novelEternal Youth and Immortality
| ← Ch.046 | Ch.048 → |
Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations
Gulp, goes the sound of the meat being swallowed.
Staying that way, I watch Haster's state for a short while. I can't see any changes in his appearance yet.
Thinking about it, in any case, the only way to test if someone has eternal youth and immortality is to try actually killing them and find out, but... There's no way I could seriously do something like that.
Even if there is some kind of change, we've never had a way to check.
"Fu, fufufu..."
Unknowingly, a giggle leaked from my lips. How stupid is this.
"Kukuku..."
He's laughing too. He probably realized. That we have no way to make sure of it.
"Fufu, AHAHAHAHA!"
"Kufu, fu, HAHAHAHAHA!"
Together we laugh as if we've both gone crazy. Good grief... Did we really get so uncharacteristically worked up just because an item like that was right in front of our eyes?
I feel sorry for him, since he had no choice but to eat raw meat.
"HAHAhahaha... Gofuuh?!"
"Haster?!"
All of a sudden, he vomited a huge amount of blood.
Oh no, was it poisonous or something after all?!
His body convulses and shakes, bends backwards, and collapses dangerously. Even after he collapsed, his convulsions don't stop, and the back of his head is hitting the floor hard from those jolts.
"NO! Haster, hang in there..."
I embrace his body in a panic and attempt to hold down his convulsions, but it doesn't have any real effect.
I insert my arm under his head, doing the most I can to keep his head from hitting the floor.
Even putting my whole body weight into holding him down, with how light I am, I easily get flung away.
Using [Telekinesis], I barely manage to hold back his rampage, but since I can't finely adjust my power, I exhaust more energy than usual.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I beg you, don't die on me..."
This was my mistake... I should have checked to see if it was toxic or not beforehand!
I was impatient for results... That's the only reason I can think of.
"Agagaga... Agu... Gafuuh?!"
Mixed in with his tortured cries, it also sounded like he was going to spew something.
When I looked at his face, he was spitting fresh blood from his mouth. Next to it was a dark red piece of meat.
"His tongue?! O-open your mouth, please, I'll immediately [Heal]..."
While maintaining [Telekinesis], I was going to perform a [Healing] on him, but he can't open his mouth for me.
On the contrary, his muscles are contracting, just smashing his teeth together in a constant bite.
"Open your mouth! Haster... MASTER!"
In panic and confusion I called out to him in the way that was most familiar. Even so he couldn't respond... and while doing so, something similar to white smoke rose from his mouth.
At the same time, the bleeding from the crevices between his teeth stops.
—Is this... Immortality's effect?
If so, then there's at least a ray of hope... And as soon as I thought that, next his nose started bleeding. His eyes, ears, nose; the holes of his body started bleeding.
He was incontinent, he defecated, and it didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon.
"What the heck is happening?! He's gonna die of dehydration at this rate!"
How miserable such a corpse looks was clearly burned into my retina shortly after being transported here.
The corpse of that adventurer who dried up while he was still alive... Does this mean he's going to end up that way too...?
"—No way in hell am I letting that happen!"
I know more about his body than anyone else in the world.
The heat of his body, the beating of his heart, the flow of his blood—I've taken it all in during this past month.
I cast [Heal] with everything I have, and attempt to replenish his lost hydration.
"I absolutely will not let you die... Haster... Please... Oh, God......"
I sense my magic power rapidly deplete.
As my body's energy faded, I barely managed to force myself upright... Throughout the night, until I lost consciousness, I continued healing him.
~*~
"Yuuri, are you here—? Uwah, what the hell is this?! Yuuri, are you okay?!"
"Nnn... Uh?"
The next morning, that call brought me back to consciousness.
It's morning already, but my body doesn't feel very refreshed. The full body fatigue characteristic of magic power depletion is showing up.
Shaking my dull feeling head, I awaken my body—
"... Uwah... Oh no, Haster?!"
The living room of the cottage was a tremendous disaster. Blood, sweat, urine, along with a bunch of other bodily fluids, and even the semen I got so used to seeing are all there.
It's almost like the crime scene of a murder. Did all of this really come from just one person's body?
Underneath my body is, not the body of my master... but a boy who looks to be about 13 or 14 years old, collapsed.
"... Huh?"
"Yuuri, who's that?"
"I-I have no clue."
Black hair, and a sharply angled appearance. He doesn't look dissimilar to... No, actually he looks very similar?
"Nonono, but..."
"What, you've got some idea?"
"Alec, you don't see it...?"
If you're his apprentice, then you should notice! Maybe. But I'm not confident of it myself. Does eternal youth and immortality generally have an effect of returning to...
"You are absolutely correct with your idea; he's the former sage, Haster."
"—?!"
A voice suddenly comes from behind Alec.
The inside of the room is covered in bodily fluids, and even though walking in it makes an unpleasant sloshing sound, neither of us noticed anyone. Not even Alec, who was closest.
"Who's there?!"
Crying out, he turns around while striking with the great sword he was carrying on his back.
That attack wouldn't normally be dodged you know? Was there any point in asking who it was?
However, the person there easily stopped Alec's slashing attack.
Taking a step into the path of the great sword swinging down, he lightly grabs the handle to hold it back.
"Wh-what?!"
Alec is doused in astonishment. His power is being strengthened by "Dragon's Blood, " so his strength is already raised to six times that of a normal person, and yet this is the result.
The sword being held back with one hand isn't even budging anymore.
Just like Alec being one armed, the boy uses only one arm to hold him back. He's probably doing to it make him realize that his power is simply greater.
"My goodness, are surprise attacks some sort of custom for you people?"
"They aren't. Alec, put the sword away. He's not our enemy. It has been a while, Bart."
"Long time no see. About a month now? Congratulations on enriching your everyday life."
"Those days are now on the verge of collapse though."
"Should I really put my sword away, Yuuri?"
One month ago, I blew this boy to dust, and yet he still lived. Alec, who can purely destroys things with his sword, wouldn't be able to defeat him.
"So then, you said this boy is Haster—Is that true?"
"It's true. I've seen an example of it in the past."
"He's alive... Aahh..."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and tears spilled from my eyes as my tension was relieved.
"Yeah, the tears of a deeply moved maiden are nice. They're much better than tears of fear."
"—kh! I don't care how you feel about that. If you know what's going on, then please explain!"
"Sure, but do you really want to leave that alone?"
"Aah?!"
Pulling up the still collapsed Haster, I look around in a panic.
Uhhh... letting him sleep in the bed when it looks like this would be a problem, so...
"Let me help you out a little bit."
"Wha...!"
After Bart says just that, a gust blows through, and the sludge in the room was cleaned up in an instant.
In that one instant, he used [Purify] on the dirt, changing it into water, he used [Evaporate], then with [Ventilate] he brought a breeze through to carry the moisture outside, cleaning everything.
Without even making the magic circles appear, in that one instant he used three different spells... I seriously don't feel like I can win against him.
~*~
Alec carried Haster to the bed to lay him down, and after I went to tidy up the room, I went to the living room with some tea to listen to what Bart had to say.
And Bart? I wasn't going to let someone like him touch my important person or house, so I had him stand there.
In reality, I don't even want to get tea for this shady guy.
"Oh, but there wasn't much else. Since he ate Fafnir's heart, he now has eternal youth and immortality. That's all, really?"
"... Is that the truth?"
"You'll know if you try killing him. Well, normally the body wouldn't be able to endure it, and he would have died while scattering bodily fluids everywhere though."
So it was something that dangerous? "Appraisal" didn't mention that crucial detail. Good grief!
"Well, a number of factors overlapped, and he safely became part of our little group. I'll start by giving my congratulations."
"What are these 'multiple factors'?"
"Could you at least respond in kind?"
Bart puffed out his cheeks, seemingly unsatisfied. You're not fooling anyone with that young looking expression, you know?
"Yeah, sure, thank you very much. If you're so inclined, would you like to have lunch with us?"
"Wha, can I?!"
"Hey, no way in hell!"
Bart made an unexpectedly happy response, which made Alec angry.
"It's fine, Alec. Sure, it'll be my treat. However, it will only be if you give me a proper explanation."
"Hooray! I'm bad at cooking, so it has been a long time since I've had a tasty meal. Let's see... First off, someone who has eaten Fafnir's heart normally can't be saved. We're clear on that?"
"Yeah, it happened in front of my eyes after all."
"But he was saved. The reasons for that are probably...
"First, he himself was the perfect "vessel" for it as a person.
Second, his body was already strengthened by the "Dragon's Blood".
Third, he earnestly continued his intercourse with you this past month.
Fourth, while he was on the verge of death, you earnestly continued pouring ridiculous amounts of magic power into him.
"... That is all. I believe these four things were the factors involved."
Having it presented to me in that itemized format, Haster really was outside the norm. By the way...
"I understand three of those, but what exactly is the reason behind the third one? Is this some kind of Sexual harassment?"
"Not quite. Look, there are things called sexual techniques, right? Neither of you probably know the theory behind them, but what you were doing was similar, so some of your magic power and vitality flowed into him."
"I-is that what you mean...?"
I have heard of it at least, but knowing that our particular actions were seen by a third party, that is quite embarrassing.
My face turns beet red against my will.
"That's how it is. Well, from what I saw, it felt like he just barely made it. But since it was a simple imitation, I'd say it went rather well."
"An imitation... Fafnir was, you mean?"
"Ah, that's not to say that Fafnir was a fake, you know? I mean that it being an "Eternal youth" and "Immortality" medicine is a sham."
"Eh, what's that supposed to mean?"
"The dragon species holding "Eternal Youth" and "Immortality" in their hearts is originally because the founder of the species has "Eternal Youth" and "Immortality". And that power is said to come from..."
"... The World Tree."
"Right. In other words, true "Eternal Youth" and "Immortality" is something given directly by the World Tree. Though the dragon species basically has that power within them, it cannot be denied that it is only indirectly. Hmmm... I suppose rather than an imitation, it would have been better to call it a low quality item?"
Since it was low quality, normally a person can't be saved from it. But Haster, by various happenstances, managed to live on, and won the power. Is that what he means?
"Why are you so knowledgeable about this subject? Who exactly are you?"
"Surely you know, don't you?"
Rather than knowing, there's only one possibility. It's an answer I don't really want to think about though...
"In recorded history, there is only one irregular person like me who has won immortality. In which case there's only one answer... You are the dragon king himself, Bahamut, aren't you?"
"You are correct!"
"Oh my god..."
That's why I can't kill him. It's because he's far and away my elder when it comes to "Eternal Youth" and "Immortality".
Moreover, his "Eternal Youth" and "Immortality" wasn't a "cheat product granted by another world's God, " but a "legitimate product that exists in this world".
If I had to put it another way, I'm an "imported good, " he's "domestically produced, " and Haster is a "substitute product, " I suppose?
"So anyway..."
That unbelievable existence, known as Bahamut, looks this way with a sorry look on his face for some reason.
"What is it, elder?"
"Hey, calling me 'elder' isn't really... No, forget that. I don't like carrots, so I was just thinking I'd like it if you didn't cook anything with them for lunch."
"............Let's just promise to face forward, and consider how to make the best of things."
In response to the stupid request from the dragon king, I replied in a way similar to a certain god from somewhere.
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