Chapter 305: Growth, Life, and Friends
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 305: Growth, Life, and Friends
‘Is she gone? She is? Is she really gone? Alright, Jade Eyes!’
The Regressor used the green of her Seven Colored Eyes, the piercing Jade Eyes, to survey her surroundings. She seemed terrified, scanning every inch from the ground to the sky.
After checking again and again, the Regressor let out a sigh of relief.
“Haaa…! For now, we’re safe…!”
Just then…
Boom! An explosion rang out. It wasn’t as sharp as gunpowder, but it was far too powerful to have come from a plant.
Hardly a relief when the sound itself was so strange, wouldn't you say, Regressor?
“What do you mean, safe? All hell is breaking loose!”
“Ah, it’s fine. Those are bean pod bombs. They’re a pain, but without Nevida herself here, they can be dealt with quickly. All that matters is that the Tree of Genesis doesn’t bear a beast of genesis.”
“A beast of genesis?”
“A beast made from the tree. Sometimes, beasts are born from the fruit of the Tree of Corruption. But it looks like she couldn’t get that far this time. Thankfully…”
The Regressor was still muttering to herself.
[Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!]
In the distance, a giant snake with a body made of tree trunks writhed.
A series of explosions followed. Beans shot into the air like embers, dotting the brightening sky. One such Chimera Bean flew in a high arc and crashed down beside me.
For a moment, the Regressor and I were speechless. Screams began to break the silence from all directions.
“A… wooden snake?”
“What are you staring at! Attack!”
“The food! The military rations are all exploding!”
“First Sergeant! If I get injured by a bean, does it count as a combat injury?”
“Cut the crap and get that snake!”
Gunshots rang out as the Military State’s officers and generals drew their weapons, leaping up to hack the wooden snake to pieces. But even when cut and sliced, the wooden snake, with a body as thick as a great tree, thrashed violently, racking up damage.
The power of the Divine reshapes the environment. Even if there is no intent to attack, when mountains and forests move, the tiny insects living within them suffer fatal blows. The Regressor clicked her tongue as she listened to the echoing screams.
“Tch. You want me to clean this up? The Military State isn't on my side anyway!”
“No. From now on, they just might be on your side.”
“What?”
“Go take care of it. I’ll look after Ria and get Azzy out.”
Only then did the Regressor’s gaze fall upon the others, and she glanced around.
“Oh, right. What about everyone else?”
“They’re fine.”
“Got it!”
The Regressor took Chun-aeng and Jizan in hand and shot forward. Wreathed in wind, she leaped into the air and swiftly scraped the diagonally held Jizan with Chun-aeng.
“Aerith Blade Supreme, Blazing Flint!”
The friction ignited the air. Chun-aeng, now cloaked in fire, glowed red-hot. With her flame-wreathed sword, the Regressor sliced the wooden snake in two. The burning snake writhed in agony, its massive body twisting. Flaming branches fell across the command center, and the screams of common soldiers filled the air.
“Squad leader! What do we do about that?”
“…Orders from headquarters… are not to attack…! For now, burn the trees!”
The chaos intensified as fires spread from place to place, but the Regressor paid it no mind.
“Fire is better than exploding bean pods or a wooden snake. At least it gives you guys a sense of urgency! I’ll start the fires, you put them out!”
A temporary alliance with the Military State was formed. The wooden snake, though cut to ribbons, was still writhing, but it seemed it would be dealt with soon enough.
‘The scale is large, but the effect is weak. Why would Nevida use the Tree of Genesis if she wasn't even going to fight? It's like she just wanted to show off her Divine power.’
That’s exactly it, Regressor. Nevida used her power to show off.
To me.
I turned my head. The Chimera Bean that had landed beside me had already taken root and begun to sprout. A large seedling reached my feet.
The stem, which looked too fragile for the fruit it would bear, grew as if crawling along the ground. I walked slowly, the Chimera Bean vine lengthening with every step I took.
It was a stem from a Chimera Bean. By all rights, it should only bear Chimera Beans.
But the laws of the Divine were a little different.
Kidney beans, peas, chickpeas, adzuki beans. One after another, crops that fell under the category of ‘bean’ began to sprout. It was as if some cheerful prankster had hung every type of bean on a single plant.
But knowing the truth behind it, I couldn't simply laugh.
A sprouting kudzu vine wrapped around the concrete. A clover stretched out its small leaves. Though they didn't bear beans, they proudly occupied a spot on the stem. I walked past them.
If I keep walking with this… what will appear?
This is the essence of the Tree of Genesis. The reason Nevida despises the Sanctum, which gave a name to every living thing.
Of course, that has nothing to do with me.
“Hm. I can’t really use this.”
This particular Divine power was one of the most difficult for me to wield. Nevida could use it hundreds of times more effectively because she was a druid. The best I could probably do was grow a peanut.
But maybe that was enough.
I took out my Spade deck. After sorting through it, I pulled out the nine and fiddled with it between my fingers.
Spades are special. Diamonds consume Alchemic Gold, Clubs must be filled with mana, and Hearts must store their corresponding potions, but Spades require none of that. If they need anything at all, it’s my belief, perhaps?
Spades are, after all, idols that honor the Divine.
With Maximilien gone, I couldn’t move the gears. I had no choice but to grab the side of the Steel Beetle and laboriously haul myself up. It was only about four meters, but I was out of breath. I guess I was more tired than I thought. Ah, I’m craving a mana herb.
When I finally made it to the top, I saw Historia leaning against a gear, sitting with great effort. Her hollow eyes turned to me. I offered a friendly smile.
“Ria. Want a peanut?”
“Where would you get a peanut…”
I snapped my fingers. At the tip of the vine that had followed me up, a peanut had formed. It must have exhausted its energy climbing after me, as it had managed to produce only one.
But when you crack one peanut, you get two kernels. I snapped it in the middle and handed one to a dumbfounded Historia.
“A special treat, for a friend I’d share my last bean with.”
“Hmph.”
Historia popped the peanut into her mouth and chewed lightly. A soft crunching sound. I ate my own peanut and sat down beside her.
Peanuts really are the best. They make their presence known in any dish, but they’re also perfect on their own.
After our short gourmet experience, Historia muttered.
“Huey… are you the King of Humans?”
“Yeah.”
“I see.”
Then, silence. I asked again.
“Is that all you want to ask?”
There had to be more. When I pressed her, Historia’s lips parted and closed a few times before she finally spoke.
“…Got a mana herb?”
“I gave you all of them.”
“The one you stashed away.”
“Tch. How’d you know?”
I clicked my tongue and took out the mana herb I’d stuck in my bio-receptor. It was nice keeping it there; I could feel some of its effects without even smoking it.
“That’s just like you.”
She smirked and held out her hand, as if she were collecting a debt. But I was stingy with my mana herbs, so instead of giving her the whole thing, I took out a card and tried to cut it.
Historia frowned.
“So cheap over a single smoke.”
“Shut up. A last smoke isn’t just a single smoke. This one is my last one, that’s why it’s precious.”
Historia’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“…You can’t give me the whole thing?”
“I’m giving you half.”
Ah, it’s not cutting well. Maybe because I’m out of energy.
While I was only managing to score a line on the mana herb, Historia shot me a pathetic look and formed a blade with her hand.
Swish.
Her hand flashed past the mana herb. Before the two halves could even separate, Historia brazenly picked the larger piece for herself. She quickly stuck it in her mouth so I couldn’t take it back, then, without a word, casually held the tip out to me.
‘Light.’
You could at least ask with words. I raised my fingers and brought them close to her lips. The shortened mana herb was close.
“Set, Re. Fahrenheit.”
Historia inhaled, and the mana herb drank in the flame. Before the fire went out, I lit my own.
The words left unsaid turned to smoke and scattered into the air. The short mana herb burned out as quickly as its length suggested. I took the butt, now barely a mouthful, from my lips and gazed at the sky.
“Ria. They say I’m going to die in the near future.”
“…Is that so?”
“And that the King of Humans will be born again. That he’ll be the King of Sins.”
“Who? How?”
“I don’t know who will do it. I’m not really sure how, either. But I have a rough idea of why. I think… they want to defeat Sin.”
Slightly startled, Historia took a sharp breath, burning through the rest of her mana herb in an instant.
“Sin… can be defeated?”
“I don’t know. But maybe that’s what they want to believe? Just like how you gritted your teeth and became a general because you wanted to make sure something like Hamelin never happened again.”
Historia fell silent. Forgetting that her mana herb was gone, she tried to bring her trembling hand to her lips.
I couldn’t let her eat ash, so I grabbed her hand. My eyes met her dark pupils.
“Huey, you… could you have stopped what happened at Hamelin?”
“Probably.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because it hadn’t happened yet.”
“But you can’t stop it after it’s happened.”
“That’s why I couldn’t stop it.”
Was my answer too flippant? Historia let my hand drop. She pressed her fingers to her forehead and spoke pleadingly.
“I… I don’t get it. Why does it have to be this way? Huey. Can’t you be a little more normal? You don’t have to be the King of Humans… you don’t have to go anywhere.”
Normal, huh.
I am already normal. Because I am the King of Humans. I can handle most human technologies and I’m just friendly enough to get by. But that’s all.
But the ‘normal’ that Historia… or ‘she’ wants isn’t that, is it? They’re hoping for a being quite different from the humans of today. Something far kinder, far gentler.
Humans aren’t like that, so I can’t be either.
“Ria. Thank you. For helping me without asking for reasons or anything else.”
“Liar.”
“Even I can feel gratitude. Humans aren’t that shameless, you know.”
“…With just words?”
“What do you want?”
In that instant, something flashed through Historia’s mind. A somewhat primal, instinctual desire. Normally, she would never have said it, but with the lingering effects of the herb, the words were about to tumble from her lips when…
“Nyaa. Stupid doggy. You can’t even get this undone, nya?”
Nabi had somehow made her way onto the Steel Beetle. Historia regained her senses and swallowed her words. It probably would have been fine if she’d said it, but it seemed even a cat’s gaze was enough to make her self-conscious.
After a cursory glance around, Nabi extended her claws. She hooked them into a gap in the misaligned gears, pulled as if scooping something out, and tossed it aside. The large gear flew sideways and clattered to the ground below. Nabi then crouched down and waited for something.
“Woof! Me, free!”
Azzy leaped out from the gap where the gear had been. She had been futilely chewing on the gears inside the Steel Beetle until now. Finally free, she shook her body vigorously.
“Us, no like! Restraint, no like! Woof woof! Dark and lonely!”
Nabi was more adept at using her front paws than Azzy. And beasts that use their front paws are generally more comfortable with tools. That must be why Nabi seemed smarter than Azzy.
Nabi looked down at Azzy and sneered.
“Nya. What a stupid doggy, nya. Only a fool would bare its teeth and jump into a fight between other idiots, nya.”
“Woof! Me, bitten! Must help! And that thing, it smelled bad! Smelled like iron!”
“That’s what makes you stupid, nya. Like it or not, there’s no reason to get involved when other beasts are squabbling, nya. It’s best to just watch quietly and snatch the food, nya.”
Nabi raised a paw slightly. A mana herb was stuck between her claws. That cat, she’s been living it up while we were gone.
Azzy shook her head and pointed at me.
“Me, no! Me keep promise! Then, human keep promise too!”
“Nya-nya. Stupid doggy. That promise is ancient history. They’ve probably forgotten all about it, nya.”
Nabi sneered, flicking the paw with the mana herb. Azzy shook her head violently.
“Woof! No! Me, remember!”
“Nya-nyan. It’s useless, nya. Promises are only kept when they benefit me-ow, nya. With no king to enforce it, the humans have surely forgotten their promise, nya.”
“No! No! Human, remember! Look!”
Azzy barked loudly, refuting Nabi’s words. Nabi just snorted, but Azzy wagged her tail and trotted over to me.
Azzy, the Dog King, who had followed me until now without a shred of doubt. That kind and benevolent beast, with a face that showed she had no doubt I would remember our promise. With a wide smile, she brought up the promise we made long ago.
“I will protect you. You protect me too. I will trust you, you help me too.”
She would wag her tail at any human, and whether they were good or evil, she would never attack or kill them. It could be seen as a weakness, but its strengths were far greater. An unconditionally trustworthy subject was just too useful.
Azzy was, without a doubt, the world’s most foolish and most powerful sucker. No matter how many times she was deceived, she would never abandon her faith in me or any other human.
“I will love you. You love me too.”
In contrast, though I am the King of Humans, I have lost most of my power and am under no obligation to answer. Life always comes before promises.
But faced with such pure yet ‘artificial’ faith, I couldn’t just laugh it off.
Perhaps.
“—Then, the big bad wolf won’t be able to hurt you.”
Because Azzy might just be a vision of my own future.