Volume 2 - CH 411

9-45. Long Story

The people gathered in the carriage formed a circle.

What they were about to discuss was of great importance, as it would affect their future plans.

Houen took charge of the situation and confirmed that everyone was focused on the conversation.

Since the carriage was moving, they had to raise their voices a little, but it was not a big deal.

Houen cleared his throat and spoke loud enough for Uchikage, who was driving the carriage, to hear.

“First, let’s start from the beginning. Ouren, Reizen, Lize and me are monsters. The devils are trying to prevent the resurrection of the voice. We don’t know how to stop them at the moment.”

“What happened while I was gone?”

“It all started when we rescued Princess Hisui from the Akki at Oni’s village. We infiltrated the place where the Akki lived and managed to save her. That’s when we met someone that knew the former white snake…Hinata, who knew about us. And she kept the message that said to her in the past which is, ‘Hinata. I don’t know when it will be, but… at that time, please help or guide the people that are somehow similar to us…. Okay?’ These were the last words that said to her … And it knew that the voice would be resurrected and that we would be born or come to this world. From this, we can speculate that the devils who have their memories intact so that the devils, who confronted the voice in the past and sealed it, would not let it revive again. That’s the hypothesis I’m thinking about right now.”

When they pieced it all together, the story made perfect sense.

Houen had summarized it for them, but Lize, Reizen, and Maria, who had not been present for most of it, wanted a more detailed explanation.

They wanted to understand it thoroughly so that they could think about it for themselves.

Maria proposed to Houen that he explain everything in more detail.

“It’s going to be a long story.”

“We know that already. If we’ve come this far, tell us everything.”

“Okay. Reizen, Lize, you’re both originally from Japan, right?”

“Japan…?”

To fully understand the story, they had to start from there.

If Houen’s memory would only last a day, he wanted to share as much information as possible with everyone.

The two nodded strongly at the words of Hoen.

“There’s no point in hiding anymore, and if the people here knew, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

With the consent of Houen, he explains again.

“We are reincarnated individuals. We have memories from our past lives…you know.”

“Houen-dono, could it be that the person named Hiwa is…”

“That’s the only possibility I can think of. We were their successor. As monsters. Hiwa should be the same. He’s the previous White Snake after all.”

Most likely, all of them are reincarnated individuals.

It is unclear from which era they came, but the Katana, armor… Even from the knowledge left by Hiwa, it is clear that they are Japanese.

“Keeping the memories of the past life…in a monster’s body? Soul possession? Is it something like necromancy?”

“I think it’s fundamentally different. After all, the opponent is a god even if they’re rotten. I can’t explain it, but they forcibly pulled our souls out from the cycle of reincarnation and threw us into this world. Well, it seems like they pulled our souls out while we were still alive. We have no memories of dying. Then, in a situation where we don’t know our right from left, they helped us and confirmed our position as the mental support. Normally, you wouldn’t think that person would become the final boss.”

“I have one question. If that’s true, why were we chosen?”

“It’s simple.”

Everyone listens carefully to Houen’s words.

“Anyone would do.”

“…What?”

Completely confused by the meaning, Reizen stares blankly.

Is there such a random reason?

Yes, there is.

Houen explains again.

“Their goal is to resurrect. If they weren’t humans of this world, there wouldn’t have been any problem. If they had brought these people without knowing anything about them, they wouldn’t have to worry about being scrutinized unnecessarily. In that sense, Reizen was perfect. But with just their souls, they couldn’t know their personalities. That’s why Ouren and Rize are here. And… Ouren and Rize had their memories removed.”

“I see… is it necessary to erase our memories?”

“Lize, you deciphered the characters of this world on your own. That’s how clever you are. I think there was a fear that if we reincarnated intelligent humans with memories intact into this world, we would notice their goal. That’s why they erased them.”

“But it’s only about myself, right? It’s not completely empty.”

“I think there’s a limit to manipulating souls. But it’s a fact that even if a little memory is removed, your consciousness will concentrate on that.”

“Ouren too…?”

“He’s sharp in strange ways. He was the one who noticed about Hiwa. We couldn’t have made it this far without that. I think he’s got a good instinct. I’m not really sure.”

“I see. Then why hasn’t Houen’s memory been erased?”

“Maybe they were aiming for a mental breakdown.”

“A mental breakdown?”

“To have memories from the past life… and eat bugs. Well, it makes you lose your mind, right?”

“I-I see…”

Houen’s reincarnation was a small aves species.

Moreover, as the bird’s child.

So the parent bird forcefully shoved bugs into his mouth, bringing them back many times.

Unable to resist due to weak strength, Houen dropped the bugs into his stomach many times.

Normally, that alone would make someone go crazy.

Although he was a candidate for memory erasure, they probably thought it would be better to leave his memory intact so that he would go crazy thoroughly.

“Well, that’s just speculation. Okay, that’s all about us. Did you understand most of it?”

“Certainly, just by hearing why you all have been reincarnated is enough to feel terrible malice…”

“Indeed. But it was unexpected that I made it this far without going crazy. So, there must be a way to stop them that even the gods can’t reach.”

Houen lit a lantern from his magic tool bag.

He placed it in the center.

“… Next is. Uchikage, and Alena. I’m sorry, but I can’t keep this from you two. Please forgive me.”

“… What is it?”

“What is it?”

Houen lowered his head lightly and then raised it again.

“The reason why your hometown was attacked.”