Chapter 194 - That Wasn't My Intention, But (2)

“As for how it actually happened... Oh, should I just show you? Yes. That would be better.”

The princess clapped her hands while keeping her head planted on the floor. It was a truly undignified feat. The instant she clapped, colors spread through the pure-white space.

Scenery unfolded around us, like virtual reality.

“Huh?”

This scene looked familiar somehow.

“... Isn't this the second-floor hunting ground?”

“That's right.”

There was no way I wouldn't recognize it. Before my regression, back when I was scraping by as an F-rank hunter, I had roamed this place every day. It was also where I had gotten rid of Yoo Suha before he could rise to become the Flame Emperor.

A familiar voice rang out in that familiar place.

[“Ah, fuck. How much longer do I have to waste my time here?”]

A man with black hair tied back in a ponytail.

Yoo Suha.

Perhaps his tongue broke out in pimples unless he swore every time he opened his mouth, because he played a dazzling symphony of fucks and shits at the end of every sentence. Just listening made me want to wash out my ears.

[“Damn it. What else is there to life? Just go around fucking up whoever I can. Fuck.”]

The virtual Yoo Suha began chasing a slime.

[“Hey! You little shit! Get back here!”]

The slime scurried away, and Yoo Suha pursued it. His hunting practically screamed beginner. Even the most generous assessment couldn't have put him above F-rank.

“... When is this Yoo Suha from?”

“Long, long ago. From your perspective, I suppose it would be [before your regression].”

The princess answered with her head still planted on the floor.

“At this point, the Flame Emperor only roamed the second floor, just like you. He hadn't awakened a skill. But...”

Before she had even finished saying “but,” a blond girl appeared in the virtual scene. It was [The Princess Who Walks Through Mirages].

The princess in the vision hummed as she wandered through the undergrowth. Her steps were carefree, as though she were enjoying a stroll.

[“What the hell? What's some little brat doing here?”]

Yoo Suha noticed her presence too and walked over.

[“Hey, kid.”]

He approached her from behind and hoisted her up by the collar in one swift motion. However much she might look like a child, it was an incredibly rude thing to do. But he lifted her as though it were perfectly natural.

[“What are you doing here?”]

The moment their eyes met—

[“Congratulations!”]

The princess beamed and held up a sign with both hands.

[Golden Goblin Lottery] was scrawled on it in crooked letters.

[“The first person to find and catch me receives a golden skill! You're so lucky. Today, you're the luckiest person in all the Towers!”]

[“Wh-what? This crazy kid...”]

[“Check your status now, and you'll find a golden skill. Bye!”]

The princess vanished abruptly, as though her business were finished.

Yoo Suha was left all alone in the undergrowth.

[“What the...”]

The virtual illusion ended there.

The space where I stood became as featureless as a sheet of white drawing paper once more.

The princess, identical to the one in the vision, had her head planted on the floor at my feet.

“...”

I stared down at the back of her pretty head.

“Watching that hasn't cleared anything up. Please explain.”

“Sometimes I hold a [Golden Goblin] event. It's a kind of pastime. I manifest in some random Tower and wander around without thinking, and the first person to find and catch me...”

“Don't tell me you hand out golden skills?”

“Well, that's exactly what I do...”

“You've got to be fucking kidding.”

I was dumbfounded. My mind went blank.

For some reason, what suddenly surfaced in my dazed mind was how the Flame Emperor would scowl whenever people asked him the secret to his success.

「Flame Emperor! Give aspiring hunters some advice! Sum up the secret to success in just one sentence!」

「Those who are going to make it will make it anyway.」

He never said anything more than that.

「That's all. I've got nothing else to say, so stop following me.」

Until now, I had thought that statement was nothing but arrogant boasting.

But what if he really had obtained an EX-rank skill by catching a [Golden Goblin] purely by chance?

He couldn't tell anyone. They would only think he was insane.

He had no choice but to preach a life ruled by dumb luck, where literally “only those destined to make it make it anyway”!

“Wh-why would you do something like that?”

“I have two reasons: one entirely personal, and one entirely official. Which would you like to hear first?”

“Let's hear the official reason first.”

“The Pillars are divided into observers and interventionists. I'm an interventionist. I believe in actively intervening with the children climbing the Tower. As part of that work, I hold all sorts of events, and the Golden Goblin is one of them...”

“And the personal reason?”

“It's fun.”

“Get that head back down. Now.”

“Yes...”

Now I understood why the Tower's higher-ups had been so considerate of me.

I was a victim murdered by Yoo Suha, the Flame Emperor. And the skill that made the Flame Emperor successful, [Regressor's Clockwork Watch], was none other than an ability one of the Pillars had handed out for fun. In other words...

“So it was compensation for the victim...”

“That wasn't entirely absent from our considerations.”

My head was beginning to hurt.

“I did wonder why a scumbag like Yoo Suha had such a good skill. But even so, this is ridiculous. This isn't even on the level of a frog being killed by a stone someone threw for fun...”

“I'm truly sorry.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

A sigh escaped me.

“So, did you come down here as punishment? Even though you're a Pillar?”

“Yes. Mula... The Tower Master ordered me to take this opportunity to get my act together. Even placed restrictions on me. Compared to my original self, I'm diminished in every way: stamina, combat power, intelligence, charm, everything. Isn't that a little excessive?”

“What a wise and benevolent ruler the Tower Master is. Truly.”

An enlightened judgment.

“Anyway, I want to compensate you personally too, Death King. Whenever a meeting has been called because of you, I've subtly taken your side, but that doesn't feel like enough, does it?”

“Hmm.”

I rested a hand on my chin.

'I don't particularly want compensation for the Flame Emperor business at this point.'

Because Yoo Suha had [Regressor's Clockwork Watch], I had been able to activate [I Want to Be Like You] too. I had come to live a successful life, and meeting Master and Raviel had made me happy.

I might have been unlucky, but I wasn't unhappy.

“Hey, Zombie. What have you been going on about? Pillars and whatnot?”

As I mulled it over, my attendant spirit spoke to me. He had shared my entire journey, but whenever I met the Pillars, he had been excluded.

'It's a thing. I'll explain later... Ah.'

Watching him float about, I changed my mind.

“You're right. I should receive compensation from you, Princess.”

“What kind? Should I give you a heap of Race Points?”

“That's tempting too, but... no.”

I shook my head.

“Please show me how the children lived after I left.”

“Hm?”

“Sonia, Arika, Yumar, Sakum. The children my fingertips lingered over before leaving them behind. I'd like to see how they lived after I was gone. And Uburka and Gorke too, if possible.”

The stories of what became of my children.

I wanted to see them.

Desperately.

“...”

The princess slowly raised her head.

There was warmth in her eyes as she looked up at me.

“You really are greedy, Death King.”

“Yes.”

“All right. I can easily grant you that much.”

Scenery colored the pure-white space.

Soon, the children's faces appeared.

2

Sonia didn't stop acting.

[“It's all right.”]

After I left, she was plagued by harsh reviews. Her aura techniques had suddenly deteriorated, they said. She could no longer perform as well as before.

To the Earth Spiritfolk, whose discerning eyes had already grown accustomed to so much better, “Sonia's” Cavefire plays were far from satisfying.

[“It'll work out.”]

But Sonia didn't quit.

She practiced over and over until her fingernails cracked and her toenails crumbled.

[“I can do it.”]

Sonia grew quiet. Outside of performances and practice, she rarely opened her mouth. Her attitude was resolute, as though she refused to live her life anywhere but onstage.

Beside her were one-eyed Arika, one-armed Yumar, and one-eared Sakum.

[“All we need is the mindset that we're starting over from the beginning.”]

The troupe's reputation declined, but the actors didn't mind.

[“At first, dance drama was new, so it could shock people. Now the audience is used to it. That's all. Don't be discouraged. Keep putting on shows, and someday the praise will return.”]

[“Ugor.”]

A troupe past its prime.

Even with that assessment hanging over them, the actors quietly went about their work.

The mother who had left Arika long ago returned. Having already lost their chance to share a life, it was difficult for the two to establish a mother-son relationship now. Still, Arika allowed his mother into his life and occasionally shared a meal with her.

Yumar donated a considerable portion of his acting earnings to his hometown. With nearly all its young people dead, the village was in decline. Thanks to his donations, it kept breathing until the next generation could grow up.

Sakum learned that the household he had once served had fallen to ruin. He wasn't the sort to let an opportunity like that slip by. He hurried over and tossed a single coin to his former master, now a beggar on the street. Leaving the man staring blankly after him, Sakum departed in high spirits.

Time passed.

[“...”]

Before long, wrinkles lined Sonia's face.

Having spent her entire life onstage, she had clear eyes. Her life had been narrow, but within that narrow space, it had been full.

Sitting alone in the empty audience seats, Sonia gazed at the theater stage, at the wooden floor where there wasn't a single spot her toes hadn't brushed.

[“I've lived well.”]

With narrowed eyes, she peered into the darkness of the stage, recalling the images of herself dancing there like shadows.

[“I should have been a little kinder to people.”]

Sonia slowly closed her eyes.

What thoughts was she lost in?

[“Lord Kekereukker...”]

Then the scenery changed.

Unlike slender Sonia, this Hobgoblin had a body as massive as a mountain. The warrior acknowledged as the strongest in Earth Spiritfolk history, in both name and deed. The highest-ranked chair of the Fire River Council.

Uburka.

[“There is nothing to be gained from my ruling any longer.”]

For more than twenty years after seeing me off, Uburka reigned at the pinnacle.

Countless warriors challenged him over those decades, but he never suffered a single defeat.

The undefeated warrior.

One day, he abruptly announced his resignation.

[“I shall relinquish the chair and devote myself solely to the martial path.”]

The Hobgoblins erupted in an uproar. They had gradually grown accustomed to Uburka's iron-fisted rule. Of course they were bewildered to hear that their sovereign intended to abdicate.

But Uburka was firm.

[“If anything, this is somewhat overdue. Uger. Stabilizing the Mountain Snailfolk and pacifying the continent was a tremendous nuisance. Now that the trouble I recklessly started twenty years ago is more or less settled, I shall live for myself. Do not worry. I will not return. I shall sever my ties with the world.”]

[“Where do you intend to go, Chair?”]

[“I am not going anywhere.”]

Uburka grinned.

[“I am waiting for my father to come.”]

Uburka left Guru and climbed a mountain.

The most rugged sacred mountain on the continent.

Blizzards raged there throughout the year.

At its summit, Uburka sat cross-legged.

[“Father descends to earth once every few hundred years.”]

Sinking into meditation, Uburka murmured.

[“As I am now, a mere hundred and fifty years will be my limit. I shall have to transcend my current level.”]

Enjoyment colored his voice.

[“Come soon, Father. I shall be waiting.”]

The blizzard buried Uburka.

I expected the scene to end now, but instead it continued.

“...”

The princess didn't dismiss the vision of what had become of him.

One minute passed, then three, and still the sacred mountain's snow-laden winds raged around me.

“Um, Princess?”

“Yes?”

“I think I've seen all of Uburka's story.”

“No.”

The princess smiled gently.

“It isn't over yet.”

Her smile held a secretive playfulness.

“...”

Could it be?

I felt my heart pounding.

Even as I thought it couldn't possibly be true, I opened my mouth.

“Is he... still alive?”

Uburka.

The face of the child who had smiled at our parting and said, “I shall have to live a very long time,” came vividly to mind. I had naturally assumed he was dead. To the Earth Spiritfolk, Uburka was already a figure of legend.

But if Uburka had succeeded in reversing his aging and restoring his youth...

“Did he manage to survive?”

My voice trembled slightly despite myself.

Watching me, the princess's lips curved into a smile.

“Yes.”

“...”

“Would you like to meet him?”

The next stage.

The child I absolutely had to meet on the thirty-fifth floor had been decided.