209. The Price of Greed
209. The Price of Greed
Stella and Pina, who had been patting their round bellies, finally gave in to my nagging to brush their teeth and headed to the bathroom.
And while they were gone, Sparkle, who had likewise been rubbing her now-plump stomach, came rolling over.
"Hey, Sparkle. If I press your belly, is it gonna come back out your mouth?"
"D-don't say scary stuff like that."
I burst out laughing as I watched Sparkle wrap her arms around her stomach.
"What's this? Ronan, you look like you're in a really good mood. Are you that excited about tomorrow?"
"Excited, my ass. It's the same as always."
"No it's not. Your lips are practically reaching your ears right now. And your eyes, which are usually so sharp, have gone all soft... Hmm...? Ronan. You always pretend you don't care, but you actually missed Luna, didn't you?"
I lifted Sparkle, who was whispering in a suggestive voice, onto my shoulder.
"It's not that I missed her. I want to see her."
"Heh... What's the difference between missing someone and wanting to see them?"
Sparkle scurried up the back of my neck and perched on top of my head, poking her head out.
As I flicked Sparkle's fluffy forehead, I thought about it.
Yeah. What is the difference?
Well... I'm not sure, but the part about wanting to see her is true.
When I see her... there's a lot I need to say.
Most of it will be cursing, but anyway... I have to see her.
And for that, I needed Sparkle's power.
Luna's current state is not normal.
A seal caused by a Sacred Relic. It seems she used her own body as a medium to seal the Demon King, but whatever the case, it's certain that she's not normal.
Even if I went to her, I wouldn't be able to break that seal, let alone have a proper conversation with her.
But with Sparkle, things are different.
The power of a spirit. And not just any spirit—a light spirit of the highest Tier: Sparkle, who has lived for a long time and has deep ties to the World Tree.
With Sparkle's power, I can connect Luna's soul to mine.
We did it a few times back then, 400 years ago.
However, there are several conditions for it to work.
The target needs to have an intact body, the soul being connected must not be that of an ordinary human, and the World Tree's blessing must back it up...
Havar points to Luna being underground in Laila.
Luna's soul and mine go without saying.
As for the final condition, the World Tree's blessing, I've had Sparkle diligently gathering it for the past five days. Since Sparkle has deep ties to the World Tree, it's possible even while far from home.
So, the preparations were just finished today.
I checked once more on the way here.
Luna is definitely somewhere underground in Laila.
Sparkle also opened her eyes after finishing all preparations.
Just in case, I had her check three more times, and she said she was very, very, very definitely done with the preparations.
So... now all I have to do is go see her.
I considered going right this instant, but... I needed a little more preparation.
There's the gift, for one... and I need to find a way to reach Laila's underground.
There is a way. More precisely, there was one.
The underground waterway where the Twelve Cardinals fled 400 years ago, when we killed them.
Back then, we considered sealing that place off, but ultimately decided to leave it be.
It was Arisa's opinion that "maybe we'll have a use for it someday."
I also had my own opinion: "A huge castle-like place needs a secret passage or two to have any real style."
Anyway, that's why we left it, but whether it's still there now is unknown. So tomorrow afternoon, I plan to check it out with Sparkle.
Since I can't go in myself, I'm thinking of sending Sparkle, whose body is small.
While I'm at it, I'll pick out a gift too... well, a gift, but it'll probably just be alcohol.
It can't be helped.
Even if I wanted to give her something else, there's a high chance she's unconscious right now.
If I gave her cigarettes, she obviously couldn't smoke them, and she couldn't use a casino VIP pass either, so I'm just planning to pour some booze down her throat.
If I open her throat properly and pour it down, wouldn't she be able to drink it?
Luna's body isn't going to die just from choking on a little alcohol, so I won't even need to open her throat that carefully.
Will she... taste it?
If so, I should get something a little better than the cheap stuff.
Do they still sell the alcohol Luna used to like?
It was a brand from 400 years ago, so I should start by looking for that—
"See, you are looking forward to it. Hitting me and making a fuss for nothing."
Sparkle, grumbling, had already come down to my shoulder. Then she poked at the corners of my mouth with both hands.
"Look at this. Ronan, you're smiling really gently, you know?"
Only then did I realize that I was smiling.
...Fine. I admit it.
A little, just a tiny bit, I am looking forward to it.
How could I not be?
Seven years. If you add in this life's memories, it's been seventeen years.
I'm meeting a comrade I was with for over twenty years, after seventeen years. How could I not look forward to it?
Still, even so... I was annoyed at Sparkle for teasing me, so—nom. I bit the hand that was touching the corner of my mouth.
"Wh-what...? You're not gonna... chew it, are you? Huh? Th-this is my real body, so if you chew it, it's a big problem. Huh? You know that, right? You know, right??"
"Bpyutsu geu heujeu meureu."
"O-okay, okay. I get it, so hurry up and take it out... Hyah?! It tickles!! Stop!! Hyaaak!"
Lick, lick—I thoroughly licked the tiny hand caught between my teeth.
Then a cry that was almost a "squeak" mixed in with Sparkle's screams.
Oh... this is the first time I've heard a flying squirrel's cry.
Is it because she has a real body now? It's fascinating that she makes a squirrel's cry when startled.
Would Pina make a sound like this if I tormented her intensely too?
Since she can't talk, does that mean she can't cry out either?
Is there a connection between talking and crying sounds?
Just as Sparkle was about to faint from the tickling, Stella and Pina finished brushing their teeth and came out.
"...Wh-what are you doing?"
Stella looked at me strangely, but I ignored her and looked at Pina.
Ptoo, I spat out Sparkle's hand from my mouth and asked.
"Pina."
"Hii?"
"Come here."
Swish, swish—Pina's sparkling eyes darted back and forth between me and Sparkle.
"Pina, we're friends, right?"
"Hii!"
Wagging her tail, which was as big as her body, she trotted over to me.
And so, after an hour of intense sweating.
Through the combined assault of me and Stella, our curiosity was resolved.
Even though she couldn't talk, she could make a squirrel's cry just fine. And that sound, like Sparkle's, was close to a "squeak."
It was ruthlessly cute.
*****
"I'm so sleepy I could die... You could've just gone by yourself. Why'd you have to wake me up too... ugh..."
I slipped Sparkle's body, limp with drowsiness, into my pocket.
"This is the first time I've heard of a spirit being sleepy."
"Ronan, that's species discrimination. And it's because of you that I had to materialize. Do you know how hard it is to be like this?"
"So you don't want to see Luna? You were making an even bigger fuss about it than I was."
"Ugh... that's true, but... I'm sleepy right now."
"Stop whining and do your Demonic Energy detection properly."
"You're probably the only person who treats a spirit as a Demonic Energy detection tool."
Leaving behind Sparkle, who was grumbling but still enjoying the hand stroking her belly, I started walking.
The sky hadn't fully brightened yet.
It was the hour when even the merchants who worked hard until dawn hadn't woken up. From this crack of dawn, I was very busy.
"So what did you come out here to do?"
"I'm going to find something usable as a illusion Artifact."
"...Something usable? Not someone?"
"You'll see."
"...You're not up to something bad again, are you?"
"When have I ever done something bad, you little shit?"
"Well... that's true. Ronan, you always just go too far, but you've never done anything bad... yeah."
Sparkle squirmed in my pocket.
The fingers that had been stroking her belly now moved to stroke her lower back. At my fingertips, which had only felt softness, I could now feel a slender spine.
"It really is nice and soft because it's a girl's hand. It smells nice too. Your old hand was like a bloody thornbush."
"What do you mean, a bloody thornbush?"
"Literally a bloody thornbush. A rough, scratchy tree that smells like blood. Still, well... I didn't mind those hands either."
"You didn't even have a proper body back then."
"I could still feel textures, you know."
Chomp—Sparkle bit down on my finger.
Then, flinch—she trembled.
[What the... Ronan... why are there Monsters in the Holy Kingdom? And not just one or two... oh my god...]
It wasn't a voice, but telepathy.
Sparkle's voice echoed in my head.
[There are... hundreds of them...?]
'I told you. It seems like there's a Monster warehouse under the Holy Kingdom. If you look a little more, you'll probably find a "breeding pen" too.'
[...I-it's okay, right? You... you're not...! You're not planning to go into the breeding pen, are you?! Alone?!]
'I'm not crazy enough to charge into a place I don't know the layout of. At the very least, I'd send you in first to memorize the route.'
[You're crazy, but... I'm glad you're not that crazy.]
Sparkle let out a sigh of relief, but only for a moment.
With her soft, fluffy whole body, she hugged my hand tightly.
[Y-you're not thinking of sending me in there, are you? Huh? You... you know that if I die while materialized right now, it's a really big problem, right? Huh...? You know, right?]
'I'm not sending you. I have no intention of going into the breeding pen in the first place.'
I'll lure them out if anything. I'm not going in.
[Thank goodness...]
Only then did Sparkle relax and start moving my fingers around with both hands. It was her way of telling me to stroke her body again.
Heh heh—laughing, I moved my fingers as Sparkle wished and stroked her.
This time, it was her belly again.
And so, after an hour of walking while making idle chatter.
"Found it."
I found my target.
"Hmm? Where?"
Sparkle poked her head out of my pocket and looked around before freezing up.
[...No way, right? Huh? By "take"... you don't mean... no way, right?]
As if she'd caught on to what was coming, Sparkle sent a telepathic message and looked up at me.
Naturally, I paid her no mind and pulled my hand out of my pocket. I lightly clenched my fist. My steps bounced lightly as I walked forward.
At the end of my path stood a female knight clad in red armor.
At first, I'd planned to make it a man, but since the kids would be controlling it, I figured it'd be better to make it a woman like them.
[Ro-Ronan? This is kidnapping! Assault and kidnapping!! Do you want to live on bread and water?!]
Sparkle's tiny fists pounded against my lower belly.
'It's fine. That bitch deserves it.'
[...Huh? Really? Why...?]
'Because she did something bad.'
[Who is she...?]
'I don't know her name. But I know that bitch did something bad.'
I had memorized all the faces of the people in the documents Mikel gave me. And among them, the one who had clearly committed evil deeds was that female knight up ahead.
[I-is that so? If that's the case... well. Yeah... Ronan hasn't beaten up innocent people indiscriminately since 400 years ago, after all.]
Sparkle's punching stopped. I trotted over and came to a stop in front of the female knight.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
A kind voice. Gentle eyes.
She looked to be in her early thirties.
She showed a friendly attitude toward me, even though I was wearing a perception-blocking cloak and my identity was unclear.
Of course she would. A little kid who's not even 150—no, not even 145 cm tall—was looking up at her.
If I'd been in my past-life appearance right now, she probably would've drawn her sword immediately.
I giggled at the thought.
"Ma'am."
"Yes?"
"What happens if you do something bad?"
The female knight's eyes went wide. After a moment, she smiled and knelt down on one knee.
"People who do bad things must be punished."
"What if you do it secretly and don't get caught?"
"Even if done in secret, sins committed under Yurphia's sky will eventually be exposed and punished by divine retribution."
"Right?"
If you do bad things under Yurphia's sky, you get punished.
Even if you didn't grow up in the Holy Kingdom, anyone living on this continent—from children to stooped old people—knows this principle of the world.
But.
"Then why did you do something bad?"
Blink, blink—the female knight put on a stupid expression.
"Because if you don't get caught, it's not a bad thing?"
But she got caught.
Did Yurphia catch her?
No. Through Mikel, she got caught by me.
But people living in the Holy Kingdom would probably blab that that, too, is the will of heaven.
Fine, whatever.
A bastard who committed evil deeds must pay the price.
Whether it's divine retribution or human retribution.
"If you murdered the parents who gave birth to you, you should be punished."
The female knight's hand gripped her sword hilt.
But it never got drawn.
Crown, temple, glabella, eye, nose, chin, philtrum.
A total of seven bursting sounds rang out.
Thud—the female knight's body collapsed.
[...Ronan, you... you've always been really good at hitting women in the face...]
"It's where all the vital points are gathered. And she was kind enough to kneel down for me."
Hum, hm-hm—humming a tune, I stuffed the female knight into the sack I'd taken from Mikel.
Then, flinch—I trembled.
"Tch... but she's not dead, right?"
[...Why are you suddenly worried about that?]
"It'd be bad for the kids to see. They'd have to stay in the same room as a corpse, and how creepy would that... no, wait. It doesn't matter."
I went back to stuffing the female knight into the sack, humming again.
[Why? What were you thinking?]
"I just need to take her hand out for a moment, make a welcome replica, and then dump her. That way the kids don't have to see anything gross, and the room won't get dirty. So it doesn't matter."
Sparkle poked her head out of my pocket and stared up at me with a horrified expression.
[...S-sometimes... I get confused about whether you're good or bad, Ronan.]
"I'm definitely not a good person."
I smiled faintly, hoisted the sack over my shoulder, and started walking. I should look for a good place to dump her on the way back.
If there's nowhere, well, I can just dump her on Mikel, the new friend I made this time.