Will You Go Back to Where You Were?

"Are you going back to where you were?"

Yujun asked Asilien.

"It's dangerous there now. I think the time has come to move my residence."

"Wherever you go, I have a feeling they'll find you anyway."

"You're right. The Cult's intelligence network is beyond anything you could imagine. I have no choice but to hide who I am as thoroughly as I can and lie low for a while."

"If anything happens, contact me. No—if it even looks like something might happen."

"You really don't have to go that far... but the truth is, I'm a little frightened now. If it seems dangerous, I'll swallow my pride and ask for your help."

"Yes. Please do."

Asilien was tied to Paranet, and she was the Number One Great Merchant besides. He had all but saved her life this time; if he called, she would appear whenever he needed her.

"Then we each go our own way. From here."

"Before that—one moment."

Asilien stopped him and drew an item from her inventory. It was a pill of familiar shape. She opened her palm and held it out.

"What is it?"

"A gift... no. A repayment."

"Then I'll accept it, gratefully."

Yujun was not the sort to refuse a thing like this. He was also not the sort who could stand leaving his curiosity unsatisfied. He checked the item information at once.

"Oh. This..."

It was a consumable he had used once before.

"You need it, don't you?"

"How did you know?"

"Just a guess. Someone like you seemed likely to have stats beyond the basic ones."

So she had simply taken a shot in the dark. Sharp, for a guess.

"Thank you."

"If anyone should be thanking anyone, it's me. Mythic or not, it doesn't begin to compare to the price of my life."

She was right. Asilien's life was not something that could be traded for a handful of items. She was the Number One Great Merchant, after all.

"There's something I've been wondering. Asilien, are you a pureblood witch?"

"I didn't expect you to ask that out of nowhere... Strictly speaking, no."

"I see."

"Why did you want to know?"

"Usually I can tell at a glance. Looking at you, I can't."

"That's probably because I've worked so hard to hide what I am—I've used a great many items with options for exactly that. I doubt the Cult even knew I was a witch."

"The other Great Merchants ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed to see through you, though."

"They're the exception. They don't just read what's on the surface. They see straight through a player by instinct. They aren't Great Merchants for nothing. Without that kind of insight, I suppose one never becomes one."

"Your own insight must be considerable, then."

"It's a little awkward to say so myself, but yes, more or less. I'll be going now."

"I'll put the item to good use. Thank you."

"Of course. And if you ever need my help, contact me anytime."

"Paranet. You say goodbye too."

"Yes. This time, see that you are not caught. Survive."

"You don't need to worry. I'm going to live very quietly for a while. So... if you miss me, come in secret."

"..."

Paranet jerked in sudden fluster and turned his face away from her.

"Are you refusing me?"

"I shall... give it some thought."

At that, Asilien smiled, shy.

"Good. Then I'll see you soon."

"I never said I would come soo—"

Asilien was gone without a trace.

She could use spatial magic too?

Quietly, Asilien was something of an all-rounder herself. Then again, becoming the Number One Great Merchant had been an absurd talent from the start.

"Good thing it ended well."

Yujun said it while studying Paranet.

"I do not believe I have ever been so sick with worry in all my existence."

"That bad?"

"Ah. There was one other time I was seized by terror."

"Hm?"

"The day I first met you, Master. That was the most horrifying day of my life."

"...Was it."

It hadn't really been Yujun himself that frightened him. An enemy appearing in his dungeon at all had been the terrifying part. Looking back, Paranet's character had changed a great deal. The cowardice that had once defined him was gone, and a warrior with some courage stood in its place. Then again, an undead fearing death was the stranger thing.

That fear is what gave him the evasion traits and skills. It worked out for the best.

Yujun turned the days ahead over in his mind, then decided.

"Let's get a proper rest today. We'll take it at Heaven Castle, though."

"We leave before the day is out?"

"It isn't even that dark. And it isn't far."

"Understood."

"You two?"

Yujun looked to Manuela and Yenil. He hardly needed to ask. Both nodded as if it went without saying.

Once they reached Heaven Castle, Yujun took a room, swallowed the Pill of Attribute Amplification, talked of this and that with the others, and fell asleep. The moment day broke, he moved to the Golden Flower Garden.

The Golden Flower Garden had originally been an event location. After Yujun discovered the hidden temple and became the True Master of the Golden Temple, he could go there whenever he wished. The Golden Temple itself did not stand anywhere plainly visible in the garden, which made it an ideal place to withdraw when things grew dangerous.

And the Golden Flower Garden isn't somewhere just anyone can enter.

His reason for returning was simple. He had come to gather mana.

Golden Mammonism, SSS-grade. A skill that let him mine gold and offer that gold as a sacrifice in exchange for mana. There was time to spare before the grand banquet at Heaven Castle, and he meant to use it grinding mana, pushing the power of his GX+ New-Generation Magic still higher.

Paranet was at his side, of course. He had brought Manuela and Yenil as well. Left apart from him, they could become targets of the Demon God Worshippers.

It was Yenil's first time here. Her eyes went wide as she looked all around.

"You told me to follow, but where is this?"

"The Golden Flower Garden. All of this is gold."

"It certainly looks it. How did you come to know of a place like this?"

"It was an event location."

"An event? I never heard of it."

"Only players in Heaven at level 600 or above could take part, I think? Anyway, back then you hadn't been summoned by the Demon God Worshippers yet, so you couldn't have come."

"I have no interest in gold, truthfully. Even so, a landscape of nothing but flowers suits me very well."

"Then that's perfect. Study the magic I taught you while you're here."

"I was already of a mind to."

"And Paranet."

"Yes."

"Time to get ready, isn't it?"

Paranet's face darkened. He was remembering it—the endless, grinding labor of harvesting golden flowers.

Time passed quickly. For Paranet it was hell. For Yujun, it was a trip back and forth to heaven. The faster he went, the faster the gold came up, and the amount piling into his subspace pouch was staggering. Only when the banquet was close at hand did he stop.

"Done."

"...Graaah!"

Paranet let out a groan like a howl and collapsed onto the ground.

"Was it that hard?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to do the same work for days without a wink of sleep!"

Whatever had built up in him, it came out close to tears.

"You're undead. How does you being tired even make sense? I'm perfectly fine."

"That is because you, Master, are the strange one. Ah—now that I think of it, how are you so perfectly fine? Is there some secret?"

"Honestly, it isn't physically tiring work. That's why I can take it."

"No... I find the mental fatigue far harder to endure."

There was one decisive difference between them. When Yujun labored at the golden flowers, Golden Mammonism paid him in mana. Paranet gained nothing at all. That was the whole of it.

"Paranet."

"Yes?"

"You complained a fair bit this time, but you worked hard, so I'll give you a reward."

"A-a reward? What manner of reward?"

Paranet shoved his face in close. Between his enormous frame and his savage looks, the posture was closer to a threat.

"Equipment. I'll upgrade you. Your level's gone up a lot too."

"Indeed! It is high time, is it not!"

Watching the fellow light up, Yujun smiled, pleased.

Investing in Paranet is investing in myself. Nothing to regret.

There was no greater foolishness than letting unused items rot in an inventory.

And Synchronization just handed me a heap of high-level gear, all of it over level 600.

Items utterly useless to Yujun were a perfect fit for Paranet. Every one of them was Mythic, far better than what the summon currently wore. Yujun set the loadout with Paranet's skills and traits in mind.

"Whoa, this is... hooo~!"

Fully equipped, Paranet spilled one exclamation after another.

"Well? Feel any different?"

"Need I even say it? The difference is insane. I don't care who it is—I want to fight someone, and I want to fight them now."

To think that coward of a Paranet would say such a thing. Yujun felt, all over again, how much the fellow had grown. In body, and in mind.

"Anyone will do? Then spar with me."

"...What?"

At Yujun's words, Paranet floundered and even backed away.

"You'll want to feel the gear out right away, won't you? I know that feeling. Wanting anyone at all nearby who might make a decent opponent. I'll be that opponent."

"N-no, Master, you are rather..."

"And why won't I do?"

"An opponent must be chosen with care. To me, Master, you are a natural disaster that never lets up."

"If I'm a natural disaster, what are you?"

"I would be, at best, a dandelion growing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on a rooftop."

"...That metaphor's pretty off."

"In any case, it is worse than striking a boulder with an egg. How could the two of us even be compared?"

"Who said we're fighting to the death? I'll just match you reasonably."

"Ah... but won't it end far too quickly?"

"You're not that weak. Don't worry."

Yujun said it to put some spirit back into him.

"R-right?"

"Pick up your sword."

"May I use it at once? If the blade so much as chips..."

"It's fine. We can repair it."

Paranet gazed at the sword Yujun had just bestowed, his face full of emotion, and took his stance.

"Come on."

"Yes, sir!"

And so, without warning, the two of them were sparring in the Golden Flower Garden. Both faces, however, were unexpectedly grave. A cool wind blew in from the west, and Yujun's hair stirred lightly in it. Paranet's hair, likewise...

Thus the sparring began.

"I shall go first!"

"Come."

Paranet kicked off the ground and charged with a fierce momentum, using neither Body Slam nor Thousand-Pound Drop.

A probing exchange, then?

Loosening up, Yujun threw a fist out to meet the charge. The blow, sent lightly, struck Paranet square in the forehead.

Crack!

"...What?"

Paranet vanished from his sight. Thinking the summon might have used spatial magic, Yujun pushed his detection to its limit. He felt nothing. Then he felt the link between them sever. Paranet had been reverse-summoned.

"Did this guy duck back in by himself because he didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠want to get hit?"