I have become stronger, but also shorter [comprehensive]

Or the beginning of this old story.

A long time ago—about the same time when the witch who was not a witch appeared on the scene, there was a child like this.

He is a prince of a certain country.

Although it is the illegitimate child of the romantic king and the beloved Meiji, the birth of this child carries the supreme glory that surpasses everyone in the world.

Because, he is a child dedicated to God by the king.

She was born destined to be the spokesperson of the gods in the world, and also destined to be a great monarch in the future, gaining lofty glory and providing achievements for future generations to look up to.

The title of "God's spokesperson" sounds so resounding that one can't help but feel admiration-in fact, it is indeed quite impressive. On the earth, God's darling is a true symbol of God.

With the passage of time, the gods who used to be able to walk freely in the human world have gradually lost their direct control over human beings, and their responses to what happened in the world can only be known through the prayers of believers and the reports of selected people.

Therefore, the spokesperson is the person chosen by God.

His every word and deed conforms to the will of the gods, and the mission he bears is naturally very important.

The child's father, the king who dedicated him to the gods as yet unborn, knew this early on.

At the beginning, the king actually had some kind of affection for the child who hadn't had time to meet.

He was a very irresponsible father, there is absolutely no doubt about that.

But the father who is obsessed with the beauty and gentleness still occasionally has the opportunity to think of his son who seems to have been born for a year or so.

The father's love, which is rare but real, came online slowly, and he asked people to bring his son who would take his place in the future to him.

I planned to take a look, take a look, and cultivate the relationship between father and son...

He failed.

After only one glance, he couldn't look any more. Since then, the king has never paid more attention to that child. He should enjoy himself, as if he never had this son from the beginning.

It was the king's own fault.

Dedicating his child to God was the biggest "mistake" he ever made as a father.

However, it cannot be denied——

The existence of that child was itself a "mistake".

Being God's voice does not come without costs.

The price is that from birth to death, the child who is selected as the spokesperson is just a human body.

He doesn't have the emotions that every human being has.

He will not be moved by seeing beautiful or ugly things, just because he does not have the function of "appreciating and evaluating".

The warmth and coldness of human relationships, birth, old age, sickness and death, sorrow, joy and pain have nothing to do with him, because in his eyes, these are the most common "phenomena".

——This child was born without a "human heart".

The moment the king met his gaze, all he could see from his amber eyes was emptiness.

It seems that nothing exists, but the emptiness is transmitted to the hearts of others, but one can feel the instant coldness of the heart.

Such a child had to be given up by his biological father.

No one will like him.

A caring person will not treat him the same way he treats a normal person.

Because that would surely be wasted effort.

A "heart" that doesn't exist at all, no matter how hard others try, even if they spend their whole lives trying to soften it, it's just futile.

It is for this reason that the king gave up on him with self-knowledge without any chance of regretting.

If he can only be used as a "machine" without people's hearts, and "operate" step by step, it is a bit regrettable, but it is also a predestined ending.

After all, he will obtain countless treasures, a thousand-year-old reputation, and supreme glory.

'Since I don't have a heart, it's fine, so I won't feel that my life is incomplete. '

The king may have comforted himself with this reason.

At that time, the father really did not expect that he comforted himself too early.

Did not expect ah.

Really didn't expect it.

The misfortune outweighs the lucky boy.

Abandoned by everyone, this child should have lived smoothly like stagnant water.

——He was so lucky that he happened to meet the only fool who would not give up on him among tens of thousands, or even more people.

"Fool" was the king's nickname for the shrewd-looking man.

... No, it's not smart to look at, it's just a little scary at first sight.

After getting in touch with him, you will find that that fool is really a fool, his heart is so soft that he can cheat, and he also has a sense of responsibility, which is actually the tenacity of not hitting the south wall and not looking back.

When the man first appeared, he actually came to seek revenge.

He himself said that the little boy was his old enemy, and he wanted to come here to see what kind of character a guy who dared to be his old enemy was.

The king never understood to his death how a fool could be so blind as to think that a five-year-old was his old enemy.

It doesn't matter if you don't understand, it doesn't matter.

Anyway, the king saw through at a glance that this guy was just aggressive, but he was actually murderous, so he couldn't attack his stupid son at all.

He just used two bottles of wine as a bride price—no, what—as a reward, and happily left his son to be raised by a fool.

King: "Anyway, you can live well no matter what, as long as you live and grow up, you can take it away if you like."

Fool: "Hello???"

The king yawned: "I'll give you some cloth and satin at most. You are a king after all. Don't be so stingy."

Fool: "What??!!!"

After the godly operation of the king who shirked his responsibility and forcibly let go of Pingci Pengci quickly, the man who was labeled as a fool walked away angrily.

Probably dizzy by the king's anger, he left on his own, and really smoothly took away the king's idiot son.

According to the fool later... Well, the man said, apart from being angry and unable to calm down, he just can't understand it.

I can't get used to a kid who always has no expression on his face, as if there is only a shell in front of him, and there is no soul in the shell.

The king opened his mouth several times, wanting to explain to the man he had taken advantage of, that 【】this is the way it is now, and it has been like this since birth.

The child was born without emotion, and might learn to imitate it later, to put a normal-looking disguise on the surface.But at this moment, he has not yet reached that step, and what he presents is the truth.

But when the words came to his lips, the king finally swallowed the explanation back, pretending that he didn't know.

How could an unscrupulous father who never cared about his children know so much?He was observing quietly.

When a man is dissatisfied, he is dissatisfied, and when he complains, he complains, but he has no intention of returning the product at all.

Most of his "stupidity" is reflected in this aspect. Whether he is voluntary or forced, once he gets into trouble, he can't be ruthless and throw it away easily.

The heartless child named [] is undoubtedly one of the biggest troubles.

Not only did the man bring back the "trouble" that was forced upon him, but he actually took care of it seriously.

Although he is the king in name, he left all the government affairs to the little girl who was also picked up by him.

Thanks to that girl who is also stupid, it is her business to help manage the country without complaint, and it is also her business to help her king take care of her children.

That's right, the "nurture" of a man is not included in all aspects of food, clothing, housing and transportation education, at most it only takes up teaching and play.

The child's basic necessities of life are basically the responsibility of the consul who is already busy enough.

Consul, well, that is also a good woman who has been personally certified by an experienced king.

Regardless of her super talent in politics, but from a female point of view, she is very suitable for taking care of children with her serious and rigorous personality, but also gentle and considerate.

The aspects that the man is least good at are all filled by the capable consul. He only needs to carry the little ghost who has always been expressionless and mood swings around every day, and try to make the little ghost change his face from time to time.

The days passed slowly by the man's gradually serious attempts, the consul's meticulous care, and the father's constant joy and play.

to be frank.

The man's attempt actually made no obvious progress.

His "old enemy" who has not grown up has always been dead with no expression change.

Men, consuls, and the country established by men are all enthusiastic existences.

But in such a warm environment, the "God's spokesperson" has not changed from the beginning to the end.

The scene of being determined by the biological father seems to have become a reality:

——Surround him with more care, but he can't be warmed up.

——Teach him with more patience, teach him a little bit of joy, sorrow, pain and sorrow that everyone has, but he can't really understand it.

Forget it.

How can a "thing" that doesn't exist in the first place come into being out of thin air?

If it weren't for this "person" who is harder than a stone to be his own child, the king would have to persuade the foolish drinker to give up and stop wasting his energy.

But in the end, he still couldn't feel sorry for the friends Wang Nian made, and because of some emotions that were probably remnants of paternal love, he buried all those words in his heart.

……if.

It means if.

There is really someone in this world who can make a heartless child have a "heart". Then, there is no one else but this man.

The king's guilt and hope can only seem insignificant under the relentless passage of time.

On the surface, more than ten years have passed with no progress.

The man's appearance has not changed at all, decades have passed.

The consul has grown from a slim young girl to a mature one, but he is still the same as before, privately treating the child as his own brother.

What is more cruel is that the irresponsible and shrewd king died of old age.

The child grew up and became a handsome young man.

He succeeded his father on the throne.

Not surprisingly, the young king performed well.

He made wise decisions, was fair and just, loved the people like a son, and won the unanimous recognition and respect of the people soon after he took the throne.

Externally, he is a gentle yet majestic young king.

Internally, only a handful of people know that he has another name.

The foreign people who watched him grow up always called him by his nickname. To them, the young Wang was not Wang, but just a cute child with little expression.

The matter of "old enemy" may have been completely forgotten by the man a long time ago.

He regarded the young Wang as his favorite junior.

To be raised by him, to be so loved by him, and to expend so much mental energy on him, to entrust him with hopes that he would never give up even if it was impossible to realize...

— This heartless person.

——Why, are you qualified...

—to get so many favors? !

It seems that in the eyes of some people, the care and love of a man for the young king is not worth it.

When the young child who seemed to be only an empty shell grew into a young man and soon became a king.

Let all the positive joys in the previous stories, and all the bright colors turn dark in one fell swoop, and the "turning" appeared with an unstoppable momentum.

What has not been further mentioned before is that the king's country and the man's country are actually hostile states.

One side is God's spokesperson on the earth, and the other side is weird people who have taken in traitors and heretics who betrayed God.

A man and his country have made countless enemies in just ten years.

Because he especially dislikes the existence of God, it seems that he had an irresolvable feud with God thousands of years ago or even earlier.

This small country is really small, there is no army, and a place with a large cube is supported and guarded by a man who is the king.

That's right, he is so strong that he is inhuman, and he can withstand thousands of troops with just his own strength.

In the past ten years, many neighboring countries intend to conspire and come to crusade in the name of paying off the criminals.

They thought that it would take only a little effort for a small country to collapse under the flames of war, but they didn't expect that the king of this country was so powerful.

Men knocked down all aggressors.

Ignore what should be ignored, kill what should be killed, he directly killed several kings of other countries, and he was considered clean.

But also because of this unconcealed and ruthless behavior, the name of the man's "devil king" quickly spread throughout other countries, making the believers of God panic and fearful.

They begged for God's protection.

God has indeed heard the voices of the believers, and has indeed sent down divine punishment.

Not only that, God also sent an envoy, let the envoy, as a well-deserved leader, go to crusade against the "devil king".

And who is that messenger, at this time, there is no need to say more.

"..."

"Could it be that grown-up child?"

"Well, that's him."

"...What kind of plot is this, it's too malicious!"

"Malicious? Hahaha, it's true to say that, it was originally a drama pre-designed by humans—and gods."

The magician laughed heartily again, but the laughter made the psychic who was already in a bad state of mind frown.

From the perspective of personal feelings, Saiki Kusuo didn't want to listen anymore.

It is one thing to know the ending from the beginning of the story, but it is another thing to really listen to the ins and outs of the story slowly. The actual perception is completely different.

Even though the young man feels that he has little interest and care about people and things that have nothing to do with him (false), the story that the magician took many days to tell the end still gives him a lot of discomfort.

Not that the story is bad.

After knowing that the protagonist of the "story" is someone I know, no matter how good the "story" is, it sounds very wrong.

The problem lies in the ending.

Let a man be crusaded by the children he raised?

Even if the child has no heart and no feelings, and can only follow God's instructions, it is too irritating.

and--

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"Correct."

"I remember you saying that a man doesn't die if he doesn't want to. So, he was voluntarily—killed, yes.

"Correct."

"The reason why he told the king that the boy was his old enemy at the beginning is because he knew that there would be this battle, didn't he?"

"Correct."

"How did he know before it happened? Can he see the future in advance, or, someone saw it and told him about it in advance?"

"........."

A series of pressing questions from the boy failed to get a reply.

All he heard was the magician taking a deep breath.

There was a shudder-like pause in the extremely light breath, clearly only for a few seconds, but it seemed intermittent.

With this deep breath as a buffer, the magician just spoke again:

"Well—as a bonus, let me add something you may not want to hear."

"We're changing the subject again."

"A man destroyed his country with his own hands before the decisive battle."

"He asked the consul to take the people to take refuge in a hidden place that he had already found, and he stayed alone. The only thing that accompanied him to the end was his eagle."

"He didn't tell anyone about his intention to put an end to his endless life."

"The Consul thought that men would easily defeat the enemy as before, and return to the place where everyone was."

"The Consul thought that the child she took care of had other reasons. No matter what, it was impossible to attack the man, and it was impossible to defeat the man."

"Yes, everyone thinks that way. I'm afraid even the gods think so. That guy is just a tool pushed by the gods. He never thought he would win."

"them."

— including me.

"They were all cheated."

- without exception.

"The man used his own life as the price, in exchange for that man's glory that no one can match up to now."

"The wise king, the noble spokesperson of the gods, he defeated the notorious devil king and saved the world from the sea of ​​blood. What a great deed!"

"And the incarnation of evil, the dead man is crowned with the eternal name of 'Devil King'. His name is written in history books and poems, and countless people spurn him, loathe him, and fear him. They want him to live forever He was not allowed to return, and he was cursed, and the curses of the believers can still be heard to this day."

"...!"

Hearing this, Saiki Kusuo suddenly had a heart attack.

He couldn't tell whether he was annoyed or angry at this time, but he was upset, especially when he heard that a man would be cursed and slandered for hundreds of years after his death, the anger in his heart tended to go berserk.

However, the magician wasn't done yet.

The magician will continue to smile and stab him again.

"It's time for the Consul to appear again. You haven't forgotten her yet, have you? As long as you haven't forgotten."

"A woman who knows nothing comes to a faraway place, eagerly expecting the return of her king in victory."

"But she didn't wait."

"The news of the man's death made her collapse on the spot. The murderer who killed him was the child she raised with the man. This reality gave her an unprecedented blow."

"Is she crazy? Well, even if not, it should be almost the same."

"It took many years for the woman to force herself to learn the skills of assassination, and finally concealed her identity and returned to the country that was her hometown."

"She only wanted revenge, so she killed the sinner's courtier, and in the end, publicly assassinated the man who was no longer her beloved child."

"..."

"..."

"She, failed?"

"Failed."

"Why? It's enough, why is it such a frustrating development!"

"Because." The magician was still smiling, but there was no smile in his purple eyes, and his voice was softer:

"At the critical juncture of success, the woman was shocked to find that the target of her assassination was no longer the unintentional person who was indifferent no matter what happened, and he responded."

"He wanted the woman to kill him, he didn't want to resist at all."

"The woman was thus sure that her king's long-cherished wish, which she had always wanted to achieve from the beginning to the end, was finally fulfilled after his death. Therefore, she gave up the assassination, died in suicide, and chose to go to hell by herself to follow her king. "

"You want to ask, what is a man's long-cherished wish? Isn't it obvious?"

"He wants people who don't have a heart to get their own heart."

"He wants the guy who was abandoned by everyone to be free and get back human affection."

"Hahaha! This kind of thing... this kind of thing that only he would want to achieve, unexpectedly, really succeeded!"

"This unintentional person, a mechanical tool, in the end, learned a very rare feeling."

The magician spoke in a tone of applause, and his laughter seemed especially hearty.

"It's 'love'."

"He fell in love with the man who gave him almost everything."

"But what's the use of this? It's really ironic. This story, from the beginning of thousands of years, to the end of thousands of years, only the lonely end, the 'characters' involved have no happy ending, it is a complete 'comedy' '."

"really do not know."

"I don't know where I should start laughing—"

"Stop laughing."

"Hey?"

"It's harsh and ugly."

"……what."

The magician's voice stopped abruptly.

He is laughing.

He never lost his smile from the moment he spoke, and when it comes to the key points, there is no shortage of hearty laughs.

However, Saiki Kusuo said that his hearty laughter was really ugly.

Some clues can be seen from the magician's left hand holding his staff.

When talking about the man's ironic ending, he couldn't help but tighten his hands tightly.

At the end when there was nothing left to say, the force the magician used was already so great that it seemed to break the staff.

"..."

"I'm sorry, but when it comes to this 'story', I can't help getting angry. Come to think of it, you can see my hatred and self-blame."

"Ah, probably."

"The last easter egg was originally a secret within the scope of no comment, but—"

The magician laughed again.

But it was a chuckle so faint that it was almost invisible.

"The one who told him the 'end' was not someone else."

He lowered his brows and said softly, unable to see his expression clearly.

"It's me."