Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Chapter 17: Threshold Breakthrough
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“You were here all along.”
A man wrapped head to toe in bandages slowly approached from beyond the darkness. Phiren, huddled in the corner, lifted his sunken eyes and barely managed a reply.
“Patron…… you’ve finally come. Keep your voice down.”
“Yes! I’m here.”
“Shh…… quietly…… There are still people upstairs. If we’re caught, it’s over.”
“Isn’t this your mansion? Why worry about others in your own home?”
“Didn’t you hear? The Regent Highness is dead…… and I’ve become a traitor to the empire. Soldiers are ransacking my mansion right now to confiscate a traitor’s assets.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re hiding in a dump like this.”
The Patron picked up Phiren’s head from the corner with both hands. With only his head left, Phiren wheezed like an asthmatic as he spoke.
“This place…… is a secret chamber in the mansion. I barely escaped here and hid…… but I could be discovered any moment.”
“Oh dear, what happened to that sturdy body of yours? How did you end up in such a pitiful state?”
“I lost to the enemy.”
“The enemy?”
“Dabi……”
“Dabi? Isn’t he a Knight Master like you?”
“That’s right. And the prince…… Claude killed the Regent Highness.”
“Claude.”
The Patron lightly rubbed his chin, his voice tinged with interest.
“The very one who made Prince Jess grant his final wish. But for a berserker to lose to a mere human—truly astonishing.”
“Claude already wields magic beyond an Arch Wizard…… But what’s a berserker?”
“Didn’t you see it with your own eyes, Phiren?”
“How could I…… Ah, you mean the Regent Highness’s transformed state was the berserker. Indeed……”
He wanted to nod, but with only his head left, he couldn’t. The Patron examined the cleanly severed stump at Phiren’s neck and frowned.
“It’s cut so cleanly. It must have been hard to even form new tentacles like this, yet you made it all the way here.”
“I really…… thought I was done for. The tentacles I barely managed to create all withered and twisted on the way back to the mansion……”
“Still, you saved your life—that’s fortunate. Your life signal was so faint it took me ages to track you down.”
“The reason I survived…… is because you granted my wish, Patron.”
“Your second wish. To transcend human limits and gain a body that survives even decapitation. Though I didn’t expect you’d actually get your head cut off.”
“Revenge…… I want revenge. Please, my final third wish……”
Phiren seemed to be fading fast. The Patron stared at the head in his palm for a long while before slowly speaking.
“I can’t grant the third wish so easily. It requires a commensurate emotional distortion.”
“Emo……tions……”
“The more twisted the emotions, the higher the quality of the patronage. So, excuse me for a moment.”
The Patron stuck out his tongue through the bandages. Then he began meticulously licking every part of Phiren’s face.
“Mmm…… delicious. Perfect. An exquisite flavor.”
“Flavor……”
“Rage, regret, and inferiority complex blended so masterfully. Especially this level of twisted inferiority. You must really hold a grudge against that Dabi fellow.”
“Dabi……”
“The old Phiren was too confident to draw out such complex emotions. Looks like defeat was the best medicine. Mmm, and fear too? How long have you been trembling in fear in this dark hole?”
“……”
“Oh, running out of strength, are we? Anyway, this degree of twisted flavor is no ordinary thing. It rivals even the Regent Highness I tasted recently.”
The Patron smacked his lips and turned away. Muttering to himself, he stepped back into the darkness.
“But with so little body left, this won’t do. I’ll have to head back first. Back home, to restore what’s missing.”
“Head back…… where?”
Phiren mustered his last strength to ask. The Patron cradled Phiren’s head to his chest and smiled.
“To my homeland, of course.”
“Homeland……”
“Congratulations, Phiren. You’ll go down in history as the first otherworlder from this world to cross dimensions.”
At the same time, space tore open in the corner of the room, revealing darkness beyond the darkness.
“Oh……”
Phiren sighed and closed his eyes. The Patron crossed the boundary with light steps, gently stroking Phiren’s head.
“When you open your eyes next, you’ll surely be a being everyone fears. I promise. Your third wish is worth that much.”
* * *
“Kuwek! Cugh! Ptooey!”
Regal returned to the machine room and promptly vomited up three cores.
“Here’s the core, as promised.”
“Two would’ve been enough. Thanks anyway.”
Now I could treat not just the Emperor, but even Crown Prince Adrix!
I’d never saved both at once before, but nothing special should go wrong, right?
“I’m 351 years old this year. Ancient Wolves past 300 form a core inside every ten years. If you need more, come back in nine years.”
“Got it. But more importantly……”
I tossed out the proposal I’d mulled over on the way back.
“Hey, how about you finally come out into the open?”
“The outside? You mean beyond the sewers?”
“Word is you’ve been holed up here for 50 years already. Isn’t it time to step out? How long are you gonna stay cooped up in the sewers?”
“For life.”
Regal narrowed his eyes as he replied.
“Didn’t Didi explain why I came here?”
“You ran away to avoid fighting your twin for the chieftain position, right?”
“I broke the tribe’s rules. An unforgivable crime. My scent can’t return to the world. It’d start the hunt all over again.”
“I get your situation. So here—take this Scent Removal Elixir.”
“What?”
Regal’s eyes widened. Recalling the elixir knowledge from my past regression, I said,
“Scent Removal Elixir. Drink it, and it erases your body odor completely.”
“Such an elixir exists?”
“Even the stinkiest person becomes normal with one dose. The ingredients are so rare it’s not well-known, but it definitely exists.”
“Impressive. But what guarantee does it work on me?”
“Why not try it?”
“You want me to gamble my life?”
“Worth the gamble, isn’t it? And honestly, you’re bored out of your mind.”
“……What’s that supposed to mean?”
Regal narrowed his eyes again. I spread my arms wide, looking around.
“There’s nothing to do here, right? You must be dying of boredom, eavesdropping on the humans upstairs.”
“I didn’t eavesdrop. It just carried down.”
Regal turned his head away in denial.
But it was obvious his heart was already swayed. He wasn’t even denying the boredom part.
“How long you gonna keep rotting here? That’s enough—come out already. There’s a huge forest around my mansion. How about living there?”
“A forest?”
“Not as vast as the Eternal Forest, sure. But more than enough for you. I’ll provide plenty of food. Even treat you to venison as a delicacy now and then.”
“That doesn’t sound bad……”
Regal muttered, tempted. Then he narrowed his eyes in warning.
“But my tribe might send assassins to your forest.”
“So what? You weak enough to die to them?”
“As if. No Ancient Wolf stronger than me exists, save my brother.”
“Then we’re good. Worried about causing me trouble? Don’t. You saw how strong I am. If I wanted, I could wipe out not just assassins, but your whole tribe. Not that I would.”
“Hmm……”
Regal stared at the floor, deep in thought. Good. He’s almost hooked.
Of course, I wasn’t persuading him out of pure humanitarianism.
My reason for luring Regal out of the sewers was simple.
Speed.
He runs way faster than I can fly with flight magic!
Sure, with wind magic acceleration, I might edge him in bursts.
But Regal covers long distances fast without mana drain.
So if I let him roam near home and ask for rides when needed, he’d make a perfect mount.
“……Fine.”
The wolf finally nodded. Didi leaped up and hugged his neck.
“Regal!”
“I’ll accept the offer. Curious how Didi lives outside. And I’ve got new things I want to do.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Regal eyed me quietly. Something about that gaze nagged me…… but better get him out before he changes his mind.
“Do what you want. Let’s go now. Didi?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Lead the way. Back the way we came.”
“No, not that way.”
Regal cut in, shaking his head.
“I can’t use human passages. Not unless I smash the exit.”
Oh, right?
His size definitely wouldn’t fit the way we entered. Barely big enough for one person.
“Then what? How’d you get in here originally?”
“There’s a wide channel where the sewage finally exits the sewers. Connects to the river.”
“The river? Rizel River? That means exiting way outside Emperoad?”
Rizel flows southeast of Emperoad. Regal nodded, glancing outside the machine room.
“Entered through there 50 years ago. Thought I’d never leave…… World’s unpredictable.”
* * *
The wolf that exited the sewers suddenly launched forward at tremendous speed, leaping into the middle of the river.
Splash!
“Ugh!”
Didi and I, riding his back, were flung sideways into the water. What the hell! Why the sudden full sprint and jump?!
“Hey! Regal! What’s the big idea?!”
“Sorry! Get to shore first!”
Regal, who’d flown to the river’s center, poked his head above water and replied. I flew out with flight magic, searching for Didi.
“Didi!”
“Over here, Your Highness!”
Didi was swimming toward the bank a bit away. I flew to him, hooked my arms under his armpits, and yanked him out.
“Hngh!”
Come to think of it, I did something similar in the sewers days ago?
Last time, my shoulders creaked and I dropped him.
But this time, it held. Nice—my joints and whole body are tougher now?
Still, my raw strength hadn’t leaped forward……
Ugh, holding him too long in excitement—now my whole arms feel like snapping.
I barely made it to the bank before dropping Didi. He spun toward the river on landing and shouted.
“Your Highness! Regal’s still in the river!”
“I see! Can’t he swim?”
“Never seen him swim before!”
“He’s not drowning, is he?”
Can’t swim, yet he jumped from sewer exit to mid-river? Frowning, I flew back to him.
“Regal! What’re you doing? Get out!”
He bobbed leisurely in the middle, paddling casually.
Didn’t look like drowning. Then why? Catching fish mid-river?
“Pffft! Pffbt! Wait a sec!”
Regal surfaced, shouting.
Around the massive wolf thrashing the surface, some black unidentified something spread like storm clouds.
Poison?
Did Regal get poisoned without me knowing, and now he’s expelling it?
No—Ancient Wolves are immune to all poisons.
So that black aura must be……
“Gah!”
Realization hit, and I screamed instinctively. Watching him paddle underwater then resurface, I yelled.
“Regal! Weren’t you a black wolf?!”
“……”
“Then why’s your fur white now?! Huh? Say something! Ugh, gross! How can a person—or wolf—do that?!”