Chapter 123
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Vacation (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Grotesques each have their own unique ways of extending their lives.
Some, like Growl, can't maintain their human form, consciousness, or reason without consuming humans. Others, like Berhalsi who got offed by Jade, subsist solely on beast hearts.
The common thread? They all consume nutrients infused with mana.
Humans need daily intake of nutrients for basic life functions, but grotesques can convert portions of their mana into calories.
In that sense, the most effective treatment for Akane was a "mana core."
I extracted 3 capacity from Notebook and turned it into a mana core, then fed it into her right arm.
It was a permanent loss since I couldn't get it back, but after nursing her for three days, one thing became crystal clear.
If I'd left her that day, she would've died for sure.
Not just from her condition, but because the Dawn Society detected the mana explosion and mobilized.
They systematically hunt down grotesques, and they combed through the labyrinth interior and the entire island.
"...They're finally on to me."
Shwaaaah—
The dockside where waves lapped gently. The only spot on this island with cell signal.
I held my smartphone up high toward the sky to check the message.
[Soliet: Last gathering before vacation is this Friday lol;; When are you coming back from your trip?]
[Soon. Did you get the business card?]
[Soliet: Yeah. Contacted the number but no reply. Total bust lol. It's fine though.]
She's still half-dead, so of course she can't reply.
[Keep trying. Busy person, right?]
[Soliet: Got it. Will do. Oh right. Secret Santa reveal on Friday. Who's yours? lol Spill lol]
Soliet's texts were loaded with "lol"s. Her way of showing closeness, I guess.
[Elise.]
I hit send right as the signal cut out.
"Ugh."
I shook the phone up and down before pocketing it.
I hauled up the baited trap I'd set. Plenty of fish inside.
"Let's go..."
Back into the forest.
Over the three days I helped with her recovery, Akane's body was almost fully mended. The grotesque's arm had regenerated her flesh into an exact biological match.
Witnessing that process firsthand made me realize something anew.
Why humans seek to become grotesques... and why they hunt them down.
Grotesques can wield nearly identical abilities to the monsters they've grafted on, albeit at reduced power.
And the original owner of the arm Akane grafted...
I reached the hideout.
I opened the leaf-camouflaged door.
"...?"
The wooden bed inside.
No Akane on it.
Tap-
Instead, a presence stirred behind me.
My nape prickled. Goosebumps rose.
I swallowed.
"What're you staring at."
Akane spat casually as she stepped out. She perched on the bed and thrust out her pitch-black arm.
"You know what this is."
"...A grotesque's arm."
Akane raised an eyebrow.
"Gotta ask the cliché. You knew and saved me anyway?"
"Repaying a debt."
I fiddled with my arm unconsciously.
It wasn't a prosthetic anymore, but the feel of that premium graft from my regressor days was still vivid. She'd given away something worth millions of ren gratis and even suggested soul transference.
"Not quite as pricey as that antivenom... but Growl. Dead?"
Akane asked flatly.
"Eh. Pretty much."
I eyed her as I answered. I was pretty curious about the connection between those two grotesques. She brushed back her hair and sighed.
"...I made his body. A mere stone gained an ego and came to me. Intrigued me. But my puppets can't hold a consciousness yet. Growl should've crumbled in three months under natural forces."
Nature always seeks balance. Anything deviating from its laws faces nature's wrath and naturally perishes.
That's "natural force."
"Growl endured. Overcame it. Started seeing me as his creator. Deluded himself that his origin lay with me. I drove off the obsessive bastard, but I shouldn't have."
"Why."
Akane pressed her temple.
"Didn't examine in detail how he overcame natural force."
I glanced at the fish flopping in the trap.
"Cannibalism?"
"...You get this scene."
She chuckled in surprise. I shrugged.
"But didn't you say it's fine if prosthetics kill people?"
"Different story. I put out a defective product. The graft killed on its own. Had to take responsibility."
Her reasoning was sound. Logical.
Fully recovered.
I stood.
"Heading back?"
"Yeah. Sending you the bill. Pay in mana cores. Grill the fish in there later."
Akane held out a piece of paper. Card-sized business card.
"Take it."
[Muagwan]
Muagwan. Already the continent's best, treated like devilcraft a decade from now. Prosthetics and artifacts.
The card bore a small but intricate mana ritual formula.
"Only deal with folks I can talk to. Takes a day or two to decipher."
"Edshila Rowla AD-213."
"...!"
Akane flinched. I burned the card.
"Got the address. Soliet'll probably reach out too."
"Do that. Come find me. Oh, and you're adjusted to 4th place."
"Huh?"
What the hell.
"Soliet opened the rooftop door right on time. After Gerkken, Elise, Soliet—you."
"...!"
4th.
High score, but felt unjust somehow.
"Still, I noted your epilogue in the report. Plenty of orgs'll be watching you now."
"Eh... Long as I get into college. Anyway, I'm out."
I started for the door, then a thought hit me.
"By the way. Could you whip up a fake identity too?"
Edshila Autonomous District, Tricity.
[Balmang Mana Research]
"...Tiny."
Back on the continent, I stared at the hopelessly small, shabby mid-tier company compared to its future self.
My key money pouch from here on out.
I checked my face first before entering.
—Blond dyed red, irises darkened to black, long vertical scar across my left eye.
A Notebook-rendered face mask recreating texture and shape. Lower face masked too—even I couldn't recognize myself.
Fake ID perfect.
Dale Kal.
Akane's connections hacked Edshila's central database, overlaying my photo onto a dead homeless guy's record.
Meaning, any public search for Dale Kal pops up this exact face.
No risk of getting caught.
I stepped into Balmang Mana Research.
Clang-clang! Hiss-hiss!
Amid the noisy echoes, a muscled old-timer turned to me. He set his hammer on his chin and asked,
"Who're you?"
I worked my lips.
As politely stiff as possible. That "practical" tone mages always use.
I said,
"Dale."
"Whoa?! Hey, Kanya—! Kanya───! Kanya──────!"
Bang!
The workshop door flew open. A short-haired, gaunt woman with dark circles stormed in glaring.
"Ah, damn it, yelling your ass off again—"
"VIP's here!"
She turned to me.
I said,
"Dale."
Balmang Mana Research workshop.
"Dale."
"Yes. The contract."
Kanya slid a paper atop a delivery box.
"We get it. You submitted a finished product, so no R&D costs. We'll split distribution profits 6:4."
Big corps offer 3% usually. But they systematize the ritual perfectly, optimize it, sell way more than SMEs.
So 40% was like 13x a big corp's cut.
"7:3."
"No way that's feasible. We'd take a loss."
Kanya waved it off coolly. Clearly thought her side got 3.
I corrected her.
"You get 7."
"Ooh?! ...No. Ahem. You're lowering the terms?"
"Instead, twice the ceded 10% in stock options."
I was clueless about stocks. Never had spare cash to invest in my past life.
Still cash-strapped now too, next mana quark treatment looming, but royalties settle yearly anyway.
Trading yearly payouts for stock options in a surefire success story? Worth the concession.
"Stock options, huh..."
Kanya tried to stay composed but grinned. Clearly pleased her company was valued so highly.
Creeeak—
Door opened then. I glanced back casually and jolted.
"Hey, jerk, there's a guest—don't slam the damn door."
It was Gerkken.
Gerkken eyed me awkwardly too.
Tense for a sec, but the face mask and lower mask held up perfectly.
"Sorry."
He bowed like he had no clue who I was. Even asked, looking right at me,
"You a mage by chance?"
"...!"
I didn't answer. Kanya shot Gerkken a death glare. Silent string of curses.
"...My bad."
Gerkken moonwalked backward out the door and shut it.
"Alright. Profits 7:3, us 7, Dale 3. 20% of profits in stock options. But."
Kanya revised the contract on the spot.
"We'll need at least one more mana ritual formula submitted to accept."
Her words sparked a future memory.
Rituals I'd seen over the next 12 years. A few seemed doable without much hassle.
Speaking of, my mana pool felt a bit bigger lately.
Guessing it was the relic. Absorbed Growl or something else?
No emotions to gauge, so hard to say.
"Fine. Prototype rituals I can submit... three."
I held up three fingers.
"Got about three ready to go right now."
Kanya's eyes went wide. She clenched her fists tight.
"But I'll decide on further submissions based on Secret Admirer's sales performance."
"Naturally. Dale... should I say Mage Dale?"
Mage.
No matter how I thought about it, that label didn't fit me at all.
"Doesn't matter. Call me whatever's easy."
"Got it. Mage Dale."
Which made it the perfect cover.
The day Q1 wrapped up.
Elise had been buried in tutoring, studying, and field trips right after exams. She'd visited the Magic Tower for the [Masters' Master Class] and earned recognition for her mage talent.
Entrance exams were decent too. Lost to Gerkken but 2nd above Soliet.
"...Eli~ It's been forever~"
After powering through her packed schedule.
Elise returned to Endex after a week. She nodded to weary Rae Hilton and sat.
Her gaze drifted back involuntarily.
Third seat from the rear.
Sion Askal sat there.
Elise pretended not to notice.
"...!"
She'd attended lectures at the Tower. Some on life attitudes. 96% of worries are pointless fretting.
Sounded spot-on then, but now her heart was a mess.
Damn it.
"Hoo..."
Elise had always hated Sion. Simple reason: he'd caused massive damage to her family.
His foolish curiosity tanked her father's reelection and left him disappointed in her.
But recalculating now.
Sion's harm to the family versus the harm the family inflicted on Sion.
No contest.
She'd never had reason to hate him from the start.
If anything, Petra's "got what they deserved" line rang true.
Seeing Sion without prejudice: a hard worker who'd overcome Gerkken through effort. Talented in Latynel, keen literary sense.
So from now on, just accept him as he was and walk their separate paths.
Couldn't undo what happened.
"Hey there."
Jedric arrived right on cue.
"Month-long vacation starting today. Rest up. But first."
He handed out small slips to the seniors.
"Guess your Secret Santa and submit."
The Secret Santa game running since day one.
Elise pondered her paper. So many who'd shown her kindness.
Scribbled [Brown] roughly.
As long as her target didn't guess her, both got 1 point.
"Now reveal yourselves to your Secret Santa."
Guessing time over, seniors rose one by one. Kain to Delic, Esher to Kieli, Rae to Sion.
—Sion, it's you~! No idea, huh?!
Bouncing Rae, Sion's deadpan stare.
Elise approached James. Same Latynel class, helped tons on assignments.
"Elise, it was you?"
"No clue?"
"None. Figures, you helping with homework."
James's reaction left her smug as she turned.
"Hey."
Someone blocked her. Elise looked up absently.
Sion.
...Weird.
Eye level way off.
When did he get this tall?
Even on tiptoes, couldn't reach. About Esher's height now.
"Here."
As she thought, he held out a card.
"What..."
Elise took it. [Elise Petra] written on it.
"I was your Secret Santa."
"...!"
Her mind blanked instantly.
Body locked up.
Cold sweat crept from her back to her scalp, eyelids twitching like magnesium deficiency.
"Can't say it wasn't."
His words snapped every puzzle piece into place.
Why he helped in Recor DAC, saved her in the ghost hotel.
In hindsight, way more logical than "liking" her.
A reason she'd bizarrely overlooked, crystal clear.
Guardian angel.
"Uh..."
Elise stared blankly at the card.
"Later."
Sion shrugged and left. Out of Cleam Hall.
Left alone, Elise's head suddenly throbbed. Face burned.
"Eli. Vacation—wanna come to my place?"
Rae approached. Elise stumbled to perch on a desk.
"Eli? Eli, what's wrong? You sick, Eli?"
"Quiet... a sec."
Migraine surged.
Did max embarrassment spawn nausea, vertigo, brain tumor? Stomach churning, sudden urge to hurl myself off something, insane vomit reflex—Elise pressed her forehead.
Ears felt like they'd steam.
Chiiiirp! Chiiiirp!
She heard a kettle boiling in her head.
"...Eli! Your face looks ready to burst, Eli! You're swelling up, Eli! Like a steamed bun!"
"I-I'm gonna go."
Elise whipped around.
"Where, wh-where?! Hospital?!"
She bolted desperately from Cleam Hall. Sprinted down the hall like the wind.
No clue where to.
Just... vanish somewhere, anywhere...