Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: Limits and Fears
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"No more is possible."
"We can no longer obtain large quantities of water or ice attribute stones. It's not a matter of money—there simply aren't any available."
"The same goes for slaves or members of races with those traits. Mermaids can't be captured in the first place. Even if we managed to snag one or two, it wouldn't mean anything."
Caiman looked down at his subordinate, who was prostrating desperately amid the urgent report, with cold eyes.
"Additionally, we're tracking the Orb of the Stormwind, but all we can do is interfere enough to prevent them from handing it off wherever they want."
Both the pursuers and the pursued were powerful elites. As such, it was a tense tug-of-war where neither side could shake the other off in one go or catch them outright—they just kept drawing apart and closing in repeatedly.
That meant the Orb of the Stormwind wouldn't reach Caiman's hands, nor those of the faction it had been stolen from, anytime soon.
At those words, Caiman let out a hollow laugh.
Red mana bloomed wherever his breath passed, flickering briefly into flames before dying out.
". . . A pity."
All that preparation and effort, and in the end, it wasn't to be entirely his.
Caiman rubbed his furrowed brow. He had transferred quite a bit of the fire essence's power into himself, but its inherent strength was simply too overwhelming from the start.
Pushing further would be nothing short of gambling.
Even blending it with other elements to neutralize the fire mana had reached its limit.
'If I get greedy . . .'
He'd have to stake his life on it.
Success would turn him into a fire dragonkin, but failure would leave not even a handful of ashes—he'd offer everything back to that fire essence in full.
And Caiman was far too calculating, with far too much to lose, for such a gamble.
"In the end, I couldn't contain the essence on my own."
He had to quickly acknowledge what needed acknowledging, then weigh the gains and losses.
It was Kruger's instinct, honed over long years of constantly measuring against the continent.
"Gadia's vacation from the academy will be soon. Bring her here."
At Caiman's words, those prostrating at a distance from him trembled.
"Surely . . . you don't mean to . . ."
If they weren't his most loyal followers here, they might have thought, 'He's gone mad with power and plans to sacrifice even Gadia to neutralize that fire mana.'
To the outside world, Caiman had sent only Gadia far away to the academy, while keeping Adelian by his side despite all his wastrel antics tarnishing the family's glory—so it seemed he favored only Adelian.
Moreover, Gadia hated Caiman for doting solely on Adelian, and loathed him further for her mother's death in childbirth—leading her to despise men altogether.
But the truth was different.
"Yes, it's time to share the power of the fire essence I've refined in my own body with Gadia."
His daughter, who resembled his late duchess.
The only person cherished by Caiman, called a serpent of unknowable depths with cold blood.
The sole being with whom he could gladly share the power forged from all this karma and suffering.
That was Gadia.
"Then . . . what of Young Master Adelian?"
At the question, Caiman twisted his lips into a smile.
"That child is nothing more than bait, as always."
His value from the start was merely as Gadia's shield.
Or perhaps just a living vault for Kruger's ring.
Caiman was so overwhelmingly strong that not even the collateral bloodlines dared bare their fangs, but ever-suspicious, he had used Adelian from childhood to free Gadia from even the remotest risk of assassination.
"As always, leave him be. All he can do is live dissolutely and put up pointless resistance."
No need to protect him, no need to watch him.
No need to know his current status, no reason to factor him into future plans.
His mere existence was enough—and if he died, it would just be a hassle to find a new vault for Kruger's ring.
"If not for this turbulent, violent mana space, there'd be no need to keep Kruger's ring out in the open—and thus, that child would have no value at all."
Merely a lowly thing, at best.
Caiman rested his hand on the armrest, propped his chin, and smiled slowly.
"When the time comes, bring only Gadia here safely."
* * *
'What the hell.'
I had only sat Levi on the bed and moved my body.
Yet what I saw wasn't inside the magical tent, but some vague space.
A forest one moment, then the sea, then an airship, then the cabin of an overturned ship.
Like a disjointed dream.
'For now, don't move right away.'
First, think about why I'm suddenly here.
Right now, I was sitting on what had become a sandy beach.
The sea didn't even have waves crashing—just eerily still ripples, like a sheet of glass laid over it.
At its edge, the sky had sunset on one side and sunrise on the other, with the moon wheeling overhead.
Thinking back to what happened with Levi, it had to be the Sea Witch's blessing.
But that was supposed to confront each person with their deepest fear.
'What's mine, then.'
I knew the buoyant sensation meant its benevolence had skipped me somehow. And for some reason, since Levi was in my arms—in contact with me—I might have gotten tangled up in hers.
The Sea Witch's dungeon was classified more as witchcraft than magic. Witchcraft was a bit more tied to the spiritual than pure magic.
Of course, this was just my guess based on otaku-level knowledge from over-immersion, so delving into specifics like black magic or soul magic might differ.
'But what is this place?'
Say Levi's contact dragged me in.
Then what about here?
I rubbed my chin, pondering deeply, then stood up. Time to move.
At least, this was definitely not my nightmare.
So the immediate conclusion: this was one of our party's fears.
'Can't leave them alone.'
The Sea Witch probably wanted us to overcome it with our own strength.
'Whatever.'
I didn't bring my crew here just to boost stats.
Those rewards after clearing the dungeon?
I didn't need them.
My companions' mental state was worth more. Since I'm already intruding like this, I can just force-wake them.
'Ah, no way.'
Maybe because of the rope I pulled from the subspace at the end.
If someone grabbed it and that counted as contact.
'No, right before passing out, someone yanked me.'
Two assumptions, then. Either the rope counted as contact, or whoever hugged me right before blackout got flagged.
As I walked, dark night and bright day alternated with every step.
What fear would create a space like this?
"Ahaha! Haha. Die! Just die! Ugh . . . sob . . . huff . . . hee hee. La la la."
A voice both unfamiliar and familiar echoed from somewhere.
More precisely, a familiar timbre rang in my brain through my ears.
'Leaf.'
I ran toward the sound through the space twisting like a tangle once more.
With each step, flowers bloomed or swamps formed; the sky rippled, and unidentified ruins rose and crumbled.
What a golem like Leaf would fear most.
'Something that can't be analyzed or understood.'
"Ah . . . ahhh! No. No, it's fun. So much fun! What am I? Me. What is smiling?"
Like something inside her had broken, she suddenly laughed, got angry, raged, then delighted.
As if uncontrollable emotions had been forcibly poured into Leaf, who barely had any.
Uncontrollable emotions in an unanalyzable space.
Deeper than anywhere else, Leaf sat collapsed, pounding the ground with her palms and laughing, then clawing it with nails and sobbing, smashing it with fists in rage before collapsing to hum.
But look closely: her eyes shook whether laughing, crying, angry, or joyful.
As if this self was alien and terrifying to her.
The joy and rage, sorrow and pleasure grew ever more violent.
She couldn't contain herself.
She'd bounce in place happily, then wail like she'd lost everything, clap laughing until her stomach hurt, then fume uncontrollably, glance around, and finally raise a hand to slap her own cheek.
"Leaf!"
I rushed over and grabbed her hand. Normally, her strength would drag me along, but the gripped hand didn't budge.
"Haha! Administrator? It hurts . . . it hurts . . . Let go . . . sob."
Laughing at me one moment, crying the next.
At her cry of pain, I instinctively released her hand—the flesh, imprinted white in my hand's shape, flushed red with a handprint rising.
'. . . Not a golem.'
"Look, Administrator. I've . . . I've become weak. Hahaha! Isn't it fun? Laugh! No . . . I can still follow orders perfectly. Regeneration . . . regeneration won't work! Why? Why won't it heal?"
Leaf's hand was chipped nails bleeding, covered in scratches from pounding and clawing the ground.
Sudden changes around her, changes in herself.
Emotions that couldn't be calculated.
Is that your fear?
But that's what living is.
I brushed back her disheveled hair amid her crying, laughing, and raging, then stroked her head.
"It's okay."
Even if you can't do anything. Even if you can't adapt to this sudden change, fear the unfamiliar environment, and feel useless to me.
"You know I never asked only that of you."
If I'd only thought in terms of efficiency and utility, treating Leaf as mere tool.
We both knew how much more she could do under "performance enhancement."
Golems had no concept of death as long as the core was intact—you could cut, smash, glue, twist them endlessly.
I'd hoped that impassive face would someday smile, but not like this.
Suppressing a rising anger I couldn't explain, I smiled, hugged Leaf, and soothed her.
"I really, really love the way you write, too."
Even if you're not my shield—Cain can handle that.
Drawings would be great, but writing's fine. What you want is what I want from you.
The rippling scenery melted away. Warmth brushed my body; squinting, I saw the edge of the magical tent.
"You scared me!"
Something soft thudded against my leg.
Looking down at my lap, Leaf nestled expressionless—but to me, a bit bashfully.
I picked up Levi clinging to my leg, laughed, handed her to Leaf, then shrugged as I pulled fruit and water from the subspace for them.
"Levi, how long was I gone?"
"Hmm. About five minutes?"
I nodded knowingly, then looked at Leaf.
―Sorry for showing you that, Administrator.
"It's that kind of dungeon. You okay? Anyway, Leaf—you grabbed me in the water, right?"
―Yes.
She seemed more curt than usual, but actually quite embarrassed.
I stroked both Leaf and Levi's heads.
"You all grabbed the rope, right?"
―Yes. Definitely. Right before transfer, the mana signatures on the rope showed everyone was pulled in.
After hearing the rundown lightly, I poured hot water from the kettle over the campfire inside the tent for the two, nodded, and stood.
"I'll go fetch the others quick."
If my hunch was right, moving the rope's length would lead me to them all.
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