novelraw Chapter 60 : Chapter 60
Chapter 60 : Chapter 60
Chapter 60: The Funeral of Things (4)
‘How heavily guarded.’
With her hands neatly folded, Fleur thought.
Around Emilio's bedside, several defensive spells were active. Covertly, so that Emilio wouldn't notice. Had Fleur not deployed her divine power, she too would not have been able to detect them. Spells like Spell Cancellation, Motion Seal, and Action Detection were silently running.
‘Looks like everyone has noticed.’
The fact that Emilio’s condition was unusual.
Professor Argento must be aware of it too. Since he’s no ordinary cleric.
Then how will he act? Folding her left hand over her right, then her right hand over her left, Fleur constantly fidgeted with her hands as she tried to guess.
His unusual teaching methods, his absurd level of power, the signs that he was tracking the Saint-Pierre family. If it was that kind of Abel Argento, then perhaps…,
‘…I wonder if it’s tasty?’
Fleur’s train of thought was broken.
Emilio was munching on a sandwich, a piece of bacon stuck to the corner of his mouth.
Fleur fiddled with her cream-colored nails. She pulled at the skin that had grown around her nails. The shallowly protruding cuticles were plucked away one by one, along with a stinging pain.
“Um, Fleur-sunbaenim….”
In that moment, Emilio's gaze turned towards Fleur.
Emilio picked up a tissue and wiped his mouth.
“...It's very delicious. Thank you.”
“Really?”
Fleur clasped her hands.
Her light pink lips curved into a smile.
“How delicious is it? Is it more amazing than a dish made by the latest model golem?”
“W-well…. I’ve never had a dish made by the latest model golem….”
“It’s fine. A golem’s cooking isn’t fit for consumption anyway. Human food can only be made by humans.”
“...Is that so?”
Emilio tilted his head.
Fleur's face was reflected in his shyly raised eyes. He had heard that she was unfailingly calm, a talent coveted not only by CIAR's Department of Theology but also by high-ranking clerics. The Evangelist Fleur de Saint-Pierre.
That was why it was questionable. Why would she suddenly visit and treat him to a meal.
“Fleur-sunbaenim.”
Emilio’s lips parted carefully.
“...Am I going to die?”
“Hmm?”
Why is he asking such a question, she wondered.
Whispering softly, Fleur held a smile.
“Are you worried I might have put poison in the sandwich?”
“Of course not. There’s no way such a delicious poison could exist. It's just that I…”
Emilio’s head drooped.
The half-eaten sandwich came into his shadowed view.
The limp bacon wedged between the slices of bread. Staring at it, Emilio continued to speak.
“I've been unwell since I was a child. I would often lose consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I would always find myself standing in an unknown place. As if possessed by something…”
“Is it like sleepwalking?”
To Fleur’s question, Emilio shook his head.
“It's different. Neither the cathedral nor the magic tower could find the cause. My parents tried hard to help me get better, but I didn't improve at all. My father even passed away while researching a spell for me. I could only watch. My father’s last moments….”
Why are you pretending not to know, he wondered.
Emilio mumbled towards Fleur.
“You know, don't you, sunbaenim. That everyone whispers about me being possessed by an evil spirit.”
“Is that so?”
An evil spirit is attached to Emilio Mackenzie.
Is such a rumor spreading?
Fleur tilted her head, a faint sneer held behind her lips.
Come to think of it, Monika had asked me a question. If I had ever seen an evil spirit. I wonder what Monika is doing now. Is she eating food made by the latest model golem?
Fleur thought that she didn't really know.
“It’s the first I’ve heard of it. I’m not interested in the people around me.”
“Don’t lie. Then why did you come to see me?”
Emilio’s tone roughened slightly.
Anger flickered in his simple, wavering eyes. And so his hands trembled. The sandwich Emilio was holding was crushed. The neatly cut slices of bread were squashed, and a sticky sauce oozed out. Greasily, redly.
“Why did you come to see me….”
Emilio muttered, clenching his teeth.
“Why are the professors coming to see me…, is that it?”
I’m going to die, he thought.
I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, he thought.
The moment Emilio, with eyes wide open, was on the verge of tears,
“Shh, Emilio. Calm down.”
Fleur clasped Emilio’s hand.
It’s cold. Like touching a snowball. Emilio thought, despite himself. It was because Fleur’s touch was so cold that it could cool even his surging indignation.
“I think I understand a little now. You seem to be afraid of dying. I hadn’t expected that. I apologize. It was my fault.”
“Are you joking right now? Everyone is afraid of death. It’s only natural.”
“Is that so? But you said it yourself. That you watched your father’s last moments.”
“That’s why I’m scared. My father, along with the spell, without a trace…”
“He disappeared? Oh, that’s a shame. My mother hanged herself. So I'm not afraid of death. Rather, I look forward to it. Because when I stop breathing, I’ll be able to meet my mother. My life is nothing more than a process of dressing up carefully before reuniting with my mother. Wouldn’t your life be the same?”
No, perhaps it’s different.
Whispering so, Fleur rose to her feet.
Tuk, tuk. The obsessive-compulsively regular sound of her flat shoes. Fleur stood facing Emilio. Letting her flower-scented hair hang down, she bent her upper body and, parting her full lips, whispered into Emilio’s ear.
“Isn’t it strange, Emilio.”
A hint of laughter tinged Fleur’s tone.
“I witnessed my mother’s death, and you witnessed your father’s, so why are our views so different? I have no choice but to predict this. It’s either because one of our minds is broken….”
Or, it’s because your father is alive.
“...What?”
Emilio’s pupils trembled.
A breath escaped from his dazedly parted lips. The faintly dispersing puff of air was like a soul. Emilio glanced down at his heaving chest, then slowly raised his head to look at Fleur. Fleur was smiling. And inside Fleur's clear, sparkling eyes, the faintly reflected Emilio was also…,
“──That won't do.”
smiling wryly.
With a gravelly old man's voice.
“You are truly insidious. This boy is too weak to face the truth.”
That the father he thought was dead is alive,
and is, in fact, the culprit. The fact that he's a believer who offered his own son's body to us, he would never be able to handle it.
Emilio whispered so.
“Is that so?”
Fleur tilted her head.
The smile that had formed on her lips scattered indifferently.
“Unexpected. I didn't know you were being so considerate of this child. Especially after leaving him amongst the combat golems.”
Spill your intentions, she thought.
Fleur asked as she sat down on a chair.
“Heraclitus, why did you make the combat golems go berserk?”
“Berserk? I merely planted resentment in them. Anger spreads like wildfire. And so, I, Heraclitus of the Fire, as a prophet, rightfully bestowed it upon the golems. A wrath like hellfire.”
“I don’t want to have a pedantic conversation. You should know that well, right?”
Planting anger. Don’t make me laugh.
You just injected the souls of the dead.
Fleur muttered so.
“Did you shove in the souls of those who burned to death, perhaps? The golems were shouting to burn together, weren't they? The professors at CIAR must have noticed too. That the apostates' ploy had affected the golems.”
“I suppose so.”
Emilio shrugged.
“But they would not have noticed my existence.”
“I wonder. Even so, was there a need to play such a prank?”
Fleur crossed her legs.
She looked around with her arms crossed.
They’re not activating after all. Thinking so, she narrowed her eyes. The spells installed to protect Emilio were silent. It couldn't be helped. The beings residing within Emilio were not targets that could be detected by a few spells.
“If you have no intention of revealing your purpose, do as you please. It's not like I have any other way to interrogate you.”
Fleur stood up from her seat.
After taking one step forward, she stopped.
“I have a request. Don’t kill Emilio.”
“Hoh.”
A smile spread across Emilio’s lips.
“Are you concerned? I didn’t know you had such magnanimity. The one who should be worried about death should be none other than you.”
Do not mind it.
I had no intention of killing him in the first place.
Emilio whispered so, pointedly clutching his own neck.
“Evangelist of the God of the Underworld, our deal is also nearing its end. This will be our last meeting, will it not? It’s been a pleasure. Your service will be a great help in renewing this world. I thank you on behalf of our comrades.”
“Cut it out. We’re not on terms to exchange pleasantries.”
“My, how merciless.”
Allow me to tell you, in consideration of our time together, he thought.
Emilio gave a neat, silent bow and muttered.
“The reason I made the golems go berserk… was to lure one man. There’s no need to mention his name, is there?”
Fleur looked back.
The evening sunlight was pouring in. With the crimson sunset at his back, Emilio’s eyes flashed. A gaze that had looked merely simple was now bent insidiously. A blasphemously clear arrogance. A look stained with what could be called ambition turned towards Fleur.
“...Abel Argento?”
The moment Fleur’s lips twitched,
“Correct.”
Clap.
Emilio clapped his hands.
“Bear this in mind, Evangelist of the God of the Underworld.”
Your teacher,
Abel Argento is none other than…
“The Pope’s Shadow, the Sword Saint.”
* * *
Fabien’s eyes were made of magic stones.
Thinly cut fragments of magic stones were layered to function as a crystalline lens.
Therefore, Fabien’s vision was different from that of ordinary living beings. It was a structure that saw through signals flowing from his mana reactor. If an abnormality occurred in the mana reactor, his vision would also be paralyzed, and text-based commands would be constantly displayed.
[Commencing regular maintenance.]
Fabien’s vision went black.
Only a command instructing a regular maintenance check was displayed. The latest model golems were configured to inspect their mana reactors every 12 hours, a measure to detect any potential abnormal reactions.
[Durability status: Normal.]
[Remaining mana: Normal.]
[Commencing memory circuit check.]
His vision soon brightened.
Countless scenes were rapidly transmitted.
It was the process of reviewing the information stored in Fabien.
A bleak factory appeared. The storage hold of a transport ship appeared. A lovingly decorated glass case appeared. Soon, Fabien was displayed inside it.
“This golem… looks like my son.”
The first owner’s face appeared.
He was a merchant who had lost his son.
“Good. From now on, your name is Fabien.”
The merchant gave Fabien the name of his dead son.
He had only replaced the name, but he could not replace his son's existence. The merchant soon fell ill and passed away, endlessly repeating his son's name on his deathbed.
“You, will you call me by my name?”
The second owner’s face appeared.
She was the eldest daughter of a count’s family.
“And hate me. This is an order.”
The count’s eldest daughter wanted to be loathed by Fabien.
Some humans take pleasure in being hated. According to the data input into Fabien, that was the case. It said that because they belonged to a position where they couldn't be hated, they came to desire even hatred.
“From now on, you will assist my research.”
The third owner’s face appeared.
He was a renowned magician.
“The miracle of bringing life back… what do you think of it?”
The magician wanted to resurrect his dead lover.
In the end, the experiment failed. Intelligent life forms usually wished for miracles, and the magician also wished for one, but the possibility of it coming true did not exist.
“Everyone, won’t you become a married couple starting today?”
The fourth owner’s face appeared.
The young lady of a cleric family. A young girl who liked to play with dolls. An owner who was completely untainted by the world’s malice, and for that reason, could sometimes become cruel.
“Because golems need love too.”
It was an unacceptable order.
As golems had no emotions whatsoever, including affection.
“They say love is the only emotion that grows the more you share it.”
Moreover, it was a combat golem.
The golem his owner ordered him to take as a wife.
“So from now on, please share your love. Understood?”
The combat golem’s operating principles were different from Fabien’s.
It could not feign emotions. It was an item purchased for the owner’s protection in the first place.
Therefore, it was Fabien’s role. He held its hand, kissed it, whispered words of affection, and even staged arguments. Based on the information input into his mana reactor, he faithfully performed the life of a married couple. Like a puppet show, so to speak.
“...This is no fun.”
The owner’s reaction was lukewarm.
It was a result within the predicted range. The games of the young always started grandly and ended modestly.
[Maintenance complete.]
[Memory circuit status: Normal.]
The process of the regular maintenance check was also like that.
The countless visual information stopped in an instant. Fabien’s vision went futilly black, and an inorganic command was displayed.
[Commencing reboot.]
Again, Fabien’s vision brightened.
The blurrily spread visual circuit regained its focus.
The world looked upside down. The sky was in the place of the ground, and the ground was in the place of the sky, bobbing.
[...Professor Argento.]
And so, Fabien opened his mouth.
[Why are you carrying me over your shoulder?]
“You’re awake.”
Abel was walking.
With Fabien slung over one shoulder.
“I stopped by my office and saw you were undergoing maintenance. So I’m carrying you myself.”
[My apologies. I have caused you an inconvenience.]
“It’s nothing to apologize for.”
Fabien lifted his head.
His limp arm swayed along with Abel’s steps. The composition of the shadow-etched ground matched that of CIAR’s training ground. Fabien blinked a couple of times, then caught sight of the stuffed doll held in Abel’s hand.
[You are holding a Hero doll.]
“...Yes.”
Abel gripped the doll tightly.
The Hero’s face was badly distorted.
“Monika bought it for me.”
[Of course she would have.]
A mechanical smile spread on Fabien’s lips.
[Judging by the shape of the armor, it’s a Hero doll from his goblin-hunting days. It’s quite a popular product. However, its rarity is not that high. It’s known as a Silver-grade Hero doll.]
“Why does a doll have rarity?”
[Because it’s a flagship product of the Imperial Toy Association. A Platinum-grade Hero doll is more expensive than most artifacts.]
“...I can’t understand.”
Get down, he said.
Abel muttered while helping Fabien down.
Stepping onto the ground, Fabien looked around. As analyzed by his visual circuit, this was CIAR’s training ground. The dusky surroundings were sparsely populated, and only the candles burning in the middle of the sand pit were distinct.
[...Candles?]
Fabien tilted his head.
His mana reactor began to flicker. Information processing commenced. A mana signal circulated through Fabien’s body, analyzing the phenomenon. A training ground was a place for practicing martial arts, so why were candles flickering?
“You’re here.”
Meanwhile, Monika passed by Fabien.
“Please wait a moment.”
Abel’s and Fabien’s gazes followed Monika. Monika had stopped between the candles and was rummaging through a paper bag. A straw doll was held in Monika’s hand.
“Fabien, that is an altar.”
Abel opened his mouth with an indifferent expression.
[An altar..., you say?]
“Yes. Don’t mind it.”
Abel took a step towards Monika.
Abel, who was a few steps ahead, looked back at Fabien.
“Isn’t this what children’s make-believe is all about? They clump mud together and insist it’s bread. Pouring one's heart into trivial matters is also part of make-believe. Can’t you just understand it that way?”
Fabien’s head tilted to the side.
The flickering of his mana reactor stopped. It was because the calculation was complete. Fabien could not derive a proper answer, but he decided to accept the situation based on his owner's command.
That all of this was nothing more than make-believe.
“You’ve decorated it quite nicely, Monika.”
“No, I haven’t. It’s so crude it makes me sigh.”
“Of course it was a lie. It was to cheer you up. You were completely fooled by me.”
“...I wasn’t fooled.”
Fabien stood still.
Beyond the whispering Abel and Monika, there was probably an altar.
Fabien needed a little time. The flimsy shelf, the straw dolls piled on top of it. The pile of flower petals covering the dolls. And the cluster of candles surrounding the shelf. To recognize all of that as an altar.
“Fabien-ssi.”
Monika raised her body.
Facing Fabien, she mumbled her lips.
“Um… we’re going to mourn the golems now.”
Would you like to join?
Monika asked so.
[Mourn….]
Fabien’s eyes narrowed.
Could mourning be make-believe?
It was information that required the owner’s review. Fabien turned his head and looked at Abel. Abel, standing with his arms crossed, let out a sigh.
“...So they say.”
Abel’s words were strained.
It wasn’t that a complete answer was needed. The mana reactor embedded in Fabien could detect non-verbal expressions. It just didn't work on Abel. The command that appeared around Abel was distorted.
『 Abel Argento 』
─ Species : ㄹㅇㄴㅗㅅㄴㄱㅓㅣㅣㅇㄱㄴㅏㅡㅏㅗㅁㅇㅍ
─ Age : ㅇㅎㅣㄸㄹㅐㅏㅡㅔㅏㅜㅅㅏㄱㅅㄹㅇㄲㅈ
─ Health : ㄹㅕㅈㅗㅣㄷㅏㅎㅎㅅㄴㅕㅏㅗㅗㅇㅇㅈㅏㅇㅇ
─ Emotion : ㄴㅕㅇㅍㄴㄹㅇㅓㅅㅜㅇㅏㅡㅎㅁㅡ
Incomprehensible phrases.
But it was not an error. If there was an abnormality in the mana reactor, it would have been discovered during the regular maintenance. The potential for development in intelligent life forms is infinite, and Abel must be one who transcends the mana reactor's detection system. Fabien understood it that way.
“My father was a hunter.”
Suddenly, Monika opened her mouth towards Fabien.
“He told me that if you kill a being, you must mourn it as the one who killed it.”
[Monika-nim, golems do not die. They are merely disposed of. That is what objects are.]
“I knew you’d say that. But I think golems are alive. I’m the one who killed Fabien-ssi’s kind, who killed your former wife.”
[That is not the case at all.]
Fabien’s expression softened considerately.
It was the result of his emotion response system activating. Fabien identified a faint sense of guilt from Monika.
[Golems are not a species. There is no such thing as a sense of kinship. The spousal relationship was merely part of a role-play. The products that Monika-nim and your fellow students subdued have no relation to me whatsoever….]
As he was about to say that,
Fabien’s mana reactor began to flicker actively. A command was listed next to Monika.
『 Monika Lohengrin 』
─ Species : Human
─ Age : 18
─ Health : Accumulated fatigue
─ Emotion : Brooding over the ethics of an exploiter
Fabien was convinced.
The girl standing before him was reconsidering her ethics. This was one of the main tendencies of intelligent life forms.
All living beings repeatedly exploit. Life and death are maintained by eating and being eaten. This chain of exploitation was a principle that constituted the world, but some intelligent life forms were bound to agonize over its fundamentals.
Abel was right.
It was make-believe. Monika's mourning.
Monika would live indebted to plants and animals, and she might even end up killing her own kind one day. Fabien's calculation system predicted Monika’s act of killing with a high probability. Swordsmanship, divine power, and aura. Monika's talents were suited for killing beings.
[Very well, Monika-nim.]
Fabien held a smile.
Make-believe is a game to practice life. A golem could be a good practice partner. It was suitable for practicing both slaughter and mourning. Fabien decided to be faithful to his duty.
[Shall we mourn together?]
“...Thank you.”
Monika also held a smile.
One person and one golem stood side by side. One person’s smile was sincere yet futile, and one golem’s smile was false yet efficient. A being and an object, who had been gazing at each other, closed their eyes. Hands clasped, heads bowed. The procedure of mourning began.
‘In the end, they will never be able to understand each other.’
Abel looked back and forth between Monika and Fabien.
As a cool wind shook the candlelight, what dwelled on the crude altar was nothing but a firm misunderstanding. Humans and golems would never understand each other. They would be together without understanding. Some mourning would never reach its destination, and some games would become so serious as to be sublime.
‘What does it matter.’
Abel’s expression was indifferent.
The members of the world develop by repeating understanding, yet on the other hand, they also form bonds thanks to not caring about misunderstanding. There was no need to be obsessively particular about understanding.
‘But still, I can’t understand.’
Abel thought, looking at the Hero doll.
Why on earth is something like this so popular.
‘...It's in the way.’
Abel wanted to put the doll down on the sand.
He couldn’t. It was a gift from Monika.
Storing it in his subspace was also forbidden.
As it would obviously be sullied.
‘It can’t be helped.’
Abel hugged the Hero doll to his chest.
He then clasped his hands and bowed his head.
Silence descended upon the training ground. Those who were loitering around would occasionally stop. Some watched intently, some whispered quietly, and in the end, no one could understand.
What they were doing.