Chapter 38
“I suppose you can return to the dormitory now.”
Professor Artemia’s discharge permission ca a week after the Golden’s party.
I missed all my classes during that ti. Hmm, feels like my life has gone down the drain.
“Professor, when do you think Lerwon-sunbae will wake up?”
At my question, Professor Artemia remained silent without a word.
“I’m not sure.”
She had been consistently using healing magic. On the outside, he now looked completely fine, without any wounds.
“It could be a matter of the heart. His condition was so severe, it might not be easy for him to recover.”
At Professor Artemia’s mumble, I looked towards the bed hidden by a curtain.
While I had woken up on the third day and started walking around by the fifth, Lerwon had slept like the dead for the entire week.
“I will handle Lerwon’s problem.”
“It’s on my mind as well.”
After all, I was the one who brought him to the Academy. I felt I should take responsibility.
Most importantly─
Lerwon, the heir of Golden, can still be saved.
Save Lerwon and stop him from contributing to the destruction.
-Reward: EXP 10,000, Golden Elixir
-Failure: Death
The Quest hadn’t been cleared yet.
This ant that Lerwon rely escaping from Iris’s grasp couldn’t be considered a complete salvation.
What a ridiculously strict system.
As I grumbled inwardly, Professor Artemia expressed her curiosity.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
“Lucian said he’d co to get later.”
According to our sweet-potato Hero,
“He said he was worried and that we should go back to the dormitory together.”
I’m not a fragile egg, so why the fuss?
I had my doubts, but since I could just dump my heavy luggage on Lucian, I decided to wait.
Professor Artemia, checking the clock as if to gauge the ti, stood up.
“Then, keep watch until he cos.”
“…Huh??”
Oh, this is an unexpected situation.
“It might take a little while, but check if Lerwon wakes up. If anything seems wrong with his condition, ring the bell on the desk. Then I’ll co.”
With those words, Professor Artemia left without a backward glance.
No, wait a minute! This isn’t right!
“Heol.”
She’s asking to do this?
I was dumbfounded, but soon decided to keep my mouth shut.
If I, a frequent visitor to the infirmary, had any conscience, I shouldn’t complain about most of Professor Artemia’s errands.
I sat quietly beside my sunbae and tapped my pants pocket.
“Albedo, wake up.”
《Has a problem arisen?》
Albedo, who seed to have been sleeping, slowly crawled out and settled on my shoulder.
“It’s not exactly a problem. We need to talk about sunbae.”
Back then, the situation was what it was, so we couldn’t talk comfortably.
Professor Artemia is gone for a bit, isn’t this the perfect ti for a chat?
《You… treat a lizard too roughly.》
“If it were an ordinary lizard, my conscience would have hurt too. But you’re not an ordinary lizard, are you?”
At my words, dissatisfaction colored Albedo’s red eyes.
I fed him the beef jerky Lucian had given for a snack and asked.
“You know, what did you an when you said sunbae isn’t an ordinary human?”
《It is a story related to the ancient tis.》
Does that an he can’t speak of it easily?
“You have a lot of secrets.”
《That is not for you to say, Theo Lisitoel.》
That’s true. I have as many secrets as Albedo.
“Will you just tell what I’m allowed to know?”
Albedo opened and closed his mouth as if in thought.
When he’s contemplating like this, I guess I have to throw him so bait of my own.
“The ancient monster sunbae is trying to beco, it’s Ouroboros. Right?”
I asked Albedo.
* * *
Ouroboros is divided into a total of 3 phases.
Phase 1 is Lerwon in a form mixed with human and snake, Phase 2 requires destroying the cocoon he enters to completely shed his human form, and the final Phase 3 is his complete tamorphosis into Ouroboros.
《How do you know that na.》
“It’s a secret, you know.”
I can guarantee that anyone who’s read a bit of fantasy knows Ouroboros.
That’s how famous a monster it was.
But in this world, if you asked ‘Do you know Ouroboros?’, the answer would be ‘What’s that?’.
There was no way anyone would rember a monster that was said to have existed in the veiled ancient tis. With the exception of a possessor or Albedo, who has lived since ancient tis.
《Then you must understand all the more. The reason why this human must be killed.》
“You an the world will be destroyed if we can’t stop it?”
The Ouroboros in the ga was almost identical to Jörmungandr [Midgard Serpent] from Norse mythology.
《How can you pity a monster that seeks to swallow the world.》
“Pity? I’m not sure about that.”
It’s easier to think of it as simply paying a price.
The price for consuming your tragedy, the story of this world, as a form of entertainnt.
《What on earth are you….》
From Albedo’s perspective, it must be an incomprehensible act of kindness.
Even though I am an extrely calculating person.
“You definitely know a way to turn sunbae back into a human.”
As you can see, I deliberately brought this up to you under a thorough calculation.
《How would I know what even the gods do not─》
“No, you do know, right? Your eyes just wavered for a mont.”
At my point, Albedo wore a look of dismay.
For a lizard, he manages to make such faces every ti.
Well, it looked cute to , so that’s all that matters.
《I'd rather die than suffer.》
“So, you really can’t tell ?”
Albedo only opened and closed his mouth a few tis.
《Pay the rightful price for the information.》
“A rightful price? What do I have to do?”
《The mories of the ancient tis are obsolete knowledge. A taboo that modern humans should never possess. However, an exception has already been made.》
That exception was and Lerwon.
Perhaps there are other exceptions we don’t know about.
《The price is information of equal value. You cannot decide what it is, and you will not be able to recall it in the future. Even if there are records, you will not be able to see them in your eyes, and even if others read them to you, you will not be able to hear them. A part of your life will disappear completely.》
Albedo, reciting the price, looked a bit like a demon for once.
It also seed like he was trying to be cool, which was a bit annoying.
《For the sake of a human who committed a taboo by his own choice, can you give up a part of your life.》
Should I tell him I'll die anyway if I can’t do this? Ah, he’s not trying to be cool, he’s genuinely worried about .
Hmph! Still, for a lizard, he was being too haughty.
“Yeah, I don’t mind.”
I don’t know how giving up my mories now will co back to later.
But, there’s no reason for not to do sothing when I can, right?
I just need to make the best choice I can in every mont.
《How did sothing like this beco my contractor.》
“I’m the contractor you chose, so suck it up and endure it.”
《Stop with the strange nonsense.》
A magic circle floated up from Albedo’s body.
《Place your hand on the magic circle.》
As I placed my hand as Albedo instructed, a strange feeling washed over .
It felt like sothing was sucking on , but it was unpleasant nonetheless.
《It is done.》
“The feeling was so weird, I can’t do that twice.”
《Anyone who does this twice would be a lunatic.》
“Let’s stop raising flags.”
If this conversation continues any longer, it will just be one big flag-raising session.
Dusting off my hands, I tried to recall the thod to turn Lerwon back into a human.
“Oh, it’s coming to automatically.”
《Yes, because that has beco your knowledge.》
“I’m glad I made a contract with you.”
If it weren’t for that, I would never have known how to save Lerwon.
Past , you did really well, at least this ti.
《Why, did you regret it a little before?》
I decided to remain silent.
Ignoring Albedo’s strong protests, I forcibly shoved him into my pocket and waited for Lerwon to open his eyes.
* * *
Lerwon barely opened his tightly shut eyes.
What he saw upon opening them was the faint sunlight and Theo, who was dozing off while sitting with his back to the light.
「Sunbae…!」
The desperate voice calling him, the trembling hand he felt beyond his dull senses, was none of it a dream?
Suddenly, his cheeks were wet.
They were tears.
“Ah.”
It wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a dream.
How should he define this emotion? He didn’t know.
“Ugh─”
When he was a child, he wished for anyone from beyond to co.
Sotis, he wished for his parents, whom he had killed with his own hands, or mostly for a very high-ranking person to co and kill him, even if it was as a punishnt.
Anyone but Iris was fine.
However, the one who always ca was Iris.
With a single exception, Theo Lisitoel.
How in the world should he describe this complicated emotion?
Lerwon found it incredibly difficult to control the emotions churning in his throat.
It was painful, simply agonizing.
“Um, sunbae?”
His eyes t Theo’s, who had woken up at the faint sound he made.
“What happened.”
His voice had long been subrged in tears.
Theo muttered, blinking his eyes as if trying to shake off the encroaching fatigue.
“I found you in the prison, sunbae, and that woman said that if I wanted her to let you go, I had to beco her adopted son.”
“So?”
“I told her to go X herself and ca out.”
“How on earth?”
“The risk was pretty big, but I can use teleportation magic. I just ran straight to the Academy.”
However, that couldn’t be the end of it.
That persistent woman would surely try to get him back sohow.
Theo, noticing Lerwon’s question, continued his explanation.
“After that, she took Zephyros and Lucian hostage and caused a huge commotion, so in exchange for dropping the whole thing, your custody was transferred to the Academy.”
“What?”
Lerwon blinked his eyes as if in disbelief.
Was all of that true? He couldn’t believe it.
“There’s no way mother would let go….”
“I’m sure you’re not unhappy about it, but are you afraid?”
Theo had already seen Lerwon’s bottom.
It wasn't an ordinary bottom, but a hell that should never be revealed to anyone.
So, there was no need to try and hide it.
“Yes, I’m scared. Mother is soone who will do anything to get what she wants.”
“Anyway, I’ve also been included in that ‘what she wants’ situation, so I’m in deep trouble myself, you know?”
Theo shrugged lightly. His nonchalant attitude was even surprising.
His junior sotis acted like a person with a couple of extra lives like this.
If Lerwon were in his situation now, he would be so anxious and scared that it would be difficult to maintain his sanity.
“So, I’ll ask you straight out. Sunbae, you’ve committed a taboo, right?”
Theo’s question was a ripple.
The faint source of a storm that could potentially overturn the entire lake called Lerwon, which had been quietly stagnating and rotting.
Whether the end would be destruction or a new beginning, the current Lerwon did not know.
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