Chapter 130: Rest (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 130: Rest (5)
Cloud had never assumed Mars knew.
The frustrating way he’d acted with Isabelle was part of it, but more importantly, he was the protagonist of an NTR game.
Like most protagonists in such games, the Mars in the game had been clueless and indecisive.
Cloud had thought it was only natural for him not to notice.
He’d thought the same of Christina.
He’d assumed she didn’t know because Mars was always smiling, always treating her with kindness.
But that wasn’t the case.
Christina’s eyelids trembled.
“You knew…?”
“Yes.”
“Since when…?”
“Do you remember the town we stopped in right after we came out of the dungeon? We were watching a meteor shower on a hill, and you stepped away for a moment. You were gone for so long that I got worried and went looking for you. I saw it by chance then.”
The town they’d stopped in right after the dungeon.
That was at least a year ago.
Which meant…
“From then until now… you knew all along and pretended you didn’t…?”
“…”
“Why? Why…? What were you thinking…? Mars, explain it to me…”
The shock of Mars knowing everything. The sense of betrayal that he had let it happen. And on top of it all, the guilt she felt toward him.
A chaotic mix of emotions churned within Christina, leaving her heart in shambles.
Watching her on the verge of tears, Mars gave a bitter smile.
“I knew what kind of situation you were in. But the reason I hesitated to step in was because I felt like you were enjoying it.”
“Wh-what kind of nonsense is that! There’s no way I would…”
Mars’s gaze was fixed squarely on her.
With so much to feel guilty about, she shrank back and hung her head, her strength draining away.
Mars continued, “Even if your feelings were different from what I thought, I had no way of knowing. That’s truly how it looked to me. So I made a decision. If you were honest with me, if you asked for my help, I would willingly accept it.”
But in the end, it came to this.
Unable to wipe the bitter smile from his face, he turned his gaze to Hyou and Bomuro.
“The same goes for you, Hyou and Bomuro. I truly thought of you as precious companions. I believed what happened with Christina was a momentary mistake, that you would one day realize your wrongdoing and stop on your own. But it seems that was just my own delusion.”
There was only one reason Mars hadn't immediately followed Cloud's lead.
He wanted to know their true feelings.
If they had felt sorry toward him, if they had said they would stop even now. If they had revealed the truth to Mars and offered a sincere apology.
Mars might have forgiven them.
After all, they were the first companions he had ever made.
They had built countless memories together.
But until the very end, the two refused to admit their fault.
They only tried to escape the difficult situation, never ceasing their deception of Mars.
Even so, Mars didn't feel particularly angry or despairing.
He was just very, very disappointed.
Because he had realized that all the memories they had built were lies.
He was in no mood to smile, but Mars forced one onto his lips.
“It seems we’ll have to part ways here. Thank you for everything. My journey would have been much harder without you.”
There was no reply from the two men.
Was it because of guilt?
Not a chance.
One of them had a shattered jaw, and the other was in too much pain to speak.
After bidding farewell to the two he had considered his companions, Mars turned his gaze back to Christina.
“Christina.”
She flinched at the sound of her name.
She didn't lift her bowed head. Mars’s bitter smile deepened.
“What do you want to do?”
“H-Huh…?”
Her voice trembled. She thought he was about to break up with her, just like he had with the other two. But what Mars said to her was different.
What would she do from now on?
Would she stay with him, or would she go with them?
He was giving her a chance to choose.
Only then did she lift her head and meet his eyes.
“M-Mars… I…”
“We won’t be able to go back to how we were right away. Maybe never. That’s how much trust we’ve lost.”
She lowered her head again.
“Yes… I suppose so…”
“Still, if you choose to be with me, I’ll try. I’ll try to treat you like before. I can’t promise anything… So, tell me, Christina. What do you want to do?”
Christina looked back and forth between Hyou, Bomuro, and Mars.
“I…”
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
“Are you really just going to let them go? You won’t regret it later?”
“Whatever happened, they were people I spent the last few years with. I want to part ways as cleanly as possible.”
Christina had decided to follow Hyou and Bomuro, not Mars. Mars accepted her decision. He healed the two men with potions, divided the party’s assets, and then they parted ways.
As they were leaving, Christina looked back at Mars a few times, but that was it.
Mars had completely separated from his party members.
“What a fucking pushover…”
Cloud let out a deep sigh and patted Mars on the shoulder.
“Hang in there. Don’t get too hurt. She’s not the only woman in the world… No, more importantly, why did you have to pick a woman like that? Does her pink hair remind you of a pink-haired slut or something?”
“I told you not to call her that. And I didn’t confess to her. She confessed to me.”
“Huh?”
Cloud tilted his head.
“Uh… so, you’re saying she confessed to you, and you accepted?”
“Yeah.”
“And then she cheated on you?”
“Well… when you put it like that, yes.”
“What the hell is wrong with that crazy bitch?”
As Cloud’s eyes widened in disbelief, Mars chuckled.
“Anyway, that’s how it is, so don’t worry too much. I’m not that hurt. I lost all affection for her the moment I first saw what was happening.”
“And you still asked if she wanted to stay with you? What would you have done if she’d said yes?”
“I told you, didn’t I? I would have tried. I would have tried to forget everything and start over from the beginning.”
“Let me correct myself. You’re not a pushover. You’re a complete pushover.”
“Why do you have to put it like that?”
“Shut it, man. While I’m asking, let me ask one more thing. What will you do if that woman comes back later? You’re not thinking of taking her back, are you?”
Mars wore a thoughtful expression for a moment before shaking his head.
“Even for me, that would be difficult. Besides, I don’t think she’ll come back in the first place.”
“Oh, really? Wanna hear a prophecy? That bitch will definitely come back.”
“What’s the basis for your prophecy?”
“Because their lifestyle is going to change completely. You guys earned your money through adventurer work, right?”
“That’s right. It was the most accessible line of work.”
“How was the income?”
“We mostly took A-rank quests and sometimes S-rank ones… It wasn’t bad. I don’t think we ever felt short on money.”
“Do you think they can take on those A-rank and S-rank quests without you? And even if they do, can they complete them without any trouble?”
Mars imagined his former party trying to complete a quest without him.
…No matter how optimistically he pictured it, he couldn’t imagine them safely completing an S-rank quest, though an A-rank might be possible.
As he shook his head with a grim expression, Cloud snapped his fingers. “Exactly.”
“I know their level. Honestly, they’re decent enough. They’d do pretty well in the adventurer business. But there’s a big difference between ‘pretty well’ and ‘the top.’ People who are used to the high life usually can’t adjust when they’re forced to live a lesser one.”
Once you get used to a higher standard of living, it’s hard to accept anything less.
“They’ll be the same. They’ll find it hard to take quests with just three people, so they’ll recruit someone decent. Then they’ll take a quest and try to complete it. The result will be a miserable failure.”
There was an insurmountable wall between an ordinary adventurer and Mars. With Mars, their sturdy pillar, gone and replaced by a mere twig, the party was bound to collapse.
“After repeating that, they’ll eventually realize their level and start taking lower-rank quests. It’ll be enough to live on, but there’s no way they’ll be satisfied with that. Not when the glorious memories of the past remain so vivid.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to call it glorious…”
“In any case, their future life won’t meet their inflated standards. So their nerves will fray, and they’ll eventually have a huge fight. After that fight, she’ll think of you. ‘It wasn’t like this when I was with Mars.’ Something like that. After that happens a few times, she’ll start planning to come back to you.”
“…”
Cloud’s words left Mars speechless, his mouth agape. It sounded so disturbingly realistic that it gave him goosebumps.
Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Cloud let out a heavy sigh.
“You’re sticking with me for a while.”
“Last time you told me to go on my own journey.”
“That was before you got tangled up with a crazy woman! I can’t let you go, you make me anxious. The Imperial social season is starting soon. Find a decent woman there and try dating her.”
“The Imperial social season? Isn’t that only for high-ranking people?! How can I possibly go there?!”
“Did you hear what I just said? I said you’re coming with me.”
Right. This hyung is a high-ranking noble.
The realization hit Mars all over again.
“Still, getting in isn’t the only problem. Aren’t all the women at the social events high-ranking nobles? How can I meet someone like that!”
“I’ll take care of the small details like that. You just focus on finding someone. Just think about meeting a good person. And please, for the love of god, forget that pink-haired slut.”
“I mean… haa… Okay. I know you don’t make empty promises… I’ll trust you for now.”
“You should have just said so from the start.”
Cloud finally let go of his worries and leaned against a tree like Mars. The stars of the Milky Way strewn across the night sky were enough to momentarily ease both their troubles.
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to Mars, and he broke the long silence.
“You’re not planning to secretly harm those three, are you? Like sending assassins or something.”
He’d meant it as a lighthearted joke.
But as Cloud remained silent, the smile gradually faded from Mars’s face.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“…”
“…You’re not, right?”
“The night sky is beautiful. Let’s just watch the stars quietly.”
“Hyung!?”
*
Sami.
An information organization under the command of the Snake Venom Society, the vampire organization that held sway over the Alitia Kingdom.
Kluk, who had turned ninety this year, was the branch manager of one such information organization. Though being a branch manager only meant he was in charge of a small city in a corner of the kingdom.
In the first place, a vampire as young as him would never have been made a branch manager if it weren't for such a small city.
For that reason, he was quite satisfied with his current life.
And now, a crisis had befallen that satisfying life.
“You couldn’t find him? Aren’t you supposed to be the best information organization in the Alitia Kingdom? And you can’t find one person?”
It was all because of a pink-haired human woman, far younger than him, who was throwing a tantrum.
It was humiliating, but Kluk could feel it.
She was stronger than him…!
And so, he could only answer while sweating profusely.
“It’s true that our organization is the best in the Alitia Kingdom, but this is just one of its many, many branches…”
“You think I came here without knowing that? I’ve already been to a few other places. They all said they didn’t know, just like you. A bunch of incompetent bats.”
—A bunch of incompetent bats.—
Her words echoed in Kluk’s mind. His eyelids twitched.
How dare a mere human belittle a noble vampire by comparing us to such a lowly beast? You must have a death wish!
Though he was only a lower vampire, his pride in being a vampire was no less than that of a high-ranking one.
There was no way he could endure such an insult!
Kluk slowly extended his claws, so subtly that the human before him wouldn't notice. His plan was to aim for her neck in a surprise attack once they were fully extended.
However, there were vampires in the organization more impetuous than Kluk.
“This bitch and her big mouth!”
“Even a client shouldn’t cross the line.”
Unlike Kluk, they failed to gauge the woman’s power. They strode forward and began to surround her.
The woman glanced at the vampires surrounding her, then sent a look toward Kluk.
Is she asking me to intervene?
Kluk weighed his options internally.
The organization members who might get injured or killed in this fight versus the honor of vampires.
It didn't take long to decide. The latter was more important.
Members could always be replaced.
He waved his hand dismissively and gave the order.
“Don’t kill her, just cut her tendons. She’s pretty, we can sell her as a prostitute.”
The moment his words ended, the vampires drew their claws. Just as they were about to strike, a sharp wind swirled around the woman.
The startled vampires stumbled back.
“Wh-what was that?”
“Nothing happened.”
“This damn bitch…”
“Hey, wait. You have a red line on your face…”
SWOOSH—
The bodies of the vampires who had surrounded the woman were sliced into pieces, tumbling to the floor.
Kluk’s eyes widened.
“Wh-what is this…”
The woman pointed her index finger at Kluk. He knew instinctively. He had to dodge before that finger moved…
SLICE—
Thinking before moving was too slow.
Kluk’s head fell and rolled across the floor. A fountain of blood erupted from his headless neck, splattering onto the woman’s face. She frowned.
“Aish, so gross…”
The woman wiped the blood from her face and set the building on fire. As she walked out of the building, which was burning fiercely as if doused in oil, she let out a deep sigh.
“Where the hell are you, Mars…”
You’re safe, right? You haven’t fallen for another woman while I was gone, have you?
Growing anxious, she quickened her pace.
Her destination was the information organization in the next city.