Chapter 249
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: The Seed's Whisper
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The teleportation from the academy didn't land us in Cascadia territory, but in Mielephon.
I'd hoped to stick around long enough to see Triana, the new proxy of the World Tree, arrive at the academy, but it seemed her enrollment had been delayed a bit due to issues with her mother's forest.
"This is harder to get used to than I thought."
The powers from various halls I'd tangled with in Labyrinthos had already mixed into my aura, multiplying its volume several times over what I'd originally had. Then the Millennium Fruit ballooned it even further, leaving me with a seriously off feeling.
It was to the point where I half-jokingly felt like if all this mana exploded at once, it'd spell disaster for the entire continent.
Of course, that wouldn't actually happen.
"Because of the fruit?"
"Yeah. Immortality doesn't feel real yet, and poison immunity isn't a huge deal either. I can definitely sense the boost in magic efficiency and the sheer amount of mana, but... it's too much..."
"You'll adjust with time. Honestly, I've never accumulated as much variant energy as you have, Leon, but I'll help until you do."
Even Luna, who was on the level of an archangel, seemed flustered by the absurd volume of energy now surging through me.
The vessel had its limits, after all.
Any normal person would've died from mana poisoning by now.
Yet my body was evolving in some inexplicable adaptive process, reshaping itself every time the mana or aura increased.
Since we'd already sent word ahead, the moment we crossed into the designated spot, retainers from House Mielephon were waiting for us.
"Welcome, Young Master Leon. The family head and the Sword Saint are expecting you."
"Please lead the way."
"This way."
Followed by maids and butlers, we were ushered not into Duke Katsi's office, but into Isna Mielephon's room.
"Young Master Leon. It's been over a month."
"Sorry for the delay, Duke. And Sword Saint, sir."
"Come i... you..."
The Sword Saint's eyes widened.
"Father?"
"...Hah... This is... truly hard to endure..."
He muttered bitterly, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"Isna hasn't woken in a month. Can you make sense of it?"
We could supply fluids and nutrients, but if she didn't wake, it was all pointless.
I gazed at the sleeping Isna, then turned to Luna.
"What do you think?"
Luna scowled at my question.
Then she asked Katsi,
"Got a glass of water?"
"Wa... water? Right here."
Her tone showed no deference to the duke, but neither the Sword Saint nor Katsi commented on it.
Luna took the glass of clean, cold water, gave it a light shake,
and splashed it straight onto Isna's face.
"Gasp?!"
Isna jolted, then fell silent again.
All eyes turned to her closed lids.
"I'll give you credit for patience, but you're busted already. Open your eyes."
At those words, Isna's expression twitched.
Slowly, she cracked one eye open and looked at us.
Katsi sighed, covering his face with his hand. Sword Saint Osberg clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"Uh... well... Facing you all like this felt kinda awkward..."
"When did you wake up, Lady Isna?"
She narrowed her eyes at my question.
"How long are we gonna keep talking so stiffly between friends?"
"Answer first."
"About... a week ago? When no one was around, I'd roll around..."
It was a miracle her father and grandfather hadn't caught on.
Katsi finally looked up.
Seeing Isna propped up on her elbows, he smacked her back hard.
"Eek!! Mom! You're killing me!"
"Die then! You've hammered a spike into your mother and grandfather's hearts— just die!"
"Ow!! Ow!!"
I watched the duke relentlessly whack his flailing, screaming daughter and asked the Sword Saint,
"Aren't you going to stop her?"
"Sometimes a beating's in order. She's turned half my daughter's insides to charcoal. Tsk tsk."
The Sword Saint had no intention of intervening.
"Young master."
"Yes."
"Got a moment? I have a favor to ask."
I nodded quietly and followed him.
In the training grounds, he picked up a sword and faced me.
"One exchange. Can you manage?"
"...Let's do it."
I drew an iron training sword from the rack. He aimed his own practice blade at me.
Just one man, yet the pressure hit heavier than anything I'd felt before.
Fresh off the Millennium Fruit, I needed to test various factors anyway, so I channeled aura into my sword and body.
"Impressive. A month ago, you were already ridiculously strong. And now this in the interim..."
"Here I come."
"Come on."
Swoosh... Claaaaaaang!!!!!
No telling who moved first—the clash happened in near unison.
The swords met without fanfare, no shockwave ripping outward.
A clean, silent collision, like novices who'd just awakened their aura bumping blades.
But that was enough.
"Hah... You're already stronger than me... This calls for it. Time to hang up the Sword Saint title. Tsk tsk."
He shook his head.
As he slowly pulled his sword away, it crumbled with a hiss, shedding fragments.
Mine, meanwhile, was largely intact.
"What a shame. It would've been great if you'd hit it off with Isna."
"I'm sorry to disappoint."
"No need. Without mutual feelings, it'd just be a political marriage for gain."
Pushing aside his regret, he gathered the shattered sword.
Back in Isna's room, she was sneakily glancing around, eyes darting.
"Young Master Leon. Long time no see?"
"Yes. Glad to see you're well."
"Haha..."
"Can you explain what happened that day?"
Duke Katsi and the Sword Saint waited silently for her answer too.
They had more reason than I to wonder about what befell her.
After much deliberation, she nodded at me.
"Fine... the truth. Lately, I've been hearing weird voices in my dreams. Telling me not to resist the seed sprouting, to call its name..."
Seed?
"A seed?"
Duke Katsi echoed coldly, mirroring my thought.
"Yeah... it called it a seed. Something inside me—don't resist its sprouting. Felt off, you know? Even after waking, I could feel something wriggling within."
"Something physically inside you?"
"Not physical, exactly. Hard to explain. Anyway."
She slowly recounted her ordeal.
Something had taken root inside her, gnawing away over time.
Whatever the seed was, she could suppress it fully.
The trouble came after.
She held the seed back, but the voice wouldn't quit—it sent others whose seeds had already sprouted to attack her.
Like her, but fully puppets overtaken by the seed, no longer human.
"Not a group."
"The thing targeting you itself?"
"Their power's the same as in life. But not human anymore."
Even in the elves' forest, a few had sprouted seeds.
They'd ripped out their own hearts before Triana without hesitation.
No sense of life in them.
Isna often pulled inscrutable stunts, but occasionally the duke's daughter shone through.
Maybe now was...
"Ow!! Leg cramp!"
"..."
Not quite.
"Do you know anything about it, Isna?"
Sword Saint Osberg asked quietly.
Luna stepped forward.
"Don't dig deeper."
All eyes naturally turned to her.
"You..."
"What do you mean?"
"You might not grasp it fully, but even so, you shouldn't know."
She walked lightly to the center.
"You'll need a reason you can accept."
"This world we live in isn't everything. Leon's seen it, but beyond our realm lie other dimensions."
Osberg and Katsi's gazes shifted to me.
"True. There are extradimensional spaces."
"Proof?"
"Hmm... Hard to produce hard evidence, but back in the Holy Kingdom's city, others witnessed extradimensional beings alongside me."
"Those extradimensionals, then?"
"Among them, ones so vast that mere awareness kills ordinary folk. Outer Gods."
She intoned briefly.
A chilling current brushed my skin.
Osberg's face hardened; Katsi scowled unusually.
"More info than that is dangerous just to know. So don't."
"..."
"I talked to one and I'm fine?"
Isna raised a hand slightly.
"When it contacts, it dials back to avoid damage. Otherwise, puppets shatter before formation."
"So the moment it speaks its name or nature..."
"Probably impossible."
That explained Luna's reticence. I felt anew the weight she'd carried.
"Oh. And, a bit late, but."
She grinned.
"I met the cultists. They want to arrange a meeting with you, Young Master Leon."