Chapter 69 - Our Job
Voloha, as a human, saw the world around her as the end of her world.
She was born as the Princess of a country ravaged by war with the Aggressors. It was her dream to one day take the mantle from her father and lead her country to victory.
However, when she encountered the abyss inside Samur, she was thrust into a world inconceivably greater than her own.
She saw that not only were the events happening in her world; the people struggling to survive, pioneers developing new ways to combat the threat of the Aggressors, the invasion of her world, were all meaningless in face of the sheer size of what she was thrust into.
But that her world, her people, her mother, father, servants, everyone and everything she knew, was nothing more than an insignificant blot in the grander scheme of things.
She was the Princess of her country, a future leader that was supposed to lead her people to victory. How could she return to normal after witnessing what she had seen?
How was she supposed to believe that anything she accomplished had any meaning?
The day she met Samur was the day her world came crumbling down.
The day she, who could marvel upon the strings of fate tying the world, who could understand the machinations moving the God who gave her this ability, could not see the fate of a random boy she met, was the day she went mad.
However, beneath the madness, she had realised some things.
Kanguko was silent, her brain working in overdrive trying to make full sense of what her liege had just told her.
And that's when a thought dawned on her, "If… if Samur is above fate like you just said, and that fate also controls the lives of Gods, then doesn't that mean…" She could not complete that thought.
It was too scary for her.
"Yes, you're right." Voloha grinned at the creation of an accomplice. "He's above the Gods as well."
"How… how is that… no, that's just, but, no." Kanguko sputtered as she clutched her hair, and then abruptly stopped as her widened eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets, "That means… everything is meaningless."
"Exactly!" Voloha could not contain her joy, leaped and hugged the trembling Kanguko. "You are right! Everything is, without a doubt, absolutely meaningless!"
"But Princess-"
"Shh, calm down, take a deep breath." Voloha patted her head and the latter complied. "Yes, just like that."
"…" Kanguko stared at Voloha.
She could not understand how her liege was so composed even after learning that their entire lives were meaningless.
And then it hit her; the Princess had been but a mere child when she had first understood everything. Her heart shook when she thought of the child who had to deal with her world being flipped upside down without anyone to share the burden with.
Her throat clogged up and tears pooled in her eyes, "Princes… hic, I-I'm sorry I was not there for you, hic."
"!" Voloha's eyes widened as her attendant's hug tightened.
No, perhaps she could no longer be called an attendant. Now, Kanguko was her partner.
"It must have been hard, right?" Kanguko said with tears streaming down her face. "It must have been so hard…"
"…Yes, it was." Those words came out on their own. "It was very hard."
With superhuman determination, Voloha stopped the tears from coming out of her eyes.
It was not that she felt embarrassed of crying in front of her servant; their bond was now far deeper than a mere master and servant's.
No, she just felt that if she cried her heart out here, she would lose the will to continue.
"You did well." Kanguko caressed her hair.
"Thank you…" A genuinely happy smile blossomed on Voloha's face. "I really mean that."
Kanguko's words had revitalised her heart. Her recognition of Voloha's hard work had given her the strength to continue on her path.
Just sharing what she knew had lightened her burden far more than she could have ever imagined. She was truly thankful to Kanguko.
However, just then, a thought emerged in her mind. Like a spectre taking advantage of the cracks that had formed in her lowered defences, the thought asked her; what if all this was meaningless as well?
If everything in her world was worthless, then wasn't this moment just as worthless?
What if underneath the veils of deceit, they were but playthings of fiends?
'No!' Voloha hurriedly stopped that thought.
She cannot think about; she must not think about it.
It didn't matter if the entire world was pointless and futile; this moment, this feeling cannot be meaningless.
She will not let it be meaningless, no matter the cost.
Burying the thought deep within her heart, she freed herself from Kanguko's hug.
"Now you know why I'm so obsessed with Samur."
"Yes, I do." Kanguko wiped her tears with a sad smile.
This whole thing was still a bit too much for her to comprehend, but there was one thing she understood; she will remain at her Princess' side, no matter the cost.
Voloha went back to her seat and beckoned Kanguko to sit by her side. The latter hesitated for a moment, but decided to forget about the difference in their statuses for today and complied.
"There is one more thing you should know, Kanguko."
"What is it, Princess?"
"This world will most probably not survive this invasion."
"…Oh." Faced with another bomb, Kanguko's brain crashed for a moment. "Wait, what?"
"Yes." Voloha giggled at her reaction. "The Aggressors will one day breach this country's walls and kill all of us. They will do the same everywhere, until they turn this world into a barren wasteland fit for their taking."
"H-how can you be so sure?"
Voloha simply smiled and pointed to her eyes, and Kanguko bit her lips.
"That is the fate of this world, after all."
"…" Kanguko's head dropped as she clenched her fists.
"However, not all hope is lost."
"Eh?" Her head jerked back to look at Voloha.
"It's Samur."
"Hmm- ah!" Her eyes widened. "You don't mean…"
"Yes. If being destroyed is the fate of this world, then only someone who stands above it can change it."
"…"
"Samur is the only one who can save this world. And we're the only ones who know that."
"So that's why…"
"Yes, we will make him save our world."
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