Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Cold - 2
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I pondered for a moment.
‘Should I go check it out?’
[What are you gonna do if you go? You think you can find the ‘door hiding Velosian’ that even Grade couldn’t detect?]
‘Your nose could do it, right? We’ve succeeded a few times already.’
[Maybe. Well, if it’s for Risel, I’ll give it a shot.]
This guy seemed to subtly recognize our party members as comrades too.
That was when Risel looked at me.
“You’re not thinking of flying off to the imperial underground right now, are you?”
“Actually, I am.”
“Please don’t. I’m not the urgent one here.”
I widened my eyes a bit.
Risel continued in a gentle voice.
“With Kaild getting thoroughly thrashed in Havel right now, Idria’s bound to cook up some new scheme.”
“That’s true.”
“So we need to prepare and respond to that first. My issue can wait until after Idria’s dead.”
I couldn’t help but feel a little touched by Risel’s kind heart.
That was when I was awkwardly scratching my head.
Thud.
Adwin suddenly kicked my leg.
No, it was probably Grade doing the kicking.
“What’s that for?”
“’Cause I’m annoyed.”
“Are you maybe jealous...”
“Shut it. You’re just a subordinate.”
Risel let out a soft laugh.
The initially awkward and stiff atmosphere melted away like a lie.
“Hehe. Grade, you’re still so jealous as ever.”
“Ahem. I’m not particularly...”
“Maide, are you done talking?”
I nodded.
Risel continued.
“Then, Grade. Want to step out with me for a bit?”
“...!”
“There’s a lot I want to say to you. And a bunch of questions too.”
Grade, uncharacteristically flustered, eventually nodded.
That was when Offens spoke up.
“You don’t need to go out yourself.”
“Huh?”
“Maide, how about we clear out instead? We did the same when it was you and Neril.”
My face and Neril’s flushed red in unison.
I fanned myself pointlessly and said to Risel.
“It’s late anyway, so we’ll head to the inn.”
“Oh, sure. Go ahead and rest.”
“I’ll probably end up waiting.”
I was curious if things would go well.
Serein grumbled.
“Why do so many annoying things keep catching my eye lately?”
“It’s fine. You’ll meet someone good someday too, Serein.”
“That’s not why.”
“Of course, you’ll need to fix your personality a bit... no, a lot.”
“That’s not it either.”
We got out of the carriage.
We grabbed a table on the first floor of the inn and ordered some drinks and light snacks.
About thirty minutes later, the inn door creaked open.
Risel approached with a very satisfied expression.
I asked.
“Did you have a good talk?”
“Yeah. I’m glad I listened to you all. Should’ve met sooner.”
“Better late than never. As long as you’ve cleared the air.”
“I wasn’t even mad to begin with. I just didn’t know what to say.”
She continued with a slightly wistful look.
“I’ll have a drink today too.”
Sounds good.
I filled Risel’s glass.
Clink.
Adwin sat down next to me.
His ears were red all the way to the tips.
He stared blankly at the ceiling.
“What’s up?”
“...Even when I summon a soul into my body, my consciousness doesn’t sleep or anything. I can see and hear everything.”
“And?”
“The level of their conversation was... ugh.”
He tore at his hair.
Then he muttered something strange.
“Why didn’t Mother ever teach me about this stuff?”
Idria gazed at Firensha, who had buried her head in her lap and fallen asleep.
Firensha had been unusually quiet these past few days.
The day she returned from failing in Havel territory, Firensha had burst into tears.
Sobbing pitifully that she’d ruined Mother’s plan.
Idria had been quite shocked to see such an expression on Firensha, one she’d never witnessed before.
In the end, even today, Firensha hadn’t said a word before leaning against her and passing out.
Idria thought as she brushed back her ‘daughter’s’ hair.
‘My heart aches.’
Was this what a mother’s feelings were like?
That was when it happened.
“Idria.”
“...Velosian.”
“I told you to call me Father.”
“Refused.”
“What a shame. You let your minions call you Mother, but you can’t understand my feelings?”
Idria scoffed.
“I created these children. I have the right to be called Mother.”
“...”
“You’re not about to say you created me, are you?”
“Hmm. Well, let’s skip that. I didn’t come to bicker over it.”
Velosian sat across from Idria.
Idria furrowed her brow.
“Talk if you want, but keep your voice down. Firensha just fell asleep.”
“The others?”
“She cried so hard they all cleared out.”
“Perfect. I’ve got some secrets to share.”
“Secrets?”
Velosian smiled softly.
“As you’ve noticed, Maide... more precisely, Bion dwelling in him, can see secrets.”
“...”
“But secrets involving me? He can’t peek at those. We can scheme freely.”
“I have a question first.”
Idria carefully lifted Firensha’s head from her lap.
She approached Velosian and spoke in a cold tone.
“What do you want from me?”
“Hm?”
“You have no reason to help me. Unless you want something.”
“I want you gone.”
Idria’s eyes shook for a moment.
Velosian continued.
“Hurry up, achieve your goal, create the fake world. Then leave this one.”
“...! H-How do you know my purpose?”
“That’s what I want from you. You’re a side effect of this world’s laws... like scraps, say. Indestructible scraps that revive infinitely no matter how many times they’re killed.”
Idria felt insulted.
But at the same time, intrigued.
“The world’s laws created me?”
“Yeah. All the other Demon Kings too. The law where humanity’s excess energy summons Demon Kings.”
“Maide seemed like he could grant me true death, beyond revival. If I’m really unnecessary scraps, wouldn’t it be better to help him dispose of me?”
“That guy won’t do.”
Velosian scratched his head and added.
“He’s awkward in all sorts of ways.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Anyway, sorry for calling you scraps. I didn’t think about your feelings.”
“Doesn’t matter. I have no expectations from this human-convenient world anyway.”
“Good. Back to the point?”
Idria sat across from him.
“Speak. You said we’d scheme, right?”
“Yeah. From what I’ve seen, if Maide and Kaild clash head-on, Kaild loses for sure. Their abilities and brains are on different levels. Almost like a difference in class.”
“Anyone knows that.”
“So make sure they don’t meet.”
Idria let out a hollow laugh.
“Who doesn’t know that? Maide’s got speeds that let him chase no matter where on the continent you open a gate.”
“Grab his weakness.”
“Huh?”
“Use that friend there.”
Velosian nodded toward Firensha.
Idria didn’t catch on at first.
But soon her hair stood on end.
“Are you trying to die?”
“Don’t get worked up.”
“How do you even know that? Firensha herself doesn’t know.”
“This is a plan you should’ve thought of first. Wonder why it didn’t cross your mind sooner.”
Idria stared piercingly at Velosian, who was answering irrelevantly.
“Why stare like that?”
“Now I get it. Why I hate calling you Father.”
“What are you on about?”
“The moment you so casually suggest using Firensha, I’ll never call you Father. Ever.”
“Heh.”
Velosian shook his head.
He stood, brushed off his butt.
“Guess you’re not desperate yet... I’ll come back later. You’ll have changed your mind by then.”
“Doubt it.”
“We’ll see. Stay healthy till then. Eat well.”
“Get out.”
Velosian left the cave.
Idria glared at where he’d vanished for a while.
So she didn’t notice.
‘Mom.’
Firensha, thought to be asleep, had woken and overheard everything.
Firensha desperately pretended to sleep so Idria wouldn’t notice, thinking.
‘What method? What can I do?’
She wanted to ask Idria right then.
But she couldn’t.
The moment she asked, a ‘secret’ would form between Idria and her.
She had to ask someone Maide couldn’t see secrets from.
‘Not thrilled, but...’
She decided to wait for Velosian’s next visit.
Two weeks passed.
In that time, Idria launched monster invasions twice using spatial powers.
And just now, she’d sent the third wave.
She’d hidden the targets from Kaild and her minions to keep secrets from me, but Offens got the info easily through his assassin guild.
We were flying toward the third territory.
Mime was pushing from behind again, giving us miraculous speed.
Mime grumbled.
“Does this Agril beast ever get washed? It stinks a bit.”
“What blasphemy! This one’s so clean.”
“Not by my standards.”
“Spirits shouldn’t smell things to begin with. Breaks common sense.”
I tuned out the noisy group and sank into thought.
Idria was repeating the same unchanged strategy.
‘It’s a dead-end move. Desperate last resort.’
[She couldn’t find another way.]
‘Probably. No new secrets popped up.’
Over the past two weeks, I’d checked secrets on Idria and her minions whenever I could.
Idria and Kaild’s too.
But no new ones anywhere.
The only oddity was the new secret between Idria and Velosian from two weeks ago.
‘Felt like Velosian whispered something in her ear.’
[Yeah. Suspicious, but can’t see his secrets.]
‘At least not about these invasions. No pattern change.’
The past two weeks’ pattern was identical.
Idria sends monsters to a territory.
Me and Kaild arrive.
Idria retreats the monsters.
It looked like the monsters fled at the hero’s appearance, boosting our fame continuously.
But there’s a crucial difference between me and him.
‘Check the map.’
[You’ve been checking a lot lately.]
‘Like when I first got gold coins and kept pulling them out of my pocket.’
[What kinda analogy...]
Trail grumbled and pulled up the screen.
Ping.
[Maide Mohan Cumulative Fame: 420,400]
[Kaild Wake Cumulative Fame: 373,850]
My fame wasn’t just caught up—it had surpassed his.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
That was when Jenia’s voice came.
“We’re here.”
“Monsters?”
“Still smoke-formed. Takes five days to turn into monsters, right?”
“Yeah. They’ll chicken out and retreat this time too, no doubt.”
“Then another win for Maide.”
Exactly.
In the last two invasions, me and Kaild performed identically.
But my fame gain was clearly higher.
From a slight deficit to a solid lead.
Risel spoke up.
“Why does Maide gain more fame for the same work?”
“Character? Looks?”
“Neril... you’ve gotten really biased about Maide lately.”
“Problem with that? Comparing to Kaild.”
“None at all.”
I chuckled and chimed in.
“Probably thanks to Havel territory.”
“Ah.”
“There, Kaild was exposed as the Demon King’s pawn beyond doubt. Well, I made it happen.”
In front of Havel’s people, Kaild got ‘collected’ by Idria.
The lord immediately issued an official statement, declaring himself and the citizens as witnesses.
Witnesses that Kaild was a fake hero.
Offens said.
“Thought Kaild would crash completely. He’s clinging tougher than expected.”
“Unreasonable to expect the whole continent to buy it without eyewitnesses. Especially on ‘who’s the real hero?’—they’ll be a hundred times cautious.”
“Hmm.”
“But the statement worked. So even with identical performances last two times, I got way more fame.”
I’m satisfied with this.
Compared to the gloom when the oracle first dropped, it’s gratitude-worthy.
People should always know contentment.
[A line that doesn’t suit you at all.]
I ignored it and asked Jenia.
“Kaild there?”
“Hm. One sec... Ah, found him.”
Jenia spotted him via vision share.
“He’s with Sabark this time. No Firensha, looks like.”