Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Firefly Crystal Fruit
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Among the many angels who serve the Lord,
one of them is the Light Angel. She can be anywhere and go wherever she pleases. When she blinks, it means she has decomposed herself into infinite possibilities—and since those possibilities can extend anywhere, that is what makes them possibilities. She selects one of those possibilities and reassembles herself. That is how she moves.
That is also why she serves as the messenger delivering the Lord's epistles, and why I paid such close attention to her. I tried to mimic her method to create a teleportation miracle that would let me zip from east to west in an instant.
Of course, replicating her ability with my current power is no easy task.
I could manage the decomposition somehow, but in the realm of possibilities, reassembling myself to return was beyond my capabilities. I only learned that much.
It would be a one-way trip from which I could never return. I wasn't reckless enough to attempt teleportation with such an unstable miracle.
The lesson I learned from that experience was simple: if you greedily chase too many things at once, you'll end up with nothing.
That is why I deliberately designed the Firefly Crystal Fruit with a single ability and nothing more. I even added a restriction so that it has no effect after the first time it's eaten.
Even so, the fruit reverted to light in less than three minutes. From the moment I picked it, I had a gut feeling it wouldn't last long.
‘I’ll need to eat it right after picking.’
While hanging from the golden tree that sucked up the reviving spring water, the fruit stayed fresh indefinitely. But the instant it was plucked, it became a ticking time bomb.
Putting it in my other miracle with the same origin, the Unassuming Jar, seemed to extend its life a bit, but even that would only last about a day at most. The fruit was incredibly unstable and needed to be eaten quickly.
Firefly Crystal Fruit.
It decomposes the self and reconstructs a new body. But it stops short of full decomposition and reassembly.
In this process, it regenerates the body to its peak condition. It transforms it in a better direction, making it completely different. It reshapes the bones and muscles, improves the meridians, and elevates all physical strength to a higher level.
It has this effect exactly once in a lifetime.
A second time...
Crunch!
...would probably just be like eating a tough peach.
Munch munch. I took one of those golden droplets and ate it. As expected, it had no effect on me, and my shattered body—crumbled like the Milky Way at night—remained unrestored.
A bland sweetness. Nothing but a tongue-numbing sweetness lingered.
‘The taste is sweeter than I expected.’
Yeah. Better than bread baked in a mud oven with no flavor at all.
Sure. Better than something completely tasteless. At least it had sweetness—even if it was overly intense, and I couldn't control that part. Still, it wasn't bitter, so that was a relief.
The important thing wasn't the taste. During this reconstruction of the body, it could remove the parts marked by the sun's curse. Of course, doing so would mean they were no longer vampires.
They would lose their dominion powers, no longer need to drink blood, and become indistinguishable from any other person with slightly pointy fangs. I'd warn them about this before giving them the fruit.
Whether they wanted to become human again,
or remain vampires, that was not for me to force.
I was simply giving them one way to escape the sun. If they wanted to live under the sun while keeping their vampiric traits, they'd have to seek answers elsewhere.
“W-what is this?”
If Roca had been awake, she surely would have asked, ‘Is this for eating?’
And, unusually for her, she would have been right.
Unfortunately, Roca was still sleeping soundly. Even with all the commotion around her.
The vampires showed interest in the Firefly Crystal Fruit from the jar, so I handed them one and asked.
“What do you think this is?”
“It looks like a water droplet... Is it some kind of cream you burst and rub on your body?”
No.
“Uh, what... Is it a fluorescent pebble to use instead of a lamp?”
If you want light for about three minutes? Better to just get a lamp.
I wanted to wait for other guesses, but I had too much to do, so I gave the answer first. It's for eating. Of course, the looks they gave weren't exactly friendly.
“I've never even heard of a glowing fruit you can eat.”
“Is it really safe to eat? Not that I'm saying you poisoned it, Priest...”
“It's not poison, but once you eat it, there's no going back.”
Poof!
They stared in bewilderment at the fruit that lit up as its three minutes ended and turned back to light. I explained what would happen if they ate it.
I thought they'd deliberate at length, but surprisingly, Viscount Leighton was the first to extend his hand to me. For whatever reason, he didn't even consider that the fruit might be dangerous.
No, perhaps he had no attachment left to life. His expression remained blankly vacant throughout.
“I trust you, Priest, and the one behind you. May I try it first?”
“Viscount, that...”
“It might be dangerous.”
The vampires behind him voiced their concerns, but Viscount Leighton ignored them, took the Firefly Crystal Fruit from me, and popped it into his mouth.
“Nothing's left for me anyway.”
Munch. Viscount Leighton muttered as he chewed the flesh.
“So even if this kills me, it might be for the best. At least it's sweet.”
Juice squirted out, and his face twisted at the excessive sweetness. His body jerked as if unable to handle the sugar rush five times stronger than pure sucrose—then suddenly began creaking.
Crack! Crunch! Crraack!
“W-what's happening?!”
His body trembled violently all of a sudden, but it didn't seem painful. His bones loosened on their own and realigned; his muscles rearranged into optimal form. His mana pathways reformed, and a gruesome twisting sound came from his body.
But everything ended well, and the reconstruction completed. When Viscount Leighton clenched his fist, his muscles coiled sharply with a crack.
He looked around, placed a hand on the marble bathtub, and groaned as he applied force. The marble warped like clay, molding into the shape of his hand. Of course, his face flushed red from the effort.
“Power... power is surging through me. What is this? What did you feed me?”
But this part was beyond even my expectations.
I just wanted to make a fruit that restored health. Why did your strength increase so much?
Suddenly, he gazed into the distance and took a deep breath. Then he slowly opened the bathroom door and stepped out. Naturally, we all followed him in a rush.
“Could the world be this... beautiful?”
The viscount suddenly started saying things that made no sense.
“Why does the world look so bright? Was it always this... bright? Why does breathing feel so refreshing? Why is power welling up inside me? Why do I feel so exhilarated?”
I swear, the Firefly Crystal Fruit's effects weren't that extreme.
The vampires stared at me all at once as Viscount Leighton raved like he'd taken some narcotic drug. Their faces screamed, “What drug did you give him?”
Indeed, Viscount Leighton seemed a bit off right now.
“No, no. The world has always been this bright.”
He passed through the ceiling-covered area and walked into the morning sun that had already risen. The vampires gasped, covering their mouths at the sight of him approaching the blazing sun—but nothing happened.
The sun didn't burn him. It didn't even notice him.
That utter indifference was exactly what they had longed for and desperately wanted.
“You just hated us until now, so we never knew...”
“You despised us, and we thought it natural. We didn't realize your curse paralyzed and weakened us. Because it was that way from birth... always that way.”
Tears streamed from his eyes. He spread his arms wide and basked in the sunlight for the first time in his life. Seeing him, the others all reached out to me.
My warning that they could no longer retain their vampiric traits seemed utterly irrelevant. I'd thought they'd weigh it seriously, but they had no lingering attachment to being vampires.
“Uwaaaah!”
“P-power overflows! Sun, here I come!”
“I'm seeing the sun! Bathed in sunlight! I'm, I'm seeing the morning sun!”
The vampires who consumed the Firefly Crystal Fruit leaped toward the sun en masse. Probably because, the moment they ate it, an unknown sensation vanished—the deep loathing as if the sun hated them—sending their moods into overdrive. Once they got used to it, they'd return to normal.
That drugged-up frenzy wouldn't last forever. Right?
Munch! Munch!
“That has no effect the second time!”
One person, too elated, rushed to the tree in the middle of the spring, plucked a fruit, and devoured it. Of course, eating two Firefly Crystal Fruits changed nothing. It wasn't a drug, after all.
“Out of the way! I need this for my wife at home.”
“You get out! My daughter is more important.”
“My grandma is eighty. She won't live much longer. My one wish is to let her see the sun before she goes.”
Some even forgot how the previous fruit had turned to light in under three minutes and climbed the tree to claim fruits. It took about fifteen minutes to pick all the ones I'd left—half the yield—and less than three minutes for them all to sublimate into light and vanish.
Only after every fruit was gone did they snap out of it. One wailed at the bare branches.
“Nooooo! Grandma, Grandmaaa!”
“It'll grow back by tomorrow around this time. Come back then... ideally with whoever plans to take it tomorrow night, and eat it right after picking.”
I'd done well to grow it over the reviving spring.
Human greed knows no bounds, and vampires are no different. Still, since the tree would keep bearing fruit, as long as they didn't chop it down, every vampire could eventually taste the Firefly Crystal Fruit.
“Priest, should we give this fruit to newborn children too?”
“I'm not sure, but it can't hurt, so why not try?”
“Saint. Does this fruit work on humans too?”
“Of course it do—Princess, you're eating it too?”
The princess rummaged through the Unassuming Jar I'd left inside, pulled out a crystal fruit, and bit into it the moment she heard my answer.
Her eyes widened. Unlike the vampires, she didn't seem overly euphoric, but instead lost in profound thought.
“The flow of mana has greatly improved...”
“My physical strength has grown stronger...”
“A superhuman legion...”
She murmured so softly that I caught only fragments and couldn't make out the full words.
As I approached the princess, someone gripped my shoulder firmly. Turning, I saw Viscount Leighton gazing at me with serene eyes.
Only after seeing his kin conquer the sun did light return to his eyes.
From a state of indifference to life or death, he now wanted to live. Another virtuous cycle brought by the Firefly Crystal Fruit.
“Priest. Now that I'm no longer afraid of the sun, I plan to head straight home and check on those who died in my mansion. I'm truly sorry to keep imposing, but you're the only one I can ask for help. The other priests won't aid me.”
With trembling hands, he pulled out his wallet, started to extract a bill, then closed it and offered the whole thing to me.
I declined, but he forced it into my pocket. I couldn't resist the strength of the man empowered by the Firefly Crystal Fruit.
“Could you please... pray for my deceased wife and son after death?”
If prayers can help the living, how could they not help the dead?
Praying for the departed is also what I, as a priest, must do. Moreover, I needed to visit Viscount Leighton's mansion myself. If what happened there was the work of humans or vampires, human power could stop it—but if it was something else...
No, it was probably just my imagination. Death gods don't come into existence so easily.
I could only hope so.
“And on Mesosan Mountain, there are children our lords culled and buried.”
I nodded at Viscount Leighton's continued words.
That was something I would have volunteered for even without his request.
“If you pray for them too, I'll offer additional compensation. Don't think of returning that wallet. I owe my life to the one you serve, so I can't skimp on recompense.”
Normally, I would have accepted. I'm poor, after all.
Especially with Roca's food costs... Just kidding. I believe wealth should go where it's needed.
If a rich man's fortune passes through me to those in need, that too is my duty.
Just as the Lord's divinity flows through me to where it must go, so too would the bills in that wallet reach those in need.
He wouldn't refuse a wealthy man's offering. But not now. How could I take money from a father who just lost his wife and son?
I pulled out the wallet and, instead of returning it, made one request.
“Then let me commission you with this money, Viscount. You have a trading company with a branch in the capital, so you must have access to the magic communication network. Could you send a message to the palace through it?”
“No problem. What should it say?”
“Please inform them that Princess Ardaine is still alive, heading to the capital soon, and they needn't worry.”
Viscount Leighton's eyes widened.
“The palace doesn't know the princess is here?”
“I beg you, please.”
“Understood. I'll head to headquarters, send the communication, and order preparations for your journey to the capital. I no longer have dominion powers, but I have plenty of money.”
From now on, he could still command employees by offering salaries.
I nodded at his words, then realized something chilling. Wait, does that mean until now he'd been bossing them around without pay?
...Must be a slip of the tongue.
“Then let's hurry.”
I called to the princess, who was still lost in thought.
“We might already be too late.”
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