Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 188
>Chapter Title: Chenbi, at Times Like This... You Smile, Right?
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Damian stared blankly at the hole where Aster had been dragged away.
‘...What?’
It had happened just moments ago, but his memory was hazy.
All he could recall was... yeah, chunks of rock exploding like fireworks, scorching heat, a brutish grip, and a faint scream.
Fragmented images flashed through his mind like pages missing from a picture book, and Damian bolted forward in a frenzy.
“Friend...!”
“Damian, are you insane?!”
Chenbi hurriedly grabbed him.
“Why... why are you stopping me?”
“Why? Get a grip! Do you even realize where you’re trying to go?”
“We’re not saving my friend?”
“Of course we are. But open your eyes and look clearly. See where you were about to head.”
“...”
Chenbi pointed at the hole where Aster had been dragged in.
Had lava passed through? The hole was blasted wide open. The rocks forming the passage were glowing red-hot. No, it wasn’t just hot—they were melting on the surface.
“If you go in there, you’ll die before you can save Aster. Got it?”
This wasn’t heat that could be blocked with a barrier.
Someone of a higher realm might manage it, but not now. Not him, and not Damian either.
‘And Aster might already be...’
No, no.
Chenbi shook off the anxiety flickering in his mind. He didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t even bear to think it.
But Damian wouldn’t back down.
“Move. I can make it.”
“Damian...!”
Chenbi desperately called out to Damian as he shook him off and headed for the hole. He tried to grab him, but Damian was a step faster.
At the same time, a thought crossed his mind.
‘Maybe... Damian could...’
Could he survive that heat?
Yeah, it was possible.
Damian was the most talented heir in the history of the great Blandoga Family. Unlike an ordinary guy like him, he might have some way.
And maybe even save Aster...
...But.
Reality was brutal.
Crackle, sizzle—
Before he could take two steps, his shaky barrier trembled dangerously. By the third step, cracks spread across it entirely. And then—
Crash...!
The barrier shattered to pieces.
“Damian!”
But Damian didn’t stop.
Sizzle, s...
A horrific sound echoed, impossible to describe. His shoes melted, and even his hair couldn’t withstand the heat as it burst into flames.
...And yet, he took another step.
Damian bit his lip.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
But he couldn’t stop walking.
‘If it hurts... I’ll heal it.’
Yeah, if it hurt, he’d heal it.
His blistering soles, his skin cooking in the heat, his burning hair—all of it could be healed.
Look at him now.
It hurt like hell... but that was all.
This heat couldn’t kill him.
But, but...
‘...What about my friend?’
What about his friend...
Could he heal that? Could he endure this heat that melted everything? The residual heat alone was tormenting him like this... what about his friend?
“Damian... stop, please stop. Come out now.”
Chenbi stood at the entrance, calling to him. His face burned from the intense heat, but he didn’t retreat.
For some reason, with Sir Mysellern unconscious, he was the only one who could stop Damian. So... Chenbi faced reality.
But Damian didn’t stop.
...Another step.
Walking through excruciating pain.
...Yet another step.
His heart ached.
If it hurt, heal it. Heal it, and it’d all be fine. It’d all heal... but could he really heal it?
‘...It’ll be okay. My friend is strong.’
“Damian, that’s enough. You... you know it too, right?”
Damian didn’t listen. Or rather, it was too muffled to hear. No, he could hear it, but he didn’t want to.
So, another step.
But Chenbi’s voice was painfully clear. No, clearer than clear—it was sharp. Or rather, cruel.
“Aster... is dead.”
That dagger-like word halted Damian in his tracks.
“No way...”
The words wouldn’t come. Damian knew it too. He’d felt the heat himself, felt it more viscerally than anyone.
No matter how strong Aster was, could he survive this heat, this pain?
In the end...
Damian lowered his head.
- Damian, my grandson, the light of Blandoga. Before this old man goes, I want to see my grandson’s smile just once. Won’t you show me?
“Chenbi, at times like this... you smile, right?”
Chenbi answered.
“At times like this... it’s okay to cry.”
* * *
Half a day after Aster was dragged away by the Infernal.
That’s when Sir Mysellern, who had lost consciousness, finally opened his eyes.
“Sir Mysellern, are you coming to?”
“...Chenbi.”
Sir Mysellern clutched his throbbing head and sat up.
His mind was a jumble. Was it because he’d just woken? His memories wouldn’t settle.
Why had he blacked out? What had happened before that?
He’d clearly collapsed from some massive mental shock, but what had caused it...
“...Ah! What about Aster? What happened to Aster...”
Sir Mysellern’s voice trailed off.
No one spoke, but the answer wasn’t hard to guess.
Chenbi’s resigned expression. Damian sitting quietly in the corner, practicing his breathing technique. It all said everything.
“...I see. So that’s how it is.”
His mouth felt bitter. No, bitter didn’t cover it.
He’d seen plenty of deaths. Too many to count on one hand. But the word ‘death’ was something Sir Mysellern could never get used to.
Especially when it was someone he’d grown fond of—and he’d grown quite fond of Aster.
Realizing that, his gaze naturally turned to Damian and Chenbi.
Even he, who’d only known them a few days, felt his heart tearing. How much worse for these kids, who were friends...
Suddenly, Sir Mysellern felt something off.
‘...What’s this?’
Something was strange.
Damian and Chenbi’s moods were certainly gloomy. That much was natural for those who’d lost a friend.
But what bothered him was Chenbi’s eyes.
Resolute eyes.
Not the eyes of someone lost in grief. They looked like the eyes of someone who’d made a decision...
That’s when Chenbi’s voice came.
“Sir Mysellern, if you’re feeling better, may I ask you something?”
“Of course, but...”
As he spoke, Sir Mysellern studied Chenbi’s demeanor.
Yep, something was different.
Chenbi was the most considerate of the three, so in this situation, it’d be natural for him to ask about his well-being first. So why?
As Sir Mysellern pondered that.
Chenbi asked calmly.
And hearing the question, Sir Mysellern understood what Chenbi was thinking.
“Before you passed out, you mentioned ‘Infernal.’ Is that... the flame golem? The monster? Is that its name? If so, could you tell us its characteristics?”
Right now, Chenbi was planning to confront the Infernal.
* * *
A stretch of silence followed.
Sir Mysellern didn’t speak, but Chenbi seemed in no rush, leisurely embracing the quiet.
Yeah, ‘enjoying the silence’ was the perfect way to describe Chenbi now.
‘Has his vessel... grown?’
Was it composure? No, more like depth.
The shock of losing his friend Aster had made the boy even stronger.
But.
Sir Mysellern let out a deep sigh at those resolute eyes and forced open his reluctant mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but drop it.”
“You’re telling me to drop it without even hearing what I’m thinking?”
That gentle yet firm voice, just like always, told Sir Mysellern this conversation wouldn’t be easy.
So he grew sterner.
“Are you thinking of revenge? It’s pointless.”
But Chenbi remained soft.
“I think you’re right. But who decides what that means? Will you decide for us, Sir Mysellern?”
“It’d be a dog’s death. Do you think Aster would want you dying for his revenge?”
“Who knows. Normally, I’d say ‘no,’ but... I don’t really know Aster’s heart that well, so it’s hard to answer.”
When Chenbi said that.
An awkward silence fell between them again. So quiet Damian’s breathing was audible.
In that silence, Sir Mysellern felt at a loss.
‘What to do.’
He could understand the sentiment.
The death of a friend.
They needed an outlet for that pain.
That much wasn’t bad.
Vengeance was a negative emotion that gnawed at you, but used right, it could be medicine to forget the pain.
But in this case...
As he’d said, it’d just be a dog’s death.
He had no right to force the kids’ choices, but shouldn’t he stop a dog’s death?
Yet their resolve was so firm.
As Sir Mysellern struggled to respond, surprisingly, Chenbi spoke first.
“I’m not thinking of revenge.”
“...Then?”
“I’d like to if possible, but as you said, what meaning would it have? We’re just... what’s the best way to put it?”
Chenbi paused to gather his thoughts.
Yeah, it definitely wasn’t revenge.
So why were he and Damian set on facing that ‘Infernal’?
The deliberation dragged on. They’d naturally come to an agreement to ‘do it,’ but without fully grasping the meaning.
How much time passed like that.
Chenbi found an answer close at hand and voiced it.
But that answer was quite unexpected to Sir Mysellern.
“I just... want to see it.”
“See... it?”
“Yes. Whether we can leave this ancient ruin is unclear, but I believe we can.”
This wasn’t about possibility—it was pure belief.
Chenbi truly believed they could escape this ancient ruin. Not a shred of doubt.
But what did escaping the ruin have to do with encountering the Infernal?
The reason wasn’t complicated.
“The Infernal will be my goal.”
“...Goal?”
“Yes, the goal I need to reach.”
“...”
“Of course, I might forget it someday. They say time washes away a lot. I might give up. I’m not talented, after all. But even if I forget, even if I give up, I’ll remember it one day.”
Chenbi curled the corner of his mouth slightly and said,
“The Infernal killed my friend. I wasn’t strong enough then. What about now? Will it work? Probably not, huh?”
“...”
“I might regret it, or it might just become a bad memory buried away... Who knows which. But one thing I’m sure of.”
“What’s... that?”
“If I don’t act today, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
When Chenbi finished.
Sir Mysellern realized.
The time he’d heard the spirits’ voices through the Fairy Dance, it became his lifelong aspiration.
And just as it had for him that day...
‘Chenbi too.’
The Infernal would be his aspiration for life.
Just ‘seeing’ the Infernal once, but that memory would define the boy’s entire life.
If he saw it, so be it.
If not, then not.
Either way, it would leave a massive stain on the boy’s life. So what to do?
Sir Mysellern knew the answer well.
“It’s not hard to tell you. But... the Infernal is very dangerous.”
“That’s fine.”
“I might not be able to help. I won’t pass out like before, but my spirits fear the Infernal. That’s why I blacked out. Still okay?”
“Yes, even that.”
Chenbi smiled faintly at Sir Mysellern’s turned heart.
And opened his mouth.
“Everyone dies someday.”