Kaiser of the New World

A miracle (93)

The Will of Ethania.

The useless item had even sitting in Kai's soul, unsummoned since the first time he saw the white bead.

The whole time Kai thought it was useless, the description even said it had no uses after all. What was the point of lingering on an item that had no value?

Looking back, maybe revealing he had this to Failure could have changed something, maybe invigorate him or give him a small boost. Sadly, at the time, Kai was in his phase of not trusting the charismatic man so the thought had slipped his mind.

But just because an item did not have any uses did not mean that it wasn't useful.

An example would be John and petunias. A simple flower that grew in a small corner of the Dome, yet they managed to bring the burly man an uncanny level of peace, they reminded him of his daughter after all.

It could be a mental thing, and mentality was just as important to one's strength as high stats, strong skills or an overpowered innate ability.

And Kai was about to learn how true that statement was.

Confused, Failure cast his glance down to the small bead that sat it Kai's palm, his eyes gleaming with a spark of something. Not expecting anything major, Failure took a closer look and...

His lower lip trembled.

"Is... is that?"

"Yep" Kai grinned proudly as he extended his hand, offering the bead to Failure. "You couldn't have broken your promise because Ethania's will is still here, uncorrupted and safe."

A faint green hand emerged from the bark of the Mother Tree, reaching out for the bead in Kai's hand. Just as Failure's fingers were about to connect with the bead, his hand passed through the white ball, then promptly passed through Kai's own hand.

Unfazed by the fact he couldn't actually touch the bead, Failure glanced at Kai's face, confusion evident on his expression.

"... How?"

"I haven't a clue." Kai sighed as she softly shook his head. He then lifted his hand up, giving Failure a better look at the bead.

"After I finished reading the diary, I found this in the back of it. The description said something about an unknown god taking away her memories and storing them in this bead, that's all I know."

Failure's eyes widened slightly as some semblance of colour returned to his face. He looked as if he had thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years worth of questions lifted off his shoulders. He looked like a new man, a glint of newfound life appearing in the depths of his beautiful green eyes.

"So that's why she acted so odd before..."

Failure stopped his sentence there as he winced. Kai assumed he just didn't want to remember the past and what had happened, but that was perfectly fine.

Not many wanted to face the past after all, they would much rather hide in the present.

"So you didn't fail." Kai began, wanting to see that indescribable spark in Failure's eyes once more.

"Ethania's will is still safe, you succeeded. Failure, you basically bested a God!

Like, you creating this forest, surviving all by yourself, raising Aldred to be the wolf he is today, offering all these beasts a safe space to grow and develop, and to top it all off, doing so while holding back a wave of abominations, everything you've done since the beginning of this damned forest has indirectly led to the protection of Ethania.

So you haven't broken your promise, you haven't failed your knightly duty, you done it so perfectly that you didn't even realise you had done it.

That itself is incredible, goddammit, Failure, you're incredible.