Chapter 8
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8
Laughing one moment and crying the next—he was practically giving himself whiplash. At Rene’s erratic behavior, Swallow tilted his head. She quickly wiped the expression from her face, raising an eyebrow as if nothing had happened.
Though she called it a secret place, the space felt well-kept rather than hastily thrown together. A sliver of light leaked through a crack in the ceiling that seemed to have formed naturally. Judging by the narrow angle of the beam, the gap must have been quite deep. Staring idly at the single ray of light piercing the dark chamber, Swallow spoke up.
“Shouldn’t this be repaired?”
“But it’s romantic, isn’t it?”
Romantic, huh? I didn’t know you had that kind of sensibility.
However, I beg to differ on the ‘romantic’ part, Swallow cried out internally. Not only did he dislike bright places, but more importantly, those fine particles dancing in the light were all dust. His nose was already starting to itch. He glanced at Rene with concern. For someone like him, dropping his Polymorph meant he wouldn’t have to care about dust or even sandstorms, but was it really okay for Rene to be breathing this in every day?
Ah, she’s a homunculus. It’s probably fine.
“Lord Swallow, shall I bring you a cup of tea?”
“I’m fine.”
Perhaps she had only asked out of politeness, as Rene simply gave a light nod. Watching her move with fluid grace, Swallow thought that her experienced touch proved she was a proper maid. As he sat there with a blank expression, Rene returned with a teapot and cups, sitting down demurely across from him.
The sound of tea pouring into the cups echoed with unusual clarity.
What on earth was going on with her?
What could he say to break this suffocating silence?
“You know the monsters guarding Room 1 through Room 5…”
“Yes?”
“We should probably replace them with stronger ones, shouldn’t we?”
“I suppose we should, Lord Swallow.”
He had just thrown out a random topic, and though Rene was momentarily taken aback, she gave a simple reply.
And then, silence once more.
This was driving him crazy. Should I have just gone to sleep without worrying about my appearance? Regret washed over him like a tidal wave.
“The humans have been invading quite frequently lately, Lord Swallow,” Rene spoke up softly, as if sensing his inner turmoil.
“Indeed,” Swallow replied quietly. He couldn’t fathom why she was bringing this up, but fearing another bout of silence, he quickly elaborated. “Still, it’s better than it used to be. It was much worse before.”
“Eighty years ago was certainly intense.”
—No, I was talking about the Great War three hundred years ago.
Was this what they called a generation gap? A strange sense of defeat stung him, and Swallow let out a flustered, “Huh?”
“R-Right. Back then.”
He nodded hastily. It was bad manners to discuss a history that predated her own birth.
Besides, there was no need to go back three hundred years. Just as Rene said, the clashes eighty years ago had been incomparably more frequent than they were now. What had they even been fighting over? His memory was hazy, but it had been something incredibly trivial.
In any case, a craze for subjugating dungeons had swept through the human kingdoms, and over a thousand dungeons fell in a single week. The number of humans who died back then was close to one hundred thousand. The human leader at the time had been a real piece of work, always using the term “punishment” instead of “subjugation” in his speeches.
Come to think of it, hadn't there been a Great Evil Cave that couldn't hold out and fell back then? As a side note, the number of humans who had invaded the Primordial Core just to slay him had numbered in the thousands.
“You went through a lot of trouble back then, too…”
It was probably from that point on that Rene had earned her title and her status had risen.
“I only wanted to show you my best side, Lord Swallow.”
Come to think of it, why did Rene work so hard?
“You held them off for days and nights on end, didn't you? It would have been better if I had just stepped in myself.”
As he spoke, his eyes met Rene’s. Suddenly recalling a certain memory, Swallow continued.
“Is your right eye… doing alright now?”
“…Lord Swallow, you remembered. I am so happy.”
Despite the sudden question, Rene merely offered a soft smile.
“Lord Swallow.”
The ice had finally been broken.
Seeing the tension melt from her smile, Swallow was certain: whatever she was about to say next was the real reason she brought him here. Soon, Rene slowly stood up. He swallowed hard without realizing it. With every step the silver-haired maid took, droplets of water fell from the ceiling, perfectly in sync with the clicking of her heels.
The fluttering frills of her light pink dress came to a halt. As the light filtering from above enveloped her, she bowed her head slightly. The dress shimmering in the light, the dust motes dancing around her… everything came together to make her look like a fairy.
“It has been eighty years since those events, and eighty years since you took me in, Lord Swallow. Do you remember?”
“…Of course. I always remember.”
“I am deeply honored.”
There was no way he actually remembered. The fragments of his memory had only just pieced themselves together after hearing her words. Right, that massive human subjugation campaign had occurred right after he brought Rene into the Core.
Rene had been desperate. Desperate enough to lose an eye, all to avoid being abandoned again.
“I have been so happy to stay by your side all this time, Lord Swallow.”
“Wait, hold on. Rene, I appreciate you saying you were happy, but doesn't that sound a bit like a parting speech? Don't tell me you're handing in your resignation before Patrick…”
“Lord Swallow.”
Rene cut him off. At the same time, an indescribable sense of dread seized him. Unless one was a complete fool, it was impossible to misread an atmosphere this blatant. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Swallow was not a complete fool.
And by the time that dread fully washed over him, it was already too late.
“I, I…”
“…Yes?”
“I love you.”
The very words he had hoped not to hear had been spoken.
“Mmph?”
Swallow’s tongue tied itself in knots. Not that he was in any position to worry about that. Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath and tried to rationalize.
Let’s not jump to conclusions. ‘I love you’… Well, that’s a common enough phrase. Swallow liked plenty of things, too.
He liked meat pies, and—though this was a secret—he also really liked the wild berries that grew outside the dungeon. It might sound strange, but if asked whether he liked or disliked Patrick, he would have to say he liked him—
“Please go out with me.”
—A checkmate right from the start. Impressive.
As she awaited his answer, Rene’s long eyelashes trembled, as did her slender, clasped hands. A cool breeze from somewhere rustled her silver hair. The sound of her restless feet fidgeting on the ground and the pounding of her heart merged into one. Tension gripped her face, as if she feared he might hear the noise. Her hesitant lips seemed to have gone completely dry.
“Uh, well…”
“I… I have waited eighty years for this moment.”
Perhaps his mana had grown unstable from sheer panic, because Swallow's human form began to fluctuate wildly. The remnants of his primordial form protruding from his back swayed aimlessly, unable to find their bearings. Wagging so excitedly, they looked exactly like a dog’s tail.
Glancing down to gauge Rene’s reaction, Swallow forced a serious expression. Even so, the situation was no less baffling.
“Um… look, Rene.”
If he took too long to answer, it would only make things worse. With that in mind, Swallow spoke.
“First of all, thank you for telling me how you feel. But, you know… our lives are always on the line, aren't they? This place is our home, but it’s also a battlefield. We never know when we might get hurt, or when we might die.”
“Then you can be with me even in the moment of death.”
“You know how unfair death is. You wouldn’t want one of us to be left behind to spend the rest of our days in loneliness, would you?”
“…”
“And above all, if we do as you say…”
The dungeon will collapse.
If what Rene proposed was an imitation of human behavior, and if things went according to her wishes…
Could a boss monster like him really send a homunculus like Rene Rellow out to the battlefield as a gatekeeper? It was impossible. Furthermore, it could easily trigger the collapse of the entire dungeon system. This was not a matter to be taken lightly.
He knew he had to give a clear rejection, but he couldn't bring himself to say, ‘You're a homunculus, and I'm a monster of unknown origin.’
There were too many other complicated reasons. He couldn't predict what Rene truly wanted from him, what the consequences of "dating" would be, or where it would lead. There was no way he could succeed at something he didn't even understand.
“So this is how it turns out, after all.”
Rene’s response came sooner than expected. Swallow blinked at her use of “after all.” As if she had anticipated this, she added, “I figured you would say that, Lord Swallow.” Then, she smiled—a smile filled with bitterness rather than joy.
“I…”
The intense emotions hidden beneath her calm voice began to leak out.
“I… I knew all along that this was an unreasonable request. Somehow, I knew it would end like this. But keeping it locked in my heart forever was just too heavy. I wanted to let it go, one way or another. But… if I confessed and got rejected, if you turned your back on me, if I was abandoned… that was too terrifying. I'm sick and tired of being abandoned. Even so, I wanted to be loved by you, Lord Swallow. No matter what—no matter what, no matter what, no matter what! By any means necessary! I wanted to obsess over you, and I wanted you to obsess over me!”
“Hey, Rene? Calm down…”
“I am!”
But Rene Rellow was not calm at all.
“No matter what!”
Even if it meant using such a despicable method.
“Your love…!”
Rene’s voice, which had been screaming in anguish, suddenly went ice-cold. Speechless, Swallow had no way of calming her down. This was a side of Rene he had never seen before. Because it was so entirely unexpected, he couldn't react. He had no idea at what point he should have stepped in to stop her.
It was only when Rene pulled something out that her low, crawling voice reached his ears once more.
“…Please forgive me.”
What she had pulled out was a heart-shaped red gem.
Having cooled her excitement and regained her gentle expression, Rene held up the gem with both hands and offered it to him.
“With this… my wish will finally come true. Lord Swallow…”
What dwelt in her eyes was madness. She was a mass of pure, one-hundred-percent instinct, consumed by possessiveness. To call her a girl in love was a stretch; her gaze, her gestures, and the very atmosphere surrounding her were far too eerie. Aside from her flushed cheeks, she was deathly pale, as if drained of all blood.
Clutching the gem tightly, Rene stared at Swallow with those very eyes.
“Now, all I have to do is infuse my mana into—”
Snap.
Crack.
Before she could finish, something snapped, ruptured, and split open.
Rene couldn't finish her words. Her voice wouldn't come out. Suddenly, she couldn't even breathe.
Just as she began to wonder what was happening, Swallow’s cracked voice pierced through her mind, threatening to tear her eardrums apart.
Are you, right now, trying to…
…kill me?
The words etched themselves clearly into her thoughts.
Rene’s pupils dilated.
Swallow’s face, which had looked troubled just moments ago, was now hideously distorted like crumpled scrap metal. His already unstable human form lost its shape entirely, fluctuating wildly. The sound of his skeleton creaking was straight out of a nightmare.
Soon after, his back burst open. Pushing through his flesh, an indescribable, ominous presence brimming with dark energy erupted from behind him.
Shivering, Rene cast her gaze downward. Swallow’s tail, now split into six branches, was aimed at her abdomen from all sides. It looked ready to pierce her fragile body and tear through her entrails at any second.
A cold sensation crept up her body. It wasn't the cave’s chill. This was the cold sweat of a body sensing mortal danger. I’m going to die. This was killing intent. I’m going to die. I’m going to be killed. Her body was no longer under her control. As if broken, tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. Saliva pooled and dribbled from her mouth of its own accord.
She had arrived at the very threshold of death.
—Why all of a sudden? Why? Why? Why is Lord Swallow doing this to me?
Her mind convulsed. Unable to withstand the violent trembling, Rene dropped the Red Love Stone she had been clutching so tightly. Falling from over a meter, the gem clattered loudly against the ground, rolling a few times before shattering into pieces.
From the shattered red gem, a pitch-black liquid began to ooze.
Screeech! An unpleasant, high-pitched shriek echoed from within the liquid.
The pitch-black liquid began to vaporize, sending up a plume of dark smoke and releasing an acrid stench. At the same time, the gem fragments, which had definitely been red, began to turn black. Rene caught sight of something wriggling inside the pooling liquid.
It was a tiny fetus in the shape of a demon.
“…Huh?”
In that instant, a sense of futility so profound that it made her forget her impending death forced her mouth open.
“What… is… that…?”
It was by no means something that could ever be called a Love Stone.