Chapter 108 – History Journey (1)

Rough spoke to the bullied girl in a polite tone.

“Will you also come to see my performance, Miss?”

“…I’d like to, but everyone will dislike it if I go.”

Rough quickly sensed the kind of treatment the girl was receiving.

The alien, monstrous aura she possessed instinctively provoked rejection.

And seeing her red hair, she was likely a fairy child swapped as a Changeling.

He could have stubbornly insisted and invited the girl to the performance, but that wouldn’t have been a good choice.

Rather, if he did that and became disliked by the villagers, the bullying might worsen after he left.

“Then, could you tell me where you live? After the performance is over, I’ll give you a special, additional performance just for you.”

“Really? I live near that hill over there!”

The house the girl pointed to was ambiguously separated from the village, a solitary, warehouse-like building on the outskirts.

Since it lay on the boundary where the fairy’s Blessing reached, it was a location that couldn’t be considered safe from monsters.

Realizing this, Rough’s expression hardened.

“Oh, so it’s not possible after all?”

“Not possible? Wait for me. I’ll definitely come later.”

Seeing the girl’s disappointed look at his hardened expression, Rough hurriedly smiled and promised.

“Yes!”

That day, Rough kept his promise. After performing for the villagers in the village center, he sought out the girl’s house and gave an additional performance for an audience of one.

Clap clap clap clap!

Her brightly smiling, applauding figure looked pure, yet carried an unsettling aura somewhere.

It was like watching something not human mimic a human, touching an unpleasant valley.

But Rough hid that unpleasant feeling inside and asked the girl’s name.

“What is your name, Miss?”

“Henrietta. Henrietta.”

At her answer, Lee Hanseong, who was observing the situation from within Rough, nodded inwardly as if he had already guessed.

Indeed, the girl Rough met was Henrietta in her childhood.

Perhaps Rough, seeing the young Henrietta, also recalled the Henrietta from the Reverse World.

“Excuse me, Miss? Is your name Henrietta, by any chance?”

He spoke to Henrietta, who was communicating with Alter through the Shadow God of the Reverse World.

“How do you know my name?”

“Um, don’t you remember? I even gave you a special performance.”

“…Could it be, that Jester Mister from back then?”

Whether she recognized Rough just then, or whether her memory was overwritten as a new record of her childhood self meeting Rough was created.

Henrietta recognized Rough.

“What an interesting coincidence to meet like this here.”

Rough, now also knowing that the grown Henrietta and the young Henrietta were truly the same person, was newly convinced that their respective presents were from different time periods.

“This is also fate. If you need help, please say so. I can change your past for you.”

“No. It’s fine. It’s true there were many bad things in the past, but because of them, I am who I am now. I like the present.”

For Rough, who didn’t know Henrietta’s present, he couldn’t understand what kind of life she, treated as a fairy child, must have lived to speak of satisfaction.

But since she said so herself, he accepted it for now and stepped back.

Just after refocusing on his own present.

―Do you wish to see her present?

Lee Hanseong’s voice flowed from within him.

Feeling curiosity at the Transcendent’s intervention, Rough lightly cast a divination in his heart and nodded.

The divination result indicated that accepting help would bring fortune.

―Then we shall aid thee.

The moment Lee Hanseong declared, the mask worn by Rough’s Yang Spirit reacted.

Uuuung!

The Holy Light Body of Lee Hanseong currently possessing Rough was a blend of the Holy Light Bodies of Pheidippides and Hyu as well, making it the Holy Light Bodies of three people.

Pheidippides’s <Space-Time Step> dwelled in the sun engraved on the mask.

And Hyu’s 《Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft》 dwelled in the waning moon engraved on the mask.

It was akin to a Stigma.

A kind of conduit for receiving the abilities of a superior being.

Through it, Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft activated first.

Kwaaaak!

It stole the control over the <Path of the Fairies>, understood by Lee Hanseong’s Insightful Eye and Hyu’s All Phenomena, using Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft.

Then Space-Time Step activated.

Zwaaaang!

Into the Void Space, which Rough’s body originally couldn’t withstand, it extended the Path of the Fairies, forming a rainbow-colored tunnel.

It created a passageway allowing passage through the Void Space while possessing a physical body.

―Proceed.

Step step.

Following Lee Hanseong’s Command, Rough proceeded along the newly created Path of the Fairies.

With each step, several scenes flashed before his eyes.

Young Henrietta rapidly growing into an Adult, passing the moment she was kidnapped by Goblins.

In an instant, Rough reached Henrietta’s present.

It was as if Rough, who had been progressing through records by following the words written on pages, suddenly pierced through a page and jumped to records several pages later.

The scenes reflected in his eyes were merely glimpses of records on subsequent pages as he pierced through and passed by.

“Kidnapped by Goblins?”

Rough, who had glimpsed fragments of Henrietta’s past, muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

Looking at her house, left abandoned after her kidnapping, it didn’t seem like the village had even attempted a rescue.

Why was she satisfied with her present?

Feeling his curiosity deepen, Rough for the first time stepped out of the safe Path of the Fairies and set foot into the forest teeming with monsters.

Step.

* * *

―Woof woof!

The moment he entered what was once the Domain of Dire Wolves, the sound of dog barking came from afar.

Not even a minute later.

“Halt.”

A 3-Star Hob Goblin Rider mounted on an Alpha Dire Wolf blocked Rough’s path.

It was Henrietta’s first child, Gobhan.

“You, a human. What business does a human have here?”

At the sight of a Goblin speaking fluent human language, Rough, on a whim, uttered Henrietta’s name.

“I came to meet Miss Henrietta…?”

“Mother?”

Hearing the word ‘mother’ from the Goblin’s mouth, Rough realized his expectation was fact and struggled to hide his surprise.

Gobhan examined Rough for a moment, then sheathed the sword pointed at him.

“Follow me for now. Mother says she wants to see you.”

Through Colonization, Henrietta, who was connected, recognized Rough and ordered him brought to her.

By this time, the other Spirits had also realized the efficacy of the Yang Mind Art. While exchanging knowledge through the Shadow God in the Reverse World.

They were simultaneously conducting Historical Alteration with the Yang Spirits of the original history, hence the immediate response.

While following Gobhan, Rough could see a strange sight.

The sight of monsters, who originally couldn’t coexist, living together.

Tap tap tap tap.

A 1-Star Monster ‘Gnoll’ with a hyena’s head was patrolling.

A 2-Star Monster ‘Orc’ with a pig’s head was training Goblin warriors.

Chak—! Chak—!

A 3-Star Monster ‘Minotaur’ with an ox’s head was logging the forest.

A 3-Star Monster ‘Centaur’, half-human half-horse, was transporting beasts killed by arrows, perhaps returning from a hunt.

“Hyung-nim!”

Then, a strange Goblin with a wolf’s head came into view, affectionately running towards Gobhan, calling him Hyung-nim.

“Gobrang, you rascal. Not doing your training, coming to find me again?”

“I already finished all my training!”

Seeing the two monsters conversing familiarly, questions arose one after another in Rough’s mind.

‘Calling a Hob Goblin Rider Hyung-nim… is it a Goblin? A Mutation?’

In fact, Gobrang was a hybrid of a Dire Wolf and a Goblin born from Henrietta’s previous Historical Alteration, a natural-born 1-Star Goblin Wolfhead.

A special Superior Species of Goblin created by a kind of coincidence.

When this Historical Alteration began, the first thing Henrietta did was to bestow 《Factor Synthesis》 upon the monsters in her Swarm, targeting Gobrang.

The beneficiaries were mostly ordinary Goblins who hadn’t even achieved 1-Star Awakening.

“We want to become stronger too!”

“Wolf power like Gobrang, we want it!”

Responding to the Goblins’ support, asking for the implantation of Dire Wolf Factors like Gobrang, Henrietta repeatedly performed Factor Synthesis, but individuals like Gobrang didn’t appear easily.

“Grr? Not like Gobrang! Face is weird!”

“Sniff sniff. I smell metal.”

Most often transformed into a diminutive monster ‘Kobold’ with a dog’s head, not a wolf’s head.

In a sense, they became weaker than when they were Goblins.

Still, considering the mining talent Kobolds possessed, as laborers they were superior.

For the Swarm as a whole, it might even be a better result.

Thanks to this, they could begin developing the mine near the forest where Henrietta’s Colony was established.

Other special monster species were also newly born through Factor Synthesis.

‘Gremlin’ with a Skill to break mechanical devices.

‘Gnome’ that guards minerals and gems and can swim underground.

When 1-Star Goblin Elites and 2-Star Hob Goblins with professions were synthesized with Alpha Dire Wolf Factors, new monsters increased even more.

The Orcs, Gnolls, Minotaurs, and Centaurs Rough saw on his way were all results of such synthesis.

The problem was that the results of synthesis couldn’t be controlled at all.

“I simply can’t discern any pattern. This is a result that violates genetics.”

At least, when synthesizing factors of Awakened Monsters that were awakened beasts, results consistent with genetics emerged.

But whenever monster factors were mixed, bizarre results often appeared.

Because the Mana inherent in monster factors kept causing Mutations.

Of course, as the diversity of monster species increased that much, the Swarm’s capabilities grew even greater.

But since results closer to devolution rather than evolution appeared more frequently, she couldn’t bring herself to perform Factor Synthesis on her direct children like Gobhan, Gobtu, or Gobsan.

Especially for Gobhan, who evolved into a 3-Star Hob Goblin Rider on his own without Factor Synthesis, this was even more so.

‘Probably need to obtain Monsterology to properly handle Factor Synthesis.’

To that end, the Shadow God in the Reverse World continued exchanging with Alter, but even combining their knowledge, there were insufficient parts, making it difficult to produce results easily.

Rough arrived precisely at such a time.

“I’ve brought him. Mother.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Gobhan, who brought Rough before Henrietta, took Gobrang and went outside.

Rough and Henrietta, wearing a mask identical to the one Rough wore, gazed at each other intently for a moment.

“Jester Mister hasn’t changed a bit since then.”

“You, Miss, have grown a lot.”

“So, you came to see me. Why?”

“I wanted to see your present. I didn’t expect you to leave humanity and settle among monsters… but certainly, the present seems more comfortable than before.”

“You don’t blame me for taking the monsters’ side.”

“Knowing how the humans treated you, how could I blame you?”

At Rough’s words, a faint smile touched Henrietta’s lips.

“As expected, Jester Mister is different from others.”

“Anyway, since I’m here, I thought I’d show a performance here for a while. Is that alright?”

“By all means.”

At Rough’s suggestion, Henrietta gathered all the monsters belonging to her Swarm in one place.

About a hundred monsters gathered in a clearing that naturally formed as they logged the forest and grew the Colony.

With them as the audience, Rough’s performance began.

Whirik— Tap. Tap. Bow.

Starting with a somersault-accompanied greeting, dances like the windmill, tap dance, moonwalk emerged one after another.

Utilizing the more diverse Acrobatics evolved as an Artisan, he performed a magic-like show.

During this, Rough deployed his newly acquired Third awakening skill 《Great Fortune Circulation》.

Wishing for Fortune to dwell in the future of Henrietta and the monster Colony.

Fortune for monsters, similar yet different from the Path of the Fairies, unfolded over Henrietta’s Colony.

Hwaaaak!

The monsters smiled as if unconsciously sensing the increased Fortune.

As Rough’s performance ended, the monster Colony became highly excited, and a festive atmosphere continued for a while afterwards.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Henrietta.”

“Yes, please come again if you get the chance.”

And Rough left Henrietta’s monster tribe to spread laughter to another place.

Shortly after, a new message appeared before Henrietta’s eyes.

[Rare Skill <Monsterology> is being formed.]

Henrietta completed Monsterology before Alter.

She could better absorb Alter’s knowledge with her <Empathy>, and Alter, possessing Pedagogy, could teach better.

But then, a gust of wind blew.

Whoooing—

At the moment of change, when variables of Heavenly Fortune are added, additional changes follow.

The Heavenly Fortune of the Great Fortune Circulation that Rough had unfolded over the monster tribe, in the form of wind, wrapped around Henrietta.

“Ahh…. So that’s it.”

The realization derived from Monsterology influenced her other Skills, triggering a new integration.

[Conditions met. <Monster Affinity> and <Empathy> are integrated.]

[Rare Skill <Monster Summoning> is formed.]

Through Monsterology, Henrietta came to understand the monsters in her Swarm better.

And she awakened a Skill allowing her to summon the monsters connected to her at any time.

A change that would have originally required dozens of days of contemplation arrived in an instant, thanks to Rough’s arrangement.