Chapter 56
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Baratrein (5)
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If you desire greater power, there's nothing quite like this.
I'll give it to you.
To me?
Strengthening myself this way no longer holds any meaning for me.
You're giving it to me without any price?
I did think about asking for something in return.
But it's embarrassing to take from a junior.
Besides, I ended up suffering because of those rumors.
At that moment, Anonymous (2) chimed in.
But if you do give it, how would you deliver it?
It was exactly what I had wanted to ask.
I can have it delivered to whatever location you desire.
Didn't they ban exchanges beyond the sea?
After this incident, I'm thinking of lifting the ban.
I've come to feel that we've suppressed them too harshly for far too long.
Is that the only reason?
Anonymous (2) asked, her doubts seemingly unresolved.
She too probably didn't see it as someone else's problem, having come from a race that had chosen isolation for so long.
Of course, there's a greater reason.
I can sense the flow of a changing era.
A premonition that something enormous is approaching.
I never imagined I'd be chatting with someone through a tiny stele like this.
I see.
The tides of the era are shifting...
It might really be so.
Tell me the location, and I'll send it there.
I happened to be in Baratrein, so location wasn't an issue.
Anonymous (3) wasn't coming personally anyway—they'd send someone else.
One of the children they ruled, no doubt.
However... recalling the legend tied to that flower, it wasn't just the flower; it needed mermaid heart essence to become a true elixir.
And it seemed mermaids were among the children ruled by Anonymous (3).
I couldn't very well ask for mermaid heart essence from there.
Honestly, just handing over the flower was more than enough to be grateful for.
I decided to accept without further argument. Such opportunities didn't come often.
Thank you.
Ah, do you know of Mare Oblivion?
What is that?
I guess you wouldn't know. It's the name of the elixir you get by combining it with this flower.
A mysterious elixir that can elevate even a Transcendent's realm in one go.
Ah, so Mare Oblivion was the name of the elixir born from combining it with heart essence.
I've heard about the elixir.
After a brief pause, Anonymous (3)'s messages continued.
A wise child.
Keeping your mouth shut calmly—that's wise too.
You deliberately avoided mentioning it because you know what ingredient goes in.
It was true.
Mermaids were among those they ruled, so I couldn't ask for their heart essence.
That said, I might try to obtain it secretly.
Or perhaps they were confident I couldn't.
Was it just ordinary mermaid heart essence?
You know this ingredient can't be given lightly, unlike the flower.
If you grant me one favor, I'll give you the ingredient.
What kind of favor?
It's not just for me alone.
It will benefit all those I rule.
...Isn't that a bit too grand?
Only then can I hand over the ingredient with peace of mind.
Is it something you can entrust to me?
I was asking if they intended to entrust it to me, knowing I wasn't yet a Transcendent.
Not right now. I'll wait until you've reached the level where you can undertake the favor.
Mare Oblivion is an elixir whose true value shines only for Transcendents anyway.
Feel free to ask for help until then.
They were saying I could ask for help until I became a Transcendent?
I'm a mage.
I already called you a distant junior.
Ah, right.
It's not what you call hierarchy, but I too wield mana.
We call it Azure Flame.
Azure Flame.
A name I'd never heard before.
But considering I'd only just learned of the Anadin race itself, it was natural to find it unfamiliar.
In any case, it was an offer to seek help from this junior mage anytime.
Of course, only if you need that ingredient.
If you're satisfied with just the flower, forget what I said.
For now, I could decide after becoming a Transcendent.
Putting that aside, a sudden thought occurred to me, so I mentioned it.
The fairy corpse that's supposed to be dead.
Does it still remain?
The corpse?
It does. ...It does, but why do you ask?
I need it.
And I want to know how the fairy died at the end.
I needed this information to explain to Lina's group.
Quite unusual.
It died instantly, so I can't explain much.
If you need it, I can give it along. Seeing it yourself would be faster.
I specified a spot near Zakran Island that I knew.
Anonymous (3) said to come a few hours later, so I headed there at night.
Between the rocks, there it was—a blue flower with three shimmering peaks emitting a crystalline glow.
But something was off.
Two of the three peaks were snapped off, with only one standing straight.
'A mark?'
To show which was the real Arcana Bloom?
I had no intention of eating it right then, so I set aside the worry and stored it in my sub-space as is.
And there was another one hanging in the rock crevice.
Something was in a net.
When I pulled it out, it was heavy enough to require both hands.
I slightly opened the net.
"...Ugh."
The shape was enough to make me grimace.
The fairy's body was distorted as if crushed from all sides.
Having been submerged for so long, its entire body was grotesquely swollen.
The only way to identify it was the green hair.
Being a half-breed, it was larger than a typical fairy, but still small compared to a human.
I understood now why they said seeing it would be faster.
I stored the corpse in my sub-space too.
Corpses could be stored, and the fairy's small body didn't take much space.
And with that, my business in Baratrein was done.
To end so anticlimactically.
The preparation time had been longer, really.
'...It's good. It turned out well.'
What more could I say, having obtained the legendary flower unexpectedly?
On top of that, I'd secured the corpse.
All that remained was explaining to the adventurers I'd told to regroup, and returning to the capital to inform Lina's group that Partan was dead.
Nothing too difficult.
"What? You're abandoning the pursuit?"
Bart raised his voice as if he'd heard something unbelievable.
Before they could protest further, I pressed a gold coin into each of their hands.
"You've done well."
They were the ones who'd likely have died first if it had been discovered I was chasing a Transcendent.
They hadn't expected the gold, and their words caught in their throats.
"Personally, I wouldn't recommend continuing the pursuit."
"...Why?"
"Think about why I'm giving up the chase."
Nil pondered deeply before speaking.
"...Did someone even Cedric couldn't handle take the flower?"
In truth, they'd been chasing an unimaginable existence from the start, but now that his death was confirmed, there was no need to hide it further.
I nodded, and the adventurers nodded in understanding one after another.
"It's anticlimactic to end like this, but... if there's another chance, I'd like to see you again."
The adventurer left with a tinge of regret.
Even I felt empty after hearing the full story—who knew how they felt.
Still, connections are strange things. There was no guarantee we wouldn't meet again, just like this coincidental encounter.
Of course, under the identity of Cedric.
I bid farewell to the adventurers and headed straight to the capital.
The first I sought was Lina. I sent word through Jenjen, and she soon found me.
"What have you been up to? No, what the hell did you do there?"
Lina's face was visibly piled with dissatisfaction.
"Rumors of adventurers getting massacred in Baratrein. They charged at a man in a black mask and got obliterated so badly no bodies were found, and half the big forest on the island got blown away. That was you, right?"
The rumors had spread already? And with such exaggeration...?
Of course, I'd taken time to return by carriage, so it wasn't strange for rumors to circulate...
Rumors really do travel faster than horses.
"Weren't you the one lecturing us about careless tracking? If you were handling the pursuit, you could've at least sent word via messenger bird."
"Have you gathered everyone?"
"...Not yet."
Gathering people would be tough.
No matter how much money you threw at it, few would readily nod to killing a Transcendent.
"No need to gather them."
"What?"
"Call back everyone we agreed to work with."
"No, why don't we need to gather?"
"I'll explain once they're all here."
Twenty-four people. The number who'd gathered at the call to kill a Transcendent.
Not a single one more. That said how hard it was to recruit.
Maybe I was the odd one for jumping in so readily.
Though it was because of the Hero Candidate.
"Did you achieve some result to call us all here?"
The one asking was the lion-headed man with whom I'd had a minor clash.
"Result? Yes, there was a result."
"...Really?"
I debated how to phrase it, then got straight to the point.
"There's no need to chase him anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"He's dead."
"What?"
Not just the lion-headed man—Lina, who'd been listening nearby, the Hero Candidate, and everyone present stirred in agitation.
"Dead? What nonsense is this after saying you'd track him?"
"He's not someone who'd die so easily—how can you be sure?"
Lina's reaction was especially fierce.
She strode forward and gripped my arm tightly.
Her face, unlike her usual expression, was filled with sharpness.
"Explain properly. Are you just bluffing?"
Words weren't getting through anymore, so I stepped away from Lina and openly pulled out my sub-space artifact, reaching in.
Then I extracted the net containing the fairy corpse and set it on the floor.
"...Urk."
Some approached to inspect the net closely, then recoiled at the grotesquely twisted form.
Others, meanwhile, widened their eyes and obsessively examined the corpse to the end.
Lina even grabbed the green hair and inspected it from all angles.
Then dropped it with a thud.
"...Yeah. It's that guy."