Chapter 292 - Chapter 291: Red Eyes
Yaroibarov watched Mika's battle from the ground.
The Crown Prince and others were being protected by the Royal Guard knights.
Information was in a mess, but it seemed the realization that His Majesty was acting strange was spreading.
The Prime Minister didn't fully understand the situation, but they were putting on a show that the Crown Prince had noticed the King's abnormality and tried to stop it.
I don't know what scenario he intends to use in the end, but right now, containing the situation is the top priority.
Yaroibarov also had no intention of getting involved for now.
Ozendorwa had also left the Royal Castle earlier and headed for District 2 to join the Fifth Knights Order.
Since Mika had blocked the city gates, Yaroibarov helped Ozendorwa jump over the castle walls.
Yaroibarov pushed up vigorously with both hands, and Ozendorwa jumped at the same timing.
The Royal Guard knights watched Ozendorwa easily clearing the castle wall with dumbfounded expressions.
Yaroibarov looked up at the Royal Castle.
Right above the castle was, for some reason, a huge, eerie face.
Mika kept ramming into that huge face persistently.
"Good. Keep it up."
That kind of reckless fighting style.
It had been a while since I felt my chest burning like this.
"Is that a privilege of children?"
It had been a long time since I had charged forward with single-minded determination.
It was a big factor that such opponents had disappeared, but it was certain that I had lost the earnestness of the old days.
"Good luck, monk."
When Yaroibarov muttered that, the huge face swelled up.
No, it wasn't swelling; it was scattering into mist.
"Alright. As expected of a monk."
Yaroibarov couldn't help but make a victory pose.
But, from between the disappearing black things, something was falling.
"Oh, this might be bad."
Maybe he had pushed himself too hard.
Mika was falling straight down.
Yaroibarov ran toward the Royal Castle.
"Yo! Ho, there!"
He kicked off the ground, skillfully leaping from balcony to balcony.
In the blink of an eye, he reached the top floor of the castle, and even higher.
And there, he waited directly beneath where Mika was falling.
Yaroibarov jumped toward Mika... ...but he couldn't reach him.
Mika fell into Yaroibarov's arms after Yaroibarov's body had already started to fall.
He caught Mika's body so the impact would be minimized.
Even when landing, he landed so as to absorb as much impact as possible.
"Phew..."
"...Guh... Kuu..."
Mika stiffened his whole body and groaned in Yaroibarov's arms.
Seeing Mika's expression of agony, Yaroibarov grimaced.
"...This guy is a bit bad."
He wasn't in a good state at all.
There were potions, but they wouldn't work for this.
'To the Audience Chamber...'
"Yes, that's right."
Yaroibarov nodded at the voice that came from somewhere.
Without any doubt or question.
Yaroibarov jumped down to the balcony while holding Mika.
Leaping from balcony to balcony, he headed for the huge hole opened in the Audience Chamber.
The Audience Chamber was in a terrible state.
Those who survived had finished evacuating, so there were only corpses and their remains.
Not even the Royal Guard knights were there.
No, there was one man standing.
A well-dressed, gentle-looking man with water-blue hair nodded at Yaroibarov, who had entered through the large hole in the wall.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't seeing him.
Because that man had his eyes closed the whole time.
Fee blinked back and forth, but Yaroibarov didn't care at all.
Ignoring Fee, Yaroibarov walked forward holding Mika, stopping before the man with water-blue hair.
It was the first time he had seen this man.
And yet, when Yaroibarov stood before the man, he carefully placed Mika on the spot.
"Thank you. Leave the rest to me."
"Sorry. I'm counting on you."
"Yes... If the city gates are blocked, it will be inconvenient for various things. You should help remove them. The town is in a mess because Hildinlander got too excited. You might be able to help."
"Yes, I understand."
With just that exchange, Yaroibarov walked toward the hole.
Jumping down from the hole, he headed to remove the "Iron Wall" that Mika had created.
■■■■■■
Vision repeated white and black.
Opening his eyes slowly, dazzling light was blinking.
"Fee..."
A high, distant, solemn ceiling appeared vaguely before his eyes.
"It's bright, Fee."
Muttering that, Mika sat up.
Looking around, he realized he was in the Audience Chamber.
"Did you notice?"
Suddenly addressed, he turned that way.
The man with water-blue hair, eyes closed, was standing a short distance away.
"I didn't think you could defeat Hildinlander. It was unexpected, but a pleasant miscalculation."
A faint ringing sound in his ears.
Mika shook his head once to clear his consciousness.
He moved his body lightly and slowly stood up.
Loosening his slightly stiff body.
"Um... what's going on?"
Mika looked around the Audience Chamber.
A beautiful, solemn Audience Chamber.
It looked as if not even a speck of dust existed, as if the entire wide Audience Chamber itself was sparkling.
Or rather, it was really reflecting light.
"Fee, it's bright. Stop that."
Even though Mika said that, Fee didn't stop blinking.
Is this a second rebellion phase?
"So you are Fee. It seems to be a type of 'Radiance of Wisdom', but you seem quite attached. Rare."
"Well, we're kind of partners. Hey, cut it out, you."
Mika reached out to Fee, warning him not to keep blinking.
A little bothered by the ringing in his ears, he lightly tapped above his ear.
"I used to see them often in the past, but nowadays I hardly ever see them. In ancient faiths, they were believed to be messengers of God who brought wonderful flashes of insight. That's why they were called Radiance of Wisdom."
"Hahaha. Were you a messenger of God too?"
Hearing an unexpected anecdote about Fee, he laughed.
The man with water-blue hair crossed his arms and pondered.
"I wonder what the reason is for the decrease in numbers. It is a form of natural combination of 'Power' and 'Will', but it seems to occur less frequently than in the past. Perhaps the nature of 'Power' and 'Will' floating in the natural world has changed. Either one, or both."
He seemed to be thinking about something complicated.
"Natural combination, you say?"
"Hmm...? Ah, sorry. I'm just giving names to phenomena arbitrarily. I used to research various phenomena in the past."
The man with water-blue hair smiled softly.
It seemed he was once in some kind of research position.
"Oh, right. Do you know what happened?"
When Mika asked the man with water-blue hair, the man nodded.
Without even a subject, he correctly grasped Mika's intent.
"Thanks to your efforts, Hildinlander has disappeared. Or rather, 'disappeared' is not the most correct expression; 'the combination was severed' would be more accurate."
"I see! I see!"
Mika made a victory pose with all his might.
When he put strength into his arms, there was some muscle pain-like soreness.
The man watched Mika with a smile.
Fee continued to blink back and forth as usual, and Mika felt the ringing in his ears.
"You're noisy. Since you seem connected via 'Invisibiliter', I brought you along as is, but do you want to be erased?"
"Ah, sorry. Really."
The man's voice took on a slightly menacing tone, and Mika apologized on the spot.
The ringing became a bit stronger, but he tried to hide Fee with his hand to protect him.
Well, he couldn't hide him since he was flashing so brightly.
But perhaps Mika's action was unexpected, as the man raised his eyebrows slightly.
"...Well, never mind. Now, if you have anything you want to ask, ask me now. A parting gift from me... no, something like a reward. I'll answer anything about the 'Cursed Child'."
"Eh!? Is that okay!?"
Mika was surprised.
"They are all things I don't understand, and it gets annoying. It would be great if you could tell me."
"Yes. It won't be easy to understand. Ask anything without hesitation."
"Waaah, really!"
Mika clapped his hands and happily rejoiced innocently.
His arms hurt more than he thought, which surprised him a bit.
Or rather, his whole body hurt enough to make him jump?
Did I clap too hard?
(Well, whatever.)
Mika switched his thoughts immediately.
'Cursed Child'... even if I tried to look it up, the clues are from 3500 years ago, right? There's nothing I can do!
For this kind of thing, it's best to ask someone who knows.
Asking is a momentary shame, not asking is a lifelong shame.
At that moment, the ringing that had continued for a while suddenly caught his attention.
And he also noticed a slight fluctuation of mana.
Mana is moving?
(...It's not like [God's Miracle] pulling. This is...?)
Interference—!?
Mika instantly wrapped his whole body in mana and jumped back.
In that instant, he noticed the pain in his whole body that he hadn't recognized until now.
"Guh...!?"
With the momentum of jumping back, Mika rolled on the floor.
His body stiffened from the pain, and he couldn't move as he wished.
He managed to put strength into his trembling body and stand up, but he ended up kneeling right there.
The backlash from overusing mana.
His headache had eased somewhat, but the backlash was still continuing.
"Guah...!"
Seeing Mika groan, the man sighed and shook his head.
"You did something so reckless all of a sudden. Just relax that mana. I can make it easier for you by tampering with your perception."
"...Don't fk with me..."
Why was I talking normally with such a suspicious guy!?
Is this also about tampering with perception?
Moreover, annoyingly, the curse of 'tampering with perception' hasn't been completely lifted yet.
The Audience Chamber is clean.
There are no people killed by Kelnir.
There is no huge hole that should have been in the wall.
Mika glanced at Fee.
He understood the reason why Fee was blinking.
"...This guy is a 'Cursed Child'."
When he asked Fee that, Fee briefly intensified its light and stopped blinking.
Fee had been warning him all along.
"My apologies. It seems I was being manipulated nicely."
When Mika said that, the man shook his head.
"How disappointing. I just made it easier to talk a bit. I have no intention of harming you."
"Don't talk nonsense..."
"It's true. If I wanted to kill you, I could have done so countless times. That hasn't changed even now."
The man's composure was irritating.
But what the man said was reasonable.
Mika had been unconscious in front of this man.
If the purpose was just to kill, it would have been easily achieved.
(...You must have something you want me to do, right?)
Otherwise, there would be no meaning in contacting him.
Mika glared and confirmed, and the man nodded.
"I want you to exorcise me. That's all."
"Exorcise...?"
"Yes, that's right."
Saying that, the man shrugged his shoulders.
"Because those fools randomly deleted [Dispel], I can no longer die."
(...You deleted it because you didn't want to die, right?)
Mika looked at the man carefully with a suspicious eye.
He still couldn't move as he wished due to the backlash, but he secretly manifested [Physical Enhancement].
Well, it would be exposed by the heat haze.
But the man didn't care about such Mika and continued talking.
"Indeed, death is a terrifying thing. But even if you gain eternal life, eventually you will get bored. Don't you think?"
There was a part of those words that Mika could agree with.
There might be people who cling to life forever.
But when thinking about whether everyone becomes like that, it wouldn't be strange if there were those who wished for death.
In life,
"I've done everything I could. Isn't it enough?"
Even if you think that, you cannot die.
That means being tied to this world, this prison, forever.
Mika glared at the man and spat out his words.
"...Then I'll exorcise you right now!"
But to such Mika, the man snorted.
"What are you saying with that attitude. Don't be too arrogant."
"What did you say!?"
"I have been watching you for a while. You are far from powerful enough."
The man slowly walked toward Mika.
"I thought it was impossible to exorcise Hildinlander. You should honestly praise yourself for that. I never thought you would overturn the result with the factor of growth."
The man squatted in front of Mika's eyes and opened them.
Seeing those eyes, Mika gasped.
The man's eyes were shining red brilliantly like a demon beast.
"...Y-you...!?"
"I know the definition of monsters and demon beasts as a classification. Adding red eyes to the definition is a bit off-target, but indeed, in many cases, they coincide. But there are monsters and demon beasts without red eyes, and there are people and animals with red eyes."
Saying that, the man closed his eyes and stood up.
"Unexpectedly, you managed to exorcise Hildinlander. You, who were clearly not powerful enough."
The man raised the corner of his mouth and looked down at Mika.
"If I give you a kick on the butt, can you squeeze out more power? I thought so, so I showed myself."
Mika gritted his teeth and listened to the man's words.
Honestly, if attacked now, resistance would be difficult.
Not knowing what to make of him, plus a 'Cursed Child' with red eyes.
He was confused about how to respond.
There was something suspicious in the man's words.
"Um, was that dark face Hildinlander...? It was possessed by the King."
"Yes, that's right. It was a 'Cursed Child' that called itself Emperor-Pope in the Gronoir Empire and incited people."
(...You are one of them too.)
When Mika said that, the man nodded.
"Exactly. I was cooperating. Because Hildinlander said things like 'I know the way to become a God'. Well, I just helped him out."
"To become a God? Are you an idiot?"
When Mika said that, the man smiled bitterly.
"I agree completely, but you speak very bluntly."
The man shook his shoulders and chuckled.
"Hildinlander seemed to think that if he gathered enough 'Will', he could 'reach God'. I taught him before that he couldn't become a God with something like that..."
(...You taught him?)
"Yes. I taught him before. So I thought Hildinlander had noticed some other factor and cooperated with him, but..."
It seemed his expectations were betrayed beautifully.
Mika tried to move his body that hurt from the backlash, but he was barely managing not to collapse.
Really, if this man attacked right now, it would be difficult to resist.
Even if he used magic, how effective would it be...
"Why do you know such things?"
"If I could reach God by doing that, I would have become a God long ago."
The man answered casually.
"I can't laugh at Hildinlander either. The hypothesis that gathering 'Will' leads to God was something I considered myself."
There, he shrugged his shoulders.
"I tried that and once told Hildinlander about the situation at that time. So I didn't think he would run into exactly the same failure... Truly, a foolish man."
I thought he would try with some different modification, but in the end, it was exactly the same method?
(Well, if you taught him before, I'd think he'd try a different method.)
Did Hildinlander forget what he was taught, or was he just an idiot?
Or was there a possibility that he didn't trust this man?
The man smiled while looking down at Mika.
"You still can't move properly, can you? If you have anything else you want to ask, I'll tell you."
(...Can I trust you?)
When Mika said that, the man laughed.
"Well, whether you trust me or not is your freedom. But as I said before, this is like a parting gift. It will surely be knowledge you need from now on. You should accept it as a reward. If you exorcise me, you won't receive anything, right?"
"If those 'Cursed Children' disappear, that would be the best reward."
The man nodded.
"On this continent... at least, those who claimed to be 'Son of God' are no longer here. Unfortunately, this is limited to this continent."
Hearing that, Mika was speechless.
(...Are there others...?)
"Of course, right? 'Power' is filled in the world. Do you think others can't acquire what you learned on your own?"
It was certainly not strange if there were people who could use magic all over the world.
Rather, the fate of those who acquired it before Mika was becoming a 'Cursed Child'.
Mika's head hurt separately from the backlash.
"Ah, let me tell you first. [God's Miracle] itself has spread to other continents too. That said, it wasn't that long ago. Since trade between continents started relatively recently, there is no [Dispel] even if you search other continents. If there were, I would have received it long ago."
Indeed, if [God's Miracle] had been transmitted to another continent since ancient times, there was a possibility it remained.
But if this man's purpose was to be exorcised, he wouldn't miss that.
"I don't know if it will be a salvation for you, but even so, there are few of us like us on other continents. Or rather, almost none."
"Is that so? Why?"
"There are several reasons, but first of all, there are few people with aptitude for mana. This continent has an exceptionally large number of those who can use 'Word' and have that aptitude."
Come to think of it, the number of people with mana was decreasing year by year?
But even so, it seemed there were many people with aptitude for mana on this continent for some reason.
Just handling mana and using magic usually doesn't lead to becoming a 'Cursed Child'.
It seems it's not something that happens naturally unless someone who figured out the trick spreads it consciously.
"Didn't you guys spread it...! Thanks to you, we ended up with one foot in the grave."
"Caleilhaben was amused by the new candidate. Being targeted by him was the beginning of your misfortune."
(...Caleil...haben? Is that Hibujiza's true self?)
When Mika said that, the man nodded.
"Approximately 3500 years ago, a person who became a 'Cursed Child' by the curse made by Hildinlander. Recently, he called himself Ecrease or 'Fire'."
Hildinlander's curse?
When Mika looked puzzled, the man put his hand on his waist and sighed.
"Naturally, you still lack knowledge. There is much you should know."
Saying that, the man raised the corner of his mouth and opened his eyes.
His eyes, shining red brilliantly, looked down at Mika.
"You still can't move your body, can you? Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter, but you should know first. Of course, I don't know everything either, and I might be wrong. But even so, you should know."
Mika was lightly irritated by the man's admonishing tone.
Mika looked up at the man as if glaring, and stood up with his unsteady body.