Ares's Lavish Spending and Red's Sinister Return
After hearing Hames's speculation, I blurted out reflexively, "That wasn't in the original story."
"What?"
"Ah, no. I've never heard anything like that!"
I'd let my true feelings slip out for a moment, so I quickly covered it up—but it was true, anyway. In the original story, it was just explained that Seres had divine power; there were no details on the reason why. How was I supposed to know something that wasn't explained in the original?
"An intriguing guess, but if that were really the case, Mother would know."
If it was truly connected to the family, there was someone who knew more about it than I—or the real Seres—ever could. I glanced at Ares, but she shook her head.
"I've never heard any such thing. And if I don't know, then it essentially didn't happen."
"Is that really true? There's a legend that the first Huferion, who fought the Demon King, used holy power, isn't there?"
"That's just a legend. And even in the legend, it was holy power, not divine power."
Ares responded coldly to Hames's persistent questioning, then turned a worried gaze toward me.
"Why did you have to end up with such an annoyingly powerful ability? Honestly, I'm the one who wants to know more."
"…Those Death Knights seemed to know something, no matter how you look at it."
"Just the ravings of wicked Death Knights."
Unlike us, Ares seemed to completely dismiss what the Death Knights had said. She took my hand and pulled me to my feet, telling me to forget their words.
"I don't want to talk about this unpleasant nonsense anymore. If you're done eating, let's go somewhere else."
"Where to?"
"I'll buy you a gift to lift your spirits."
The mention of a gift sparked both curiosity—what would it be?—and worry—how much money was she planning to blow?—in me.
"That brooch is 100 gold."
My fears were spot on. Ares strode into a flashy jewelry store, picked up something at random, and got 100 gold as the price. It was a tiny brooch with a red ruby embedded in it—apparently that made it insanely expensive! The shopkeeper eyed Ares with a look that screamed, Can you even afford this?
"If you're buying, you can touch it. If not, leave it alone. Gems tarnish if handled carelessly."
"…Do you not know who I am?"
"And who might you be?"
Unlike the restaurant manager earlier, the owner didn't recognize Ares and gave her a dumbfounded look. Instead of yelling at the rude man, Ares pointed to me standing behind her, partially hidden.
"Surely you know who this child is?"
"Uh."
The owner froze upon seeing me, his brain short-circuiting for a moment, then—
"I-I'm so sorry! Countess Ares, Young Master Seres, I've been terribly rude to the two luminaries of House Huferion!"
He bowed so low it looked like he might slam his head into the floor, utterly terrified.
"Th-that brooch is yours! Take it for free—please, just forgive me!"
"I can't do that. My hands have touched it, so I'll buy it."
Ares handed over a single platinum coin worth 100 gold. Then she stomped on the brooch and crushed it!
"Seres, the quality here is subpar. Let's go somewhere else."
"…Okay."
I was so stunned I could barely muster a response. Why buy it just to smash it? She'd basically thrown away 100 gold out of sheer spite!
Dragging my bewildered self across the street to another jewelry store—
"Welcome! Countess Ares Huferion, Young Master Seres Huferion!"
"What an unparalleled honor to serve such esteemed guests!"
They must have witnessed the fiasco from across the way. Not just the clerks but the owner himself rushed out, bowing at ninety-degree angles and showering us with flattery.
"If His Majesty the Emperor is the sun of the empire, then Young Master Seres is its moon! To behold your heavenly beauty, spoken of only in rumors— I could die without regrets right now!"
"Is that so."
The owner's full-throated bootlicking seemed to work; Ares's expression softened.
"Indeed. Since the moon himself has graced us, you'd best provide a fitting gem."
"B-but, Countess? Our humble shop pales in comparison to your stature—we could never find anything worthy of Young Master Seres."
"Ah, no matter. I'm just shopping lightly for a mood booster, so anything roughly suitable will do."
"Then this."
The owner cautiously presented a sparkling necklace embedded with diamonds.
"It's made from silver infused with mana, adorned with top-quality diamonds. It even has a simple enchantment to make it glow."
"How much?"
"500 gold."
"Quite affordable."
Where?! Ares called it cheap, handed over 500 gold for the necklace, and gave it to me. As I opened my mouth in disbelief, Hames held out a brooch with a sapphire for me this time.
"Since we're here, I'll get you one too. Owner, how much for this?"
"120 gold."
"This place really has good prices."
Hames called it cheap too, paid 120 gold for the brooch, and gifted it to me. Stunned speechless, I watched the money madness continue.
"How much for this outfit?"
"800 gold."
"That's reasonable too."
"Exactly. Even I, as a priestess, could buy it without strain."
They bought me an outfit worth nearly 1,000 gold without me even asking, chattering about how cheap it was. What was wrong with their heads? Then I overheard the clerks whispering.
"Look at what Young Master Seres is wearing!"
"My god. All those are things we couldn't even dream of stocking."
"Put together, that's gotta be tens of thousands of gold? As expected of the Huferions!"
…The casual clothes I wore every day. I had several sets of loungewear worth tens of thousands of gold? I'd assumed clothes for a countess's son would be pricey, but not this much. This was the world of true chaebols.
"Hmm, the sun is setting."
As massive sums changed hands and I reeled in shock, dusk fell. Ares led us to a hotel.
"We'll stay there tonight."
"Can we even get in without a reservation?"
It was the largest hotel in the city. Like the restaurant, maybe power could override bookings—but
"Why would the owner need a reservation? That hotel is yours."
"…Pardon?"
"Your memories must still be fuzzy. I gave it to you as a birthday gift when you turned ten. Look."
She pointed to the hotel sign, which read:
[Seres Hotel]
I learned something new: Seres was way richer than I'd thought, and he even owned his own hotel as a birthday gift.
…Not that it mattered much. In the original story, he died pathetically without spending even a fraction of it.
What really mattered right now was something else.
"Seres, do you want to bathe first? I can help you…"
"I'm fine—Mother, you go first!"
I was sharing a room with Ares. I'd tried to get separate rooms, but she'd insisted on a double. Surprised, but thinking it over, we were mother and son. No grounds to object to family sharing!
…So I'd said that, but
"Then I'll go first."
As Ares headed to the bathroom, the sound of running water made me feel increasingly weird.
"What is this feeling?"
Not arousal—more like embarrassment. She saw me as her son, but I wasn't really.
Suppressing the odd sensation, I changed into lighter clothes before my bath, but eventually…
"…Might as well get some air."
I couldn't take the awkwardness and fled outside until Ares finished.
Pacing the hallway anxiously, I ran into—
"Seres?"
"Hames?"
Hames had just stepped into the hall too.
"What are you doing?"
"Just getting some air. You?"
"Same. Shall we together, then?"
Hames opened a hallway window and beckoned me. I hesitated but couldn't return to the room yet, so I joined her. I opened another window nearby and sat on the sill like a chair.
After a moment, something occurred to me.
"When did you figure it out?"
"The advice you gave me in the Land of Death today—you could only give it if you knew I was using divine power."
In other words, Hames had already realized I could use divine power. Unexpected. I'd assumed she'd report it to the temple if she knew, but she'd kept quiet.
"Who knows."
Hames didn't even look at me, keeping her gaze outside as she replied.
"…But when did you notice? From how you talk, you've known for a while that your power is divine power."
"It was so overwhelmingly strong, I figured it might be. But I don't know the details."
I deflected, and she seemed to buy it.
"True, from what I saw today, you don't seem to grasp it fully. You held back on the undead out of pity, not using your power properly."
Maybe avoiding my words, Hames changed the subject and turned the question on me.
"Seres, why did you pity the undead? Most people feel disgust on sight and try to wipe them out."
"…They were people once too."
Beings once loved by someone, now shambling corpses in pitiful states—it was impossible not to feel sympathy. And thinking I might end up like that if I died made it feel personal. There was a strange solidarity. Honestly, how was my situation fundamentally different from an undead's? I'd bizarrely entered someone else's body in a book world. Maybe I was already dead for real.
Hiding those inner thoughts, I vaguely said it was because I feared becoming undead myself. Hames fell silent, then—
"Even if you rotted away, I'd still find you lovable."
"…What?"
Her gaze still fixed outside, she said something bizarre.
"Are you joking right now?"
It was so absurd I laughed without thinking.
I was about to press her on what she meant when her expression changed.
"What is that?"
"Don't change the subject after saying something weird yourself! I'm already feeling off, and you're making it worse…"
"Something's in the sky!"
I instinctively looked up. Against the night sky, massive flying creatures approached—huge winged beasts. And atop the leader was a person.
Who? Squinting in the moonlight to make out the figure, our eyes met—and they grinned wickedly.
"There you are!! Seres, I told you—I'd ravish you the moment your wounds healed! I'm here to keep that promise, so stay right there!"
"…Red?"