Chapter 33
End
Translator : PolterGlast
I had met the God of
this world before.
In the game, he would
occasionally appear in human form and grant various wishes. The God would grant
a person's wish only once, but doing so would lead straight to the God's route.
That's why I had pretended not to know him. Ever since I came to the city of
Volvect, perhaps amused by my existence, he had been flitting around in front
of me in the form of a cat.
It happened even when
I was using skills other than my Tamer skill, so I didn't know if he didn't
care about hiding or if it was just a slip-up.
The cat in front of me
was swaying its tail gently.
The thumping, thumping
sound stopped abruptly. Even Lotus's occasional breaths had stopped, so I let
out a small scream. But it was different. Not even the air in the space was
moving. I opened and closed my mouth, realizing I couldn't even make a sound,
because I couldn't even breathe. The air wasn't moving. I felt suffocated, and
my throat twitched. Pan! The cat slapped the ground with its tail.
"Uwa, haah,
haah... haah...!"
I leaned forward,
still holding Lotus, and took deep breaths repeatedly.
"G-god...!"
"Huh? You seem to
know me?"
"Oh dear,"
the cat swirled its golden eyes. Its fur was gray and glossy. "What, what
is it? A wish?" The god puffed out his cheeks, as if he had come without
thinking because he was called, and his magnificent whiskers twitched.
Please, save Lotus.
It was a wish I had
already conveyed, but I needed courage to say it again. Because if I said it, I
would be the god's slave for life. I wouldn't be able to escape, and there
might be many painful things. Yet, I clearly voiced my plea.
"Please, save
Lotus!"
The feeling of
surprise came later. But I had no regrets. In a world where time had stopped,
if Lotus, who wasn't moving at all, really... if became a reality. That was
much, much scarier. "Hmm," the god groaned. Even though he could take
human form, he walked around me in his cat form, perhaps finding it amusing.
"Okay, I understand," he nodded.
"But I refuse!"
"Wh-what...?"
I knew he was a
capricious god, but I didn't expect him to say something like that after coming
all this way. He said he understood. Why would he say such a thing? Even though
he had no obligation to grant my request, I felt utterly betrayed, as if I had
been stabbed in the back. "That's awful," my mouth muttered on its
own.
"It's not awful
at all. I have no obligation to save you, or that person over there."
"But, that's, if
it's only once, in the game..."
"Game?"
"I-in [The Tale
of the Five-Leafed Country]."
As I said it, I
realized this was reality. I felt frustrated, no, painful sobs escaped me. I
had somehow thought I could save Lotus. I had foolishly rejoiced. In the end, I
couldn't do anything. The tears that just kept falling made me feel frustrated
and pathetic.
"Well, it's not
that I'm reluctant to grant the wishes of humans in trouble, you know? But,
well, those kinds of people, they wish and wish, and even then, there's nothing
they can do. If it's a human like that, I might help them out just once."
"After all, we
gods are capricious, and you shouldn't expect too much," the cat flicked
its red tongue. Unable to express my emotions, I hugged Lotus's unmoving body.
What would happen when the stopped time started moving again? I wanted it to
stay still forever. I wished and wished, but it didn't reach. Feeling the pain,
I closed my eyes.
"But you're
different."
So many tears kept
falling that I thought my eyes would melt. It was painful.
"But you
know," the cat swayed its tail quietly," maybe just a little hint
won't hurt."
"It's probably
just a little bit more, right? Even dust will become a mountain if it piles
up."
The space burst. Time
returned. The cat was nowhere to be seen. Lotus coughed slightly. I could only
hear his painful breaths. His blood kept flowing. I could hear the sound of the
demon slowly moving. Nothing had been resolved.
What was "just a
little bit more"? I didn't know, and it wasn't even a hint. Even dust will
become a mountain. No matter how much I thought, I didn't understand. What was
it? Help me, I don't understand. My mouth trembled, and I shook my head. That's
when Ichi and the others said, "Huh? What on earth was that?" as they
desperately held down the rubble.
"It was a cat
that came to bother us, wasn't it? It was a cat, right? But, but, El said it
was a god. Wow, it was a god. That was the one they were talking about. We met
when we were born, didn't we?" "I don't remember." "You
don't remember either?"
"I-Ichi and the
others, you could see it too...?"
I had been so
desperate that I thought I was the only one moving in the stopped time. They
had also seen the god and recognized its existence. At that moment, I suddenly
remembered the painting on the ceiling of the chapel. There were many motifs of
trees and leaves, and then there was a water spot. The water spot was said to
be the remnant of a god who had spilled water while trying to water the World
Tree, so it was extremely sacred, and even monsters would become docile.
Inside Ichi and the
others' stomachs, the squishy red core was swaying. ――――Slime water. It was
highly valued as drinking water among adventurers. Water was important in the
Cloudy Country. Because it was a god's dropped item. Then, also the slimes who
carried it in their bellies... They met him when they were born. So, was that
it?
Even so, I didn't
understand what that had to do with anything. It didn't help at all. A pillar
fell in front of me. I hurriedly shielded Lotus. There was no time. "It's
probably just a little bit more, right?" The god had said that, but what
on earth was "just a little bit more"?
The feeling of wanting
someone to help me changed to the feeling that I had to help him, and I thought
a lot. I combined several skills in my head. If I didn't, it wasn't just Lotus.
Ichi and the others would also be crushed and die. If I didn't eliminate the
demon, the city itself would disappear.
I thought and thought.
I combined various statuses, checked them, and erased them. I checked my
titles. One by one, I applied them. Title: Foolish Liar. It was when I clicked
it into place. A voice announced in my head.
【The level of the Illusion skill has increased】
A piron sound rang
out.
From Lv. 2 to Lv. 3.
In other words, the number of skills I could use simultaneously, including the
Illusion skill, was now up to four. The description of the Illusion skill was: 【Turns conviction into power】. At some point, it had changed slightly: 【Turns uttered lies into power】. Titles slightly increased stats. Wild Child
increased physical abilities. The Foolish Liar title was specialized for the
Illusion skill.
I checked the
abilities of the skills I possessed. Then, I noticed only one method. A method
to save Lotus.
The accumulated
experience points finally reached their limit. My skill level had increased. So
there was something I could do. I was terribly conflicted. This was an act that
Lotus would never want. There was no time to think about what to do. I just
wanted him to live.
"San and Nii,
stay there and keep supporting the wall."
"We'll do our
best," they trembled. "Ichi, come here," I called him next to
Lotus. Ichi looked worriedly at the bloodless face of the young man. He was
already unconscious.
I gently brought my
adult body closer to Lotus. And I pressed my lips to his exposed neck where it
had been torn.
"I'm sorry."
The words of apology
were just self-satisfaction. I bit down hard on his neck, as if sinking my
teeth in. Blood seeped into my mouth.
Water was sacred to
the Cloudy Country. If so, then blood must also be a kind of water.
【Using the Fishing skill】
The Fishing skill's
characteristic wasn't just fishing. It could also slightly change the flow of
water. This alone wasn't enough.
【Using the Detection skill】【Using the Search skill】【Using the Helping Hand
skill】
I combined several
skills and searched for the circulation of blood in Lotus's body. I used the
Detecton skill to sense his body's condition, the Search skill to find the
blood, and the Helping Hand skill to boost them. Skill levels weren't multiplicative,
but additive. The more skills I used, the greater their power became. I
occasionally switched in the Listening skill to check the sounds. His blood,
which had been flowing steadily, stopped flowing. At the same time, I poured
magic power into his neck. The magic power I had stored in the necklace was
being depleted at an astonishing speed.
Sweat gradually seeped
out. I was just getting impatient. I asked Ichi to borrow the water inside his
body. Mun, Ichi, who had grown larger than usual, stretched his hand towards
Lotus's wound. Lotus's blood and Ichi's water swirled together. The god's water
entered the flowing blood, and little by little, warmth returned to his body.
When everything was
over, Lotus slowly opened "both" of his eyes. Seeing those eyes, I
almost started to cry a little. It was an illusion that turned lies into power.
But my power was still not enough to create everything from nothing.
"Lotus..."
"I don't...
understand."
His voice was slightly
hoarse. "Did I... worry you a lot...?" He reached out one hand. Then,
he stroked my cheek with his palm.
"Hey, El."
He called my name in
my adult form.
In the game, Lotus
lost an arm and an eye in a battle with a demon. And he gained a unique
ability.
I could only imagine
what the situation was like then. Had he lost Sutra-san and Yozaki-san, and
then screamed, covered in blood, without even an eye or an arm? Yet, in the
midst of a fierce battle, with his body tattered, he had brilliantly defeated
the demon.
Why had he suffered
such severe injuries in the game? This was just my imagination, but just like
now, he might have been protecting someone. Losing an eye and an arm was such a
severe injury that it was strange he could even move, even if he had a unique
skill. But Lotus had achieved victory. So I have a question.
――――If he hadn't been
injured from the start. If he, without any unique ability, had faced the demon,
what would have been the result?
Lotus stood straight
and glared ahead. And from the two swords at his waist, he drew only one. In
front of him was a mountain-like creature, many times, dozens of times bigger
than him. It wriggled dozens of limbs, and its many goggling eyes looked
around.
"Hey, you really
went and destroyed everything you pleased, didn't you?"
At Lotus's words, the
demon made a strange sound, and its body cracked open, revealing a jagged
mouth. "Unbelievable," the young man shrugged in exasperation. To the
demon, he was just prey. Eat, destroy, kill, that was all, there was no
rationality anywhere. The demon lunged at the young man. The mountain-like mass
bounced only its torso without moving its legs.
Even that alone was so
huge that it scraped the cobblestones and collapsed the city. The severed legs
twitched slightly and fell with a squelch.
"That's what
happens when you're all torso and have such skinny legs."
It probably didn't
understand his words. The demon roared. GYASYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! It felt like my
ears would break. The half-formed scream, which was neither voice nor words,
reached me and Ichi and the others, who were hiding and watching. Ichi and the
others, trembling with fear, shuffled over to me. Even though they were just
cleaning slimes, they must have wanted to run away, but they were saying,
"It's okay!" "That's what Lotus said," they added.
『Something like that's no problem. I'll finish it off
quickly. You just stay hidden properly.』
"I'll let you
have a good explanation later," he said, his eyes narrowed as if he was
angry but not really, and the corners of his mouth turned up. Lotus was
stronger than anyone. Because he was an orphan, he couldn't expect to rise in
the ranks, and he was just a low-ranking soldier, but he was strong enough to
be ordered to investigate the cause of the slimes disappearing from the forest
all by himself.
The time it took for
him to rise through the ranks was too short just because he gained a unique
skill. It only took him one or two years to become the best knight in the
country.
"Well, that's
game settings, I guess," I hadn't thought about it deeply, but seeing
Lotus wield his sword like this, I understood. Even without a skill, even as
just a regular young man, he was too strong.
When he thrust his
sword straight into the demon, it let out a death cry and collapsed
powerlessly.
In the collapsed city
where no one else was, only the young man stood. His clothes were tattered, and
he looked up at the sky full of clouds. Slowly, light shone through the gaps in
the clouds. The sun was setting.
――――On his back, there was
a pair of wings, like a bat's.
Slowly, they were
being dyed red by the light.
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