Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Man Proposes, God Disposes
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As the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes; plans are made by man, but the outcome rests with fate.
Therefore, it couldn't be considered Lee Si-woo's fault that this affair had gone unexpectedly awry.
After all, unless Lee Si-woo was a god, not everything could proceed according to plan.
However, what set Lee Si-woo apart from others was that when they would give up, he would not, instead taking one more step forward.
Yes, even if that path was not the right one.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Isabelle grabbed the shoulder of Lee Si-woo, who had been striding ahead without a word, and asked. He replied in a dry voice.
“To the Royal Palace.”
“The Royal Palace…? Why there?”
The Royal Palace.
A super-tall, luxurious mixed-use apartment complex in Granada where only the most distinguished members of the establishment could afford to live.
That was the destination of the second plan Lee Si-woo had prepared for just such a contingency.
“Isabelle, you wait here. It would be troublesome to attract unnecessary suspicion.”
“…Wait, you bastard. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but don’t you even think about touching the Royal Palace. The security there is one thing, but that place is a hornet’s nest. The moment you touch it, it’s over. Over!”
“Isabelle. Trust me. I am not a fool.”
“Really? Listen, you punk. I’m telling you again, even my father and I have an address there. Pretty much every notable figure in Granada is gathered there. You know what I mean, right? Don’t do something you can’t take back!”
“There is no one in Granada who doesn’t know what kind of place that is.”
“Promise me. The Royal Palace. You won’t touch it.”
Lee Si-woo did not answer Isabelle’s demand.
Sensing an ominous feeling, Isabelle shrieked.
“You son of a bitch! Stop! Do you really want to die?!”
Lee Si-woo looked at Isabelle with black eyes as deep and unknowable as the night sea.
“I do not want to die. That’s why I’ve lived by any means necessary to survive. Yes. I’ll do anything to live. Anything…”
Was it because she felt she would be devoured by the ominousness emanating from his voice?
Isabelle could no longer hold onto Lee Si-woo as he trailed off and disappeared.
* * *
Hirishi, a twelve-year-old boy of the goat tribe, was a genius.
He became a 1st-Circle beginner at ten, a master at eleven, and now, at twelve, he was a 2nd-Circle beginner.
At this pace, his grandfather, Hirkhus, believed it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to become a 5th-Circle mage by the age of twenty, and so he spared no support for him.
Whether it was wealth or affection, he was anxious to give everything he possibly could.
But despite all that, Hirishi was unhappy.
“Ugly.”
Hirishi scowled at his reflection in the mirror.
He had neither the dignified beard nor the smooth skin of other goat tribe members.
Wrinkles unbefitting his age. And mismatched eyes and ears.
His appearance wasn't so grotesque as to evoke disgust upon sight, but it was ugly enough for anyone to mock.
Hirishi was displeased with his face; he found it cursed.
“Everyone smiles to my face and tries to win my favor, but behind my back, they call me ugly.”
It was disgusting.
Those morons, inferior in every way except for their slightly cleaner shells.
Those bastards dared to ostracize him simply because their appearances were a little better than his.
Him, the grandson of the Wilderness Magic Tower’s master, evaluated as having talent on par with Elder Allen of the Senior Magic Tower.
Flushed with anger, Hirishi spoke.
“Bark.”
At Hirishi’s command, a human boy in worn-out clothes, crouched beside him like a dog, growled with a shadowed face.
“…Grrr.”
“More realistic.”
“Woof, woof!”
Hirishi chuckled and perched on the edge of his bed.
The human boy’s appearance was handsome.
Though unwashed and grimy, his features were so distinct that the dirt couldn't hide them, and his dark eyebrows and blond hair were as beautifully colored as an elf’s.
He had an appearance that anyone would find appealing, blessed enough to reach the establishment on looks alone.
But, as befitting one born inferior and fated to live a wretched life, he was now barking like a dog before him.
Hirishi trembled with ecstasy.
Yes, this was how it should be.
The kids at school should also act like this servant before him.
Their talents were meager, and their backgrounds were inferior to his.
‘What’s the difference between this guy and them?’
Hirishi stomped on the back of the human boy, Orvin.
Orvin let out a groan of pain, but Hirishi paid it no mind.
Not only were he and Orvin in a legal employment relationship, but Hirishi was also paying a fair price under mutual agreement.
Hirishi said with a smirk.
“You bark well, and you endure well. I’ll send you thirty thousand points.”
Perhaps because thirty thousand points were enough for a meal, Orvin bowed his head repeatedly.
“Th-thank you, Young Master.”
“You’re grateful, right? Now, let’s go for a walk. Wear this.”
Orvin’s eyes wavered as he saw the dog collar Hirishi offered.
Even though he was doing this ‘slave part-time job’ for Hirishi to support his family, as an intelligent being, there was a limit to what he could endure.
“Young Master… no matter what, this is a bit…”
As Orvin hesitated, Hirishi’s mood completely changed.
The trauma of a mere human daring to talk back and show reluctance to his words reared its head.
The faces of several children who usually pretended to get along with him, but showed hesitation when he asked them to hang out alone or confessed his hidden feelings, flashed through his mind.
*Thwack!*
Hirishi kicked Orvin in the face.
Stomping indiscriminately on Orvin’s body as he fell to the floor with a groan, Hirishi shouted.
“How dare a human bastard talk back to me? Do as you’re told! You’re getting paid for this. Don’t you know gratitude? Are you a thankless wretch? Don’t you know that no one else would give money to a bug like you?!”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry… Young Master. B-but… I have a sense of shame too. Even if getting paid to be hit is my job… going for a walk wearing a dog collar? Please, just not this…”
Hirishi looked down with eyes glistening with madness at Orvin, who was curled up like a shrimp, crying and pleading.
“You have a younger sister, don’t you?”
“…Young Master?”
“I’m getting a bit tired of you, so maybe I should have your sister do the slave part-time job? If I offer her triple the money, she’d probably do it, right? No.”
Hirishi continued speaking as he filmed Orvin’s shabby state with his smartphone.
“It would probably be more effective to show your sister a video of how hard her brother works, right? What do you think? After all, your sister, being a girl, might be more useful to me than useless you.”
Looking up at Hirishi's face, which was slathered in malice, Orvin despaired.
Watching Orvin silently accept the collar, Hirishi smiled and looked out the window.
It was a fine day for a walk.
* * *
“Hello, Young Master. Oh my, did you put a leash on a human?”
Hirishi accepted the fuss of a goat-tribe woman, known to be the wife of a bank branch manager, with a refreshed expression.
“Yes. He was being rude to me, so I’m punishing him.”
“Is that so? Well, I suppose it can’t be helped, but it seems a bit much~ Young Master. He looks pitiful, so please go a little easy on him.”
Hirishi scoffed at her meddling.
“Who cares? He’s not of the goat tribe.”
“That may be true… but he’s still an intelligent being, isn’t he?”
Annoyed by her interference, Hirishi spoke in a cold voice.
“Ma’am. Stop bothering me and go away. Can’t you see I’m trying to take a walk? If you keep annoying me like this, I’m going to pester my grandfather to switch banks. You know how much my grandfather cherishes me, right?”
“Oh my, my, Young Master. I’m sorry if I offended you. I guess I’m getting old and meddlesome. I’ll stop bothering your walk and be on my way then. Have a good time.”
Knowing Hirishi’s cantankerous personality, she quickly left with a light apology.
She was worried she might suffer a loss by getting on the little rascal's bad side.
Pleased, Hirishi pulled the leash in his hand.
Orvin, dragged along helplessly, crawled across the ground.
Blood seeping from Orvin’s scraped palms and knees left a long trail on the path.
Watching Orvin, who couldn’t even show he was in pain for fear of upsetting him, Hirishi savored the feeling of superiority that sent a tingle down his spine.
Yes, this was the feeling.
This feeling that the world revolved around him. The conviction that he was a chosen being.
Just as Hirishi was lost in his self-absorption, the main gate of the Royal Palace exploded with a tremendous roar.
*KABOOOM!*
Hirishi, who had been enjoying a pleasant afternoon like any other, flinched like a startled rabbit at the sudden explosion.
But he soon calmed his mind.
The Royal Palace, befitting a rich apartment complex, employed mages as guards.
With dozens of 2nd and 3rd-Circle mages on standby at all times, how big of an incident could possibly happen here? With that thought, Hirishi pulled the leash again and quickened his pace.
Just then, Orvin shouted.
“Y-Young Master! Th-there. Look over there.”
“Huh?”
Hirishi’s eyes followed Orvin’s finger toward the main gate.
There, a centaur in a black mask was rampaging, his eyes gleaming with a ghastly blue light.
A 2nd-Circle mage caught in the trajectory of the centaur's halberd was decapitated, and violent blades of wind extending from his hand shredded the bodies of the security guards firing their guns.
Witnessing a scene of slaughter for the first time in his life, Hirishi’s knees trembled, but he couldn’t look away.
There lay a power that made the authority he had brandished by borrowing others’ prestige seem petty.
*Crunch.*
The head of a 3rd-Circle mage caught in the centaur's grip was crushed, making one doubt if a centaur's physical abilities had ever been that formidable.
The process of the 3rd-Circle mage’s death was so futile, it seemed as simple as squashing a ginkgo nut dropped on the street.
Like any boy his age sensitive to hot items, Hirishi knew what weapon the centaur was holding.
The Grade 9 magic treasure, Spell Breaker.
It was the weapon of Ranker Ixion, one of the most famous mages in Granada recently.
‘A Ra-Ranker…’
Hirishi’s jaw dropped at the sight of a Ranker’s might, said to put mages of the same class beneath their feet.
And then, he heard it.
The feathered serpent summoned along the silver blade of the Spell Breaker, crying out.
*Kyaaaah—!*
A cry that seemed to rip the atmosphere and claws of wind descended upon the 3rd-Circle mages trying to form an encirclement.
Boosted by Spell Breaker’s 1.3x magic attack amplification effect, the wind claws pulverized half a dozen 3rd-Circle mages.
He was a wild horse that had leaped into a pack of rabbits, and his halberd was the guillotine that judged the necks of prisoners.
His hooves trampled the bodies of his enemies mercilessly, and the foes caught in the silver arc of his halberd were torn apart like paper.
Five, ten, thirty.
The slaughter of dozens of mages was over in an instant.
But as if not satisfied with the solo massacre, the centaur began to target the surrounding civilians as well.
Those who usually strutted around slowly, puffing out their chests.
Those who had leisurely enjoyed the public's gaze were now screaming and fleeing like extras in a cheap B-movie.
*Slice.*
Red blood flowing along the halberd’s blade dripped to the ground.
And Hirishi realized.
Like a scene from an ordinary movie turning 3D, the centaur was gradually getting closer to him.
Crashing onto his bottom out of a suffocating fear, Hirishi tried to get up but couldn't.
“He-help… Gack…”
The goat-tribe woman who had meddled with him earlier had been caught by the centaur while fleeing, and her neck had been broken.
As if pulling a weed out by its roots, the centaur ripped her head from her body and threw it toward Hirishi.
Seeing the goat-tribe woman’s head roll between his legs, Hirishi let out a shrill scream.
Yellow liquid flowing from his wet crotch mixed with the blood, soaking his pants.
“Uh… ah… uh…”
As his fear-consumed brain failed to form words, his breathing became difficult next.
As Hirishi clutched his own neck with both hands, forcing out breaths that wouldn’t come, the cold edge of the halberd touched the top of his head.
Did that chilling coldness somehow pierce his respiratory tract?
Or was it a desperate struggle to live?
Hirishi, who had finally managed to exhale, shouted.
“I-I’m the grandson of the Wilderness Magic Tower’s master, Hirkhus!”
At Hirishi’s defiant declaration, the centaur spoke for the first time.
“So?”
“I-if you kill me, my grandfather won’t stand for it! A-and I know who you are. Even with the mask… how could I not recognize you after seeing that magic treasure and your race?”
“Who am I?”
“Ranker Ixion!”
Ixion silently raised his halberd.
Sensing the movement, Hirishi realized that appealing to his high-status relatives was useless and changed his approach.
“Please spare me! I-I’m only twelve years old. Th-there’s so much I haven’t done yet, so much I want to do. So please, just spare my life. E-even you, Ixion… you’d feel uneasy about killing a child like me, wouldn’t you…!”
It was a cunning plea, unbelievable for a twelve-year-old boy.
His mannerisms and speech were not childlike.
Perhaps that was why?
He was so unlikable it was disgusting, but the reality that Hirishi was a child remained unchanged.
“That’s right. It would be unsettling.”
“R-right?”
“Besides, I don’t normally harm children. Maybe it’s because I went through some rough things around your age. Or maybe the memories of my childhood haunt me from time to time.”
Hirishi’s face brightened.
It was because of the hope that Ixion might not kill him.
However, the boy's expression hardened like stone at the words that followed.
“But who cares? It’s not human.”
The cold blade of the halberd slit the goat-tribe boy’s throat.
Hirishi’s head, sent flying into the air, rolled on the ground and came to a stop in front of Orvin.
Ixion looked down at the human boy in the dog collar, who, despite his chattering jaw, did not avert his gaze.
“You’re doing well.”
“Yes…?”
“Live on, even like that. No matter how wretched, no matter how much like a beggar, just live.”
“……”
“Of course, even if you live like that, unless you’re one of the very lucky few, the sun won’t shine on your life. But at the very least… the tenacity and patience forged from enduring servility and humiliation will remain, and then you will find a way, one way or another. Whether… that path leads to your happiness is another matter.”
With those words, the centaur left.
In that place, where countless bodies remained, Orvin stared blankly ahead.
As if retracing the massive back of the centaur that remained like an afterimage at the end of his gaze.
* * *
Alchemy Recipe.
「Polymorph」
Ingredients: The target’s heart, the target’s brain, the target’s bones, the target’s flesh, the target’s blood.
Effect: The one who drinks the potion transforms into the target’s appearance. However, the target’s physical abilities and special abilities cannot be copied.
Condition: Cook and eat 1kg of the target’s flesh and organs.
Risk: If overused, the user becomes obsessed with and addicted to the target’s blood and flesh.