Pope's Perspective Third Episode Today Trying "Nightmare of the Labyrinth" as an opening got no reaction.
She introduced herself as Shiro with nonchalant ease.
With no change in expression, her feelings are impossible to read.
Her eyes are closed, so there's nothing to glean from them either.
"The eyes speak louder than the mouth" — that was a saying from
When I first heard it, I thought it was spot-on.
I always look at the person I'm speaking with.
It's a matter of politeness, and you can read someone's emotions from the movement of their eyes.
Closing your eyes means withholding that information — and conversely, by blocking your field of vision, you're discarding everything you could otherwise gain from it.
Or perhaps she's saying that sound and the flow of air are more than sufficient, even without relying on sight.
In any case, I suppose I should take it that Shiro has deemed us worthy.
She gave her name — which means we have value worth sitting at this seat, that continuing this meeting is meaningful.
I'd like to think so, but let's see.
From the illustration of the white spider in that book, I could tell Shiro was connected to the Nightmare of the Labyrinth.
From there, considering the unique nature of the Nightmare of the Labyrinth, the answer naturally followed.
The Nightmare of the Labyrinth is a Reincarnator.
Once I understood that much, it was clear.
I could be certain that Shiro herself is the Nightmare of the Labyrinth.
She gave us just enough fragments of information to lead us to that conclusion.
Then, by revealing the answer, she was testing whether we had earned the right to sit at the negotiating table.
We were being tested — by this girl who calls herself the Administrator.
From the contents of the book she handed me, I hadn't ruled out that possibility.
But being told to her face that she's the Administrator — there's a gut feeling of disbelief that's hard to shake.
I desperately kept it off my face, but I doubt it worked.
I probably should assume it didn't.
If she truly has risen to the rank of Administrator, then whether her eyes are open or not, she'd know the state of the world as easily as reading a book in her hands.
Even setting that aside — if she evolved from a spider-type Monster, it wouldn't be strange for her to perceive the world differently from humans.
Her eyes aren't closed because she can't see. It's better to assume she simply doesn't need to look.
A negotiation like this — unfavorable from the start, with the other party holding all the initiative — it's been ages since I've been in one.
It reminds me of my talks with the Black Dragon.
Is she truly the Administrator?
Is the content of the book she gave us free of falsehoods?
Those are the things I need to establish in this meeting.
Beyond that, if all of it proves true, I need to make her understand that I'm worth talking to.
Done poorly, the fate of the entire Human race could be decided by this meeting.
I have to assume the worst and avoid offending her.
But that effort may have already failed before it even began.
I never expected both of her companions to be Reincarnators.
And not just that — both of them harbor considerable negative feelings toward the Human race.
The daughter of one of the Keren Earls in the Kingdom of Saliéra, where the Goddess Church serves as the state religion.
The Keren territory was devastated in the war launched by the Divine Scripture Church to weaken the Goddess Church.
The Keren Earl and his wife were killed.
Their daughter went missing. Even with the Divine Scripture Church's intelligence network, we couldn't confirm whether she was alive or dead, so we feared she had either perished long ago or been abducted by Elves.
Though, since the Black Dragon had brought her up before, I'd thought the Elf angle was thin.
I never imagined she had slipped past our intelligence entirely and taken refuge with the Demon race.
She probably used teleportation to flee to Demon territory right after that war.
Should I assume the Black Dragon facilitated it?
From the way she spoke, she understands that the Divine Scripture Church was the one who orchestrated that war.
I can only say her impression of us is extraordinarily bad.
Lars.
First time I've heard the name, but I do remember the Ogres that caused massive casualties in the Empire.
I had doubted they were Reincarnators, which makes this all the more unsettling.
I don't know what circumstances led him to oppose the Human race, but at the time, he was consumed by rage to the point where rational conversation was impossible.
He'd probably activated one of the "
Wrath-type Skills dramatically boost your Status when activated, but the drawback is that the user's reason is blown clean away.
After repeated battles with the Human race, he must have activated the Skill and lost the ability to regain his composure.
The Empire then gave up on subduing him and managed to push him into Demon territory, dumping the problem on the Demon race.
Or so it seemed.
But apparently he did regain his reason at some point and is now participating here as a member of the Demon race.
Unlike Sophia, the unknown variable is how much resentment toward the Human race he harbors — and that's what's scary.
I can feel his probing gaze testing me.
I'd like to ask Sajin about how Lars was in his previous life, but I can't exactly do that here.
Wait.
He told Sajin with absolute certainty that asking him would reveal Lars's name from his previous life.
That means, in Lars's mind, Sajin already knows who he is.
Were Lars and Sajin connected somehow?
But I always kept Sajin at hand.
Even when I sent him somewhere, I never let him go alone.
Then how do you explain this?
The only possibility I can think of is when Lars was still an Ogre — when I sent Sajin to meet him after suspecting he might be a Reincarnator.
But in his report, Sajin said Lars was in no state to have a conversation.
That report was genuine.
The other shadow division members who accompanied him filed the same account.
Could it have been the face, then?
According to Sajin, Shiro's face is nearly identical to that of Lady
Could Lars's face be the same as it was back then?
If so, is Sophia's face unchanged as well?
I want to confirm with Sajin, but right now that's not what matters.
What matters is the fact that Shiro brought these two here.
She went out of her way to bring them, which means she has a reason to do so.
Both Sophia and Lars are not the type you handle with kid gloves.
Is she here to see how I deal with these difficult pieces?
Either way, I can't afford to let my guard down.
The whole time: three seconds.
Something's wrong. The conversation hasn't moved forward at all!