Chapter 326: It Doesn’t Sit Well With Me
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 326: It Doesn’t Sit Well With Me
Large, long-lived creatures are bound to possess Qi. This isn’t limited to humans. Any beast that exists and enacts change upon the world gains Qi. They even learn to use this accumulated energy instinctively.
Of course, among them, only humans utilize Qi in a technical manner.
Humans technically employ wood and stone, iron and even mana. It would be no surprise for them to technically use the Qi within their own bodies as well.
However, when a human, who lives for a mere sixty years or so, uses a complex art like Qi Arts, they suffer from a chronic deficiency of Qi. In such times, humans have always sought something outside their own bodies to resolve this lack.
That something is the Qi of other beasts—the essence of a creature, now called an elixir. By hunting beasts, humans would not only fill their stomachs but also replenish their deficient Qi…
But do humans today know? That there is, in fact, no difference between the Qi of a beast and the Qi of a human.
And that back when humans were still beasts themselves, the easiest beast to find was another human.
Type 1 Anathema, Gluttony. The taboo of a human consuming another to take their mana and Qi…
All humans consider this a taboo, a sin to even contemplate, but in truth, this taboo is still being enacted.
Inside my stomach.
Sigh. I guess it’s no use. No matter what I do, it’s just not efficient. The elixir is certainly in my stomach, but there’s no sign of any interaction taking place.
Honestly, I don’t really know why. There’s no rule saying the Beast King can’t change, but my body feels… fixed. No, more like it’s been defined. At this rate, it wouldn’t make much of a difference whether I ate a few more elixirs or devoured hundreds of people through Gluttony.
The Qi I can gain from this precious elixir is but a speck. Even that feels like it will vanish someday. But to build a mountain, one must gather even such specks.
As I was desperately scraping together what little energy I could, a voice reached my ears.
“…I heard elixirs are dangerous. Are there no side effects?”
“There’s almost no chance of it becoming dangerous~. People often think elixirs are risky because of side effects, but those are actually caused by the Qi inside your body running wild after being stimulated by outside energy! Like an allergy!”
“That is precisely what is dangerous!”
“But, the amount of Qi my father has is practically a rat’s tail! And no matter how hard a rat’s tail whips around, it’ll only tickle! Therefore, the worst side effect for Father would be a full-body itch! Rest assured! Even ‘I’ have already considered that much!”
A rat’s tail? Even if it’s true, that’s a harsh metaphor.
Just you wait. If I ever get strong, the first thing I’ll do is smack you on the head.
Despite Hilde’s assurances, Tyr still expressed her concern.
“However, Shei said one must remain still to absorb an elixir. If it is not because of the side effects, then why?”
“That’s for what comes after you eat it. It’s a bigger problem if the Qi is absorbed but doesn’t settle properly in the body. Qi that isn’t fully digested and just roams around inside is much more likely to cause side effects later!”
“Aha. In that case, the instruction not to touch the body and not to disturb the mind means…”
“It’s said that moving your body while taking in Qi causes trouble for the Gam Qi Art, and disturbing your mind makes the Li Qi difficult! Well, it’s knowledge I’ve only heard, not experienced, so I can’t be certain!”
So they say. Not that it was useful advice for me, since I couldn’t digest it anyway. If you have no energy, you can’t have trouble handling it.
“For your reference, to avoid disrupting the Geon Qi Art, you should minimize contact with the body!”
“Contact with the body, you say…”
Tyr, who had been observing me nonchalantly, suddenly shot back a question.
“Wait! Is Hu not wearing clothes? Fabric that is touching his body all over!”
…Well, no. Clothes should be fine. I wear them every day, and not having them would cause more problems with wind and dust.
Hilde will probably correct her.
‘Hmm? Some people do take them off, but clothes don’t really matter~. Still, this looks fun. Shall I egg her on?’
Don’t you dare.
“Oh my, what should I do! I completely forgot since he wears them all the time! I must undress him at once!”
Don’t you dare undress me.
“Wait! Hold on! How can you speak of undressing a man who is a stranger to you…!”
“Oh? Is that the problem?”
“Of course it is! Such an act is reserved for those who have promised to spend their lives together!”
“But he’s ‘my’ father, isn’t he? I’m just trying to serve him with the utmost filial piety. Is that still not allowed?”
“Ugh, that is… No! You are not truly father and daughter! It is not allowed! In fact, it is all the more forbidden!”
“Then what do we do? If we leave him like this and the Qi settles while his clothes are stuck to his body, he’ll become someone who can never take his clothes off for the rest of his life!”
There’s no way that would happen.
“H-How could such a terrible thing… This is a true dilemma. What are we to do…?”
“We have no choice but to undress him!”
“However…”
“The answer is set, all that’s needed is resolve! Tyrkanzyaka. In a dilemma, you must have resolve! The resolve to overcome hardship and move forward!”
‘R-Resolve? Does that mean… to be together for life…’
Tyr gulped down nonexistent saliva and looked at me. Toward me, sitting still with my eyes closed, Tyr cautiously extended a hand. Her pale white hand reached for my clothes.
But she soon realized something and spoke.
“…I see no seams on these clothes. Where are the buttons or strings?”
“Oops. That’s a Clothing Packet. You have to feed mana into his bio-receptor.”
“I cannot wield mana!”
“Or you have to rip it. Would you like to rip it?”
“How could I do something so indecent… No! If I rip it with force, would that not defeat the purpose? The pulling of the clothes would move his body!”
“Ehehe. You’re right!”
“This is a disaster…! What are we to do!”
‘Oh, dear. I was just joking, but she’s taking this far more seriously than I thought~. What should I do? If I tell her it was a joke now, she might hate me.’
Just let her hate you. If you’re going to lie, have the courage to be disliked for it.
It was then that the Regressor, with a remarkably refreshed expression, pushed aside the tent flap and entered. Was she proud of the information she’d found? Without being asked, she began to report what she’d learned.
“I’ve got all the intel. There’s a large camp about a day’s journey from here. Our next target is there…”
“Shei! You have come at a good time. Come here and help me undress Hu!”
“Why?!”
At this point, I’d get indigestion no matter what I ate, not just an elixir. I scowled and stood up.
“That’s enough nonsense. Everyone, stop.”
“Hu! You must not get up!”
The Regressor, who had nearly been made to undress a strange man out of the blue, still couldn’t grasp the situation.
“Huh? Why? Why can’t he get up?”
“He has swallowed an elixir! It is dangerous for him to move!”
“Eh? He already ate the elixir? Without saying anything… Wait a minute!”
The Regressor activated her Seven Colored Eyes and looked at me. Of the seven colors, the violet one saw power. With those purple eyes that could vaguely sense the total amount of power, the Regressor examined my body, puzzled.
“…His Qi hasn’t increased at all. What, did you pretend to eat it and hide it somewhere?”
“It’s bad enough that my Qi didn’t increase, but now you’re treating me like a thief?”
“Well, you said you ate the elixir! So who stole your Qi?”
“If you find them, please let me know. I’ll chop off their wrist.”
The Regressor examined me in sequence with her seven-colored eyes. Her main goal was to check if I had hidden the elixir, but after viewing me through all her different lenses, she realized I was telling the truth.
“Wait a minute. This is… There’s no other explanation.”
Having thought of something, the Regressor fell silent, lost in thought. Tyr, who would normally wait for her to speak, was too impatient now and pressed for an answer.
“What is it?”
“…He has no talent.”
“Talent? Are you truly saying that…?”
‘Excluding power or treasures, Hu’s talent doesn’t seem any less than Shei’s…’
Fortunately, the Regressor resolved Tyr’s doubt.
“Not talent for learning, but the physical talent for retaining Qi in the body. Just as a blind person doesn’t know color and a deaf person cannot speak, it seems he has a congenital problem with his ability to accumulate Qi. It’s like he can’t draw out any energy other than what he was originally born with.”
“I think so, too. I may not have lived a life of riches and glory, but I wasn’t starved as a child. And yet, Qi never seemed to stick to me.”
The reason a taboo is a taboo. A method like Gluttony probably wouldn’t work on me. It was becoming increasingly clear.
“Tsk. What a shame… He definitely seemed to have potential.”
“You see now, don’t you? From now on, don’t tie me to a sled and call it training. It’s just a waste of energy.”
“Is that what’s important right now? At this rate, you can’t get any stronger!”
“Or what, should I lament my unfortunate fate and burst into tears? What would that accomplish, other than you patting my shoulder in consolation, Shei? It’s meaningless.”
“Even if you cried, I wouldn’t pat your shoulder!”
‘I thought an elixir would solve it. Tch, this makes him dead weight. I can’t keep dragging him around. It might be fine for this timeline, but the next one…’
Huh? That might not be so bad. If the Regressor saves me and then leaves me behind in the next timeline, I could try a different method in each life.
Of course, that was utterly useless to the current me, who was being dragged around like a sack of potatoes.
“I guess we just wasted one elixir. What a pity. That’s enough, let’s get some sleep, shall we? Starting tomorrow, it’s going to be a hellish march.”
“Wait. There’s one thing I want to try.”
‘I’ll use the Eyes of Fate to see his destiny. It’s a waste of my lifespan, but… well, it’s not like I’m going to live to a ripe old age anyway. Watching this guy’s fate unfold should be worth it.’
Pretending to sweep her hair back, the Regressor activated all Seven Colored Eyes between her fingers. The seven-colored irises sparkled in sequence, forming a small circle. A brightly shining pupil appeared within her own.
‘Revolving Wheel of Heavens. Let’s see his fate… I wonder if this is right.’
The Eyes of Fate were activated for the most useless reason in the world.
My form was reflected in the Regressor’s eyes. She was seeing the heights I would reach, a point in my destiny that stretched across past, present, and future.
They say the Eyes of Fate consume one’s lifespan. The reason is less dramatic than it sounds. There’s a limit to the information a human can process in a lifetime, and cramming an absurdly large amount of data like a person’s entire destiny into the brain in a short period naturally worsens one’s health. This was simply expressed as a shortened lifespan.
I wondered if it was worth it, but the Regressor took the risk and observed my fate.
Perhaps those eyes would know. With a slightly fluttering heart, I read the Regressor’s thoughts.
The result of her glimpse into my destiny was…
‘…It doesn’t change? Even in the future? This is the absolute limit a human named Hughes can reach…?’
She’s already decided. Right? I figured as much. I’m not even disappointed anymore.
Just then, the Regressor approached me. With a rare, benevolent expression, she patted my shoulder.
“There, there. Hang in there…”
You said you wouldn’t. You said you wouldn’t pat my shoulder!
This feels worse than I could have ever imagined.