Chapter 71: Punishnt – 2
By the ti the series of events had co to an end, Benjamin and Aina opened their eyes.
It wasn’t intentional, but sohow, we all ended up surrounding Benjamin.
“Ahem.”
He cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable, but none of us looked away.
After a brief mont, Benjamin raised his hand slightly and said,
“I surrender.”
“I wasn’t competing with you for victory or defeat. I just wanted to confirm whether you were in your right mind.”
“Well, I suppose I should say I’m fine for now. I have no intention of listening to Edgar’s words anymore.”
“That’s a relief.”
Just then, as if she had been waiting for that cue, Aina spoke up, having just woken up.
“Brother. Take off that face skin.”
“Aina.”
“It’s been a long ti since we t. Let see your real face.”
“Sigh.”
He hesitated for a mont, then brought his hand up to his face.
And peeled the skin off.
“Hh—”
Arlia inhaled sharply.
Berseum shook his head in pity, and the blind Sienne only tilted her head curiously.
His face was horribly disfigured by severe burns.
The skin had lted and clung together in strange places—it was the kind of sight that made one instinctively imagine how unbearable that pain must have been.
I let out a deep sigh.
“How did that happen… No, maybe I shouldn’t ask.”
“It’s all right. Aina probably already has an idea.”
Aina covered her mouth with both hands.
Her eyes welled up with tears.
I’d never imagined seeing that girl cry, yet I’d seen it more than once lately.
“Don’t tell it was because of ?”
“Of course not. It was because of the ones who set our family’s estate on fire.”
“But you got hurt while trying to save ! It’s because I passed out so early…”
“I did get a little burned saving you, that’s true, but I don’t regret it. I never said this before, but I’m really glad you’re safe.”
“Brother. Brother!”
Aina threw herself into Benjamin’s arms.
As Benjamin silently patted her back, the voice of the Diary Book echoed.
[That was truly unfortunate.]
‘Yeah. …Wait, aren’t you supposed to be up in the sky or sothing?’
[It’s not like I can only talk when I’m attached to you, Mason. More importantly, how long do I have to keep doing this? I’ve already sent out enough letters for one per citizen of the capital.]
‘Then you can co down. And… thanks for your work. I’ll count on you from here on.’
[From here on, you say.]
With a sigh, the Diary Book floated back to .
And then it said sothing unexpected.
[Good thing I got to see his real face at the end.]
‘Huh?’
[This is what I an.]
[You have successfully cleared the Sudden Quest ‘Hostage Situation’.]
[Records during the Sudden Quest ‘Hostage Situation’ have been updated.]
[Due to changes in the record, part of the Future Diary has been revised.]
[The Diary Book’s ‘Shop Lv.3’ feature has been upgraded.]
[You have achieved Sudden Quest: Arlia’s Survival. Reward: 100 points.]
[You have achieved Sudden Quest: Aina’s Survival. Reward: 100 points.]
[You have achieved Sudden Quest: Berseum’s Survival. Reward: 100 points.]
[You have achieved Sudden Quest: Sienne’s Survival. Reward: 100 points.]
[You have achieved Sudden Quest: Benjamin’s Survival. Reward: 100 points.]
[Current Points: 763]
What?
‘Benjamin was one of the potentials too?’
[Seems that way.]
‘Don’t sound like you’re guessing.’
[He is one of the potentials. That’s why Edgar’s ability didn’t work properly on him.]
‘I see.’
[For reference, once Mason saves soone even once, they beco completely immune to Edgar’s influence. Since you just saved Benjamin, you won’t have to worry about him anymore.]
Ah.
So that’s why Edgar couldn’t touch any of us anymore.
In any case, I was quite pleased with this unexpected gain.
Then Arlia spoke.
“Step aside for a mont, Aina.”
“What?”
“I’ll try healing him myself.”
That statent surprised not only Aina, but as well.
Even with the Light of Healing, Benjamin’s burns were from long ago, weren’t they?
“I-Is that possible?”
“My ability heals the wounded without leaving a single scar. Burns can be seen as scars too, so…”
“Please. Please, I beg you.”
Aina clasped Arlia’s hands and bowed her head earnestly.
Arlia looked a bit startled, but soon smiled softly and said,
“No need to beg. I already said I’d do it first. Just wait.”
She slowly brought her hand up to Benjamin’s face.
Soon, a gentle golden light seeped into his skin.
How long had it been?
We witnessed a living miracle.
Benjamin’s once-twisted face began to slowly regain its original skin.
Before long, he had a completely normal face again.
Arlia, seemingly satisfied with her own feat,
“Hmph.”
smiled faintly, and then collapsed on the spot.
I quickly caught her—she had simply fallen sound asleep.
“Ah… Thank you. Thank you so much, Your Highness.”
“Your Highness? You always called Miss Princess before.”
“Sniff… Thank you…”
“Guess she can’t hear you.”
Benjamin touched his face in disbelief and said,
“What in the world…”
“You weren’t wearing that skin mask to hide your identity, were you? It must have been to cover the burn scars.”
“…That’s right.”
“Then you don’t need to wear it anymore. Co to think of it, you stopped wearing your fake face so ti ago too, didn’t you, sir?”
Berseum nodded, stroking his mustache.
Benjamin asked,
“Wouldn’t that an I should wear it even more now that my face is healed?”
“No, sir. Quite the opposite.”
“…?”
“From now on, you’ll be traveling with us. We can protect you not only from the Emperor, but from the Empire itself.”
“What? That can’t be.”
“We even managed to snatch you away from Edgar. Compared to that, the Empire is nothing…”
“N-no, that’s not what I ant.”
He stamred, trying to clarify himself.
“You an… you’re inviting into your party?”
“Of course.”
“But until just a mont ago, I was your enemy.”
“That wasn’t your will. Thanks to your sister’s efforts, your soul’s color has changed now—it’s fine.”
He still looked dazed, unable to answer right away.
Swish.
Then Aina grabbed Benjamin’s hand and said,
“Co with us, brother.”
“Aina…”
“It’ll be fine with him around. Mason may not look it, but he’s really clever.”
What do you an may not look it?
“I can tell, just from what happened today… All right. I’ll count on you from now on.”
Good.
With that, our party now totaled six mbers, including .
As I smiled in satisfaction, Sienne spoke up.
“More importantly, we should get going soon.”
“Huh?”
“Soone must have reported this. With all the Silver Knights lying here unconscious…”
“Ah.”
“I can already hear footsteps approaching from afar.”
I asked Benjamin,
“What’ll happen to those knights now?”
“I’ve removed the needles, so they should co to their senses in about a week.”
“That’s a relief. Then let’s move.”
“Where are we heading?”
Berseum answered,
“To Deut Territory…”
“No, sir.”
“No?”
“Yes. We’ll have to travel around the continent for a while.”
I took out a teleportation bead and continued,
“The god said so—told to spread the word about Magireta’s ga across the entire continent.”
Scattering letters only through the capital wasn’t enough.
Soday, when enough ti passes, perhaps Edgar’s accumulated deaths will finally co to an end.
So, I’ll make sure everyone on the continent reads your letters.
So that you’ll never be able to join the ga again.
After that, we wandered across the continent.
It might sound like a difficult task when put into words, but it wasn’t hard at all.
We simply used teleportation beads to travel to one territory after another, and the Diary Book scattered letters across the sky.
During that ti, we enjoyed plenty of rest.
When the Diary Book returned, saying, [It’s done. Huff, huff.], we imdiately moved on to the next territory.
[Hey, I never said huff, huff.]
‘You just looked tired. You okay? Don’t push yourself too hard.’
[It’s a little late for you to start sounding kind, considering who made do this.]
‘Sorry. But I really an it—don’t overwork yourself. With what you’ve scattered so far, Edgar’s deaths must already number in the tens of thousands.’
[It’s fine. By now, I’ve gotten used to it.]
I wasn’t sure what kind of “used to it” that ant, but it was good to hear.
Honestly, without the Diary Book, that last Sudden Quest would’ve been impossible to clear.
I scratched my head and said,
‘Do you want anything?’
[What?]
‘You’ve worked so hard. I’d like to give you sothing in return.’
[Mason.]
The Diary Book paused, as if it couldn’t believe I was saying that.
Then it replied, in a slightly softer tone.
[All I want is for you to survive to the end, Mason. Together with your companions.]
‘That’s the plan, of course.’
[Then that’s enough. That’s really all I need.]
‘Diary Book… No, that’s not right.’
Co to think of it, it had said before that “Diary Book” wasn’t its real na.
So I asked what its real na was.
But the Diary Book only replied,
[You can just keep calling the sa. Even if I told you my na now, you wouldn’t rember it anyway.]
‘Huh?’
[It’s just… how it is. Anyway, let’s move on to the next territory.]
I was about to press further but stopped myself.
It didn’t feel like it would answer if I asked again.
Just then, Aina spoke up.
“This territory’s already piling up with letters.”
“Are we really going to cover the entire continent, Mason?”
“That’s the plan.”
Arlia thought for a mont before replying.
“According to the Empire’s census, ninety-one percent of the continent’s population is illiterate. Since Edgar’s letters were written in the Empire’s script, the actual number of people who can read them is even smaller.”
“How many people do you estimate can read them?”
“Conservatively, seven to eight million. Generously, maybe ten million.”
Wow.
Ten million deaths.
Benjamin nodded in satisfaction.
“At that rate, Edgar won’t be able to participate in any quest until the very end.”
“You sound quite pleased, Mr. Benjamin.”
“Miss Sienne, you seem the sa. I haven’t seen you stop smiling these past few days.”
“I’ve had plenty of grudges against that bastard too.”
We all shared a refreshing smile.
I told you in the letter, Edgar.
You’ve earned our hatred—so be prepared.
Then, we vanished again with a teleportation bead.
That’s how we continued, visiting more territories.
By area, we had probably covered only about ten percent of the continent so far.
“Brother.”
Suddenly, Magireta appeared.
With an unusually grave expression.
It was when we had just finished another round of “letter scattering” and gathered at an inn-restaurant for dinner.
“100,598 tis, brother.”
Magireta appeared silently as always—without warning.
But her face was different this ti.
The usual mad grin she wore under her hood was completely gone.
Her expression, her presence—both were entirely serious.
Everyone straightened up in response.
“What do you an?”
“Counting the letters scattered in this territory, 100,598 people have read Edgar’s letter. In other words, 100,598 future deaths are now reserved for Edgar.”
“……”
“No, that’s not right. He’s already died a little over thirty thousand tis, so we should subtract those from the total.”
What must it feel like to die and resurrect more than thirty thousand tis?
That idle thought crossed my mind blankly.
Then Arlia interjected.
“There’s no way he’s died that many tis already.”
“What do you an?”
“Each ti Edgar dies, it takes about thirty seconds for him to resurrect. To co back thirty thousand tis would take nine hundred thousand seconds—that’s over ten days. It hasn’t even been ten days since that hostage incident.”
“You’re surprisingly calm for such a topic.”
“If we were talking about a human being, I wouldn’t be. But I decided not to consider him one.”
“A wise choice.”
Magireta shrugged and replied.
“He’s impressive, though. He’s been shortening the ti it takes to resurrect on his own.”
“What? That’s possible?”
“Normally, the physical recovery happens much faster than thirty seconds. The delay cos from how long it takes for the soul of the dead to settle back into the body.”
“So, that ans…”
“Yeah. He’s learning to attach his soul to his revived body more easily.”
Edgar’s ability.
I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it definitely involved sothing to do with souls.
Given how he’d tainted Benjamin’s soul with that ability, it made sense.
He was now using it to reduce his own resurrection ti.
“Now it takes him about fifteen seconds to co back once.”
“Can he shorten it even more?”
“No. He’s used every trick he has. It takes fifteen seconds for his head to regenerate when it explodes—and that’s sothing even Edgar can’t speed up.”
“Then we’ll just have to scatter even more letters, won’t we, Your Holiness?”
“About that.”
Magireta suddenly paused.
Uncharacteristically, she seed to hesitate.
Then, she spoke.
“Let’s stop here.”
In her voice, I heard sothing.
An emotion so unfamiliar, I almost doubted it was coming from Magireta herself.
—Anxiety.
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