Chapter 213: Teacher, You’re Moving Too Fast (3)
Chapter 213: Teacher, You’re Moving Too Fast (3)
“Is that really the door to The Tomb?”
Al’shel asked back, as if he couldn't believe the current situation.
“Do I have any reason to lie?”
Zess replied calmly, as if it weren't anything strange.
Perhaps it was because she sounded so confident.
“No, well, it’s just... Grix’s memories were severely fragmented, and your own memories were butchered into a complete mess, Lady Zess... There’s no way you could know the location, is there?”
Perhaps it was because he had dried up into a piece of jerky, or because the situation was just that shocking, but Al’shel’s voice lacked any strength.
“What are you trying to say?”
Listening to that, it became even clearer that Zess wasn't exactly a great listener. I can't believe she didn't catch his drift.
Maybe I should jump in.
“What Al’shel is trying to say, Zess, is that it’s strange for you to know the location. And if you do know, he wants you to tell him how.”
“Oh, is that what he meant?”
“Yes, yes. That’s it...”
Al’shel seemed relieved that he didn't have to get into an argument with Zess. With a faint, dying voice, he sat in a chair and began to gulp down tea.
His back was hunched, his hands trembled as he held the teacup, and he couldn't even control his mouth properly, letting tea spill between his lips.
He looked so pitiful that I turned to Zess with a question.
“Does the Star Race age based on skin moisture?”
No matter how I looked at him, he seemed to have aged decades all of a sudden.
“Which question should I answer first? The Tomb? Or the Star Race?”
“The Star Race.”
Teasing Al’shel comes first, obviously.
“No, it doesn't really have anything to do with age. The ones I fought didn't start acting like old men just because they lost a little moisture.”
So he’s just exhausted from the sudden turn of events.
What a shame.
I was seriously considering spraying some desiccant on him if he tried to act up.
“Then, how do you know the location of The Tomb?”
“Oh, it wasn't anything special. I just copied my memories and left them outside, then collected them after the job was done.”
Simple, right?
As she said that, Zess opened her hand again to show a green flame. It was as if the memories were contained within that very fire.
“Besides, I might not know much about Mental Magic, but I’m an expert when it comes to memories. No way I’d lose them.”
Heh heh.
After a short chuckle, Zess tossed the flame she had created into her own head, as if reenacting what had happened back then.
It’s a good thing this was the first room we entered.
If I had visited the other rooms first and heard this kind of nonsense at the very end, I might have collapsed from a stroke.
Alright. Now, what should we do?
I tried to stimulate my brain for a moment, but to be honest, I knew jack squat about the plan.
“Hey, you listening?”
I dumped the burden onto the dried-up octopus who was busy rehydrating himself with tea.
In the first place, it would be weird for me to be the one doing the thinking.
“I heard you... but this is an unexpected situation, so please let me catch my breath.”
“That’s what he says.”
“Really? Then what should we do with this door?”
What else?
“Just leave it. Once Al’shel gets his act together, we can just toss him inside.”
“He’ll probably die then. There’s all sorts of stuff in there.”
“He doesn't die even when you kill him, though.”
I don't know how he does it, but even when I hit him with Otherworld Banishment Magic, he always finds his way back.
He claims there’s a limit to how many times he can do it, but it seems like he has plenty of lives left.
“It might be difficult if his count gets shaved off instantly due to his regenerative structure.”
“Oh, I guess there are conditions. Then, while we have time, why don't you explain that as well...”
Our bundle of knowledge, Lady Zess, was pulling out something interesting again.
I’m always down for new ways to torment that octopus.
“Shouldn't you have such conversations when I’m not around?”
I heard a voice that sounded utterly dumbfounded, but like I give a damn.
“Ignore him. Since we have time while someone is busy thinking, why don't you tell us the story, Lady Zess?”
“You’re just flat-out ignoring me now, aren't you?”
Yup. Can't hear a thing.
Since the stage was set anyway, I knew the chatterbox Zess would spill everything.
With that thought, I left the door alone and leisurely sat down next to Al’shel.
Zess then sat across from me, just like before. I expected the story to begin, but...
“Hmm. I thought about it, but I’ll pass. It’s a bit awkward for even me to talk about things related to someone else’s life.”
Zess threw me into confusion by saying something surprisingly sensible.
I hadn't known her for long, but I was deeply shocked to find out that Zess actually possessed a sense of consideration for others.
“...I appreciate that.”
Unlike me, who sat there with my jaw dropped, Al’shel seemed unfazed. He simply tilted the teapot and poured more tea into his cup.
“Then how about this instead? How about stories from Al’shel’s childhood? He might look like that now, but when he was a kid...”
An even more exciting story popped out.
“Oh.”
I marveled at the prospect and took a listening posture.
“Excuse me?”
In response, Al’shel snapped his head up and froze.
“Do you know Al’shirin? She’s his older sister...”
“Ah, I’ve actually met her.”
“Then this will be quick. When he was little, he used to follow Al’shirin around calling her 'Big Sis, Big Sis'...”
“Excuse me? Lady Zess? Ha-ram? Could we please talk about something else? Like my immortality that we were discussing earlier.”
Who cares about that? This is way more interesting.
And hey, your cup is overflowing.
It’s completely soaking the table and even staining the carpet below.
“So, they actually have something like a childhood?”
I thought he was just a twisted cuttlefish from the Nether from the moment he was born.
“They look a bit more innocent when they’re young. Oh, I don't mean Al’shel was innocent, just the racial trait. Al’shel always had that scowl on his face even as a kid. Because of that, Al’shirin had a hard time...”
“Lady Zess? Ha-ram?”
I heard some strange noises, but Zess and I, engrossed in the story, exchanged friendly questions and answers. And so, time passed.
* * *
“Oh, you’re looking slippery again.”
Al’shel, who had been rehydrating by sticking a water hose into his mouth halfway through, finally regained the disgusting sliminess of his skin.
“Then... can we... hic... proceed now?”
As if he had overdone it just to end the conversation, Al’shel spoke in a voice that sounded like he might vomit at any moment, his skin a gloomy shade of cobalt blue.
“I’m still curious about your story, though.”
The part where you got beaten up for acting tough and then went crying to Al’shirin was really funny.
I wondered why you couldn't lift a finger against Al’shirin, and it turns out you had a past like that.
“Oh, right. Seeing that skin reminds me. There was a time he asked me to teach him magic.”
“...Please, I beg you to stop.”
Al’shel bent his neck at a 110-degree angle and slammed his head onto the floor.
“...If you’ve had your fun... that should be enough... I apologize for what happened back then...”
He then began to pour out a string of pleas.
Man, this is fun.
Who knew Al’shel’s weakness would be his own growing pains?
Of course, even if they were growing pains, according to Zess, he’s already lived for an unfathomable amount of time.
I couldn't quite grasp their social structure just from the explanation of what kind of race they were, but here was the summary:
They are an oviparous race. When a female dies, she scatters eggs that have been fertilized by males throughout her life.
The first one to hatch from those scattered eggs becomes the 'Hatchery Keeper,' the leader who raises the other eggs, and they are considered one family.
Given their incredibly long lifespans and the fact that they lay eggs, you’d think their population would be huge. However, because they only scatter eggs upon death, if they are killed by an enemy, only the fragile eggs remain, which is pointless. On the other hand, because of their individualistic nature, no one ever commits suicide in a safe place.
Furthermore, the larvae that just hatched from the eggs are pathetically weak, grow by cannibalizing their own kind, and possess no intelligence.
Therefore, larvae are not considered kin; only those who have formed a body and possess intelligence are recognized as such.
They are a race with nothing but unfavorable conditions, yet their disposition is that of a warrior race. Even members of the same race will fight each other if they belong to different hatcheries, so they never built a proper society.
The only reason these guys haven't gone extinct is simply because their basic racial stats are insanely high.
Even Al’shel spent his childhood beating up other races, only to get thrashed whenever someone stronger showed up.
Of course, there was some level of interaction between hatcheries, and they had cities and groups accordingly.
But because they were so busy with internal feuds and wars, it was a miracle if anything lasted more than ten years. I have no idea what kind of mess of a race they are.
I thought Al’shirin being the 'Star Maiden' meant she was some kind of government or religious leader, but it turns out it’s just a special magic that is inherited by killing the person who holds the title.
What kind of apocalypse world is that?
Even Al’shirin seemed violent enough by my standards, but according to Zess, she was practically an angel compared to the rest of her race.
And the fact that Al’shel didn't sell out his own hatchery meant his personality was at least average by his race's standards.
The fact that such people created the Demon Train out of consideration for other races must mean the invasion of The End was truly traumatic.
Thinking that far, it all boiled down to one thing.
“...These bastards only know a society where they fight all the time, so that’s why the Demon Train is in this state.”
It wasn't that The System was sophisticated and then developed an error; it was that the people who made it were battle junkies who just assumed it would work.
I had wondered why a race that was top-class in magic, science, and individual strength had fallen to the Otherworld Invasion. At this point, I could take a guess.
They probably repelled all the invaders and then ruined themselves by fighting each other.
And then, they couldn't withstand the likes of the Atlantic Nautilus or the Nanjido corpse monsters and collapsed.
Thinking that, I felt a little sorry for Al’shel.
It meant he at least had the minimum social skills required to blend into another society.
“You’ve had a hard life, haven't you?”
Feeling a sudden surge of pity, I stroked Al’shel’s skin.
But I immediately regretted it.
I got slime on my hand...
“...What is it now? All of a sudden.”
Al’shel, who had been fervently pouring out his resentment and hopes toward Zess, stopped talking and looked at me, sensing my strange behavior.
“No, it’s just that after putting everything I just heard together, I realized your life must have been quite miserable. Having such a mess for a race...”
“Right? Even when I told those guys to fix their act, they wouldn't listen, as if they were growing seafood in their ears. The kids from the 'Al Family hatchery that Al’shel and Al’shirin belonged to were somewhat normal, but most of them left for the Otherworld, as if they had wanderlust in their genes.”
Hmm? I thought only the two of them were left, but it seems a few more are still alive.
Though I doubt I’ll ever see them.
“...Please stop insulting my race all of a sudden. So, are you going or not?”
Al’shel returned to his usual self, as if he had spat out all the excess moisture through his blabbering mouth, and spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Well, I think I’ve teased Al’shel enough. Let’s go.”
Honestly, I could probably milk what I just heard for a hundred years.
That’s why I agreed to move now.
“I’m not going. You guys handle it yourselves from here.”
Zess, seemingly uninterested, poured tea over her head again and waved her hand as if to say goodbye.
“Hmm? I thought you’d follow us.”
“I prefer to stay neutral and watch. Well, it would be a pain if the kids under me got caught up in the war and died again, so I’ll provide enough cooperation to ensure you don't fail.”
Is it because she’s a sun? Staying neutral.
It doesn't suit her personality at all.
“That is more than enough, Lady Zess.”
However, Al’shel seemed to have expected this. He bowed deeply in gratitude and then grabbed the doorknob.
“Right, see you later then.”
I stood up following Al’shel and waved my hand.
Click.
The door opened.
“Take care.”
Leaving Zess’s farewell behind, we stepped through the door.