Chapter 193
Chapter 193
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 193
>Chapter Title: But, What Is That?
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With one word from the spirit, the party's gazes focused on Aster.
“Secret? Friend, you have a secret?”
“Damian, everyone has secrets. Kids like Aster especially so.”
“Hmm, a secret...”
Damian’s eyes sparkled with interest. Chenbi brushed it off nonchalantly. And Mysellern too.
As various gazes swept over Aster, an awkward silence settled over the space.
‘A cursed grimoire?’
Given the circumstances, was it too much of a leap to think it was Reverse Heaven?
That was when Aster’s thoughts reached that point.
“Ahem, ahem. Anyway, spirit friend. Shall we get to talking now? What is it you want to ask?”
Noticing something off about Aster’s demeanor, Mysellern smoothly changed the subject.
And so began the conversation between Mysellern and the spirit.
Aster listened intently with subdued eyes, gleaning a few insights.
First off.
[W-What I want to ask?]
“Yes. Didn’t you say you’d ask the questions?”
[D-Did I? I don’t remember.]
This spirit was an idiot.
It had clearly said ‘I’ll ask first’ just to seize the initiative.
But failing to improvise even that much meant it was either pure or stupid.
Of course, Aster was convinced it was the latter.
And second.
Mysellern was stricter than expected.
“Then, may this one ask a question?”
[G-Go ahead.]
“First off, then. You invited us here, yet why the hostility? Twisting our path I can overlook, but what about the Infernal? I’d like a clear answer on that.”
[……]
Honestly, even Aster found this surprising.
They still didn’t know if the spirit was friendly or not.
The right way to probe with a question like this was to coax gently and test the waters, not stab straight in like that?
And that was just the start.
Once Mysellern got going, she was downright ruthless.
“No answer? Then we’ll have no choice but to assume you don’t need our help. That alright?”
[……]
“Hmm, no will to talk? Fine. Then we’ll just leave the ruins this way.”
Of course, it was a bluff.
Mysellern didn’t know how to exit the ruins yet.
But the spirit didn’t know that and just trembled its light, looking utterly pitiful.
In that instant, Mysellern had grasped the spirit’s temperament.
‘A naughty-minded spirit indeed.’
Of course, it wasn’t purely to scold it.
Rather... yes. Whatever this spirit’s intentions, leaving it be would lead to trouble.
...No need to say for whom.
By taking the lead in conversation, Mysellern aimed to crush the naughty spirit’s momentum while preventing further incidents to smooth things over.
The spirit, now thoroughly dejected, flickered its flame fitfully.
That was when Aster stepped in.
“Why the silence? After what we went through...”
“Senior.”
“...Yes?”
Mysellern turned at Aster’s sudden call, and upon meeting his eyes, she involuntarily flinched.
‘What kind of gaze is that...’
How could it be so gentle?
As Mysellern marveled, Aster slowly shook his head side to side while looking at her.
“I think the spirit gets it if you stop there.”
“...What?”
“You’re going too far. Sure, we were shocked and suffered, but the spirit must have had no choice, right?”
[Y-Yes. Sorry for making you lost. But the Infernal wasn’t us. We’re scared of the Infernal too.]
“See? It wasn’t them.”
“No, what...”
Mysellern blinked in stunned confusion at Aster’s incomprehensible attitude.
And understandably so, for it was a sight hard to believe even seeing it.
Like an alligator with sheep’s eyes? No, a hyena with a rabbit’s eyes was more apt.
Regardless, Aster approached the startled spirit and gave it a gentle smile.
“You must have been scared, huh?”
[Y-Yes. The old human is scary.]
“Don’t worry. No crying. Calmly, clearly say what you want. You can do it, right?”
[I-I can. I’m smart.]
The spirit perked up at the encouragement.
[Savior is nice.]
“Right? Even nicer if we contract.”
[......Contract?]
“Right, not the point now. So, let’s clear up the misunderstanding, yeah? Calmly, slowly, tell us?”
[Yes! Misunderstanding! Need to clear it!]
As Mysellern watched speechless, Aster’s lips curled up around then.
“You don’t mean...”
“Shh, the spirit’s about to talk. Let’s listen closely.”
Aster smiled, bait dangling. Now it was up to the spirit to bite.
* * *
In any case, the indignant spirit, bolstered by Aster’s encouragement, explained their situation.
They admitted to twisting the path, but insisted they hadn’t moved the Infernal.
They were scared of it too.
They answered Aster’s various questions about the circumstances sincerely, and once it was all out, the party huddled for a meeting.
First and foremost.
“The spirits weren’t outright hostile to us.”
Sure, there had been a hostile moment. But the three excluding Aster decided to let bygones be bygones.
If these spirits had moved the Infernal, they wouldn’t have brushed it off so cleanly, but the only thing they admitted to was twisting the path.
So, next.
“Then, how do we save the spirits...”
Mysellern had received the spirit’s mental image through Fury and sketched it onto parchment.
If it were a contracted spirit, she could receive the image directly, but since it wasn’t, she used Fury as intermediary.
Anyway, the ruins’ structure was now drawn on the parchment: various rooms tangled around a central large circular space.
“For now, this circular space is where the spirits are. Right?”
[……]
“Right?”
[Yes, Savior.]
Mysellern shot the spirit a look of disbelief before marking ‘X’s on several rooms on the parchment.
There were four such spots.
“To break the barrier holding the spirits, destroy these four barrier stones total. That right too? Aster, ask for me.”
“Right?”
[Yes, Savior.]
Mysellern nodded at the spirit’s reply.
“Breaking the barrier stones shouldn’t be hard... Is there a problem?”
“A problem?”
[Yes, Savior.]
The spirit, which had been twinkling around Aster, suddenly drooped and settled over an ‘X’.
Its voice followed soon after.
[We can’t break the barrier stones. And scary golems guard them.]
“You don’t mean those golems are...”
[Yes, Infernals.]
Yes, that was the issue.
Infernal.
According to the spirit, the Infernal guarding these ancient ruins wasn’t a mere ‘spirit’, but a ‘spirit golem’.
A anti-spirit weapon created in an era teeming with spiritists to counter them.
‘So... the Infernals passed down to modern times refer to these spirit golems?’
Well, that much wasn’t clear.
In any case, the spirit said five Infernals guarded this ancient ruin.
One of them...
‘The one we fought.’
The main Infernal that awakened first upon intruders and repelled them.
The other four lay dormant in the rooms with barrier stones, guarding only those.
In short, the principle to release the barrier was simple, but the ‘process’ was anything but smooth.
“Hmm, this won’t be easy.”
[......!]
The spirit startled at Aster’s offhand remark, flaring its light brighter.
[I-It’s okay! The ones guarding the barrier aren’t many now! Not many!]
That much was true.
Fairy’s Dance... Of course, the spirit didn’t know the term ‘Fairy’s Dance’, but anyway.
The spirits could perform the Fairy’s Dance only because the barrier weakened during this period, and during that time, the Infernals guarding it grew weaker too.
Apparently to sustain the barrier.
“Tsk, still not easy.”
[......!]
Aster scratched his head, ignoring the startling spirit.
Not that it wasn’t—strong or weak aside, breaking the barrier meant facing four Infernals total.
No, just four?
‘One’s free to move, so that’s trouble too.’
Wrong move, and they’d face two at once.
Of course, simply smashing the barrier stones wasn’t hard.
No matter how strong the Infernal, it wasn’t faster than Aster.
Winning a fight was impossible due to regeneration, but hitting the barrier stone was doable.
But the problem was...
‘......’
Aster’s gaze landed on Chenbi.
Yes, Chenbi was the concern.
Mysellern senior and Damian could somehow evade, but not Chenbi.
‘...No, honestly, all three are worries.’
Mysellern senior thought she’d hidden it, but her momentum wasn’t fully intact. Same for Damian.
As Aster’s thoughts dragged on, the spirit raised its voice pleadingly.
[S-Savior, please!]
At that voice, Aster gathered his wandering thoughts.
He took in the spirit’s anxiously flickering light.
Honestly... yes. Mysellern, Damian, and Chenbi weren’t big issues.
‘...I can pull the three to the ruin’s outskirts.’
Of course, with an Infernal awakened, the outskirts weren’t safe either. But with Aster at the center, it’d target here over them.
So stepping up wasn’t hard...
But listening to the spirit left a nagging doubt.
“Friend.”
[F-Friend? I’m Savior’s friend?]
The spirit, oddly touched.
But Aster set that aside and voiced the question he’d harbored throughout.
No one else wondered, but for Aster, from start to finish, this was the only mystery.
“Not hard to step up, but you need to answer this.”
[Ask! I’m your friend!]
The spirit, somehow excited. But its enthusiasm didn’t last.
“What is this place? Realized we never heard that.”
[......!]
During the talk, Aster had sensed odd nuances multiple times.
- We saw. Savior, one. But three more came. Different from what we saw. Thought you were threats.
At first, he took it as ‘expected Aster alone, surprised by three more’.
‘Threats’... yes, makes sense for ones locked up by humans, wary.
But the more he thought, the stranger.
“Calling ‘Savior’ so confidently... the ‘saw’ part too. Feels off no matter what.”
Plus, hadn’t the spirit mentioned earlier?
‘The cursed grimoire.’
Aster, thinking that far, eyed the spirit with a sly grin.
Was it that gaze? A thin silence fell, and the spirit trembled upon meeting it.
“There’s... something here. Right?”
But, what is that?