Returning to the mansion, I passed the napping Sangun and went inside. Through the slightly open door gap from earlier, labored breathing could be heard. When I opened the door and went in, Azi was nursing at the Returnee's side.
Perhaps because it was exerting its power, a holy light faintly shone above Azi's head. It doesn't help much with internal injuries, but it's a healing power nonetheless.
No matter how I think about it, that isn't a power a beast should be using.
Fortunately, there is someone here who knows the answer to that question, or at least information that could serve as a clue. I sat next to the Returnee and said.
"You heard everything we said, right? How is it, is there anything strange?"
"...No. There isn't."
The Returnee groaned but still answered promptly.
"It's a relief you came because of the wolves. I thought you came to take revenge for the tigers."
"Revenge for the tigers? What revenge?"
"If there are tigers, mountain paths can't be opened, so when subjugating harmful beasts, they usually hunt tigers too... Since many tigers died because of that, I thought you came for revenge."
"The things I killed come to take revenge on me? That's too human-centric a perspective. By that logic, what about tigers? They eat so many wild boars and water deer, but I've never heard a story about them getting revenge taken on them."
"...I know. I just said it."
'Sangun came because it was influenced by the wolves. Sangun has no reason to attack humans indiscriminately. Knowing just this is enough. If we only stop the Wolf King, Sangun won't become a disaster for humanity.'
The Returnee seems careless but gives less leeway than expected. Acting like they know the future can't be helped, but that method completely hides the clue of regression.
That's why you're suspected of being a Saintess.
"It's a relief. Since we took care of the Wolf King here, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders."
"Hmm. You might have lost a worry, Shea, but I still have one."
"...What is it?"
"Azi. Look above Azi's head."
"Woof?"
At my words, the Returnee looked above Azi's head. Though faint now, a halo of brilliance that still emitted light was floating there.
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The Returnee's pupils widened.
"What is that...?"
"You should know, Shea."
"Don't think I know everything... There's a lot I don't know either."
"It's a relief that there's a lot you don't know."
Feeling my and the Returnee's gazes, Azi rolled its eyes upward. Then, startled by itself, it jumped up on the spot.
"Woof?! Unidentified Flying Object!"
"You didn't even know what was hovering above your head until now?"
"It's darkest under the lamp! Woof woof!"
Azi reached its front paws toward the halo above its head. However, the halo, which was a mass of light itself, couldn't be touched. Azi jumped up and down trying to bite it with its mouth, but shoving its snout toward the ring attached above its head only resulted in somersaulting.
Leaving Azi to tumble like a hamster wheel by itself, I asked the Returnee.
"You said you came to stop the King of Sins, Shea."
"Yeah."
"Just as dogs symbolize kindness and wolves represent ferocity, even if concepts are emphasized, they can't help but be influenced by their base. And no matter how I think about it, the King of Sins is human-based. Other than humans, nothing would be interested in something like sin."
Up to this point, it's a fact both I and the Returnee know well. However, there is a fact only the Returnee knows, which I don't.
Today, I must dig out that information even if it means provoking the Returnee.
"And I know the King of Beasts well; even if the King of Humans is strong, they are only at the level of Sangun. Not enough to destroy the world. Frankly, I think you're overreacting, Shea. Like a doomsday cultist."
At the mention of doomsday cultists, the Returnee's face visibly crumpled. In a peaceful era, doomsday cultists are just psychopaths roaming around justifying crazy acts, and the Returnee must have been treated like that multiple times too. From the standpoint of someone who actually saw the end and returned, it's inevitable to feel infuriated.
"...It's not. The King of Sins is at that level."
"How is it at that level? The King of Humans themselves says they are not at that level."
"You're different. The King of Sins is truly a different existence from the King of Humans."
Ah, right. The Returnee insisted over and over again that the King of Sins is different from the King of Humans. Since they didn't bring up any clues about it, I couldn't read the reason, though.
"What idle beast other than humans discusses sin? Do you think a beast is going to start a revolution seeking freedom?"
"It's not another King of Beasts.... It is an existence the King of Humans became by sucking up all the sins of other humans."
"Is sin some kind of elixir? That you can suck it up? And where is there an elixir that can burn the world just by drinking a little? If there is, I really want to drink a bowl of it."
"It's a metaphor! The concept was separated!"
The concept was separated? From the King of Beasts?
At the hard-won clue, I held my breath and waited quietly.
"The King of Beasts is a conceptual existence. And if you remove the beast part from it, only the concept remains. The King of Concepts, with only the concept remaining, becomes more powerful than when it had a physical body."
"How?"
"I don't know exactly either. However, an existence that becomes a King of Concepts with its physical body gone becomes one that burns everything solely to propagate its concept. It refuses to eat or sleep and acts as the agent of the concept itself. The King of Sins is the end of humanity... spreading sin while disregarding life and the future."
Beasts put a considerable amount of effort into surviving. Moving to find food, hunting, fleeing to avoid being eaten or fighting other competitors in the meantime, resting, mating, giving birth, and raising young, etc. Life is everything, and they use everything to live.
The King of Beasts is the same. The reason Azi, Nabi, and Sangun look simple and stupid is because they are beasts.
But what if the King of Beasts tries to achieve something by burning its soul? What if, like a human who has reached the Demon God, it wants to engrave its concept into the world?
"It's the same for the Wolf King. If I hadn't fought alongside Azi and won, it would have become the King of Ferocity itself and turned into a more powerful and terrible disaster."
'Like the disaster that swept across the Enger Plains, leading not only all kinds of beasts but even beastmen.'
The Returnee said they had to help Azi defeat the Wolf King. Saying it wasn't that difficult.
Actually, if defeating the Wolf King was easy, there wouldn't be much need to be with Azi. Azi is definitely helpful, but that's only at the level of a King of Beasts. If a single legion came and wiped it out, why would it be a disaster? It would just be a nuisance.
So in another loop, Fenrir wasn't just a simple Wolf King, but became something else.
It's an unbelievable story, but I can't ignore it. Because right now, there's an actual example right before my eyes.
"In a word, it means it becomes like Azi?"
"Azi...?"
Azi, whose whole body became blurry, who wore a halo instead of a crown, and even came to use healing spells for some unknown reason. No matter who looks, it's not a normal King of Beasts. Though its struggling appearance trying to bite the ring above its head just looked foolish.
Watching Azi doing somersaults in the air, the Returnee groaned deeply in thought.
'Right. Azi's current appearance is definitely strange. I didn't know what happens when a conceptual existence is formed. Does it happen by giving or taking a crown? Did Azi, who handed over the crown, become the King of Kindness?'
A King of Beasts turned into a King of Concepts. Hmm. It's interesting, but I still don't feel like this is my story. Is it because I don't have a crown or power? I wish they would at least think about the clue of how the King of Sins appears.
'Then what about Hughes? Like dog and wolf, will Hughes fight that thing settled at the top of the Tree of Vice? No, Hughes doesn't have a crown, and I haven't seen them in previous loops either. Has the separation of concepts already happened?'
"Shea."
"Huh? Yeah! Yeah."
The Returnee answered in surprise, then winced as if in pain. Pushing a sick person makes me feel a bit guilty, but it's a rule that when the body is uncomfortable, thoughts increase. I can't miss this opportunity when the Returnee is thinking the most since they were born.
"Summing up the story, I think I roughly know what's going on. I can guess what the separation of concepts is and what happened. But there's one thing more important than that, right?"
"...What is it?"
"Who did it, and with what intention."
I'm certain. No, I can't not know. Because I am the person involved.
The distant past, an age so old I can't even remember. Back then, the King of Humans wasn't me either, but the promise from that time still remains and binds me.
But what about the Returnee? The Returnee, who has accumulated the power and knowledge of the future through repeated regressions, should know. If they don't know, or know it wrong, there's only one reason.
The Holy Imperial Court, those guys deceived you.
Let's hear the reason.
The Returnee opened their mouth as if having made up their mind.
"...Right. This, urgh. I feel like I have to say it. I'm not sure either, but the culprit behind the separation of concepts is..."
"The culprit is?"
You're finally opening your mouth. I've waited a long time. Without showing it, I waited for the Returnee's words and thoughts. It doesn't matter if it's a lie or the truth. The moment you speak, I'll read the memories related to those words with telepathy.
'It should be okay to tell. The likelihood of Hughes being the King of Sins has decreased. I proved it by helping Azi, and even if I spill the truth, it won't become more dangerous than it is now.'
From the moment of resolution, no one can stop the Returnee. The Returnee spoke at the same time as they thought.
"Nebida."
Right. Nebida. Nebida...
What? Nebida?
At the completely unexpected words, I tilted my head.
"What? The Grand Druid?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"It's hard to believe, but there's nothing else."
Why not the Holy Imperial Court?
Can't you see that ring above Azi's head? It's the halo given to saints or saintesses. I need to check if Azi is truly a Sacred Hound chosen by the saintess, but doesn't the Holy Imperial Court have even a bit of suspicion?
"What's your evidence for thinking so?"
"At the top of the Tree of Vice, that thing is growing."
If it's the Tree of Vice, it's Nebida's Demon God, the Tree of Origins.
The World Tree that was in the jungle of the ancient Myriad Nations burned and fell, and from its remains grew the Tree of Vice, which bears all kinds of fruit. Potatoes, corn, carrots, watermelons, lotus roots, etc. From the World Tree, which was originally a ginkgo tree, fruits of all kinds of plants grow instead of ginkgo nuts.
And if you keep climbing and climbing the Tree of Vice... the sight of a beast never seen before in one's life pulsating within red flesh appears.
The Returnee recalled the large flower they had seen from a distance. A bizarre and beautiful flower to be at the top of a tree. Located at the very apex of the Tree of Vice, the forbidden fruit of good and evil that grows by sucking in all the vital energy.
"The King of Humans, made from the Origin Tree..."