After the fight, I looked at Pragron's face to gather information. Being a dragon, he could be considered knowledgeable. He and his child were looking at me; the child now seemed to have calmed down. I began to speak and ask questions.
"By the way, how do you feed yourselves? Also, does this kingdom hold votes? If so, when do they happen?"
"Us? The fruits or animals around here. And sometimes the clubs bring us bodies—we eat those."
Pragron had said this as if it were something normal. Clearly, this was a known thing—dragons could eat humans if necessary. Objecting to the situation wouldn't benefit me, so I tried not to make a surprised expression. But when he mentioned bodies, memories came to my mind.
Nine Years Ago
"Cut off his head, Rei!"
Under the guise of training, the commanders would kidnap some of the opposing soldiers and present them to us. They would take them to the torture chamber and force us to behead them. They saw this as a step toward making us ruthless, toward confronting us with the reality of the world. He had placed the knife in my hand. The man's mouth was covered, but he was trying to scream with terrified eyes.
"I-I can't! I can't do it!"
"If you can't do it, if you're useless, you'll become trash! You won't earn money for your mother!"
"But—"
"I said do it! Power is everything in this world—you need to understand that! Do it, or your time here ends!"
I had swiftly cut off the man's head. The moment I cut it, the man's head fell to the ground; everywhere was covered in blood. It was my first murder. The moment I did it, I bent over and started vomiting. The eyes of the fallen head were still looking at me. I turned my face away and continued coughing and vomiting.
"Good job, kid. Understand the world you're in thoroughly. We'll be leaving—return to your room."
I was aware that power was everything in this world, but I was never going to use power in this way. The fact that power was everything didn't necessitate this. Or it didn't necessitate me becoming such a person. I both understood their philosophy and rejected it. Even if power was everything in this world, I didn't have to crush everyone all the time. As I was returning to my room, I saw the writing on the painting I always saw—this time, it caught my attention even more.
The Writing on the Painting:
Do you worship God because He is God, or because God is perfect?
When I read the writing again, I understood what it meant. It was arguing that even what we worship is due to power. Our belief in God, our worship of God—the source of these was connected to the thought that God is supreme over all things. The real question was this: If it became clear that God did not possess power, would we still continue to believe in Him?
The answer was clear. In such a situation, instead of worshiping God, the human race would want to seize control when they realized He didn't possess enough power. What made God, God, was His absolute power. Even in our most primitive belief, absolute power was connected. This writing represented that power is everything. As simple answers people gave, they talked about how power couldn't control health, or money couldn't control it. But to get special diseases treated, we needed money—that is, another kind of financial power.
All positive emotions were fundamentally self-serving. If you didn't treat someone well, if you weren't of use to someone, positive emotions couldn't form. Even in the simplest relationships, indirect self-interests existed. When you became friends with someone, having fun with them, feeling good—these also counted as a benefit. If you didn't become stronger, no one would respect you for no reason; in fact, they'd even try to crush you. If you couldn't become better, no one would treat you well for no reason. Simply because you were stronger, you could always be shown more respect. Positive emotions couldn't be directed at you unless you were of use to them. The problem wasn't even that this was the case. The problem was that people didn't understand and accept this. One needed to see the world and positive emotions as they were and accept them without self-deception. These people and this world functioned this way.
When I saw that writing, those were my thoughts or questions at that age. I had weighed the world in my eyes this way. Even though I characterized positive emotions like this, ironically, I valued my friends. Perhaps I wasn't looking at them as fake or with hostility. I was just understanding that it was the case and accepting it together with them. Because, like everyone, I was also self-serving in this matter. Or I couldn't be without self-interest. Or people couldn't be. I was accepting this as it was.
Present Day
"Votes happen every five years. Why did you ask?"
"Nothing, really. I'm new here—just wanted to learn."
Five years, huh... I guess I don't have that much time. I'll have to kill the king or dethrone him some other way...
"So, do dragons have any distinguishing traits?"
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"Hmm, as you can see, our physical abilities are good. Also, we can see the energy of beings."
"Energy?"
"Yes. For example, because of this, disguise potions don't work on us."
"Can you see my energy?"
"Yes. Your energy is a pure white color."
"I see. Does that mean anything?"
"No. I guess we don't know what it means."
"Alright. Thanks anyway."
I left the mountains and headed toward the city center. There was a light rain in the air again, and this time thunder was rumbling. People seemed to be going to their homes.
Dragons must be dangerous. If it's true that the king is also a dragon, the potion won't work.
Should I dig a tunnel underground? It's possible, but it would be very tiring. For now, I should focus on the tournament. That man had let slip that I could also get it from the dark region. So there are two possibilities: either he said it to steer me here during the volcano game, or it slipped out. I'll find out later whether it's true or not. I should check how many people are left from the city hall.
I started walking and entered the city hall. It was a bit more crowded inside due to the rain; people seemed to be socializing. A notification came to my phone. When I checked my phone, it stated that the new game would be played one day later. Receiving this news made me feel good.
When I looked at the black digital board, I saw that a hundred people remained. This surprised me—the second game hadn't even been played yet. But on the other hand, it worked in my favor; after all, I wanted to win the tournament. As I kept looking around, a fight broke out on the right side. The guards took both people toward the dungeon. The dungeon, as far as I remembered, was located next to the royal building. The king probably couldn't see me there; I could infiltrate it with a potion. But there was still the possibility of other dragons being there, so I decided to try it later. A thought had formed.
Then, at the entrance of the city hall, a girl with black hair but completely white eyes entered. She looked terrifying, but her terrifying appearance stemmed from her eyes, which had no pupils. When she arrived, everyone got scared, shouted, "The eyeless woman has come!" and moved away. Clearly, they didn't like her. The woman had a powerful energy; she was wearing black clothes and was of medium height. I wondered what kind of person she was.
Due to the reactions she was getting, the girl's face seemed to be wilting. Rather than not caring, she seemed to be taking damage from it—she was being ostracized. I was aware that if I stood by her in this situation, I could get to know her. Her strange appearance sparked an interesting curiosity in me. I immediately went up to her. When I approached her, she looked at me with those white eyes.
"Forget them. Did you also come to look at the board?"
It was clear she felt strange when I showed interest in her, but afterward, I could also sense that she felt good.
"Yes, I came for that too."
"I see. I think your eyes are beautiful, intriguing. Don't mind them. I saw they were upsetting you."
"Thank you. Alright, I'll try to care less for your sake. What's your name?"
"My name is Rei Rei. What's yours?"
"Ayame."
"Nice to meet you. If you don't mind me asking—why are your eyes like that?"
"I figured you'd ask. Well, since you didn't look at me with those eyes, fine. I'll tell you."
Twelve Years Ago
"You useless fucking girl! Couldn't you sell those flowers?"
"I'm sorry, Father. I couldn't do it..."
"Then you don't have the right to see this life, you stupid child! What good are you? How many times has this been?"
We were growing up in a poor family. I had never seen my mother. My father forced me to work from a young age. I had failed at my job a few times; my father's business was going badly, he couldn't earn money. His anger was at its peak; he always took his anger out on me. But this time, he had gone too far.
He was trying to gouge out both my eyes with his hands after pinning me down. Even beating me hadn't satisfied him—he wanted to see me suffer. Every part of me was covered in wounds; I was just struggling, trying to break free. Meanwhile, he was sitting on top of me, taking pleasure in it as his fingers were on my eyes.
"FATHER, STOP! PLEASE, IT HURTS! AHHHH!"
"SHUT UP! AHAHAHAH!"
Both my eyes had been gouged out. My eyes fell to the ground; my face was completely drenched in blood. I began to cry with all my might—I felt like I was going to die.
I ran toward the open window with all my strength, trying to jump through it and escape. My father ran after me to catch me. In agony, I left the garden with all my might and was heading toward the opposite road. Just as my father caught me at the last moment, a car right beside me struck him. My father appeared with his body crushed as a result of the accident. Police arrived shortly; when they saw my condition, they were shocked. Along with the evidence, what my father had done was understood. I was taken to the hospital; what I had experienced became famous in the media. I received tremendous support for a new eye. Thanks to the support, I had undergone artificial eye surgery for free—I could see again now. But my eyes were never like they used to be. I was living in an orphanage. The man I hated most had been obliterated. I had nothing, I was in a terrible state, I was living. I wasn't committing suicide, yet I didn't know why I wasn't. I was just drifting along within a meaningless life.
Present Day
Rei had only heard a short version of these things—what her father had done, but not the details.
I had felt sorry for Ayame. Every person who made fun of her eyes without thinking was superficial. Because of the effect of the power created by appearance, people looked at her with prejudice—no, not even prejudice, they were afraid of her. They saw her as a monster. I could feel the emotions behind those white, empty eyes. She had managed to preserve her desire to be loved. I wanted to be friends with her—maybe we could move forward on this path together. Maybe I could make her happy too. But on the other hand, I was also afraid—afraid of losing the things I valued again.
"I understand. Don't mind these people. They don't know what you've been through."
"You're right. You seem like a good person. Would you like to spend some time together sometime?"
"Sure, why not."
A gentle smile had appeared on Ayame's face. I could feel that smile even in those empty eyes.
"Great. Then let's meet here after tomorrow's game, alright? Actually, let's open a messaging channel before that."
"It's fine with me, but I think it was quite expensive."
"Don't worry, I'll get it."
She opened her phone and paid a certain amount of game coins to the system to create a messaging box with me.
"Alright, it's done."
Clearly, she was someone with money. She could also be someone talented. She was feared more than she was made fun of. It was completely unclear what kind of person she was—maybe she was someone to be entirely feared. I would be able to understand these things in the future.
"Nice to meet you, Rei."
"Nice to meet you too."