129. Elixir
129. Elixir
I sent the whole party back to their rooms.
They'd be sweating and tired after taking the Elixir, so I told them to soak in the bath and get some good rest today.
Originally, I'd planned to take the Elixir myself and move my body a bit while reviewing the battle with Samaella.
"...Customer?"
"Keep quiet."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
Instead of doing that, I dragged Ophelia to a private training hall and am now observing her.
'How is it, seeing her up close?'
[Hmm... It's certain. She was born human, but she's changing into something else.]
'Is it even possible to change from human to Demon?'
[No, she's not a Demon. She's not, but... hmm...]
Sparkle let out a thoughtful hum and sank into contemplation for a moment.
Meanwhile, Ophelia tilted her head.
"Um, so, customer."
"What."
"I don't know if it's okay to ask this..."
"If you don't know, don't ask."
"No, but this is something I might actually be able to help with."
I narrowed my eyes and stared at Ophelia. Ophelia shrank her shoulders but still opened her mouth.
"Um... did you put padding in your chest?"
[Oh.]
"...What? Padding?"
What the hell is she talking about? I lowered my gaze.
My chest... is bulging.
Sparkle is hiding near my chest.
Why? She said it was nice because the chest area was roomy.
"If you put padding in like that... it's really obvious, so I could show you a better way to—"
"It's not... padding, so shut up."
"If it's not padding, then what...?"
"If you keep yapping, I'll rip your jaw off. Can that master of yours make you a new jaw?"
"I'll shut up."
Leaving Ophelia behind as she frantically clamped her mouth shut and dropped her gaze, I called out to Sparkle.
[...Sorry. But there was nowhere else to hide...]
She said the chest area was nice because it was roomy... Should I accept it positively since she at least has a place to hide, or... should I get angry...
'...Never mind. So, what do you think? Is it ominous?'
Asking if it's ominous is the same as asking if it's similar to a Demon.
Because if spirits, especially a light spirit like Sparkle, feel something ominous, then it's no different from a Demon.
If she says it's ominous, what should I do?
If I kill her here, the Puppet Emperor will find out.
He'll definitely come looking for revenge for his disciple and cause a scene. Can I beat the Puppet Emperor right now?
Leona... seems to be on a slightly different level, so I roughly sketch out a battle against the Flame Emperor.
If I'm prepared to take him down with me, I can kill him.
But if the Puppet Emperor comes at me in a dirty, underhanded way, Eurasia, Stella, and Pina could be in danger.
Then what should I do?
While I stood with my arms crossed, lost in thought, Sparkle gave her answer.
[It's not ominous. She's not a Demon.]
'But she still carries Demonic Energy?'
[Yeah. She carries Demonic Energy in a human body. But... ugh, I can't see it well. Can you get a little closer?]
I let out a small sigh and leaned my upper body forward.
"W-why are you doing this?!"
"Stay still."
"N-no, I mean, uh... um... we're, both girls... th-this is... difficult, no... I mean, in the first place, I'm into men..."
I glared at her as hard as I could, and Ophelia shut her mouth.
I leaned my upper body forward just like that. At a distance where our breaths touched the tips of our noses, Sparkle spoke.
[There's something near her chest.]
'Chest?'
I lowered my gaze. Ophelia trembled and wrapped both arms around her chest.
"...Th-they're not that big... th-they're nothing special! Actually, my chest is padded too! It's not even half this size in reality!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake. It's not about that, so shut up."
"Hic."
I looked closely, wrapped Mana around my eyes and looked, and even observed the flow of Mana drifting around her, but I couldn't see anything.
But Sparkle kept seeing something, wriggling around inside my clothes.
[Demonic Energy is spreading out from near her heart. It's... mixed with Mana, and it's like it's deceiving the body's senses... as if it had always been that way? There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her body right now.]
'Would taking her clothes off let you see it clearly?'
[Well... yes, but isn't that too dangerous? And the human in front of you is the disciple of a suspicious person, and even if she carries Demonic Energy, she's still a girl?]
'So what if she's a girl? I'm a girl too.'
[...Well, that's true. Ronan is a pretty girl right now too.]
'And even before I had this body, I didn't care whether someone was a woman or a man.'
[You piece of trash. Gyaak?!]
Pretending to scratch my chest, I smacked Sparkle on the head and straightened my upper body back up.
Only then did Ophelia let out the breath she'd been holding, and I threw a question at her.
"When you handle requests that come into the Information Guild, do you get help from your master?"
"No, it's entirely my own pow—"
"The thing about ripping your arm off if you lie is still on the table."
Ophelia's sky-blue eyes wavered as she subtly avoided my gaze.
"—isn't enough, so I receive help from my master. But that's only help and advice. I handle all the major work myself."
"What about the branch family matter I entrusted to you before?"
"...I received help."
"The order to cut ties with the Cartel—did your master deliver that directly?"
"Yes... he did."
"What about this time? Are you planning to get help with the Holy Kingdom matter too?"
"No. This matter is something I can handle sufficiently on my own."
"Will you tell your master about it?"
"There's no need to tell him."
Even if she doesn't tell him, the Puppet Emperor will find out.
He probably already knows.
From the very beginning, he's been watching Ophelia's every move. The scheming bastard.
So what should I do now?
I still don't know exactly what she is.
But it's also awkward to just let her go.
If I let her go, I'd at least like her to be somewhere I can keep an eye on frequently.
"Ophelia."
"Yes."
"Ophelia, senior."
Ophelia's expression twisted grotesquely.
"Wh-why are you doing this?"
"Senior."
"No, just tell me what you want—"
"Senior."
Ophelia's mouth opened and closed like a fish, then shut again. Then she clenched both fists and smiled.
"...Junior?"
At that answer, I smiled along with her.
"Senior, have you joined any clubs?"
"A club... I haven't joined one, but there is one I'm thinking about joining. Why do you ask...?"
"Would you like to join our club?"
Horror was added to her grotesquely twisted expression.
"...What kind of club is it?"
"You can find out after you join. So, how about it? I'd really like you to join, senior. Everyone else is in my year, so I'd like to have at least one senior."
"What if I say I won't join...?"
"I'd be really upset and sad. Like at that bar we went to before."
Tears welled up in the eyes of Ophelia, whose face was twisted with horror.
"Why... why is my junior doing this to me?"
I smiled very, very brightly and said,
"Because I like you, senior. I want to be closer with you than we are now."
The tears falling from Ophelia's eyes answered in her place.
*****
I got Ophelia's seal on the club registration form, and finally, it was my personal time.
[Ronan. Is it okay to treat her so high-handedly? That girl is the disciple of the Puppet Emperor, right? Can you beat that person?]
"It's fine. Actually, I have to keep acting the way I have been so they don't get suspicious. Don't worry about that part—just think about why Ophelia's body ended up like that."
After Ophelia left, Sparkle said she'd seen a human like that once before.
But she said her memory was hazy about what kind of being it was and how it met its end.
That was inevitable, because Sparkle hadn't been as grown as she is now back then.
Just as people's childhood memories are blurry, spirits' memories from that time are blurry too.
And on top of that, it was nearly 400 years ago.
If anything, it'd be worse than it is for humans, not better.
"But hey. Sparkle."
[Hm?]
"When exactly are you going to come out of my clothes?"
[...Do I have to come out?]
"...You say that like you don't want to come out?"
[Yeah. It's more comfortable than I expected. If your chest were too big, I feel like I'd suffocate... but Ronan, you're, um... small and soft, so, uh... it's really comfortable? The cushioning is just right, and you even smell nice. Sniff sniff, what is this scent?]
What the hell is this crazy flying squirrel babbling about?
And what does "small but soft" even mean?
"Be glad you're female."
[Hmm...? Spirits don't have a gender, though?]
"Your voice is female right now. And you don't have a peanut hanging down there."
[A-a peanut...]
Feeling Sparkle wriggling around as she shifted position inside my clothes, I took out the Elixir I was going to take today.
The one I'm taking isn't much different from what I gave the kids. An Elixir that strengthens the body and makes the inside healthier.
If I take this, I'll probably be able to open my Upper Dantian within three months.
Tier 6. The Realm where you imbue Mana with Intent.
And then, Havar.
I'll be able to draw out this bandage's true ability.
As long as it isn't broken... I'll know where Luna is around summer vacation.
Where was that place I saw in the illusion?
Luna and Paulo were in different places.
But both were dark and damp.
There was no Demonic Energy. It's not the Demon King's castle in Ge Vihenum.
That means they're somewhere on the continent.
The source of the Sacred Relics said to be in the East?
The dragon's grave in the South?
The White Mist Land in the North?
Where could they be?
I don't need to know right now.
In the first place, if I'm still a weakling, I can't save them anyway.
So first, I need to get stronger.
So that when we reunite, and I see those bastards again.
At least I won't be embarrassed.
Well, no matter how hard I struggle, I'll probably still be embarrassing.
Chuckling to myself, I opened the lid of the Elixir.
The scent of the sky wafted out from the tiny glass bottle.
[Hmm? Essence of the Heavenly Sea! Wow, it's been so long since I've smelled this! I'm so happy to...]
Essence of the Heavenly Sea.
An Elixir I received from a being like the Flying Heaven Essence.
[...Huh.]
Sparkle wriggled violently inside my clothes.
[Huh?? Huh??? R-Ronan! I think I know! I just remembered a story the World Tree told me!]
"You remembered what Ophelia is?"
[Yeah! Essence of the Heavenly Sea!]
"What nonsense is that? Ophelia is Essence of the Heavenly Sea?"
[No! The Elixir! I said I'd seen a human similar to Ophelia in the past, right? That human... hup, uh, ugh...]
Sparkle's excited expression darkened in an instant.
"What. Come on. Spit it out."
[...That human's very existence was changed into an Elixir. They were a living, breathing human like you, Ronan, but the things that made up their human body—flesh, blood, organs—took on the properties of an Elixir. So... they got eaten. By... another human.]
"Eaten? What happened to the one who ate them?"
[I don't really know what happened after that, but from what the World Tree told me, they transcended humanity and became a different being.]
"Shedding... So there really is a way to go from human to Demon."
Shedding.
Transcending humanity to become a higher species.
And the species she'll change into is probably the one that carries the Demonic Energy flowing through Ophelia's body.
Demon.
If a Tier 8 or 9th Circle human sheds their humanity and becomes a Demon, what level of Demon would they become?
At minimum, Legion Commander level.
If that's the case.
"Should I kill Ophelia before she's complete?"