Reina Mercury
The space cracked apart with a sharp tearing sound. Through the ornate doorway that appeared, Sally and Bagan stepped out together.
“So we exit through the same space where the door was opened?”
(It can’t be helped. It’s a special domain, but all I did was open the gap between Harmonia and Pangea.)
Bagan marveled at the unique nature of Sally’s space before scanning their surroundings. The bloodstains still soaked into the ground and the scattered grass and broken trees confirmed one thing.
“Time didn’t stop, then.”
Personal dimensions like this often froze time itself. At least, that was how it usually worked in the stories Bagan remembered from his previous life.
(Time belongs to Lord Tam. I can’t stop it on a whim.)
Sally’s answer gave him a clearer understanding. Tam, the God of Time who managed the world’s second hand, was a neutral deity respected by all gods. He existed wherever time flowed and was nearly omnipotent when it came to anything temporal.
Because so much time had passed, he could no longer sense the presence of the others who had been here. Even the bodies of Caliban and Drake—whose souls had been dragged into the space without any cleanup—had vanished.
“They probably returned to De Meca.”
(Yes. They must have been exhausted too.)
It really had been a long day. Bagan nodded.
“Let’s head back ourselves.”
Traveling from the Zairan Forest to De Meca wasn’t difficult. He had the inn room in De Meca clearly pictured in his mind, and since he didn’t need to move a large group this time, he didn’t require much mana. Sally had also released her physical form and was clinging to him.
‘Teleport.’
Without another word, Bagan opened a portal leading straight to Ganesha’s inn, the Withered Rose. The name itself sounded a bit gloomy, but the service was exactly the kind Bagan liked best, making the place feel like home.
The moment he reached the room, he threw himself onto the perfectly soft bed without even washing up.
Thump.
(Shouldn’t you at least take a shower?)
Sally was right. Bagan usually preferred soaking in warm water while slowly organizing his thoughts.
“You’re right. I completely forgot. I can’t even think about resting right now. I learned way too many things at once.”
Bagan pressed his throbbing temples, trying to ease the headache from the flood of information the two men had given him, and mentally sorted out what he needed to do next.
(At least you’ve found a clear direction for the slave liberation, right?)
“Yeah. Once I clean up the remaining scum in De Meca, I’ll head to De Pruna.”
According to the information he’d squeezed out of the two who had ruled De Meca’s underworld, the darkest corner of the Seiros Kingdom’s slave trade had been right here. It made sense—De Meca saw more different races passing through than any other city.
“That also made it easier to snatch people without anyone noticing. I’ll tear the whole thing down.” Bagan yawned, covering his mouth. Lying in bed made him suddenly sleepy. He had always been more of a homebody than an adventurer at heart; a bed was practically his soulmate. Even though it wasn’t that late, the thought of the exhausting schedule ahead made fatigue crash over him.
(If you’re going to sleep like that, at least use Wash and Clean first. You’ll get sick.)
“Can this body even get sick? Like, some incurable disease or something?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Bagan remembered something he had completely forgotten.
‘Come to think of it… what about the penalty?’
He had been so focused on the existence of the traits that he hadn’t even considered the penalty that came with obtaining them. When he had taken Absorption and Release, he had set his lifespan as the penalty—reduced to just five years. If this homunculus body followed the same rule…
“Sally, what would you think if I only had five years left to live?”
(Is that even possible? You went from talking about illness to latching onto something completely strange again?)
Sally scolded him for letting his mind wander in such an odd direction. Right now he felt nothing unusual, and there was no way to check how long his lifespan actually was.
‘Yeah, let’s set that aside for now. Five years is still a long way off.’
With that thought, Bagan followed Sally’s advice, used magic to clean his body, and closed his eyes.
(Aren’t you going to stop by the guild?)
“No need. Let’s just rest today. It’s been a while since I’ve felt too annoyed to even eat.”
Bagan pulled the blanket up to his neck, building a solid fortress. The material was closer to a thick quilt, but he decided to call it a blanket for convenience.
“Outside the blanket is dangerous.”
He declared it firmly and prepared to fall soundly asleep.
(Understood. I consumed more spirit power than usual today, and it was my first time carrying out a condemnation. I should report to Lady Spia.)
With that reason, Sally returned to Harmonia. Bagan might have asked if she wasn’t going to rest, but for a spirit, there was no place more healing than Harmonia.
“Yeah. Safe travels.”
Bagan waved his hand, not realizing she had already left.
Sally opened her eyes inside her personal room within Spia’s temple. She immediately headed toward the chamber where she could feel Spia’s presence.
Knock, knock, knock.
“It’s Sally. I have a report to make.”
“Come in.”
Unless something extraordinary happened, Spia had a one-hundred-percent chance of being shut inside her room. It meant she never greeted the other spirits or engaged in any social activities. Spia fundamentally hated anything bothersome, making her the epitome of a shut-in goddess.
Because of that, any trace of divine dignity was gone as she greeted Sally looking utterly disheveled.
“Sally wasn’t here, so I didn’t do anything at all. Did you come to play with me?”
Was this truly the Goddess of Spirits and Space? She knew full well that Sally had come to give a report, yet here she was, making unreasonable demands of her own subordinate.
As soon as that thought crossed Sally’s mind, Spia gave her a look that seemed to say how disrespectful. She had read her emotions.
“You’re not going to play with me? Then I guess there’s nothing I can do.”
Spia flopped down, declaring that she would simply become a useless goddess with nothing to do. Watching her, Sally suddenly grew curious about what Spia usually did. If she truly did nothing as she claimed, then even though she was her revered goddess, Sally couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her having endured such endless time.
Spia gave her another how disrespectful look.
“Then I shall play with you first before giving my report.”
Sally had no choice but to entertain the goddess. Among the gods, Spia was exceptionally introverted. There was a custom among deities that when a new god was born, they would greet those who came before them. Yet from the moment Spia had been born long ago until now, she had never once held a face-to-face conversation with another god.
Since time did not flow in Harmonia, even Tam—the one who managed the world’s second hand—could not appear here. Therefore, when other gods wished to speak with Spia, they asked the spirits, who were considered her independent faction. The Goddess of Light and Life, Priya, spoke through the Spirit King of Light, and the God of Shadow and Death, Nocturnus, spoke through the Spirit King of Shadow.
But even that connection had been severed long ago. The outward appearance Spia occasionally showed to the spirits was nothing more than an act she forced herself to perform. Sally was certain that if the other spirits saw her like this, they would receive quite a shock.
“What game would you like to play?”
“For now, let’s play the stone-smacking game your contractor told you about.”
Stone-smacking. It was simply a game of striking stones on a board. Sally remembered it from when Bagan, bored while living in the mansion with Barret, had played it. Seeing how excitedly Bagan and Barret had competed to win had inspired her to recommend it to Spia, and it had since become the goddess’s favorite game. She would often spend hours playing it without noticing the time.
Only after spending a long time entertaining Spia was Sally finally able to give a proper report and return to Bagan.
“L-look, that’s Bagan.”
“They say his skills are incredible, right?”
“I’m telling you, it was amazing. Still, I can’t believe Caliban was such a rotten guy.”
There was a hot topic rapidly spreading among the adventurers lately—the underworld incident involving Caliban and Drake. On that same day, the injured Pol and Gion had been urgently carried to the adventurers’ guild, and the news had spread like wildfire. Thanks to that, Bagan’s fame had skyrocketed even further. It had reached the point where it was starting to make him feel embarrassed.
That fame had even reached the orcs, who normally refused to acknowledge anyone, leading to the current situation.
“Chwik! I heard you’re an amazing warrior. Thank you for saving Gion.”
The moment Bagan entered the guild, the orc who had charged at him with murderous intent now spoke these words. Did I really need to run over here so desperately? The thought wouldn’t leave his head, but being acknowledged by them still held significant meaning. They firmly clasped hands and shook several times, strengthening their resolve for the future.
“Well, I didn’t really do much.”
“Such humility! That’s exactly the virtue a great warrior needs! Chwik! I am Chukran of Howling Rock!”
Howling Rock. A name impossible to forget. It was the party ranked third among all adventurer parties in the De Meca guild. As if to prove it, the green orc stood before Bagan with twin axes strapped to his back, radiating a fierce aura. The other orcs following him were his trusted subordinates from his tribe, so their bond was beyond doubt.
“I’m Bagan.”
Thanks to all this, the guild was even noisier than usual. Chukran left first, saying he had work to do, and Bagan headed toward Rina.
“Hey!”
On his way to Rina, Clorsus called out to him.
“Heeey~?”
“…Hey.”
Under the momentary pressure, Clorsus quickly corrected himself and approached Bagan in a hunched, submissive posture.
“I-is it over now?”
He was asking about the task he had been given. Since the goal had been to wipe out the underworld, it no longer held any meaning. Bagan nodded quickly.
“Do whatever you want now.”
“Mm, I’m thinking of working hard from now on too. I even found someone I love.”
As he spoke, Clorsus glanced toward Rina. At some point, the two had become inseparable.
“Disgusting. If you give her that look one more time, I’ll kill you.”
“Ahem, got it. Since I got it, let’s help each other out if we meet on the next request.”
Clorsus promised to meet again. The chances of them taking the same request were slim, but Bagan still nodded. Their relationship had started on bad terms, but Clorsus had carried out his orders properly and seemed to have reflected enough.
After parting with Clorsus, Bagan looked at Rina.
“Where’s Gion?”
“Ah, he’s in his office. Shall I request a meeting?”
When Bagan heard that Gion had returned to work after just one day, he shook his head. No matter how well he had healed him, he hadn’t wanted Gion to skip proper rest.
“It’s fine.”
Bagan spoke and headed straight up to the second floor. Rina saw this but didn’t try to stop him. He had already become an indispensable presence in the guild, and she acknowledged that. If it had been anyone else, she would have demanded they formally request a meeting before going up, but because it was him, she had no choice but to let it slide.
The moment Bagan arrived in front of Gion’s office door—
“How many times do I have to say no?! This is not something I can decide!”
A thunderous voice boomed from inside Gion’s room. It was clearly Gion’s voice, so Bagan grew curious about the situation. It seemed like a troublesome matter, so with the intention of mediating, he entered the room.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Gion, I’m coming in.”
Without waiting for a reply, he opened the door as if it were his own house.
“Eek!”
“B-Bagan sir!”
The moment the door opened, a woman leaped forward and hugged him tightly. The one proudly showing off her adorable cat ears was none other than Natalie.
“Ah, Natalie. Pol’s here too, and the mage as well.”
Bagan fumbled with Reina’s name, still mixing it up.
“What?!”
Reina’s temper flared for a moment, but the joy of their reunion seemed more important, so she didn’t say anything.
At that moment, Pol expressed his gratitude in an extremely polite, humble, and sincere manner.
“Sir Bagan, thank you so much for yesterday.”
“Like I said, it wasn’t for your sake.”
At those words, Pol lowered his head as if he understood, eyes brimming with tears.
“…Still, thanks to you, Flang’s heart was able to find peace.”
Pol seemed to have properly collected himself. Leaving him behind, Gion spoke to Bagan. It appeared the root of the problem had been Bagan after all.
“Good! Since Bagan’s here, tell him yourself!”
“Tell him what?”
Natalie was still clinging to him. Bagan lifted her up and moved her to a chair in front of the desk where Gion was sitting. After seating her on the nearby sofa, he spoke.
“You have something to say?”
Reina fidgeted, unable to sit still.
“Oh my! Even the great noble lady can’t speak directly to Bagan?! You think I’m the only one who gets pushed around every day, so you believe you can bend anyone with power? Well, I’m not going to keep taking it anymore!!”
“T-that’s not it. It’s because it seems like you know Sir Gion… that’s why…”
“Aha? I’m not taking it anymore!”
Gion waved his index finger in front of Reina’s eyes, showing his firm resolve.
Bagan, who couldn’t quite understand the situation, focused on one particular phrase.
“Noble lady? Her?”
“What’s with that tone?!”
Reina grew angry at the blatant disregard, but she soon took a deep breath and formally introduced herself.
“I was hiding my status due to circumstances, but I am actually Reina Mercury, eldest daughter of Count Valeon Mercury of the Sog Kingdom.”
“Nice to meet you. So what?”
(Bagan, no matter what, she’s a noble. Isn’t that a bit too much?)
Sally scolded him, but Bagan felt no particular emotion. What was so special about being a noble?
‘Well, I guess it is a kind of official position.’
Bagan had played through enough rounds that he simply didn’t care about such things.