Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: God of Bondales
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"So—Ber, what's going on?"
A deep night.
While some wandered lost in nightmares.
Woken from sleep by the unexpected clamor, Rishir was trying to soothe the crybaby spirit causing it.
As soon as Rishir called, the crybaby spirit scampered into view before him.
"Young master! Snoozy's doin' it! Doin'!!! Doin'!!!"
The crybaby spirit made up for her limited vocabulary with vigorous gestures.
Her sharply furrowed brows and tiny arms thrust up high embodied the very origin of fury.
Rishir first tried to calm her by patting her little head.
"!!!"
Even her calming was spirited.
She shook her head vigorously, rubbing it against his palm.
And so, as Rishir soothed the crybaby spirit—
'Snoozy?'
He began to puzzle out the identity of the being she'd mentioned.
A sudden memory surfaced.
'Ah, that orb Ber spat out—could it be?'
That orb had originally been a relic infused with a demon's power over nightmares, before the crybaby spirit(?) processed it.
'And it got absorbed into me...'
Rishir nodded slowly.
He had a rough idea of what was happening.
'That guy's existence—or power—absorbed into me is causing trouble...'
Matching her eye level, he said,
"Ber. Where's this Snoozy friend right now?"
"At our house!"
Our house?
Does she mean my inner world?
'Regarding how my mind became a home sweet home for spirits...'
Pushing aside his complicated thoughts, Rishir entered his inner world.
The gray-white fireball started guiding him as if it had been waiting.
And the place they arrived at—
"This is Snoozy?"
Rishir instinctively winced.
He'd imagined a spirit sleeping peacefully, fitting the name—
But no.
What lay there was a massive human head.
Precisely, heads.
Numerous heads clustered together like a bunch of grapes.
'They're all handsome, at least... small mercy?'
"..."
Beside it, a girl with an emotionless air crouched, staring blankly.
"Being next to Meng makes the difference even starker..."
Rishir chuckled dryly, gazing into the distance.
"I didn't exactly adopt them for their looks into our house(?), but... huh?"
Rishir was musing on days ahead with the head cluster.
Then he sensed something odd from it.
"Dangaleon? Know what it's up to?"
"Oh?"
"My greatness?"
"Hoo."
"I never picked it? Never ordered it either."
Gray-white karmic fire engulfed the pile of faces.
Rishir wondered what this was all about.
"So... this guy's using its power on the city people on its own initiative?"
The grotesque spirit, now close, looked up blankly and nodded.
"First time for something like this..."
Reading the anguish on Rishir's face, Dangaleon spoke.
"...You get like that sometimes too, Dangaleon?"
Rishir nodded.
From Dangaleon's words, he grasped the difference between it and the other spirits.
'It's friendly toward me like the others, but it's got a strong sense of self—stubborn, you could say.'
If Dangaleon and the others had personalities like this?
His surroundings would have been chaos long ago.
"...First, let's clean up the mess it caused?"
Rishir approached the nightmare spirit and addressed it.
No. He commanded it.
"Stop now."
No words, but the many faces made its reaction easy to read.
Numerous faces turned to Rishir, wearing aggrieved expressions.
This was all for you—why don't you get it?
A mix of resentment and injustice.
Of course, Rishir wouldn't indulge those feelings.
Unilateral actions dragging others in were absolutely unforgivable.
Rishir placed his hand on the nightmare spirit's faces.
The nightmare spirit's power—
No.
To thoroughly control his new power.
The nightmare power he'd loosely left unchecked—
It felt gripped firmly in his hand.
"..."
Soon, a strange sensation engulfed him.
Rishir closed his eyes and surrendered to it.
When he opened them again—
'This is...'
A buoyant feeling gently cradled his body.
He looked down.
No, peered beneath his feet.
Rishir realized he was floating in the air.
And not just that.
Black flames devouring the city, spewing smoke.
The city's sky was shrouded darker than pitch black, ominous night.
Light descended upon that city.
The night sky split, light overflowing from the rift.
'Did I come from there?'
Rishir had descended from that rift.
Yes.
Descended.
Like light itself.
Like a being from the heavens.
Light pouring from the sky bathed his body.
His face blazed so intensely it couldn't be stared at directly.
For some reason, Rishir could see his own form.
'Good lord. What is this? Why so flashy?'
Then.
Voices rose from below.
"Ah, aaah, great being...!"
They gazed up at Rishir in awe.
At the mansion's main gate—
All present knelt toward him.
Save one group.
"..."
Fienne's party.
They looked up at the incarnation of light reigning in the sky.
Wow.
Rishir read her lips.
'Nooo!!!'
Rishir wanted to shout.
I didn't set this up!
It's not my taste!
But his face emitted only noble light, no vulgar voice.
"...!!!!!"
A monstrous roar then.
The dark knight writhed at the sight of the light's incarnation.
Those who had prostrated toward Rishir rose at the sight.
"Everyone, fear not!!! The great being watches over us...!!!"
The lone dark knight burning the city.
Until moments ago overwhelmed by its majesty, now they faced it squarely.
Light from the incarnation enveloped them.
A mighty cheer.
The leader at the front advanced toward the dark knight with light at their back, others following.
"!!!"
The dark knight gestured at them.
Whoosh—
Small swirls rose from the ground.
In an instant, massive vortices swallowed them.
And not just that.
With burning Bondales as backdrop—
From the city's far side, a colossal sandstorm devoured all, approaching.
'...Is that me?'
The light's incarnation(?), watching the spectacle, sighed inwardly.
'I can't do that stuff.'
The light on his back flickered coldly for a moment.
If that face weren't hidden by a helmet forged of black fire—
And that form etched in everyone's minds—
'Ugh—'
Shoving aside the horrific thought, Rishir focused on the situation.
"This can't be real..."
"Disaster... disaster... How can we handle that..."
Those who'd regained momentum with light at their backs now retreated again.
Inevitably so—
For the dark knight's power was akin to a natural calamity.
Fierce black flames reaching the sky.
A sandstorm that could engulf the entire city.
The dark knight advanced with it at its back.
Its presence was such that even Fienne's group—who knew this dream world nightmare was Rishir, and that this was a dream—even they stepped back.
Woooong—
Myriad insignificant, ominous noises vibrated the air.
A swarm of insects gathered from somewhere—
A wave of impurity swallowed the people.
The foot of the dark knight causing all these disasters—
Finally reached the mansion gate's entrance.
It raised its head.
Hand extended forward, a spear forged of black fire formed in its grasp.
"!!!!!"
The dark knight roared, hurling the spear skyward—
Toward the light's incarnation.
Black fire condensed in the spear spread.
Just as the sky threatened to be swallowed by darkness again.
The light's incarnation extended a hand toward the approaching impurity.
Change came to the black flames.
The darkness they held faded to gray-white, then pure white like that from the incarnation.
The pure white flames devoured the dark fire trailing it.
Further, they devoured the dark knight that birthed it all.
"!!!"
The dark knight writhed in agony, barely shaking off the pure white flames.
But while it shed the flames, not the power within.
The black fire armor comprising the dark knight—
Began to crumble slowly.
'Whoa whoa, hold on!'
Face exposure crisis.
As Rishir panicked—
A crowd appeared from nowhere, overwhelming the dark knight.
Mental domination over the citizens.
For some reason, Fienne had seized control and directed them at the dark knight.
Like ants swarming a corpse.
And.
Even as this unfolded, the power that routed the dark knight spread on.
"Huh...?"
Mentally dominated citizens began regaining their senses one by one.
The black fire burning the city had long been extinguished—
The city restored to its original state, as if nothing happened.
Bondales' night ended, dawn arriving.
The sun didn't rise.
Yet the city was as bright as could be.
The light's incarnation still held position.
"Ahh..."
Awe naturally filled the citizens' faces gazing up.
Someone knelt, murmuring.
"A god... The god protected Bondales..."
As the flow spread from him—
Conditions met.
They were freed from the nightmare.
"Ah. It's here?"
Days later.
Rishir faced Palrag in his office.
As conversation began, Rishir asked first.
"What happened with—that incident? Duke Palrag."
"From the investigation, almost no one remembers it. We can set aside worries about mental trauma to civilians."
'Almost...!'
The word nagged Rishir, but—
He exhaled relief from deep in his dantian.
"Good..."
Only now could Rishir voice it.
By his measure, the nightmare incident was resolved.
Palrag gave Rishir a wry smile briefly.
"How's she doing?"
"If you mean Klana—yes, seems so. Halona says she's entering the final stage of awakening. She'll be active outside the barrier soon—"
"I see. Then—in that case, what about her new personality?"
"We'll have to wait and see."
"Hm. Then—that nightmare spirit friend..."
Busy with nightmare aftermath, they conversed casually for a while.
As it wrapped up.
Palrag broached gently.
"You've gotten past one ordeal, Rishir."
"Thanks to you, Duke Palrag."
"Nonsense. People benefited from you. Remember, without you, that demon's nightmare wouldn't have ended as a midnight dream. Anyway—Rishir. What's your schedule after this?"
"Schedule? Ah, do you have a task for me?"
"Less a task, more a recommendation."
"Recommendation?"
"Yes. Tricky, but if handled well, big gains for you."
Palrag stroked his thick beard, lightening the mood.
"You've had a hectic time lately, haven't you?"
"Can't deny it—some massive events."
"Right. So, how about a leisurely diversion for a change of pace?"
"Diversion?"
"Know the Bollard Family?"
"Bollard, you mean..."
He couldn't not know.
One of the continent's top five great houses.
"Of course."
"Then—you know their lady is staying in Bondales?"
"...Ah! Come to think, Fienne mentioned it recently. Bollard folks are here, so maybe make time to score points—"
Rishir watched Palrag's face as he spoke.
A polite nudge to the point.
Palrag nodded, diving in.
"The Bollards are seeking a tutor for their lady now."
"Tutor?"
"You seem perfect for it."
"...Me, teaching others?"
"Worried about your skills? I'd say no, but realistically, it's valid. Geniuses like you who master by instinct, not theory—hard to emulate."
However!
Palrag continued emphatically.
"For this, no need to worry about that."
"...Why?"
"Just being a good teacher won't cut it for her tutor."
"Then, best regards."
Rishir thought as he received the young maid's greeting.
'How'd I actually end up here.'
He was now in a mansion in the first district, where the Bollard Family stayed.
Still dazed.
Showing the guards the recommendation from Palrag and Drei skipped servants straight to the butler interview—
There, it was decided he'd first meet the lady.
Now before her room, Rishir pondered the butler's meaningful words as the door opened.
'If you pique the lady's interest in anything, it's a success...?'
What kind of lady is she—
And what tutor does she want?
With worry and curiosity, Rishir entered.
"You're the one?"
A graceful yet arrogant voice greeted him.
Matching her bored expression.
A girl with silky, lush golden hair.
She glanced sideways at Rishir, then fiddled with her teacup, continuing.
"My new tutor?"
"Yes."
"Just checking—are you a mage?"
Rishir nodded.
"Affiliated with the Gray Tower, at least."
"A~h, I see."
Her gaze stayed on the cup.
Her lip corner seemed quirked oddly.
"So, teacher? I want to learn something from you."
"What is it?"
"I want to learn swordsmanship."
A subtle sadism flickered on her elegant face.
She watched his reaction feigned indifference.
As if shooing a peddler.
Confident he'd back off.
"Swordsmanship? Great choice. Shall we head to the yard now?"
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