Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Revival (2)
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A spiral staircase leading to the laboratory came into view. Jarodin grabbed Ronan's shoulders and opened his mouth.
"We need to begin the 144th experiment. Right now."
"Right now?"
Instead of answering, Jarodin turned around. He descended the stairs with unsteady steps, like a deer planting its legs firmly. The Essence of Progenitor Blood was still clutched in Ronan's hand.
"Damn it."
Ronan scratched his head and followed Jarodin. The dim laboratory was still thick with the smell of ink, rust, and heavy rose scent.
The glass tube containing Sunya glimmered like starlight in the distance. Ronan stepped over the scattered books littering the floor like fallen leaves.
"You're late."
Jarodin, who had arrived ahead, was frantically rifling through his own notes like a madman. Without even turning his head, he held out his hand.
"Hand it over. We need to extract the mana right away."
"Isn't the whole thing supposed to go in?"
"A tiny amount will suffice. It'll be over quickly, so just wait a moment."
On the worn desk were the tools he had used previously to extract mana from Sarante's ring. Taking the Essence of Progenitor Blood, Jarodin immediately began the extraction.
True to his word, it took less than ten minutes to complete. The separated progenitor mana pulsed within a small flask. Jarodin took a deep breath and continued.
"Then, we begin the 144th revival experiment. Experimenter: Jarodin Stonesong. Subject: Sunya."
Jarodin headed to the glass tube, holding two flasks. The other one contained the mana extracted from the ring, rippling gently.
Sunya floated in the center of the tube, still with her eyes closed. She was dressed in a gown different from the one before.
As Jarodin chanted the spell, the two types of mana from the flasks transferred into the glass tube. It looked just like red and blue paints dissolving. A cracked voice leaked from his parched lips.
"...Please."
Shoooo— The mana mixed with some unknown liquid and slowly seeped into Sunya's body. Jarodin watched for a long while before turning away.
"I suppose I should say this first. Thank you."
"Is it done?"
"No. We have to wait until all the mana has seeped in. About an hour, and we'll have the results."
Expectation and resignation were equally mixed on Jarodin's face. It was the expression of someone fully aware that this was just one of countless attempts. Jarodin said,
"I apologize for rushing you earlier. The fresher the Essence of Progenitor Blood, the better."
"It's fine."
"Thank you for understanding. Do you have some time?"
"Yes."
"Then let's talk for a bit."
Ronan nodded. They had mountains of questions for each other anyway. The two sat side by side on the bed and began conversing.
"Why are you helping me?"
"Because I want to."
"If you don't want to say, I won't pry. But I must know this one thing. What did you do to get your hands on this mad vampire's essence?"
"What? You knew?"
"Yes. I suspected, but it turned out to be from the one I know."
"Uh... It's kind of a long story."
Ronan briefly explained what had happened the night before, of course with some appropriate embellishments. The Blood Hook conspiracy, the bet with Balzac in the abandoned mausoleum. As the story progressed, Jarodin's eyes gradually widened.
"Betting yourself? You're completely insane."
"As long as the outcome is good."
"By the way, that Balzac fellow. That vampire is still looking for me?"
"He was obsessed, totally unhinged. What amazing experience did you give him to turn out like that?"
"Too many guesses, I can't even answer. We fought battles where dying ten times each wouldn't be strange."
Jarodin asked various questions about Balzac's current situation. Ronan answered as he wished. Stroking his chin and listening intently, Jarodin spoke.
"...I've felt it before, but seeing you reminds me of my younger days."
"Suddenly?"
"Yes. Back when I feared nothing. When I delusionally thought the world revolved around me."
Ronan raised an eyebrow. Jarodin suddenly began talking about his past. His youth had grown straight upward like a tree without branches.
"The Stonesong family was the foremost magical noble house in the south. I was a genius who appears once every few hundred years even there. Wealth and honor were as natural as the rising sun every morning."
"Hearing you say it yourself makes you sound awfully obnoxious."
"Yes. Arrogant, and arrogant again. Back then, I treated everyone, including my family, like goldfish walking on two legs."
Jarodin was a genius. He solved challenges that others spent lifetimes on as easily as blowing his nose on tissue. He sought out the strong for challenges, but ended up mocking their lifelong efforts.
Around eighteen, everything became boring, so he set off wandering. For rampaging on bloodlust, nothing beat being a freelance mercenary.
With skill came money, but he spent it all that same night on booze and women, he said. Ronan was completely immersed in his story. He felt considerable empathy from that trashy lifestyle.
"You were the epitome of a wastrel."
"I won't deny it. If not for those two women, I'd probably still be living like that."
"One's your wife. Who was the other?"
"Naviroje. The monster you know well."
They first met in the great southern jungle. Naviroje was also a freelance mercenary back then, and amusingly, the clients wanted each to capture the other. Like Jarodin, her personality was very different from now, he said.
"I can still hear it. 'If you don't go all out, I'll cut off your head and make it a lantern.'"
"Damn, our instructor? She must've been wild."
"Balzac was tamer. The students should have seen that monster piercing a coconut with her pinky and chugging it."
Jarodin shook his head as if it exasperated him still. He described his deathmatch with Naviroje over nearly thirty minutes.
Rocks rose like tidal waves filling lakes, and each massive sword beam severed hundreds of trees. The duel starting at noon ended at midnight. The victor was Naviroje.
"That was my first defeat in life. No matter what I tried, I couldn't win. That monster tossed my half-crippled body into the middle of the jungle and left."
"...Wilder than I thought."
"Expensive lesson in humility. If Sunya hadn't heard the noise and come, I really would've become beast food."
Sunya was a native of the jungle. She took the half-crippled Jarodin to her village and nursed him for nearly a year. It would've been strange not to fall in love. At some point, Jarodin couldn't imagine days without her.
"I couldn't even eat alone, sleeping on a straw bed. But looking back, those were the happiest times."
They naturally became lovers, and eventually married with the natives' blessings. Fully recovered, Jarodin immediately took Sunya back to the Stonesong family. Up to here, all was well. Suddenly, a shadow fell over Jarodin's face.
"The problem was that I was an idiot."
But the gazes toward Sunya were never kind. The family treated her more like a curious exhibit than Jarodin Stonesong's wife.
Of course, Sunya didn't mind the contempt. She loved her husband as always. The problem was Jarodin. He didn't get angry at those asking such questions. A feeble voice came from Jarodin's mouth.
"...I started to feel ashamed of my wife."
"What the fuck."
Ronan nearly drew his sword. There were about ten minutes left until the experiment ended. Jarodin continued.
"People constantly asked why I married her. I gave different answers each time. For amicability with the natives, for some magical research... Some questions happened with my wife present."
Each time, Jarodin apologized to his wife. Presenting her favorite roses. Sunya always smiled like a fool and said it was fine.
She died around the time Jarodin stopped even saying sorry. He came home from work to find her dead, he said.
"Don't you know why she died?"
"No. Not disease, not poison. I couldn't determine the cause."
No method revealed the cause. What followed matched what Ronan had read in the diary.
He threw everything away to revive his wife. Finishing the story, Jarodin fell silent. Ronan spat on the floor and stood.
"Harsh to say, but Professor, you were a real bastard. Even a beast would be better."
"I won't deny it."
"So you're reviving her to find the cause of death?"
"Of course that's part of it. I need to apologize too. But the biggest reason is to answer that question asked countless times. Why I married her."
"What will you say?"
"First, no matter who it is, I'll punch them in the face. And..."
Trailing off, Jarodin looked up at Ronan. His eyes, deeply embedded in their sockets, were bloodshot red. His mouth opened softly.
"I'll just say I married her because I loved her."
Ronan couldn't say a word. At that moment, a bell rang signaling the hour had passed. Both turned simultaneously to look at the glass tube. Jarodin's face stiffened.
"......"
No mana remained visible. Sunya still had her eyes closed. After watching five more minutes, Jarodin stood.
He placed a hand on the glass tube and murmured softly.
"...Failure."
Jarodin's expression was impassive. He shuffled to the desk and collapsed into the chair.
Soon, the scratching of a quill pen echoed in the silence. He was surely writing about the 144th failure. Ronan twisted his lips.
"Damn it..."
In a way, it was expected. Despite the grand materials, this was just one of countless attempts. As Ronan turned to leave, an odd sound tickled his ear.
-Bubble.
"Hm?"
Ronan turned back. His eyes widened. Suppressing the urge to shout, he called to Jarodin scribbling his report.
"...Jarodin?"
"What is it."
"You need to come see this."
Jarodin slowly turned his head. Ronan was pointing at the glass tube with bulging eyes. His gaze reached Sunya. The quill pen fell to the floor.
"...My god."
Jarodin stood. His legs gave way, and he couldn't rise at once. Covering the short distance of less than five steps, he stumbled three times.
Finally reaching the tube, he sank to the floor. Transparent tears streamed endlessly down Jarodin's cheeks. Clutching the tube, he buried his face. His slender shoulders began to shake.
"Ah... Aaaah..."
Bubbles rose from Sunya's mouth. They came at steady intervals, like breaths. A faint rosy hue tinged her lead-pale skin.
Ronan exited Tower 41. The atmosphere wasn't one to linger in. Jarodin, sobbing while clinging to the glass tube, had thrown himself back into his mad research.
'Well, it worked out. It was different from before.'
The 144th revival attempt wasn't a failure. Sunya had begun breathing again, showing signs of life as a living being.
Her consciousness hadn't returned yet, as her eyes remained closed. Whether Jarodin had truly succeeded in fully resurrecting a person would require more observation.
Ronan thought of Jarodin and Sunya's story the whole way across campus. What a complicated tale about the human heart.
'Married her because I loved her.'
Ronan returned straight to the dormitory. Even the sleepiness from earlier had vanished. As he was about to enter the building, a familiar voice called from behind.
"Ronan."
Ronan turned. A tall girl leaned against the building wall, holding a Martial Arts Department coat. Ronan tilted his head.
"Adeshan?"
"Yeah. Not that long... just a day."
"What brings you here?"
"Empire's Rising Star was looking for you, so I came just in case. Something about moving."
"Moving?"
"Yeah. Said it was urgent. Asked you to come to the club building quick."
"That damn bastard up to something again... Thanks for telling me."
He wanted to ignore it, but it wasn't something he could. As Ronan turned to go, Adeshan pulled away from the wall and grabbed his sleeve.
"Wait a sec."