Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 6 - Chapter SS4

The Vampire King and the Ultimate Synergist

Oscar dropped to one knee, his glasses glimmering in the dim light as he concentrated on the ground in front of him. Right now, he was in one of the underground rooms in Dastia’s palace.

“You should stop making that expression. You look like you’re planning something nefarious,” a voice called out to him from behind, and Oscar whirled around in surprise.

“King Alfard! Don’t scare me like that!”

Alfard grinned at him, and Oscar turned off his glasses’ glow.

“Like I said before, you can just call me Al when we’re not in public,” he said as he held up a basket giving off a delicious scent and a small water bottle.

“You’ve been at it all day. Why not take a little break?”

“Oh, thanks.”

Oscar dropped all pretenses of acting formal and gratefully accepted the basket from Alfard. The two of them then sat on the ground across from each other and started eating.

“Be grateful, Selene made this herself. Each one of these is worth more than your life,” Alfard said in a joking tone as he picked up a sandwich. In truth, the sandwiches were quite delicious, and they had the warmth that only food made with love had.

“So, how’s the analysis going?” Alfard asked, glancing over at the large, complex magic circle in the corner of the room. This was the Room of Succession, and Oscar had been trying to analyze the magic circle using the information processing abilities of his glasses.

“No problems so far. We’ll have to adjust the formula a little for what we need in the labyrinths, so I’m going to need some more time with it, but...thanks for letting us do this, Al.”

This magic circle was the vampire kingdom’s greatest secret, as well as its greatest treasure. Normally, letting outsiders analyze it would be completely out of the question, but after hearing why the Liberators needed the magic circle, Alfard had agreed to let them examine it without hesitation. Had they been dealing with any king other than Alfard, Oscar and the others would have had a much harder time.

“Don’t mention it. You’re doing this for the future. I don’t mind at all,” Alfard said casually.

“Ha ha...I really like that straightforward side of you.”

Alfard was known for being decisive and unwavering. Apparently, when his nobles and citizens had been affected by the church’s brainwashing, he hadn’t been shaken at all. In his eyes, those who had fallen for the brainwashing had only themselves to blame, so he mercilessly cut down anyone who opposed him. He’d even justified it afterward, saying that for a noble, dying to protect your homeland was the true nature of noblesse oblige and that he’d done them a favor by killing them.

It had probably helped that most of the zealots had been part of the faction that had resented having a human queen. Alfard had been more than happy to slay anyone who tried to lay a hand on his wife or son. If anything, it had saved him the trouble of rooting out all the seditious elements in the country, since they’d all come to him. His complete lack of mercy had actually instilled a fear greater than fanaticism in the hearts of those brainwashed by the church, and they’d surrendered so quickly that Alfard’s methods had actually kept casualties to a minimum.

I wish I could be as straightforward and decisive as you... Oscar thought enviously, looking down. As he scarfed down his beloved wife’s lunch, Alfard cast a sidelong glance at Oscar and asked, “Where do you think a person’s soul resides?”

Oscar gave him a confused look, and Alfard continued the conversation on his own.

“Their head? Their heart? Their stomach? Some scholars claim people don’t have souls at all. Others say our souls flow through our blood. Though really, it’s mostly vampire scholars who think that. That’s why they care so much about blood purity.”

“Umm...Laus is a spirit magic user, so...”

“Yeah, the former theory’s definitely dead in the water. Incidentally, I was curious, so I asked Laus-dono the same thing the other day.”

“Oh? What did he say?”

Oscar had never really thought about where a person’s soul resided, but now that the topic had been brought up, he was curious.

“Apparently, it’s diffused throughout your body. If we think of the body as a vessel, our souls are the liquid energy that fill it up. Every person’s soul is unique, and it’s an integral part of what makes them them. You can think of a soul as a person’s life force. Or so Laus-dono said, anyway.”

Alfard went on to explain that when a person died, the body stopped being a suitable vessel, so the soul spilled out and dispersed.

“The question is, what happens to a soul after it disperses? And how exactly does the energy that makes up a soul come to reside in people in the first place? Where do souls come from, and where do they go?”

“This is starting to get rather philosophical.”

“Not at all. This is about love...and romance.”

“I don’t see how that’s connected.”

Oscar gave Alfard a confused look, but Alfard simply continued as if it was obvious, “Oscar, have you heard about a concept called reincarnation?”

“I think we’re getting off-topic.”

“Not at all. This is still about love and romance.”

Alfard explained that there was an old fairy tale in the vampire kingdom that still inspired stories to this day. It was about people being reborn. Upon hearing that, Oscar looked more than a little intrigued.

“Laus-dono has a theory that both mana and souls are simply different forms of the same energy.”

“Wait, does that mean when we use mana, we’re depleting our souls?”

“Not exactly. His idea is that when energy from the natural world enters people’s bodies, it takes concrete form as either mana or a soul, so they come from the same source, but aren’t one and the same.”

“Hmm, I think I get it? Is it like how if you desynthesize different types of ores and minerals, you’ll see they’re all made from the same basic components?”

“You can look at it that way, yeah. Some scholars also claim that everything in existence is made up of a combination of extremely tiny particles banding together and forming more complex structures.”

Alfard finished eating his last sandwich, which seemed to mark the end of this strange topic of discussion.

“Anyway, the point is that when people die, their souls dissipate, but they don’t disappear. They simply become a part of the natural world again. They’re still there.”

“Still there...”

“Then after eons and eons, when the right vessel is born, they once again coalesce and enter that vessel.”

“So what you’re trying to say is that when a person dies, their soul turns into primal energy, and eventually, that primal energy enters another person and becomes their soul?”

“Exactly. And since they return to nature first, it’s not like the person who inherits that soul remembers what it was like before.”

“So reincarnation is when, for some reason or the other, that soul doesn’t completely get wiped clean and retains its original form when it enters another person?”

“Something like that. Based on what Laus-dono said, it seems possible, wouldn’t you say? In truth, there are some nobles and members of the royal family that think the Font of Knowledge is actually the memories of all past kings.”

“You’re making a lot of leaps in logic and there isn’t enough evidence to back up those claims. I’m not sure it’s a very sound theory.”

“That’s why I said this was about love and romance.”

If two people loved each other enough, then no matter how many times they were parted by death, they’d be reborn and reunite. When Alfard put it like that, it certainly did seem romantic. Smiling, Alfard rose to his feet.

“Reincarnation exists,” he said in a voice full of conviction, and Oscar adjusted his glasses to hide his expression. He could tell that Alfard had told him this story as a roundabout way of cheering him up. Alfard could tell Oscar still had reservations about the labyrinth project, and he’d wanted to give Oscar at least some peace of mind. If reality was unforgiving, at least now Oscar had a fairy tale to believe in. It wasn’t scientific, but Oscar did feel as though his heart was a lot lighter.

Love and romance are a lot more wonderful than I thought.

“Al, thanks for cheering me—”

“Think about it. If reincarnation doesn’t exist, then how do you explain the shock I felt upon seeing Selene for the very first time?! That had to have been fate! Our love from ages past must have reunited us here in different bodies! Our love for each other is simply too strong to die out after just one lifetime!”

“Wait, you just wanted to brag about how much you love your wife?!”

Oscar chucked the water bottle at Alfard, who easily caught it, then let out a hearty laugh and strode out of the room.

Oscar glared at his retreating back, but then after a second, he asked in a slightly embarrassed voice, “Al, do you have any books on reincarnation you’d recommend?”

“Here.”

Al took a tome out of his pocket and handed it over to Oscar. He’d clearly come prepared. Oscar took it with a surprised look, and Alfard grinned at him.

“You probably felt like it was fate too, didn’t you?”

Oscar thought back to his first meeting with Miledi.

“I’ve finally found you!”

He still remembered the smile she’d given him and the words she’d said. Oscar once again adjusted his glasses to hide the blush spreading across his face. He could hear Alfard’s laughter echoing through the room as he left.