Chapter 51

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 51

Chapter Title: Shrimp's Back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Stays Intact

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A whale? The shrimp's back won't burst in this fight.

Now that I knew the ditzy progenitor was harmless.

The urge to feed Rin the penalty-relief potion as quickly as possible didn't last long.

"Why do you keep calling this lady 'ditzy progenitor'!"

"It just rolls off the tongue nicely? If you hate 'ditzy progenitor,' I could go with 'lame progenitor' instead."

"Eek...! You insolent wretch...! I'd love to turn you into a puddle of blood right now, but for the sake of my dear Rin, I'll let it slide this time!"

"Got it. So step aside already."

"That won't do."

"Why not?"

"Rin's body and mind are already at their limits.

This lady descended to put Rin's consciousness to sleep and suppress the explosion somehow, but the moment I return to my true form, Rin will explode and vanish without a trace."

That uneasy feeling nagging at my senses earlier finally made sense.

The current situation, with a transcendent being having descended as expected, wasn't ideal.

"All this happened because that damned vermin lusted after my Rin...!

That worthless scum deserves to be ground to dust without even a drop of blood left...!!

How dare it try to steal Rin's soul—!!!"

"Who's this damned vermin?"

"...I want to tell you, but the restrictions prevent me.

Roughly speaking, it's those nasty pests who slyly exploit the trials' loopholes and toy with the newbies like playthings."

"Trials' loopholes?"

"Karma... no, in this world, it's called penalties, right?

They mess with those, twisting them to their whims and playing with the newbies.

And if they find a newbie they like, they might even claim them as their own."

No wonder the penalties varied so much in type and intensity, even for the same contract violation.

It made sense if transcendent beings were interfering with them.

But separate from that.

If what she said was true, couldn't all transcendent beings interfere with our penalties and kill us whenever they wanted?

"Not quite. They usually just tweak the penalties lightly for fun and don't outright kill directly.

Of course, if they accept a drop in their own dignity, it's possible, but that rarely happens."

Ah, so there was some risk after all?

Anyway, from the ditzy progenitor's continuing rant.

She was furious that the penalty on Rin had been tampered with by that nasty pest, even at some cost to itself.

But as I listened, something didn't add up.

The ditzy progenitor had admitted her power wasn't what it used to be.

So how had she descended into Rin?

"Because Rin was a devout follower of mine even before the trials began, so the karma she's accumulated is substantial. That's why I could bestow my martial grace—er, skill—upon her."

"Then can't you just use your power to remove the penalty?"

"I wish it were that simple... but to cut to the chase, it's impossible.

Killing someone via their penalty is one thing; removing the penalty itself is another level entirely.

Even if I poured all my power into it, wiping it away wouldn't be easy.

And even if I could, I'd suffer massive backlash from the trial's overseers and cease to exist."

What's a trial overseer...?

Is that the being that put Arin's main body to sleep last time?

"...Got it for now."

This conversation was giving me a headache on multiple levels.

But I'd grasped the situation, so no need to hesitate anymore.

With that, I showed the ditzy progenitor the potion and spoke.

"It's a potion whose effects have been proven by mitigating two penalties already."

"Ho... it's real. To think such a potion exists—who's the master alchemist that brewed this?"

"Well, I made it, but..."

"Kyahaha—! You made it? That's a bit too much of a joke!"

...I really just want to smack this ditzy progenitor once.

I'll save that for later if the chance arises.

Anyway.

"...The effects are proven, but Rin's case is a bit special, right? So I can't guarantee it'll work perfectly."

"This lady knows that full well. That filthy thing will surely try to interfere. But worry not—that's for me to handle. So, I just drink this?"

"One sec first. What exactly do you mean by 'interfere'?"

"What a strange question. Well, if I must explain: the moment she drinks your potion, its curse will intensify, and it'll start a power struggle with me.

If I win, the curse weakens. If I lose, the curse makes Rin's body explode, and her soul gets stolen."

A power struggle between transcendent beings?

Which means...

"So, does that answer your question?"

"One more. What if I feed her the potion myself?"

"...You're asking the oddest things. Well, not only did you bring the potion, but if you feed it directly, that filth will come after you for revenge, even if you're uninvolved."

"Really? Then I'll feed it to her."

"...? Oh dear. Did you misunderstand what I just said?"

"Nah, I understood perfectly."

...So if I feed the potion.

Not only the ditzy progenitor, but that thing will target me too?

'Ahh... Lavris, I feel the same.'

However, contrary to mine and Lavris's expectations.

The ditzy progenitor suddenly misunderstood and wouldn't be persuaded...

"Oh dear, have you truly lost your mind?"

"It's fine, I tell you. Me feeding it benefits you and me both. It reduces your burden, so trust me once."

"Sigh... I appreciate the thought for this lady, but I'm not so weak as to need help from a newbie like you. And between this lady and you... there's... too big an age gap, don't you think...?"

"...? What the hell did you eat wrong all of a sudden?"

"Hehehe... No need to be shy. I fully understand that heart of yours, willing to risk your life for me."

...No helping it here—scrapping Plan A.

Switching to Plan B from now on.

Oh, and for reference, the difference between Plans A and B.

A. Persuade with words → Boring, pretentious, risk of losing argument.

B. Subdue by force and shove it down → Quick end. Simple, no prior knowledge needed. Argument loss probability approaches zero.

Something like that.

'What the heck, dude?'

Anyway.

With Plan B decided, I needed to subdue the ditzy progenitor by force, so I approached and grabbed both her shoulders.

"Th-that... oh dear...?"

"Don't worry. It'll be over quick."

"What do you...? Ah, no! Your face is totally my type, and I do feel oddly fond of you... but as I said, the age gap is huge... and this body is Rin's to begin with! I can't take her precious first time out of my own greed..."

"?"

She suddenly blushed and started mumbling nonsense to herself.

I pitied her massive misunderstanding for a moment.

But contrary to her words, her resistance wasn't strong, so I took it as a win and swiftly shoved the potion in my hand...

"Here goes."

"Ah, no... no way...!!! ...Eh? Potion? W-wait—guwoook—!?"

...Like with Karin and Rachel, I rammed it deep down her throat, forcing her to swallow.

This being my third time, I'd gotten the hang of it—the optimal angle felt oddly satisfying.

Anyway.

Right after force-feeding the ditzy progenitor the penalty-relief potion.

Gulp! Glurk! Glooork...... Gulp!

"Puhah...! Wh-what is this outrage...! Why would you make that choice...!!!"

"Figure it out."

"Figure it out? What does that even...?"

Kriik-! Krriiiik—!!!

Squelch...!

As expected, the unknown entity behind Rin's curse stirred.

The air split open, oozing something sticky and indescribable that I assumed was the curse.

And soon, this sticky mass began slowly creeping toward us.

"Eek...! I'll make you pay dearly for this, so remember that! And absolutely... absolutely don't die on me, newbie—!!!"

Shooo—!

Fwoooosh—!

But the ditzy progenitor wasn't one to just watch.

She immediately drew out a blood-like red aura from her fingertips and shot it at the sticky energy.

The moment the two transcendent forces clashed.

An enormous shockwave erupted, pulverizing everything around.

Craaaack—!!!

Crack! Crrraaaack—!!!

Watching this, me and Lavris...

'Touching that sticky energy should do it, right?'

'Ah, you might not know, so stay put?'

...It was a dire situation, but whatever.

Finally, the moment we'd been waiting for arrived, so I set the weakened Livris—wait, Lavris—in a safe spot.

Then I began stepping toward the center of the transcendent clash.

"Oof, as expected of transcendents—the shockwaves are no joke..."

"Newbie! Why would you make that choice—! Don't—!! Please come back—!!!"

The two transcendents reacted differently to my actions.

But they shared one thing: utter confusion at what I was doing.

I neatly ignored both and walked straight to the epicenter of the clashing forces.

Arriving at the clash point.

Crack! Crrraaaack—!!!

"Hey, felt good cursing us, huh? Now it's your turn."

I figured an arm could regrow anyway.

With that resolve, I reached out toward the sticky energy.

And the instant I did.

"Guhk...!!!"

My fingers touching the sticky energy rotted and festered.

The indescribable pain hit for a moment.

"...You've opened your eyes."

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"...Transcendent's Fragment?"

Wait, more importantly.

This wasn't in my scenario...

I figured it'd just get scared off, not straight-up annihilated.