Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1398 - 184 Who is Being Protected?

"Yes, I’m fine." Catherine obviously hadn’t come out of that troubling question yet, merely echoing Lina’s words in a trance, until Pannis suddenly slammed the table with force. She jolted like being awakened from a dream, abruptly sitting upright, and asked in surprise, "What, what happened? Is something wrong?"

"That’s an excellent question. I’d like to know the answer too," Lina gave the knight girl a look, but then softened her voice, gently saying, "Big sister, you’re overthinking this. I’ve been overthinking too. There’s a saying in the church that the thoughts of mortals are but a source of laughter for the Deities. Standing at different heights, it is impossible to understand each other’s way of thinking. Our thoughts and doubts are probably naive and laughable to the Deities. Just like this matter, Pannis is right, there could be many possibilities. To think that the Deities added limitations to our souls is just one of them. It may not be the truth. The Deities surely won’t provide an answer directly, so it’s really meaningless to think too much about it, as it could shake your faith and beliefs instead."

"Even if it were true, so what? Does that mean we’re not ourselves anymore? Clearly not. We’re still ourselves, still living according to our own will. Whether it’s true or not doesn’t change a thing," Pannis spoke calmly: "Besides, even if it’s true that only the beings of our world are special, that our race was created with limitations, what’s wrong with that? Think carefully. If it were you or me, wouldn’t we do the same?"

"I..." Faced with Pannis’s question, Catherine opened her mouth but couldn’t find an answer. The question seemed simple; the knight girl merely needed to shake her head in denial. But upon reflection, it was not so easy to answer. If Pannis’s hypothesis were true, then no doubt, adding inherent limitations to the souls of one’s own creations would be against Catherine’s beliefs. But, was it all that simple? After the crises of the First Epoch and the Second Epoch, it was not incomprehensible for the Deities to place limitations on the souls of their children for self-protection. Moreover, was it really just about the Deities’ self-protection? By eliminating the possibility of mortal combat with Deities, were only the Deities being protected? One question after another flashed through Catherine’s mind until, in the end, the girl could only smile bitterly and say, "I don’t know. Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t. After all, I’m not a Deity; I can’t provide an answer."

"I guess you don’t know either. Anyway, you can think about it some more," Pannis pointed towards the direction of the central temple of the capital: "What do you think Lady Nellie has done to the Undead?"

"Lady Nellie, she..." The girl hesitated, the Undead were not created by Nellie but indeed came to be by sensing the power of death. It was not too much to say the Undead were her children. Considering from one aspect, influenced by her will, the Undead developed Divine Wisdom in large quantities, which was good for them. However, on the other hand, because of her intentional influence over the Undead with her will, their numbers drastically decreased. The higher-ranked Undead who could control mindless Undead were reduced to a dangerously low level. What’s more severe, the Undead now required food and sleep to sustain their ethereal bodies, no longer able to act tirelessly as before. These changes were indeed a severe limitation for the Undead and weren’t essentially different from the Deities adding limitations into the souls during creation. Yet, the knight girl still stubbornly argued, "But that’s different. Lady Nellie did it for the future of the Undead, not for herself at all."

"How do you know?" Pannis asked indifferently: "Besides, whatever the motive, the essence of the action is the same. And can you be certain that other Deities don’t think the same way?"

"I... can’t." Catherine persisted for a moment, then let her head drop dejectedly, sighing, "I can’t be certain of anything."

"That’s why I say, don’t presume to guess the will of the Deities," Pannis repeated the aphorism that Clergy liked to use: "We can’t be certain of anything, we can only make groundless guesses. But doubt is the most lethal weapon. It can destroy everything."

"Sigh, I get it," Catherine was silent for a few seconds, then nodded forcefully, "No wonder you interrupted Lina’s question earlier. I’m sorry, it was wrong of me to pursue that question out of excessive curiosity."

"That’s not a problem. Judging by the current trend, as long as you have a future, you’ll definitely get a chance to think about all this. Preparing yourself mentally now isn’t a bad thing," Pannis shrugged: "Besides, look at Vivian and Freya. The two of them are completely unaffected. The wisdom given to them by Weston allows them not to be confused by this."

"Eh, why?" Lina’s curiosity surfaced again as she asked in surprise, "Right, you two haven’t reacted at all. Did you already know, or do you just not care?"

"Meaningless," Freya shook her head: "The evidence supporting the conclusion is far too scarce, not even insufficient—it’s almost nonexistent. For a researcher, there is no need to draw conclusions from such evidence; it’s simply a waste of time. To us, it’s like you’ve told a story. Who would take a story seriously?"

"Swoosh," several gazes converged on Lina, even she herself lifted her hand to point at her nose, reminding Freya with a gesture.

"Okay, okay, you win. There really are people foolish enough to take a story seriously," Her Highness hastily changed the subject when she noticed Lina’s gaze growing dangerous, "And besides, we don’t care at all."

"Exactly, there’s nothing to care about," Vivian was engrossed in the notes she had taken all night, easily sparing some attention to respond, "Regardless, this is now a fact. Speculating about the cause or expressing discontent with someone, apart from wasting precious time, yields no result. Therefore, instead of dwelling on an unsolvable reason, I’d rather spend time seeking a solution. That’s what a qualified Mage should do. Of course, in the current situation, even seeking a solution is pointless, so naturally, we don’t care."

"Alright, I understand," Catherine tapped her head, "That was foolish of me. Let’s forget what just happened. Pannis, please continue."