Death... and me

Rean and Roan were shocked to hear that name. No one other than them knew about the Soul Gem System. Even Calina, who stayed in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, was not told about the system or its name.

Rean was about to ask him how he knew about that name when all of a sudden, Roan stopped him. Soon after, Roan looked at the giant sphere and asked.

"Who is Soul Gem? Do you know that person?"

Rean finally understood what Roan was trying to do. Indeed, the giant sphere didn't say Soul Gem System, only Soul Gem. It felt like it was talking more about an individual rather than a machine.

'You have his aura all over your body. That's why I can tell that you have some connection with him.'

Roan pondered a bit before saying.

"We did meet someone connected to this Soul Gem who was of great help for us in the past. At the moment, we are trying to figure out who he is and why he selected us. However, the only clue we have is that Vruve name. If it is not a problem, could you tell us more about that?"

The Artifact Spirit became silent for a moment. Finally, it talked once more.

'All I know is that Soul Gem was involved with a disaster from many, many years ago. After that, he completely disappeared without a trace. Unfortunately, most of my memories of that epoch have been lost. However, I do know a few things about Vruve.'

Rean and Roan's interest was immediately piqued.

"What is Vruve. Were they a clan? A race? Both? Perhaps it's the name of an event?"

'There is no need for you to know.'

Rean and Roan felt like cursing this Artifact Spirit. If so, then why did you bring it up?

'I'm joking.'

"..."

Was it a common trait? Why does this guy remind the twins of Sister Orb so much? It's just that this Artifact Spirit didn't look like it had emotions. Obviously, that wasn't really the case.

[I like this guy. I wish I could talk to him.]

Roan's mouth twitched before answering.

'And I would like to get rid of you. Too bad neither of us can have what we want.'

[Hmph!]

Of course, the Artifact Spirit couldn't tell about Sister Orb's existence. That being said, Rean and Roan had no intention of revealing the Soul Gem System's presence.

Rean then shook his head helplessly before asking.

"Ahem... so, can you tell us about Vruve?"

'Vruve is the name of a long-extinct organization. Soul Gem was also one of their members. They did many things in this universe and could be said to be one of the strongest powers. They were also the ones who created me. However, I wasn't sentient by that time yet. Nonetheless, I still retained a few of the memories from the time I was used by them. But that was only until the Severing Day.'

"Severing Day? What's that?"

'I don't know the details. It's just that something had gone horribly wrong, affecting the entire universe. After that, I was damaged and sent away in the middle of the chaos. As for what happened, why it happened, and so on, I don't know.'

Rean and Roan didn't need to think much to understand that Severing Day was most likely the reason for the universe's separation. After all, their mission in this half of the universe was to unify both parts of the universe together once more.

"Do you know if there are any Vruve survivors or where Soul Gem had gone?"

'I do not know about any Vruve survivors. However, you two should know more about Soul Gem than I do. After all, you met someone related to him before. Yet, I might know who this person who helped you is. Send me a Spiritual Sense message with your memory of his appearance.'

Roan narrowed his eyes. After all, they didn't really meet anyone. However, he didn't expect Rean to do that in his place.

'There you go.'

Roan looked at Rean, puzzled. Immediately, he talked with Rean through their Soul Connection.

'We don't know anyone like that. Why did you send someone's picture? Also, who did you show?'

Rean then explained.

'If we hesitated for too long, the Artifact Spirit might get suspicious that we are lying. Don't worry, it's no one important.'

Although Rean was right about not delaying the answer, Roan still felt that something wasn't right.

Finally, the Artifact Spirit answered.

'Sorry, I don't know anyone called Harry Potter.'

Roan almost vomited blood.

'You sent him a film character?!'

Rean shrugged his shoulders.

'Of course! That's a very easy face to remember and the first one that came to my mind. Even I, who didn't care about anything in my previous life, at least knew what the actor looked like.'

Roan didn't know what to say. First of all, why would you select that guy?

Roan then calmed down. It didn't matter since the guy was from the other side of the universe. The Artifact Spirit obviously wouldn't know about him.

'I really don't know who Harry Potter is, but I do know this face. Perhaps he changed his name.'

Rean and Roan were taken aback. You know someone like that? Even the mark on his forehead?

'But, I wonder what happened to his forehead. There is a strange mark there. Maybe it was an effect of the Severing Day.'

Oh... so he didn't have the mark. No, wait, it doesn't change the fact that someone who looked like Harry Potter was part of the Vruve Organization. Oh, well, the actor's name wasn't really Harry Potter, though.

"Ahem... You know him? That's great... I guess? Errr... Do you know how we can meet Harry Po- cough, cough... I mean, this guy? Oh, knowing his name would be good too."

The Artifact Spirit then replied.

'His name was Harry Troter.'

Rean and Roan's mouths twitched.

'Harry Troter, your ass!'