I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 43

I slowed down the time of my domain and zoomed in on the two brothers who were sitting together with a girl near the outskirts of the village.

Huh... it looks like they’re talking about something.

Out of curiosity, I listened in to their conversation.

"Kow. Wagu no hovu. Ru cag benugu en wund ok huga, ko sun no benugu."

"Rynn, cagnis ru sponk!? Wagyu gfund unn pisc fon wund huga! Fu huga pergun ok curgu fuo spaks weng huma sut conbu wagyu!"

"Ru no kow spak fuo."

Oi- why is the younger one trashing me all of a sudden!?

What the heck happened!? I didn’t do anything! This is blasphemy! Blasphemy I say!!

It came out of nowhere- sure a bit of time had passed in the realm since I last scouted the two in-depth, but their opinions of me seemed favorable at the time. It was a stark contrast from the borderline-hostile perception the younger brother now held.

At least the older one is defending me… I might’ve cried if he joined in.

Although it was an odd development, the opinion of the younger brother ultimately did not matter much. I was already planning to select the older one to be my Oracle, anyway.

Yeah! Screw you, young one! Listen to your elders when they talk about how cool I am!

As their conversation continued, I made a mental note to myself.

Rathok is the nice one and Rynn is the mean one. Got it.

“You’re fine with making Rathok our Oracle, right?” I asked the penguin in my lap.

“Squawk!”

“Perfect,” I said with a smirk.

Let’s see if you can still doubt my existence when your brother is throwing trees~

I unhesitantly clicked on the Oracle icon.

Of course, I immediately selected ‘yes’.

Similarly to how I chose Uunga, I zoomed in on Rathok on my screen and waited until a new window appeared.

Just when I was about to click ‘yes’, I heard a commotion coming from the screen.

“Is there something going on?”

I paused for a second and zoomed out.

“...Mountain chickens?”

On my screen was a small group of humans being chased by what could be described as a small stampede of mountain chickens.

The migration of these predators followed the same pattern every year: they retreated to the mountains in the winter to incubate their eggs before all running down in a massive stampede and inhabiting the main continent in spring.

What the humans were likely running from was an off-shoot of this initial stampede that stuck together a bit longer than usual.

This usually wouldn’t be a problem; they would split up eventually, but there was something that made the situation infinitely worse…

Oh my god, those idiots!

The humans were leading them right back to the village!

I was so zoomed in that I didn’t even see what was going on until the village was well within the mountain chickens’ sights. Even if I tried to stop the humans, it was far too late.

“Shoot! This isn’t good!” I couldn’t help but speak.

I immediately selected ‘yes’ on the confirm window from earlier.

“Come on, come on! I need Rathok to become an Oracle quickly or the village might be- urghwgrlkgjlkr”

A long-forgotten and extremely uncomfortable sensation washed over me as my divinity was rapidly drained. It was the same horrible feeling as last time; it was like a million mosquitos were sucking the divinity out of my back.

My body collapsed into my chair as I forced myself to watch the increasingly worsening situation unfold on my screen.

“Squawk!”

Mr. Flippers hopped off my lap and onto the desk to get a better view.

“L-leaving me while I’m dying? How h-heartless…”

The penguin ignored my plight and watched as Rathok rushed toward a group of mountain chickens.

"Squawk!"

“S-shoot! Just wait a few more minutes!”

With my body still numb and draining, I forced myself to sit up and attempted to reach the computer’s mouse, but my hands were far too shaky to grasp it fully. 

“Come on, come on!” I muttered as I struggled.

As if answering my plea, the divinity draining finally came to an end, but my body was still extremely weak.

Still, I was able to finally grasp onto the mouse while rain began to pour on my realm.

If I could just move the mountain chickens away from Rathok, I should be able to buy enough time for him to become an Oracle!

So, I attempted to move the mountain chickens in the same way that I carried creatures to my islands.

“Dangit!”

But I quickly found out that it wasn’t possible when I sent a tipi flying by mistake.

My body was still far too weak and shaky to accurately target the mountain chickens. Moving life forms was something that I was poor at doing even in my optimal condition- there was a good chance I’d accidentally kill Rathok or the other humans if I tried it as I was now.

Still, things weren’t hopeless. Based on Uunga’s Oracle transformation, the beams would likely begin shooting any second. Although he was surrounded by three mountain chickens, he was unharmed and actually holding them at bay with his javelin.

Yellow began forming in the clouds and the tension in my body relaxed in turn.

Alright! He can do it! Just a few more- WHAT!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

Out of nowhere, Rathok threw his javelin into the distance- leaving himself completely defenseless against the three vicious predators.

I quickly zoomed out to see the weapon impale itself into the neck of a mountain chicken targeting his little brother.

Ah… shoot.

Before I could fully process what happened, I watched the three creatures lunge at my Oracle candidate.

Immediately after, my screen blew up with notifications.

I pulled my attention away from the flood of notifications and watched a yellow beam shoot down from the clouds and hit a human who made no effort to move away from it.

… No way.

The target of the beam was the younger brother of Rathok.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Rynn was completely numb.

Neither the storm nor the chaos around him registered in his brain; only his brother's corpse was in his sight.

Although the storm seemed to quickly vanish once he pulled himself to his feet, the bloody skirmishes around him seemed to only grow more vigorous.

It was not long before Rynn found himself looking down at the torn body of his only relative.

“Why…”

Why did you save me?

Why did you throw your life away?

Why did you go and do something so reckless?

There were so many questions going through his head, but one stood out from the rest.

Why do I need to endure this pain again?

Memories of the past rushed into Rynn’s head. The corpse of his dad seemed to overlap with the one in his vision.

"N-no. Rathok... not again! NO- mmph!?"

Seemingly out of nowhere, a giant cherry flew into his open mouth.

"Listen, I know you're grieving, but can you please grab a weapon before you start screaming?"

"Pew!" Rynn spat out the cherry in a rush, "Who said that!?"

A sudden voice sounded in Rynn's head who quickly began looking around for the source.

"Sorry to disappoint, but you're not gonna find me. There's no time, so let's cut to the chase."

As the voice continued, the ground under where his brother layed opened up. The corpse vanished into the small pit which immediately got covered with dirt and marked with a large stone.

"Phew, that was tougher than I thought. My control is still a bit weak-"

"Who are you?" Rynn interrupted with his eyes staring at the stone marking his brother's resting place.

"Isn't that obvious?" the voice spoke, "I'm the one you don't believe in."

Rynn flinched at those words.

"...The creator of the world?"

"Bingo~"

"No... that is impossible," Rynn muttered to himself as he took a step back, "Maybe this is all a nightmare... yeah that must be it."

"A nightmare, huh? Well, you're not wrong about that."

While the voice was talking, a javelin flew over to Rynn before falling limply at his side. Its stone tip was covered in the blood of a mountain chicken.

"It's going to be an even bigger one if you don't do something about it, though," the voice continued.

The cloudiness in Rynn's eyes finally cleared up as he gazed at the chaos unfolding around him.

"Right... the village," Rynn hesitantly picked up the javelin from the ground, "I can take care of a couple, but-"

"Cawww!"

A mountain chicken suddenly rushed at Rynn from behind, who reflexively turned and thrusted his weapon behind him.

Schlinch!

"C-caaw~"

The javelin pierced cleanly into the beast's torso with little resistance and caused it to collapse onto the mossy ground.

"W-what?"

Rynn took a step back and looked at the javelin in his hand.

"How did I-"

"I gave you strength," the voice interrupted his thoughts, "Mountain chickens won't stand a chance against you."

The stories that Rynn grew up listening to flashed through his mind.

"The man who could throw trees... he was real?"

"Yep. Now I have given you that power. So, with that in mind, I think you should use it to do something about the situation to your left."

"My left?"

Rynn turned in the direction and quickly spotted a group of mountain chickens ramming into the base of a thin tree. In its shaking branches was a young girl holding onto its trunk.

"Ayla!"

The new Oracle immediately dashed toward the tree.

"Caaw!"

Schlinch!

"Raaaaa!"

"Caaaaw~"

Schlinch!

Whenever he passed by a skirmish or lone predator, Rynn would quickly thrust his javelin to take them out.

He was in a rush, so only the ones in his way met their demise, but due to the enormous number of mountain chickens plaguing the village, over a dozen were slain by his hands by the time he neared the tree.

Thud! Thud!

The impacts from the mountain chickens ramming the tree rang out and small branches began to fall onto the ground as the tree shook more intensely.

"Ayla! Hang on!"

"Rynn!?"

Thud! Thud! THUD!

"Kyaaaa!"

An especially hard impact made the girl lose her footing and fall toward the three vicious beasts below her.

"No! I will not lose anyone else!"

Rynn sprinted at full speed toward the falling girl- his speed surpassed anything ever achieved by my lifeforms so far. A second later, the Oracle kicked off the ground and leaped over the mountain chickens...

"Huh!?"

"I got you!"

... and caught the girl in his arms.

Thud!

The two fell and rolled onto the soaked and mossy ground- coming to a stop a few feet away.

Not wasting any time, Rynn let go of the girl whose fall he cushioned and quickly pulled himself up. 

"Ow~"

Although he felt pity for the girl who was groaning in pain behind him- Rynn was grateful to hear the noise.

It meant that she was alive.

But the fight was far from over yet.

The new Oracle shifted his attention back toward the base of the tree where three predators were glaring at him.

Rynn only glared back.

"Caaaw!"

"Caaaaaw!"

"Caaaaw!"

Angered by him stealing their prey, the three mountain chickens rushed toward Rynn who readied his javelin.

"Three..."

Flashbacks to the sight of the three mountain chickens surrounding his brother entered Rynn's mind. Now he was their target.

His grip on his javelin tightened as the closest one lunged toward him.

Schlinch!

The javelin pierced through its torso- Rynn barely managed to pull it out of the creature's rib cage before the next beast slashed at him with its talons.

"Caaaw!"

With no time to get into a suitable stance, Rynn had no choice but to whack its leg away using the javelin's staff.

The creature lost its balance from the impact and fell to the ground.

"C-caaaw~"

Of course, Rynn did not miss the opportunity and pierced the defenseless predator through its back.

"That is two, but where is-"

"Rynn!"

The new Oracle turned around to see the last mountain chicken charging at Ayla.

It ran past me!?

The beast was out of Rynn's reach- even if he tried to catch up, it would definitely reach the girl before he could stop it.

With no other choice, Rynn threw his weapon at the charging beast, which zoomed through the air at a blazing speed.

Thump!

But speed and power were no substitute for accuracy.

Rynn felt his heart stop. The javelin skimmed by its target and pierced into the side of the tree behind it.

"No... Ayla!"

The mountain chicken lunged at the defenseless girl.

"Kyaaa!"

Schlinch!

But right when it was about to make contact, the javelin flew out of the tree and stabbed through the creature's skull.

Thud!

The slain beast crashed violently into the mossy ground just inches from the shaking girl.

With relief filling his mind, Rynn pulled himself off of the ground and rushed toward her.

"Ayla! I am so glad you are okay..."

"Rynn! T-thank you so much!" Ayla fell into his arms with tears in her eyes, "What is going on... how did you kill those three mountain chickens!?"

Rynn gently let go of the still-trembling girl and pulled out the javelin lodged in the beast's skull.

"I did not," he muttered.

"...What? But I just saw-"

"I only killed two of them," he stated flatly, "Someone else killed the last one."

The sounds of battle were blocked out of his ears. His heart which was beating wildly only moments before now calmed to a slow and eerie rhythm.

Rynn gripped the javelin tightly in his hand and looked toward the sky.

"It was killed by someone with more strength than I can imagine. Someone who can kill these beasts without even being here. So..."

His eyes had a sharp, cold glace. It felt like I would get pierced by an icicle through my heart just by looking at them.

"...Why did he not use that power to save my brother?"