Chapter 114: Afterward
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114: Afterward
Resin was trapped, hardened within the magic stone crystals.
Having overconfidently wielded a power she couldn’t fully digest, she had ultimately been consumed by that very strength and its curse.
Her ruby-colored limbs had fused into a single mass of rock, and parts of her once-living flesh had calcified, turning even her skin into magic stone.
Yet, miraculously, her heart still beat, and her five senses remained intact. She had become a truly bizarre existence.
“It’s harvest time.”
The one who had become the new Dean was Adrian.
She worked under the title of General Manager rather than Dean. The reason she had taken over the Magic Tower was not because it was Liras’s legacy, but simply out of a desire for revenge.
When Adrian had received Liras’s twisted, dead corpse and the remains of Silone—whose flesh had been absorbed, leaving only bones and hair—she couldn’t even cry as she held them.
She had simply stood there, mouth agape, staring at the sky with wide, trembling eyes.
It was only after a long time that Adrian finally regained her senses. Releasing the two, she spoke.
“He was my only family. Since I was a child, my parents…”
“Ah, I see. That’s a shame. Adrian, you’re the only one left who knows the Magic Tower best. So, do you want to be the Dean?”
“……”
Adrian felt a sense of futility that outweighed her sorrow. The people who had listened to her stories, told her theirs, and stayed by her side were all dead.
“Why should I?”
Narupa tilted her head.
“You have to get your revenge, don’t you?”
“She’s already dead.”
“She’s not dead. Look.”
Narupa approached Resin, who was buried in the magic stone, holding a carving knife.
As she crudely stabbed at the stone with the knife held in a reverse grip, Resin’s pupils shook violently.
Cr-crack! Crack!
“See? If you try to pry it off with blunt physical force, it causes immense pain. I’ve tested this on the former Dean myself while listening to his feedback, so you can trust me on this.”
“So you want me to kill her with a carving knife?”
“Are you crazy? Do you want to die?”
Narupa frowned and withdrew the carving knife.
“It’ll take at least three years to develop an artificial material to replace magic stones. If you kill her or smash her before then, I’ll make sure the Curse of the Magic Stone Crystals falls on you.”
“…You really only care about yourself, don’t you?”
“That’s rude.”
Narupa looked genuinely hurt.
“If anything, I only care about my brother. My world is filled with him. And… the rest of my family. I suppose that much is true.”
“What about my family? What about the people I love? They are no longer by my side, so my world no longer exists.”
“Right, I suppose your world is gone.”
Narupa tied her navy ponytail back and quietly handed over the carving knife.
“But the bitch who snatched your world away is right there.”
Adrian was swayed by Narupa’s innocent-sounding words.
If Alto, who knew the whole truth, had seen this, he would have found it absurd. But Adrian, at least, did not know that Narupa was the architect of this entire situation.
However, even Alto did not scold Narupa.
He, too, had intended to dispose of Liras sooner or later, so from his perspective, Narupa’s plan was the most peaceful resolution.
“I accept.”
“Good. Then the Magic Tower will double as a magic stone production factory under the Diberum Group. Understood?”
“Yes…”
“Come here. I’ll show you how to harvest the magic stones. Take as much time as you need. It doesn’t matter if you’re a slow learner or a fast one. Once you’ve mastered it, let’s have the students learn and practice on her. She’s an excellent specimen for practicing mana control.”
Narupa taught her the magic stone harvesting spell in a very simple manner.
However, the training took months. Until Adrian could harvest them properly, Resin could only scream her agony through her eyes.
“Look, see how her pupils are vibrating up and down? For them to shake like that even though her whole body is crystallized, the pain must be so intense that it’s etched past her nerves and into her very soul.”
There was no lie in Narupa’s words. If anything, they were too accurate.
Whenever the carving knife touched the magic stone, Resin wanted to roll on the floor, her entire body trembling from the excruciating pain.
Unable to do even that, her eyes were the only things that could express her shriveled agony.
She would lose consciousness from the pain she had to endure in silence, only to be forcibly dragged back to reality by the next stroke of the blade.
[I was wrong! Save me! Please save me! Lady Narupa!]
[I’ll apologize. I’ll apologize! Lord Alto, please! Please stop that woman!]
During the harvest, she writhed in pain; when it was over, she was submerged in the lingering aftereffects, drowning in regret and reflection.
[I shouldn’t have done it.]
What shouldn’t she have done?
[I shouldn’t have defied Narupa… That monstrous bitch…]
And then she would mutter blankly again.
[Lord Alto… Lord Alto… I was wrong. I’m a bitch who deserves to die. Please, send me back to that time. I’ll beat Mirei and cut off Claude’s junk myself. No, no! If I could go back to that day, I wouldn’t have reacted to anything Claude said. No. If I could go back to the day we first met, I would take you and go somewhere else. Yes, that would be better. I won’t give you to anyone. I can’t!]
When night fell, she was left alone.
Left alone, she constantly ruminated and agonized over how things had turned out this way.
Then, her past mistakes would surface, and finally, the image of Alto smiling gently and caring for her would serve as the grand finale.
The more she dwelled on it, the clearer one truth became.
There was no man like Alto.
Resin had no choice but to admit it.
That Narupa was a far superior mage than herself.
That she was a lowly being who couldn’t even reach Narupa’s feet.
Resin could only swallow her tears.
She realized that she had been given a golden opportunity long before Narupa ever was.
Why had she made such a foolish choice for something as trivial as a face?
Why had she ignored and mistreated him before he became a Bertrand, all for the sake of wealth and honor?
Only after losing everything in her greed for power and fame, becoming a useless stone statue, did she understand.
That simply being able to breathe and move, being able to spend a day working up a sweat, was a great blessing.
And that in spending that time and comforting one another, there was no man like Alto.
In terms of months, it had only been a few, but for Resin, who could no longer sleep, the time spent thinking—excluding the harvest hours—easily exceeded a thousand hours.
[I don’t even wish to be released from this body and move.]
I would be grateful if he would just look at me with pity and hold me.
[I don’t even wish to be held.]
If he would just come to see me even once, I would remember and love him for the rest of my life.
Another day passes.
“It’s harvest time.”
When the time of pain passes, the time of regret follows.
Resin hated the regret more than the pain.
Even if the pain was so great it prevented her from losing consciousness, it at least allowed her to forget the present.
But regret traced back to the very root of how she had fallen into this abyss, leading her back to the present.
“Save me, Alto!!!!!”
To think those were her last words.
To think those were the only words she left him.
She just wanted to die.
“You never once gave me a sincere apology. You only boasted about how great you were, or said you wanted me because I was a war hero. You only made ridiculous demands.”
[Please give me a chance. I won’t even ask you to save me. Just let me move my lips once. To say I’m sorry, that I’m truly sorry.]
Had her desperate wish been heard?
“It’s harvest time.”
From a certain point, Adrian began bringing students for harvesting practice.
On that day, after tasting endless pain at the hands of unskilled students—on that day when she suffered the worst pain from a failing student—the magic stone crystals around her mouth narrowly broke away.
[Ah…]
Night fell.
She tried to purse her lips. It was slow, but possible.
“Aah…!”
Resin desperately moved her stiffened tongue and slowly let out a breath.
“I’m… sor… ry…”
“I’m… sorry…”
“I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry, Alto.”
She had finally done it.
She had offered a proper apology.
She had managed to say she was sorry with all her heart.
Her chest swelled. She felt proud of herself.
Dozens of minutes passed like that.
[……]
Nothing changed.
“I’m sorry.”
The apology scattered hollowly into the air.
“I’m truly sorry.”
There was no forgiveness in return.
“I was wrong, Alto!”
At least give me an insult or a sneer!
“Aaaaaah!!!”
She struggled. She circulated her mana to escape.
But the more she did, the more magic stones sprouted.
The curse completely swallowed Resin. Just as Narupa had intended.
“Alto! Alto! No! No! No! Please forgive me! Please, just listen to my apology!”
Feeling the magic stone crystals sprouting from her lips and philtrum, Resin wailed as she experienced the true meaning of a bottomless abyss.
“I was foolish! I was the biggest fool! I was an idiot! Plea-aaaaase!!!!”
If this mouth was blocked, if even this mouth was sealed, Resin would have to return to the time of regret.
She wept.
Even her tears began to crystallize.
Her vision blurred as she turned into magic stone.
All that remained were her senses of pain and hearing.
Resin lost her mind.
Let me go mad.
Let me discard the beautiful Resin Luna.
I must find a way to be liberated from this pain.
The next day.
Standing before the magic stone statue, which for some reason had an even more hideously distorted expression than before, Adrian whispered softly.
“Now, it’s harvest time.”
And Resin’s pupils shook violently.