By Zephyria 
“If I had known that, I should have gone to bed early.”
“Did you drink too much?”
“No, no. It’s just… I didn’t drink much. We just talked for a long time.”
Once again, I thanked Marianne inwardly.
It was a rare occasion, arriving in the capital for the child’s birthday, and I almost couldn’t even show my face. If things had gone slightly wrong, I would have seen Ruben’s tears. Ruben is quite soft-hearted, unlike myself, so it is only right that I pay close attention to him.
I watched the child, who was fiddling with his bracelet, and then offered him the flowers I had placed on the table.
The bouquet, a blend of pale pink and white flowers, was crudely wrapped but had a vibrant charm. I gazed at Ruben’s face, pale atop the flowers. His cheeks were still flushed.
Seeing those red cheeks, something suddenly came to mind.
“While collecting fragments of the Ninth God, I also picked up some of the memories he had shed.”
“…Hm?”
“In those memories, I occasionally saw the First Human. He resembled Ruben, but there were many differences, so I recognized him immediately. If I had been deceived, it would have been a disaster, so Ruben essentially saved my life.”
“Ah…”
“So I was determined to express my gratitude, but… I never had the chance to say it.”
The child smiled shyly, bringing the flowers close to his nose. Ruben certainly suited flowers like these. The heavy bouquet created a gap between the child and me, so instead of embracing him, I gently traced the back of his hand with my cool fingertips.
After a long silence, Ruben whispered in a sweet voice, “You sometimes appeared in my dreams too.”
“What were they about?”
“That’s… a secret.”
“Why?”
“…Because I was embarrassed.”
It’s strange. Seeing Ruben shy made me thirsty again.
I have a body that barely registers thirst, hunger, sleepiness, or pain. Yet, when Ruben is before me, I constantly feel thirsty, hungry, my vision blurs, and my heart races.
The child softly recounted the moments he missed me. I, too, told him about how I had pestered Gano Paquin because I missed Ruben. Every time Ruben laughed, the bouquet in his arms seemed to laugh along, filling the air with fragrance.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
We ate a lavish feast after a long time and shared Ruben’s birthday cake. We talked a lot, but we spent more time looking at each other without speaking. We savored such sweet and happy moments to our heart’s content.
It was nearing midnight, yet I lingered, not wanting to leave. I did so even though I knew Ruben hadn’t slept properly today. Unlike in the inns in the outer districts, I couldn’t stay in Ruben’s room with him, so to let him rest, I needed to send him to his room quickly.
It was then.
Knock, knock.
I looked up at the sound of the knock. A servant entered, treading carefully, and handed Ruben a small note. I, sitting beside the child, could easily see its contents.
“To the White Beard Inn. – Hugh Benson”
…Now?
❖ ❖ ❖
While I was out meeting my friends and seeing Ruben, Hugh Benson had been staying with the gods. The gods had no intention of harming humans, and Hugh Benson was bold and fearless, making him a suitable choice.
The White Beard Inn was a luxurious inn with white-painted exterior walls.
Four identical five-story buildings stood at equal intervals. The first floor of each building featured a spacious lobby, reminiscent of a noble mansion’s main hall, rather than a boisterous restaurant. A moderately sized chandelier reflected light, illuminating the interior.
As soon as we entered the lobby, we saw a figure descending from above as if flying.
We could have asked a staff member to guide us to our room, but since Ruben was with me, Hugh Benson seemed to have come down himself to escort us.
“You’re not asleep yet?”
“Sleep isn’t the issue right now.”
“Yes?”
“Ha, just come with me. Everyone’s gathered upstairs.”
Everyone?
We reached the top floor.
The interior structure was similar to the place we had briefly stayed for joint training before ascending the Yuil Mountains. Several rooms were attached around a large living room.
Seeing the group seated around an oval table, I understood the meaning of Hugh Benson’s “everyone.”
Marianne and Benjamin, Elvin and Hugh, Mage Boulder, Spiritus. And Leon, John, Giselle – a large group. It seemed they had gathered everyone who had traveled with us through the Shatun Desert and was not injured.
However, one person who absolutely had to be there was missing.
“Where is Gano Paquin?”
“He disappeared to examine memories he doesn’t know, so he hasn’t returned yet. He’ll be back soon. He’s not so foolish as to not know we’re all gathered like this.”
Spiritus answered.
I exchanged nods with the two mercenaries I hadn’t seen in a while. They had risen from their seats the moment Ruben and I entered. After I returned their bows, they comfortably sat back down. Since Spiritus occupied the highest seat, Ruben and I sat comfortably without strictly adhering to seating hierarchy.
“What on earth is going on…?”
“It’s about the portal.”
While Gano Paquin vanished like smoke, saying he was fine on his own, Spiritus had led Hugh Benson around the capital, searching for traces of the rift. Although she acted indifferent, she felt a sense of responsibility for the actions of the Ninth God she had taught.
This naturally led them to the Academy.
“…The Academy?”
“The place where that experiment or whatever happened was one of the lecture halls on the west side of the Academy, wasn’t it?”
“Ah… Yes, it was. However, I recall that lecture hall being closed off at the moment.”
Ruben’s reply was met with a sigh so deep it seemed to sink into the ground, and Hugh Benson rubbed his dry face.
Hugh Benson, being an alumnus, seemed to have no trouble bringing a visitor onto campus, but that didn’t grant him the right to trespass into forbidden areas.
The story continued, explaining how Spiritus had to be restrained from trying to disable the security magic, and how they had to use the Second Prince’s authority to force their way in.
Thinking he might want his efforts acknowledged, I listened quietly and then added, “You went through a lot of trouble.”
“Trouble isn’t the issue. After they opened everything up like that, I could see exactly why it was closed off.”
“Hm?”
“The Dragon said this upon seeing the inside of the lecture hall.”
Spiritus, who had been quiet until then, suddenly interjected.
“We’re screwed. That’s what he said.”
“…Excuse me?”
“He said we’d messed things up royally.”
Various lengthy explanations followed.
It was a description that would not resonate with anyone lacking considerable imagination. As I calmly listened to and processed Spiritus’s words, Ruben, who had been quiet throughout, asked, “…This world has become loose?”
“Yes. Even without that, the Ninth God had filled the center of the continent, the area between Owen and Yulan, with contaminated mana. That alone was enough to shake the originally stable continent and cause chaos, but then they tore open the world in the heart of the Sierran capital, allowing a lot of unfamiliar mana to enter.”
Marianne answered Ruben’s question promptly.
Her tone, devoid of its usual playfulness, lent credibility to her words.
“Unfamiliar mana?”
“Yes. Primordial mana from an adjacent dimension.”
Mage Boulder, who had been nervously shaking one leg, chimed in.
“Previously, a god defined the contaminated mana of our land as primordial mana. The Magic Tower also has a similar definition. Contaminated mana is unstable, rough, and violent, but if it’s refined once it crosses the Yuil Mountains, it becomes calm enough to be utilized.”
“…Hm.”
“So, as discussed by Spiritus and various gods in the creation myth, we humans planted the Source of the Waterproof Forest, consistently monitored the mana concentration on the continent, and achieved mana stabilization centered around the Sierran Empire. We then accumulated large amounts of primordial mana in many monsters, binding it, and dispatched individuals requiring a lot of mana to the Yuil Mountains or Shatun Desert, thereby creating a mana circulation cycle.”
“Does the primordial mana from an adjacent dimension have the same properties as the contaminated mana of this land?”
“No, if you were to classify it, it’s… of the same kind as the strange power found in the corpses of Mutated Monsters. When we represent the mana we use, we draw it in a pentagonal shape, like this.”
“That’s right.”
“But the newly discovered mana, if you really, really, really have to classify it, has a diamond shape with sharp points on both sides. It’s sharper, more ferocious, and even when they adhere to each other, they don’t form a stable shape. They said it seemed like mana from a dimension without magic.”
“The place Mikael came from?”
“No, this time it’s somewhere else.”
“….”
Everyone was silent while Ruben pondered.
Before Ruben and I arrived, the others had heard enough explanations, so no one else asked further questions. While Hugh Benson sighed repeatedly, Spiritus also kept her lips shut with a sullen expression.
My gaze drifted to the three mercenaries, who were sitting meekly, their large bodies hunched, looking bewildered.
Leon, making eye contact with me, offered an awkward smile. I was in a similar state, so I just smiled back.
Ruben looked intently at Spiritus and asked politely, “Did the formulas humans pieced together cause the problem, or was the world affected by the portals that opened previously?”
“Both. Our youngest, who roamed everywhere, opened quite a few portals, and his power is fundamentally brutal and wild. He punched holes all over the continent, and you guys delivered the final blow.”
“The final blow?”
“The last strike. Now that anything could happen, we need to find the youngest quickly.”