Chapter 59 - King of Hungry Ghosts (4)

The moment Alon manifested Ice-Crystal Painted Halberd, he understood its effect. The space had a radius of roughly ten meters—hardly expansive—but within it, the laws themselves were altered.

Even a law as self-evident as water flowing downward no longer held true, at least within this space.

For the law of Ice-Crystal Painted Halberd was to freeze everything within that space.

A law of inevitability, enforced according to the caster’s will, regardless of what its target might be.

Yet the magic Alon had manifested vanished before it could last even six seconds. In both mana and knowledge, this space was still beyond what he was permitted to wield.

But that brief manifestation of barely six seconds was enough to accomplish what he wanted.

"..."

Feeling a trickle of blood escape his mouth, he looked ahead. There stood the Outer God—Kailas, frozen blue from head to toe and crumbling into tiny fragments.

"Ha... What a weak, wretched body."

His body was no longer intact. Both arms had already shattered, and even his legs were crumbling away.

"You certainly got me."

Yet even now, he was smiling. With a broad smile that made his earlier grim expression seem like a lie, he looked at Alon.

"Had I fully incarnated and been able to wield my magic properly, I could have easily stopped that paltry manifestation of yours. But—"

He spoke with apparent regret.

"Hypotheticals are meaningless."

Kailas had been about to say something, but at Alon’s reply, he chuckled instead.

"An excellent answer, insignificant creature. No—mage. This is my defeat."

With those final words, he crumbled completely and vanished, leaving behind only the clothes he had worn.

And then...

"Whew..."

Count Pallatio let out a quiet breath, white vapor rising in the lingering cold. As the mercenaries stared blankly at the man who had slain an Outer God with a human body,

"..."

an emotion they could not conceal began to spread among them.

####

Immediately after Kailas vanished, the mercenaries, who had been gazing at Alon in awe, briefly cheered their survival before moving as one to deal with the aftermath.

Alon passed out right where he stood.

A day later, Alon awoke after collapsing as abruptly as a device being switched off, and heard a piece of welcome news.

Myaon and Argonia were alive.

Myaon had coughed up blood, but her injuries were mild enough that potions would allow her to move to some extent. Argonia was the problem.

Though she had survived a direct hit from the Outer God’s magic, only a half-dragon’s extraordinary physical toughness and regenerative powers were keeping her breathing. She was practically a living corpse—so badly hurt that taking her out of the labyrinth was all but impossible.

... Of course, Alon was no more capable of walking out of the labyrinth himself.

"Whew..."

Forcing his trembling breath under control, he looked at his left hand. His entire left arm had turned a sickly blue, as though it had frozen to death. Judging by its appearance alone, he might well have needed an amputation.

Nor was it only his arm. The left arm was merely a little worse; patches all over his body had turned bluish, as though covered in blue bruises.

Fortunately, however, this was a symptom of mana poisoning, not frostbite.

'I can’t put any strength into it.'

He sighed softly at the arm, which would not so much as twitch and seemed utterly devoid of sensation, then lay back on the cot. He had anticipated this outcome time and again while gulping down every mana potion he had.

'I’m fortunate it stopped at this.'

Among the symptoms of mana poisoning caused by drinking too many mana potions, this sort of mana-induced nerve paralysis was comparatively mild. It would take some time, but it could heal naturally.

A mana sinkhole, which permanently damaged the mana reservoir, or cardiac mana sclerosis, in which mana flooded into the heart and hardened it, could have killed him on the spot.

"Whew."

As Alon sighed, grateful to be alive, the flap of the makeshift tent lifted and Rine walked in, her expression impassive.

"Are you all right, Godfather?"

"The poisoning is making things a little difficult. That is all."

"That’s a relief."

A somewhat prolonged silence followed her reply. Alon glanced over at Rine. Her expression remained impassive, yet he sensed a slight awkwardness in it.

'Before this, she was reserved, but we could still talk naturally...'

Today, she remained silent as though she had no intention of continuing the conversation. Just as Alon wondered whether he should say something, she spoke first.

"Godfather."

"What is it?"

"Forgive me, but may I ask you something?"

"Ask whatever you like."

She seemed to consider it for a moment before posing her question.

"... Why did you save me?"

"Why?"

"Yes. Why did you save me?"

"... Why ask that all of a sudden?"

"Because I wasn’t particularly useful in that situation."

Alon looked at her. She was still impassive, but the question in her eyes was unmistakable, as though she could not understand his actions at all.

Suddenly recalling that Seollang had asked him a similar question, he began to feel oddly wronged.

'Seriously, what do I look like to them...? Do I have the face of a stereotypical villain? Why does every one of them think I raised them so I could find some way to exploit them?'

True, he had rescued them with the aim of eliminating the Five Great Sins, but he had certainly never thought that they owed him anything.

... He had merely entertained a small hope that a few benefits might trickle his way, or that he might receive slightly—ever so slightly—more extravagant birthday gifts.

Forcing himself upright, Alon sat on the edge of the flimsy bed and spoke, carrying the same sense of injustice he had felt last time.

"Rine."

"Yes, Godfather."

"I don’t know what you think of me, but I did not take you all in to use you."

"... You... didn’t?"

Watching her faltering reply, he let the thought that she really had believed that pass through his mind, then continued.

"I consider you all family."

"Family...?"

"Yes. Family who can help each other when times are hard. Our relationship is not bound by profit or necessity. There is no great significance to my saving you. I simply—"

He sighed, then continued.

"—saved you because it was the natural thing to do. Just as you saved me."

"Ah."

Rine’s eyes widened slightly at his words. Perhaps because she was naturally so reserved, her reaction was not pronounced, but that slight widening convinced Alon that at least some of his sincerity had reached her.

"Remember, Rine. This is not a one-sided relationship. If you truly want to do something for me without anything in return, remembering my birthday will suffice."

Finishing with those words, which contained just a tiny bit of self-interest, he looked at her.

Rine stared blankly at his face and remained silent for a while. Then, for the first time, a small smile touched her lips.

"... I understand, Godfather."

"Then that is enough."

At last feeling that some of his sincerity had gotten through, Alon gave a small nod.

After talking with him a little longer, Rine left. Alon looked at the place where she had been, then closed his eyes. He had been awake for barely an hour, but his feeble, unrecovered body seemed to crave sleep.

About five days later, on the fifth floor, where there was neither night nor day, only a blue sky, Alon finally recovered enough to move around.

"... Can you move?"

"To some extent."

"... Remarkable."

Together with Argonia, whose monstrous powers of recovery had restored her mobility, he began ascending the floors to leave the labyrinth.

After another two days climbing upward through the dark abyss, they finally reached the outside, accompanied by an unusually impassioned shout from Argonia.

"We’re here!"

####

Three days had passed since their return to the labyrinth city of Lartania.

Alon had been unable to go out while recuperating, but praise and rumors about the expedition that had slain the Outer God spread ceaselessly throughout Lartania, and were beginning to creep beyond its borders.

Having rested sufficiently at Merd, the building Rine owned, Alon confirmed that his mana poisoning had markedly improved and promptly prepared to leave.

He would have liked to enjoy a longer rest before setting off, but staying too long at Merd would surely make him a burden.

Thus, before returning home with Evan, he shared one final meal with Rine.

"Godfather."

"What is it?"

"When is your birthday?"

Alon considered her question for a moment before answering.

"My birthday... September twenty-fifth."

"September twenty-fifth... Yes, I understand."

With that exchange, their final lunch came to an end.

"Then let us meet again when we have the time."

"Yes, Godfather. I’ll see you again."

"Indeed."

After exchanging their final farewells, he boarded the carriage and set off for the count’s estate once more.

"My lord."

"What is it?"

"You must be looking forward to next year."

"Looking forward to it? Oh, my birthday?"

"Yes."

"Not particularly. I receive plenty of gifts already."

"Oh, come on. Formal gifts exchanged as a courtesy are different from what the children send you."

"... Even so, I’m not expecting much," Alon said.

Despite his words, however, he was actually looking forward to it a little. He had begun to anticipate it the moment Rine asked about his birthday.

'... Wine...? No, Rine deals in artifacts, so perhaps she’ll give me a useful artifact? ... Still, those are rather expensive, so she’ll probably settle for something reasonable...?'

Thinking of the gift that would arrive in a year, Alon nurtured his anticipation behind an expressionless face.

Meanwhile, immediately after Alon left, Rine returned to Merd and sat in her office, staring at his carriage moving away in the distance.

'... A gift... A gift for the man who accepted me as family.'

She turned her gaze elsewhere.

Only one building filled her vision: the residence of Lucimore Grace, lord of Lartania—the castle in which only the city’s lord could live.

'There’s one.'

A smile formed on Rine’s lips.