Chapter 385
Chapter 385
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 385
Chapter Title: World of Red and White (5)
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"Finally found it. Damn thing."
It's a moment of pure elation.
Excluding the rift I'd come through, this was the first one I'd discovered.
A massive rift big enough for a giant to pass through without issue gaped wide before my eyes.
There'd been a few minor hiccups on the way here, but all that mattered was the result.
"Hyah."
The sword traced an arc and returned to my hand.
The surrounding space warped briefly before the rift clung to it.
I swung my hand through experimentally, but felt nothing.
'Damn, how long is it gonna take to find and seal all these things.'
It was rewarding work, but I couldn't exactly celebrate yet.
One down, countless more to go.
Even with the newly tamed flying squirrel helping out, this planet was just too damn big.
Suddenly, a babbling brook caught my eye amid the trees.
Red as the sea.
Standing out amid the white trees, it was especially vivid.
"Can't start whining already."
Still, the fact remained that it had to be done.
Resigned, I squatted by the brook and splashed water on my face.
The color made it far from refreshing.
Even drinking it felt off.
"Lord Ronan... what kind of man are you, exactly?"
"Huh? What'd you say?"
Lertansie called out to me out of nowhere.
I wiped my face roughly with my sleeve and turned.
She stood there blankly like a doll, not far off.
"Th-this doesn't make any sense..."
Lertansie wasn't looking at me.
Her gaze was fixed on the three giants sprawled out.
The headless corpses lay amid shattered trees, blue blood bubbling from clean-cut necks.
Ah, so that's what this is about.
"What doesn't make sense? Just three of 'em."
"Th-they're the ones that doomed the world because we couldn't take them down!"
Lertansie paled and recoiled in horror.
She reacted like this every time I killed a giant.
Perfect for a magic show audience, but I was starting to get sick of it.
"Who the hell are you yelling at? Wanna die?"
"Eek! S-sorry!"
"And did I call those baldies? You did."
I casually raised my arm, and Lertansie flinched instinctively.
Amusing, since I'd never laid a hand on her since we met.
"Way more are coming from now on. The six-legged ones get annoying, so dodge 'em yourself. Or invent a spell to warp to baldie world."
"H-how... How about getting more companions? It'd be easier to fight them off."
"They'd just get in the way. And only if they're actually useful."
I shook my head firmly.
Today marked three days traveling with her.
Mentioning the Bald Sage King had definitely provoked them.
Proof: five baldies showed up daily on average to verify.
Scouts, probably.
Pathetic weaklings not worth their bulk.
Lertansie mumbled.
"Still... a couple of them were real powerhouses."
"Not by my standards."
In the meantime, I'd smashed ten roots and one rift.
Unlike rifts that required combing every inch, roots were a breeze to spot.
They were huge, and the beams shooting from the transmission towers were visible from afar.
Six of those ten roots had Nebula Klazie's followers trapped inside.
"Vermin. Begging for their worthless lives."
Reduced to spare parts, just like Lertansie.
They'd all pleaded for mercy. I hadn't spared a single one.
No reason to.
They could drink my blood or coat their weapons with it to hurt giants, but scum who'd sold out the world got not one drop from me.
Lertansie bowed her head without retort.
"If you were archbishop level like you claim, maybe I'd consider. Anyway, can't you magic up some food? Sick of the same old."
"S-sorry. No such spell..."
"Useless. Archbishops ain't shit."
"......Ugh."
Lertansie clenched her fists tight.
Her trembling was kinda cute.
A breeze rustled through the white trees, tousling my bangs.
The sky had darkened noticeably—sundown soon.
"Let's move before we camp. Mana recovered?"
"...Yes. A little more."
"Fine. On foot it is."
We started walking.
I wanted to keep up aerial scouting, but Lertansie needed time to recover mana.
Sword swings had left me starving.
I pulled some leaf-wrapped jerky from my coat pocket.
Ordinary-looking, but dark blue unlike normal meat.
Lertansie wrinkled her nose.
"Ugh."
"Hungry, huh? Want some?"
"N-no thanks!"
She shook her head, face drained of color.
Her expression said I'd offered her a cockroach.
Not far off, really.
Broadly speaking, it was cannibalism.
The jerky was made from giant flesh.
"Fair enough. Gotta be sick of it after yesterday's fiasco."
"I-I really thought I was gonna die... Urk!"
Lertansie dry-heaved.
Trauma ran deep, apparently.
The "emergency rations" I'd tricked her into eating nearly killed her.
One bite of giant meat, and she collapsed in respiratory distress.
Lucky she puked it up before it went all the way down, or she'd be a goner.
"Got it. We'll hunt for other food."
"Sorry."
"For what? This is all for my benefit. Besides, I still need you alive."
Her telekinesis alone made her worth keeping. I tore into the jerky savagely.
Roughly made, still juicy.
Not exactly horrific... but a weird taste with no real substitute.
Nearly a whole pig's worth over three days, and I was fine. Guess I'm the only real monster here.
"Gotta hope we find some land with life. Bound to have edibles. Like how the deep sea was blue."
"Resistance fighters would be nice too. Damn faces are a pain."
"Yeah. Last rumors I heard were three years back... Sigh."
Lertansie sighed.
No confidence in her eyes.
Couldn't blame her.
Three years was an eternity under baldie rule.
I gazed at the blank canvas of the sky.
"I'll find 'em no matter what. Why doesn't the sky color change? Pale all damn day."
"Roots again. They spray special compounds into the air to mimic their homeworld. The fog's just clumps of it."
"Figures. No wonder no blue in the sky or sea. Annoying showoffs."
We kept walking, chatting idly.
For camp, high and open spots were best.
Good for spotting others.
Or being spotted.
The lifeless forest held no signs of life.
No insect songs, no birdsong chatter. Dead silence.
Only our footsteps crunching softly.
Snap!
Recalling last night's talk, I snapped my fingers.
"Ah, boring as hell. Keep spilling the recent news. Who'd I ask about last?"
"The werewolf Didikan. I said I'd never heard of him."
"Right. What a waste."
A bitter smile escaped me.
Since yesterday, I'd been asking Lertansie about people I knew.
Mostly tragedies.
Didikan, who should've been a great inventor, faded into history's flood without shining.
Probably died when the cave giants rampaged.
Along with his mentor Doron.
"What a waste."
I could still see him tapping that transparent armor.
Knew it was unavoidable, but it left a bad taste.
This was Adeshan's failed world.
Countless lives snuffed out like this.
"So Didikan's dead. Who's next..."
"Ask away.
I remember most big shots.
You knowing some heavyweights... you really are from another world."
"Shut it. Hmm... Got it."
I took a deep, inaudible breath.
Meant to save it for last, but better rip the band-aid off.
Had to face it eventually.
Hooo—I exhaled long and named her.
"Adeshan."
"Oh, of course I know her."
Lertansie answered instantly.
I was braced for it.
I pulled out my pipe and lit up.
"The Empire's Grand General was the toughest nut. Predicted our moves like she knew the future. Without her, the star's arrival would've come way sooner."
"Yeah. She was competent."
"Exactly. Nearly got caught so many times. Every assassination failed. If we hadn't put death curses on followers to keep the star's coming secret, the plan would've blown ages ago. Damn bitch. What a pain right up to the end..."
Lertansie chewed her lip.
Her agitated tone said she'd been a real thorn.
Thwack!
I smacked her head while listening silently.
"Ow! Wh-what was that for!?"
"Don't talk shit about her."
"O-okay... Sorry."
Lertansie whimpered, cradling the spot.
Truth was, I wanted to cry.
Regressor Adeshan wasn't my fiancée, but she was a superior worth respecting.
...Maybe I'd liked her a little.
The smoke I'd held dispersed in the wind.
"How'd the Grand General die?"
"Heroic last stand. She... that woman survived until the star's arrival and fought on with the Empire's forces and church-overlooked VIPs."
Lertansie gestured vividly as she described it.
The final battle played out somewhere else than my first life.
Not Ahayute, but Nirvana as the foe. Different survivors.
Only the result matched.
Defeat.
"...Yeah, figures."
"Uh... you okay?"
Lertansie tilted her head.
No surprise.
I was probably making a face she'd never seen.
Knew it was coming, but it still sucked.
The Grand General fell in battle against a giant.
We were blinking rapidly amid it all.
"Huh? Lord Ronan."
"What."
"Lights over there. Looks like a root?"
Lertansie tapped my shoulder out of nowhere.
I peered bloodshot-eyed in the direction she pointed.
Far between the trees, five lights flickered.
Narrowing my eyes revealed a massive hand shape thrusting toward the sky.
"Yeah."
"Perfect. Smash that tonight and camp. Sound good?"
Her voice held odd excitement.
Exploited by baldies, she relished wrecking roots.
I didn't like her much, but our interests aligned here.
"Sure. Sun's setting anyway."
"Right! Mana's full, so let's—"
She started chanting her telekinesis spell.
Suddenly, the hairs on my nape stood on end.
A threat unlike any giant.
I was scanning around for the source.
Kwaaaaaang!!
A massive explosion rocked the root.
Dark red flames devoured the hand's form entirely.
The beams piercing the sky dimmed.
The delayed shockwave slammed into us.
"Kyaa! Wh-what?!"
Lertansie staggered.
The flattened trees sprang back up from the rebound.
Before the flames even settled.
Chills raced up my arm again.
"...!!!"
No mistaking it.
This aura I knew.
I tamped down my excitement and called out.
"Hey. Flying squirrel."
"Hah... hah... Yes?"
"Can you swear you'll never betray me again?"
"S-suddenly? Of-of course!"
"Good."
I shoved her as the words left my mouth.
The instant Lertansie hit the dirt on her ass.
Kwachik!
Something sliced diagonally through the sky and stabbed down between us.
"Huuuhhh!!"
Lertansie's eyes bulged.
A single black spear plunged deep into the ground.
Right where she'd been standing.
The double-helix twisted shaft gleamed pitch-black, like it'd been carved from midnight itself.
"Wh-what the hell...!"
"Making something like this from ribs. Truly a mad bastard."
I muttered with a grin.
Too glad to hold back the silly smile.
I swept a hand over my face and turned.
Atop a nearby tree sat a pitch-black man.
"...How'd you spot it?"
He muttered.
The man had plenty of striking features.
Red eyes. Hair down to his waist.
Two horns sprouting from his head.
"Not looking so hot."
Naturally, he differed from the one I knew.
The black-clad man glared silently.
I eyed his broken-off horn and spoke.
"Orse."