So the devil really was hidden in the details. The situation with that ancient "He" seemed even stranger.
When Jade Soul Master had appeared as Meria, her overall performance had been perfectly natural.
Even the later adjustment of her rank to scare me had been flawless from start to finish.
In that atmosphere, rising only to the Second Order and no higher had made her mockery and disdain all the more apparent.
But now, could it be that she hadn't merely chosen not to rise higher, but simply couldn't?
The claim that "Meria never actually existed" seemed to be gaining credibility.
So, to sum up: the ancient Higher Being Meria had a name, authority, symbols... even a Land of Kin. Yet more than one piece of evidence showed that she herself didn't exist.
Even after Jade Soul Master had absorbed her legacy and I had inherited it, the moment I advanced to the First Order, that essence would be lost... Wasn't that a little too harsh?
At that moment, Fu Qian clicked his tongue in admiration.
It felt like more than simply having fallen or not existing. It was that she was "not permitted" to exist.
The entire Bookstore World didn't allow a "First Order or higher Meria."
Had she been imprisoned, like the Nightmare Corridor?
No, it was even different from that.
Nothing belonging to those few around Yarakir—not even anything like their Honored Names—could seep through.
But with Meria, everything was there. The only thing missing was the source of it all—the essence of the Snow Tree Goddess's existence.
How had that been done?
"Professor Rob, give me the mushroom in your pocket."
As his thoughts raced, Fu Qian still showed no sign of emotion. He casually gestured to the person beside him.
Huh?
Rob, who had