Chapter 277: Taking It Back
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 277: Taking It Back
—CRASH!!
"Defense skill! Use a defense skill!!"
"I've already used them all!"
—SHATTER!!!
At the training grounds owned by the Mayerbridge Union in the Northeast, an unidentified creature—or perhaps a person, it was hard to tell—was absolutely demolishing explorers, regardless of whether they were beginners or veterans.
"How peaceful."
"Your perspective is really weird..."
While I was resting on a bench, several synthetic monsters I’d created were dealing with the explorers. I think I’d summoned about eight in total. Requests for sparring kept coming in, and since I only have one body, I was spread thin. Fortunately, I have the ability to create new bodies.
It’s not like I’m setting them up on dates. If it’s a body that knows how to fight, I can churn out as many as I need.
"What on earth is going on here...?"
Melis Superiora, the captain of Scarlet Lotus—the Mayerbridge Union’s No. 2 full party, where Delbaheim serves as vice-captain—stepped out for a moment to survey the chaotic training grounds.
As had been the case lately, a large number of outside explorers were using the facility, which wasn't unusual. However...
"What are those...?"
Giant figures clad in something resembling pitch-black armor were taking on dozens of explorers at once. Based on their size and appearance alone, they looked menacing enough to be considered immediate threats.
'Are they holding back...?'
Fortunately, it didn't look like anyone was actually getting hurt. And for some reason, a sense of déjà vu kept nagging at her, as if she had seen this somewhere before.
"Ah!"
As she calmly sifted through her memories, one image stood out.
"The Antonio Brotherhood subjugation war?!"
That was it. The bone-chilling battle she had witnessed through her clairvoyance. Though slightly different, the vibe was almost ninety percent identical. She looked around for someone who might have been watching longer, and one person caught her eye.
"Rubia! Rike! What’s happening?"
"Ah! Captain Superiora!"
A blonde, golden-eyed girl sitting on a bench with her eyes wide, and a woman with navy hair and an impressive bust. They were Rubia Spanya and Rike, relatively new but excellent combatants of the Mayerbridge Union.
"Where did those things come from?"
"Those?"
Melis pointed to where the dark-red glowing figures were currently wrecking the explorers. Rubia stood up and pointed to a man sitting a short distance away on the next bench.
"That’s Aven. You’ve heard the name, right?"
"Aven...! I see!"
The name had been fuzzy, but hearing it brought it all back. The man who had faced off against Mystery Antoinette in the Southeast central district. The man connected to the highest echelons of the Mayerbridge Union.
'Wait, that’s what he looks like...?'
But looking at his face, he was slightly... no, very different from what she had expected. To think the person who fought that monstrous battle was such a youthful, handsome young man. To be blunt, she had expected a bald man covered in wrinkles and scars—a monster-like figure with at least two facial features missing.
Since he was an acquaintance of Soles Getia and Delbaheim, she had assumed he wouldn't be someone who looked so young.
"Excuse me, Mr. Aven?"
If his exterior wasn't strange, was he perhaps twisted on the inside? A monster wearing the skin of a handsome man? Since her first impression of the man named Aven was his duel with Lilith Astaroth, Yoo Eon had a bit of that image in Melis Superiora's mind.
"Hm? Who are you?"
"Ah, I am Melis Superiora, captain of the Mayerbridge Union’s No. 2 full party, Scarlet Lotus."
"Oh, you're a high-ranking official."
Yoo Eon stood up, brushed off his back, and offered a polite handshake. Melis was surprised once again by his reaction, which was far more normal than she had anticipated.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Aven, the explorer."
"Ah, yes... nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you. You were the one who provided the Mayerbridge Union with advance information about the Southeast subjugation war, right?"
"Ah, that’s right. I figured if the Mayerbridge Union could respond quickly, the damage to the Northeast would be minimized."
He felt a bit unique, but she didn't sense anything overwhelming from him right now. Her impression was simply that of a polite and upright young man.
'It’s strange. Is he really the protagonist of that battle I saw...?'
She was skeptical, but seeing as he had brought those black-armored knights who were currently pulverizing the explorers, she figured it must be true.
"And those... people? Are they your comrades?"
"Those? Uh, well..."
Yoo Eon hesitated to answer for a moment. Since "those people" Melis referred to were synthetic monsters he had created, he spent a good while pondering how to respond.
'Hmm, what are they exactly?'
It was a difficult conclusion to reach. What were those things? Calling them familiars felt a bit off. They weren't exactly comrades either. Subordinates? That didn't quite fit either.
"Chimera" was the closest term, but generally, a chimera was just a few monsters stitched together. Calling those things—made by blending brains, organs, blood, muscle fibers, and everything else—a chimera felt like an understatement.
"Golems? Hmm... Flesh Golems...?"
"Flesh Golems...?"
Superiora asked again, thinking she had misheard, but Yoo Eon only responded with a nod.
Broadly speaking, a Flesh Golem was a powerful monster belonging to the Necro Species, specifically the undead category. They were high-ranking monsters typically found in the deepest floors of labyrinths like Melbatos or Breeze Valley.
They were essentially golems made of woven piles of meat and flesh. Usually, they were perceived as stupid, rage-filled monsters that relied on their sheer physical size and strength rather than skill.
A Flesh Golem's brain was typically made by weaving three or more brains together. To prevent the different egos from clashing, their intelligence was collapsed, and they were soaked in frenzy magic or stimulants until only aggression remained.
"Hmm...?"
The general consensus was that Flesh Golems were grotesque and hideous, but these didn't give off that vibe at all. They looked remarkably human, with no glaring abnormalities. One could easily mistake them for people wearing unique black armor.
Except for the fact that each individual possessed mana and skill comparable to a high-ranking explorer.
"They... they won't hurt people, right?"
"Yes, of course. They're safe."
Indeed, to have a skill that could create such monsters... he was certainly a talent worthy of being mentioned repeatedly by Clan Master Soles Getia and the veteran Delbaheim. She figured his unique abilities were likely why he was so effective during the Southeast subjugation war.
"Mr. Aven, what is your explorer grade?"
"My grade?"
Yoo Eon thought for a moment at Melis's question before speaking.
"I'm currently undergoing a promotion evaluation."
"Oh, I see. Is it for Palladium? Or Titanium?"
"Orichalcum."
"Oh."
* * *
After dealing with the swarming explorers one by one, it had gotten quite late. Melis Superiora had asked me to come back again, but this kind of thing was a bit too time-consuming.
"Iris."
"Yeah."
To tell her about what happened at the Spanya Estate, I paid a visit to the magic item shop where Iris was sealed. Honestly, calling it a magic item shop was a stretch; it was mostly a storage locker for Iris's secluded masturbation toys. Though she seemed to be using them less lately.
"So, that happened."
"Are you trying to gloss over it by pretending you explained?"
"We were one body, weren't we?"
Surprisingly, I wasn't joking. I tried to fudge the details because the explanation would be long, but apparently, she couldn't sense exactly what had transpired.
"I met a Banshee. She was the former wife of the Lord, and she was multiplying corpses through mana erosion."
"Yeah. Sounds normal."
"Is that normal?"
"Famines and mass deaths are common in places where the Hollow Breeze occurs."
"Scary stuff."
Sometimes the surrounding area itself becomes unusable due to mana erosion, and sometimes it happens to people, like with Misiri Spanya. Either way, mana erosion eventually spreads through the region, creating an environment ripe for the Hollow Breeze.
"The Hollow Breeze probably won't happen in the Spanya Estate now."
"That's a shame."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Wasn't the goal to pinpoint the origin point?"
"Ah."
Well, that was true, but still. Letting the Hollow Breeze happen in an acquaintance's territory felt wrong. If I could stop it, I wanted to.
"It'll just happen somewhere else."
"That... can't be helped. I'm not a god who can do everything."
I'm a human, not a god. I can't prioritize strangers over my friends. I'm the type of person who would sacrifice five strangers to save one friend in a trolley dilemma.
"Right, that's good then."
"Do I have to keep going around trying to pinpoint where the Hollow Breeze will occur?"
"Not if it's a hassle."
"I suppose. It'll happen anyway, and I'll find out then."
This meant that, as Iris had said before, I really did have a two-month vacation. I had quite a bit of free time on my hands, so I’d have to think about what to do for the next two months.
"Hmm."
Come to think of it.
"Iris."
"Yeah."
"Is there anything you want from me?"
Thinking about it, I owed Iris a lot. One way or another, she was the one helping me. Without Iris, I probably wouldn't have been able to stop the Antonio Brotherhood's invasion of Calax.
I’d repaid the favors I received from others, but I felt like I hadn't done that for Iris yet. She was just such a unique person.
"Anything?"
"Well... within the limits of what I can do without causing problems."
As usual, Iris rested her chin on the magic item shop desk and looked at me indifferently.
"Are you going to take it back?"
"Take what back? The offer? I won't. I've received a lot from you, Iris."
And then, silence again. After about three minutes of Iris's silence—where I couldn't tell if she was thinking or sleeping with her eyes open—she spoke.
"Take it off."
"Pardon?"
Can I take it back?