The Cost of a Hint
After all, this was one of the few moments when they could speak freely after barely shaking off the surroundings. The Guardian Spirit lowered his eyes.
[I…]
The Guardian Spirit hated death.
He had in the past, he did now, and he surely would in the future as well.
It was not merely because of the attempt to uncover his identity.
[I was a hero without honor.]
Death was the existence that had taken everything from the Guardian Spirit.
……Yes, everything. That was why he had been reduced to nothing more than a powerless observer.
[Even after taking the seat coveted by the ‘hero candidates’ who were ‘unrecognized heroes.’]
Fame built upon sin was still fame, and honor accumulated through unjust means was still honor. Karma and achievement were written with the same character. Stripped of both, the Guardian Spirit was nothing more than an ordinary man.
Moreover, the one who had served as the catalyst for that event was none other than the child he cherished most.
What gain could there possibly be in dredging up a past where the precious child had used death itself to turn him into what he was now—a story better left forgotten?
‘What are you plotting, Death?’
The Guardian Spirit’s expression grew dry.
He only dwelled on the past for a moment. Clicking his tongue to drive away the bitter taste in his mouth, he refocused on the present.
Setting aside Death’s unhurried intentions for later, he mulled over the clue that had been offered.
‘There must be information gathered from our conversations so far. This should be enough to piece it together.’
A hero without honor from the Mythic Era, when heroes and demon kings were said to have existed.
This was as much information as he could give. Combined with the knowledge they had built over their long time together, uncovering the truth would not be difficult.
Raven seemed to sense this as well, his eyes widening.
“You’re being… more straightforward than I expected.”
[……I have no choice.]
The price of losing the wager with Death was to set an end to his living days, and if that end was not rest but eternal torment, then as long as he wished for the child to win against Death, the Guardian Spirit had no choice but to help him.
[Because I am your Guardian Spirit.]
“……”
Then why.
Why did it have to be my Guardian Spirit? Raven frowned at the incomprehensible answer.
“……If you wanted to earn my trust, it would have been better to say something from the other side.”
[……]
“I understand for now. Thank you.”
He had listened quietly because it was important and necessary information, but in truth, he had hoped to learn why the spirit was so devoted to him instead.
……But asking further here would yield no answers. It was a familiar situation.
Besides, the core of this conversation had been about the Guardian Spirit’s name from the beginning. Raven set aside the unanswered question and turned his thoughts in a familiar direction.
Or at least, he tried to.
[……My time]
If only the Guardian Spirit had not spoken.
[flows together with yours.]
“……”
[When your time stops, mine stops as well.]
A statement that casually overturned the premise that the time of the dead did not flow.
Yet Raven remained indifferent.
“I wondered what you were going to say…… Well, of course it would be like that.”
[……]
“Because you are my Sculpted Soul.”
For a moment, silence fell as if the words had been cut off.
Then the Guardian Spirit spoke again……
[That is not what I meant……]
“I know. You just want to tell me that you will not harm me.”
But that was not an answer. He probably knew that as well. No matter how he phrased it, his words ultimately only avoided the core issue.
Still, since they had barely opened a path to reconciliation, Raven did not point it out. Instead, he gave a small laugh and changed the subject.
“It’s a bit late for that. I never suspected you of that in the first place.”
The one who stopped him from recklessly using his body even while knowing he could not die, the one who reacted sensitively to the injuries… no, the ‘pain’ he suffered—there was no way such a being would harm him.
……Though the fact that he did not know the reason made him uneasy instead.
“So you do not need to worry about that.”
[……]
“More importantly, you said he sat in the seat coveted by unrecognized heroes, right?”
The empty conversation had circled back to the starting point.
Knowing that pressing further would yield nothing useful, Raven smoothly changed the topic and focused on the information he had obtained.
Though the situation had become strange, he could not afford to let the hard-won clue about the Guardian Spirit’s name slip away so carelessly.
‘……Was he even officially recognized as a hero?’
Ordinary people desired what they saw at the top, so the seat coveted by the unrecognized would naturally be the highest position. It must have been recognition on a national level, not merely from some small organization.
Yet if there was still no honor attached……
‘I might be able to find it faster than expected.’
He had worried because it was a hero from ‘that’ Mythic Era, where countless heroes appeared and vanished without leaving even a single name. But now that the scope had narrowed dramatically, even if he could not do it himself, an information organization would find it quickly.
It was then that it happened.
“Cough—.”
[……!]
“Uh… cough, why……”
Sudden pain struck, and Raven clutched at his chest before collapsing to the ground.
A pain as if someone were squeezing his heart, and blood-tinged coughs burst out uncontrollably. More than the pain itself, bewilderment at the incomprehensible situation came first. With wide eyes, he lowered his head and spat out blood.
It was only natural that the watching Guardian Spirit shot to his feet.
‘……Why.’
He had not even lent his power directly, so why had such a reaction suddenly occurred?
Had he spoken too much? Had he lent his eyes for too long? Or perhaps—.
“I see.”
“……”
“I believe I said only one hint.”
──Was adding extra words to the hint also forbidden?
An unmistakably chilling presence washed over them. The Guardian Spirit placed a hand on his sword hilt and shifted only his eyes to glare at the uninvited guest.
“……This is my space, Death.”
“There are few places I cannot go. At the very least, this is not one of them. Much less the space of a mere wraith.”
“……”
His grip tightened on the hilt.
The Guardian Spirit quietly clenched his teeth.
Seeing this, Death curled one corner of his mouth upward.
“What, do you want to cut me down?”
“……That would be impossible.”
The gap between Death and the Guardian Spirit was like heaven and earth. If the Guardian Spirit’s power had been stronger than Death’s to begin with, there would be many immortals walking the earth. The Guardian Spirit knew well that he could not even graze a single strand of Death’s hair.
Moreover……
“Indeed. You must mind your conduct. Your sin is not yours alone, after all.”
“……”
His strengthless hand slipped from the hilt.
Death let out a low laugh as if mocking him, then stood with arms crossed, leaning at an angle. A strangely intrigued gaze turned toward the Guardian Spirit.
“Well then, shall we hear your excuse?”
An excuse for breaking the rules of the wager.
“You gave that fellow two hints.”
[I was a hero without honor.]
[Even after taking the seat coveted by the ‘hero candidates’ who were ‘unrecognized heroes.’]
“Based on that, he has drastically narrowed the list of people he needs to search for. From your perspective, it may have seemed like merely adding a few words to the existing hint, but the fact that he made use of it means you have effectively given a second hint.”
“……”
“Do you have anything to say about this?”
Instead of answering immediately, the Guardian Spirit stared quietly at Death.
‘Why is he suddenly asking for an excuse?’
If the rule had been broken, then it had been broken. At the very least, Death was not the sort to show mercy in such matters.
Which meant……
‘There must be a way out.’
There was room for a different interpretation.
If there had been no such opening, he would not have been given this chance. Quickly organizing his thoughts, the Guardian Spirit glanced at the nearly dying Raven before speaking.
“The standard of ‘one hint’ was ambiguous. Whether it was permissible to add words related to the given hint, and if so, how far……”
“Then it would have been safer not to add anything at all.”
“When a wager involves life and the soul after death, the word ‘moderately’ does not fit. Is it not our role to struggle as much as possible without breaking the rules?”
An unreadable smile appeared on Death’s lips.
Whatever its meaning, the Guardian Spirit did not find it pleasant, so he furrowed his brows slightly and continued.
The more he spoke, the clearer his mind became, lending strength to his next words.
“Furthermore, the consequence for breaking it was never clearly defined. No, it was not even mentioned that there would be a consequence to begin with. The current state of that child must have been arbitrarily imposed.”
Therefore, this was the fault of the one who proposed the wager without clearly defining the rules.
He was merely the victim.
“There is no reason why that child must suffer for your incompetence.”
“……”
“Withdraw it at once.”
Having gained justification, the Guardian Spirit bared his teeth.
“……Child, you say……”
The life-filled green eyes were quite fierce. Death, who had been quietly watching him, let out a short laugh.
“You really are ruthless.”
“……Since he never had the chance to become an adult, ‘child’ is correct.”
An experimental subject raised as a child clinging to affection for convenience could hardly have become a proper adult. Even if he had grown later through meeting many people and forming various bonds, he had ended up with the terrible curse of not being remembered.
In the end, it all came back to Death’s fault. The Guardian Spirit glared at his opponent.
“Do not change the subject. Withdraw your power immediately.”
“……Well, I am rather fond of that fellow as well.”
The wager had been meant to induce the uncovering of the ‘Guardian Spirit’s’ identity from the start. Therefore, there was no reason to dislike it when they drew closer to the answer.
Whether he won or lost this wager, there was nothing for him to lose. Death smiled generously.
“I will let it pass this time. It seems you might cause another big incident if I leave it like this.”
“……”
“As you said, it was also my mistake.”
He snapped his fingers.
The pain vanished as if it had been a lie.
He had thought he was used to all kinds of pain, but apparently not. How embarrassing to collapse because he could not even endure that much. The pain had come from his heart of all places, so honestly, he had thought he was dying—yet surviving only made it more embarrassing.
‘……Or not? Maybe I already died and came back to life.’
When he came to his senses, his forehead had been about to touch the floor.
His mind was blank from the sudden situation, so he could not tell. What kind of ordeal was this out of nowhere? After wiping his mouth and feeling around his chest for any trace of the vanished pain, Raven lifted his head and called into the air.
“Ancestor, do you know anything?”
[……]
“Brother?”
[Guardian Spirit ??? apologizes.]
So he did know something.
Judging from the situation, either time had passed and the pain disappeared on its own, or the Guardian Spirit had resolved it himself.
And the cause, given the circumstances, could be inferred to be the Guardian Spirit……
“……I think I understand.”
Before the pain occurred, they had been discussing the hint and making deductions about it. And when he reached a conclusion, he had coughed up blood along with the pain.
“Adding extra words to the hint caused this mess. It seems it was treated as giving two hints.”
[Guardian Spirit ??? gives a bitter smile at his child’s cleverness.]
“How did you resolve it?”
By pointing out a loophole in the rules and confronting Death?
Since both the wager and its rules had been decided verbally on the spot, there must have been many loopholes.
……Anyway, it seemed to be resolved, so that was enough.
“This kind of problem will not happen again, right? It was not just postponed, but actually solved.”
[Guardian Spirit ??? affirms that it has been resolved.]
“Then it is fine.”
Raven steadied himself and stood up. After taking a few steps, he paused and looked up. After a brief silence, the corner of his mouth curved upward with a mischievous glint.
“Or perhaps you secretly caused some other incident and that is why it turned out this way……”
[Guardian Spirit ??? firmly denies it.]
“Of course it was a joke. I told you, did I not? I do not suspect you in these matters.”
After chuckling for a moment, he checked how far the moon had tilted before resuming his steps.
“Anyway…… Now that we have all the information about the name, all that remains is to find it.”
It had been quite an ordeal just to obtain a single piece of information. Finding the actual person would surely be even more difficult.
His luck had always been bad, so he probably would not find the answer easily. With a cynical thought, he muttered under his breath.
“After leaving the child at the Empire, I should stop by an information organization right away.”
[Guardian Spirit ??? reminds him not to forget the fairy tribe’s medicinal herbs.]
“Do not worry. I have not forgotten. I can make the request and then go.”
He could feel the source of the blood scent drawing closer.
Raven quickened his pace and soon discovered several corpses sprawled in a cruel death. He hurried toward them.
“This is……”
Kneeling down to examine the wounds, his expression turned cold.
“It was not the work of a monster.”
Nor was it the work of beasts.
Rather than the actions of mindless wild creatures, it felt as though an intelligent being had deliberately torn them apart in a cruel manner to erase their traces.
“Moreover, the scattered marks look familiar……”
He furrowed his brows.
“This is similar to the way I use my weapon.”