168. They say the final exam isn't here yet.
168. They say the final exam isn't here yet.
During the three days Mars Mama mentioned,
Chrono deliberated how he should move forward.
"....But does this even have an answer?"
The problem was that it wasn't the kind you could solve just by worrying about it.
Ultimately, since it was a situation where he'd only know by confronting it head-on no matter what, he decided to nurse his body as Mars Mama had advised.
He wasn't particularly injured or lacking anywhere, but still, it was best to prepare whatever he could.
"It's your meal."
"....Oooh."
Meanwhile, perhaps due to Mars Mama's influence on the hospital, nutritious meals packed with meat started appearing instead of the tasteless patient food he'd received before.
It was probably Mars Mama's way of telling him to maximize his physical condition, just as she said.
I finished the meal without leaving a single bite and afterward spent my time taking light walks, doing bare-body exercises, or engaging in nocturnal exercises (?).
"Hold on, you blockhead."
".....?"
So, three days passed, and today,
right after hearing from the doctor that I was cleared for discharge and stepping outside the hospital,
"That... it's 'that bastard,' right?"
"I believe so?"
"Just looking at him, it's 'that bastard' for sure."
"....Uh..."
Men in red jackets were positioned right at the hospital's front gate.
I knew. Who they were. What those red jackets signified.
'That's definitely....'
The Ares Guild.
Right when my thoughts reached that point, the phone in my pocket rang.
I slowly pulled out the phone and connected the call, and soon Mars Mama's voice spoke from the other side.
[I'll be waiting in the underground arena on the 3rd basement floor, exclusively for superhumans ♬]
".....Wow."
******************
[This is insane, for real.]
"Fufu...♪ Your flustered look is quite cute."
Her nonchalant, brazen expression wavered just slightly.
At that sight, Mars Mama smiled, amused, and connected a transmission.
[This is Red Hawk 21! Transmission received!]
"As I mentioned before, that boy is incredibly fast, so everyone stay on your toes♪ If by any chance you lose him...."
[...We will absolutely capture him, ma'am!]
"Yes~ Thank you for your hard work!"
Mars Mama grinned as she looked at the screen.
'They'll probably fail.'
She'd given them the order, but they would likely fail.
After all, no matter how relaxed they'd been, this was the man who'd slipped past both her and her husband's senses to take Mars.
As such, half-baked men would never be able to stop him.
But—well, her intention was simple.
"One can't use 'powers that defy reason' like that without limit, can they?"
As long as one was human, limits existed.
Though occasionally there were 'monsters' that transcended human limits, that was fine too.
If a monster beyond human reason willingly offered himself to be embraced, what reason was there to refuse?
If they failed, she'd confirm his vessel was bottomless, which was good.
If they succeeded, she'd confirm the vessel he possessed, which was also good.
It was a win-win business no matter what.
So, around the time Chrono on the screen was completely surrounded—
[—Huh?]
[He's nowhere to be seen?]
"....Ahat♬"
He vanished.
He hid his presence as if he had never existed in that spot to begin with.
[Hey, you crazy bastards! Open your eyes wide and find him! If you can't, you're all dead!]
[Crazy, crazy, crazy!]
[Where'd you run off to, you fucking son of a bitchhhh!!!]
"Truly an interesting ability."
Mars Mama pulled the frame back and replayed the phenomenon from moments before.
One frame. Another frame. The figure of Chrono, who had been present in that spot just moments ago, had vanished at some point.
"A peculiar ability.... Is it a space-type?"
Occasionally, there were such people.
Ability users who could move through space, albeit over short distances.
But upon closer inspection, it felt less like spatial movement and more like deceiving the world itself?
There had been someone who folded space, turning a distance of ten paces into a single step, wielding a power akin to 'trickery.'
'I remember it being a power related to Lord Hermes....'
If that was the case, was that young man a devotee of Hermes?
Still, a slightly odd point remained.
"After all, if one deceives the world, the corresponding 'traces' should remain...."
He ran by folding space? So far, so good.
But if he ran by folding space, his 'feet' must surely touch the 'ground.'
And where his feet touched the ground, 'footprints' must also remain.
The grains of sand on the floor should have moved.
Wind, a flow of air, should have been generated.
But—wasn't it quite strange?
"Nothing has changed at all."
Just as if he had never existed there from the beginning.
Not a single grain of sand. Not even a ripple in the air. Chrono had vanished completely.
"...Perhaps."
It was just a perhaps, but what if Chrono was actually the Apostle of Zeus?
If he was the Apostle of Zeus, it would be understandable. Comprehensible.
Because the Apostle of Zeus was one who wielded 'lightning' and 'light.'
If he turned his body into 'light' to move, no traces would be left behind.
Deceiving sensory perception to move was also possible.
It was all speculation and conjecture, but from the start, the very existence of gods was incredibly contrived in reality.
"The Apostle of Zeus.... Zeus, the Apostle of the Supreme God, huh...."
Eliminate all impossibilities, and whatever remains, no matter how impossible, must be accepted as fact.
Just as Chrono's ability was starting to form a concrete picture, multiple transmissions connected to Mars Mama.
[This is Red Dog, an unidentified entity has moved underground!]
".....Already...?"
Mars Mama immediately shifted her gaze to the internal screen of the guild building.
".....?"
Nothing was visible on the screen inside.
She scanned all the CCTV feeds inside the guild building, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary—no, there it was.
The basement. The entrance leading to the underground arena.
"7 seconds ago... Right, here."
A door that had been firmly shut just one frame before was suddenly wide open at some point.
The basement door, naturally open as if it had always been that way.
And then, 4 seconds later. The elevator connected to the 3rd basement floor.
—Ding...♬
"No way...."
He had gone down.
Exactly, the 3rd basement floor. The entrance to the underground arena.
When the elevator reached the 3rd basement floor, beyond it—
"....???"
—No one was there.
An utterly empty elevator.
Just moments ago, someone had definitely been there.
But as soon as the elevator doors opened, he hid his form again...
"Good afternoon?"
"───!!"
A voice heard from behind.
A strange man's voice. Eerily familiar.
Mars Mama slowly turned her head toward the direction of the voice.
"You said you'd be waiting, so I came to find you."
"....Chrono."
A figure that didn't shed a single drop of sweat.
The same expression he wore when leaving the hospital.
"You... arrived sooner than expected...?"
Though Mars Mama spoke to him feigning casualness,
around this time, Mars Mama's womb started tingling-throbbing (???).
...
..
.
I stopped time.
I rode on Mai's back and used [Time Passing] to reach the Ares guild.
After arriving at the Ares guild, I headed to the basement, roughly stealing the keycard from a security guard standing in front to use it.
The door opened smoothly. I took the elevator straight down to the 3rd basement floor, but no one was there.
So I looked into the [past] through the [Eye of Cronus], groping my way until I found Mars Mama's location.
'I used a bit more time than I thought.'
The total time used up to this point was—approximately 13 minutes.
Though I felt I'd wasted a bit more than expected, exactly 10 minutes were used just to get from the hospital to the Ares guild.
In fact, excluding [Time Passing], the actual time I used was barely 3 minutes—but still, wasn't 10 minutes a bit of a waste?
'Ah, never mind.'
Saving time like that was crap.
One had to use it when needed to use everything properly.
"The final test is simple."
On the 3rd basement floor, in the arena exclusively for superhumans.
Opening the arena door and stepping inside, Mars Mama turned back toward me and spoke.
"Do you wish to take my daughter from my bosom?"
Then seize her.
By your own power. By your own 'force.'
"Prove your 'qualification' to protect my treasure!"
"Hup...!"
On the opposite side of the arena.
A light flickered on right in front of another entrance.
'Here he comes.'
Was he coming?
'That person.'
The Guild Master of Ares, the pinnacle of the Ares Guild.
Mars Papa kicked the door open and—
".........?"
—Didn't come.
No one entered.
The light alone flickered there, lonely.
"....Hold on a moment?"
Mars Mama, seemingly flustered, collected herself and picked up her phone to make a call.
"Hello? What about my husband right now... Yes? Still hasn't managed to get up, you say?"
At first, she was taken aback.
"No, he only did it twice at most.... Think of his age.... Yes. Yes. Contact me as soon as he wakes up."
Next, she was dumbfounded.
"Fuuuuuuu..."
Finally, reaching a state of resignation, she spoke.
"By any chance, have you eaten?"
"Pardon?"
As an aside,
a light meal was had.
A finely seared steak, savory and perfectly appetizing, along with delicious garnish.
Moreover, the red wine served alongside made the inside of one's mouth constantly feel fresh and crisp...
"So, how many times have you had relations with my daughter?"
"........."
This felt like a recipe for perfect indigestion.
I honestly couldn't tell if it was going down my mouth or my nose.
"Would you answer honestly, without any falsehood?"
"Huh? That's... so....."
Mars Mama's question.
As I was debating whether I should honestly answer this, Mars Mama asked.
"Don't tell me... you can't even satisfy a single daughter, yet you play around with women outside?"
"About three times per one attempt!"
"Three times... Three times, huh. That's less than I thought?"
Was my girl that weak?
To Mars Mama's question, I followed up with my answer.
"It's three times for me, but Mars... roughly seems to pass ten times."
"......Pardon?"
"Since she rides it out about three times every single go...."
"............"
"So, in truth, the reason I ended up doing it together with Ur was that Mars alone couldn't handle m... guh, uh?"
What the hell was this.
What was going on.
Why were my words just spilling out on their own.
As I covered my mouth with both hands in a fluster, Mars Mama tipped back the glass of red wine in her hand and answered.
"It's called 'Red Dragon's Tears.' It holds the 'mystery' of permanently increasing 'strength' and 'stamina' for a first-time drinker. However, as a minor side effect—for a short while, one can only speak the 'truth.'"
"............."
I should just shut up.
Without a word, I pushed the red wine forward away from me.
"Oh my, you wouldn't dare avoid answering when your prospective mother-in-law is asking you questions, would you?"
"....Grrrrgh...!"
Ultimately,
I got grilled to hell and back.