Chapter 182
Chapter 182
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Rishir's Death
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"...Wait."
Klana.
It was the moment she had fully heightened her senses, preparing for a serious bout with Rishir.
"Klana?"
"..."
She closed her eyes tightly.
Some time passed in that state—
"It's too quiet."
"Too quiet?"
Rishir glanced around at her words.
He and Klana had practically rented out the vast backyard for themselves.
If it was quiet, that was only natural—
'But for Klana's personality, she wouldn't say something so trivial without reason.'
Rishir quickly grasped the situation.
It seemed something ominous was afoot.
"This isn't exactly the right moment to say you're stalling because you're scared of sparring with me."
"Exactly. Consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, I would've made sure you couldn't even meet this body's eyes."
"You just said it was too quiet. In what way?"
"I'm talking about the state of the presences I sense around us."
"Around us meaning—from where to where exactly—"
"What else? Obviously that ridiculously oversized building."
Rishir looked at the building in front of them.
The annex where guests of Goose Manor stayed.
The massive structure with dozens of guest rooms.
To sense the presences throughout that entire building from right here.
Rishir said with a shocked expression.
"No way... Is that even possible?"
"You, of all people, asking that?"
"?"
"Anyway. Honestly, even I'm a bit confused. This body still feels unfamiliar. I can't exactly tell you to heed my words."
"Still, go ahead and tell me. I'm always ready to listen to whatever Klana has to say."
"Listen to a murderer? You're asking for trouble."
Tsk, tsk. Klana clicked her tongue, though she seemed somewhat pleased.
She opened her eyes again and continued.
"You remember the place we stopped by before coming here."
"Duke Palrag's study?"
Klana looked up at the building.
One window.
Her gaze focused precisely on the spot where Duke Palrag's study was located.
"That wench called Halona seems to be there."
"Ms. Halona is in the study?"
"Yeah. She was probably there even when we visited."
"But she didn't react to our knock at all. Was she too focused on something to hear? Or maybe taking a separate rest—"
At that moment.
Rishir recalled what Klana had said earlier.
"Too quiet... Could something have happened to Ms. Halona?"
"That presence. That wench is definitely awake right now. But at the same time, she's asleep too. How should I put this..."
Ah.
Klana, who had been pondering, seemed to remember something and spoke.
"Ever seen guys who took a bad hit to the head and turned into living corpses?"
"Vegetative state...?"
"Vegetative state? Good term. Yeah. They're clearly alive with eyes open, but their minds are empty, no different from plants."
"...Halona's in that state right now?"
Rishir's expression gradually darkened.
Not only was he worried about Halona, who had helped them—
But if something happened to her, Klana's resurrection ritual would definitely face issues.
And so, Klana's following response delivered an even greater shock to Rishir.
"It's not just that wench."
"Pardon...?"
Klana's gaze moved away from the window of Palrag's study, wandering over various parts of the building.
"Right now, that building is full of more than one or two who've turned into vegetative states."
If I'm not mistaken.
Klana added, looking at Rishir's increasingly serious expression.
"Speak of the devil."
Klana and Rishir's gazes turned toward the corner of the building.
An elderly man with an urgent air appeared from there.
The old man, his lush beard fluttering as he hurried over, was Duke Palrag.
"Rishir, there you are!"
Whew!
Spotting Rishir, he let out a sigh of relief as if catching his breath.
"I was worried when you weren't in your room! Or rather, in this situation, relieved you weren't!"
"This situation... Duke Palrag, you know something?"
"And you seem to have a vague idea too!"
"Yes! Klana told me. Something ominous is happening in the manor—"
"Exactly. Rishir. Something ominous is happening in the manor."
Dream.
It was the word that came from Duke Palrag's mouth.
"A dream...?"
"Yes! People are trapped in dreams while wide awake!"
"...Huh?"
Halona.
She had been slumped over her desk, but now she lifted her head and looked around with a dazed expression.
'Did I fall asleep...? When did that happen?'
As a scholar, Halona valued efficiency.
Even if she pulled all-nighters with grueling work, she strove to maintain the best possible mental state.
For example—
Halona rarely fell asleep at her desk after staying up all night.
'What was I doing before I fell asleep...?'
Feeling a sense of incongruity, Halona tried to recall.
"..."
Her expression twisted.
A headache struck the moment she tried to trace her memory.
A very peculiar headache.
As if two hands were gripping her brain tightly, preventing it from budging.
"Damn it."
Halona spat through gritted teeth.
'Did I overdo it preparing the murderer's resurrection ritual?'
She concluded that was the cause of the anomaly in her body.
There were no other obvious reasons, and she was aware she had pushed herself unusually hard preparing the ritual.
"...Ha."
At that moment.
A wry smile appeared on Halona's characteristically hollow expression.
"Still ridiculous no matter how I think about it."
As her thoughts progressed, she recalled the man who could be called the root cause of all this.
'Practicing how to descend as a guardian star by being born and dying as one over and over.'
The deaths of countless stars observed at the same time.
It was a massive event that spelled crisis for those desiring peace and perfect timing for those craving chaos.
For such a huge incident to end like this.
'When I started the investigation, I never imagined it would turn out this way.'
Halona was still struggling to accept that incident—
And the existence of the man named Rishir.
"Possessing the identity of a guardian star, drawing the interest of grand sorcerers... favored by talent collectors and the Frozen Breath... commanding a murderer with power rivaling the Origin Sword... At that age, no less..."
Slurp.
Her dry lips, murmuring to herself, took in warm tea.
This was Halona's way of starting the day.
Upon waking, she immediately prepared tea—
And in the process of steeping and sipping it, she organized her mind full of all sorts of thoughts.
Until recently, those thoughts had mostly revolved around sorcery.
That power, so close to magic yet entirely different—was the subject current scholar Halona was most fascinated by.
However.
Right now, Halona's thoughts were completely free from the topic of sorcery.
"Rishir..."
Halona murmured, gazing out the window with teacup in hand.
"Right. Palrag. There's no reason for that guy to set up base in a place like Bondales without cause."
A moment later.
Halona set the empty teacup down on the desk.
"Alright."
The first task of scholar Halona was decided.
'I need to visit that man, check on the murderer's condition, and meet Palrag to hear about him.'
With that, Halona left her room to visit Rishir, walking down the corridor.
"Huh?"
Soon, she looked around the corridor.
'Something... feels too quiet?'
The day was already fully bright.
Time for the manor's servants and everyone to start their activities.
Yet, she hadn't passed a single person while walking this long corridor.
Silence enveloped the manor.
An indescribable, eerie quiet that felt ominous.
"..."
Halona considered several possibilities amid her unease—
But immediately dismissed them.
This was the manor where Grand Sorcerer Frozen Breath kept vigilant watch.
For such a place to fall into an abnormal state due to an external attack?
Impossible.
Halona had no doubt the incongruity surrounding her was just an illusion.
"Haa...! Haa...!"
Yet, for some reason, her breath came in gasps.
Before she knew it, Halona was practically running down the corridor.
Her steps, originally headed for Rishir's room, were now guiding her to the room where Palrag was staying.
'Why am I doing this?'
Halona was a rational person.
Most emotions she felt came after reasonable thought.
If she felt foreboding or fear—
It would be after reaching a corresponding conclusion.
So she thought.
Why now.
Am I feeling this ominous?
No matter how much she thought, she couldn't figure it out.
An inexplicable, vague dread was pressing down on her.
As if fear was being forced upon her.
"Alright... Almost there..."
But it was fine.
Not much longer now.
Thump!
Thump!
As Palrag's room drew nearer, Halona's heartbeat grew stronger.
She took it as a sign of relief.
A strong belief that talking to Palrag would dispel this anxiety.
That it was calming her.
Finally arriving at Palrag's room.
Bang! Bang!
Strength flowed into her arm automatically.
Halona pounded on the door desperately.
"Palrag! You in there? Let's talk for a bit!"
Without waiting for a reply, Halona flung the door open violently.
"Ugh...!"
Entering the room, she unwittingly covered her nose with the back of her hand.
The fishy smell of fresh blood, as if from a freshly slit throat.
The rotten stench of a corpse left abandoned for ages.
The two odors mingled, assaulting her nostrils.
Halona possessed vast knowledge.
She knew what fresh blood smelled like.
What a rotting corpse smelled like.
And that the two could not coexist.
"P-Palrag..."
Yet.
Halona failed to sense the unnaturalness those smells implied.
The environment and situation surrounding her.
She was completely consumed by the emotions they forced upon her.
Her ragged breathing had become indistinguishable from sobs.
Her arm, covering nose and mouth, trembled convulsively.
"No way... This is impossible..."
Palrag had been murdered.
Brutally.
The mutilated, ravaged lump of flesh bore no trace of a grand sorcerer's dignity or honor.
It was now merely a grotesque horror that fueled dread and terror.
Halona's body swayed.
Her legs buckled, nearly collapsing, but she barely held on, then spun around and fled the room.
"Rishir...!"
A desperate voice cried out his name.
Halona thought.
Maybe he could overcome this situation.
No.
He definitely could break through this!
"Rishir! Don't be shocked, listen! Palrag just—"
Arriving at his room, Halona kicked the door open.
"...Rishir?"
The light rapidly faded from her eyes.
What awaited her was Rishir, bleeding out and dying.
Halona had no time to act.
"Halona... Run... away...!"
Rishir left those strained words before breathing his last.
"Ah."
Halona finally collapsed to the floor.
How this happened.
How this was unfolding.
Halona still couldn't comprehend the situation.
Only one thing was clear.
"It's over..."
A nightmare swamp she could never escape with her own power.
It was swallowing her whole.
There was no rotting corpse stench there.
Only the smell of fresh blood.
And a subtle incense.
The two mingled, conjuring the nightmare.
It was the site of a ritual to plunge people into nightmares.
The man watched the ritual from a step back.
"What exactly are you worried about?"
The old man conducting the ritual glanced at the man's expression and said.
"High Priest. Didn't I tell you? Right now, countless stars are dying on this land. Is there a better time for chaos to awaken?"
"..."
"Or do you doubt—His embrace, the authority of the Embracing Nightmare?"
"Just tell me how the situation is progressing."
"Heh heh heh. So impatient. No need to worry. His authority has already taken effect. The city falling into eternal nightmare is just a matter of time."
The old man gently stroked the crystal orb on his palm.
"No mere mortal can escape His embrace..."
"Hey—"
At that moment, the man pointed somewhere in alarm.
"Hm? What now."
The old man, focused on the ritual, irritably checked where the man pointed.
His fingertip aimed at the old man's crystal orb.
"...What is this—"
Only then did the old man look at the crystal and let out a boiling grunt.
The energy within the crystal was unstable, surging wildly.
The same time.
"R-Rishir...!"
Drei.
He was in the same situation as Halona.
He had suddenly felt foreboding, witnessed Palrag's death—
And now Rishir's death as well.
Drei's eyes, staring at his corpse, slowly lost their light.
Just as the great noble was about to be swallowed by inescapable despair.
"...Wait."
A question arose on Drei's face.
Light slowly returned to his eyes.
"Rishir?"
A doubt blooming amid the forced despair.
It halted the despair's encroachment.