Embracing, Dwelling, and Being Born (3)
I let out a small, wry chuckle. After spending over three hours straight inside the bookstore, I decided to chalk up the time I’d spent researching this date course as simply acquiring some general geographic knowledge.
That was when Veronica finally seemed to snap back to her senses. She blinked at me, as if only just noticing that I was sitting beside her reading a book. Up until that moment, she had probably been operating on the simple loop of reading books with husband = happy. The way her expression changed was so obvious it was like someone had splashed cold water on her face. I couldn’t possibly miss it.
Still, if we were calling this a bookstore date, it had been a perfectly wholesome and enjoyable time.
“S-shall we leave now?”
“Sure. Want to buy a few more books? They’re easy to resell, after all.”
It wasn’t entirely true, but I told a white lie so Veronica wouldn’t feel awkward about it. Thankfully, my shallow deception didn’t get exposed on the spot.
We look forward to your next visit!
Over the course of three hours, the books we had already purchased and the new ones we selected were all sucked into the slate tablet. The total easily exceeded ten volumes. Even so, I could sense a faint reluctance from Veronica as she paid for them with her own money.
Watching my wife like that, I felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe I should have paid more attention to these small, everyday things rather than chasing after some grand, distant goal like breaking the divine curse on her clan.
The fact that Veronica had never asked me for anything first might have been because she was content with our current life, but perhaps it was also because she wasn’t familiar enough with human society to know what to even wish for. The guilt hit me like a truck, and my self-loathing meter shot straight to maximum.
…I want to give her something simple, like accessories. Would she be happier with souvenirs rather than jewelry?
That guilt quickly transformed into a desire to make up for it. Sorry for being so materialistic. Look, my dad used to apologize for forgetting anniversaries with a bouquet and department store gift certificates. Growing up under him, the fact that I’m exactly the same is clearly a family environment issue. It’s not my fault.
Anyway, she even decorated her room with that cheap-looking cat statue I bought her last time. There should be a souvenir shop just to the left from here──
—Screeech!
I spotted a sign that read “Ring Sale” on a jewelry shop a hundred meters ahead and immediately executed a sharp right turn at Mach speed.
“Veronica, we’re going right next.”
“Hm? Oh, very well.”
Luckily, Veronica had been too busy looking around at the street scenery to notice. She followed my lead without suspicion. I breathed a sigh of relief inside.
Fuck!! That scared the shit out of me!!
I mentally hurled a whole bucket of curses at the innocent jewelry store. If Veronica had stopped in front of that place, it would have been an absolute catastrophe. Our fun, happy date would have instantly turned into a manifestation of hell.
Would Dana cry? Would Veronica cry? Or would our dear Tirsi, whose turn I’d just cut in front of, hold this grudge for the rest of her life? Or would the goddess I’d just wronged spend the rest of her days wondering what number she was in my heart? Those were the choices.
What kind of dogshit balance-breaking game was this? No matter which option I picked, it was a straight shot to a bad ending. If this were a visual novel, it would be an instant Steam refund.
Next time, baby.
I slapped a “pending” sticker on the damn jewelry shop and circled around to the souvenir store instead. It was the kind of place that sold everything from alcohol to accessories. Veronica, who had been walking hand-in-hand with me, suddenly stopped.
“This presence…”
“What’s wrong?”
Veronica frowned at my question and looked around. Her hand moved to the bracelet on her wrist, and mana stirred in her eyes, but thankfully it didn’t seem like we were about to get into a fight.
“Husband. Could you follow me for a moment?”
“Doesn’t look dangerous. Alright, let’s go.”
Now it was Veronica’s turn to grab my hand and pull me along—the complete opposite of earlier. I followed her lead into an alleyway. Even though it was an alley, it didn’t feel like the kind of shady place where evil bastards would lurk. It was more like the back alley behind a convenience store. There was a wide backyard like a construction site, stacked with boxes, and two men were talking with a young girl there.
We deeply regret that the commemorative wine brewed in large quantities has become dead stock. Then, if you’ll excuse me.
One of the men said that and left the yard. The remaining man looked flustered as he said something to the girl and chased after him. Veronica’s face lit up when she saw the girl who had been left behind.
“As I thought!”
I understood the reason for her surprised exclamation. I had figured out why Veronica had come all the way here.
“Veronica. In that form, she won’t recognize you.”
“Ah… that’s true.”
Veronica, who had been about to approach the girl without thinking, made an “oops” face at my words and transformed into pony mode. Even though it was a humiliating appearance for her, she didn’t hesitate at all. She must have been that happy about the reunion.
…Ah!!
The girl also recognized Veronica, who had transformed into her cursed form. The girl, who had been trudging back toward the house with a gloomy face, brightened up noticeably. Without any wariness toward me or Veronica, she flung the door wide open and came running out.
Brother Arthur! Pony!
The pony-transformed Veronica flinched. Ah, right. Back then, the curse had been at its maximum, so she couldn’t speak a single word to anyone except me. No wonder she didn’t know the girl’s name.
I shook my head and slipped back into the speech pattern I had used as Arthur Wayne.
It’s been a while, Rozanna.
She was the young Romanian hunchback girl who had taken care of Veronica while she was captured by the circus troupe last year.
***
No matter how bad I am at remembering names, I wasn’t about to forget a pitiful girl with only three letters in her name. Rozanna, whose forcibly bent back had healed perfectly and returned to being an ordinary girl, had moved to Etur Lasna with her father, who worked as a brewer. It was for the city’s better security and to treat her spine.
Everything is thanks to Mr. Wayne’s support funds.
— Mauro
Rozanna’s father, Mauro, said that and burst into tears. I had transformed my clothes and a wooden block into a mask and costume to match the Arthur Wayne persona, so I just smiled awkwardly. The man who had once had his daughter kidnapped had freaked out at my suspicious appearance at first, but after listening to Rozanna’s explanation, he had invited us into his home.
“The security is better than where we used to live, and there’s even a high-ranking priest from the Pomona Church here, so our whole family was able to return to normal like this. Truly, truly, thank you!!”
“I’m glad to see you’re all doing well.”
From experience, I knew denying it would be pointless, so I simply shrugged. It had been a small connection and a coincidental reunion, but there was a reason I had deliberately come all the way here. The biggest reason was that Veronica would want to express her gratitude to Rozanna. The second was my own personal questions and curiosity.
“Actually, I may not be in a position to receive thanks. There’s a chance that misfortune might befall your household because of me.”
“You returned our daughter to us when we could not have fallen any further. What does a little misfortune matter?”
It could be far from little, which was exactly the problem. I barely held back a sigh and continued.
“I hope that’s the case. In that spirit, I’d like to ask—after reuniting with your daughter, has anyone suspicious asked about my appearance or characteristics? To any member of your family?”
“About Mr. Wayne…? No, there hasn’t been anyone.”
Mauro shook his head firmly in denial.
“I have heard that my daughter saw Mr. Wayne’s… well, his bare face.”
“Yes. It was a coincidence.”
“Even if it was a coincidence for you, it was a miracle for us. I remind her every single day, so she would not have spoken of it to anyone. Of course, neither have I. If I had known, I would have sent a letter of gratitude to your residence at once.”
I had been worried about that too. There was a chance that Rozanna’s family didn’t care much for her or might dismiss the favor I had done them and sell my description to someone else. But from what I could see, that didn’t seem to be the case. The remaining concern was something else.
“That puts my mind at ease. But whether anyone is following me is also important.”
I lowered my voice. I had only one worry.
If the Compilation Battalion grew suspicious about Tabula’s death and began investigating, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to reach Arthur Wayne, who was connected to the transport guild master, or even Tirsi. From there, they could trace it all the way to the Chrysos Circus incident in Heisvent and locate Rozanna, who knew my real face. Extracting their testimony through torture or interrogation, or following the paper trail of evidence, would be easy.
Perhaps because I had asked so seriously, Mauro agonized for a long time as if he might be under suspicion before finally answering.
“I’m sorry. Many people asked how my daughter came back, but at the time both my wife and I were suspicious of the neighbors, so we never gave them an answer.”
“Not even to Rozanna?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. I couldn’t believe him one hundred percent, but assuming it was true, I could form one hypothesis.
The Compilation Battalion doesn’t care about the deaths of the failures.
That was why no pursuer had been sent after me. The Tabula I had thought was half-human must have been a ‘failure’ who couldn’t become a Humanum Dei.
Putting together all the scattered clues I’ve gathered so far, this is almost certainly the conclusion.
Had they also undergone bodily changes like me, who suffered the side effects of Beast Regression?
In my case, it ended with my dick turning into the Ruyi Jingu Bang, but Tabula’s side effect must have been that hideous face of his.
The president of the Twostars Merchant Guild, who had been Franc’s enemy, also had scales growing on his body, so the symptoms clearly varied wildly. In any case, it seemed I had unknowingly thrown a double provocation that insulted both Tabula’s face and his pride at the same time. That must be why he got so fucking pissed off that he ended up losing to someone clearly beneath him.
Fucking pathetic, you half-human bastard.
Anyway, the role of those who failed to become Humanum Dei was simple. They were ‘failures’ and ‘lackeys.’
So that must be the job assigned to the ‘failed experiments’ of the Compilation Battalion, including Tabula.
They were the underlings who retrieved the children to be used as sacrifices for the Humanum Dei, or who sprinkled rage-inducing dyes in foreign countries. It seemed only children were used as sacrifices for the Humanum Dei, so they probably never intended to let the ones they used as lackeys succeed in the first place. That way they could increase their subordinates’ combat power while also obtaining specimens for their Humanum Dei experiments.
They use them until they die, and that’s the end. They don’t bother investigating who interfered with their plans.
Up to that point, there was no problem. The important thing was that we had taken down the president of the Twostars Merchant Guild.
We killed Enlir, Thor’s Humanum Dei, and even blocked their massive project that was effectively destroying Nidavellir.
In that case, a pursuer would definitely have been sent this time. After all, we had killed a ‘successful specimen’ who had stolen Thor’s constellation and even learned of their existence while turning hostile toward them. The Compilation Battalion would never let that slide.
We can’t just sit around waiting for the enemy to come after us. If we can locate them, it might be better to strike first.
Finding allies wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Would old man Cornelius refuse if I asked him? It was worth bringing up. If a pursuer really had been sent, I might need to look for Zoid, the younger brother of the Twostars Merchant Guild president. If anything had happened to him, it would surely mean the Compilation Battalion was involved.
I should send a request to Catherine by letter too. There are plenty of ways. The success rate is another story.
A middle-aged quarter-dwarf with blonde hair, tanned skin, and the face of a total scoundrel. He was so distinctive that finding him shouldn’t be hard. I wasn’t sure if Catherine was still in Renapolis, but someone that unique could easily be left to someone else.