Chapter 61. An Expedition Without Dreams or Hope (3)
Chapter 61. An Expedition Without Dreams or Hope (3)
The two of them stared wordlessly at the medicines each had made.
The others were silent too. They had used exactly the same ingredients, yet the results were so different that everyone had been struck dumb.
"Heh."
The first to move was the Pharmacist.
With fingers so slender the joints stood out, she pressed her glasses firmly up her nose, then tilted her head.
"Is this the medicine you made, old man......?"
The Medicine King said nothing.
The Pharmacist plucked the Medicine King's potion from him and examined it this way and that.
"Hmm."
She tilted it.
"Ho-oh."
She turned it upside down.
Then she handed the potion back to the Medicine King and adjusted her glasses.
"So this is your level......?"
Hm.
'Is this person the type who gets infinitely stronger whenever she thinks she has the upper hand?'
In other words, did she carry the seed of a lunatic like every other high-ranking hunter?
No.
That couldn't be.......
While I was busy restoring my faith in humanity, the Medicine King finally reacted.
"Hmm......."
The two of them had a great height difference.
The woman's stature was as long and promising as the days she had left to live, and the old man's frame was as shrunken and small as the years he had already lived.
So the Pharmacist looked down at the Medicine King, and the Medicine King looked up at the Pharmacist.
"Don't tell me, old man......."
"Don't tell me, whelp......."
The two of them spoke at the same time.
"Is your skill actually bad......?"
"Is your luck actually good......?"
Hm.
"Excuse me?"
If the Pharmacist tilted her head, the Medicine King nodded his.
"Your luck is good."
"Excuse me?"
"Tsk tsk. Young people these days. It reminds me of when I made about 1.7 billion dollars on Wall Street in ten minutes back in my thirties. I thought it was all my own skill back then too."
"......."
The Pharmacist tilted her head. Her glasses tilted along with it.
From her now-slanted lips came a voice that was genuinely pissed off.
"Would you like to go one more round......?"
"May I? The goddess of fortune never smiles twice. Tsk tsk, young people these days, I swear......."
Three minutes passed.
"Your luck is remarkably good. But the goddess of fortune surely never smiles three times. This time, for certain, the difference in experience will......."
Three more minutes passed.
"Your luck is tremendously good. But the goddess of fortune never smiles four t......."
"Enough......."
In the end, the Sword Saint grabbed the Medicine King by the shoulder.
"Stop it, Medicine King......."
"Marcus, what are you saying!"
"You are being extremely ugly right now......."
"No! This time for sure! This time for sure my skill! My experience will crush that rookie's luck! Can't you see it, the victory road of this Sean McAllister!"
"My apologies, young lady. You truly are the finest pharmacist. It was my fault for not believing Death King's guarantee right away."
The Sword Saint bowed his head in apology.
The Pharmacist, who had been looking down at the Medicine King with eyes one might use for a water flea, made a small sound and composed herself.
"It... must be hard for you because of your friend......."
"This friend of mine, well, he... isn't without his good points. He does make medicine... not as well as you, but he does make it......."
"Yeah... I suppose it's better than nothing....... His fundamentals aren't completely absent, so he could at least be used as an assistant......."
It was the moment the Pharmacist muttered that while adjusting her glasses.
"You!"
With the swiftness of a cat pouncing on silver vine!
The Merchant Alliance Master, the Count, had seized the Pharmacist's wrist and was clinging to her.
"A contract!"
"Excuse me?"
"A contract! An immediate contract! An exclusive contract! Sign with me!"
"Uh, uhh......."
"I'll guarantee the best treatment in the industry! I'll even let you pet cats! No, I'll let you roll around in a whole field of cats! How about it! How about it!"
The Pharmacist was so flustered she couldn't even speak.
But the Count was only the beginning.
"Me too!"
"Pharmacist! Since Death King chose you, you're the Pharmacist King!"
"No, drop the pharmacist part—just call her Medicine!"
"O Goddess of Medicine! Give us medicine too!"
It was the same thing I had received when I solo-cleared the 10th floor.
A flood of handshake requests swamped the Pharmacist.
4
"F-first of all!"
The Pharmacist stammered as she pushed people away.
"If you want to, um, trade medicine with me, go through Death King first! Ah, of course, if you already have a trading relationship... um, Paladin is fine! But otherwise! I-I'll only sell medicine to people Death King approves, so, um... as long as it doesn't trouble him......."
At those words, the gazes of the hunters, including the Count, converged on me.
Paladin alone quietly raised both arms in a cheer pose, then quietly lowered them again.
I grinned.
"Let's think about that after we clear the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon."
"Ah! Yes, yes sir!"
The call to climb the Tower always worked on hunters.
Even the Count backed off with a bitter look on her face.
'Good.'
With this, the party was assembled.
First, there was the Sword Saint.
And there was the Pharmacist.
Most of all, there was me.
"No, this can't be! This can't be! My experience! My years of wisdom can't be toyed with like this by some whelp's dumb luck!"
Well, that Medicine King—or Cognitive-Dissonance Emperor, or whatever he is... like the pharmacist said, he's better than nothing.
"Hm! It seems all the characters have been decided."
The Librarian, who had been watching the show we'd put on, spoke brightly.
"I will say it once more. If you die in the Apocalypse, you truly die. There is only one way to escape safely! Somehow, avert Serialization Cancellation. And reach a proper [ending]!"
"What do you mean by a proper ending?"
"That is for you to judge."
The Librarian grinned at my question.
"Perhaps you may cure the plague and save the murim. Or perhaps you may use the plague to become the masters of the murim yourselves. The possibilities are nearly infinite! Which is the [best ending] is for you to decide."
In short, he was leaving it entirely up to us.
I nodded.
"All right. Then send us to the [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] right now......."
"Wait!"
Someone shouted.
"Sect Master, aren't you going?"
"That's right. If it's wuxia, isn't this the perfect chance for you to shine, Sect Master?"
The Heavenly Martial Sect (天武門).
They were hunters from the guild led by Viper.
Viper, who had been quietly holding his breath among the wuxia group, blinked.
"Huh?"
To the flustered Viper, the disciples of the Heavenly Martial Sect each tossed out a word.
"No matter how I think about it, this is a world made for you, Sect Master......."
"I think so too, Sect Master. When it comes to the ways of the jianghu, who else but you?"
"I think so too, Master. You should step forward."
Viper narrowed his brow.
Then he slowly crossed his arms.
In his thick eyebrows and the single eye beneath them lurked a manly resolve.
"Very well. I was about to step forward anyway. You lot, had you forgotten about me?"
"......."
I was at a loss for words.
Strange. There was no way that man had any interest in a wuxia world.
Something seemed fishy, so I opened the character window and read his mental state... and sure enough.
「No, these damn disciples of mine!」
「Why the hell are they trying to send me to some backwater shithole like that!」
Viper was screaming inside his heart.
But his outward appearance was solemn. As if he had only been waiting for his disciples to push him forward, the one-eyed swordsman spoke in a low voice.
"Those who revere the martial and the chivalrous. The world of warriors and wandering heroes—that is the murim! Though the land of my birth may differ, my heart's homeland has long been set in the murim."
「That place won't even have flush toilets. I already suffered like hell in the Aegim Empire because of that, goddammit.......」
Good heavens.
"You must know why the sect I founded is called the Heavenly Martial Sect."
「Before I climbed the Tower, I was a 32-year-old 'mu' (無) job—unemployed, picture-perfect—and I had the cheat skill 'Cheon' (天) Ha Musang, so is there some 'mun' (門) problem with that? It's an abbreviation, but everyone knows it as the Heavenly Martial Sect, 天武門. The sign maker even made it that way. I can't explain it now, goddammit.......」
Good heavens.
"I absolutely must go."
「I absolutely refuse to go!」
I was at a loss for words.
The guardian spirit sharing my consciousness seemed at a loss for words too.
[Sparkle reports that she too is at a loss for words.]
Before my eyes stood a being who rendered humans, ghosts, and Constellations alike speechless.
And the hunters cheered "Whoa!" at that being.
The guild members of the Heavenly Martial Sect were especially delighted.
"As expected of our Sect Master!"
"I knew you would step up, Master!"
"Our idol! The true hunter of this era!"
"We will follow you for life! Sect Master!"
If I hadn't had the ability to read minds... I might have admired him too. No matter how you looked at him, Viper's outward appearance was the very image of a wandering hero who had devoted his life to the sword.
Just like the Sword Saint.
That Sword Saint crossed his arms.
"Hmm... Viper, it makes sense that you would want to go."
"You don't have to tell me twice."
"But that doesn't seem to be a reason for this man to yield."
The Sword Saint raised his aura.
Viper was already building up his momentum. The two swordmasters' auras clashed. Bang......! With a sound like a balloon popping, the surrounding air shifted violently. Even the bookmark maids, sensing danger, either scampered away or were caught in the pressure and sent fluttering through the air.
The hunters grew even more frenzied.
"The Sword Saint and Viper are facing off!"
"This is a battle of pride!"
It was truly a spectacle.
For me, knowing Viper's true feelings, it was a spectacle in a different sense.
At that moment, there was a clinking sound.
"Sword Saint, Heavenly Martial Sect Master. Stop this."
It was the sound of Paladin stepping forward.
The reason for the clinking sound was that Paladin had been one of the few people who had bet money on the Pharmacist during the wager a moment ago. Her coin purse, which was always skinny, was now bulging with a payout of 47 times her stake.
The reason the infinitely serious-faced Paladin felt somehow strange was surely the magical power of that bulging coin purse.
"Surely you won't draw swords here?"
Coin purse aside, Paladin's voice was serious. As always, she was stepping in to mediate the two men's fight.
As always......?
'Wait, has it really [always] been like this......?'
-That's what I'm saying, zombie. If it has been, and we just never knew until now.......
'This world truly seems full of forbidden knowledge that should never be known.......'
Viper snorted.
"If I have to dance with swords, I'll dance with swords. Shit, both me and the Sword Saint are warriors. We fight it out and the stronger one goes. Sound good?"
「Let's lose on purpose!」
「Losing outright would be embarrassing, so let's lose as narrowly as possible!」
「If I lose to the Sword Saint, my disciples will accept it. Yeah.」
It truly was a spectacle.
The Sword Saint, who could never have guessed such hidden circumstances, wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"I'm sorry, Viper... against a strong opponent like you, this man has no choice but to go all out. The result last time we sparred was that I took one of your eyes. I cannot guarantee the same result won't happen again this time."
"I'll throw those exact words right back at you, old man. If you come at me thinking of the me from back then, you'll end up in a coffin."
「Oh shit! Shit! Shi-i-it!」
Viper's outward appearance was flawless as a gallant warrior.
The Sword Emperor, floating beside me, also wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead, just like the Sword Saint.
-Zombie.
'Yes, Sword Emperor sir.'
-I told you high-level hunters are all crazy. But I mean. But I mean. Even among them, that bastard is... how do I put it.......
'He's [the real deal].......'
My forehead was also drenched in cold sweat.
Actually, if you looked only at the "cold sweat on the forehead" part, everyone was like that. All the hunters were watching this scene with cold sweat on their foreheads. The people gathered in Babylon's plaza watching the broadcast were surely sweating cold too.
Paladin's forehead was also drenched in cold sweat. A bead of cold sweat ran down her cheek and dripped onto her bulging coin purse.
"Honestly, Viper, you as a man......."
Viper flashed a bold grin.
"For a warrior, there are moments when you can't back down."
「Paladin! Do something!」
That desperate cry of the heart was surely never transmitted, but Paladin really did do something.
Specifically, she said this to the Sword Saint.
"Sword Saint... could you be the one to step back this time?"
「No, why are you telling him to step back!」
'No, why are you telling him to step back!'
Ah, we overlapped.
My thoughts overlapped with that [real deal].......
[Sparkle reports that she is vibrating her blade to massage the Hero's lower back.]
The Sword Emperor also placed a hand on my shoulder.
While I received wordless comfort, Paladin continued speaking to the Sword Saint.
"I know you always want to run at the front lines. But haven't you already participated in the clearing of floors 12 through 19 with Death King and the Witch? If you insist on being the first to step into the 22nd floor as well, that would truly be shameless."
A calm tone and logical explanation. An utterly serious face.
The only thing that grated was the bulging coin purse jutting from her waist.
"And furthermore."
Paladin pointed at Viper, and then at the troublemakers who had first brought up the idea that the Sect Master should go.
"The Heavenly Martial Sect Master is the head of a group. Though he may not be the sort of man to care about saving face before his disciples, his position is different from yours as a lone wolf. Could you not show him some respect?"
"Hmm......."
The Sword Saint, Marcus Calenbury, let out a low hum.
The hardened old man furrowed his brow, then relaxed it. His eyebrows rose and fell several times.
Then he crossed his arms.
"When have I ever cared about the reputation of you five major guilds?"
Paladin clicked her tongue.
"Sword Saint, you really......!"
"However."
The Sword Saint, cutting off Paladin, turned his head and looked at me.
No, why are you looking at me here......?
"These days, this man has been thinking of learning a bit of shame."
It was a fine sight. A stubborn old man bending his own will. It was so beautiful that I wished the Medicine King or whatever he was, still muttering "this can't be" beside me, would learn even a hair's worth from it.
But why was he showing such a sight now......?
"Very well."
The Sword Saint took a step back.
His eyes, fixed on the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon, were full of regret, but the old man pushed it aside and spoke.
"Viper, this time this man will yield to you."
Viper's eyes flew open. But only for a moment. Viper puffed himself up even more and grinned. Like a gambler who had won exactly the victory he wanted.
"Should've done that from the start. Count yourself lucky to be alive, old man."
「No! What the hell, why are you suddenly yielding! Marcus Calenbury! You're not the type to yield anything to anyone! No, I don't want to go!」
There before me was a forbidden sight beyond description.
Paladin was also looking at the Sword Saint with a face that was beyond description in the same sense. The Heretic Questioner, who had been watching with sparkling eyes, hopped over and hugged Paladin's arm.
"Amazing! Paladin, you persuaded the Sword Saint!"
"Hm, no. The Sword Saint accepted my persuasion."
"Ahaha, is that so! Then I should hug the Sword Saint!"
"I firmly refuse."
The Sword Saint put up an impenetrable wall. Of course, even that was useless against a natural-born psycho, so the Sword Saint had to suffer for a while.
"Truly... everyone is growing, little by little."
The Witch covered her mouth and chuckled softly, neatly punctuating the scene.
In an atmosphere as if a heartwarming story had just swept through, the three who would set out on the expedition into the Apocalypse [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] made ready.
"Tch. If it's decided, let's go already, you bastards. We'll wait until dawn breaks at this rate. Honestly, it's just like when I was young....... Well, it can't be helped. Ha, really. I'll go, what else can I do? I may have been beaten repeatedly by that whelp's luck earlier, but the unprecedented, universally acknowledged, greatest pharmacist of all time is me, the Medicine King."
"Ugh, Death King. I'm scared....... Is it really okay for someone like me to come along? Ah, of course, I am at least superior to that Medicine King or whatever old coot, right? It's a fact proven as firmly as Galileo Galilei's heliocentrism, right? Even though that water-flea-looking old coot weirdly refuses to acknowledge the result, right? But still, someone like me......."
"Hey, non-combatants. Watch yourselves when the fighting starts. A person's head flying off—it happens in an instant, you hear?"
「I don't want to go....... Trade with me....... Sword Saint gramps, trade with me even now.......」
I stared blankly at the expedition members who would be going together.
The Sword Emperor spoke in a rare, soothing tone.
-Don't worry, zombie. If it seems wrong, just die! Whether you catch the plague or throw yourself off a cliff, reset to before this moment today! I genuinely approve of this reset from the depths of my soul. Though I only have a soul right now, but still.
I nodded weakly.
"Yeah... let's go......."
"Very well."
The Librarian giggled and snapped his fingers. Snap! The Apocalypse that had been in the Sword Saint's hands flew on its own into the Librarian's hand. As if he had merely lent it to us and the book had been his all along, the Librarian opened the book with practiced hands.
"Death King, Viper, Medicine King, Pharmacist."
Light poured from the book.
"I designate these four as new characters in the [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon]. When you open your eyes, it will be a world ten days before the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon suffers its unfortunate Serialization Cancellation."
And the light enveloped us.
"I look forward to seeing you deliver a splendid ending."
It was the moment the expedition without dreams or hope was dispatched.