A contract in the na of friendship.
Conversation shared as equals.
It was undeniably a sweet temptation, yet at the sa ti it proved the 'void' possessed by the master of this castle.
'Strange.'
If he were a true Velmareth, there would be no reason to go through such trouble. He need only reign, and if sothing irked him, crush it underfoot. A single fury of blood would reduce every rudeness at the table to ash.
Then why?
'Why show
taste, promise safety, and offer the equal seat of "friend"? There is no gift without reason. Not unless the soul is innocent enough to trade flower rings.'
And no soul in a place such as this could be that young. Yes, that young would be impossible....
"......"
...At the very least, it was an existence possessing enough intellect to be far from clean.
'A soul truly that blank could never have succeeded in the Velmareth ritual to begin with.'
Moreover, a completed Velmareth could not possibly retain the sentint of a 'gift without reason.' So there must be a reason. A reason to invest this much effort in a re Lidmar.
"......"
Let us retrace.
'First, he is not arrogant.'
'That is not the posture of a Velmareth.'
'There is no fitting pride, either.'
'Perhaps he simply did not show it.'
'He may be accustod to passing as human.'
'But let us note it.'
And second.
'He did not seem accustod to being served.'
'Rather, he seed averse to it.'
'Could that be a personal preference?'
'Perhaps, perhaps not.'
'If not, then that too is strange.'
'Who would neglect a Velmareth?'
'Before or after the success.'
And third.
'His ideology is deeply human.'
'The language he uses is human as well.'
'An Eastern appearance and an Eastern tongue....'
'There should be no need to obsess over mimicry to that degree.'
'Perhaps it is not mimicry at all.'
'As a General Manager.'
'And as a person....'
And lastly.
"...Rejection."
'Is that possible?'
'A Velmareth who has already succeeded in the ritual -- experiencing rejection?'
"No one knows what a successful Velmareth looks like."
'What its abilities are, what the side effects might be.'
'If there are side effects, such a perfect Velmareth could not exist in the first place.'
"Then what if it is a rejection response?"
Even a 'perfect Velmareth' could experience that. Because it would be an internal matter, not an external one.
"Hemoptysis is a classic side effect for blood mages. But this is far too periodic to be a re side effect. Above all...."
His 'eyes' rolled heavily.
"No blood mage hesitates before blood that is rightfully his to consu."
He rembered Yeon-woo standing blankly before the 'blood' he had coughed up. Only eating it with a smile when the guest had fussed about taking it. In that, the guest had read a fundantal aversion to blood-drinking.
Ah, yes, but what if all of that was an act?
'The gains would be too ager.'
'All this to catch a single ant?'
'Insulting his own divinity....'
'Displaying a frail appearance.'
'Acting out a human ideology?'
It defied reason.
'Even if it were a jest, it makes no sense for one at the level of a god.'
'There could be no amusent in such trivial gas.'
'If there were only one discrepancy it might be coincidence, but if all these contradictions exist simultaneously.'
The remaining conclusion was one.
"......"
He did not beco a Velmareth of his own will.
'Is that possible?'
'The greatest pillar of desire that should sustain the ritual was absent from the start?'
No, it was possible. In theory.
"The mind and will can be coerced."
Whether by brainwashing, or by holding hostages. Recalling the nature of one who would drag useless wretches out of that filthy, base space and even harbor them in his own body -- the thods of coercion were infinite.
'But it is not as though such attempts were never made.'
'Forced brainwashing and threats could not possibly endure that ritual....'
"If the subject himself also had sothing to gain by becoming Velmareth, it is possible."
For example.
'If it ant saving soone.'
'If that was the only way, for a greater good or as the lesser evil.'
'If the innate will were abnormally strong....'
It could be possible.
'I have never once seen it done.'
If one were to imagine, though.
"But if that is the case...."
'I can hunt him.'
'I can devour him.'
'A frail blood.'
"Yes, frail."
Not in terms of his inherent power, but the opponent's 'self' as a Velmareth.
"And throughout the history of Blood Magic, it has always been those with the most bloated egos who win the fight."
For example, as The Guest Without Taste had.
"......"
A quieted mind.
He took in the comfort-filled quarters. What those dark-red eyes beheld were none other than the petits fours that Yeon-woo had presented as a gift.
How long had it been? He eventually rose.
'This is not a matter to be decided by re hypothesis.'
...There was sothing he needed to confirm.
***
The situation had grown complicated, but.
"......"
"Having had a proper al for the first ti in ages, the desire to reclaim a normal human sense of taste must have grown. That could well lead to the conclusion that he wants to consu a Velmareth."
He could well understand what the other must be feeling and thinking.
'I'm soone who likes good food, too.'
Rationally, it was correct to court the goodwill of the goose that laid golden eggs. That would directly concern his own peace and honor. The Guest Without Taste was surely working that calculator as well.
"Serving als is a transaction possible only under the premise that both sides observe courtesy."
"That is correct."
"If the other side tries to devour , he must know that I will not ekly set the table."
"That is correct."
But if the opponent abandoned compromise and charged forward to slit his belly open and beco a 'complete god,' there was no imdiate answer. It now hinged on what choice the guest would make.
"......"
After coming this far, was it a gamble again?
"How bitter."
"Hm."
"This is a textbook case of locking the stable after the horse has bolted."
Having finished the reception and left the hall, he was currently in a staff-only safe zone.
"Do you not agree? There is no physical ans to prevent a rampage, nor any cunning plan to appease him. Simply groveling and serving als will not make the opponent any safer."
"How unfortunate."
"Yes, how unfortunate."
He had already done everything he could.
"All I can do now is wait for the opponent to reach his own 'conviction,' or willingly 'choose' to compromise."
"Hm...."
"......"
Yeon-woo murmured quietly as he removed his gloves.
"...The difficulty of the Central Control Room assault will vary enormously depending on that choice."
"Yes."
"How unfortunate."
He pressed his lips firmly with the hand that had been working the system. He felt the cold body temperature caused by the water-affinity penalty.
"Ideally, he would be so moved that he leaps at my offer of friendship."
"Nope?"
"I agree. He is a monster that maintains reason even after falling to that state -- it does not seem likely he would be swayed that easily. I have been feeling quite uneasy; my luck seems to have been poor since arriving here."
He was, after all, a Monster Guest skilled enough at deception to lie fluently in order to protect his own honor and form. By no ans an easy opponent.
"Of course, if I had not done at least this much, I would not have bought even a minimum of ti. If I had begun the 14th Floor assault imdiately without the reception...."
"Pandemonium!"
"Precisely. Yes, that is what would have happened."
Had they not already experienced it during the Room 14 Event? The guest would surely have barged in mid-way and reveled in a chaotic party, and this side would have beco the festival's sacrifice.
'So it's fine. There's no problem.'
Yeon-woo had been doing well so far.
"There is much more I wish to say, but... I can truly delay the assault no longer."
"Yes."
"How much ti was lost preparing all this."
Yeon-woo closed the cover of the completed 'small book' and opened the system window.
"It is not rely a matter of my condition. Coco, can you see? Perhaps because operations have stabilized, the number of guests is steadily increasing."
"Oh."
"I may be imagining it, but you look quite satisfied."
"Satisfied."
"That was not my point?"
"Hmhm."
Coco's eyes swept across the sprawling system window. The number of Monster Guests using the hotel had visibly increased.
"This will not do."
There were still too few automated zones. Without direct user intervention, problems would inevitably arise. Remote control alone could not handle all of these events.
'And The Guest Without Taste, too....'
Having organized his thoughts, Yeon-woo spoke.
"Even if he refuses the proposal, it cannot be helped. Regardless of the outco, it is right to proceed with the Central Control Room assault and obtain the authority. I need to finish before he sorts out his thoughts."
"Yes!"
"This sort of thing should be resolved quickly while there are no Human Guests."
If he succeeded, he could proceed with the physical improvent research, and beco nearly perfectly safe from that guest. He would gain power and honor beyond what the guest possessed.
"......"
"Hello?"
"...No, my stomach for a mont...."
Yeon-woo pressed the area around his solar plexus. When he thought of the physical improvent research, he felt the blood within him churn.
"......"
A faint will was perceptible.
'Fear, or anticipation.'
The new tenant inside his body stirred weakly, then fell back asleep. In the kitchen last ti, it had clearly opened its eyes. It seed to have no intention of waking unless the situation called for it.
Removing his hand from his solar plexus, Yeon-woo spoke.
"Shall we wrap things up here for now, then?"
"Yes."
"I hope it ends peacefully."
"Yes."
"It would be nice if we could be friends."
Was that too hopeful a thought?
***
"May I have so?"
It had been too hopeful a thought.
'Resolving this through dialogue is.'
"May I have so?"
"Haha...."
He laughed as one would when humoring a child throwing a stubborn tantrum.
"No."
Negotiation collapsed.
He might as well get on with the 14th Floor assault.
***
Atop the covered small book in the kitchen, a snow-white paw descended like a ghost.
"......"
"...And so the second course can only concern temperature."
"In summary, desire alerts one to deficiency, and body heat alerts one to life."
"Now that the awareness of deprivation has begun, what follows is ultimately..."
"...Warm...."
A white garnt brushed over it.
"Warm fragrance...."
That was all.
***
[A Card Inscribed with Silent Warmth]
***
The winter of the Hunting Grounds was rciless.
The boy stared blankly down at his own reddened, frozen fingertips. They were like frozen shards of glass. The numbness was so severe all sensation had gone, and the air he inhaled scraped his throat like an ice blade.
Imdiately after returning, frozen solid. Without even ti to remove the heavy coat piled with layers of snow, ■■■ led the stiffened boy before the great hearth.
"......"
Crackling firelight licked at the darkness of the drawing room, yet the vicious cold lodged deep in his bones showed no sign of receding. As the boy wriggled his numb hands before the fire --
"Co here."
When ■■■ knelt on one knee, the boy approached. ■■■ enveloped the boy's pallid hands warmly in both of his own.
"Better now?"
Instead of answering, the boy nodded.
"Good, that is how it should be...."
There was no lecture for the failed hunt, no flustered fussing.
Only ■■■'s palms, hot enough to scald, wrapping around the boy's hands. A heavy heat, as though a fireball had been carried over, seeped through every joint of his frozen fingers.
The faint pain that ca as frozen blood vessels were forcibly roused faded quickly. That stinging ache soon lted into a drowsy relief.
The boy gazed out the window in the warm silence. A hazy sky where snowstorms still raged. He knew well how cold and dry and rude it was out there.
And yet, so long as this burning warmth remained, the world would surely never crumble.
He simply had that idle thought....
Reviews
All reviews (0)