Absorption (4)
A short while ago, Gilleon had been in Krente. The reason he had stopped by Shahin was simply because it lay on the path he needed to take to reach his destination. Naturally, he couldn’t use the gate, which thoroughly inspected both faces and identities. That was why Gilleon had created a personal teleportation device.
‘Absorption of fire… huh.’
Adel had absorbed someone else’s flames. It was a phenomenon he had never seen before. He felt he should look into it later.
‘Thank you?’
This polite remark was an expression of gratitude toward the woman who had fought him and revealed such an ability. The name Kali had already vanished from Gilleon’s mind. She had merely been used by him and then discarded.
“Not bad at all.”
After teleporting, Gilleon walked down a dark street carrying a white rifle, completely unharmed. It was a strange path where the sky and sun were visible, yet no light reached the ground.
Tap.
The place he arrived at after walking for some time featured a door that would have shocked Adel if he had seen it. Beep—beep—beep—beep—click. The door didn’t use mana at all; it was built with the exact structure of a modern door lock. One might wonder if mana would damage it, but Gilleon’s own mana protected both the lock and the door, making it impossible for ordinary people to tamper with. Besides, civilians couldn’t even enter this isolated space in the first place.
Tap.
When Gilleon opened the door and stepped inside, a vast, pure-white space stretched out before him. Far in the distance, a few people and a single door were visible.
Step.
Gilleon walked toward that door. A man approached him.
“Priest Gilleon…”
“I am,” Gilleon interrupted with a gentle smile, “a scientist, you know?”
Gilleon disliked being called a priest. He felt it was odd for someone who researched science to be labeled that way. He also couldn’t understand why an organization that conducted scientific research and experiments was called a religion. If these words hadn’t come from the Cult Leader—his superior and the teacher who had imparted knowledge to him—he would have already made himself the leader and changed the Jakshin Cult.
“Heheek! Scientist Gilleon, sir!”
“What is it…”
“S-sorry!”
The man, startled by Gilleon’s skin-crawling smile, ran away before he could even finish asking.
“……”
Gilleon quietly watched him go, then resumed walking.
Tap.
When he reached the door, he pressed the lock for a little longer this time. Beeeep—beep—click.
Tap.
Beyond the opened door lay another pure-white space, just like before. The only difference was that there were now multiple doors instead of one.
“Uncle Gilleon? Is it really you, Uncle Gilleon?”
A childish voice reached Gilleon’s ears as he looked around. When he turned his head, he saw a boy wearing a pure-white mask. The boy had a small stature and youthful voice, as if he hadn’t even reached adulthood yet.
“Rain. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Gilleon looked at the young boy—Rain.
“Yes! It really has!”
The voice, pure and joyful like that of a very young child, was something no one in the outside world could possibly imagine coming from a Priest of the Jakshin Cult.
Swish.
Rain removed his mask as he spoke.
“Are you still doing alright?”
The face revealed beneath was covered in such severe scars that even Gilleon—who rarely cared about others—looked concerned. The scars blanketing his entire face gave the viewer the sensation of personally experiencing the agony of that moment.
“I’m fine. But what about my request?”
To Rain, his request to Gilleon mattered far more than his own face.
“You mean the kidnapping? Unfortunately, it failed.”
Even as he spoke of failure, Gilleon shrugged his shoulders indifferently. It had never been a request he was obligated to fulfill; he had only attempted it because it came from Rain.
‘Could there be a connection?’
Rain’s request had been to kidnap Adel. The burn on Rain’s face and Adel’s flames. Gilleon suspected there was some link between Rain’s scars and Adel’s fire.
“That’s too bad…”
Rain knew Gilleon had done it as a favor, so he accepted the failure calmly without getting angry.
Step.
“……”
Rain walked up beside Gilleon, glanced at the white rifle, and asked,
“Uncle, that gun looks cool. What’s its name?”
Priest or not, a boy was still a boy. Rain stared at Gilleon’s white rifle with sparkling eyes.
“Have you never seen it before?”
“Nope. Last time I saw you, you were carrying a long stick.”
He seemed to be referring to the super-magic bullet. Since the last time Gilleon had seen Rain was several months ago, it was only natural that this was his first time seeing the recently created ‘Ion.’
Gilleon pointed at the white rifle with his free hand.
“This is Ion. A blue sphere rotates inside it like a golem’s core to power it.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It was for me.”
“Whoa…”
The genius said it worked for him. He wasn’t boasting; he was simply stating a fact. To Rain, the way he casually displayed his ability looked incredibly cool.
Step.
As the two of them naturally forgot about their age difference and continued talking, footsteps that could not be ignored reached their ears.
Step.
The sound grew closer and stopped right in front of them.
Gilleon slowly turned his head toward the source of the sound.
“……”
There stood a man wearing flowing robes, gazing at them with languid eyes.
“…It has been a while, Cult Leader.”
Gilleon gave a small bow. It was the bare minimum of courtesy.
“…Yes.”
The Cult Leader’s emotionless reply felt strange, almost inhuman.
Creak.
I had been sitting at a table waiting for someone for about ten minutes when a blonde woman opened the door and walked in.
“Adel!”
“T-Tina?”
Caught completely off guard by the unexpected encounter, I stammered.
“Are you okay?”
Christina asked while patting down various parts of my body.
“I-I’m fine.”
“Haa…”
She let out a sigh of relief at my words, which didn’t sound like someone who had been injured.
‘What’s going on here?’
This was clearly Shahin. I had never expected to run into her.
‘Is this a coincidence?’
Still unable to sort out the situation, I gently pushed Christina away and asked,
“Hey, Tina.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Why are you here?”
“Ah…”
At my question, Tina hesitated for a moment before pulling out a hat she had been hiding in her clothes.
“That’s…”
It was the same hat the woman in the shop had been wearing earlier.
“…Yeah. Do you hate that I followed you?”
It was a question asking if I disliked her for trailing after me. Her teary expression made it hard to keep looking at her.
“Not really.”
Whatever her intention had been in following me, or whether it was truly a coincidence, it didn’t matter to me.
“I was feeling a bit lonely by myself, so this works out nicely.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe.”
Her face, which had instantly brightened into a smile, looked much better.
Creak.
“Enough with the lovey-dovey stuff. What’s the situation?”
A woman with an expressionless face entered the tavern. Her cleanly refined aura made it obvious at a glance that she was a powerhouse. I was warily trying to figure out who she was when—
“Commander Rayrin!”
Christina, who had overheard my muttering, hurriedly ran over to her.
“It’s not like that!”
“Is that so? I must have misunderstood.”
Despite her words, the corners of Rayrin’s mouth were curved upward.
“I said it’s not!”
“Then why were you groping that boy’s body the whole time?”
“I was just checking to make sure he wasn’t hurt!”
“Weren’t you worried because you like him?”
“We’re just friends…”
“Men like proactive women, so I’m sure he enjoyed it too.”
“That’s not it…”
Watching Christina bow her head with a face as red as a tomato, Rayrin finally stopped teasing her.
“Alright, alright. I understand.”
The two of them seemed to be bickering about something, but I couldn’t hear any of it.
“Tina? What’s going on?”
“Ah, Adel.”
Christina, who had briefly looked like she was about to cry, approached me with her usual smile.
“She’s smitten. Totally smitten.”
Rayrin muttered as she followed behind Christina.
“…Commander Rayrin.”
“Yes, yes.”
Christina only shot her a quick glare over her shoulder and said nothing more.
“This is Commander Rayrin. She’s the leader of the Iron Blood Knights, one of the knight orders of the Gawood family.”
I had sensed it the moment she entered, but she was indeed no ordinary person.
“I am Adel Ifrit.”
“I see. So, Adel, what exactly happened here?”
“…Kali unleashed flames, and I stopped them.”
I didn’t mention that I had absorbed them.
‘Anyone would find that suspicious.’
Forcibly absorbing another person’s energy.
‘…That’s something straight out of a martial arts novel.’
Every now and then, characters like that appeared—people who absorbed others’ inner energy. They used a demonic art called the Absorption Great Law to steal another’s power and make it their own. Just like what I had done moments ago.
‘Is this a demonic art?’
The cultivation technique I used was the Flame Divine Art. It didn’t seem like a demonic art.
‘But I don’t actually know, do I?’
It felt like many things were hidden behind the Flame Divine Art. Perhaps it was the most fraudulent divine art in existence, or maybe the worst demonic art on the continent.
‘The day I learn the truth about all of this…’
I had no idea what kind of person I would become in the future.
“Is this woman Kali?”
After a brief pause, Rayrin—who had somehow moved over—lightly kicked the red-haired woman tied up with ropes. She seemed to believe that I had done this.
“Yes. That is Kali.”
“I will take her to the knight order’s headquarters. Any objections?”
“…None.”
There wasn’t much information to gain from Kali. At best, it would only be about Gilleon, but what could I expect from a woman who seemed to have been used by him? There was no reason to refuse.
Rayrin hoisted the unconscious Kali over her shoulder.
“The knight order will help restore the shop. Then, if you’ll excuse me… Ah.”
Just before she reached the door, she leaned close to Christina’s ear.
“Christina.”
“Yes?”
“Make it a beautiful romance. He seems to have both a good face and a good personality.”
“…Ah.”
Seeing Christina’s face turn even redder, Rayrin chuckled softly and left through the door.
“Well then.”
Creak.
With Rayrin gone, only the two of us remained in the tavern. I asked Christina, whose cheeks were still flushed,
“Are you feeling sick? Your face is really red.”
At my question, Christina recalled the previous conversation and froze like a broken machine.
“Uh, ah, uh. Uhh… Ah?”
The broken-robot version of her quickly snapped back to her senses and rushed toward the door.
“Adel. The gate fee is cheap, right? You’ll take the gate back, won’t you? Got it? See you tomorrow then.”
Creak.
After spitting out her words like a machine gun, Christina left the tavern at the speed of light.
Left alone once again, I thought to myself,
‘…I’m lonely again.’
Was there any alcohol around? For some reason, it felt like the perfect time for a drink.