Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Unstable Flavor
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“Ugh...”
The Face Thief, having fulfilled its role, lay collapsed on the ground, but Toua rose to his feet.
“Urgh...”
Mangnus, who had been slammed into the fence, also pulled himself up.
“Captain!!!”
“Vice-Captain Mangnus!”
The Special Task Force members finally snapped out of it and rushed over to them.
“Captain, are you alright!?”
“Yeah...”
“I'm fine too, so calm down.”
From the start, the two had thrown themselves at the Face Thief with the resolve to create an opening for Rishir.
In other words, they had planned to serve as bait.
Prepared for it, they had focused all their strength on defense in time, and thanks to that, they were able to protect themselves even from the Face Thief's brutish attacks.
Their claims of being fine were genuine.
And because they had splendidly fulfilled their roles, the battle had ended with the best possible outcome.
They had defeated that horrific monster—the Face Thief—without a single casualty.
The Special Task Force had completed its mission. It was an astonishing achievement.
“...”
“...”
Yet Mangnus and Toua's expressions were incredibly complicated.
“Captain...?”
Was there some other problem left?
The Special Task Force members followed their gazes.
“Ah...”
Then, their expressions turned just as complicated.
The Face Thief.
The one possessed by the faceless entity's fluid was truly a monster.
Its swollen body seemed composed not of flesh and muscle, but pure mana.
That sturdy frame had easily withstood Mangnus and Toua's all-out strikes.
The Special Task Force pondered.
Could they have taken it down on their own?
Strictly speaking, it wasn't impossible.
A Face Thief stripped of its ego was no different from an enraged wild beast.
It was dangerous, but not an overwhelmingly powerful being.
Thus, defeating it was certainly within the Special Task Force's capabilities.
However—
“...”
What about that?
The Face Thief.
Face. Thief.
That brutish mass had been cleanly bisected into two.
Wouldn't those two chunks just reconnect and come back to life if pieced together?
The cut surface was so impeccably clean that the thought arose naturally.
The Special Task Force felt awe at the trace left by that miraculous strike.
And that awe twisted into very complex emotions.
For the strike that no one in the Special Task Force could replicate had not come from any knight or sword master, but from a mage affiliated with the Gray Tower.
Rishir.
Their gazes, filled with the exact same complicated feelings as their captain's, focused on him.
“Captain?”
At that moment, Toua slowly approached Rishir and spoke.
He was crouched before the Face Thief's corpse, intently examining something.
“Rishir, you okay?”
Rishir stood and faced her.
“I seem to have a minor injury from pushing too hard, but I'm fine. I'm used to this sort of thing. I'll handle the treatment myself.”
Huff.
Huff.
Rishir was breathing raggedly as he spoke.
Toua's face twisted.
“No. Tell me the symptoms. I'll call over the healer. He's skilled—should be helpful.”
Toua beckoned to one of her subordinates.
A bespectacled Special Task Force member hurried over.
“This is Hans. In terms of healing ability, he's on par with an average mid-level healer. If he hadn't joined the Task Force, he'd probably be a top healer by now. Tell him the symptoms. Whatever it is, he'll do a better job than you handling it yourself.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“I'm really fine...”
As Rishir gave a wry smile, Toua said with a serious face,
“You're our Special Task Force's benefactor... no, hero. Without your help, we would've suffered far greater losses completing this mission. The Face Thief's abilities exceeded our expectations.”
Hans pushed up his glasses and added sternly,
“Improper treatment by a non-expert can worsen the injury. Please, follow my instructions here.”
Hans and Toua's demeanor was somewhat tense as they spoke.
They knew how stubborn mages from the towers could be.
They believed their knowledge was absolutely superior.
A mage saying, “Oh, I know that too—” was practically a walking disaster.
“He's a tower mage too... gonna be tough to convince him.”
Just as Hans began feeling daunted,
“Understood. Then, may I gladly accept your kind offer and ask for your help?”
“?”
Hans's eyes widened at Rishir's response.
“He's really a tower mage?”
To acknowledge and respect that another's knowledge was more specialized than his own.
It was a rare sight from a tower mage.
—You're a specialist healer? So what. I'm a tower mage.
Having prepared for such otherworldly reactions from past experience, Hans couldn't hide his surprise but directed a favorable gaze toward Rishir.
“Thank you for cooperating. Now, could you describe the symptoms?”
He said enthusiastically.
Because it was the captain's order.
Because he was the Task Force's benefactor.
Above all, he genuinely wanted to help this man.
“Symptoms, huh—it's this.”
“This?”
“Overload.”
“?”
“?”
Toua and Hans, listening intently to Rishir's serious explanation, had question marks painted on their faces.
“Didn't you just say it was a minor injury...?”
“Yes. A minor overload.”
“...”
“...”
A minor overload.
The combination of words felt utterly alien to them.
When mana runs out of control and collapses the body, there's no such thing as minor or major.
You just get screwed, period.
The two saw Rishir in a new light.
Blood trickling from every orifice on his face, breathing raggedly.
They had thought he was fine because he acted nonchalant, but he was actually dying in real time.
“Ov-overload...! Rishir, you okay!?”
“Yes. I'm fine. I'm used to it.”
“Used... to it?”
“So, Hans. What should I do?”
“No, even if you ask me...”
“Pardon?”
Rishir stared at Hans.
—You said to follow your instructions here?
It was as if that voice echoed.
Hans felt wronged.
—You said it was a minor injury!
What madman calls an overload a minor injury?
Then again, with blood pouring from every facial opening, no one would call his state minor.
His very existence was causing cognitive dissonance around him.
“...Hans, he says overload— is it okay to leave him like that?”
Toua asked uncertainly.
“...With blood flowing from every hole in his face... normally, you'd be crippled or dead.”
“But Rishir says he's used to it... Ah.”
Suddenly, Toua nodded as if understanding.
“Wh-what did you figure out!?”
“Yeah. With Rishir, it's possible.”
“...?”
That's it?
Hans was bewildered.
The iron-willed captain was being influenced(?) by Rishir.
“Rishir, you mentioned handling it yourself earlier—is there a standard way to deal with overloads?”
She even asked with keen interest.
Hans wanted to scream in frustration.
Unless you carried a priest around, there was no way.
“Ah, yes. Normally, I manage the rampaging mana.”
Manage rampaging mana enough to cause overload?
If you can manage it, why does it rampage?
If it's rampaging, how do you manage it?
Why does overload happen?
Why is an eagle's beak yellow?
Did his mana suddenly surge? Like he ate some elixir without knowing?
At that moment, Rishir closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.
What followed was straightforward.
The rampaging mana gradually stabilized and began merging with his body.
“Whoa.”
Toua let out a soulless exclamation of resignation from the side.
Hans clutched his head with both hands.
He fled back to his squad before his own constitution changed.
***
“Phew, seems I've got it under control.”
As Rishir managed the overload to some extent, Toua brought up the question she'd been holding back.
“Rishir, mind if I ask something?”
“Go ahead.”
By now, the Special Task Force members had gathered behind her.
They waited tensely for her words.
“Sword beam...”
Toua uttered the word with an incredibly complicated expression.
“How can you wield that power...?”
Rishir's realm was 6th circle.
He was originally a mage.
And, and—
Listing it all out would never end, so Toua could only ask that way.
How'd you do it?
After some thought, Rishir answered.
“I have an ego sword. Blue Lotus, they call it—the external sword. I received it from its owner. I believe I can use sword beams entirely thanks to that ego sword.”
“...!”
Toua and the Special Task Force members' eyes widened.
External sword of a sword master.
The famous beloved sword of its wielder, Blue Lotus.
What came from Rishir's mouth was more astonishing and stimulating than they'd imagined.
“I see, thanks to the external sword's ego sword...”
“Indeed, if borrowing the power of such an incredible sword—...!”
Toua murmured, and Mangnus agreed.
The other members nodded vigorously with faces saying I get it!
All but one, that is.
“...But even borrowing an ego sword's power, for a 6th circle mage... And you're not even holding the sword right now—”
Hans.
He voiced his reasonable doubt with a puzzled look.
A perfectly valid doubt.
And that was the problem.
“Eek!”
Hans flinched at his comrades' suddenly murderous glares.
Realizing too late, he nodded vigorously.
And so, it became canon that Rishir could use sword beams thanks to(?) the ego sword infused with a sword master's power.
It had to be that way.
“Of course... that makes sense...”
“No wonder! The external sword's beloved blade!!!”
“As expected of Sir Rishir!!! Recognized by that external sword wielder and bequeathed the Blue Lotus!!!”
Hahaha.
The Special Task Force created a cheerful atmosphere.
Their gazes were somewhat unfocused.
—Poor things.
Clana muttered from the inner world.
“By the way, everyone. Do you know what this is?”
“What do you mean?”
Toua's gaze followed Rishir's hand.
The Face Thief's corpse.
Near it lay a fist-sized lump of fluid.
Its ominous texture and hue evoked black mercury.
“...”
Toua stared intently, then suddenly recalled the Face Thief's final moments.
Devoured by something, losing its existence and being manipulated.
“Perhaps this is related to its power.”
The Face Thief's power was an ability anyone in the world would covet.
Yet not a single Special Task Force member showed desire for the fluid.
Because of their superior self-control?
No. The aura emanating from the fluid was suspiciously off-putting at first glance.
Blood flowing from the Face Thief's corpse gathered toward the fluid and was absorbed.
Wondering, Rishir tried using Normalization on it.
The fluid showed no reaction.
Not related to black magic, then.
The fruitless observation continued briefly.
“Rishir!”
“You alright!?”
A moment later.
Drey and Palrag arrived late upon hearing the news.
“Ah, Lord Palrag! Perfect timing!”
Rishir immediately asked Palrag about the fluid.
“Looks like I arrived just in time.”
“Can you identify it?”
“...”
Palrag approached right up to the fluid and peered down.
He muttered,
“A fearsome thing.”
“Do you know what it is?”
At Rishir's question, Palrag snapped his fingers.
The Face Thief's corpse instantly froze solid.
Not just the bisected body, but even the scattered blood.
Thus, the fluid and Face Thief were completely isolated.
“...!”
Shock rippled across Rishir and the Special Task Force members' faces.
The fluid.
Suddenly, immense mana began emanating from the fist-sized lump.
The vast mana they had thought came from the Face Thief's corpse originated from the fluid itself.
“Seems the Face Thief wasn't the owner of this fluid, but rather the fluid owned the Face Thief.”
“Everyone?”
Drey, eyeing the fluid with interest, spoke up.
“If it's alright, may I take this fluid? I'll pay a fair price.”
“Hold off, Drey. This isn't something you can handle.”
“That serious?”
“We'll need an investigation. Everyone, stay away from this fluid until it's done.”
Palrag efficiently took charge.
Rishir asked him,
“Lord Palrag. So, I have nothing more to do now, right?”
“That's right. Why?”
“I feel like collapsing soon.”
“?”
“Everyone, I leave the rest to you. And if possible, bring me a saint.”
Rishir sat down, leaned back, and promptly passed out.
“...Shouldn't he be the one investigated?”
Hans blurted out unwittingly.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
***
A familiar ceiling.
“Doesn't it ever get old?”
And a familiar situation.
Fienne greeted me as I regained consciousness.
“Don't be ridiculous. How could Fienne's face ever get old?”
“Seeing you spout nonsense means we can skip to the main topic.”
“Is it okay for us to get used to this process?”
“Don't frame it like it's our shared issue.”
Three days.
Fienne said that was how long I'd been out.
She summarized the events of those three days for me.
“First, the date for your title conferment ceremony has been set.”
“Oh, when?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Isn't that too sudden?”
“If you hadn't passed out three days ago and listened to me, it wouldn't feel so sudden.”
“Ah.”
“And another thing. While you were asleep, all hell broke loose.”
The faceless entity's fluid.
That was the precise name for the fluid that emerged from the Face Thief's corpse.
Fienne said it had caused quite the uproar.
“Mana corrosion phenomenon...?”
“The power inside the fluid is so strong it's starting to affect the surroundings. Some say to annihilate it entirely now, others warn against touching it rashly lest unknown consequences arise. The investigation team's opinions are split.”
“Heh...”
As I struggled to process the gravity of it all in my groggy state,
“Zuiny!”
Berbante...ciu!'s vigorous voice rang out.
“You're awake already!!!”
“Ah, sorry. Was that not okay?”
“Yoginy!!!”
“Ah! Yogi, yogi!”
For some reason, the kid had entered through the room's door.
“Berbante...ciu! What's that? Where'd you go?”
“This!”
Ber held out her palm.
“Looks tasty, so I brought it!”
On that tiny palm lay a dark red fluid.
No way?
“K-Kid...! You can't—”
Yep.
The color was different, so I hadn't recognized it at first, but it was the faceless entity's fluid Fienne had just been talking about.
I urgently told Ber,
“Berbante...ciu! No, you can't do that. That's super no-no. Not for eating.”
“...”
Ber looked at the fluid with disappointment.
No.
“...!”
She glared at it.
As if in a staring contest with something inside.
I jumped up and approached Ber.
“Rishir?”
“Let's go put this back where it belongs. Together with Ber.”
“G-Go together!”
We headed to where the fluid had originally been—with Ber in tow—
The backyard of Goose Manor, where the Face Thief had fallen.
Sure enough.
The place was in chaos.
“What do you mean!? The fluid vanished suddenly!? What, you're saying it walked off on its own!? Do you know how dangerous that thing is!?”
People scurried about searching the area, while a tall woman I didn't recognize berated her subordinates in near-panic.
“What if it reacts to external stimuli or the changed environment and causes some anomaly—”
The woman paced anxiously, biting her nails.
Drey and Palrag stood beside her.
“Eh, Rishir!? You're up? Feeling better?”
Drey spotted me and brightened.
Palrag saw me too and smiled wryly before speaking.
“Bet you're wondering what the commotion is. I'll explain.”
“Ah, no need. I know what's going on.”
“Hm? That child—”
I patted Ber's head beside me, drawing all eyes to her.
To Ber, glaring at the fluid on her palm.
“M-My god! Why is that there— Kid, dangerous!!!”
The tall woman reacted first.
She gaped at Ber and shouted.
“Ri-Rishir!!! Hurry, separate your spirit from the fluid!!!”
“This is insane, why is that there!?”
Drey and Palrag reacted similarly.
“K-Kiddo! Calm down! Give that here, here...!? Sis'll give you something better—”
The three cautiously approached Ber with hands outstretched, but she ignored them completely.
“...!!!”
Her attention was solely on the fluid.
Suddenly, Ber's glare sharpened intensely.
Nom!
Ber boldly swallowed the fluid whole.
***
Gasp!
Everyone in the area collectively inhaled.
Disaster had struck after all.
The young spirit had devoured the faceless entity's fluid.
“This—”
A mix of emotions crossed their faces as they watched the spirit.
That young spirit had crossed an irreversible river.
The fluid's immense energy would erode her.
Now, what they needed to worry about wasn't the spirit's well-being, but what state she'd be in after erosion.
“!!!”
At that moment.
The young spirit, who had been munching, widened her eyes.
Here it comes!
They steeled themselves for what followed.
The young spirit.
She raised both arms high and yelled.
“Tastes bad!!!”
“...”
“...”
“...”
Silence fell over the area.
How much time passed?
“...?”
“...?”
“...?”
Their grim expressions awkwardly froze.
—That's it?
Their faces seemed to say.
Soon, their gazes shifted wholly to Rishir.
What the hell is that?
What are you lugging around?