressed on.

"We see, a balanced life." The voices began chuckling to themselves.

"What? Is something the matter?" I asked.

"No, my Lord! It is just, haha!" They burst out laughing all of a sudden, "You said the same thing when we asked you a thousand years ago! You really did, no matter what would happen, good or bad, you would always say that very line!"

"Again, I believe you have me mistaken for someone else." I looked forward, "I just turned 30 this year."

"Ah, we suppose that is "just" for someone as long-lived as you." They reasoned.

"Do I look long-lived to you?" I gave a sidelong glance, "If that is the case, just how old are you, then?"

"Eighty!" One voice shouted as a million others followed, "Seventy three! Thirty four! Just before ninety! A little over forty!"

"Ah yes, a lot of people stacked in one..." I cupped my ears slightly to protect my ears from the incessant shouting.

"Three." One voice said.

"Huh?"

"One and a half." A few more chimed in, "Four. Six. Two. Three for me too. Nine..."

"So young... You are the voices of the deceased, you said?" I worriedly looked at the shapeless voices walking beside me.

"Of the deceased Raamans, to be precise." They sounded like they were dealing with a heavy topic, "It is true, most of us died after living a good long life, give or take. But due to the most recent event in our history, some did not have that luxury."

"The most recent event. In other words..." I paused, "The Carmenians' extermination of the Raaman race."

"You certainly do know your stuff." They chuckled with eons of burdened pain held back, "They seemingly attacked without reason, at least to us. For them, they wrote it off as trying to conquer the land and colonize our Abyssus Solis. Then they found out about us worshipping the Sun God, and jumped on the idea that we were provoking them by worshipping a God that didn't exist in their Eyes."

"How horrid, but that is indeed what the history books say." I nodded.

"But now we know the truth." The voices raged, "The true reason why the Carmenians attacked us all those years ago... Him."

"Him?" I asked.

"The bastard..."

"The ba-? Look, you are going to need to be more precise."

"You still don't get it, my Lord?" Their rage was briefly put aside in favor of confusion, "T-The bastard, y'know? Baldie?"

"Mn, I am sure I understand who you are talking about, but just in case." I inquired, "Is this the person that we were discussing previously?"

"Yes, him! The guy that wrote all sorts of bad shit into the Book of Fortune!" They shouted, "Olyahim!"

"Eh? So that is his name?" I raised both Eyebrows, "And here I thought Meil was odd..."

"Ouroboras is better..." They muttered.

"Hm?"

"Never mind!" The wind blew harshly, "In any case, we only found out when we died and went to Heaven that Olyahim, back when he didn't know the powers of the Book he held in his hands, had written in that the Carmenians wiped us all out. Once he did, every soldier from that dogshit Empire banded together to cull every Raaman with the Sun God's insignia on them."

"Wow... Wait, so the insignia meant you were a Raaman?" I asked, checking every part of my body as if I would only now find it on me, "How come I do not possess it?"

"The insignia is branded on the back of the hand of someone who accepts Ouroboras as their God." They explained, "I mean, it's kinda obvious why you don't have it."

"Why?"

"I mean, you'd be a narcissist if you did."

"How come?"

"...You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" They blew hot air in my face.

"What do you mean? How would me having this mark of Ouroboras make me a narcissist?"

"Just... Just remember this conversation again when you understand your true identity one day, okay my Lord?" They sounded like they were giving me a fake smile, "We do not wish to call Ouroboras stupid or dense by any means, so let's leave it like this for now."

I really do not understand these voices in my head. Then again, it would be scary if I did. I guess I should be thankful that I can freely understand them as crazy machinations of the mind...

"Watch out!" A strong gust of wind blew me back a few meters as a Stray Wolf and Snair attacked the spot I was supposed to be in, "That was close, you alright, my Lord!?"

"Yes, thank you for that." I got back up, "Well, that fixed my back at least."

"Your back?"

"You know, they say a scholar's best friend is someone who can give frequent upper and lower back massages." I cracked my knuckles and neck, "Due to our frequent and lengthy study sessions, reading the study material at home, listening to the lectures in those sturdy uncomfortable chairs at the amphitheater, as well as taking tests—Our backs are usually the first to go."

"We see, but right now you are in quite the pinch!" The voices shouted, "It's a 2v1 not favoring you, y'know!? Apart from a slightly strong gust of wind that can launch you back, we can't really help you here!"

"That was more than enough, thank you." I began walking towards the two beasts, "But now I feel like popping more than just my back, and I know just how to do so."