Dark Fantasy Normalized

73 – An Inscrutable Being

After returning to the lodging with Rishir.

Katria had been feeling like she was swimming in the deep sea.

Suddenly, the pond she had gazed upon with Rishir came to mind.

Would this be the feeling of falling deep into that pond?

Sights and sounds.

Everything around her felt blurry.

It was because she tried to remember the last moment with him.

Paradoxically, it was because she was aware it was his last moment.

And then, she came to her senses, only to find herself huddled in the corner of a dark room.

Ah.

That’s right.

It’s all over.

Regret washed over her belatedly.

Couldn’t I have done a little better?

Of course, I know it’s a meaningless assumption.

Having driven the other person’s life to complete ruin, all related actions would be nothing more than deception and self-gratification.

I felt like I finally understood the meaning of the word despair.

It was hollow, like my heart had been ripped out whole.

I know.

I shouldn’t be ruled by this despair.

There were countless things left to do.

To take responsibility for what I’d done, to clean it up…

Katria calmly began to formulate a plan for the future.

That’s what I tried to do.

“…”

But when I came to my senses, I was staring blankly at the wall again.

Lying on the bed.

How much time had passed?

I don’t know.

This won’t do.

I know.

So…

…

…

…

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

The sound of birds chirping faintly came to my ears.

Morning had already broken.

“…Ah!”

Katria reflexively sat up.

A vibrant smile appeared on her hazy face.

It was almost time for him to wake up.

I needed to hurry and prepare breakfast and get ready to wake him up—

“…Ah.”

That’s right.

The maid’s duties.

I don’t have to do them anymore.

Katria froze, her expression and posture unchanged.

The daily routine that had dominated her life lately had lost all meaning, completely.

It’s okay.

Being a maid was just a temporary position anyway.

There were many other things to do besides the maid’s duties.

For example—

“…”

Coming to her senses, she realized she was, once again, staring blankly at the wall, lying down.

She couldn’t do anything.

She couldn’t think anything.

She thought that shouldn’t be the case.

But that was all it was.

Wouldn’t she look like a worthless husk to others right now?

‘…A husk?’

Katria rose and headed towards the cabinet on one side of the room.

A pouch stored deep inside the cabinet.

From that ‘subspace storage artifact’, she took out two bottles of ‘Tarnished Truth’.

One bottle had become a harmless liquid due to some reason Katria tried hard but failed to uncover.

The other bottle was still unopened, brand new.

The reason Katria had received another bottle of Tarnished Truth from Keiren was to uncover what had purified the Tarnished Truth.

So, Katria just stared blankly at that Tarnished Truth that now had no meaning.

‘…’

A method of atonement entered her mind.

If she was her usual self, Katria would know that the method of atonement was absolutely wrong.

Or at least, she wouldn’t have even considered this idea if she hadn’t spent a terrible sleepless night.

But now, her thinking, like her emotions, was hollow and full of holes.

And just like that, it was the moment Katria’s hand touched the Tarnished Truth.

*Knock knock.*

A knock and a voice from beyond the door.

Katria wore a bitter smile.

She knew her current state wasn’t normal.

But she hadn’t imagined it was this bad.

“Tia. Wake up. We’re going to see Bondales.”

“…”

His voice, which shouldn’t be there, spoke the words she most wanted to hear.

A thought suddenly struck her.

Had he come to meet her?

Thinking so only strengthened her resolve.

Katria picked up the Murky Truth.

“…Tia? Is everything okay? Can I come in?”

Then, the door opened.

Lissir, finding Katria standing in front of the cabinet by the door, tilted his head.

“What, you were awake? But why-“

“…”

“Don’t tell me, you pretended to be asleep because you were late for breakfast and were afraid of getting scolded? Damn. This awkward situation. What should I do? Should I close the door like nothing happened and go back out? And then, go back to my room and lie down?”

Was this also a hallucination?

No. Her imagination couldn’t conjure such a lengthy, vibrant stream of nonsense.

Katria murmured blankly.

“Lissir…?”

“Not ‘Master’? Did I get my master status revoked just now? Damn. Getting fired by a maid. I’ve failed as a master. Failed as a master so I’m a master failure…”

Lissir muttered nonsense with a seriously troubled face.

Then. His gaze fell on the Murky Truth in Katria’s hand.

Katria, without realizing, tried to hide the Murky Truth.

But, was it just her imagination?

Did that unique purple glow, which symbolized the toxicity of the Murky Truth, seem to have faded?

Katria brought the Murky Truth closer to her eyes and examined it carefully.

Then, she could see it clearly.

The murky truth, its unique violet hue fading in real-time.

And, through the vial, Lishir looking at Katria.

“What is that?”

Lishir joined in observing the murky truth.

That is, she drew near, thrusting her face toward the murky truth.

Deadly murky truth.

Becoming clear water.

“?”

Katria turned the murky truth this way and that, examining it. She even shook it for no reason.

And then examined it again.

Deadly murky truth.

Becoming clear water.

Katria put down the murky truth and stared at Lishir with a spaced-out expression.

“What’s wrong. You’re acting strange today. Is something up?”

“…No. It’s just that, I’m a little, very, very, extremely confused.”

“Oh dear. If you’re just a little, very, very, extremely confused, how confused are you exactly. I think I need to do some calculations. Anyway, are you alright? Shall we go see Bondales?”

“…”

Even amidst her confusion, Katria unconsciously nodded her head.

***

“Ah, right. Tia. If you’re okay with it, before going to see Bondales, could we stop somewhere for a bit?”

The place Katria arrived at with Lishir was the Alchemist’s Hall, and there, Master Didoa’s laboratory.

“Ms. Didoa. You called for me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Of course, it wasn’t my personal business that I was trying to bother Lishir with, but it’s about what Lishir asked about that time? I think I’ve figured it out, and that’s why I unintentionally called for Lishir. I’m sorry if you were busy. And nice to see you. Good morning. Seeing Lishir in the morning makes me feel so excited. Have you had breakfast, by any chance? Actually, I recently discovered a new sandwich combination and it would be great if Lishir could eat it and give me their opinion, although of course I’m not forcing you, in fact, the opinion is just an excuse to treat Lishir to my favorite food-“

“Calm down, Didoa of great lung capacity, please calm down. You’re going to lose your breath. I’m losing my breath just listening.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I was so excited to see Lishir, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable, thank you. Ah, about that new sandwich combination you mentioned, could I try it? As it happens, or should I say luckily, our maid at home overslept today because she was up all night excited about the picnic, so I skipped breakfast.”

“Really? That’s great. I never thought Lishir would actually eat it. Here you go.”

Didoa presented a plate to Lishir.

Lishir’s head tilted upwards.

A majestic sandwich tower loomed over him.

“Your hands are a bit big.”

“Sorry if that bothered you.”

“Tia, you hear that? If we leave this, Master Didoa will feel bad. So think of this like visiting grandma’s house and buckle down.”

“…”

Rishir and Katria sat down and began to reduce the sandwich tower’s height.

In front of the two, Didoa continued his explanation.

“Listen while you eat.”

Didoa’s gloved hand held a crude ore.

A mana stone. A mana stone containing Rishir’s mana.

Rishir immediately asked Didoa to investigate the reason, when a fire aura began to emanate from his mana.

“I’ll get straight to the point so you don’t feel bad while eating. Back then, Rishir, you said it, right? You didn’t know why, but suddenly your mana started to take on a fire aura. Well, that’s not actually a fire aura.”

“Mhmm mm mmhmm?(It was blazing well though?)”

Rishir mumbled between bites of his sandwich.

“It’s a power more fundamental than a fire aura, you might say? A heat aura. Among them, it’s the power that alchemists in the south call ‘Mirage of the Celestial Sphere’. It means the aura of the sun.”

“Mema mm mimimo?(Aura of the sun?)”

“It’s extremely rare. To obtain the aura of the sun postnatally. Rishir. Have you, by any chance, recently refined and ingested any herbs?”

“Mamiyo?(No?)”

“The reason I’m asking is that there are largely set ways to acquire the sun’s aura after birth. The most prominent are refining and ingesting extremely rare herbs like the Four-Hundred Petal Lotus, Lava Grass, or the Mandalian Flower. Let’s forget that there are only a handful of people in the continent who can properly refine them.”

“Gulp. Then, could I have somehow eaten those herbs without knowing?”

“That’s unlikely. The herbs I just mentioned bloom once every few decades in the most concentrated points of remote lands. Most are thoroughly managed by the rulers of those regions, so it’s extremely rare for them to be taken out. To put it mildly, we probably won’t see those herbs until we die.”

“Then, why did that sun aura suddenly move into my body? Recently, I have been working quite hard on sunbathing.”

Katria’s mouth, which had been busy chewing the sandwich, dropped open.

Poison Herb Four-Hundred Petal Lotus.

Refined in the stomach.

***

The next place the two headed after leaving Didoa’s laboratory was the magic tube, the location of Master Meltas’s laboratory.

“Rishir. Is the name you mentioned then, Verbandes, absolutely certain?”

“Yes. It is.”

“Where did you hear that name?”

“I coughed.”

“?”

“And then, a black marble came out.”

“?”

“That was the remnant of Verbandes.”

“Right. I get it perfectly. Happens all the time.”

“Really?”

“Ah. By the way, when I said ‘happens all the time’, I meant that you do ridiculous things.”

“Heh heh. So, what kind of friend is this Verbandes?”

“He’s a powerful demon who dominated the southern desert area for centuries.”

“Why is a friend like that inside me?”

“I’m dying to know that myself. What the hell did you do? Surely, Verbandes is sealed away by the Sahila family, who rule the south.”

“Ah. Something comes to mind.”

“What is it!? Tell me!”

“Didoa said, I supposedly have the energy of the sun. That, the desert and my body have similar climates – Ah, never mind. Just pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“Good idea.”

“…”

Katria, who had been listening intently, twitched in her eyes.

Demon Verbandes.

Digested.

She compiled the information she had gathered so far.

And-

“Huh? Tia. What’s wrong?”

It was probably because she didn’t sleep well last night.

Katria, whose eyes met the incomprehensible being, lost consciousness.

***

“Is she alright? That maid lass.”

“Yes. I don’t know what happened, but it seems she didn’t sleep all night. It’s absolutely not because Master Meltas’ story was boring, so please don’t worry about it.”

“You’re reminding me of something I wouldn’t have thought of in my wildest dreams.”

“Huh?”

Lishir, having laid the maid Tia on the lab sofa and covered her with a blanket, cocked his head.

“What is it?”

“It’s… talking?”

“Ah, did she wake up already? Maid lass.”

“No, not this one.”

“Hm? Then who—speak clearly.”

“Verbandes. That one.”

“What?”

***

Verbandes, a sand mountain obscuring the sun.

That grand entity, with a single gesture, raises a sandstorm, its towering body blotting out the desert sun and bringing forth night.

He, master of the desert lands, enslaved all life there.

The great hero Sahila freed them from the demon’s tyranny.

In that process, corpses piled as high as mountains of sand.

A tragedy that should never be repeated.

Sahila sealed him away, at great cost.

Verbandes, unable to find a way to end his own existence, poured scorn upon her.

-Insignificant mortals.

-The instant I break free from this seal, night shall once more descend upon your desert.

***

“…So, what is this Verbandes character saying?”

“…He wants a contract, apparently?”

“And what did you say?”

“…I said no. So then he said to have a conversation.”

“What did you say?”

“…I said no. So then he’s begging me to just hear him out.”

The demon Verbandes.

Trapped within a human body.

“…”

Meltas, even though he’d braced himself, was still aghast.

“A demon… begging a human…?”

Even with the vast knowledge of the Mage Tower Master, this was a first.