I Don’t Trust My Twin Sister

What did I just hear? What are you experiencing? I’m a high priest? I have never believed in God. We judge everything based on numbers, experience, and reality. I didn’t have as much faith as my fingernails. More than a hundred years have passed since the end of religious domination over the world. But I am a minister. He shook his head and held out his hand.

“What… don’t talk nonsense like that. Are you saying I’m a high priest?”

“Of course, you are not a high priest yet. You are just qualified to do so.”

“Qualification?”

I had no idea what Theses’ qualifications meant. I’m just confused by his behavior right now. Situations beyond my control continued to unfold before my eyes. His head felt dizzy.

“Priests of the Praeteritum are those who maintain the balance of the world by honoring the name of God. They are those who borrow the name of God and can open the world with their power. These people will change history and maintain the balance with their power until the end of their lives. We make the world peaceful, and the person who listens to the voices of the gods above these priests is the priest.”

“…That’s me?”

“You have the qualifications.”

“I don’t remember having that qualification.”

“Can’t you open the door?”

Others may not consider that word a big deal, but we could never easily accept it.

“What a person…”

“About 10 years ago, we, who were protecting the Buddha in the name of God, started on a certain day and could no longer open the Buddha. It was as if something had blocked it. We could not receive revelation after that day. ”

His voice lifted the hall. In front of these so-called priests, I couldn’t run away or shake off their voices. Just listening,

“The voices of the gods were cut off, and the link between the past and the present stopped there. But in the midst of all this, there was someone who opened the door and came out. After 10 years, that person returned directly to his past and is now standing in front of me.”

“That… No, 10 years. Less than a year at most…”

“Traveling through the past means carrying a lot of time with you. Unlike us, who have to give up a portion of our time each time we open a page, you actually got those years back. This is a typical blessing for ministers. no see.”

Theses stood up. I looked at the princess and the man who were getting up after them, then looked at Theses again. He pursed his lips with determined eyes.

“You can overcome the flow of time and become free from life. You can look down on countless people and hear the voices of the gods as closely as possible. You have the qualifications to become such a being. This is the doctrine of the Praeteritum. First word.” 

He stopped speaking, closed his eyes, and let out a reverent and solemn voice.

“His expression, ‘Welcome my child who opens the door’ refers only to the High Priestess. You have been chosen. A choice for balance.”

There was silence. I didn’t know how to react, so I just rolled my eyes.

The expressions on the faces of Deoreden and Beralt who came into my field of vision were strange. As it is an unfamiliar and unfamiliar story to me, it will also be unfamiliar to the two of you. If you listen to the legends and all, it seems like they are trying to achieve something, but I can’t figure out their true intention.

“Such a lie…”

“You might want to believe it’s a lie, but unfortunately, it’s true.”

“Don’t lie! It’s God’s grace, it’s a choice, I don’t know anything about it! Besides, the balance of the world? Peace? What does that have to do with me? I just opened the door. I opened it because I wanted to fulfill my revenge and restore my ruined life. It’s just that…!”

“Does it seem easier said than done to turn your life around?

I stared blankly at Theses, who was both cold and not stopping to explain. He turned around and looked at the two men behind him. Beralt and Deoreden flinched when eyes turned to them.

“Everyone wants to undo their past, their failures, their mistakes. But no one can go back in time. But you are different.”

Theses looked around. In the middle of the huge and majestic temple, he slowly looked around as if he was appreciating it, then glanced at Beralt and Deoreden. These are things that even the crown prince of the strongest empire on the continent desperately wants and wishes for, but cannot achieve. You can do it as you please, without any compensation. But the crown prince…

Theses smiled and looked at the prince. He blushed and furrowed his face when he saw Theses looking at him. Theses, on the other hand, leisurely stepped back. He then approached the altar where the crown prince was standing, placed his hand on it, and gently moved his palm as if covering the altar. Theses took her gaze from the altar and focused it on the crown prince. When the crown prince flinched under his gaze, Theses opened his mouth.

“Since Lawrence is not yet a high priest, let’s listen to His Highness the Crown Prince’s story first.”

He leisurely moved his hand and placed it lightly in front of his body. His mouth opened with a smile.

“The fact that you came here after reading the letter I left means that you are very unhappy with the current situation. Your Majesty, a price is needed to force you to operate.”

“A price?”

“And even if you pay the price, you might not be able to go back to the time you wanted. Would you still do it?”

“That’s not that bad. I’ll pay anything. Money? Jewels? Honor? It doesn’t matter if it’s human blood or life, so say anything.”

I looked at the crown prince, who was so blinded by his greed that a disgusting bastard and curse words came out of his mouth. Theses smiled and lifted his fingers slightly, closing his eyes as if savoring something. His finger moved slightly forward and pointed at the crown prince. His eyes opened. Theses was laughing.

“Answer.”

“What?”

“It takes people’s lives.”

Even Deoreden, who had said those words himself, paused for a moment, perhaps because he thought it was unexpected. But that was only for a moment. Soon he laughed out loud and stepped forward vigorously.

“Okay, human lives? How many lives do you need? One hundred? One thousand? Ten thousand?! Just say the word!”

“Crazy guy! You’re saying that right now…!”

“Shut up!”

As I opened my mouth in a hurry, Beralt approached me and locked my mouth.

“Ugh!”

“It would be better to stay still. I don’t know if you are a high priest or something, but it doesn’t seem like there is much anyone can save you from here.”

His eyes widened. Beralt giggled and pressed her index and middle fingers to my cheek. This son of a bitch is really…! Even if he tried to protest by shaking his body, it was meaningless due to the large difference in height and strength. Meanwhile, the conversation between Theses and the crown prince continued.

“Tell me. How many lives do you need? No, their age or gender? Even the life of a newborn doesn’t matter. Just tell me.”

“I like that kind of fresh spirit, but unfortunately, this temperamental person doesn’t want that.”

“Then?”

Theses looked at the crown prince and laughed.

“You have to sacrifice the life of the person you care most about.”

“…The life of the most precious person?”

“Yes, the most precious person. For example, a parent, child, lover, or best friend, or…”

“…”

Prince Deoreden opened his mouth slightly at the unexpected remark. Theses, who had paused slightly, cheerfully put his next words into his mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be better to sacrifice one’s own life? There is nothing more precious to everyone than one’s own life.”

“Do you mean to take my own life?”

Theses tapped the altar with his hand.

“It means to repent before God.”

The word repentance sounded particularly clear. Theses gazed at the image of the god stuck on the wall with his eyes and then clasped his hands. The image of God depicted on the wall was neither female nor male. He had four arms instead of two, and four eyes instead of two. His appearance is so bizarre that it is difficult to even call him a god. But what would mystery and strangeness be called if not God? Devil or monster. Theses prayed in front of a mural that could fit such a word. That cautious attitude was sacred, holy, and even reverent. Soon Theses’s back turned slightly. Calm eyes focused on the crown prince.

“Obtain the opportunity to change your life once again through repentance before God.”

The crown prince cracked his neck with his fingertips and frowned. At first glance, his eyes wavered. I guess so. No matter how greedy a person is, he does not want to achieve everything by throwing away his life. What good is wealth and fame when you die? Deoreden, who knew this better than anyone else, strongly refused.

“Sacrifice my life as the crown prince of this country… Is this what you mean?”

“You’re right.”

“The life of the most precious person is your own…”

He laughed and shook his head. I couldn’t deny it because it wasn’t wrong. Because there is no one who doesn’t value their life. But he suddenly spun around. Why are you looking at me?

Deoreden looked at me with his gray eyes, grinned, then walked over to me and grabbed my hand.

“Then what about this woman’s life?” 

“What are you doing…!”

“She is not that important to me, but to you, she seems like a relative or a noble person. If you sacrifice your life, I will show you my righteousness. If you don’t want to do that, how about giving me your righteous respect?”

Beralt raised a dagger on his outstretched palm. The sharp and powerful dagger moved and was placed right in front of his neck. Beralt behind me, Deoreden in front, disgusting humans grabbed my neck and started weighing me with my life.

“What do you think? How is it?”

“It’s sordid to the end.”

A Petan-like voice was heard. She, Ruby, stopped the man who was flinching and took a step forward.

“How can you think of someone else’s life so easily and force him to open the door? You don’t even know about recovery or dedication.”

“I don’t know either dedication or revival.”

“I don’t know about dedication or recovery, but I have learned much more than that. For example, if you just put a knife in front of your throat, you can achieve whatever you want.”

Along with the tingling sensation, I felt something hot flowing down my throat. It was a creepy feeling. I gritted my teeth as I glared at Deoreden, who was holding on to my life. “Don’t be so sad, Lawrence.

“If you had died that day with your brother, you wouldn’t have had to go through this. Why did you survive and suffer like this?”

“Not only my life, but also my family, and the lives of tens of thousands of people living in the territory, it seems to you that they are worse than just passing ants.”

“No matter where I look, people get hit by their feet. Wouldn’t they be worse than an ant?”

 

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Translator Note: