Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 150: Fusang Ruomu

"Lord Prophet, I would like to take care of you to aid in the quick recovery of your health. I hope you don’t mind."

"..."

Kodam didn’t like the idea of the boy taking care of him in his current state. He knew that the more he saw the boy, the more it would cause him to think and analyze. And that would result in an even more severe headache.

Still, he found it hard to say no, especially since other priests were watching him by peeking through the gap between the rooms’ doors. It would worsen his image in the cult if he were to dismiss the boy’s goodwill for no reason.

In the end, Kodam simply closed his eyes, choosing not to reply at all.

But the boy seemed to have taken his silence as agreement.

And so, the boy began taking care of him.

He massaged Kodam’s legs and shoulders, prepared medicine for him, and went as far as preparing food and personally feeding him.

Throughout that, the priests continued watching them secretly.

’Just what is he after?’

Why was the boy trying to take care of him? Even if he didn’t, someone else would definitely tend to Kodam.

Watching the boy massaging his legs, he couldn’t find anything strange about him at all. His actions and efforts all felt genuine.

The entire day passed just like that, and ‌night had fallen. Lying with his eyes closed, he quietly waited for the boy to leave.

And soon the boy stood up.

"Lord Prophet, I hope you get a good sleep and recover soon. I will be taking my leave now."

After that, Kodam heard the sound of his room’s door being shut.

He sighed.

’What a pathetic day this was.’

Moments later, he drifted off to sleep.

***

Waking up, Kodam stretched his limbs a bit as the lingering drowsiness slowly faded.

His head was ‌no longer feeling heavy, nor were his limbs hurting. He felt completely refreshed.

’Considering how sick I was yesterday, I never thought I would be able to recover so quickly.’

The memory of the boy tending to him suddenly flashed through his mind, making him pause. Maybe it really was the boy’s care that had caused him to recover so quickly.

It was just that... the feeling that something was wrong just wasn’t going away.

Kodam clenched his fists.

’Looks like I have no choice.’

He had wished to save it for more important occasions, but he just couldn’t take it anymore.

And so, Kodam took a deep breath and activated his Origin ability.

The ability that earned him the title of the Prophet of Truth. The power to look into the future.

His Origin ability’s name was Fusang Ruomu. As for its function, it was a bit strange.

This ability not only allowed him to look into the future but also into possible futures created by changes to the current one. Changes that he himself could bring about with his actions in the main future. If he saw a future where a devastating storm destroyed the cult, he could add the possibility of them fleeing before the storm struck their settlement and watch how that possible future played out. If they encountered another problem in that possible future, he could add the possibility of them solving it beforehand and then watch how the new possible future played out.

To Kodam’s eyes, time was like a tree. It started with a single trunk. That trunk would then split into multiple branches of possible futures based on the changes he added. Those possible futures branching from the main one would also split into more branches due to more possibilities. This would continue until he was able to see the future that he wanted.

But this power required a cost. And that cost was rather strange too.

For every moment Kodam spent without using this Origin ability, he would accumulate a kind of credit. That credit was the cost of using this Origin ability. But if he ran out of credit while he was in the middle of seeing branching futures, it didn’t mean that his ability would stop working. Instead, it would start accumulating something like a debt the longer he continued. And when he stops using the ability and credit starts accumulating, that credit will be used to pay off the accumulated debt. Until the debt is paid off in full, credit won’t accumulate, leaving him unable to use his Origin ability for that long.

’I should use all the credit this time. I have to find it, whatever it is.’

He had looked into the future several times in the past five years, trying to figure out the cause of the feeling he always had. But since he had been unwilling to use many credits, he wasn’t able to see all that much.

But this time was going to be different.

Kodam’s vision changed as he began using his power. He saw the current future playing out before his eyes. There was nothing abnormal about the future, and he didn’t see anything wrong. As time passed, the cult grew in size, and that boy’s popularity did as well.

He was formally given the title of Saint of Truth and gained a status similar to Kodam after a few years. But he never abused his status, using it for the cult’s benefit and prosperity.

’Time to change things.’

Kodam began adding possibilities one after another, events that the future him could bring about.

In one possibility, he forced one of the priests to betray the boy. In a different possibility, he forced that girl, Nelliel, to stab him in the back with a dagger. In another possibility, the boy was forcefully locked into a dungeon and made to starve until he died.

More and more possible futures continued branching out, using credit at an absurd pace. The possibilities he continued to add became more cruel and extreme each time.

But not a single one of those possibilities showed him anything new. The boy would always die with that same expressionless face, not cursing anyone or showing hostility. All the futures ended with the people of the cult losing their trust in Kodam, pushing him out of the cult.

And finally, all his credit ran out.

Kodam gritted his teeth.

’Not yet!’

Debt began accumulating as he continued using his ability.

This time, he did something different. He began creating situations where he was alone with the boy and in a completely vulnerable state. Situations where the boy could easily take his life.

But he didn’t find anything this time either.

No matter how vulnerable a state Kodam was in, the boy’s attitude never changed.

Struggling with the strain of having witnessed too much in a short amount of time, Kodam let out a tired sigh as his clenched fists slowly loosened.

’Maybe the problem isn’t him. Maybe it is me.’

Even though everything else was telling him otherwise, he was still believing in some vague intuition that had no basis. Everyone else had already accepted the boy except him.

Maybe it was time... that he put some trust in the boy too.

And so, Kodam turned towards the door and spoke to the believer standing there.

"Bring Priest Adrian here; I wish to talk to him in private."