No, you're not my sister. Because my sister is already dead. A dead person is a corpse, and cannot be my sister.
"Huh? That's true? Since you're here, I should be dead. Why am I alive?"
There could be many reasons for that. Nevida's obsession that preserved my sister's corpse for two thousand years could be one answer, and the Demon God who had advanced enough to create humans would also be a reason.
But such things aren't as important as one might think. What's most important is—
Because someone wishes for the return of the King of Humans. Not just Nevida, but a sufficient number of people.
"Huh? Why? That can't be right."
Why? Without that, there's no reason.
"Because, the reason I died is—"
My sister tried to explain something to me. It was a story with such unfathomable depth that it couldn't be expressed through language shaped by the tongue. It wasn't the story of a single human, but a massive current of history formed by the gathering consciousness of countless humans, so it couldn't be clearly explained by cutting it into pieces.
However, even without explaining, one could feel the grandeur of the current. The flow and principles contained within weren't meant to be explained. They were meant to be accepted.
My sister approached me and explained in a way that only I could understand.
Mental image meeting mental image, heads touching.
I read my sister's thoughts.
***
Such an era existed.
An era when humans, not much different from beasts, sought to make all things in the world their own and prosper. When they had laid down the roots of knowledge and sprouted the buds of spirituality, just before full bloom. When the world held its breath, waiting for the dawn to arrive.
Among humans, there existed beings called Lore Keepers.
Pictures drawn on cave walls to point at something. Those were symbolized and transformed into characters, woven together like intricate carvings to create meaningful sentences. Finally, humans could engrave their experiences onto something other than their own bodies.
That was lore. The treasure of the human species.
Gathering countless lore and guarding them so they wouldn't be forgotten—that was the Lore Keeper.
"Today's lesson will end here."
They bore the most important role of all—transmitting lore to the King of Humans.
Rolling the unfolded scroll back up, wiping the remaining ink clean with paper. Toward the Lore Keeper who was about to leave, 'Sister' asked with puzzlement.
"Huh? That's it for today?"
"There is nothing more to teach. Because you are too brilliant, my Lord."
The Lore Keeper said as they placed the scroll into their embrace.
"It has only been half a year since the previous Lord departed to the Mountain God. It has only been a month since we found and served you. Yet in that time, you have learned the characters and read all ninety-nine scrolls."
"I only read them! These things called characters, they're fun! Not difficult!"
"You are the King of all humans. You should be able to do anything that humans can do. Even though you are the Lord, I too am glad to have such a bright and eager disciple."
The Lore Keeper smiled genuinely.
The sun tilted, the moon waned, the newly sprouted shoots turned red and fell. The snow that covered everything through winter melted, and the seeds that held their breath sprouted.
When the stars in the night sky completed their cycle and returned to their places, reading the heavenly signs to distinguish the years.
Sowing seeds and farming according to the grand flow, pouring molten red iron into the blast furnace that spewed heated smoke, hammering countless times to make blades, and tying them with cords to create weapons.
All the knowledge that the Lore Keeper possessed, the King of Humans mastered in just a few weeks.
"Saying you've 'mastered' it would be an understatement that belittles you, my Lord. Because you can put into practice everything you've learned."
"You learn in order to use it, right?"
"That is precisely what makes it difficult. Humans can only learn what they have felt themselves. No matter how much they read the scrolls. No matter how much lore is taught. They fail to fully understand and often nod off to sleep."
The grumbling Lore Keeper looked at 'Sister' as if finding some comfort and said.
"Unlike you, who are so brilliant, my Lord."
"But didn't all of you create these scrolls?"
'Sister' lightly unfolded one lore scroll. Countless characters unfurled before her eyes. An ordinary person would have felt something akin to dizziness seeing the scattered letters, but 'Sister's' pupils swiftly swept across all of them.
The King of Beasts is the pinnacle of the individual. However, what stands out even more is their conceptual characteristic. The power of humans does not lie in simple brute strength or tools. True power is learning and mastering everything in the world.
The King of Humans was also exceptional in the power to learn. Before long, she could master all the truths and principles that the Lore Keeper knew.
Strong, fast, wise, and sagacious.
"If I am great, then you who created something great are also great! So you can be proud!"
Even good-natured and compassionate.
The King of Humans was too perfect.
So much so that one wondered if anything more outstanding could ever appear.
What the King of Humans learned also included politics.
Not the kind of politics commonly imagined, full of prejudice and ideology, where people disparage each other. What the King of Humans learned was a structural understanding of how humans form groups and live.
Most of the northwestern continent was the domain of the King of Humans.
It was somewhat different from ruling. The humans of the northwest had a typical loose tribal system, and the King of Humans didn't interfere at all with how they lived. The King of Humans forced nothing upon anyone.
But the existence called the King of Humans was too perfect. So much so that one couldn't help but follow.
Powerful strength. Outstanding skill. Exceptional knowledge. And, the very concept of 'King of Humans' itself.
Water flows from top to bottom. The humans who received and drank the knowledge that the King of Humans poured forth felt ecstasy and voluntarily bowed their heads.
Thus the King of Humans bloomed civilization throughout the northwestern continent. Thus the King's domain took the shape of a nation and prospered even more.
If there is a nation, there must also be a capital at its center. But the King of Humans, the center of the nation, was free, and as much as she commanded no one, she accepted no commands either.
Therefore, the capital too had to be able to move following the King of Humans. The subjects followed the King they revered and set out on an endless path of wandering.
They were the King's Warriors. Noble humans who served the King, followed the King, and spread the King's commands far and wide.
Those who embarked on the pilgrimage with the King would recruit talented people, and when they grew old, they would step down and settle somewhere, spreading the King's teachings throughout the nation.
Such King's Warriors had one other mission. That was to find the King.
If the King died of old age, disease, or something akin to disaster. They would hold a brief funeral and immediately wander the continent to find the next King.
This was an extremely important task. If the search was delayed even a little, the ambitious King's Warriors would fall into conflict and fight amongst themselves, leading the nation into chaos. The King's Warriors needed a superhuman at the very least to prevent themselves from fighting each other.
Fortunately, the King's Warriors of this generation were relatively quick to find the King.
"My Lord!"
A fresh-faced girl resembling a blade of grass discovered the King of Humans and came running barefoot. She was the child who had brought 'Sister' and cared for her when 'Sister' was newly born in a cave in the great forest.
The girl who had lost her parents early and did odd jobs under a sour-faced druid earned the qualification to join the King's Warriors as a reward for caring for 'Sister'. 'Sister' also welcomed her warmly.
"Nevida! Here, here!"
'Sister' brought two scrolls she had packed and proudly waved them. Savoring the girl's eyes sparkling with curiosity and joy, 'Sister' said.
"It's the druid's lore. I wrote what I memorized in a way that's a bit easier to understand."
"D-Druid's lore...? You wrote it yourself?"
"Yeah. You said you wanted to become a druid? With this, I'll make you a druid!"
Humans are also beasts, so no matter how much one is the King of Humans, it's unavoidable to feel more drawn to someone who treated them with kindness from the start. This generation's King of Humans, 'Sister's' attachment-human was Nevida.
The Lore Keeper who had followed 'Sister' approached in alarm upon seeing the scrolls.
"My Lord! Those scrolls!"
"It's okay! I wrote these!"
'Sister' probably wanted to emphasize that she hadn't stolen them, but to the Lore Keeper, that was an even bigger problem. A superior lore was being born in a place they didn't know about.
"Huh?"
"She's just a child. We will teach her from our side, so please devote yourself to other more important matters, my Lord."
"More important matters? What are those?"
"Creating treasures, governing the nation, or resolving conflicts in villages—such matters."
"None of that is important. Others can do it even without me."
She had earned the qualification to become a King's Warrior, but there were also many who were displeased with the upstart girl who was favored merely because she was the first to meet 'Sister'. So Nevida was treated as an outsider even among the King's Warriors.
"No one but me will teach Nevida. This is far more important!"
Rather, that drew 'Sister's' interest even more. But the King's Warriors' thoughts didn't reach that far.
The King's Warriors who were always with the King, enjoying that power and knowledge, were clearly the powerholders of this era. And where there is the fruit of power, corruption also grows alongside.
The King's Warriors had corrupted.
Being a King's Warrior was an opportunity for growth and experience, and merely having once been beside the King, one was treated like a sage. Entering any village, they could oust the village chief and control them as they pleased.
Gradually, the King's Warriors sought to monopolize that power. They racked their brains over the free-spirited and willful King of Humans, trying somehow to control her according to their will.
"Let us alter the lore."
The Lore Keepers too could not escape the wave of corruption.
"The Lord uses our knowledge too wastefully. You bestow the knowledge we painstakingly gathered and wrote onto scrolls even to a brat who doesn't know where it came from. If things continue this way, who would bother to gather and write lore? Everyone would just lie beside the King, waiting for the fruit to fall."
At the Lore Keeper's words, the other Lore Keepers also nodded in agreement.
"Even if transmitting lore is our duty. To write new lore without our consent. That is crossing the line, even for the Lord."
Even among the King's Warriors, the noble Lore Keepers were respected by all humans. But unlike other powers, lore could be shared. Perhaps because of this, the Lore Keepers showed an obsession with the scrolls.
"Without lore, humans would be no different from beasts. The reason humans, and the Lord, can be special is thanks to our lore. We deserve better treatment."
"Right! Without us, the King's Warriors would also be as good as nothing!"
"Unfortunately, this Lord has already mastered all the scrolls. Let us make sure to firmly instruct in the lore scrolls to be given to the next Lord."
"What if the Lord writes scrolls directly like this time?"
"We must reclaim them. Storing the scrolls is originally our duty."
The Lore Keeper said so and unfolded a scroll. Not a single character on a lore scroll should be erased carelessly, but the Lore Keeper tried to overwrite the text without caring for such tradition.
They painted white ink made from ground seashells over the sentence that told them to spread the lore widely, erasing it. Over their thickened conscience, they painted black characters. Unbecoming of the name of lore, the scroll now bore a sentence asking to hide itself.
It should have been so.
As if resisting that, the characters of the lore danced wildly. As if resisting the characters trying to cover them. The Lore Keeper glared.
"No, this is...!"
"The Lore Venerable is angered!"
"N-No way...! The lore was real?!"
The legendary being who was said to have created characters first. The Lore Venerable, who taught humans writing and knowledge, was the guardian of knowledge and lore, and was said to personally visit and punish those who dared to damage the lore.
Of course, this too was nothing more than an ancient myth created to protect the lore.
But she had the power to turn myth into reality.
"That. Was not written by you."
The Lore Keepers were startled as if their breath had stopped. As if their shame had been exposed, they clutched the scrolls to their chests and trembled.
"Knowledge is the asset of humanity. Since it originated from humans, it must rightfully return to humans. It must not be made exclusive."
The girl rebuked the Lore Keepers with eyes that pierced through all creation.
Overcome with shame and guilt, the Lore Keepers hung their heads and held their breath. Who she was, how she came here, what power she possessed—none of that was important anymore.
"However, if lore can be overlaid with sin. Then that sin too can be overlaid with merit. I will give you the chance to overlay your wrongs."
The girl who pushed through the Lore Keeper's fear became the new Lore Keeper.