The Strange Adventures of Hearn the Believer

"What? Take a closer look at your resume. Haven't you never experienced failure since you were a child? Even your final plan to land on Morag Bal ended successfully, except that your home planet was destroyed. But that was Karen's failure, it had nothing to do with you. If I hadn't come, if the Son of Bal had continued to exist in this system as the Sun God, you and your companions might have already found the liquid water that exists beneath the sand sea of ​​this planet. —As a bonus, I'll let you in on a secret: drinkable liquid water really does exist on this planet, and the closest one to you is under this hill. It's a shallow underground water vein. You're truly a lucky person blessed by the heavens, Miss Eileen."

The devil, with a mocking tone, threw out yet another fact.

Seven days ago, Eileen might have been overjoyed to hear this news, but now...

"...I only feel sorrow."

After a long silence, Eileen suddenly spoke, murmuring softly.

"Huh? Has your condition worsened again? After feeling ashamed of your talent, you're now feeling sad about your good fortune? A darling like you is truly the envy of mortals."

"No, I feel sorry for you, you devil."

The gray cottage was suddenly chilly.

The devil sat up from the sofa, stared at the silver-haired girl in front of the easel, made a listening gesture with one hand, and asked with a half-smile.

"Excuse me, I didn't hear you clearly. What did you just say?"

"I mean, after hearing your story, I feel deeply saddened for you."

Eileen answered solemnly.

Her solemnity and composure once again ignited the devil's clamorous box.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, did I hear that right? A short-lived species that couldn't even overcome its lifespan, a human, actually stands arrogantly on high, feeling—sorrow—for an immortal devil? Pfft... Pfft haha ​​...

The silver-haired girl remained silent.

She remained silent, silent, until the devil's laughter ceased, until he stopped gesturing wildly on the sofa, until the gray little house returned to silence.

"devil."

"Hmm? What insights would you like to share?"

"You should really use your omnipotent magic to make a mirror and see what you look like now."

"Oh? Miss Eileen, is there something on my face?"

"Yes, right now, your face is covered in desire, just like a human being."

"..."

"Devil, I will never forgive what you have done, but I feel deep sorrow for the girl who died in the frozen abyss."

"..."

"That poor lady named Charlotte Hearn has long since died in the frozen earth, and you are nothing but a demon in her skin, who knows nothing of good or evil."

Eileen's gaze toward the devil had somehow lost its coldness, leaving only pity.

That pity is precisely the source of the devil's current anxiety.

"Good and evil are nothing but lies from those dead-headed devils in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no such thing as good and evil in this world, only positions!"

He angrily interrupted the silver-haired girl, but to no avail.

“Devil, the more you become enraged, the more it proves that you cannot control my life through illegal means. The rules established by your [Shadow Saint] are doctrines used to restrain evil spirits like you. I am now deeply impressed by that unknown deity. Without Him, who knows how chaotic your world of mortals would have become.”

"..."

“Devil, if you have even a shred of shame, you should change your name—Charlotte Hearn was just a pathetic girl who never knew what love was from birth to death, and who was never loved by anyone. She shouldn’t have her reputation ruined by a filthy demon like you after her death.”

"you……"

"Keep quiet! You devil, next, I'm going to draw the last sun, the most beautiful, the most precious, and the most sublime sun I've ever seen in my life! I will win this game that's about to end, reclaim the sun, and then make you take your suitcase and get out of here!"

公历1173年12月16日10时18分56秒，天气：无风。

Eileen once again removed the canvas and easel from the stand, moved, and displayed them before the devil.

Perhaps due to a final burst of energy before death, she felt more energetic than ever before.

Her vision cleared, her fighting spirit soared, and the confusion of the past vanished.

At this moment, she was like a hero who had already placed the holy sword against the neck of a dragon, victory was assured.

As she said, that was the last sun she would paint. If this sun was still judged as unqualified, she would decisively give up, abandon this already unfair game, face the failure calmly, and mock the devil's loss of composure!

If this image of the sun is also deemed unqualified, then it means that the devil has long since lost the spirit of the contract, and continuing is meaningless.

If He had even the slightest bit of a sense of contractual obligation, Eileen was convinced that this painting would be enough to shake the devil's cold exterior.

In the past sixty-five failures, she painted sixty-five suns.

From spring, summer, autumn, and winter, to sunrise and sunset.

From the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere.

From sketching to oil painting.

She painted sixty-five beautiful suns as conceived by artists, but she never painted the one sunrise she had witnessed firsthand, the most precious sunrise of her life.

It happened just minutes ago, at the very moment this devil visited.

Only what is lost is remembered.

Only when the sun is lost will we remember the sun that once hung high in the sky.

After wandering alone in the eternal night of the desolate planet for several days, Eileen would never forget the almost reverential emotion that welled up in her heart as she watched the blue sun rise from the horizon, her eyes filled with tears.

So she decided to draw that scene.

A young girl slumped on a hill, a blue sun dispelling the eternal night.

The initial inspiration was established, and under Eileen's artistic interpretation, the eternal night without light was transformed into an abyss, and the small hills with only white sand became an ivory-white courtyard. The courtyard was filled with blue flowers that were the same color as the sun, and an unnamed girl prayed devoutly among the flowers. The blue sun warmed her dark and unhappy childhood...

When Eileen showed the painting to the devil, her position with the devil had already reversed. She clearly saw the devil's evasive eyes, taking in his loss of composure, his frustration, and his exasperation.

Having witnessed all of this, Eileen knew she had won.

Holding the painting was like holding a holy sword, forcing the devil to make a judgment, forcing Him to bring this game of humanity chasing the sun to a close.

"Devil, you can't see the light because you're blind. You'll never understand the emotion I felt when I witnessed that blue sun rise—if you had understood sooner, perhaps you wouldn't have ended up in this miserable hell. Now, put away your smirking face and put an end to all of this!"

Eileen was so aggressive that she cornered that heartless devil in the corner of the sofa.

Finally, after a long silence, Eileen seemed to hear the still clock start ticking again, and the silver chains silently slipped from her wrists.

Then she heard it too, from the devil's twisted and contorted lips, as he squeezed out a few short words, almost trembling.

"……qualified."

"Won!"

The silver-haired girl cheered and jumped up. She had never been happier since landing on Morag Bal.

"Rude humans, go pick your sun."

The devil snatched the painting from Eileen's hands and then waved it away impatiently.

"No need to choose, I want that blue sun in the sky."

Eileen pointed to the sky outside the window.

"That one is also an asset that needs to be recycled, so it is not within the scope of selection. If you are dissatisfied, you may complain to the higher-ups in Hell."

The devil shook his head firmly, his face indicating that the discussion was off-limits.

"You... forget it!"

In short, with a slight regret, Eileen skipped back to the council table, gazing at the dazzling array of items in the shop window like a girl browsing a toy store—she wanted to choose the most beautiful sun for this star system!

……

Chapter 158 Cinderella and Snow White (Part 7)

公历1173年12月17日06时58分00秒

Eileen got up early, put on a coat, held a thermos, and sat alone on a small hill in the white sand, next to the graves of her four teammates, gazing at the eastern horizon.

As the first hint of dawn appeared on the horizon, and the pale golden sun slowly rose from below the eastern horizon, Eileen shed tears once again.

In the end, she chose the sun she knew best, even though its color was exactly the same as the sun god who destroyed Karen. Over the long years, it was that golden sun that shone its light and heat across the sky, nurturing all living beings on Karen.

The following day, Eileen activated the geological survey device inside the orbital module, a device that had never been used before, in order to verify the devil's jest in the game.

The survey work continued on the third day.

On the fourth day, the survey work proceeded steadily.

On the fifth day, the survey work reached a stalemate.

On the sixth day, Erin Scherney, directly below the landing site on Morag Bal, made a preliminary confirmation of the existence of underground water veins.

At 09:21 on December 22, 1173, Eileen, who had completed the preliminary mapping of the local underground water veins through the transmitted sound wave images, excitedly threw down the drawings and ran around the hill cheering. In front of her teammates' graves, she solemnly announced that the team's mission had been accomplished. They had completed the mission entrusted to them by the people of Karen. From now on, this team would be worthy of those who stayed on the surface of Karen to watch the rocket launch.

On the sixth day, at dusk, Eileen rummaged through the storeroom and found the best-tasting compressed food and nutritional paste she could find, enjoying the meal with as much gratitude as possible.

On the sixth day, the night before, Eileen set aside enough fresh water for a day's drinking from her limited reserves. She then heated most of the remaining water and took a luxurious and comfortable hot bath, washing away the dust she had accumulated since landing on this planet.

On the sixth day, late at night, Eileen cried her heart out in bed before drifting off to sleep through her teary eyes.

公历1173年12月23日06时58分00秒

On the seventh day, at dawn, as the sun rose, Eileen summoned the [Demon] on the sand dunes in front of the gray hut using the last remaining contract.

……

The gray demon arrived as promised, strolling leisurely across the sands at the edge of the horizon, beyond the rising sun over the sea of ​​sand.

When He reappeared a few steps away from Eileen, and when that gray hue was once again imprinted in Eileen's pupils, the devil's expression in Eileen's eyes was as still as water, exuding composure.

Witnessing that composure, Eileen realized that she had been tricked, and thoroughly tricked at that.

The devil is an ally of lies, and any mortal who tries to glean the truth from the devil will inevitably pay the price.

Long before that game even began, the devil left behind two copies of the contract stacked together.

He knew she would sign the second copy sooner or later, so the outcome of the first copy was of no consequence to Him, and He was even pleased with it.

Thinking about it carefully, perhaps this devil never told her a single truth from beginning to end.

Similarly, He had her completely under His control from beginning to end.

However, at this point, none of that matters anymore, because Eileen has come to her senses.

“Devil, you once said that as a higher-dimensional being, Morag Bal’s destruction of Karen was a fact already anchored on a higher level, and no matter how the creatures native to Karen struggled, they could not change this fate.”

"From Miss Eileen's perspective, that's correct."

The devil, carrying his briefcase, nodded slightly.

"If we consider Karen's story as a book, then the world that Miss Eileen lives in is just one page. All the pages are the sum of the possibilities of Karen's existence, while Morag Bal drew a pause on the outside of the book called 'Destruction'."

"Your world must be so boring, you devil."

Even after receiving the answer she expected, Eileen still couldn't shake the feeling of unease and asked the same question she had asked before.

"No, if the self-unification of parallel worlds is achieved, it will be a completely different macroscopic perspective, and it will also be a path to truth that leads to the realm of time."

“I have no interest in the knowledge of you dragons. I am just a mortal, and now I am here as a human being, as the last Karen, to discuss a business with you.”

Eileen shook her head, dismissing those enigmatic mysteries from her mind; if she could, she would rather have never heard of them.

When faced with things that are out of reach, all that increases is frustration and a deep sense of powerlessness.

"I see. Miss Eileen's second wish must be the revival of the Karen civilization."

The mere statement, rather than the question, once again confirms the fact that this devil can read minds.

"Exactly."

"To be clear, let's set aside the remaining portion of Miss Eileen's soul. Even when she was complete, it wouldn't amount to even a fraction of this [wish]. In other words, is Miss Eileen planning to try a new [leverage]?"

The devil's face revealed his signature, emotionless business smile.

Eileen never liked His smile. He had such a handsome face, yet he always smiled in that creepy way. It was such a pity.

However, if there is any truth to His story of the "gray mouse," then given His origins, it is indeed difficult to criticize His smile.

Before encountering this devil, Eileen firmly believed that noble character should not be distinguished by wealth or status, even though she had never been to places like slums in her hometown of Karen.

But this devil told her that in those dark corners buried in the shadows of civilization, the inhabitants were closer to beasts than humans.

He told her that humanity and animality are just two ends of an hourglass; when one end decreases, the other end increases.

She had been convinced by Him in her heart, and therefore acknowledged her past naiveté.