Chapter 591: Who are you? [2]

’Shit. How do I handle this...?’

Looking at Kyle and seeing his expression, whatever word was about to leave my mouth became stuck as a lump formed at the back of my throat.

"Y-you..."

Hearing Kyle’s voice once more, I sighed and opened my lips.

"I am Seth."

I answered truthfully.

"I know that you know that I am Seth."

Kyle’s lips quivered, but he stood still. I could tell that he was well aware of the fact that I was me.

To be honest, I was debating whether to tell him about the fact that I was from ’another world’, but when I looked at him, I realized that it was best to keep quiet for now. There were a lot of things that he needed to process first.

"I am Seth."

I repeated, dragging out time as I tried to think about what to say next.

"I... just went through a lot of things, and found myself with a peculiar Decree. It’s called the

[Shepherd]

Decree."

Kyle’s lips continued to quiver as I spoke, but he didn’t once interrupt. Instead, he just listened in silence as I explained, "The Decree is rather unique in the fact that it allows me to personally contain anomalies and make them work for me."

This much I could reveal.

In fact, I had no choice but to reveal this as Kyle had most likely already met the Conductor, Mirelle, and the others.

Pressing my hand against the table, several figures appeared around the room.

Kyle’s expression changed drastically at the sight of them as he took several steps back.

"Don’t worry, they won’t attack you."

I tried to reassure Kyle, but he still looked incredibly stiff at the sight of them. At first, I was confused. Why was he reacting like this? He was someone who was incredibly talented and even a Paragon. Realistically speaking, he shouldn’t really be that scared.

But then it hit me.

’Right, his state of mind might not be stable at the moment. Not only that, but he’s likely thinking back to the memories in Malovia.’

I waved my hand and recalled everyone back.

Only then did Kyle gain some semblance of calm as his head turned to face me. His expression was even stiffer.

I continued to explain.

"Yeah, so... that’s the extent of my powers. I can—"

Or at least, tried, as Kyle spoke halfway through my sentence.

"You... re the Jester."

The words faded from my lips as I looked at him.

"...You’re... him."

Kyle covered his lips, his brows furrowing as his hand trembled slightly.

I paused before eventually nodding.

"Yes... I am."

With him having seen Mirelle and the Conductor, there was no point in denying it. I was indeed the Jester.

Taking out a certain mask, I put it on my face as it clung to it, and familiar bells began to appear in my vision.

"A-haha."

A strained laugh escaped Kyle’s lips as he kept his hand covering his face.

"Right...? H-how did I not see this coming? I mean, that’s... right, Myles did say it before. Did you have him kick out because... he found out?"

"No, that’s not..."

I pulled the mask back.

"...I did see changes in you. I m-mean, they were kind of obvious. However.. I tried to ignore them. I did, telling myself that.... You were just changing. That you were growing up and that... the changes were good. But... But..."

"Wait, Kyle."

I quickly realized he was misunderstanding. As things stood, he was making me out to be some sort of bad guy.

I wasn’t.

"Let me explain more. Let me—"

"In... the end, you were the J-jester... A monster."

"....."

My mind blanked in that moment.

Whatever words I had planned to say, just completely stopped.

"You... killed people. Innocent people."

"No, I..."

"But you have."

All of a sudden, Kyle’s words flowed out more smoothly. His voice also appeared to become a lot calmer as he brought his hand away from his lips.

"Yeah, you’ve killed people. A lot of them. Not just in Malovia, but back then with the Conductor. If he’s your anomaly, then... Ha."

Kyle laughed again, but his laugh felt more forced than anything.

He wasn’t even looking at me.

In fact... It almost felt as though he was too disgusted to look at me.

"Okay."

Finally getting my words out, I forced myself to remain calm.

"...You’re under a lot of stress at the moment, so I can understand where you’re coming from. Just give me a moment to explain myself. Some circumstances led up to those moments. In fact—"

"Since you have summoned me, I must be an anomaly, too, right? Something of the sort. I’m... no longer human. Back then, you must’ve... killed me or done something to me. Yeah, I’ve been... feeling very weird lately. I’m right, aren’t I?"

"....."

"Answer me!"

Kyle’s voice shook across the room as he glared at me.

"You’ve done something to me, haven’t you!? You... you’re the reason why my head has been so fucked up lately, right?! What have you done to me!"

"As I said, there were circumstances that led to that situation. Just let me speak for a moment. Let me explain to you so that—"

"You’ve really changed, Seth."

Despite my best attempts at trying to reason with him, Kyle just never gave me the chance.

But maybe it was because I was allowing him to speak over me.

Maybe...

It was because I knew that there was no point in talking over him. Just one look at his expression, and I understood that he was simply not ready to listen to me.

His voice drifted across the room again, his anger calming down.

"You’ve killed people. Innocent people at that. You’ve caused several smaller Guilds to collapse, and you’ve forced innocent people out of their homes. You’re... a monster. You—"

"Well, I guess that’s it for now."

I clapped, and I recalled Kyle back.

Silence returned to the room after that as I leaned back against the chair.

’He’s just shocked. That’s what it is. I’m sure he’ll come to understand in the future. Yeah, I’m sure that’s what it is.’

I nodded, getting ready to stand, but as I did, a certain figure appeared at the opposite end of the room. He leaned back against the wall, staring at me with the same twisted smile he always greeted me with.

I paused.

"You’ve been summoning yourself without my permission quite a lot lately."

"Have I...?"

The Conductor chuckled.

Of all the anomalies, the Conductor was the only one who could do this. Mainly because he was that much stronger than me.

"You have."

"It can’t be helped. I couldn’t miss such an entertaining sight."

"Is that so...?"

I wasn’t surprised.

To the Conductor, anything chaotic seemed entertaining.

Adjusting my clothes, I moved toward the door. But just as my hand reached the handle, the Conductor’s voice reached my ears.

"But you know... He isn’t exactly wrong. That ’friend’ of yours."

I stopped, my head focused on the door.

"You’ve changed quite a bit."

"....."

"Not in the same way as when your Cognitive Shard was unstable, but on a fundamental level. I don’t know, I have a feeling that you probably wouldn’t feel a thing if millions die at this point. No... I have a feeling you might even laugh at the sight. Well, I would. In a way, we’re both twisted in the same way."

Shaking my head, I pulled the door open and walked out.

Ridiculous.

While the Conductor wasn’t wrong about the fact that I had changed, I hadn’t reached the point where I’d just laugh at the death of millions. This was just the Conductor speaking its usual nonsense again.

’...Let’s just attend the award ceremony and figure out the situation with Kyle later. Oh, right... I also need to find a way to explain the situation to the others when Kyle gets back.’

"See?"

The Conductor’s voice reached my ears again as I moved past the door.

"You’re not even thinking about your friend’s thoughts and what he’s going through. You’re just assuming he’ll understand."

"That’s because he will."

"And how are you so sure about that...?"

"Because I know."

Yeah, I know.

Because he was Kyle.

Clank—!

With the door closing behind me, I took out the compass and began walking. The Conductor’s voice continued to echo in my mind as I walked, but I simply shook my head.

’It’s bullshit. Total bullshit.’

Several minutes passed as I followed its subtle guidance through the corridors. Eventually, I came to a stop in front of a certain door.

From the other side, a muffled yet heavy sound echoed through it.

Without waiting another moment, I pulled the door open, and I was suddenly engulfed by the thunderous cheers of the people as the main platform came into view.