Chapter 7
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: And So, We Arrived There
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Luke Seid is the Divine Power of the Earth.
You could easily figure that out just by piecing together all the abilities and thoughts he's shown so far.
'What does "dried up" even mean?'
Luke didn't respond.
Damn, what an unfriendly guy.
"Throw the spear!"
"Those teeth are sharp! Raise your shields!"
"Wounds from Jess Riper can't be healed!"
A lizard with six heads.
I could understand the words, but I had no idea what the thing looked like.
Whether out of consideration for me or not, Luke hid in a crevice between rocks and watched the Red Dragon Knights battle it out.
'That thing's as big as an elephant—how is that a lizard? Isn't it more like a dragon?'
I subdued the last known dragon in the world with my own hands not long ago...
I couldn't help but be shocked.
Not because of the dragon. It was the sadness seeping from Luke's words as he said it.
It was a pitiful creature. The world will forever remember it only as a disaster.
There seemed to be some backstory, but Luke didn't explain. He just started walking again. The Red Dragon Knights' lizard raid was wrapping up.
Gurgle...
'Teacher, are you hungry?'
My eyes bulged, and a chill ran through my body.
Luke pulled out a round pill the size of a thumbnail from his belt.
For the first time in ages, I finally tasted something.
'Tastes like toothpaste.'
The pill melted and vanished the moment it touched my tongue. My mouth felt refreshingly tingly. And that was the end of the meal.
Toolsep. Hellite's elixir.
Ah, an elixir. No wonder my body felt so light.
Strength returned to my sunken, fatigued eyes. My legs and abs felt solid again.
Legend says that to open the sanctuary, one must conserve and gather strength.
Now Luke was even explaining things I hadn't asked about.
There's no time. The place where the star descended. We must go there.
The sanctuary... he wasn't planning some exorcism ritual, was he? Was he treating me like a malevolent spirit?
'What time are you talking about? Where are you going, Teacher?'
He didn't answer every question.
He just kept his senses sharp, scanning the surroundings.
And yet, he kept glancing up at the star floating above his head.
Just like soldiers in the field using the stars to navigate.
Hiding my power helps with survival, but it limits my ability to unleash it freely.
Yeah, that makes sense.
It's like not being able to lift a heavy object if you don't flex your muscles, right?
OJT, huh?
It felt like on-the-job training.
This reminded me of when my senior—my trainer—took me around. He was just like Senior Luke now.
My senior would explain things I might wonder about before I even asked. He'd repeat and repeat until even a slow learner like me got it.
'I miss him. How great would it be if Senior Luke was that senior reincarnated.'
Of course, that senior had been way kinder.
He answered every question properly.
'Thinking about the old days is making me a bit depressed...'
Still, I had no intention of dismissing it all as mere past.
Those were my lived experiences, vivid memories.
No matter how long it lasted, I had to live on, possessing someone else's body with my clear past memories intact.
'Reality's hitting hard.'
I couldn't just die either.
I didn't even know how.
The sky was still blue, but the ground had gone completely dark.
No matter how far upstream we went, the valley stream never thinned.
'So much snow piled up. The fact it's melting means spring is coming.'
I'm someone who studied science and watched a lot of documentaries, so I knew stuff like that.
After passing a steep rocky area, a snowy mountain range unfolded before us.
Plowing through knee-deep snow, Luke headed for the tallest peak.
'Traces in the snow mean they'll catch up quick.'
Even now, far behind us, those guys were chasing with their shields lit like headlights.
What the hell was that Insight Ability of theirs that made them so persistent?
I sense holy energy. Then the Sanctuary of Oblivion must be there...
Maybe because Luke said it, or because I was attuned, I felt a heavy presence too.
In the direction his gaze turned, there was a massive waterfall.
'I don't think I've ever seen a waterfall this big even on TV.'
It dwarfed all the ones we'd passed before.
Roooaaar...
Rumblerumblerumble...
The waterfall's force made the air and ground vibrate together.
Fitting for pack hunters.
In the massive lake formed by the waterfall, creatures lurked with only their eyes, ears, and nostrils above water, glaring at us with cold eyes under the moonlight.
Prffft...
The way they snorted water from their nostrils looked like a warning.
'They're not gonna attack, right?'
As long as we don't invade their territory, we'll be fine.
'Doesn't feel like we haven't already invaded it, Teacher?'
Human strength alone can't escape them. We'd end up torn apart and devoured. But I am stronger than they are.
Yes...
Well, if he subdued a dragon, beating up some animals should be no big deal.
'Think those guys could stop the Red Dragon Knights too?'
Every confrontation is relative.
Meaning the better fighter wins.
I didn't catch most of what Senior Luke said right away.
Not just his archaic speech, but the vocabulary he used wasn't everyday stuff.
'I wanna tweak my translator first, but I don't know how. Is there even a way?'
Still, as time passed and I got used to it, I started understanding more and more.
We skirted the lake and headed behind the waterfall.
After twists and turns, we reached the base without the Red Dragon Knights catching us.
But with footprints left behind, they'd catch up soon.
Bong... bong... bong...
And so, we arrived there.
Only to find another obstacle waiting.
Bong... bong... bong...
Its cry was louder than a big-displacement sports car with no muffler.
'That thing...'
A massive creature with steel-like hide dripping reddish oil.
Grrroooaaar!
It opened its maw and bellowed a savage warning.
The waterfall drowned it out, but Luke's sharp ears caught the warning clearly.
And then.
'Huh?'
One of the fierce flames blazing in Luke's heart flickered out.
It wasn't stolen, but it felt suffocatingly trapped.
Nelladloes Aksigang.
Thanks to the ever-kind Senior Luke, my curiosity was quickly sated.
Nelladloes Aksigang. Sealed Demon Cave.
A valley that seals mana.
'Um, Teacher? Senior? I have a good feeling about this? We shouldn't get any closer.'
But Senior Luke approached indifferently.
The legend is true.
'Legend?'
"Only starlight can reach the forgotten sanctuary. Those without qualification will be devoured by the sacred beast."
Luke turned his head north.
The moon visible even in daylight left only afterimages through the mist.
But a sharp beam of starlight pierced the spray, illuminating the inside of the waterfall.
'Qualification, huh. So that's why he said we had to conserve strength.'
One thing was clear: we could get eaten.
By that massive hippo.
'A hippo as a sacred beast? What a weird world.'
I was curious about its origins, but Luke stared straight ahead without responding.
Bong... bong... bong...
The hippo stomped its front feet like a wild horse revving up.
The reddish sweat from its body sparkled in the starlight.
'It's warning us.'
For the first time, I heard Luke's voice vividly.
"Do not fear."
It was the same voice I'd heard from the star, the one that bantered with the Ruler of Frost. A bit more mature now, but still sounding young.
'Just from the voice, he could be my age.'
To prove his qualification, Senior Luke unleashed his divine power, radiating light.
The dark interior of the waterfall lit up in an instant.
'What if the Red Dragon Knights see this?'
A valid concern, but Luke focused solely on the hippo.
"I am Luke Seid, Hellite's greatest holy knight. What is your name?"
His stern voice cut through the roar of the waterfall, and the bellowing hippo shut its mouth.
Slurp...
Even the sound of it closing its mouth was intimidating.
I just watched quietly.
He hadn't asked my name, after all.
The massive hippo nodded its head and let out a long cry.
Boooo...
"I see... you have no name..."
He said it so tenderly and pityingly that I nearly teared up.
Aw, poor thing. A grown hippo with no name.
Didn't your mom give you one?
Something like that.
But wait, Teacher.
Are you seriously talking to the hippo right now?
Abilities are mere trifling remnants to begin with.
You've been downplaying abilities this whole time, calling it trifling even after splitting the earth and making tree roots twerk?
All abilities depend on the contractor's power.
Ah, he'd said something similar earlier.
My brain was just too slow.
In the end, it was because I was such a scrub that I couldn't understand hippo speech...
'He just roasted me.'
The hippo lowered its guard.
Senior Luke approached boldly but without haste.
"In the name of Hellite's Star, Luke Seid, by the authority of the Earth's divinity, and by the light's authority entrusted by Saintess El Ravina, I bless you."
Amen or something.
It felt like it needed that kind of wrap-up.
Luke placed his hand on the hippo's head.
He stroked it and moved to the side, pausing at its belly.
"Guardian hippo of the sanctuary, I bless the child in your womb as well."
Rhymes nicely.
'Earth measurements? About 6 meters?'
Estimating based on human proportions.
It was so huge, at least three times Luke's length.
'Hippo, hippo, hippo... Delma sounds like a good name.'
The thought struck me as I watched the white light from Luke's hand seep into the hippo's belly.
"If it's alright with you, let's call you Delma."
Boooo...
Delma raised its head high and cried out.
Then it stepped aside.
'Whoa.'
A long crack ran along the cliff behind it—just as I'd guessed—but the hippo had been blocking the path.
Sure enough, a sacred beast guarding the sanctuary.
"Go far away, son of the hippo, Delma."
What the hell?
You blessed its unborn calf—how's that make it your son!
Senior Luke was pretty quirky too.
Boooo...
"We shall meet again. Go far without worry. No need to return."
Thud... thump...
Delma turned and vanished beyond the waterfall.
'Kinda cute how it understood like a big dog... Nah. If that butt sat on him, even Senior Luke would be flattened.'
Whew—thanks to Luke's composure, I hadn't trembled, but seeing and touching the hippo up close was terrifying.
After bidding Delma farewell, Luke stepped into the passage.
Hippos don't eat at night.
Ah, so that's why he told it to go far away.
I learned a lot today, but I never imagined I'd be learning about hippos in this unfamiliar world.
Still, it seemed odd for hippos to live in such a cold, rocky area.
Probably just my Earth-biased preconceptions.
Take care, Delma!
I command thee—O divinity...
What the—?
Shiiiing...
A double-edged sword materialized in Luke's hand.
'Why?'
Having been lost in admiring the waterfall and hippo, I tensed up.
Summoning a weapon meant pursuers were close.
'I don't sense anything. Is the waterfall blocking my senses? Or am I just too scrub to sense like Senior?'
Whatever—bring it on, you bastards!
Even dead, watching a fight's fun.
But what was this?
I felt a gaze of pity from within.
'Ah, why? What's that supposed to mean?'