Chapter Sixty-Two

"Ark, can you tell the truth?"

"What you're saying sounds strange to me. When have I ever lied to you?"

“Even that statement is a lie.” Denos looked around to make sure the carriages were quiet, then leaned close to Ark’s ear and whispered, “I’m begging you, please tell me the truth, even if I haven’t done anything right, I’ve still put in the effort.”

"Hey, don't you think it's actually better not to know anything?" Ark ignored Denos's tone and lied, taking advantage of his expressionless face.

Of course, no one can prove he was lying. After all, only he himself knows how much he was hiding.

Denos hesitated for a moment, then gave up on continuing the interrogation.

They now sit atop the carriage, three days having passed since the plan was discussed that night.

These three days were normal; everyone was moving towards the Nadera each day, and no one showed anything noteworthy.

Denos looked at the cars: "When was the last time there were this many people?"

“It’s been a long time, decades by now,” Yak said, counting on his fingers. “This time is also special; I never expected to be able to find so many people.”

"At least tell me what you plan to do next. I'm way past the age where I should be settling down and starting a family." (For example:)

"Are you leaving?" Ark glanced at Denos and nodded, his attitude towards Denos's departure unreadable. "Fine, you have no future with me."

"Then at least tell me where you plan to go."

Have I told you why I still travel all over the world?

“I don’t know. Speaking of which, don’t you plan to start your own association or something? Or find a place to become a lord or something? You must know some locations where you can establish a stronghold, but why do you insist on running around everywhere?” Denos sighed helplessly: “I still can’t understand your thinking.”

"Actually, the world is quite big, and I still like to travel around."

"Is there anywhere else you haven't been? If I remember correctly, you said you've been to every place in the world!"

“Actually, I haven’t been to Hell yet, and I haven’t been to Heaven either.” Ark hesitated for a moment and said, “But it should only be Hell. Heaven is definitely just a fictional place.”

"Huh? Are you saying there's a hell in this world? Is it a metaphor or...?"

“In a practical sense, according to ancient texts, hell really does exist in the world.” Ark looked around to make sure no one was there, then pointed to the carriage in the middle: “Look, those two cats are proof.”

Denos paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "You're not joking, are you?"

"Do I look serious when I do?"

"Your tone is only serious, so it cannot be taken as a guarantee."

......

Lori stood up straight in the carriage, a little embarrassed, with her arms outstretched, surrounded by several people sitting around her.

"Is it appropriate?" she asked softly, tilting her head.

“Very good! Stand there for a couple more minutes, and I’ll give you a quick sketch.” Ghost Duke answered in an extremely excited voice, while covering his nose with a handkerchief and letting out a strange laugh with a very strange and indescribable expression. At the same time, he quickly drew the image of the child in front of him on the board with the pen in his hand.

Karl glared at Ghost Duke with murderous intent, chin in hand, ready to pin the guy to the ground and beat him up at any moment.

“Not bad.” Dedeline also rested her chin on her hand, moved closer to Lori, and pinched her body. Lori let out a few short moans, looking a little scared.

This is because Lori's sweater was finished and she was wearing it.

Wearing only a sweater, Lori looks like a normal child. Originally, her appearance was hidden by the cloak, making her look like a little witch. Now, wearing a white sweater and standing in the room with a slightly shy look, she looks really cute.

Considering that it's for girls, the little spider didn't forget to add some decorations, such as a big heart on the front.

Dedeline wasn't particularly interested in cute children, but she was intrigued by the sweater. She could sense a highly compressed layer of magic emanating from it. This level of magic, concentrated within her, provided immunity to almost all elemental damage.

As for its durability, she tried using a knife on it before putting it on. But apart from still feeling a sharp pain, the sweater was completely undamaged. Pulling on it forcefully didn't cause any change.

What's truly astonishing is the data: each of the little spider's threads can withstand tons of tensile force. And a garment made of such threads is virtually impossible to break from pulling. Given all these properties, the thing is so soft and light, it feels like wearing a layer of cloud. Lori's embarrassment stems from this; if she weren't paying attention, she wouldn't even feel it. So she'd always be holding onto one of the small corners, otherwise she'd feel like she wasn't wearing any clothes.

Lori wrapped the scarf around herself; it was a little too big for her, easily burying half her face inside. Then she sat down beside him, watching curiously as Ghost Duke displayed his sketches—since waking up, besides spouting nonsensical things, all he'd done was ask for a charcoal pencil, a thin wooden board, and a small dagger.

The things he could draw with charcoal were truly astonishing; he would basically find a place to draw whenever he had free time. It seemed that he couldn't find anything else to pass the time.

Although it wasn't particularly complex in a short time, the general spirit of the painting was already evident on the paper. Although Karl was very unhappy with Ghost Duke's perverted expression as he deliberately moved closer to Lori who was sitting next to him, he had to admit that the guy did have some talent in painting.

Lori sipped her tea, and just as she sat down, Spider handed her a cup containing a beverage mixed with tea leaves.

She only tried this for the first time yesterday, and she couldn't have eaten it because of the slightly bitter taste if it weren't for the added sugar to enhance the flavor. Now that she's gotten used to it, she really likes this kind of warming drink.

About ten minutes later, Ghost Duke had completed the entire sketch from memory and showed it to Lori. The whole thing took only fifteen minutes, but the level of completion was astonishing.

"Would you like some tea?" Lori handed the tea to Ghost Duke. Without thinking, Ghost Duke took half a cup, drank it down, and then handed it back to her, rubbing her head.

"What a good boy," Ghost Duke said, then took the painting off the painting, rolled it up simply, and handed it over: "Consider this a thank-you gift."

"Thank you!" Lori replied cheerfully, then hugged the portrait of herself to her chest.

"You draw very quickly. Have you practiced before?" Karl looked at the guy with some curiosity. After finishing his drawing, the guy rested his head on his hand and stared at the fire, just like he always did. Suddenly, it became difficult to talk to him; he sat there as if isolated from the world.

"If you've ever taken the art college entrance exam, you'll know why I was able to draw it."

"What is that?" Karl was stumped by the unfamiliar word and looked at the guy with some curiosity.

"Exams, I can't go to university without this." Ghost Duke made no attempt to hide his past: "Ha, if I have enough materials, I can even paint a watercolor for you."

After that, no one spoke to him anymore, because no one understood him. This guy often did this, spouting nonsense that seemed completely out of place, yet he acted as if he were completely serious. It was as if all this fabricated stuff was true.

How could it be true? For example, how could a small, lit cube be connected to each other? Or how could there be so many people in a city? There are no gods or elements, but there are things like firearms—he said that Lady's weapons would become mainstream long afterward, and swords and the like would soon be obsolete.

These things are truly unbelievable. He himself said not to take what he said seriously, so naturally we should just listen to it as a story.

Lady sat in the corner, listening to them talk, feeling like she couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Ghost Duke's talkative nature made it impossible for anyone to keep up with his conversation; he really talked about everything, including things he hadn't said before. He would occasionally fall silent, though only very occasionally. But once he stopped, everyone was pretty much at a loss for words.

Although Lady is the one who should be speaking right now, since the place we're going to is Lady's hometown, and no one knows it better than her.

Yesterday, Qizi suddenly said that his core was damaged and his energy was being lost, so he had to shut down his computer for a while. Therefore, the last room was given to Qizi alone again.

As for the others' rest, they simply slept when they were tired, without any restrictions. Since yesterday, the sky had been filled with fiery clouds, obscuring the sun and making it impossible to tell time. The entire world was bathed in light under a sea of ​​fire, its entire surface glowing red.

About three hours later, Lori fell asleep on Karl's body. Little Spider and Dedeline took turns with Ark and Denos—although the monsters were instinctively avoiding them because of the fiery clouds, there weren't many monsters outside, but someone still needed to keep watch up there.

The carriage fell silent. The two who had just entered were rather quiet, and it was unclear what they had been talking about earlier. They also seemed tired from the tension. So, Ghost Duke could only let them rest.

He sat in another corner of the carriage, propping his head up with his hand, thinking about recent events.

The reason he couldn't stop talking was that once he quieted down, he fell into a very strange feeling.

Simply put, he wanted to die, but suicide brought nothing but pain.

Therefore, Ghost Duke could only force himself into a state of joyful excitement.

Now it was quiet, except for the crackling of the fire and the clatter of the carriage. The only sound was the beating of my own heart.

Thump, thump.

As Ghost Duke listened to his own heartbeat, his heart gradually calmed down.

He wanted to know what had happened to Twelve. Was that guy the protagonist? If he was the protagonist, he certainly wouldn't have died.

But what if he's not the main character?

Thinking of this, Ghost Duke was gripped by a strange and inexplicable fear.

Having been in this world for so long, he had a strange feeling. Could it be that there wasn't a protagonist in this world? This was an abandoned place, and the various restrictions here only made him feel suffocated.

For example, the boundaries of the world. When he learned that the world has boundaries, he just felt a tightness in his chest. Although the world is still surprisingly vast, the sky is only so high and the earth is only so wide.

It looks like a cage used to keep mice.

He sized up the people around him, especially the guy sitting opposite him, who seemed to be glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. It was Ark. When their eyes met, they stared at each other for a long, long time, before Ghost Duke looked away.

Maybe this guy is the main character? Ghost Duke thought to himself, if he were to tell this story, would he use a businessman's perspective?

I don't know, I just feel really confused. Everyone he considered a main character died a terrible death. Someone he really liked also died a terrible death.

Now, he can completely follow his heart. For example, he expresses his feelings for pretty girls without any hesitation, and he tells stories about his original world that he used to keep hidden. He revels every day as if he were going to die tomorrow.

Ghost Lord thought Ark was going to ask him something, but when he looked up, he and Denos were both asleep. Even Karl seemed to have his eyes closed.

It's probably too late now.

However, I still wasn't sleepy. The reason I died suddenly was because I went to bed too late.

However, I should rest now; it's been a long time since I've had such a comfortable environment to relax in.

He yawned and leaned back in his chair, wanting to sleep.

"Um, sir?"

Suddenly, he heard a girl's voice. He opened his eyes and saw Lady sitting next to him, though he didn't know when she had appeared.

"Hey! What can I do for you, beautiful lady?" Ghost Duke couldn't help but smile as he looked at Lady's pretty face.

Only when he chats with such a beautiful girl can he recall the original reason why he once fantasized about traveling to the world of anime—wasn't it just so he could see such beautiful girls? Although he doesn't know when this guy will die, she is still alive and breathing right now.

Lady looked a little embarrassed by his reaction, pinching her hair and looking at Ghost Duke shyly.

"You once said you'd been to Nidra?" Lady considered her words carefully. "Could you tell me about it?"

"Huh?" Ghost Duke was taken aback. He had indeed mentioned it. He had once come there because of a storm and had done hard labor.

However, she didn't know much about that city at all. After all, Lady was from there, yet she was asking her about her hometown...