Your True Master Has Arrived
"Food. And a drink. Make it strong."
The tavern door swung open, and Adel stepped inside.
The waitress's eyes flickered with unease at the sight of Adel settling at a table.
"You're back. Did everything go well?"
"Thanks to you. You pointed me to a good spot. Should be easy enough to handle. Only thing that pisses me off is having to make two trips when I didn't need to."
"......Glad to hear it. Pardon?"
The waitress set a glass of liquor in front of him with a stiff expression. It wasn't because a kid was ordering booze—age meant nothing in Ruinxen anyway. No, the real reason for his uneasy face was that he'd never expected Adel to return in one piece.
"You get what I'm saying. It didn't have to go down in the pit. How much did the Black Spider pay you?"
"That's......"
"Tell me how much you pocketed for funneling travelers hunting for Ruinxen straight into the pit's jaws."
"Ha, haha...... What are you talking about? I just recommended a reliable job. Best one in Ruinxen."
The waitress tried to play it cool, but the tremor in his voice gave him away from the start. He'd been scheming something shady.
"It's fine. That's just how you survive in Ruinxen. I'm not here to chew you out. Just here for a meal, like I said."
"The Black Spider......"
"Lost a thigh. Gonna be bedridden a while. I cauterized it with fire, but walking's gonna take time."
"With f-fire?"
The waitress's face drained of color.
"Bastard tried some funny business in the pit. Figured he was gonna sell my organs or ship me off as a slave, so I almost gave him the same treatment. Held back, though."
Adel eyed him steadily.
"Letting him keep his leg was mercy enough. Right? Even in Ruinxen, not many are that nice."
"......Y-yeah."
He set down the tray of food. It rattled faintly against the table.
"E-enjoy your meal."
"Anyway. The Black Spider hooked me up with a guide to take his place and lead me to the Queen Spider. Said this one's actually in her good graces, unlike him."
"Haha, no idea who that is, but good luck with it."
Clink.
Adel set his glass down.
"Your tone changed."
"......Pardon?"
"Means you're nervous. Weird, huh? Hardened Ruinxen vets like you getting scared? Doesn't suit you."
Adel fixed him with a stare.
"Galm of the prosthetic leg."
The waitress flinched, face freezing up.
"You're the guide the Black Spider recommended. I don't wanna waste more time. So don't get any dumb ideas."
Adel grinned.
"Mess with my time again, and it won't end with just ripping off a leg. Plus, you've only got one left—lose that, and you'll be crawling around begging."
Confusion mixed with the pallor on the waitress's face.
"If you'd handled this from the start, I wouldn't have wasted time. Right?"
He hesitated, then let out a resigned sigh and shook his head.
"Got it. That idiot couldn't clean up his own mess, so I guess I have to."
He'd probably known already. That the Black Spider got wrecked, and Adel was coming here.
"Follow me."
"Hm......"
Adel hummed low as he sliced into the meat Galm had served.
"Galm. The Black Spider's no idiot. I was just stronger. Pit or not, anywhere he sent me would've ended the same. Mirage Street or Dagger Harbor, whatever."
"......Ahem."
"The Queen Spider's got legs everywhere in Ruinxen. The pit's just one of 'em."
Galm halted mid-turn.
"And I'm definitely not the shit you need to clean up."
Stab.
Adel stabbed the fork into the back of Galm's hand. As Galm recoiled in sharp pain, Adel kicked his prosthetic leg, sending the man staggering.
Thud...!!Slash--!!
Galm hit the floor backward. Adel yanked the fork out with all his strength and slashed at his fingers with the knife in his other hand.
"Argh...... Kraaaagh!!"
The waitress clutched his severed index finger, screaming in horror. Red droplets splattered to the floor.
"Oh, fight?"
"Nice! Nice! Hey, two more beers here!!"
"Idiot, the one's fighting is the waitstaff."
"Oh yeah?"
The tavern patrons hooted and raised their glasses like they'd been waiting for the commotion, cheering the pair on.
"This ain't cleaning up shit. It's about serving the customer properly. Looks like Ruinxen needs lessons in manners."
"Grk......"
"I'll teach you one by one. Listen up. First rule of etiquette."
Galm trembled on the floor, clutching his severed finger.
"Don't interrupt someone eating."
Thud.
Adel tossed the bloody knife that had severed the finger. It embedded right in front of Galm.
"Guh......"
Galm stared up at him with pitiful eyes, pale-faced and holding his severed finger, at a loss.
Step-step-step.
Adel grabbed a fresh knife and fork from the bar and returned to his seat.
Clink, clink.
The only sound in the tavern was Adel's utensils working.
"Hm."
After popping the last bite in his mouth, Adel nodded in satisfaction, downed his drink, and glanced around. The place had emptied out. Only Galm lay collapsed on the floor by a table, breathing raggedly with a ghostly face.
Garon shuddered at the sight of Adel.
"P-plea...... mercy."
He gripped the stump so tight it had turned pitch black.
"Go."
"Th-thank you!!! For letting me get treated......"
At Adel's permission, he scrambled up and shoved his severed finger into an ice bucket.
Thud.
But in that instant, Adel pulled something from his pocket and tossed it at him.
"Go fetch the Queen Spider. Bring it with your finger—should make a fine invitation."
"......Pardon?"
Galm peered into his pocket with trembling hands. Inside was a chunk of fresh flesh, blood still wet. No need to say what it was.
The Black Spider's thigh meat.
He knew instinctively. The moment he took this, his finger wouldn't be reattached. Hell, he might lose the rest too.
"Second rule of etiquette. Don't keep the customer waiting."
Adel said calmly.
"You get one minute. Scram."
"......A gift from the Queen Spider."
Adel, resting in the lodging Galm had guided him to, stared blankly at the meal set before him.
"Hm."
Two plates, lidded. But he could guess what lay under each.
Lucky or not, all but one of Galm's fingers were intact—unlike his guess.
"Queen Spider's still soft. Give it five years, she wouldn't leave a finger to hold the plate with. Probably chop 'em all off and grill 'em up."
"Th-thank you."
Adel lifted the lid. A nicely grilled steak and a sausage.
"Not saying you're lucky. Meals are more fun shared, but this is too little for two."
He smirked, knowing the golden-brown steak was Black Spider thigh and the sausage Galm's finger.
"Right?"
"......Pardon?"
Galm couldn't hide his bewilderment. But he realized Adel's gaze wasn't on him.
"If you're here, join me. I'll share a finger. Need more, I can cut another."
Adel speared the sausage with his fork.
Hummm......
The tavern wall rippled.
"Urk?!"
Galm staggered, dizzy like seasick. But Adel remained utterly calm.
[Adel. The whole building's sealed with a barrier.]
"I know."
Adel rested his chin on his hand, eyeing the rippling wall at Kalderet's warning.
Twang--!!Boing--!!!
He flicked the wall with a finger, and the air warped.
[Not your average barrier...... Smells familiar. No way, this is......]
"Right. Gipra's Eight Trigrams Array. Advanced barrier with eight transformations. This one's Distortion—twists space into an endless prison."
[I know that. Question is, is this really Gipra's?]
Trapped inside, he seemed almost pleased, savoring the barrier's power.
"Yep. And only a handful on the continent could weave one this intricate. Fitting for a contractor of the mid god of Degeneration, Gipra. Gotta be this good to seal the pit too."
"How...... How can you stay so calm inside Lady Ralka's barrier?"
Galm gawked at the serene Adel, baffled.
"Nothing special. Gods of Degeneration serve the Void."
The Void Adel meant was, of course, Kalderet.
Indeed. Gods of Degeneration were under Kalderet's lineage.
Meaning all who served Gipra ultimately bowed to Kalderet.
[But odd. Pit reeked of annihilation power. Why's Gipra's barrier here?]
"Ralka's ability, using Gipra's power. She's exceptionally talented."
Adel said.
"Like you said, this place was once a temple to the god of annihilation. That's where the pit's deathly aura came from. But unlike Void, annihilation is destructive. Left alone, it'd ravage the continent."
[Suppressing it with Gipra's power?]
"Exactly. But Void and annihilation can't coexist. One of the Eight Trigrams twists divine power's nature."
[Ah...... Forced suppression causes backlash, so she altered its nature.]
"Right. A loyal devotee, sealing away annihilation for ages. Deserves praise."
Adel gazed at the rippling wall.
"So kneel, Ralka."
He said in a low voice.
"Your true master has arrived."