Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Opening of the Heavens (3)
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Grita handed over the wooden box.
Inside, as expected, was the Gaecheondan.
The treasure—and curse—that had driven countless knights to their deaths in my past life.
Gulp.
As I swallowed dryly and went to open the lid, I felt a sense of unease.
“...?”
I saw Grita standing at a distance.
“Why?”
When I asked for a reason, she answered with a troubled expression.
“Ascension is an unbearable temptation for a knight. I am not yet steadfast enough to guarantee I can withstand the sight of the box’s contents.”
In short, she was keeping her distance, worried that the sight of the Gaecheondan would sway her heart.
I understood immediately.
Ascension was a knight’s deepest desire.
To a knight, the Gaecheondan was an irresistible temptation.
Click.
I opened the box.
Whoosh.
A dizzying fragrance assailed my nostrils.
For a moment, my mind went completely blank.
Swish.
If I hadn’t heard the loud rustle of fabric, I probably would have remained dazed for much longer.
Belatedly, I came to my senses and looked inside the box.
There lay the Gaecheondan.
It looked like a snowflake, or perhaps a blue gem.
A mystical shape, as if starlight itself had solidified.
“How am I supposed to eat this?”
My first thought was a worry: could I even chew it?
It was too big to swallow whole, but its surface looked incredibly hard to chew.
No, before that, was chewing it even the right way?
I was suddenly afraid that chewing it might diminish its effects.
“Lady Grita…?”
I looked up, thinking the original owner might know how to take it.
But Grita was already gone.
I narrowed my eyes and scanned my surroundings.
Grita was so far away she was barely visible.
“Ah.”
It seemed the Gaecheondan’s fragrance was far more potent than I had thought.
After all, even I, who wasn’t a knight, had lost my senses for a moment. How much worse must it have been for her, a knight?
To her, the fragrance wasn’t just a smell; it was the embodiment of the yearning for ascension.
“Hmm.”
Calling her over to ask for instructions would be too cruel.
After a moment of thought, I made a decision.
I’ll just put it in my mouth.
Tap, tap.
Too scared to even touch it, I tipped the box upside down and poured it into my mouth.
Plop.
The Gaecheondan slipped right into my mouth.
In that instant, I realized.
Whether I chewed it, swallowed it whole, or licked it—there was no need to worry in the first place.
Ssshh.
The Gaecheondan dissolved and vanished without any need for chewing or swallowing.
I waited quietly for the effects to kick in.
An endless vitality and immense energy would surge…
“...?”
…or not. Nothing happened at all.
I didn’t even feel the refreshing sensation that usually followed swallowing a potent elixir.
It dissolved in my mouth, and that was it.
Even after waiting for a long time, nothing changed.
Flutter.
Grita, who had been watching from afar, approached, her clothes fluttering.
“Little Squire…?”
Her face, as she looked me up and down, held the same question as mine.
An expression of bewilderment as to why nothing was happening.
“This.”
I told her cautiously.
“I think it’s a fake.”
“...”
Seeing her wide-eyed, it was clear she had never even considered the possibility that the Gaecheondan might be a fake.
Her eyes were trembling as if an earthquake had struck.
Seeing the agitation of a woman who rarely showed her emotions, I sighed inwardly.
She was tricked. Definitely tricked.
In my past life, countless fake Gaecheondans had circulated on the market.
Among them were some so convincing that even high-ranking knights were fooled.
The Gaecheondan Grita gave me must have been one of them.
“Little Squire.”
“Was it difficult to obtain?”
I answered, feigning indifference.
No matter how disappointed I was, it couldn't compare to Grita, who must have cherished the fake, believing it to be real.
On top of that, her family had suffered greatly because of a mere imitation, not the real thing.
Considering the shock and sense of loss she must be feeling, I had to act as composed as possible.
“Little Squire…”
“If you paid for it, perhaps there’s a way to get a refund…”
“Little Squire!”
Her voice suddenly rose, and I shut my mouth and looked at her.
She was staring intently at my face.
No, to be precise, her gaze was slightly above my face.
“Your head…”
Her gaze was fixed on my head, specifically the crown.
“My head? What’s wrong with it?”
Wondering what she was staring at, I reached up and felt the top of my head.
Sizzle, sizzle.
The crown of my head was hot.
It felt as if it were on fire.
“Huh?”
As I let out a dazed sound at the unknown heat.
Flash.
My vision turned completely white.
At the same time, a strange sensation shot from the crown of my head down to my toes.
As if I’d been struck by lightning.
Whoooosh!
A moment later, excruciating pain washed over me.
I couldn’t even scream.
Gasp, gasp.
I opened and closed my mouth several times, but only a wheezing sound came out.
A pain like someone forcibly prying open my skull and rummaging inside with a skewer.
“...!”
They said my heavens would open today, but it was actually my head that opened.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
I’ve been shot by arrows, stabbed with swords, and trampled by horses.
Right before I died, I was even tortured, my tendons severed in my hands and feet.
But none of that pain could compare to what I was feeling now.
Gasp, gasp.
It would have been a relief to pass out, but I was strangely lucid.
That made it even more painful.
The pain felt as vivid as my consciousness, and it was driving me mad.
Being unable to even scream made it worse.
It felt like the pain of having my head pried open and skewered while I was still alive was endlessly circulating through my body.
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
The pain, which felt like it would never end, began to subside.
Then, at some point, it completely vanished.
“Gasp, gasp.”
Exhausted, I gasped for breath.
In my head, I tried to make sense of the situation.
I thought it was a Gaecheondan, but it was a fake. I thought it was a fake, but it was poison.
That seemed to be the gist of it.
I looked at Grita.
It wasn’t her intention, but she had repaid my favor with poison. It would be strange if I didn't resent her.
My eyes hardened automatically.
“Hmm?”
But something was strange.
Her face was unusually close.
She was at least one and a half times taller than me, so I usually had to look up at her face.
But now, we were at eye level.
She hadn’t bent over or lowered her body.
As always, she stood with her back perfectly straight.
Had she suddenly shrunk?
“...?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, I belatedly realized something.
She hadn’t gotten smaller.
“Huh?”
My feet were floating in the air.
Bob, bob.
The ground was far below.
And it was getting farther away.
My body kept rising.
As if I were about to ascend to the heavens at any moment.
“...!”
I was startled.
The pillar of light I had once seen when some ill-tempered person ascended now stretched all the way to the sky.
“Wh-wh-wha! Whoaaaaa!”
I screamed, flailing my arms and legs.
But there was nothing to grab onto in the empty air.
“L-Lady Grita!”
I called out to Grita urgently.
She reached out her hand.
But her outstretched hand couldn’t pass through the pillar of light and was repelled.
Meanwhile, my body continued to soar endlessly upward.
I couldn’t even see Grita’s face anymore.
As I despaired, looking down at the distant ground.
□□□ □□□□ □□ shook their head, saying it was not yet time.
The thoughts of a star seeped into my mind.
I shouted.
I know better than anyone that it’s not time!
□□□ □□□□ □□ clicked their tongue as if I were pathetic.
I hurled insults at the nameless star, who was spouting infuriating nonsense without knowing my situation.
□□□ □□□□ □□ drew their sword.
But that seemed to have offended the nameless star.
Rumble.
A tremendous roar came from high up in the sky.
The pillar of light began to shake violently.
“Ah! Sorry!”
I quickly apologized.
□□□ □□□□ □□ swung their sword.
But it had no effect.
The orbital elevator was half-destroyed by □□□ □□□□ □□.
Slice.
Just as a clean cutting sound reached my ears, the pillar of light snapped from the top and began to tilt.
And then.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
I plummeted.
* * *
I checked the soles of my feet over and over.
I stood there for a long time, my feet planted firmly on the ground.
Afraid that if I moved even a little, I’d start rising into the sky again.
Fortunately, my two feet stayed firmly on the ground.
“I-I think I’m okay now.”
When I finally spoke, Grita let go of my hand and stepped back.
Just the right distance to grab me immediately if my body started to float again.
I cautiously lifted a foot off the ground.
“Phew.”
Only after seeing my foot stay quietly on the ground could I finally feel relieved.
But that, too, was short-lived.
I looked at Grita.
I guarantee it was a highly inappropriate gaze to direct at the head of a family and a high-ranking knight.
No matter how well she treated me, it was a look I would never have dared to give her normally.
“I never imagined it would have such an effect on someone who is not a knight.”
As expected, instead of scolding me, she just spoke with an air of bewilderment.
I scowled.
The dizzying situation replayed in my mind.
Right after some unknown entity destroyed something called an orbital elevator, I had plunged toward the ground.
Thankfully, Grita had been waiting below and caught me, so I wasn’t injured, but I couldn’t help the chilling fear that ran down my spine.
“I tried to repay my debt with a priceless treasure, but it seems I’ve only increased it.”
Grita sighed as if the world were ending.
She seemed baffled by the current situation, where she was being resented even after giving me a treasure.
Still, she couldn’t be as baffled as I was, having nearly bid farewell to the mortal realm at such a young age.
Thump, thump.
My startled heart was still pounding furiously.
There’s a limit to skipping steps.
I haven't even become a knight, let alone ascended. I'm still young, not even having had my coming-of-age ceremony.
A new future, different from my twisted past life, awaits me.
And I was almost forcibly ascended.
“Let’s head back for today.”
Grita started walking toward Komlat Castle.
I followed her.
Carefully, carefully, so that I wouldn't have to bid farewell to the earth again.
And so, the day’s events came to an end.
Or so I thought.
A long time after Gunther had heard the gist of the story and caused a commotion examining my body, when everyone was asleep.
Murmur, murmur.
It was around the time when dawn was not far off.
Entered Channel 「Outskirts Star Cluster」.
A sound like an auditory hallucination echoed in my head.
...
...
What?