Chapter 208
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 208
A voice drifted from the darkness.
"Stop."
"..."
"If you take another step, it'll react."
Patrick stopped in his tracks.
A brief silence hung in the air. Having halted at Swallow's command, Patrick stared silently into the gloom ahead.
Though shrouded in darkness and difficult to see, the space where the two stood was a vast cavern.
To give it a name, it was Room 6.
The space where the 'Waiting Darkness' resided.
Stepping any further would mean entering its domain. The mother of the '116 Black Tentacles' attacked any and all entities that entered its territory. No one was exempt—not even Patrick. The sole exception was Swallow.
"I came because I have something to tell you, Boss."
"No."
"At least hear me out."
"..."
"It's about the recent incident..."
"No."
"Please, just listen to the end..."
"Just let me rest."
A pitiful voice echoed from the darkness. For a split second, Patrick felt a surge of irritation and wondered if he should just hurl one of his own ribs at him, but he managed to regain his composure. He made a cautious proposal.
"This matter regarding Scobina."
"Patrick. I know what you're thinking, but let me get some rest first. Haven't I been working the hardest lately?"
"No, Boss. That's not what I came to talk about."
Patrick shook his head and thought to himself.
Just as I expected.
Swallow was brooding.
The clearest proof was that he, who should have been asleep, was here in the first place.
...Well, it was about time a situation like this arose.
Rene's flight from the dungeon, Erebos's invasion, the provocations from the Empire's humans, Hexabel's betrayal, and even the annihilation of Riaze. With so many misfortunes piling up one after another, this was a natural outcome.
This matter had to be handled quietly.
"Regarding how we handle this, Boss."
"..."
"Would you mind leaving it to me?"
* * *
Patrick didn't let out a breath until he was back in his room.
"Phew."
His body felt heavy.
Even though it had been over ten minutes since he left Room 6, a foreign sensation still lingered inside him. It was a natural backlash, considering he had not only stared into the abyss but had also casually conversed within it.
Of course, for a skeleton without respiratory organs, the concept of breathing was absurd, yet Patrick kept doing it. Simply mimicking the respiration of a living creature was surprisingly helpful. The rising and falling of his chest helped stabilize the flow of power within his body.
His senses, which had felt floaty and detached, gradually returned to normal.
Only after pulling a mirror shard from his pocket to confirm that the glow in his eyes had stabilized did Patrick place his hands on the floor and carefully stand.
"First..."
He looked around his room, his gaze settling on the opposite wall. He walked toward it. Numerous swords hung there—all treasures he had collected over the years.
Although the swords on the wall seemed to be displayed at random, they were organized according to his own criteria. The rules were complex, but generally, the further to the right a sword was, the finer its quality. He rarely used them unless he was going all out; wielding such weapons would make his already brief battles even shorter.
He took down the three swords hanging on the far right.
After checking the condition of the blades, he drew them one by one and swung them lightly. Once he confirmed there were no issues, he held the swords in both hands and sat back down.
Immediately after, Patrick pulled a clean cloth from between his ribs and meticulously began to wipe down the first sword.
As he polished it, he thought.
"...First."
He had Swallow's permission.
Swallow had remained perfectly calm throughout their time in the oppressive atmosphere of Room 6. To put it in a word, it was classic Swallow. There wasn't a shred of seriousness in his response.
「If you're going, I'd be grateful. I can finally get some sleep... Wow, Patrick, so you do have a conscience after all?」
The problem was the significant pause before that answer came.
He knew all too well what that silence meant.
Swallow was contemplating.
—Whether he should say there was no need.
—Or whether he should just tear everything down and start anew.
Had things gone even slightly more awry, that is exactly the kind of response he would have given. Patrick could guarantee it. The current situation was close to the absolute worst-case scenario for Swallow.
Come to think of it, has it been just under half a year since Miss Rene ran away?
Even just six months ago, Swallow had lived as quietly as possible. Of course, he had driven Patrick crazy by refusing to do even the bare minimum required of him, but other than that, everything had been fine.
Back then... he even set a five-day time limit to go look for Miss Rene. He put so much effort into keeping things from escalating.
In contrast, how were things now?
The Empire was declining, Riaze had fallen, and setting Hastin aside, several Great Evil Caves had been destroyed one after another. Even Hexabel had tried to access things she shouldn't know. Kurak, though he hadn't intervened, seemed to have grasped the general flow of events.
Not only were these incidents repeating, but now even the Beastkin, who had kept quiet, were making the first move. Half a year ago, such a turn of events would have been unimaginable.
It was the absolute worst.
Frankly, if he had known things would turn out like this, he would have left the dungeon's defense entirely to Room 6 and accompanied Swallow when Rene first ran away.
"Sigh."
Patrick, who had been inhaling, let out a long sigh.
If the world were a canvas, it was like making several major mistakes right before completing a masterpiece. You could try to paint over the errors, but the work was already ruined.
Swallow would want to paint it all over again.
And to do that, the existing canvas had to be torn to shreds.
"I can't let that happen. Not even if it's the Boss."
Having finished maintaining the third and final sword, Patrick lightly checked his joints and packed the weapons.
Three swords in total. He strapped the clock-hand-shaped sword to his waist and neatly stacked the remaining two greatswords to strap to his back. Even with their blades combined, the two were smaller than the absurdly massive Tanabella, so it didn't look too awkward.
He did not bring Tanabella.
Magic tools—especially Masterpieces—lost a significant amount of their value if one couldn't draw out their latent abilities. Patrick had tried time and again, but he could not uncover Tanabella's power. He had even wielded it during his fight with Kurak, hoping to trigger its ability in a dramatic moment, but that too had yielded nothing.
Besides, this time, he had no idea who or how many he would have to fight. There was no reason to force himself to use Tanabella.
Returning to Swallow's chambers, Patrick opened the door to the treasure vault.
He saw mountains of gold coins, treasures, and precious artifacts piled haphazardly.
Patrick grabbed a few more magic tools from the pile. Since the armor dented during his battle with Kurak was beyond repair, he took the opportunity to select a new set.
Come to think of it, there was a set of armor I had my eye on during the last war.
The Fire Dragon Armor came to mind, but obtaining it now would take far too much time.
Having finished his preparations, Patrick locked the treasure vault door and returned to his room.
Now that his swords and armor were ready, it was time to prepare for his departure in earnest.
He pulled two magic scrolls from his breast pocket.
Since Patrick could only use basic, low-tier magic, he always carried scrolls with him. The one he pulled out now was for summoning a familiar.
The scroll tore and ignited itself. As the paper turned to ash, a magic circle of special ink lifted into the air.
Soon, the mana forming the circle took the shape of a blue hawk and perched on the back of Patrick's hand.
A communication familiar.
It possessed zero combat capability and lasted for less than a day, but its speed was faster than most flying beasts, making it unmatched for sending and receiving information.
Patrick sent two messages with the blue hawk. One was a request to Graphenia, the witch of the forest, to prepare a reindeer to take him out of her domain. The other was a commission to his informant—the one who always delivered human newspapers—to have a carriage waiting outside the forest.
Having received its orders, the blue hawk flew toward the cave entrance. Watching it go, Patrick lowered his helm's visor, signaling that his preparations were complete.
"Mr. Patrick."
It was only then that Rene spoke.
Patrick turned his head. Rene and Melju were watching him from several dozen meters away.
Rene had started watching him when he first headed toward the treasure vault. At the time, she seemed to have business with Swallow, sitting in his room with a serious expression. Only after Patrick emerged from the vault did she follow, keeping a respectful distance so as not to disturb him.
As they walked, Melju had naturally joined her. Since it couldn't have been a coincidence, Melju must have had her own business with Swallow as well.
"You're preparing very thoroughly."
"Well, I'm not the Boss."
There was a hint of teasing in his words, but he also meant it literally. He had to prepare to this extent precisely because he wasn't as strong as Swallow. If one possessed overwhelming power, there was no need for preparation.
"Are you leaving alone, Mr. Patrick?"
"That's the plan. The Boss has been working quite hard lately, and I haven't had much reason to go outside. I have to earn my keep, don't I?"
"Hmm? Does Sir Patrick, who doesn't even eat, need to earn his keep?"
"Lady Melju, from whom did you learn the habit of nitpicking such trivial things?"
"From Sir Patrick, of course!"
"..."
Amidst Melju's bright voice, Rene asked in a whisper, "Will you be alright on your own?"
Patrick smiled bitterly. Asking such a question meant she had already anticipated what he had in mind. Uncannily, Rene was quicker to catch on than anyone else in moments like this.
I wish she would show that same quick-wittedness in front of the Boss, though.
Without voicing his thoughts, Patrick offered a silent nod, and Rene continued.
"After Miss Alraune discovered that the wooden box was made of Yggdrasil, I did some research of my own."
"Your own research?"
"As you know, Mr. Patrick, the Yaksha Sisters have been to Rium in the past."
"They did say so."
When Rium was mentioned alongside the news of Calamidad moving south, the older Yaksha Sister had hinted that she had been there before.
"They did. Miss Alraune mentioned it too."
It was a fact Patrick was already aware of. Even if Rene hadn't brought it up, he had planned to ask them directly.
"There are those known as the Holy Fire."
"I heard about them from Mr. Valer. The Empress's knights, was it?"
"According to the Yaksha Sisters, each of them is a powerhouse on par with the gatekeepers of the Great Evil Caves."
"Oh, I'm glad I'm a Great Evil Cave gatekeeper then. By the way, Miss Rene, did they say how many of them there are?"
"I heard there are six."
"That matches what I heard. Good."
"...And this."
As Patrick nodded and tucked the remaining scroll into his breast pocket, Rene lightly tossed him a rolled-up piece of paper.
Patrick snatched it out of the air.
"It's information on Rium that the Yaksha Sisters shared."
"The best gift indeed."
It would save him some time.
Patrick bowed his head to Rene and carefully tucked the paper into his pocket. He then turned to leave. Rene, as if her task was complete, silently headed back to her room.
"Um, Sir Patrick."
As if she had one last thing to say, Melju reached out with her small hand to stop him.
"Are you truly going to be alright alone?"
The little Demon King's timid worry seemed to tap gently against his armor.
Alright?
"I will be fine."
He wasn't particularly worried.
"It's not like I haven't sliced up my fair share of them."
*
Stepping out of the dungeon, Graphenia's reindeer emerged from the thicket right on cue.
Patrick looked up to check the time. It was still broad daylight. Once he cleared Graphenia's forest, a carriage would be waiting for him, just as he had requested. No time would be wasted in transit.
"Phew."
He inhaled the fresh air.
...Actually, he wasn't sure if it was truly fresh. He simply assumed it was because the air was cold. As he'd noted before, the mere action of his chest rising and falling had a calming effect.
"...To summarize the current situation."
Am I being played?
The enemy who murdered Scobina had openly laid out bait, practically begging him to come to Rium. The problem was that there were no other clues.
Thinking logically, going to Rium is the only option.
However, there was a variable on his side: Bathory sending her retainers to the merchant guild.
Had she not done so, it would have taken another two or three days for the merchant guild to hurriedly send a letter all the way here.
Two or three days. An advantage the enemy wouldn't have anticipated.
He had to make use of it.
"Let's see how this goes."
Patrick mounted the reindeer. The beast dashed through the dense trees without hesitation. Despite the vastness of the forest, its edge came into view in less than ten minutes. Waiting at the boundary was the carriage he had arranged.
First, his destination was Hastin.