Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Ch. 129 .｡.:✧ Chapter 129 ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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However, it was a different story with something like a dragon’s corpse.
It was something even the royal family, who were currently protecting us, would covet.
I suddenly wondered if the dragon I was looking for would fit in this space.
‘I don’t know.’
It was only natural.
I had only heard rumors, I had never seen one in person.
But considering the recorded size of dragons…
‘They said it was as big as a house.’
Then it would probably be difficult.
“Well, now that we’ve got the artifact, we can’t stay here forever. Let’s go.”
I returned the undead to my inscription and stored all the permanent undead in the newly acquired subspace.
“That’s reassuring.”
I chuckled at Athena’s joke.
“Now that the boss is dead, this place will slowly collapse.”
“Really? What will happen to the entrance in the ruins?”
“It will probably disappear once we’re all out.”
I had heard that there was a way to maintain the entrance to a cleared dimensional fragment, but I didn’t know the details.
We returned to the ruins the way we came.
And as soon as we were all out, the dimensional rift began to slowly disappear.
“Now, let’s go back to Doriem…”
Suddenly, my inscription felt hot.
The disappearing dimensional rift resonated with my inscription.
And then…
The dimensional rift suddenly converged into a point and then burrowed into my inscription on my chest.
“What the…!”
The others were startled.
However, contrary to their worries, there was nothing wrong with my body.
Or rather…
‘It’s… connected?’
I had never heard of such a phenomenon.
Absorbing a dimensional rift?
It was an incomprehensible phenomenon.
As if possessed, I instinctively reached out and circulated my demonic energy, and a dimensional rift was created in the air.
Inside was the same dimensional fragment we had just conquered.
“What happened? Why did it suddenly…?”
“I don’t know either. But… it doesn’t seem to be harmful to me. Just a moment.”
I needed to assess the situation.
First, I checked my body, demonic energy, circles, and so on, and there seemed to be no problems.
The only difference was that the size and shape of my inscription had changed slightly.
And the dimensional fragment was connected to my inscription.
‘A subspace… or rather, a small world has become bound to me?’
A dimensional fragment was once a complete dimension.
Therefore, although it was now destroyed and fragmented, it was still worthy of being called a small world.
Therefore, it was more than just a simple subspace.
I could enter the dimensional fragment beyond the rift whenever I wanted.
“…I need to check a few things.”
I created dimensional rifts in various locations and went back and forth a few times.
As a result, I learned a few things.
The dimension, which should have disappeared after the boss was killed, had recognized me as its master, become bound to me, and stabilized; I could open a dimensional rift to this dimensional fragment whenever and wherever I wanted; the rift disappeared when I entered, and I could reopen it whenever I wanted.
‘And when I exit, I return to the place where I first entered.’
No matter where I created the dimensional rift within the fragment, the exit location was fixed to the place where I first entered the fragment.
Similarly, when I crossed over to the fragment, I exited at the location where I had entered from the original dimension.
And as before, I could take my companions with me whenever I wanted.
‘This is crazy.’
It was practically like having a secret base.
‘…Should I build a tower here?’
I now had a place to safely store the dragon’s corpse.
‘No, I still need to build the tower there.’
I couldn’t stay cooped up in this place.
Although it was a small world bound to me, I couldn’t live self-sufficiently in this desolate place.
It was impossible in the first place.
‘This is just a safe house.’
It could be a secret laboratory, though.
‘No, if I build another tower here…’
It wasn’t impossible.
However, I couldn’t abandon the original dimension.
In addition to the dragon’s corpse, I now had another secret that absolutely couldn’t be leaked.
Then, I realized my mistake.
Or rather, it was a situation where a mistake was inevitable.
Annelise.
She had witnessed everything, from beginning to end, how I obtained this.
‘Well, it’s not really a mistake, considering the circumstances.’
How could I have known this would happen?
It was the first time I had ever heard of a dimensional rift, a dimensional fragment, becoming completely bound to a human.
‘It wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for me.’
I didn’t know my inscription had this function.
‘Can it absorb other dimensional rifts as well?’
I wouldn’t know until I tried.
“Not just a subspace, but a personal dimension…”
Kayla muttered in disbelief.
I understood how she felt.
Honestly, even now, holding the dimensional fragment in my hands, it didn’t feel real.
I looked at Annelise with a serious expression, and she realized she had learned something she shouldn’t have.
Her pupils dilated, and the others finally noticed the strange atmosphere between us.
Kayla’s expression hardened.
It seemed she had been slow to grasp the situation, overwhelmed by the shocking reality of an individual possessing a personal dimension.
After thinking for a while…
Kayla drew her sword.
“Stop, Kayla.”
“This cannot be known.”
A personal dimension was on a different level from a simple subspace artifact.
In short, it was like possessing a mobile territory.
The internal environment wasn’t great, but if you considered what a necromancer with their own land could do…
‘At least a recognized warlock could be monitored periodically.’
And they couldn’t do anything too conspicuous.
But it was a different story with a personal dimension.
There would be no way to know what I was doing.
If this information was revealed, even the royal family, who had been favorable towards me, would become wary, and the Holy Empire would try to kill me at all costs.
“It would have been fine if you had remained hidden like before, Master. But now that you’ve revealed yourself, this must never be known.”
Now that I had revealed myself, it would be difficult to hide like in the past.
Therefore, I was aware that Kayla was right.
“I know that killing her will ruin a lot of the things we’ve accomplished so far. But that’s nothing compared to your safety, Master.”
Kayla looked at me with a pleading expression.
“Master, you’ve always avoided even the smallest risks. We have to kill her. We can repay the debt to the royal family by making an unfair contract. The Demihuman Alliance, those dark elves, can’t harm you anyway. They’re too far away. We’ll suffer losses, but they’re things we can handle.”
“You’ve obtained an incredible treasure. With your talent and that treasure, even if it takes a long time, you’ll eventually reach a position where no one can touch you. Don’t be swayed by immediate losses.”
I didn’t say anything to her earnest plea.
Even if she hadn’t said anything, the outcome was obvious. If Annelise ever went somewhere else alive and leaked this information, it would be impossible to handle.
And I had always acted according to my will.
Even now, the decision was ultimately mine, and the only one who could stop me was myself.
That’s why Kayla was pleading with me like this.
“I don’t think you don’t trust me.”
And that was true.
“This is a serious matter, so it’s understandable that you’re acting this way. I understand.”
She was speaking out of loyalty, as a knight. I wasn’t stupid enough to not understand her actions.
“But I can’t kill Annelise. I won’t allow it.”
“Why…?”
Annelise’s life meant nothing to me. It had no value to me.
However, I had no intention of making enemies of the Demihuman Alliance or the dark elves, and I didn’t want to be indebted to the royal family.
Kayla didn’t fully understand my past or my thoughts.
It was only natural, as she lacked information about me.
And there was a way to resolve this situation without killing Annelise.
“As you said, I agree that this information must never be leaked.”
“…Yes.”
“You said you really wanted to join our party before.”
A ripple of emotion crossed her face, which had seemed resigned to everything.
“Do you still feel the same way?”
“Why? Is there a need to go that far?”
Athena quickly intervened.
As I looked at Athena, she spoke.
“Honestly, I don’t fully understand why you and Master are being so sensitive about this. Maybe it’s because I lack experience in the world. But I know you and Master wouldn’t act this way for no reason, so it’s probably just beyond my comprehension.”
That was possible. She couldn’t fathom what a necromancer with a personal dimension could do.
“But Master has proposed another solution, right? It’ll definitely be a big loss, I know that much. But I think accepting her is more dangerous.”
“Can we trust her? It’s better to have as few people as possible who know such important information. What if she runs away? What if she talks carelessly somewhere else? She might just be deceiving us to survive.”
She had a point.
Of course, there was no denying that Athena’s personal feelings were mixed in with her words.
However, it wasn’t wrong, and she was speaking for the sake of me and the entire party, so I answered her.
“It’s true that we can’t trust her completely.”
The Mana Oath wouldn’t work on Annelise.
She couldn’t even use mana right now, and even if she gained mana in the future, she seemed like the type who would easily abandon it to survive.
And since our relationship hadn’t developed in a positive direction, Athena’s point that we couldn’t trust her was valid.
“But it doesn’t matter.”
Instead, it would allow us to grow rapidly.
There was no need to be indebted to the royal family or make enemies of the Demihuman Alliance.
“We’ll be under close watch for a while, but after that, she’ll never betray us.”
“…Do you have a way to ensure that?”
“She’ll experience firsthand that betraying us is the worst possible choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kayla, you know why I chose Count Lineta’s territory.”
“Once I become a recognized warlock and achieve my goals there… even a fool will see it. How great our potential is.”
“…Don’t you think that could backfire? It could make Annelise more likely to betray us.”
If we grew too strong too quickly, she might fear us and try to bring us down before we became even more powerful.
She might think we, especially me, would eliminate her once we were strong enough to not care about anyone else’s opinions.
Or perhaps the resentment hidden deep within her heart might resurface.
Kayla was considering these possibilities.
‘She doesn’t trust her at all.’
No, it seemed she didn’t even believe that Annelise would truly become one of us.
Either that, or she really hated Annelise.
Both were possibilities.
Perhaps Annelise, even if I accepted her, would forever remain an outsider, never truly becoming close to Athena and Kayla.
Despite that, I was leaning towards formally accepting Annelise.
‘This is more beneficial.’
Honestly, I didn’t like Annelise either.
Personally, I thought the debt between us had been mostly settled, considering the treatment she had received and the benefits she had brought me.
But that was separate from liking her as a person.
However, I didn’t want to hinder our current momentum.
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