The Lone SF Transmigrator in the Otherworld Forum
Chapter 183: Promise

The sudden successor controversy did not just surprise the girl. Karlstein was equally bewildered.

Upon asking who she was, he received an absurd answer.

“F-farming…”

What the heck is their criteria for selecting a successor?

“… What?”

“Wh-wha?! Is, is there a problem?!”

She was just a girl who had been farming in the countryside. Though there was a difference in that it was Elven farming.

“…”

They had basically dropped off a clueless country girl. Though Karlstein had clearly achieved his desired outcome, he could not shake the feeling that he had been had somehow.

Was this successor business was just an excuse? Had Sephiroth simply pawned off her responsibilities…?

“… Couldn’t be.”

Karlstein forcibly shook off the ominous thought.

Then another idea struck him.

“Don’t tell me…even the goods are fake?!”

The power Sephiroth had delegated along with full authority over her clan… Maybe it was defective, or a scam…!

Karlstein hurriedly focused his mind to examine the abilities he had received from Sephiroth.

“Phew.”

Fortunately, that was not the case. If he had been fooled and scammed on top of everything, Karlstein might have attempted death by tongue-biting—out of sheer embarrassment.

“Almost ended up a fool.”

In truth, it was hard to say he had been tricked at all. After all, Sephiroth had indeed handed over her entire faction, which was plenty beneficial for him. It was just that the ease with which she handed it over made him suspicious.

Karlstein focused his mind to check the essence of Sephiroth that had newly settled within him, like a transcendent power.

Fwoosh-

With his eyes closed, he saw the image of a massive white tree in his mind’s eye. As he focused on each detailed element, from the trunk to the branches, he realized that each part represented an entire world.

And as he concentrated on that.

Fwoosh-

-Set up an altar for the Mother!

-Honey, come home early today.

-The humans have started a rebellion?

-It’s a good harvest this year!

-Hear my prayer, I beg you.

Karlstein could access information from those worlds without limitation. He realized that the countless whispering illusions were actual living people, projecting their appearances.

His vision was not limited to merely a thousand miles. He could observe and perceive entire worlds from where he sat.

“…!”

Moreover.

Tap-

When he touched one of the illusions and infused a bit of Ether…

-Oh! The Goddess has answered my prayer! I’m overflowing with powerrrr!!!

Some gained strength, while others who had been committing evil acts collapsed as if their life force had been cut.

“Holy crap…”

In other words, he could project Ether to affect these worlds. It was practically omnipotence, at least within those specific worlds.

Karlstein could not help but swear at the overwhelming convenience. What was unbelievable was that despite having such an overpowered management ability, they had been so thoroughly driven back by the forces of Chaos and Three Thousand.

“She’s the real deal alright.”

Sephiroth’s laziness was genuine. Karlstein had thought he was not one to be easily outdone in that regard, but this…

He whipped his head around, dismissing the tree illusion to look at the woman summoned to be a successor.

“Is that really it?”

Was Sephiroth’s imposed condition just a pretext, meaning it did not matter whether Karlstein fulfilled it or not…?

Was her real goal to pass off the management of Sephiroth’s dimensional cluster?

Moreover, even if he diligently fulfilled the condition and raised a successor…

-Farewell, everyone! I’m casting off all the shackles of this world and…

Could her other motive possibly be…?

It was a fact that revealed just how severe her apathy was.

Karlstein was left speechless by the level of laziness that was beyond comprehension.

“Mm.”

Yeah well, it’s not really my concern.

Karlstein cut off his musings. What Sephiroth was plotting or thinking was of no importance.

What mattered was his own goal, and creating his own path to get there!

Karlstein gave a rough explanation of the situation and traveled to another dimension with the girl. After inheriting Sephiroth’s essence, it was as if there were no limits to dimensional travel at all.

“Do you want to go back?”

Fortunately, the successor girl had no relatives to speak of, and despite trembling with anxiety, she followed obediently. Though it did seem like she could not even dare to refuse.

Still, Karlstein did not feel obligated to be that considerate yet.

***

Bang!

A moment of silence fell over the conference room at the sound of a palm slamming down with splitting force.

But the silence was brief. Soon, raised voices erupted.

“How can this be?! A successor?!”

“That’s right. Surely not an illegitimate child…”

“Silence!! Don’t you dare utter such blasphemous words!! His Majesty would never do such a thing!”

“Aren’t we misunderstanding something? Everyone’s getting too worked up…”

“How can we stay calm?! We can’t do anything until we find out the true identity of that girl His Majesty brought!”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

The words their revered Emperor left when bringing in a certain girl were brief.

-This girl must be raised. Take good care of her.

-Your Majesty?

His Majesty, in some great hurry, left the girl behind with just those words and quickly departed somewhere.

In truth, Karlstein had intended to come back for her soon, so he had not bothered with further explanation, but this led many people to let their imaginations run wild.

Moreover…

-Child! How did you come to meet His Majesty?

-Well, um… It was Mother’s will.

-Wh-what?!

The Mother she spoke of was closer to a religious reference to Sephiroth, but the Galactic Empire people could only believe the words coming through the automatic translator.

-M-mother?! May I ask what her relationship with His Majesty is…?

-I heard they made a p-promise… a covenant.

-Promise!! Covenant!!

A deal was technically a promise, yes.

-He said he’d raise me as a s-successor…

-Whaaat?!! A successor???

-Good heavens!

-This is breaking news!

-O-oh no!

Moreover, since His Majesty had given prior instructions, they could not probe too deeply, so people had no choice but to interpret and accept the girl’s words as they saw fit.

-So where is the girl now?

-Why do you ask? Already trying to curry favor?

-What are you implying…!

-Hmph. Your intentions are obvious.

-No, is that really the issue here? We should prioritize finding out who His Majesty’s woman is!

-Whatever the case, isn’t the Empress a necessary existence for an heir? Naturally, the girl marked as the successor—

-Shut up!!

-I-I mean….

Rumors about the successor spread quickly among the ministers of the Galactic Empire, stirring up the entire empire, but Karlstein was unaware of this.

More precisely, he had no time to pay attention to it. Or perhaps he simply was not interested.

Karlstein had completely entrusted the internal affairs of the Galactic Empire to Aria, while he himself was traveling between various worlds, promoting the Galactic Empire’s absorption of Sephiroth.

-Gasp! That person!

-Shh! Didn’t Mother give us a revelation? We must serve him now.

-H-how can a human…

-…Don’t try to understand the will of the great Mother…

The key officials of Sephiroth were equally confused.

Even if there was no need to go out of his way to persuade them, Karlstein had to provide at least a minimal explanation to promote smooth integration in the future.

“This child is to become the successor to your so-called Mother.”

-Excuse me?

-What is this about?

-That aside, why a successor?

-She does seem extraordinary indeed.

Extraordinary, huh…

Upon examining the innate talents within the child, she seemed no more special than an ordinary country girl. While her racial value was much higher than a human’s, when compared to other Elves, he could not find anything particularly outstanding.

Everything points to one truth.

Sephiroth’s main goal was to dump work on him rather than raise a successor herself. His suspicious was all too reasonable.

“Tch.”

If Sephiroth had wanted to avoid losing control over the dimensional cluster she ruled, the current situation would have been quite satisfactory.

Instead, she happily delegated full authority as if passing it off and ran away, which made him feel like he was being fooled somehow.

Hmph. You think things will go as you want?

The rebellious streak in Karlstein made him want to mercilessly crush her expectations.

I can’t let you enjoy the retirement I couldn’t have!

Originally, he had not intended to go that far, but Karlstein firmly resolved to use even the pinnacle of Galactic Empire technology if necessary to make the girl truly worthy of being a successor.

However, not wanting to treat the innocent girl like an experimental subject, he first introduced her to Sephiroth’s high-ranking officials before promptly bringing her back.

At first, he had considered leaving her with Sephiroth, but after observing the looks in the eyes of those so-called high-ranking officials, it seemed the girl’s future would not be smooth sailing.

Do they want to act as some kind of regent?

The moment he confirmed their burning ambition, he decided the girl should not be left among those hyenas. He especially did not want to do them any favors.

This was a clear manifestation of Karlstein’s contrarian nature.

And so, the girl was entrusted to the Community’s transcendent group.

“Wh-where is this?”

The girl’s innocent eyes looked up at what was before her.

A human girl wielding a greatsword larger than her own body. A skeleton with its shoulders and arms wrapped in what appeared to be bandages(?), radiating the aura of a sage. A dragon commanding terrifying magical beasts with a whip… and more.

For a moment, the young girl was utterly bewildered by this unimaginable ensemble.

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken