Chapter 389
Chapter 389
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 389
Chapter Title: 2-11 The Right to Gaze at the Stars (3)
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The headquarters, remodeled from Gran Cappadocia, was wider and more complex than expected.
Escape routes and shelters prepared for enemy raids were installed everywhere.
In areas where sunlight couldn't reach, glowing moss and lanterns made from magic stones served as light sources.
"I see. So Adeshan has lived three lives... No wonder she seemed so exceptionally clever. She had such a secret."
"Yes. She's promised to marry me when I get back."
"Hehe, you two make a fine pair. She had such beautiful black hair."
Navardoje smiled.
We were sitting side by side on the shoulder of the cave giant, chatting.
I had told her everything.
The regression that occurred with our kiss, the fierce battle with Nebula Klazier.
And finally, the request from Sarante from the future.
A series of bizarre tales that would draw criticism even if written as a novel, but Navardoje neither flinched nor panicked.
"You believe me too easily. Don't I sound crazy?"
"In this situation, what is there not to believe?"
"On the contrary, assuming you came from another world makes the current circumstances make sense."
"You have no idea how light my body feels now."
"That's intriguing. Lighter, you say..."
Honestly, it was impossible to tell from appearances alone.
If she said so, it must be true, but for someone lugging around that monstrosity to call herself light...
As expected, the strongest of the stars was something else... Damn it.
This wasn't the time to be thinking nonsense.
'Good thing I rescued her before it was too late.'
I really liked this dragon.
And it wasn't just limited to certain body parts.
Her magnanimity in forgiving my rudeness of shoving a finger in her mouth, her open-mindedness unbefitting a powerhouse—it all appealed to me.
Any other dragon would have turned me to ash on the spot.
"Ronan. You said peace has come to your world? Even those fated to die were saved?"
"Well, yeah. Not that there were zero casualties."
I nodded, eyes fixed on the ground below.
Many lives were lost, but nothing compared to this world.
After a pause, Navardoje spoke.
"Then... have you met my children by any chance?"
"Ah, of course."
"...!"
"Ir is even attending our academy. He's made a ton of friends. That kid's getting more arrogant by the day."
Navardoje's youngest son, Itargand, was still enrolled at Phileon Academy.
Word was he'd adapted so well he was even running for student council president this year.
"...You really must be from a parallel world. You even know the nickname only I and that child used. Ir getting along with humans...?"
Navardoje bit her lower lip.
Her crimson eyes were already brimming with tears.
Only then did I realize my lack of tact and smacked my forehead.
Damn it, should I not have said anything?
"Uh... sorry."
"No, it's fine. Keep going. What about the others? Do you have ties with my other children too?"
"Hmm... I haven't met all of them. Ah, Brakyos? I'm pretty close with that young lady. We met in Drimuir."
"You're talking about Bniharudo. That child is so proud she doesn't hide her hard work. It feels like yesterday she hatched from her egg and I licked her clean... Ahaha, I miss her."
Navardoje laughed.
The tears welled up in her eyes finally spilled down her cheeks.
Unable to watch, I offered the hem of my coat, and she wiped her tears as if she'd been waiting.
"All my children are dead. They stepped up to help their worthless mother and fell gloriously in battle. Only I survived, fleeing to this lightless underground."
"Don't say you fled."
"Not a single day... not one day did I sleep peacefully. The wounds from their spears were nothing. What truly tormented me was... becoming a star myself, and the horrific reality that I couldn't even see my children."
I muttered curses under my breath.
In the destroyed world, there was no right to gaze at the stars.
Those who cautiously surfaced saw only a pallid sky and earth devoid of color, and water red like blood.
"But... in that world, all my children are alive...?"
"Yes. Not a single one missing... Gah!"
It was the moment I nodded firmly.
Navardoje suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.
My lungs compressed, breath cut off.
"I'm so glad. Truly glad..."
"N-Navardoje... Heave, I'm dying. Really dying here."
"I'm so happy right now, the tears won't stop."
Navardoje mumbled into my chest.
I felt my clothes growing damp.
She was genuinely overjoyed.
Even though she couldn't touch them, not even see them.
My nose stung unexpectedly.
"Jeez."
Was it because I was about to become a father myself soon?
Even on the verge of suffocation, I understood her heartfelt emotions.
I silently patted her back.
How much time passed?
After shuddering sobs for a while, Navardoje lifted her head.
"...Kuhng."
"All cried out?"
"For now... Good grief. Look at the state of my clothes."
Navardoje covered her mouth.
My top was soaked through like I'd been swimming.
Enough to kill a human from dehydration.
Fidgeting anxiously, she snapped her fingers.
Snap!
A cheerful sound rang out, and warmth enveloped my body.
"Oh."
"S-Sorry. Emotions got the better of me... Could you pretend this once didn't happen?"
Navardoje's face was flushed red, on the verge of exploding.
Steam rose faintly from her heated cheeks.
Who knew that was possible outside comics?
"What's the big deal? It's okay to cry when you're sad."
"St-Still, I shouldn't have... How can anyone follow a leader who acts like this?"
"They'd probably like it more. Especially a guy like Orse."
"You really...!"
I laughed, arms crossed behind my head.
Steam thickened over Navardoje's face.
Unable to speak, trembling, she cleared her throat.
"Ahem. Anyway, I understand your situation. Invaders from this world are crossing to your future world and wreaking havoc, so we need to stop them in advance?"
"Exactly."
"And to do that, we must destroy all the rifts connecting worlds... Very well."
Navardoje nodded.
Her face, tears wrung out, was noticeably brighter.
She rolled up her one-piece's sleeves and spoke with confident voice.
"I'll help however I can. A world that barely regained peace can't be invaded. For the sake of my children living there, too."
"Thank you."
"However... that mage Akasha you mentioned worries me. We've never seen her even once. If we'd met, she might have been useful to you."
This was unexpected.
Navardoje and the entire resistance had never encountered Akasha.
I definitely needed to pay more attention.
She wasn't a foe to take lightly, since she'd driven future folk to seek my aid.
Silence fell as conversation paused.
Only the echo of the cave giant king's footsteps resounded.
Glancing around, I tilted my head.
"By the way, where are we headed?"
The giant descended a long passage.
The slope was gentle but twisted like a maze.
Glowing moss thinned deeper in, vision growing darker.
"The most important place in this headquarters. Just wait leisurely, and we'll arrive."
"More important than where the sun is?"
"If we must rank them, yes. Actually... there's one more secret I haven't told you."
Navardoje's face turned serious for a moment.
Her gaze fixed not on me, but the heart of the darkness ahead.
"A secret?"
"Information known to only a few in the resistance. The secret to life breathing in this abyss isn't just my power. Below, the stone that has aided me stirs even now."
Navardoje pointed straight ahead with her index finger.
Her cryptic words furrowed my brow.
A stone, out of nowhere?
Gazing quietly ahead, she continued.
"...It's too slow, though. With time so precious, shall we use magic instead?"
"Yeah, that might be better."
"Good. Hold on tight, then. The stone holds such immense power that the surrounding mana field is distorted. One mistake, and your body could teleport in pieces."
"Pardon?"
I was about to ask what that meant.
Navardoje grabbed my wrist and began chanting incantation-like words.
A woman who snapped fingers for most spells, now this—already a bad omen.
"Wait a sec, damn it. Let's just go safely..."
"Then, let's move."
At that instant, Navardoje's chant completed.
A nauseating sensation hit, like my guts stuffed in a barrel and rolled.
No chance to say something was wrong.
Vision bleached white, then consciousness snapped.
The surroundings brightened.
"Gyaack!"
I shrieked like a strangled crow, bolting upright.
First thing: check if all limbs were attached.
Fortunately, all four were intact.
"Goddamn it, what the hell did you do!?"
Next, I bellowed.
Right now, I didn't care who she was.
Even if my parents returned alive, I'd yell the same.
It couldn't have gone wrong, right?
I'd experienced spatial teleport many times, but this sensation was a first.
"Urk."
The reply came from the corner.
Turning, I saw Navardoje slumped against the stone wall, dry-heaving.
Eyes moist, she'd already vomited some.
"What? You okay?"
"Hoo... Yes. I've only shown ugly sides today. Sorry."
"If it was this dangerous, we could've just ridden."
"True, but... I got impatient without thinking. Hard to explain. I just felt I had to show you this stone quickly."
Navardoje took my hand, standing.
Her pallid face suggested she'd fared no better.
Only now did I take in the surroundings.
"This is..."
"Quite beautiful, isn't it? The deepest part of this cavern."
Indeed, as she said.
It didn't feel underground like the resistance headquarters—wholly different atmosphere.
The vast chamber was covered in ores I'd never seen.
Pink, purple, blue-tinged green.
Odd rocks in varied shapes emitted dreamy hues, softly glowing.
In the center, a colorless stone protruded.
"That one?"
"Yes. You spotted it right away."
I pointed, and Navardoje nodded emphatically.
Definitely unusual.
Mana so dense the space warped visibly.
As if drawn, I approached.
The bizarre rock wasn't grown from the ground like a stalagmite—it hovered faintly in midair.
'Where have I seen this before?'
A fleeting sense of incongruity.
Oddly familiar stone.
The moment my hand touched the surface unconsciously.
A static jolt pierced my body.
Legs buckled, body swayed.
"...!!"
"What? What's wrong?"
Navardoje supported me, preventing a fall.
Goosebumps erupted everywhere.
I'd encountered this stone before.
In the temple Sarante managed, in the mental world I entered for release.
In the white space after defeating Abel.
Terribly weakened, but unmistakably that presence.
Steadying ragged breaths, I murmured the stone's name.
"...Seniel."