Chapter 62
Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Same Path as the Original
In the end, you've ended up walking the exact same path as the original.
Ugh.
My head throbbed as if it were splitting apart. Like rusty gears forcibly grinding together, some foul noise reverberated inside my skull.
'...Ah.'
My throat was bone-dry. Only a deflating hiss escaped between my lips.
My whole body felt as heavy as a waterlogged cotton wad. Even twitching a single finger was an ordeal.
'Did I fall asleep? Or pass out?'
My memories were a tangled mess.
The last thing that surfaced was the Abyss trying to restore them for me.
"Ugh......"
I forcibly pried open my eyelids. They weighed as much as lead ingots.
Eyes unaccustomed to the dark struggled to find their focus.
Faint torchlight. Dank air. The stench of earth and the presence of people assaulted my nostrils.
'...Where the hell is this?'
Just as I tried to pull myself together.
"Hiiik!"
What was that weird noise?
My already pounding head felt like it would crack open further. My face twisted involuntarily.
I turned my head very, very slowly.
"...?"
A man came into view.
He had collapsed flat on the floor, limbs gone limp as he shuddered uncontrollably.
His face was corpse-pale. His eyes looked ready to pop out, bloodshot veins bulging.
"S-sa... saaa...!"
His mouth moved, but no coherent words followed.
He clawed at the ground, scrambling backward in desperation. Dragging his butt across the floor in a pathetic, almost comical scramble.
'Why's he acting like that?'
I couldn't make sense of it. Did I look that tasty or something?
I tilted my stiff neck sideways, trying to figure it out.
At that tiny motion, the man jolted in terror.
"U-uwaaaak! Y-you're not dead!? M-mo, monster! Devil... devil!"
Monster. Devil.
Was he talking to me?
My brows furrowed tighter.
'What a noisy bastard.'
My head hurt even more.
The black slime coating my body slithered off slowly. A wet sound accompanied it, but it didn't feel gross at all.
It was like a part of me returning to where it belonged. It seeped smoothly under my skin and vanished without a trace.
"Hiiik! D-don't come closer! Get away!"
The man was in full-blown panic. His pants were soaked through, but he was too busy trembling to notice.
I rolled my numb shoulders once and reached out toward him.
Be quiet a little.
That's what I meant to say.
The black mass at my feet suddenly surged up. It morphed in an instant into a sharp spear, thrusting toward the man's throat.
'...Ah?'
The man was one breath away from foaming at the mouth.
Had it reacted to my movement?
His face turned blue as he choked and gagged. His eyes rolled back, no scream escaping.
I halted my hand.
Maybe because I'd only just woken up, my body was trembling a little.
I turned aside and gently stroked one of the tentacles. The moment my fingertips touched it, I felt it quiver pleasantly, like a puppy begging for praise.
"...So affectionate."
I murmured without thinking. At once, the other tentacles sprawled across the floor swarmed into the gaps between my fingers.
Jealous, maybe?
They shoved their heads forward one after another, clamoring to be petted next.
My body was still too weak to stop trembling, but I sat down for now and stroked them slowly.
Cute.
The tentacles slyly pulled back from the man.
I didn't drop my guard, though. They stayed within range to pierce his heart at any moment.
Before I could fully take stock of the situation, I noticed the other man who'd been motionless from the start.
A massive hole gaped in his chest. Judging by the wound's shape...
Next to him lay a gigantic sword.
'Ah.'
I knew that thing.
My greatsword.
One of the two was right here.
'...So where's the other one?'
The second was missing. It was far too heavy for two people to lift together. And its size made it impossible to miss.
'Where could the other one be?'
Did Esira take it?
No sign of it here, anyway.
So who were these guys?
The picture came together. Judging by the dead guy's clothes and the pathetic state of the one in front of me, they looked like grave robbers.
They must've messed with the Abyss and paid the price.
I let out a sigh and looked down at the surviving man.
Terror had him barely breathing. His expression screamed instinctual knowledge: one twitch of my finger, and that black spear would run him through the heart.
"...Hey."
My voice came out rough and grating, like rusted metal, after so long unused.
"...You there."
"S-sa, sp-spare... please spare me...!"
The man slammed his forehead against the floor, begging.
"I'll do anything you ask! Just please, spare my life...!"
I rubbed my brow and pointed at the greatsword with a finger.
"First, go pick that up."
"Y-yes, sir!"
The man scrambled on all fours. He clawed toward the greatsword, repeatedly glancing back to eye the tentacles warily.
"...Hurry up."
He seized the hilt and strained with everything he had. His face turned beet red, veins bulging in his neck, but the blade didn't budge an inch—like it had taken root in the ground.
"Kuhhh...!"
Not even a scrape of metal on stone.
He looked up at me with a tearful grimace.
"Uh, th-this... it's impossible...!"
"......"
"L-looks like it's wedged in the rocks! My strength just...!"
That tracked.
No normal human could lift that weight. Even with his life on the line, he couldn't manage it.
I was the freak for swinging it one-handed to begin with.
"Out of the way."
"P-please spare me...!"
"Won't kill you. Move."
The man scurried aside on hands and knees.
Taking a single step felt like trudging with sandbags strapped on. My muscles had stiffened from lying there so long.
Every time I wobbled, the black tentacles wrapped around my calves and waist, propping me up.
'...Good kids.'
I stood before the greatsword.
Dust caked on the hilt whispered of years gone by.
I brushed it off and gripped the familiar handle.
'Light as a feather.'
I yanked it free in one smooth motion.
It settled perfectly into my grasp.
The man's jaw dropped.
"Hiiik...."
I slammed the tip into the ground with a thud. The vibration traveled up through my soles.
"Got any water?"
"Y-yes! Here!"
The man thrust out a leather canteen in a frenzy. I snatched it, popped the lid, and chugged it down.
My scorched throat finally felt alive.
"Hm, hm."
I cleared my throat lightly.
"Ah— Ah."
The grating rasp in my larynx smoothed out.
'Now it sounds human.'
Satisfied.
"Hey."
"Yes, yes! Just say the word!"
"You know who I am?"
The man's eyes bulged round. The out-of-left-field question left him glitching for a second.
"A-Asrania, right?"
He knew.
I nodded.
"Then this'll be quick."
His face contorted in a grotesque mix of fear, shock, and disbelief.
He stammered on like he'd seen a ghost.
"B-but... I-I definitely heard you died."
"...What?"
Any trace of amusement vanished.
Realizing his slip, he blurted out in a rush.
"Th-the whole world knows it! Asrania... that day, you died with Exim #5......"
Me?
Declaring me dead right in front of the living, breathing me.
I mulled it over. Recalling that day, it wouldn't be weird for them to think I'd died.
Hell, I'd thought so myself.
"...Go on."
"It's in all the history books."
"Details. How far does it go?"
The man swallowed hard. His eyes darted wildly, gauging my mood.
"13 years."
"......"
"You vanished 13 years ago."
13 years.
'...13 years?'
My chat with the Abyss felt like moments ago. Was that not real time?
The greatsword trembled ever so slightly in my grip. Dizziness hit me.
A hollow laugh bubbled up, only to catch in my throat.
Time enough for mountains to shift.
For long years, the world had recorded my death, and people like this terrified robber had lived believing it.
I clenched the hilt tight.
"Good."
My voice sank low.
"Guess it's time I caught up on the backlog."
"...So Esira ended up taking an Exim seat after all."
Inevitable fate, huh.
In the end, you've ended up walking the exact same path as the original.
Bitter regret outweighed any pride.
Now that I knew Esira's secret, I had no clue how to approach her anymore.
Complicated thoughts swirled in my head.
The Abyss's influence?
Situations that would've rattled me before now felt numbingly calm.
It was starting to feel like I was truly becoming Asrania.
"Got it. 13 years. Quite the story—not boring at all."
"Gl-glad you're satisfied......"
"Enough. You're noisy. Get lost."
The man's face lit up with tearful gratitude as he bowed repeatedly.
"R-really, I can go...? Yes! Thank you! I'll never forget this grace!"
He spun around. Relief sped up his steps.
Just as he broke into a run for the exit.
Puk.
The sound of flesh being pierced echoed through the cave.
His footsteps froze. From the shadow beneath me, the Abyss had lanced out and punched straight through his back into his chest.
"...Kuh, gak."
Not even a scream.
No chance to feel the pain—he buckled at the knees and pitched forward. Life ebbed from him in seconds.
I stroked the writhing black tentacle slinking back toward me.
Letting a loose-lipped grave robber walk free had been a risky bet from the start.
The Abyss had just handled it for me.
I gazed down at the rapidly cooling corpse.
"Still, I sent you off painlessly."