Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: S1.5. Thousand-Li Escape -4
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Magician Tower Master Yuna had been shocked so few times in her life she could count them on one hand. If a fully formed fireball suddenly said, "Hello, Creator. I'll be exploding soon. It was a short life, but a fun one," who wouldn't be startled?
From her seasoned perspective as a grand archmage, it seemed the virtual intelligence enabling autonomous action had synergized unexpectedly with the power source derived from PC electronics' faith energy.
He probably hadn't intended it. If he had, he would've told Yuna beforehand.
"What the hell did you even make...!"
Yuna let out a shrill cry as she turned toward the campfire. The distance was quite far, so the two people's conversation reached her only as faint vibrations, but both Yuna and Ferro knew exactly what was being discussed.
First, they needed to communicate. As Yuna saw it, Ferro and her purposes pointed in the same direction: the happy ending of this tale. If they could talk to each other, it would be a huge help.
She had to hear the boy's true feelings. What he wanted, and how he wished to conclude this story.
The campfire flickered.
After Ferro had trudged off into the darkness, Lea-ro erased the smile from his face. What swirled in his eyes were the lingering embers of rage.
All that remained atop his heart was a mere spark amid the ashes, after everything had been burned away.
Lea-ro confessed frankly.
"This is just petty revenge."
"...Against whom?"
"Esperro. Though deep down... I know none of this story really matters. Shouting accusations won't bring back my ruined hometown. And if you ask whether it was truly Esperro's doing, probably not."
Lea-ro's gaze dropped downward. His hair tilted, forming a curtain of ash-gray over his eyes. His once-cheerful voice soon fell silent.
"On top of that... I know this tale probably doesn't move you much. It's just another person's tragedy, after all."
"Then why tell it to me? Lea-ro."
"Esperro looked so blissfully happy. I don't hate him enough to stab him dead... but I'm no saint who can just watch him enjoy life without spitting in his face at least."
Elaine frowned at the odd sense of repulsion she felt. So she asked.
"Is there any reason I need to hear this?"
"I figured you'd ask that. But this story boils down to 'why traveling with Esperro is dangerous.' You want to gauge the boy's risk, don't you... Lady."
"........."
As long as Elaine herself was bound by the value of survival, she couldn't deny Lea-ro's words. Despite the faint discomfort prickling her mind, she nodded mechanically.
It was what she'd always done.
Elaine had come to adore the boy enough to permit unavoidable physical contact, yet she'd kept her emotional distance and harbored suspicions all along. Pure innocence was exceedingly rare in this world. All the more so in a world on the brink of destruction.
The boy who met her gaze with innocent eyes might harbor wicked intentions. The brief moments of shared happiness might ultimately become dead weight she had to cut away.
"Esperro has healing powers. He offered kindness to visitors in the village. Word of a boy with healing abilities spread quickly... and reached the ears of dangerous folk."
"........."
The destruction of Ferro and Lea-ro's hometown seemed to have been the work of raiders targeting the boy's powers. The "Plains of Meeting" where Ferro said people had died must have referred to their home.
One mystery was solved. How had such a small boy survived? Because he possessed the coveted healing ability.
"That's the first reason. Even after Esperro fled beyond the wilderness, plenty still hunted him. I don't know why he's come back now, but if you keep traveling together... you'll definitely catch their eyes."
Another reason to cut the boy loose.
The scale tipped.
A gem brings great trouble to those without the strength to protect it. A group surviving mutants would have considerable combat prowess. Mediocre foes Elaine could sweep away, but she always had to consider the what-ifs.
What if they were too strong for her...?
No. No.
Elaine shook her head slightly. If the boy used his healing for her sake, his pursuers might not pose as big a threat as feared. And she could receive aid in various dangers.
She added the boy's utility to the other side of the scale—reasons not to abandon him.
Lea-ro gave an inscrutable smile. Then he spoke again.
She had to hear the boy's story.
But effective communication was impossible in this situation. So magic would solve it.
The grand archmage dwelling in the boy's body reached out into the void. As in the modern session, illusion magic bound her to use only Ferro's abilities, but it didn't matter.
The magic format she drew was telepathy. She planned to link Ferro's and her own consciousness for instantaneous conversation, without wasting time.
Nothing changes. If you firmly believe, you can make it so. Yuna was a master of illusion magic and Violet Magic Tower Master—this was merely illusion magic—
...But if it can think and speak, isn't it not illusion magic anymore?
Pffft.
"Eek!"
The sudden mental interference caused the spell to fail. A burst of purple mist flared briefly and vanished. Yuna inwardly cursed her disciple for a moment, then properly cast the magic this time. The boy and grand archmage's minds connected.
"........."
"Uh, h-hello? Nice to meet you. I'm Yuna... Huh? Who we are? W-well, thinking about that right now seems bad..."
"..........!"
"Huh? Oh, uh... y-yeah! Right, when you drank that water, I entered as a mutant... N-no, no! Don't cry, no need to cry... I'm a good mutant! Yeah... I'll leave on my own soon. No, not by splitting your skull...!"
"In these vast 'Plains of Meeting,' do you think I just happened to run into you? By chance?"
"........."
"I was tracking traces of a giant mutant. It shouldn't have entered the Plains of Meeting originally... so I wanted to investigate the cause. If its habits had changed, I'd need to be more cautious going forward."
Lea-ro pulled a shattered orb from his bag. It was the bait Ferro had taken from the bag, which Elaine had kicked to distract the giant mutant.
"That's where... I found this bait. It's what we used back home. Seeing the shell, I figured Esperro had returned. On the day our hometown fell, he and I each grabbed one and fled."
"We were discussing risks, as I recall."
"It's relevant."
Lea-ro stomped the orb and sliced it in half with a knife. Inside was something white. Unlike any animal Elaine had seen, the closest match would be an insect.
"A mutant larva. When this... enters an animal's body, it erodes the brain and causes mutation into a bizarre form. This is their breeding method... Early erosion brings hallucinations and auditory delusions. Late stages leave the body unable to function properly."
"........."
"Mutants have another instinct: protecting underdeveloped offspring. Motherly instinct, perhaps... This bait exploits that trait."
Elaine shuddered involuntarily.
The giant mutant had appeared from beyond sight, doggedly pursuing the group. If Lea-ro spoke truth, it had likely been chasing mutant larvae with high probability.
So they were pursued because of Ferro's bait?
No, that couldn't be. Ferro might be frail, but he wasn't stupid. Though glimpsed briefly, she recalled the bait meticulously sealed in cloth. The fabric tore when Elaine kicked it flying.
The cloth around the bait had acted as a barrier. That was the logical conclusion.
"...Why do you think we were chased?"
Lea-ro asked. Not a question, but a prompt to realization. Elaine gave the answer. Someone had been infected by mutant larvae.
It wasn't Elaine. She'd been in this strange world only five days, with no symptoms whatsoever.
That left one possibility: Ferro was infected.
He'd fled far from his raided hometown, then returned via a long journey guided by a compass. Infection at some point wouldn't be odd. But if so...
A memory surfaced in Elaine's mind: making Ferro drink from a contaminated puddle. If mutant larvae hid in that puddle...
Then she had led him to death.
Elaine hid her trembling hands.
"Second reason. Esperro's likely infected. Travel with him, and every mutant around will swarm you. The risk is absurdly high for mere healing ability... No matter how strong you are, you'll die."
Another reason to cut the boy loose.
The scale tipped further.
Judging by the giant mutant attack, Lea-ro's words rang true with high likelihood. If every nearby mutant chased Elaine, she'd tire eventually. Then death.
The boy's misfortune was regrettable, but Elaine had to survive.
The old emperor's hope that she live. Her duty as a pillar propping the empire. She'd lived for that. Smashing obstacles, eliminating rivals, swinging her fists for a throne she never wanted.
It began as duty and fear, now mere inertia.
So even if—if—the boy's tragedy stemmed from her mistake, she couldn't waver.
No, but.
Elaine gripped her hair. It wasn't certain. Circumstantial at best; the giant mutant mere coincidence. Lea-ro might be fabricating for revenge.
She added guilt and clumsy self-deception to the scale's other side.
Lea-ro whispered.
"It's just a fleeting bond, Elaine. Any positive feelings? Delusion. Even if real, survival trumps them. That faint goodwill... maybe Esperro just wagged his tail to borrow your strength. If you're still hesitating."
He raised a bony finger, pointing beyond the campfire.
"Look at Esperro."
The boy liked Elaine, he'd said.
When the grand archmage asked why, he replied he'd seen something similar in her eyes. The look of a fugitive. Lost, directionless, merely running.
He was the same, he said. Having lost his homeland, he'd wandered foreign lands just surviving. Even the journey with the compass from the old woman toward "paradise" was part of that lost wandering.
He had no true desires, no heartfelt dreams that set his heart racing.
Elaine seemed the same. He didn't know what "paradise" meant to him versus her... but she blindly chased something. The kinship, the joy of meeting a kindred soul in the vast wilderness, had pleased him.
And now... he'd found a wish.
"I wanted... to tell you my feelings..."
The boy shyly poured out his heart.
He'd feared Elaine would eye his healing powers with greed like the raiders who hit his home, so he'd hidden it.
Confessing mid-journey might burden her, or lead to rejection—he'd been scared. So he'd hidden it.
He hadn't planned to delay forever.
Once he found "paradise," secured survival, with no worries left... then it would be fine to confess. That's what he'd thought.
"Too late!"
The boy grinned sheepishly at the grand archmage's scolding.
"I didn't know I'd be on borrowed time like this. Who'd think mutant larvae hid in slime too? Lesson learned..."
"I-I won't split your skull!"
"St-still... uh... mutant larva... nim? Can't just stop whenever..."
"I-I'm a genius larva, so I can! Just dump me in some roadside puddle, don't worry—focus on confessing!"
"...Somehow, that makes me happy. Guess I really could befriend mutants too. Humans, huh."
Misidentified as a mutant larva, the grand archmage ruffled the boy's hair wildly. More talk and clearing misunderstandings would be ideal, but time was short.
Wasn't some wicked magician slandering the princess right now?
The grand archmage and boy agreed they had to move. After mishaps like right arm and leg stepping together or hopping from left-right mix-ups, Ferro (Yuna) walked toward the campfire.
Before it was too late, to convey his heart.
Where Lea-ro's finger pointed, anyone could see Ferro staggering unstably, unable to control his own body. Ferro called Elaine's name with an awkward smile.
"...Elaine!"
"Ferro..."
Undeniable signs of erosion.
Elaine's eyes trembled. Guilt welled to her throat, choking her breath. The old emperor's voice echoed in her ears. One stark fact shook her mind.
Ferro was eroding, soon to become a mutant, drawing every nearby mutant like a disaster.
Even without mutating, his healing made him raider bait.
He was danger in a boy's form.
...Just like "that one" from her past.
Trauma triggered, drawing her into immersion. The narration burrowed deep.
Elaine—you remembered your days in the Sophora Palace.
The origin of your obsession with survival.
Four imperial grandchildren lived there.
First Princess Elaine.
Second Prince Irid.
Third Prince Sledo.
And First Prince ▒▒▒...