Hunter and Mad Scien Chapter 224

Her head felt numb. She was laughing, but it didn't feel real at all. Was this the end? Really? Was it ending like this?

The battle had been fierce. However, the end ca in an instant. Daria was dragged into the crack without being able to say a single proper word. Now without the Golden Claw in her hands, she would never be able to return.

And the Golden Claw was now in Esperanza's hand. Not the broken Golden Claw that Cyrus had brought, but the real Golden Claw that was absolutely necessary for completing the spaceti machine.

There was no sense of achievent. Just the thought that a quest that seed like it would never end had finally finished. It was clearly a success, but sohow it left a bitter taste. Esperanza closed her eyes. Both her body and mind were utterly exhausted and worn out.

As tension released, fatigue rushed in all at once. Though she thought she should get up, she had no desire to move her body that was pressed against the red carpet with her cheek crushed. Her consciousness gradually fell into sleep.

A bath and alcohol would be nice, but for now she just wanted to rest.

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The scene that appeared as if the laboratory ceiling had been torn away. The appearance of a futuristic city that seed at least a hundred years, perhaps even a hundred and fifty years ahead.

Murky blue-gray buildings that seed to pierce the sky, and flying objects embroidering white clouds above those tall skyscrapers. Below were carriages in a much more advanced form than steam carriages. Large screens hanging on high places of buildings and vivid colored screens as if seen right before one's eyes.

Cider etched all of that sight clearly into his eyes. Though the ti period was different, it was the appearance of the world where Esperanza had lived.

That crack, which tore through space and space to briefly show him a world he could never cross over to, soon crumpled and disappeared when Esperanza pushed Daria in and stopped the magic power supply to the Golden Claw.

Cider's gaze turned to Esperanza lying prone on the floor. Her back had definitely seed to be rising and falling as if she was laughing, but now there was no movent at all. Her warm cheeks and limp body were so peaceful that it was impossible to think they belonged to a warrior who had skillfully used a city's worth of magic power just monts before.

It was truly over.

Savoring the end that had suddenly approached, Cider lifted Esperanza's body.

"Avondale."

A low, scratchy voice that seed to suppress groans called to Cider.

Ah, this guy was still here too. He wouldn't just disappear on his own when things were resolved. Cider frowned. Seeing that expression, Cyrus decided to spare his words.

"...Never mind."

"You'll need treatnt."

"I can handle it myself."

"I was telling you to handle it yourself. We'll talk later."

The tip of his shoe kicked the side of the half-collapsed Cyrus as he passed by. Without even realizing he'd been hit, Cyrus looked up at the gaping sky.

"It's over."

The people of this place would be able to live without knowing what dungeons or Hunters were from now on. They could live without knowing about a world that created unavoidable disasters dozens of tis a day solely for visitors' entertainnt.

Daria of this place would beco a bit more unhappy, but... that was sothing they had accepted from the beginning.

Beyond the open door, Cyrus looked at the spaceti machine with its destroyed interpretation system and exhaled deeply. Once Cider Claiborne repaired that interpretation system and connected the Golden Claw to the spaceti machine, Esperanza would leave.

It was an emptily easy end compared to the life-risking journey they had made.

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She was tired. Her body felt heavy as if subrged in water. The faintly remaining pain stung, and her eyelids wouldn't move easily as if they were stuck together. Her consciousness, still drunk on sleep, flickered as if it would wake up or not.

Why was she so tired...?

Ah, there had been a battle yesterday. It felt like the thin mbrane surrounding her consciousness cracked open with a pop. That's right.

Golden Claw. Crack. Spaceti machine. Battle. Pri Minister. Secret passage. Dungeon. Trap.

It was all over now.

A hollow laugh escaped. To think it would be such an ordinary end.

She rubbed her eyes and forced herself to get up. It was an ordinary morning as if nothing had happened. Even though everything was over.

"You're awake."

An armchair placed at the foot of the bed. She hadn't noticed because he was buried deep in it. Cider, who had put down a thick book that Esperanza wouldn't even dare to read, turned his head. When their eyes t, he showed the smile he usually gave her.

"What ti is it?"

"Morning. Six o'clock."

He got up early. Esperanza, who had been pouting her lips for a mont, suddenly jerked her body up.

Cider Claiborne was awake at six in the morning?

"Did you not sleep?"

Cider smiled broadly. It seed he really had stayed up all night. Esperanza looked at Cider intently with narrowed eyes. Then he avoided her gaze and said sothing irrelevant.

"The doctor ca by. He said you were just sleeping, but."

"Ah, yes."

"You never know."

The wounds were fine. So were deeply pierced, but since she had drunk potions, they would heal quickly if she applied dicine well and rested. The problem was the fatigue from the battle that had lasted all day.

And though he didn't tell Esperanza, he couldn't know what effect being directly exposed to the crack's gravitational pull might have. Though he thought there would be no major problems, he couldn't help feeling anxious.

Fortunately, Esperanza woke up after just one night. Cider would not voice a single word of the countless thoughts that had passed through his mind last night.

Esperanza wiped her face with Cider's handkerchief placed on the table and examined her body. Since she had been treated with potions, there were almost no traces of battle to be found. Looking down at her clean white nightgown, Esperanza suddenly asked.

"This is a bit of a funny question, but my clothes and bath..."

Cider answered readily with a face that seed to say she worried about everything.

"Mrs. Lux handled the clothes, and Miss Tate took care of the bath. All I did was that wet cloth."

Only then did Esperanza realize the existence of the wet cloth sprawled on the bed. It seed to have fallen when she bolted upright. The moisture was half dried. It seed quite so ti had passed since it was moistened. Which ant.

"You sat there all night?"

"That's what I said."

No. Cider had only said he stayed up all night. That was sothing that often happened to Cider Claiborne. Though it wasn't desirable.

But here, sitting in front of a small table with nothing on it, spending the nightti hours when no sound could be heard... In this quiet room, sitting next to the sleeping Esperanza, what thoughts had he alone been thinking?

But she couldn't ask.

Esperanza got down from the bed. The carpet softly crumpled under her bare feet. When she approached with slow steps, Cider only raised his head to et her eyes. Not knowing what to say, Esperanza just embraced his neck. Cider's hand covered Esperanza's back.

There were no words at all. That was enough.

Relief that it was over, emptiness. Fear about the farewell that had beco reality. Emotions that could make two people feel like one.

The curtain fluttered inward. The wind that whipped past her hair like a lash was cold. Suddenly her mind beca clear. Esperanza straightened her body and asked.

"Ah, right. Where did you put the Golden Claw? Did you see it by any chance? Did I put it in my inventory?"

If her mory was correct, she had definitely been holding it in her hand until the end. Without that, there would be no reason for all this trouble. As her face darkened with an ominous thought, Cider chuckled. His finger playfully tapped the tip of her nose.

"I put it in the laboratory."

"Ah. That's a relief."

"Want to go see it?"

After hesitating, she nodded. Just yesterday, there had been a battle that tore the world apart, yet this world seed too unchanged. She wanted confirmation. Confirmation that it was now over.

Cider led the way as if he understood that feeling.

Walking down the corridor, Esperanza realized the atmosphere of the mansion was different from usual. It probably wasn't because of the finished battle.

"Why are they all like that?"

"You'll know when you see."

"What's that supposed to an?"

However, no answer ca back. As if telling her to see for herself.

In front of the closed door. Esperanza, who was about to grip the doorknob, hesitated. Deep gashes remained on the reddish wooden door. They were definitely from yesterday. And if her mory was correct.

"This looks like sothing I did."

"I thought so."

Cider didn't seem to care much. Esperanza frowned. Cider would see this wound every day, every ti he opened this door. Even if Esperanza left, this would remain.

"Wouldn't it be better to fix the door?"

"I wonder. I can handle it."

It probably wasn't just about the door. When Esperanza conveyed implied anings, Cider had never failed to understand them.

If he said it was fine, then it must be fine. Esperanza pressed down on her heart that was beating a little faster than before and took a step.

The study that had beco a complete ss with traces of battle. Book spines of various colors were visible. The furniture that had fallen over was also properly standing. Several pieces of broken furniture seed to have disappeared from their places or been replaced with other furniture. The sofa that Esperanza had liked was still there. It was fortunate, if anything.

Cider took out a key and opened the laboratory door. It was a door that had never been locked before. Esperanza, who was arranging cushions on the sofa in their familiar shape, stared blankly at the key she was seeing for the first ti and asked.

"Why did you lock the door?"

Instead of answering, Cider threw open the door.

The laboratory that seed unable to be restored even this far, with collapsed and broken things barely cleaned up. It was desolate due to the removed furniture and experintal equipnt. And it was strangely bright.

Bright?

Whoosh, cold wind swept past her hair. As if a window was open... No.

Esperanza, who had raised her head, burst into a hollow laugh.

"There's no roof."

"It seems to have been cleanly blown away by yesterday's events."

Cider replied with a laugh as if it was no big deal.

"Is this really sothing to laugh about? What are you going to do with no roof in the laboratory?"

"I've called repair workers. Of course it will take several days, and research will be difficult during that ti. It might be disappointing for you though."

"I'm not disappointed at all."

She answered before the words even finished.

Cider, still keeping his gaze fixed ahead, spoke in a sohow subtle tone. It seed closer to lukewarm than joyful, but didn't seem unpleasant.

"That's a relief."

The room where the spaceti machine was located was safe. Esperanza looked at the sight of the golden blade positioned in what had been an empty space.

The machine was enormous enough to fill an entire room. The central part that had embodied the image of the God of Ti and scythe—Cider had abandoned that overwhelming form and added a capsule-shaped space to enhance stability. The Golden Claw also went on top of the capsule like a real claw, rather than in the God of Ti's hand.