When discussing the value of a single individual, idealists say that human value cannot be measured.
However, if asked if they would give up their entire fortune to save one person, few would actually nod.
Realists say that human value can be measured.
However, if asked how much it would take for them to sell their own lives, few could give a proper answer.
Determining the value of a human was that difficult.
It was a problem that countless people had pondered since ancient times without ever finding a definitive answer.
“To be honest, we were lucky.”
In that sense, the girl who unhesitatingly challenged that difficult problem at this very moment, Li Qingwei, was a truly rare existence.
She asserted that the clan’s vast assets were a bargain compared to Limon’s value.
“Lucky?”
“Yes. When we first made this plan, we were prepared for it to take a hundred years.”
Limon, the white-haired man, wore a bizarre expression.
Seeing him, she spoke with a beaming smile.
“Even if a thousand years had passed rather than a hundred, the Sword Master’s reputation was so great that I doubted it would ever fade.”
That was by no means an exaggeration.
The guardian deity of humanity who slew the Archdemon.
The hero who resolved the Spirit Great War that swept across the American continent.
The last Sword Master who had thwarted the various conspiracies of the Seven Dragon Society numerous times.
The reputation Limon Asphelther had built over hundreds of years was so immense that, until just thirty years ago, there were no signs of it declining.
Even the Seven Dragon Society, which pushed for the World Peace Project, had doubted its effectiveness.
“But people are truly amazing.”
In that sense, after the Iron Age began and Constellations and Players appeared in the world, the change people brought about was truly remarkable.
“Far from a hundred years, they completely forgot the Sword Master’s reputation in just thirty years.”
Players intoxicated by suddenly acquired power, rulers blinded by the wealth provided by dungeons, and the masses who took peace for granted.
People adapted so quickly to the changing times that they cast aside the old era with equal ease.
Immersed in immediate wealth and peace, they completely forgot who had protected the world until then.
No, it was closer to burying it than forgetting it.
As if they considered the past itself—where the world was saved by a mere ignorant swordsman—to be an embarrassing, dark history.
People naturally buried Limon’s achievements and turned the Sword Master into an object of ridicule, without anyone even needing to prompt them.
It was a rapid change that even the Seven Dragon Society, which had intended it, found bewildering.
“Isn’t it strange? People forgot the Sword Master so quickly that it exceeded the predictions of those of us who planned everything.”
Adding her own question to one of the doubts Limon had felt, Li Qingwei continued with a peculiar smile unlike any she had shown before.
“It’s not as if some transcendent beings intervened on a global scale.”
Her tone was light, almost like a joke.
However, seeing Li Qingwei’s face, where her eyes were not smiling, Limon arched an eyebrow.
“Are you saying my downfall was faster than your plan because of the Constellations?”
“People would call me crazy if I said this to anyone else.”
“So you do know.”
Limon narrowed his eyes.
In fact, it was only because it was him that he accepted it to this extent; if anyone else had heard Li Qingwei’s story, they would have treated her like a madwoman.
“If what you’re saying is true, it means the Constellations are brainwashing and controlling the Players.”
“It’s not quite that far. It’s just that I suspect the Players are unconsciously influenced by the Constellations.”
“That’s exactly what brainwashing is.”
It was an absurd statement.
Or rather, it was pure madness.
In this Iron Age, it was common sense that Constellations were great transcendent beings who gave protection and blessings to people.
Even a crazy conspiracy theorist would have snapped that such a claim was nonsense.
However, instead of correcting her words, Li Qingwei spoke calmly.
“As I’ve already told you, we, the Seven Dragon Society, have worked for world peace over the past several decades.”
“I know.”
“The thing we worked hardest on for that goal was gathering information on people.”
“I suppose so.”
Having been called the guardian deity of humanity, Limon could sympathize with her words in many ways and nodded.
The problem was what followed.
“The reason I became suspicious of the Constellations was because I found a strange fact in the information we gathered.”
“A strange fact?”
“There are more people than you’d think whose personalities changed after becoming Players.”
“It’s common for a person to change after suddenly gaining power.”
“It might be so for someone who gained great power. But what if even people who gained only a tiny amount of power changed?”
Li Qingwei calmly explained the changes in those who were not even treated as Players—those who had contracted with Constellations without any decent power and were only Level 10 or 20.
A criminal who committed repeated rapes and robberies suddenly became a saint who donated all his wealth.
A person who loved swimming became a hydrophobe who was terrified of water.
Someone who had studied their whole life to become a doctor suddenly tried to become a martial artist.
Listening to the various cases Li Qingwei mentioned, Limon narrowed his eyes.
“It’s not impossible.”
“Yes, it’s something that could happen to one in a hundred. But what if more than 70% of Players experienced such changes, big or small?”
“Seven out of ten Players’ personalities changed?”
“If you look at the statistics of Players who have been contracted for over ten years.”
“I’ve been watching Players for decades, but I haven’t noticed such changes.”
“The more you’ve watched them for a long time, the harder it will be to notice the change. It’s something that happens slowly over decades.”
If a person changed overnight, anyone would be suspicious.
But what if that change occurred over a period of one to several decades?
One would simply think they’ve changed a bit from before; no one would think it was strange.
Even the person themselves.
“But the Sword Master would know. The essence of a person does not change easily.”
“And do you think it’s normal for such a big change to occur without any incident or occasion?”
Faced with Li Qingwei’s point, Limon had no choice but to remain silent.
There are many who change their personality or way of life after a life-threatening crisis or a once-in-a-lifetime event.
But if seven out of ten people changed their personalities just by becoming a Player?
What if the remaining three were also in the middle of changing, or simply hadn’t noticed the change yet?
Could one truly assert that the Constellations’ influence was absent from that change?
“Even if that’s true, there’s not enough evidence to unconditionally suspect the Constellations based on that alone.”
“Yes, it’s as the Sword Master says.”
Li Qingwei admitted it honestly.
Even if the personality changes of Players were true, it could not be considered evidence of brainwashing by the Constellations.
It could simply be that the Constellation’s tendencies were influencing the Player due to the contract.
If so, many people would ask, ‘So what?’
Compared to the benefits provided by the Constellations, a slight change in personality was nothing.
“In fact, that’s why there’s no one else in the Seven Dragon Society who is wary of the Constellations besides me. At most, they’re only wary of the expansion of the Players’ power.”
‘And why are you so wary of the Constellations?’
“I don’t know much about the Constellations, but there is one thing I do know.”
They weren’t causing harm to the world, nor had they ever interfered with the Seven Dragon Society.
Li Qingwei smiled broadly as she answered him, who was asking wonderingly why she was so wary of the Constellations based on such weak evidence as a change in a Player’s personality.
“That there is no such thing as a favor without a price in this world.”
“That is a wise answer to a foolish question.”
From spirits to gods and the seven dragons, there had been several beings who transcended humans throughout history.
However, none of them had ever bestowed unconditional goodwill upon humanity.
Sacrifices, affection, faith, obedience—they each received a price in their own way and gave benefits accordingly.
What did the Constellations, who provided power in the form of skills and contracts just for showing achievements, take in return?
Was it treating the contracted Players as a spectacle?
Of course, that was a possibility.
If the Constellations were great beings who transcended even gods, they might pay for such a thing as easily as a billionaire pays a TV license fee.
But at least the Constellations Limon had seen did not seem that great.
Above all, having lived a long life, he knew several truths of life.
“The things that appear to be free are often the ones that require the highest price.”
“Yes. But in this era, there are too many people who have forgotten that obvious truth.”
Li Qingwei gave a slight, bitter smile.
Then, looking at the wreckage of the display case that Chao had smashed with his body earlier, she let out a soft sigh.
“Because there are more than a few people within our Seven Dragon Society who have been influenced by the Constellations as well.”
When proceeding with the World Peace Project, the Seven Dragon Society maintained strict secrecy.
Only the princesses and elders of each clan knew the full details.
They plotted so secretly that even the clans executing the plan didn’t know its true intent.
If the secret of world peace were discovered, not only would all their efforts be in vain, but in the worst-case scenario, Limon might step in.
An almost paranoid level of secretiveness.
The downfall of the Sword Master, which was more rapid than expected due to the intervention of the Constellations.
The result of that was people like Chao.
In other words, a clan member who had been colored by the common sense of the current era and came to underestimate Limon.
If even Chao, who had heard stories about Limon numerous times as Li Qingwei’s guard, was like that, there was no need to mention what Limon’s evaluation would be like within the Seven Dragon Society, excluding the leadership and a few exceptions.
Even the Seven Dragon Society, which had existed as the power behind the scenes, could not escape the touch of the Constellations.
“How on earth did you end up getting caught in the very trap you set…?”
“It’s ironic.”
Perhaps she was ashamed of herself, as Li Qingwei’s cheeks flushed slightly.
However, even so, she did not forget to add one more thing.
“Perhaps it was inevitable.”
Those who use poison must always be prepared to consume it themselves.
However, they were negligent in their preparations.
No, it would be fair to say they were negligent.
Just as those who knew nothing were intoxicated by the power given by the Constellations and the abundance obtained from dungeons, the Seven Dragon Society was equally fallen into the arrogance of ruling the world from behind and the wealth and fame they gained through legalization.
The fact that other clans no longer felt the need to keep Limon in check, even while maintaining the World Peace Project, proved this.
In that sense, it was inevitable.
It might be the flow of time that no one can avoid.
“That is also why I staked everything to propose to the Sword Master.”
“Because I’m the only being in the world who can cut a Constellation?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Li Qingwei nodded.
Looking at Limon with calm eyes, she continued.
“Now that Players have taken over the whole world, the only person who can protect us—the Seven Dragon Society—from the Constellations while going against the flow of time is the Sword Master.”