#167. Twisted Fate (3)
Sasha blinked at the sudden words, but Pavel continued with a faint smile.
“There are far more who revere you than those who bear ill will toward you.”
“…….”
Sasha parted her lips slightly. He hadn’t touched her, so he couldn’t have heard her thoughts, yet he said something like that—it felt almost miraculous.
Still, his warm words resonated deeply in her heart.
“……I see.”
Similar moments had happened before, but this time was different.
This time, there were people who supported her.
In the past, more people had simply observed or even rejected her, but now, they genuinely stepped forward to protect and defend her.
Just knowing that made this situation not entirely bad.
A faint smile appeared on Sasha’s lips.
Moreover, she had gained other advantages.
For instance, a strong lead on handling Naina.
The reason she hadn’t acted against the suspicious woman immediately was purely circumstantial.
Without concrete evidence, dealing harshly with a civilian—especially one with a special ability like prophecy—could have caused backlash.
More importantly, acting impulsively would have gone against Sasha’s principles.
When she had uncovered the Goriki family’s scheming and punished people herself for the first time, her standard had been to administer justice fairly under the law.
It might have been tedious at times, but in the long run, it was necessary.
If one breaks rules bit by bit for personal gain, the law crumbles, and chaos ensues.
Sasha couldn’t allow the place she loved to descend into disorder.
So no matter how irritating Naina was, Sasha exercised patience.
Patience had borne results. With a little more time, she could deal with Naina legally and properly.
Fortunately, thorough research through old law books revealed that the law for the immediate execution of dark mages still existed.
As long as she could expose the truth, she wouldn’t need to wait any longer.
At last, a resolution seemed near.
Sasha could finally rest peacefully beside Pavel.
However, the very next day, the Imperial Knights arrived from Kalita.
The Grand Duke’s succession ceremony was to be held, and the Emperor’s message instructed her to come. He also insisted that she accompany them, as he wished to see the prophet herself.
The Emperor’s directive left much to ponder.
Sasha had anticipated being summoned to Kalita, but this was sooner than expected.
She had just wanted to wrap up the recent charity event, and since the prophet had been involved in the northern incident, she had thought it would be difficult to travel.
But the Imperial Knights were firm.
They insisted that she depart within three days and bring the prophet with them, invoking the Emperor’s authority.
There was no way to stop the knights without defying the Emperor, which could be considered treason.
In the end, Naina was brought from the underground prison and departed for Kalita with the Imperial Knights.
As Pavel’s group was also urged to hurry, Sasha began packing her belongings in haste.
When she had returned to the capital earlier, she hadn’t properly organized her belongings, so they were scattered everywhere.
Though Nina had tidied the small things, important documents had to be handled personally by Sasha.
As she rolled up her sleeves to organize, her eyes fell on an old, worn book.
“What’s this?”
The cover was tattered, and the title unfamiliar:
The Epic of the Forgotten Hero
Sasha frowned. Why was a book she had never seen before in her belongings?
It didn’t take long for her to recall: she had received this book as a gift at the capital’s exhibition.
And she was surprised.
“Why did I forget this?”
It wasn’t that long ago, yet she had completely forgotten.
For someone like Sasha, with a unique memory skill known as a “mind palace” that rarely forgot even the smallest things, this was strange.
When she first held the book, she vaguely recalled an “unknown memory” and even felt dizzy.
It had been somewhat shocking, yet the memory remained only faintly, as if someone had intruded into her mind and erased it.
Had she not found the book, she might never have remembered.
“How…?”
Sasha’s face went pale in shock.
“What exactly is this?”
She opened the old book carefully.
The pages were yellowed and torn in places, but its contents were clear.
It was a picture book, with a large illustration in the center and several lines of description beneath.
On the first page was a massive black serpent coiled around the World Tree, Yggdrasil.
The text beneath read:
“The nameless black dragon sought to absorb mana from the World Tree and ascend to godhood.
However, in the process, the World Tree would wither and die, and countless creatures depending on it would perish. Perhaps even an entire small world could vanish.
It meant the destruction of the world.”
Sasha turned the page.
The story continued, describing the efforts to prevent the foretold destruction.
The protagonist, the hero Lyudmila, gathered warriors to defeat the evil dragon.
Her party faced hardships, sacrifices, and finally reached the World Tree.
Yet after a grueling battle, they could not kill the dragon.
Lyudmila resolved to seal the dragon, even at the cost of her own life.
If the dragon remained unchecked, the world would perish, and all who had sacrificed to prevent destruction would have died in vain.
But there was no other way to eliminate it.
In despair, the World Tree extended its assistance.
“I will help you, but only at the cost of your memory.”
“Eh?”
Sasha murmured, puzzled.
The World Tree’s words felt oddly familiar.
Even faint déjà vu could not be ignored by Sasha’s exceptional memory.
“I’ve heard this somewhere…”
She tried to access her memory palace, but something blocked her; she couldn’t recall the memory.
A rebound from the resistance sent a headache piercing through her skull.
“Ugh!”
Clutching her head, she crouched down. The book slipped from her hands, but oddly enough, the page remained open.
Sasha closed her eyes.
Something stirred beyond her memory.
…A veil was breaking.
Her heart raced.
Her vision blurred, darkened. Her consciousness grew faint.
When she opened her eyes again, Sasha found herself before a colossal tree.
She knew immediately what it was.
“The World Tree… Yggdrasil.”
It truly lived up to legend. Even looking up, she could not see its end through the clouds.
But it wasn’t just its unimaginable size that surprised her.
“Come closer.”
Drawn by the voice that echoed in her mind, Sasha approached Yggdrasil.
Up close, the massive trunk appeared like a wall or the pillar of a towering building.
“Touch me.”
Without a second thought, Sasha reached out.
The moment her palm met the bark, it pulsed like a living heart.
Thump. Thump.
The rhythm coursed through her hand, shaking her body.
She gritted her teeth, but could not stop trembling.
“Twisted fates have become even more entangled.”
A familiar voice.
Now she knew exactly who it was.
Yggdrasil itself.
It continued speaking to her.
“Why?”
Confused, Sasha stared at the tree. Its surface was rough, dry, and cracked, like an ancient tree on the verge of collapse. Just as depicted in the book, near death from the dragon’s destruction.
As Sasha stared at the fissures in the bark…
“If you do not reclaim all three fragments of evil, you shall live forever. I wonder when I will release that curse-like blessing.”
Yggdrasil whispered.
“What is eternal life if one cannot forget even a single life or death?”
Sasha wanted to ask what it meant, but her throat blocked her voice.
“You already possess one; find the remaining two. As in your previous lives, they are around you.”
