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He sensed my irritation and added a further explanation. Is this roundabout way of saying things a habit of great spirits or something?

“I am both the human Bernard as well as the Oldest Evil God, and I am also the personification of the World Tree’s will. I do not prioritize my individual will, so you could say that the human Bernard no longer exists.”

He stopped there for a moment and pondered.

“You must have noticed it already… Human, demon, spirit—I am a mix of all three, and now seem to function as something akin to the World Tree’s terminal.”
“Are you saying that this outcome is considered an irregularity even from the World Tree’s point?”
“Yes.”

He carelessly consented, but that instant answer meant that he could obtain the information of the World Tree directly.

That elevated the importance of my next question… I felt depressed, but I couldn’t just ignore this, so I made up my mind and spoke.

“Are you my enemy?”

It seemed that even the Apostle didn’t expect this and had a shocked expression for a moment. Is he loading?

“Even if I answered that, it is not guaranteed to be true.”
“I don’t mind. I have more than enough ways to forcibly confirm your will.”

I didn’t know how well he knew about me.

But even so, if he has the evil god’s memories, he should be aware of my strength as well as his own abilities. However, his smile only grew broader in response to my somewhat provocative words.

“Great spirits and evil gods are heavily influenced by the World Tree because they are pure factors.”

What he said wasn’t an answer. But I realized it wasn’t unrelated to it, so I let him continue.

“However, perhaps because of that nature, the great spirits interpret its will obediently, while the evil gods resort to twisted actions.”
“…Were his current actions the result of the World Tree’s will getting twisted?”
“Not only the monster manipulation but the ice dragon incident as well. Though ninety percent has been annihilated by you. His obedience to the World Tree was stronger, so he didn’t harm Sofia, right?”

It seemed that manipulating the monsters and ice dragons was the World Tree’s will.

That alone would mean he would be my enemy, but I don’t know why he didn’t harm Sofia. Had she been harmed, I’m positive I would’ve wiped him out of existence along with Bernard.

The Apostle seemed to have guessed my internal thoughts and smiled wryly, looking troubled.

“It would be difficult for me to say whether he was an enemy or an ally… but he had no plan to harm you. No… more accurately, it was judged that this much would not even be able to harm you.”

Now that he opened up like that, I felt my anger fade. I wanted him to say that he wouldn’t harm people around me, but let’s leave that aside for now.

“What is your objective?”

The Apostle fell silent. But he wasn’t acting shocked like earlier, and didn’t seem to be at a loss for words either. The best way to describe it would be… him taking into account what he could and couldn’t tell me to choose his next words based on that.

It was probably similar to my usual expression.

“What do you think of this world?”
“The world… you ask…?”

I couldn’t answer that sudden question right away. It seemed like he just wanted to make me think about the matter and continued speaking.

“World where humans live freely… That would be a chaotic world. Humans easily drown in their greed and easily hurt each other. Do you think that is a dangerous state to be in?”
“…Isn’t that too extreme an argument?”
“Is it really? Let us look at the human Bernard, for example.”

The Apostle spoke.

“He loved everyone and tried to spread his benevolent spirit. His spirit was wonderful even from our perspective.”

However, he looked at me.

“His heart was stolen by you.”

Huh?

Ignoring me who failed to process it, he continued.

“His spirit that the evil god had a hard time attacking before came apart at the seams. When he learned that there was a man by your side. When remembering the commandment binding him down. When hearing the words of the men trying to court you. His heart was tainted by jealousy and remorse. No matter how noble someone’s spirit is… there is no proof that it will remain unchanged.”

He continued without giving me time to interject.

“On top of that, every person lives and fights as they want according to their own beliefs. Even a man and a woman who had exchanged passionate promises in the past.”
“Why do you know that…”
“School environment also serves as an information gathering facility.”

He answered with a smile.
It seemed like I poured salt in the wounds of an ally while also helping my enemy.
While I had my head hung, the Apostle continued his words filled with suggestive nuance.

“…Do you not agree that the world needs an existence that can protect and unify humanity while the world is at peace?”

It was like he was trying to persuade me. I’m not sure why he tried to cajole me and what he was hiding… but I had something to say about the matter.

“Isn’t it fine for them to live as they want?”

The Apostle’s reaction was delayed, not expecting that answer.
And his information was too old and unreliable.

“The man and woman you spoke of earlier. Do you know why they had a contest?”
“Was it not that the man who broke their promise looked down on the woman?”
“As it turned out, that was not the case.”

That was just a superficial excuse.

Erica told me about it after she won their contest.

“That man had been simply trying to keep the woman away from the battle to protect her.”
“That…”
“Is silly, right? He didn’t have the confidence to protect her, so he decided the only way to protect her was to keep her away from the battles and assume a cold attitude.”

It was quite a childish and selfish act.

“As for the woman, she didn’t want to forget the promise. She wanted to protect it and she ran away from the village without waiting for him. She had selfishly ignored his will. As a result, they had a disagreement.”

I looked at the Apostle.

“But they did all that because of their feelings towards each other.”

Then I shifted my attention to the human side inside of him.

“It seems that Pastor has also been shutting his heart off by his arbitrary will… but didn’t he do that because he was considerate of me?”

Bernard knew that I disliked men.
The Apostle had no argument, so it must be correct.
That only leaves you.

“It doesn’t seem like someone entrusted the world to you and you started to worry about it. By unification, aren’t you also selfishly trying to suppress people’s wills for their own sake?”

See, everyone’s the same.

“If they all act for someone else’s sake, why not let them act as they please?”

What’s wrong with acting arbitrarily based on your own will? Living a life without a will is no different from being a domestic animal. Actually, abandoning the will that you have would put you even below those animals.

I said all I wanted to say.
Now I just had to answer his question.

“I think it would be fine for there to be someone to unify them.”

This seemed to have been truly unexpected, and his expression stiffened.
I wasn’t trying to deny everything he said or anything.

“However, that’s only if the one who wishes to do that is recognized by those around.”

If someone with a will and ability is able to rule while being accepted by everything, I would have no problem with it.

The sound of the chimes disrupted the silence in the room. The classes have started, but it should be fine as the advanced course students were generally expected to self-study.

And I also had one more thing to confirm.

“Mr. Apostle, can I ask you to behave as Mr. Bernard?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. It’s not like I stopped being him, after all.”
“Then please do so. For the students here, before being the Apostle of the World Tree that supports the world, you’re first the principal that supports this school.”

Even with Eyes of God, I couldn’t see any fatigue or injury on him.

“Please show them that you are well to give them peace of mind.”

I bowed with the same smile I showed to Bernard previously, and turned around to leave the room.

But then he called me and I stopped.

“And, are you not suppressing your own self?”
“Of course not. I am doing what I want to do.”

I spoke while turning around, and answered his question.

“I don’t live for the sake of work, I work for the sake of living.”