“…and I don’t think he’s wrong,” Gaius concluded. “No matter what we do, how much people we save in the Wildlands, there’s nothing we can do to stop hatred from brewing. You’ve seen it for yourself, right?”

Isabelle, who was lying beside him, placed his hand on her chest. “I have.”

“I can’t do anything. Not as I am now. I’m just a single person with a bit more strength than most. I can’t stop people from hating each other. There’s nothing I can do about that.” Gaius rolled around on his bed. “Even if the Wildlands continue to act as the unified target for everyone else, internal conflicts will eventually come to a head. New conflicts will arise.”

“And…the Wildlands’ demons have recovered from their madness. This invasion seems meaningless now,” Isabelle added, before turning to look at Gaius. “Right?”

“I’m an idiot, aren’t I?”

“I always love it when my Gaius is self-aware,” Isabelle replied. A sad smile hung on her lips. “He’s right, you know. This world is not your burden. You do so much, but…”

“You’re probably going to smack me, then,” Gaius muttered. “When you hear about my new plan.”

“Your new plan?” Isabelle asked.

“Yes.” Gaius pulled out the napping Oculus. “Wake up, little guy. Time for you to do your spiritual guide thing.”

“Wait,” said Isabelle. “Let’s get Nexus over first.”

Rolling off the bed, she flickered out of the room and returned within ten seconds, a shocked Nexus in her grip. Rolling back onto the bed with exquisite precision, she placed the frozen sculpture next to the eyeball.

“Eep.”

Nexus glared at the eyeball. “What, not happy? Do you want more training from me? I’m more than willing to help, you know! There’s an army of little guys willing to teach you the meaning of discipline and respect!”

Lips twitched, and Gaius exchanged amused glances with Isabelle. Oculus’ proclamation of how he was the spiritual guide of Gaius had rubbed the little sculpture the wrong way, and Nexus promptly addressed that feeling by holding a boot camp of sorts for Oculus.

A bootcamp for an eyeball. Simply trying to think about it was hilarious, but—

Gaius cleared his throat. “Oculus. Let’s get down to explaining, shall we? What my plans here on out are going to do.”

“By your will.”

Those words drew a glare from Nexus, who had been Gaius’ loyal partner for many years. Gaius didn’t quite know what to do, so he simply reached out to pat the sculpture’s head.

Now that Gaius thought about it, his life was full of odd things. A sentient sculpture or house, depending on what one considered Nexus to be. A sentient knife and crystal, who hovered around little Nakama. An entire army of freaking model soldiers. And now, he had an eyeball.

What was he? A caretaker for sentient items?

Chuckling, Gaius listened to Oculus as the latter laid out Gaius’ plan. It would be a long and tough one. The likelihood that the gods would turn against him, along with the entirety of Orb, was extremely high. Since he could not change the hearts of people by himself, Gaius had to be prepared to change their environment.

People, however, tended to value stability…or their illusion of stability, anyway. What Gaius intended to do would throw the whole of Orb into disarray. Their everyday life would change, and what they once took for granted will be gone. In its place, peace and prosperity would follow.

No one would need to fight for survival any longer. It would be a utopia for all, a place where people would never see the need to stain themselves to survive. War and hate would become meaningless in this world of his creation.

The only ones who would lose out were the people who had the most in Orb. The great gods who stood at the zenith of power in the entire world. Those who were rich and privileged. Those who wielded overwhelming martial might. Those who relied on inequality to control the poor.

All these people would rise in opposition to him.

Even the North.

Isabelle’s face paled as Oculus explained what Gaius intended to do, her face whitening visibly and rapidly. By the time the eyeball was done, both Isabelle and Nexus had a punch-drunk expression on their face.

“You’ll…” Isabelle looked up at Gaius. “If you fail…why would you go this far? The Demon Sovereign did extend an offer to you, right? Isn’t it good enough to take him up on it? We can all go there. There’s no need for all this suffering!”

“You know me,” Gaius replied. “And…there are many people that I want to save. Maybe I’m an idiot. But if I do nothing, the Five Lands would eventually tear themselves apart. Your family would be affected too, right?”

Isabelle looked away.

“Therefore, the only thing I can do is to change this world. I cannot change the hearts of people, Isabelle. But I can change the world, and change their minds along with it. A place of peace, where no one would ever need to make questionable decisions to live, a place where all are contented.” Gaius closed his eyes.

“Is such a world possible?” Isabelle asked.

“It is,” Gaius replied. “I told you about it before, right? An impossible world. An incredible utopia, where people no longer need to steal. Where one can live freely and forever, in a sheltered eternity.”

Isabelle ruminated on his words for a moment. “No matter how you, the kids and Oculus try to put it, I really can’t wrap my mind around such a place, though. It just doesn’t make sense for such a utopia to exist.”

“That’s why I’m going to do it,” Gaius replied, a smile on his face. “I don’t exist in the realm of common sense, after all. It’s something I alone can do.”

“If you fail…”

“We’ll just die together, I guess.” Gaius smiled. “How does that sound?”

“You make the most romantic proposals at times…but before we do anything, we should at least tell the kids first. And Xanadu.” Isabelle rubbed his head. “You’ll do the speaking, though…”

She glanced at the eyeball. “Good luck to you. The kids probably aren’t going to hold back, so hang in there.”

Oculus shivered.