Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Cold - 1
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Heavenly God.
No, Adin Press felt more displeased than ever before.
Maide Mohan had taken Agril back from him.
And that was not all.
He had exposed Adin's "true face," which Adin thought he had completely forgotten.
It had made him roll on the ground and reconfirmed that he was stuck in this narrow, filthy land, unable to escape.
But today, his mood was even worse than then.
Because of the man standing before him.
The man looked up at the mountain-like Adin and said with a sly grin.
"Shrink down a bit, will you? My neck hurts."
"Velosian. What brings you here?"
"I'll answer if you shrink first. Conversations are supposed to be eye-to-eye, after all."
"Hmph."
Adin changed his form.
From a pure white light into a humanoid shape.
His face became that of the old man Maide had seen before.
Velosian said.
"Much better."
"You've got some nerve showing that shameless face around here."
"Why are you so angry?"
"Are you asking because you don't know?"
Thud.
He lounged on a golden throne resized to fit him.
Then, crossing his legs, he said.
"You told me that to help Idria, I needed to clip Maide's wings."
"That's right."
"So you urged me to kidnap Agril."
"Yes. But you accepted the proposal in the end. I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to shift the blame."
"I'm not blaming you for that. However."
He growled lowly.
"Didn't you say that even if things went beyond 'passive cooperation' and I weakened, I could easily handle Maide and his party?"
"I think I did say that."
"I'm furious because those words were wrong. Maide overpowered my weakened self."
Velosian let out a light whistle.
"Whew. That's surprising."
"No. You knew that already."
"Why do you think so?"
"Because I can't leave the starting line, while you roam the world freely. I hear you've been visiting Idria lately?"
"......"
"So you must have calmly investigated Maide's strength. Urging me to kidnap Agril even after that was clearly a mistake."
Velosian bowed his head lightly.
Then, in a voice devoid of any apology, he said.
"I'm sorry. I must have misjudged."
"Hmph."
"Will you calm down? We have a lot to discuss, and this won't get us anywhere."
"Discuss?"
Adin stroked his beard once. Then he spoke lowly.
"Is it about Impellium, by any chance?"
"You knew."
"I suspected Maide had some connection to Impellium. Just before breaking the final starting line, he threw his sword at me and attacked."
And Adin, struck by that attack, staggered.
He had staggered, of all things.
The laws' restrictions were lifted by then.
Inside the starting line, no less.
Even in perfect condition, it made him stagger.
"Regardless, when Maide first came to me, he said, 'If you don't issue the oracle, Impellium will come.'"
"You've told me that story already. That's why you rushed the oracle. Couldn't you have consulted me first if you'd waited a bit?"
"I thought if I didn't issue it right after Idria's fake oracle, Impellium might really come."
"You're still afraid of him?"
"Of course. In many ways."
Velosian nodded lightly.
He had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Adin continued.
"Look at Maide's insane growth rate. A mere mercenary who now makes even the Heavenly God stagger. That's power no human should have."
"Impellium was human too."
"Hah. What are you getting at? That Maide is Impellium?"
"No. That can't be."
"Of course not. He was killed by us..."
Adin trailed off, as if uncomfortable.
But Velosian picked up with a thick smile.
"Because we killed him."
"......"
"Why the long face? It's been ages. Do you still feel guilty?"
"Not exactly. But it's not pleasant."
"And yet here you sit because of it."
Velosian shrugged.
"Anyway, I'll handle Maide. Don't worry. That's why I came today."
"Hah."
"Why the laugh?"
"You're free to roam the world, sure. But outside 'that place,' you can't use your true power."
Velosian replied nonchalantly.
"Even weakened, I can handle Maide."
"I thought the same and got burned badly."
"Hmm... Well, then let's borrow Idria's hand."
Adin looked skeptical.
"Maide even startled me for a moment. Can that Demon King handle him?"
"I'm planning to help in earnest from now on. I can't use my true power outside, but I'm good at scheming."
"That, I can vouch for. I've benefited plenty."
"Thanks for the compliment, but it's just accumulated know-how."
The two shared a cryptic smile.
Velosian stepped back slightly and spoke.
"Rest well. Next time I visit, I'll bring good news."
"Don't play nice. You're not sincere."
Velosian grinned and bowed.
Then vanished the next moment.
Adin stared at the empty spot where he had been and muttered.
"How long will the name Impellium haunt me?"
We returned to Tetra territory for now.
There, we retrieved the carriage we'd left at the inn.
Jenia hurriedly checked the cargo hold.
"It's not spoiled. Good."
"I told you I put magic on the meat before we left."
"Right. Neril, your role in our party is huge. You always keep our meat fresh."
"It's not like that makes me happy."
Well, the meat aside, I was satisfied too.
I'd grown attached to this big carriage and horses.
Just as Idria's base was some unknown cave, our party's hideout seemed to be right here.
Then Neril waved her hand lightly.
In an instant, all our watches changed.
Apent View.
A magic that stored desired footage and displayed it.
Neril clicked her tongue.
"The footage from Havel territory is gone too."
Sure enough, as she said, we could only see a blank white scene.
Neril canceled the magic, and Offense spoke up.
"When Apent View was blocked in Gavril territory, you said it was probably Velosian's doing, Maide."
"Yeah."
"Velosian is the mysterious guy Grade met—the one who made the door in the Imperial Capital's underground. How about calling Grade for details?"
"Sure. He might not have useful info, but let's try. We don't have anything else to do right now anyway."
Then Risel subtly shifted her hips.
She looked ready to hide via spiritization again.
I tried to stop her, but Mime's voice came first.
"Is there any need to avoid it, Your Majesty?"
"Mime?"
"I've given up on turning you into a full spirit anyway. Once that hero over there restores you to human form, you'll surely meet Grade in the netherworld someday."
"......"
"To avoid awkwardness then, you should open your heart now."
Adwin chimed in with a surprised voice.
"You're suddenly being nice, old man?"
"Old man?"
"Yeah, Mime old man."
"Fresh title. This party is full of weirdos anyway."
Offense frowned, clearly displeased.
"Why call both me and Mime 'old man'?"
"You're bothered by it."
"I've said it from the start. I've emphasized it a million times, but I'm younger than Maide..."
"Anyway, Risel sis. I agree with Mime old man."
Adwin ignored Offense's protest and turned to Risel.
"I told you last time, right? Every time I summon Grade into my body, I feel his emotions. Do you know how much he misses and cherishes you?"
"......"
"How about facing it this time without running?"
Risel couldn't answer easily.
Squeeze.
Then Serein took her hand.
"It's not like we want you to meet one-on-one. We'll be right here."
Risel seemed to steel herself at those words.
She took a deep breath and said.
"Okay. Adwin, call him."
Adwin chanted the spell as if he'd been waiting.
Soon his arm glowed brightly, and his voice changed.
It was Grade.
He spoke in a small voice.
A meek tone that made you question if this was the same arrogant man.
"Risel."
"Grade."
"...It's been so long."
"Yeah."
Their conversation stalled.
Helplessly, I cut in.
"If you don't know what to say, how about handling our business first?"
"Still piercing the heavens with arrogance today, eh, subject?"
That was exactly what I thought about you earlier.
"Whatever. Speak."
"You said you met a mysterious guy named Velosian before. He gifted you the door in the Imperial Capital's underground."
"Yeah."
"What did he look like? Any special stories tied to him? Any info will do."
Grade closed his eyes briefly, as if recalling the past.
"He was a frail-looking man with a delicate frame and ordinary features. His speech was extremely polite, unlike yours. Well, that's to be expected."
See? Arrogant.
"I was shocked when he gave me that secret door. I'd never heard of such a thing transcending human knowledge, let alone someone who could make it."
"......"
"So I grilled Velosian. But, predictably, he said he couldn't answer."
As I started to feel disappointed, Grade continued.
"As you know, I was searching for a way to restore Risel to human form."
"Right."
"I thought someone as enigmatic as Velosian might have a clue. So I asked... but..."
"Did he know?"
"He answered exactly like this: 'If I tweak her soul a bit, it might work.'"
Tweak her soul?
"But he was busy then and told me to come back if I could find him again. He said he'd make Risel human if I did."
"......"
"Then he went through the door."
We gaped.
"The door—you mean the one in the Imperial Capital's underground?"
"Yeah. I followed right after, but as you know..."
"There were tens of thousands of doors."
"Yeah. From then on, I stopped eating and sleeping, opening them one by one."
Jenia spoke up, as if realizing something.
"Bisa said you disappeared every night. Was that...?"
"Yeah. I ran the empire by day and scoured the underground doors by night. To find Velosian hiding among those tens of thousands."
"......"
"Rumors flew back then. Some said the emperor roamed the capital nightly in debauchery; others, that he went incognito to gauge public sentiment."
Risel gazed at him, her face slightly flushed.
"I had no idea. I knew you went out sometimes, but not that it was for me."
"I wanted to keep it secret. Didn't want to worry you."
"But when you were with me..."
"I always cleared time for our nights together. Preparing for the future matters, but so does our happy time."
"Ugh. Adwin's here—tone it down."
"The kid whose body I'm borrowing? Don't worry. At his age, he knows it all."
Does he?
Anyway, Grade never found Velosian in the end.
Weary in body and soul with age, he had nearly given up and let Risel go.
But put another way, he hadn't given up for decades until then.
"You searched the underground for decades and never found him? Velosian?"
"Yeah. That's what's odd. I feel like I opened every single door down there."
"With your will, you would have."
"Either he lied, or the door he's behind is specially hidden."
We had a rough lead anyway.
He was using the Imperial Capital's underground as his base.
Just as our party's base was this carriage, Idria's was some cave, and the Heavenly God's was the starting line.
Tens of thousands of doors. Velosian was behind one of them.