Ep 62. Get A Life, Will You? (2)

  “…You know, I’m starting to think it would’ve beeer if I went to Rosa instead of here.”

  “Wouldn’t you have to travel a lot then?”

  “Traveling sounds a lot better than…this.”

  Patrick leapt down from Ilias onto the snow-covered field. The mage could see the town gates just up ahead, which he slowly began walking towards.

  In all fairness, it was a nice day. The snow was beautifully decorating the earth, and not a single cloud blocked the sun’s rays that made them gleam like diamonds.

  ‘Would be nice if that’s all there was to it.’

  The enforcer winced as his cloak fluttered against a sudden, chilling breeze, which he quickly took hold of to around himself again. He hadn’t cared to dress any warmer than usual for their visit to the forest; suddenly being flowo a snow-covered mountain range wasn’t anything he’d prepared for.

  The mage looked over to the red dragon apanying him. If anything, it should’ve been worse for her; at least Patrick wasn’t wearing shorts. But strangely, the dragon didn’t seem bothered o.

  “So, Ilias, uh…aren’t you cold?”

  “Cold? I don’t get cold easily. Takes a lot more than this for me to feel cold!”

  “Are dragons immuo cold or something?”

  “Not really. But my affinity’s fire, so I keep myself retty easy. Must be really cold for you, huh?”

  As soon as she finished her piece, Ilias’ tail swung behind Patrick, tightly ing around his waist. The dragon gri the sight of her new friend sighing in relief from the permeating warmth.

  “There, better?”

  “…Sure. Other than the fact that I look like a sve being apprehended old-school.”

  “Better than freezing, right?”

  “…I guess?”

  Soon after, the pair was stopped at the gates by a sentry – who needed a mio process what he was looking at, and another few mio be vihat Ilias wasn’t holding Patrick hostage. He only let them through once he saw Patrick’s enforcer identification.

  Evehe sentry threw odd g the pair until they were gone from sight.

  Oh well.

  ? ? ?

  Otoka pluhe rear end of his staff into the boiling cauldron. He began to stir it clockwise, taking care to keep the speed sistent.

  “The scalium, if you will.”

  As soon as the archmage spoke his ingredient, Light brought over the bowl of pre-powdered mineral, sifting the tents into the murky tents of the cauldron. The liquid began to simmer in response, and Otoka threw a brief gowards Karas after.

  “Now, keep the heat sistent. It o stay perfectly still.”

  The professor was sitting by the cauldron’s base with both hands stretched towards its lower end, keeping a r fire alive through magic. He briefly nodded back to the archmage, fog to keep the fire spell at its current level.

  Meanwhile, Serenis and Aldrid were watg it happen live without lifting a finger. And the dragonlord wasly fortable with the whole situation.

  She looked towards the deity who, as far as she could tell, didly seem to be doing anything.

  “…Aldrid. Expin what this is again, will you?”

  “Of course! Mr. Lairaff’s crafting an item for us that’ll be able to house small bits of divinity. Once I share my own divinity into the finished product, it’ll act as a defensive ward against the divinity of death.”

  Serenis returned her gaze back towards the boiling cauldron. She koo little about alchemy to properly tell, but as far as she could see, Otoka was cooking, not crafting.

  Then again, he utting rocks and grass into the mix, so what did she know.

  A brief sigh escaped the dragonlord as she watched the others w tirelessly to plete this craft.

  On the night they’d first spoken, Aldrid had offered Serenis to take her divinity shard whole. And, as much as the dragonlord loathed the thought of carrying a piece of the First within her, it was the easiest solution to rendering her impervious to the divinity of death.

  However, what resulted from the attempt was a fierce resistance from her own body. The golden shard had violently refused to synthesize with the dragonlord. If Serenis had forced it so, one of the two would have broken: the shard, or herself.

  - ‘That’s strange. Lord Serenis, you don’t happen to be carrying a divinity shard already, do you?’

  - ‘No such thing. I only have my former heart.’

  - ‘Your former heart…? Do you mean your drago?’

  - ‘Yes. Why do you ask?’

  - ‘Maybe that’s why. You see, a human body only carry one shard at a time. If you’re truly in a human’s bht now, and your former heart works simirly to the First’s fragments, then it makes sehat your body is refusing to accept another one.’

  And so, the alternative Aldrid had devised was to share a piece of her divinity through a small artifact – which everyone was w tirelessly to make. Otoka had tasked everyoh either helping the craft or delivering ingredients; Aldrid was also responsible for its finishing touches.

  However, Serenis remained idle beside the deity of life. An unfortable gaze fell onto the blonde woman.

  “…I believe you said there would be something for me to do as well.”

  “There is!”

  Aldrid pulled on her chair as she turo face the dragonlord, scooting herself closer. Her eyes were beaming with delight aement.

  “I’d like you to tell me everything that’s happeo you. Reination and all.”

  “…How exactly does this the craft?”

  “It makes the deity of life more willing to help.”

  “…”

  “And who knows? Maybe I figure out how you were able to live again.”

  Serenis furrowed her brows at Aldrid’s btant audacity. It was a threatless threat; one she couldn’t wriggle out of. A brief sigh followed as the dragonlord answered.

  “Very well.”

  “Oh, and do try not to hide aails. I promise I won’t tell.”

  “…Very well.”

  Serenis began to trace her memories. It’d been a while since she’s had to remember the day of her awakening.

  ? ? ?

  “I see…so you’re actually a student named ‘Ziht now.”

  Aldrid nodded her head as she reflected on the dragonlord’s story. There were some obvious parts, some extraordinary parts, and also some nonsensical parts – but overall, the story expined quite well how Serenis had wound up in the forest.

  Meanwhile, a poor half girl was audibly groaning by the cauldron, mixing its tents with a long, oversized metal dle. Her arms were beginning to tremble from all the stirring.

  “Ugh…this is unfair…”

  “…Think of it as a part of your workshop, Light. Unfortunately, we’re nons. Or an archmage.”

  “That doesn’t help, professor.”

  “Would you rather I lecture you on how scalium reacts wheo rest i?”

  “Don’t they corrode?”

  “Yes, and they emit toxic substances. If that happens, it’s quite likely that we’ll have to start all ain.”

  “…”

  Light fell silent as Karas lectured her from the cauldron’s base, sitting in the exact same position as before. While he would’ve traded pces with his groaning student, Light had almost no affinity in fire magid even lesser expertise with keeping a fire spell alive and steady.

  Otoka was leisurely sitting by the side, supervising the craft. After his old arms had given away, he’d asked Light to tihe stirring in his pce – but she was clearing reag her limit.

  ‘Well, it’s been a good hour. I suppose she’s done what she .’

  And, most importantly, Light retty much the only persohat he actually felt bad for. At least somewhat.

  “That’s enough stirring for now. Fetch more limen leaves from outside, will you, child? There should be a few trees just up the hill behind the .”

  “Finally!!”

  As the archmage took the dle from her hand, Light let out an exasperated groan as she stepped back, rapidly nodding her head. Her legs strode over to the door in lighteeps, but her powerless arms had tle for a few seds against the doorknob before she could exit the .

  Aldrid let out an apologetic ughter as the half girl exited the . She turo Serenis afterwards, new i perking in her eyes.

  “So, Lord Serenis. You told me how you met everyone, but how e they followed you all the way here?”

  “They had their own reasons; I simply happeo be a trigger. I believe Light only wao skip her csses when deg to follow along.”

  “Ohh…is that so? For a moment, I thought you were recruiting allies or something.”

  The dragonlord let out an ill ughter at the ent. She knew all too well what it was like to challenge a divinity – especially to the death.

  “…Against a deity of death? All of them would die at the wave of a hand.”

  “But at least one person is free from such straints, right?”

  Serenis furrowed her brows at the ent.

  “Free? Who?”

  “The professor over there? He isly alive, right? Even Master Felicir ’t ‘kill’ someone who isn’t living.”

  “…?”

  Serenis curiously looked over towards Karas, who was far too focused on his task to listen to their versation. She couldn’t uand what Aldrid was saying.

  “What exactly do you mean, child? He looks plenty alive to me.”

  “But he’s a mohough?”

  “…Monster?”

  “Mhm. Or, perhaps you’re more familiar with the term ‘manaspawn’? They’re the same thing, really.”

  Manaspawn was just an older term. Monster, which was a term more only used by man, erfectly synonymous.

  But that wasn’t the issue at all. Serenis squinted her eyes as she spared a brief g the focused professor, then back at Aldrid.

  “Karas…isn’t a half?”

  “…You didn’t know?”

  “No?”

  She didn’t know. There was no way Serenis would’ve known when Karas went around g to be a crow half, looking like a crow half, and being indicated as a crow half on file.

  But what’s a file’s worth before a deity of life?

  Aldrid darted her gaze between Karas and Serenis. She briefly rose to her feet, approag the professor to gain his attention.

  “Excuse me. Professor Karas, was it? If you don’t mind me asking…what race are you?”

  “…Hm?”

  When Karas looked up from the fire to meet Aldrid’s gaze, he couldn’t find a single hint of curiosity in the deity’s eyes. She was clearly asking a question that she already khe ao.

  “…I believe you would know the answer already, Deity Aldrid.”

  “Perhaps. But do others?”

  “…”

  Serenis curiously observed the professor as his gaze gradually shifted over to her. When their eyes met, she could see a glimpse of guilt in the crow’s eyes.

  A sigh followed suit as Karas began his fession, speaking loud enough to be heard by the dragonlord.

  “First…Serenis, I’d like to ask you to keep this a secret.”

  “…? Were you truly not a half?”

  “No, I am not. In truth, I am a monster – a mana phenomenon.”

  “And you hid it all along? For what reason?”

  The professor chuckled at the dragonlord’s question. In a way, it was almost i.

  “It’s difficult to find a reason not to hide it. Monsters are wont to be feared and discriminated – the notion of monsters is still that of dangerous beasts. Had I revealed my actual race, my position as an institute professor would have been impossible.”

  “…Impossible…”

  Serenis reflected on her own era as Karas’ expnation sank in.

  True to his words, monsters never had much positive otation to them, past or present: a rge majority were no different from dangerous, vicious beasts. In fact, because a monster’s death left behind crystallized mana rather than hide a, their reputation was siderably worse during the dragonlord’s era.

  ‘But how exactly does that rete to one’s state of living?’

  Soon, the dragonlord shifted her gaze back to Aldrid.

  “…Child. Whatever did you mean that he isn’t alive?”

  The deity cleared her throat to expin her earlier statement.

  “A monster is closer to a natural phenomenon than a liviy. It’s simir to…say, a storm. Or a wave. While they exist, they ot truly be described as ‘alive.’ A state of death would imply that the soul has been severed from the body, but because monsters possess no soul, there is no sense of death in them. Just like how we are able to break a wave, but not kill it.”

  “…Is that so?”

  An ominous glint radiated from the dragonlord’s eyes as a rather evil grin curved her lips. Wheuro face the professor once more, Karas began to srofusely. He quickly added onto Aldrid’s expnation in case the dragonlord erceiving him to be immortal.

  “…While I don’t quite uand where this topic is ing from, a monster is not immortal. We may not possess a lifespan, but we still ‘die’ when our bodies are sliced in half.”

  “Not a worry. The demonlords of olde were just the same.”

  “…?”

  Serenis also rose from her seat to approach the professor. The fme beh the cauldron began to flicker as Karas’ focus waned, but even Otoka was too scared to intervene in the middle of a dragonlord’s work.

  The drago down on one ko speak to the professor at eye level.

  “Karas. I could not say this when Patrick resent, but…my current aim is to elimihe deity of death.”

  “??? Wh…is that even possible?”

  “It is. The very craft you’re w on is a ward that will protect its wearer from the divinity of death.”

  Karas briefly darted his gaze towards the cauldron, then back at Serenis. Despite his retive profi alchemy, it’d always been a mystery what this thing was – and why Otoka had suddenly enlisted every single one of them for help.

  When the professor’s eyes turned back to her, Serenis tinued.

  “However, Aldrid has just told me that monsters, like yourself, are wholly free from the divinity of death even without such items – for you are not truly alive.”

  “…It’s strangely sounding as if you wish for me to challenge a divinity.”

  “Precisely.”

  A long silence followed as the professor’s dubious eyes tried to find the joke in Serenis’ statement.

  As per usual, there were none.

  “…Do you take me for a madman, Serenis?”

  “Not at all. You were so eager when I told you that I was headed to see the deity of life. This shouldn’t be that different.”

  “This is entirely different. Meeting a deity and challenging a deity are pletely different things. And acc to historical records, the Reaper is nowhere near as benevolent.”

  “Hmm…”

  Whewo came to an impasse, Aldrid quickly intervened in the middle as she put herself between her lord and the professor.

  “e to think of it, professor, what exactly was the reason you wished to see me?”

  “Oh. I, well…I thought…that perhaps, a deity of life would hold the ao my research.”

  “Research? What research?”

  A brief silene ensued as Karas pted on speaking the answer. But if he didn’t, then Serenis likely would anyways.

  “…A resear souls. And the phenomenon known as reination.”

  “Huh? But reination shouldn’t even be possible for you, given how you don’t possess a soul to begin with…”

  “The research wasn’t particurly for myself, per se.”

  “Oh…that makes it obvious then. There’s been a few like yourself throughout the past. I’m guessing a loved one passed away? Someone you wish to reinate?”

  “…Something like that, yes.”

  “Welllll….”

  Aldrid dramatically stretched her audible p, tapping on her cheek. A mischievous grin was on the deity’s face when she spoke again.

  “It’d be difficult to find the soul of your loved one in the first pce…but even before that, reination is a manipution of the soul. Not only does it delve into realms of divinity, but it’s against the ws of nature. I’m afraid I shouldn’t really be telling you its ws.”

  “…”

  When the professor’s evident disappoi became clear in his eyes, the deity slipped a small snicker as she tinued.

  “Then again, it IS a realm I oversee, at least regarding porary life. I suppose I could share its ws with you. However, suowledge will iably e at a very high cost.”

  “A cost?”

  Aldrid returned a firm nod. She gestured over to the dragonlord standing beside her.

  “How about it? Perhaps you’re feeling a little more like a madman now?”

  “…”

  Well, shit.