I don't know. Even now. But it should be certain that he's acting with some kind of objective in mind. At the very end, he said that himself... [Thanks to you being an idiot, things have proceeded to my satisfaction.] ...Shit."
Hitogami said that himself?
But, umm...?
"Orsted or Laplace might know something about Hitogami's goal.. But I haven't met either of them for the past 50 years. Most likely, you won't be able to meet them either, even if you search for them."
"Nanahoshi didn't know where Orsted was?"
When I spoke Nanahoshi's name, the old man made a sorrowful face.
She didn't know?
Or could it be that Nanahoshi also...
"I didn't ask her, but certainly in this current era, it could be worth asking her. Even if she doesn't know where he is, she also thinks a lot about these kinds of things. She might come up with some kind of good idea."
"...What happened to Nanahoshi?"
"......"
The old man didn't answer.
He just had a sad expression.
But after a little while, he spoke while sighing.
"At the very end, she failed. And then became depressed, and I failed to support her... And then..."
Nanahoshi didn't return.
And then despaired, and maybe, to herself, by her own hand...
"I got it. Enough of that."
"Yeah, I don't want to talk about it either."
The old man raised his eyes, and as if pulling himself together, continued to speak.
"Listen. You'll learn about this around 10 years from now too, but... Hitogami isn't called Hitogami in this world.
"...What do you mean?"
"The God of Humans, written as Human God. There's nobody who doesn't know the name Human God, but only those who've met him directly know the term Hitogami. I don't know why he did something like that... Maybe just to toy with the people who know it."
...I see.
No wonder there's such an overreaction to the word Hitogami.
So that's a name known only to those who've met him and been deceived by him.
"At a glance, that guy seemed to only speak about things that were for my sake."
The old man clenched his fist again.
The light of hatred alone illuminated those pupils.
Incredible killing intent overflowed, but for some reason I didn't think it was scary.
"Even now, up to this moment, he hasn't told a lie. No lie that I can perceive."
His fist quivered. In the vicinity of the fist, I can see something. A crackling, coiling, purple lightning-like thing.
"Each and every thing has been for the sake of this one time, so that the suspicious you would obey him without hesitating at this moment!"
I felt blank amazement toward the flying sparks, but put myself on guard.
"Don't be tricked! You read it in manga, didn't you? Someone who talks about believing and not believing is definitely lying!"
"Well, I know that, but..."
The old man spoke with a strained voice.
"You don't understand. After Roxy is Sylphy. Heartbroken from losing Roxy, for a little while you'll stop thinking about Sylphy. Sylphy will be hurt and be in low spirits. That guy will manipulate Luke and take advantage of that."
"Luke?"
"Yeah, later on you'll hear from a woman who kept Luke's company at the time, [When he woke up the next morning, Luke acted flustered and started talking about how he'd heard an oracle from God or something.]"
"And then... what happens?"
"Luke gives advice to Ariel, and Sylphy abandons me and goes to Asura. Together with Ariel who failed to get Perugius's favor! From an inferior position, Ariel starts an internal revolt, and loses. Sylphy is killed in battle."
Killed in battle...
So she dies.
"You lose those two."
The old man shook his head while grinding his teeth.
"Yeah, even now that guy's voice when he revealed his tricks lingers in my ears. [You've done well], the feeling of having my shoulder clapped, and that shrill laughing voice... Shit, fucking hell!!"
The old man struck the desk with a thud.
At that instant, purple lightning scattered through the surroundings, lighting them up like it was midday.
The light quickly faded, but a burn mark remained on the desk.
The old man exhaled with a "fuu".
"I'll say it again. Don't believe in him. You'll end up regretting it."
After saying that, the old man suddenly clutched his stomach.
Looking at him, his complexion seemed a bit worse than earlier.
"So I'm out of time... But even if I say this, you probably don't know what you should do."
The old man's face was deathly pale.
Purple bags had appeared under his eyes.
The old man took a deep breath and then exhaled painfully.
It kind of feels like he's on the verge of death.
Maybe he suffers from some kind of illness.
"First of all, hmm, Eris."