Chapter 168 - Between Master and Friend (1)

1

A week after shaking off the Mountain Snailfolk pursuers, we finally reached the goblins’ homeland.

[The Earth Spiritfolk return to their homeland.]

[Quest Clear!]

[You have safely led your race out of Slimepolis.]

[Race Points are awarded for completing the quest...]

As befitted the reward for the thirty-second floor’s main quest, the points were quite generous. Just as I had throughout this floor, I set them aside, leaving only 100 Race Points available.

'I have another use for those.'

Once that was done, I looked out over the goblins’ homeland.

Guru.

The home the goblins had missed so desperately was... not all that impressive. To be honest, it was practically in ruins.

“Well, of course.”

The attendant spirit shrugged.

“Without anyone tending it, a village gets overgrown in no time. My hometown got overrun by those unorthodox bandit bastards, too. When I went back later, the place was a damn jungle.”

'Huh? That happened to you?'

“Sure did. I’m a man with a lot of history. If you wrote my life as a novel, it’d be an epic with thirty-nine volumes in Part One, twenty-two in Part Two, and thirteen volumes of side stories.”

'Those numbers are oddly specific. It’s unsettling...'

“Plus, I became a ghost after I died, so Part Three of the main story is currently being serialized to rave reviews. After you croak, I plan to possess someone else and carry on with Part Two of the side stories.”

'Just end already!'

We looked around the old homeland. Weeds and brush. Green plants had occupied Guru. Any sign that someone had lived here had already vanished. Only the stone pillars and statues the goblins had made long ago bore moss as evidence of their compromise with time.

“Oh.”

Among them was a strangely familiar statue. Not because I had seen the statue before, but because its subject was familiar.

White marble. A mane carved with clumsy but painstaking care, enormous teeth...

“They even made a statue of you, huh?”

It was me.

“Since you’re the White Lion, they went and found marble for it. Man, that’s dedication. Real devotion.”

'It really is.'

I slowly surveyed our surroundings. Whatever they found so wonderful about this green jungle, the goblins were laughing with their gurgling voices as they unpacked their bundles.

THWACK! WHACK!

Some were hacking at the brush with stone hammers they had brought from Slimepolis. They were already eager to make themselves a place to live.

'I’m not their master, though.'

The boundary between master and friend. Perhaps parents stood somewhere between the most distant other and the closest other.

Parents could act as masters or become friends, but making that decision first was probably the parents’ responsibility, not their children’s.

'I should tell them that before I leave this stage.'

That night, I spent the 100 Race Points I had kept available to purchase an item.

[Purchasing ‘Appear in a Dream.’]

[100 Race Points are consumed!]

[Your currently available Race Points: 0.]

[All other Race Points are currently invested and unavailable...]

I entered Gorke’s dream.

“Hi, kid. Long time no see.”

“Krrrr?! A d-demon!”

An enthusiastic welcome followed.

“Now, now. You’ll embarrass me if you’re that happy to see me... Did a few days without me leave you lonely? I’m sorry I failed to consider your feelings.”

“If you’re really sorry, stop showing up in my dreams!”

Gorke jumped up.

“I thought I was going to die fighting those snails last time!”

“Aw, but you didn’t die. As long as you don’t die, it’s fine. Everything that fails to fuck you up will eventually make you tougher. Gorke, don’t let the world fuck you up. Make sure you live a life of fucking it up instead.”

“Y-you still have such a filthy mouth. How do you make even the same thing sound so dirty? Ker. Whether you’re a god or a demon, I wish you’d use cleaner language... You’re impressive as a lion, but whenever you show up in a dream, you’re a total letdown...”

Gorke muttered, looking thoroughly disillusioned. Rather than deny his words, I agreed wholeheartedly.

“My child. That’s exactly it!”

“Gork?”

“The Earth Spiritfolk currently harbor a terribly sweet illusion. The illusion that I’m your savior, impressive and, at any rate, perfect, and that I’ll look after you unconditionally. But as you said, my true self is a little demonic.”

“A little...?”

For a moment, Gorke wore a philosophical expression. Perhaps the first philosopher in Earth Spiritfolk history was about to be born, but I ignored it. Even if he left behind the statement ‘All things are made of kereuk!’ it would only make life harder for future students.

“You alone know my true self. I’m not the god you think I am. I’m merely a helper and an adviser. Gorke, you have a duty to spread the truth among your family, your friends, and your people.”

“Ke! No. That sounds like a nuisance!”

“Watching your last fight, I noticed your aura is still immature and hasn’t reached mastery. Today, let’s spend exactly one year in secluded training inside this dream. No more, no less.”

“Gorke loves the truth! Gorke spreads the truth!”

Gorke burned with passionate enthusiasm. A lovely sight.

“B-but I am curious.”

“Hmm?”

“If you aren’t a god, why does Kekereukker look after us? Why do you care about us? Why did you save us from the primordial catastrophe and rescue us from the snails’ rule? I don’t understand why Kekereukker does those things.”

“For starters, because you’re cute and adorable...”

“Ker? Is something wrong with your eyes?”

This little bastard.

“Actually, I’m not much different from you. I’m a person, just like you. But if I had to give a reason for treating you well... it’s because you’re a little like me.”

“Like you? That’s strange. Kekereukker looks nothing like us.”

“I’m not talking about appearances.”

I scratched my head.

“People are drawn to things they think resemble them. I see myself in you. In your greed, I see my greed, and in your circumstances, I see my own. I find myself there.”

“Gor...?”

“If I cherish you, perhaps it’s simply because I cherish myself.”

I stroked Gorke’s head.

“But if you still insist on honoring me, think of me as a friend rather than a god. I’d rather be treated with friendship than worshipped as an idol. I much prefer trust to faith.”

“Friendship over idols, trust over faith...”

“Right. Just a friend who stays by your side from time to time. Doesn’t ‘We’re buddies with a god’ sound cooler than ‘We’re loved by a god’?”

Gorke gazed up at me blankly.

[Signs of change appear in the Earth Spiritfolk’s faith!]

[The primitive religion ‘White Lion Faith’ is increasingly likely to acquire a new doctrine.]

I grinned.

“Do your best. I’ll have to leave you for a while. Teach the others aura. Tell them I want to remain your friend, too.”

“Y-you’re leaving?”

“Yep. I brought you to Guru, so I’ve done my part. If I come back and find you getting beaten up by the Mountain Snailfolk again, I’ll be angry.”

I vigorously rubbed Gorke’s cheeks with both hands. Funny little gork and kerk noises escaped his mouth.

“Teach the others aura, and tell them what I’m really like. Oh, right. I forgot to say this.”

“...”

“Good work in that last fight. You were pretty cool.”

I lightly patted Gorke’s shoulder.

“Live your life to the fullest.”

Gorke opened his mouth to say something. But I promptly exited the dream. The longer a farewell dragged on, the longer the lingering regret would follow, so it was best to leave as though we would meet again tomorrow.

[Item use has ended.]

The dream ended.

As soon as I woke, I bounded out of Guru. It was the middle of the night. Exhausted after weeks of walking home, all the goblins were fast asleep.

There shouldn’t have been anyone to chase after me, but...

'Hmm.'

I sensed someone desperately following me.

'Gorke?'

Despite calling me a demon and all that, he must have grown attached to me along the way.

'I deliberately treated him roughly to avoid this...'

Feeling the weight of the bonds that formed between people, I picked up my pace a little. Gorke followed doggedly, but he couldn’t match my speed. The distance between us steadily grew.

How long had I run through the forest?

At last, his presence faded away.

'All right.'

With a low growl, I tossed my lion’s mane to one side.

'The other hunters are probably debating what to do by now.'

“Debating?”

'Yes. The Inquisitor showed us that insane stunt of staying in the stage indefinitely. And his race came out on top because of it. The others are probably wondering, [Wouldn’t we benefit from holding out here as long as possible?]'

A waiting game, in other words.

'The problem is, only the Inquisitor can pull off something that insane.'

Stay like this for hundreds of years?

When those hundreds of years might turn into a thousand?

'Only the Inquisitor, a 130-percent-pure psychopath, could do it.'

Besides, the Inquisitor’s elimination from this stage was already certain. He had failed to prevent the enslaved races’ great escape.

'Everyone will have to give up and declare [Stage Clear] eventually anyway. They’re only hesitating now because they feel like they’ll lose out for no reason if they’re the first to declare it.'

“True.”

The attendant spirit nodded.

“So what will you do?”

'What else? At times like this, someone has to make the first move, even at their own expense. Then the others will follow.'

Once I was far enough from Guru, I murmured inwardly.

'I declare the stage cleared.'

WHOOSH!

White light enveloped my entire body.

[Stage Clear!]

[The thirty-second-floor stage has been cleared.]

[Rewards will be calculated after entering the thirty-third floor.]

[Consecutive floor progression in progress—you will be forcibly transported to the thirty-third floor!]

2

The next moment, I stood in a white space. It was the waiting room where we would briefly stay before moving on to the thirty-third-floor stage.

One hunter had arrived there before me, even though I had been the first to declare [Stage Clear].

“Aha. You’re here!”

The Inquisitor.

The only companion who had failed to complete his quest, and thus failed to clear the stage, waved at me.

“I’ve been waiting! Death King!”

“...”

“Aside from Slimepolis, the Mountain Snailfolk’s empire is still perfectly intact, but apparently failing the quest automatically disqualifies ‘me.’ What a shame!”

“Haah.”

I sighed.

“... You put me through quite a lot on this stage. Actually, now that I think about it, an overwhelming proportion of my troubles seem to be your fault. It was the same in [Tales of Sormwin Academy].”

“Oh? I remember being quite well-behaved at Sormwin Academy.”

“Maybe from your perspective, but definitely not from mine...”

The sight of the Inquisitor grinning vacantly after his identity was swallowed up by the young lady Golden Silk Blossom was still vividly etched in my mind. It had made quite an impression.

“Hmm. That was so long ago, perhaps I’m remembering it incorrectly.”

The Inquisitor clasped his hands behind his back. His blond hair, which had not grown, swayed lightly.

“I worked tirelessly for two hundred years. I did my very best! I can say with certainty that even if I reach the Tower’s summit, I could never work harder than I did building the Slime Empire. Do you understand, Death King? In effect, I showed you the full extent of my abilities!”

“...”

“Yet I lost to you.”

“You didn’t lose to me,” I said. “You lost to all of us.”

“It’s the same thing!”

The Inquisitor shook his head firmly.

“You were the one who united our companions, from the first-ranked hunter to the seventh. I daresay the correct assessment is that I wasn’t even a match for a single move! I don’t allow personal feelings to influence my assessment of myself.”

He smiled brightly.

“In the end, this is the limit of my abilities! My judgment was inferior to yours. My ethics were lesser than yours. My competence could not overcome yours! Compared to you, I am incompetent.”

“...”

“The arbitrary decisions of the incompetent lead to disaster. Their actions invite destruction. I don’t want to sink to being the one who presses the button for disaster and destruction! It is only right to entrust judgment and action to someone more competent than myself.”

“What are you saying?”

“It’s simple logic, Death King.”

The Inquisitor smiled.

“From now on, I will serve you as my master.”