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I Got a New Skill Every Time I Was Exiled, and After 100 Different Worlds, I Was Unmatched (Web Novel) - Chapter 388: Unknown Evolution or Growth Does Not Necessarily Lead to Good Results
Chapter 388: Unknown Evolution or Growth Does Not Necessarily Lead to Good Results
This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl
“We’re~~ Back!, I’ve returned, welcome home, Ed!”Once again, after safely landing in the <White World>, Tia energetically exclaimed next to me. It seems she’s fond of the previous home setting.
“Hey, Ed!”
“Hahaha, I got it. Welcome home, Tia.”
“I’m home! Fufu.”
Seeing Tia happily laughing, I also felt joyful. Hmm, I once again realized the incredible power of home… There’s a part of me that seriously wants a house.
Should I buy one? Well, I can afford it, but what’s the point of buying it? Using [Stranger Box], I could carry it around, but wouldn’t that just be a big tent rather than a house?
“A house… deep.”
Thinking about such things, I checked my body’s condition as usual. Especially this time, I checked thoroughly… Huh?
“What’s wrong, Ed?”
“No, it just feels different somehow… What could it be?”
Even after moving my hands and feet, there wasn’t anything wrong. There was no discomfort, just my usual body… Wait, no discomfort?
“Oh? Come to think of it, Ed, what happened to your usual leather armor?”
“Eh!? Ah… Oh, could it be!?”
The leather armor I had always worn was something I acquired during my days as a mercenary… so to speak, it wasn’t anything remarkable. Unlike clothes, I hadn’t prepared any spares for the armor, so it remained where it was when it burst along with my body, but now, I was not wearing that armor.
Just after returning from another world, without any discomfort in my body, and my lost equipment hadn’t returned. This means…
“My body didn’t regenerate?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Well, you know. Every time we return here, we’re supposed to be restored to the state we were in when we first came here, right? But it seems that’s not the case for me now. However, this…”
It was probably because I’d become a “higher being”, and my body was no longer the vessel prepared by God. It sounded nice to say that one had been released from one of God’s restrictions… but the disadvantages that come with it were quite significant and couldn’t be overlooked.
If my body didn’t return to its original state, it meant that if I came back here while injured, I’ll remain that way. In that case, skills like the [Blood Engine] which were centered around self-destruction, could not be used, and strong poisons or difficult-to-cure illnesses will become major threats in the future.
After all, it won’t heal. Compared to the benefit of maintaining a trained body, losing the completely insane effect of complete recovery or rather, regression upon return, was an enormous loss that couldn’t be easily overlooked.
And even that, compared to another disadvantage that came to mind, it’s like nothing. That is…
“I’m sorry, Tia… I might not be able to adventure with you for much longer.”
Not being able to return to my original state meant, in other words, simply growing older. I was still only twenty years old, but when it came to traveling the world as part of a hero’s party, defeating the Demon King, no matter how hard I try, forty years old might be the limit.
In other words, twenty more years. Even if I traveled through all the worlds in the shortest time possible, I wouldn’t even be able to conquer half of the one hundred different worlds. Ultimately, I think I’ll settle down somewhere in one of the worlds and wait for death there… The conclusion of such a journey was something I hadn’t imagined until now.
Hmm, Do I require a planned life strategy now that sets it apart from what I’ve been doing? But with my current abilities, I can only foresee the next world, so a long-term life plan spanning multiple worlds seems…
“What do you mean!?”
As I seriously contemplated this, Tia furrowed her brows and pressed me for an explanation. So I forced a smile, but it was undeniable that my lips were slightly twitching.
“Well, you see, it seems like I’ll age normally from now on. So I think I can adventure normally for about fifteen or twenty years, and if it’s forty or fifty years, I might die… I think.”
“Huh…? Um, that’s… I’m sorry. It’s just… so ordinary that I don’t know how to react.”
“…Ah, well, yeah.”
Tia was confused while I had a strange expression on my face. Certainly, if a twenty-year-old youth were to lament, “I only have about fifty more years of my life,” I’d probably have a similar reaction.
I see, yeah. This was just my sense of perspective being shattered, and if I think about it carefully, it’s normal.
“I’m sorry, it seems like I’m confused too.”
“That’s okay, but could you explain a little more clearly? What suddenly happened?”
“Right, about that…”
As Tia inquired, I carefully explained how my body would no longer reset, and the potential disadvantages that could result from it. She listened attentively… and then tilted her head slightly as she asked.
“I see, I understand most of it, but can I ask one thing? Is it because your body has become a ‘Higher Being’ than before, Ed?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Probably.”
“So, does that mean this being you’ve become is higher than many of the Demon Kings we’ve encountered in different worlds?”
“Uh… yeah, I guess so?”
Since it was the goal of the Demon King Hyde, and it was an existence that integrated the powers of Heroes, Gods, and Demons, it would logically be higher than just a regular Demon King. Regardless of the total amount of power, in terms of simple position, it’s likely that current me… would be higher than the original me, Endroll, Demon King of End. It’s not as simple as being stronger because you’re higher or weaker because you’re lower.
“But, the Demon Kings, they didn’t have things like lifespans, right? So why are you aging normally?”
“…………………..?”
“Isn’t that how it has been so far? There have been Demon Kings who’ve lived for hundreds of years, but none of them have weakened due to old age. So, if you, who became an existence even greater than that, turns into just a regular old man… isn’t that strange?”
“……….”
With ears twitching, Tia said, leaving me dumbfounded, with the most idiotic expression, my mouth hanging open.
Ah, right… I see. Aging and deteriorating to death were different matters, huh? When you put it like that… yeah, I guess so.
“Sorry, really sorry. Seems like I’ll age but won’t die, somehow.”
“Fufu, well, that’s a relief, isn’t it? But then, does that mean I’ll die before you? Oh dear, being an elf, to be seen off by a human like Ed… I never even thought about it in the past…”
“That’s… well…”
I instinctively retracted my hand that moved. Tia will die before me. That’s something I’ve known for sure, something I’ve imagined and prepared for countless times, yet when she said it herself, my determination and resolve wavered so easily.
And then, Tia gently enveloped my hand with her own. Her hands, embracing me like a precious treasure, were so warm it made me want to cry.
“Hey, Ed. It’s true that I don’t think I can live together with you forever. You’re an amazing Demon King, but I’m just an ordinary elf. But, we can be together for a long time. As long as you don’t forget me, I’ll always be here. So, don’t make that face, let’s enjoy the present, okay? Until that far-off day, far in the future, when that time comes.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
I wonder if I managed to return a natural smile to Tia’s smiling face? Honestly, I’m not sure, but this is the best I can do right now.
(Hahaha… what’s with that, talking all high and mighty about being a “higher being” ? In the end, it’s just… this, isn’t it?)
Even though I should have become an existence far beyond human, all I could do was muster a pathetic, self-deprecating smile.
