Blooming (2)

Payday is the day the heart feels full. At the same time, it is also the day a person gets a little stupid.

I really shouldn't be spending like this, I really shouldn't... I'll be scraping by again at the end of the month... That is what I tell myself, yet my body honestly goes ahead and hits the payment button.

First I bought a hundred thousand won worth of gold bars.

The payment confirmation arrived on my phone. Spilled water cannot be scooped back up. From this point on, I only had to enjoy it.

"What should I buy~"

I hummed a little nonsense tune while scrolling through the weapon list. Weapons of every shape and color filled the screen.

Still, he was an emperor in name at least. I ought to start from A-Grade at minimum, right? I set a filter so only A-Grade and above would appear.

Weapons poured down the list. Being A-Grade, their designs alone were on another level. Even something similar to the flaming greatsword I had been eyeing showed up.

"Ah... the flaming greatsword. That one's a true classic among classics."

There were simply too many items I liked. The more I looked, the deeper the dilemma grew. A sigh slipped out on its own.

Greatsword, twin blades, hammer, shield, axe—there was even a chainsaw. The emperor would look good holding anything, which only made the choice harder.

"...Maybe I should search?"

I typed "emperor character" into the search bar and hit enter. Screens full of emperors in every style appeared. Hmm... there was material worth referencing.

"The king's... four ornaments? Regalia?"

An unfamiliar word pulled my mouse like a spell. A long block of text unfurled. Skimming it, I learned that the crown, the sword, the scepter, and the orb were the four objects that symbolized a king's authority.

"A scepter, huh..."

In my mind, an emperor was less the type to charge ahead with a sword and more the strategic figure who directed from the rear. If you wanted to swing a blade yourself, you should have become a general.

Perfect. I had the feeling now.

"I should look in the staff section."

I needed to craft a large staff. An absolutely massive, dazzling staff.

I rummaged through the staff category. Quite a few staves with strong personalities appeared.

"Pharaoh's Eternal Snow Staff...? What even is this. A pair of total-tree staves?"

I was not looking for ordinary sticks like those. I needed something bigger, flashier, more majestic—a staff that carried real presence.

"Oh..."

After diligently digging through the weapon list, I found it. Luckily it was near the very end of the A-Grade weapons. One wrong move and I would have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ended up spending gold bars on an S-Grade.

"Sun Scepter of the Lionheart... great name."

Cool. The name alone was cool. Lionheart—Richard the Lionheart in English.

Just looking at the name, it was an item made for an emperor.

True to the Lionheart moniker, two lions at the tip of the staff held a sun-round gem between their jaws. This was exactly the weapon that suited an emperor.

This was what a hundred thousand won was for. Without hesitation I unlocked the weapon with gold bars. I even poured in the platinum I had left in the forge a few days earlier, sparing nothing.

The radiant staff settled into my inventory. It was bulkier than I expected, which I liked even more. While I turned it this way and that, admiring it, the "Extra-Large Weapon Package" I had seen in the shop last time suddenly came to mind.

"I should buy the package this time too."

I quickly switched the screen to the shop and found the Extra-Large Weapon Package. Luck was on my side—it even had a thirty-percent discount.

The tooltips said "certain size," but they probably all meant large weapons. The material-refund part included in the package was a little disappointing. I should have bought the package first and then crafted—I thought.

People say life is all about order of operations. That saying was spot on.

"Still, I can't hold back."

My hand went straight for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the payment.

I decided this counted as solid spending.

Right after lunch, everyone left the office to take a nap or go for a walk. The timing was perfect. I quickly launched the game.

I passed through the familiar temple and moved the screen to the inn.

It was time to give the staff to the emperor who had waited so long.

The emperor character still stood there with full dignity. Just imagining him holding the Sun Scepter already made my chest swell with grandeur.

The emperor suddenly sprang to his feet, flung both arms wide, and began shouting something.

It was not completely shattered like last time; traces of readable letters still remained here and there. If it was going to be like this, it should have just broken the text entirely. What even was that?

—Beep-boop

A message window covered the emperor with his arms spread. The same old choice window I was sick of seeing appeared.

"...Give it to whom?"

The choices that appeared next.

"..."

I was so dumbfounded I could not speak. Facing another garbage-game choice I had only ever seen on YouTube made my head spin. Both of them were the same person. Was there even a point in choosing?

"Ha... In the end I'm just giving it to the same guy, aren't I?"

— "No! They're different!"

"Huh?"

A young woman's voice answered the mutter I had let slip without thinking. What? Who on earth?

I stood up from my chair and looked around, but everyone was either sleeping or glued to their phones.

What was that just now? It sounded similar to the woman's voice from my dreams.

...An auditory hallucination? I rubbed the goosebumps that had risen and sat back down. Lately strange things kept happening around me. Maybe I really needed to get an exorcism done.

While I was making a fuss, the emperor looked at the screen and delivered another line of dialogue.

"Ha, what is he even saying?"

—Crackle-static

"Wh-what?"

The screen showing the inn suddenly filled with noise. It warped and twisted like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an old television with a bad signal.

What is this? Why is it doing that?

"Ah, damn. What the hell?"

While I flailed in confusion, the noise vanished with a pop and a clean screen reappeared.

...Just a temporary glitch?

On the screen free of noise, the two choices had disappeared, leaving only one.

"Haa— I don't even know anymore."

Whatever I picked it was the same person... but since there was only one option left, I had no choice at all.

"This game is seriously dumb."

It really was a stupid game.

The moment I selected Give to Human Caesar, the emperor bowed his head deeply. I had no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠idea what any of it meant; now I just wanted to sell the weapon and be done with it.

"Just take it and go already..."

I dragged the staff over and handed it to the emperor. The moment he gripped it, light enveloped him, and with a soft poof he vanished from the inn.

Whew... I felt completely drained.

A pleasant drowsiness settled in. My stomach was full, and sinking deep into the chair made sleep come easily.

"Haa— what time is it?"

I glanced at the clock: 12:20. If I slept now I could get a full forty minutes. I did not fight the rising tide of sleep and closed my eyes.

Consciousness drifted farther and farther away... Sleep pressed in thicker. Reality grew hazy and distant...

And then...

— "Why do you keep refusing to run the raids?"

"Excuse me?"

The red-haired woman appeared in my dream again.

Huh?

Demonic and Kenis rushed over the moment they heard Number Five had woken. They needed to know what she had been doing for the past three days and where she had captured a demon.

There was a great deal they needed to hear from her.

Inside the temporary tent, Number Five had removed the mask she always wore. Kenis had already dismantled the armor long ago.

To cover the form-fitting undergarments, she had wrapped a large cloth around herself like a cloak.

"...Paladin. Hero."

A woman's voice, soft as a whisper.

"Number Five... is that you?"

Kenis could not close her mouth.

No one could have imagined that such a delicate woman had been hidden beneath that ominous armor and chilling mask.

Hair white as a snowfield cascaded down, and her eyes were the red of blood droplets.

Her skin, pale to the point of translucence from long absence of sunlight, made her look less like a heretic inquisitor and more like a frail young lady.

Even Demonic's face clearly showed shock. The heretic inquisitors were a group that kept to themselves even within the Pantheon, so Demonic himself had not known that Number Five was a woman.

Red eyes?

Demonic stared fixedly at Number Five's pupils. Blood-red, a murky crimson. Hair white as snow.

Colors no human could naturally possess. Eyes of that shade belonged to...

"Number Five. What exactly are you?"

In the blink of an eye Demonic's sword was drawn and leveled at Number Five's throat. A single red bead of blood welled where the tip lightly pricked the skin.

Kenis beside him startled at the sudden move, yet Number Five offered no resistance at all. As if Demonic's reaction were only natural.

"...Paladin, my identity is not what matters right now."

Number Five spoke in a quiet, measured whisper. There was even a faintly dazed quality to her.

"...True. There are more urgent matters at present. But I will hear the full story later, without fail."

"...Of course. When the time comes, I will tell you everything."

When Demonic lowered the blade from Number Five's throat, a thin red line remained on her white, deer-like neck. Blood trickled down in a thin stream.

"Number Five! First, use this handkerchief on the wound... wait... huh?"

"...I am fine. My body is sturdy."

By the time Kenis held out the handkerchief, the wound had already vanished. It disappeared as cleanly as a magic trick.

Kenis's eyes went wide.

"Wh-what? The wound?"

"...Later. I will explain everything in detail later."

Number Five whispered in the same calm tone. Her expression remained blank. It felt less like simple stoicism and more like a human from whom emotion itself had been excised—an uncanny disconnect.

"So, Number Five. What did you need to say?"

At Demonic's words, Number Five turned her head and met his gaze.

"...The sea."

"The sea?"

Number Five slowly nodded.

"...The demons are targeting the Sea of Souls."

"The Sea of Souls?"

Kenis tilted her head. Was there such a sea?

Demonic, as if something had clicked, shook his head.

"Number Five, that is impossible. The Sea of Souls is not a place mere demons can reach."

"...You are correct. 'Targeting' was a slightly inaccurate choice of words."

Number Five gave a small nod and corrected herself.

"...The demons intend to make use of the Sea of Souls, which holds immense potential."