Chapter 318

“Shit—where the hell did I spill it?”
Ronan grumbled. He had been climbing the hills of Nimberton since the early hours of the morning. He had lost the sphere in his pocket after the fight with Abel.
‘I don’t even know what it is, and it’s making me sick to my stomach.
The good news is that I realized it the next day. I didn’t know what it was, but the circumstances of its acquisition meant that it wasn’t something I could throw away easily.
He had searched everywhere else, so this was the only place left. The oak trees swayed in the dawn air as he approached Cain’s grave.
“Whew!”
“Fuck!”
A loud, unidentifiable noise rang out from somewhere. Startled, Ronan cursed under his breath.
“What does this mean?”
He stumbled backward, almost rolling. Ronan rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, the unmistakable roar coming from before Cain’s tombstone. As he neared it, a familiar mass caught his eye.
A surface that crackled like shark scales. It was unmistakably his lost object. Ronan picked it up and shook his head.
“—isn’t this a little big?”
****
It was that afternoon that Ronan visited Varen. The 13th Tower of Phileon, where Varen resides, had miraculously escaped damage during the war with Nebula Clazier. After knocking a couple times, Ronan pulled the doorknob.
“Hi. Varen.”
I opened the door to my office and was greeted by a frighteningly sweet smell. The six-foot-tall werelion was baking cookies today, baking in a manner befitting his size. Varen’s eyes met Ronan’s and he flushed.
“Oooh, here comes the hero who saved the world.”
“Don’t call me that, please. I’ve gained weight.”
“Heh, heh, heh. Call it happiness, not weight, and duck is fine.”
Varen laughed. His bushy mane poodled along with his fleshy cheeks. A sweater was draped over his body, so generous that a smaller human could have used it as a tent.
‘Damn it. Someone’s going to think I’m pregnant.’
Ronan chuckled at the ugly sight. Varen no longer wore suits unless it was a truly important occasion. His angular, muscular body was noticeably flabbier than it had been two years ago.
His wear-pigging had progressed rapidly since Ronan and his friends had entered their senior year. Varen said it was because he was happy in his marriage, but Ronan was deep down convinced it was because he didn’t have the stress of the Express Adventure Club’s viciousness to deal with.
“What about your wife? Is she still in the military?”
“Alas, Nemea has been transferred to the Ministry this year and is overseeing the growing of crops on the estate, which is, after all, an administrative position, so she’s quite well suited to it.”
Varen sat down on the couch, carrying a tray of refreshments. Pooh-pooh! The seat that had been turned off along the curve of his hip screamed to be killed.
Varen had married Major Nemea, Jaifa’s second-in-command, a year or so earlier. In retrospect, Varen was indeed the most handsome man in Pileon, or indeed in the Isles. His mane was always shiny, and his outfits, when boring, were worthy of a page in an Imperial fashion magazine.
For his revolutionary contribution to the war effort with his special potions, Varen was granted an additional half of the Brynn Hills Plains. It didn’t take long for him to expand his business and become one of the continent’s most prominent signers.
A gentleman of such distinction had been reduced to such a raggedy old man. Even compared to Nemea, whose beauty hadn’t diminished even as a married woman. Ronan, who had been staring at Varen’s belly, opened his mouth.
“Isn’t your wife accusing you of being in a fraudulent marriage?”
“Heh, heh, heh. If anything, he liked it, said it was chunkier than before. Ronan the student–no, he’s not a student anymore, but we’ve had a great relationship, anyway.”
Varen laughed. It was a very unkind thing to say to Ronan, but there were many tastes in the world, so there was nothing more to say. He rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a fist-sized sphere.
“I’m glad you’re happy. Hey, if you have a moment, can you take a look at this?”
“Hmm? What is that?”
“It was in my pocket after the fight with Abel the other day, and I didn’t feel right, so I thought I’d bring it to the professor, but I ended up forgetting, so—.”
Ronan handed Varen the sphere. It was supposed to have been shown to him two years ago. Varen stared at the sphere and gulped.
“Hmm—This one is a real mystery. I don’t sense any mana, but it’s not a common ore either. I haven’t seen a material this strange since Sita’s shell.”
“It reminds me of that, doesn’t it, and it looks like an egg.”
Ronan frowned. The mysterious sphere was certainly reminiscent of Sita’s egg. He took a bite of cookie and spoke.
“Maybe it’s a dream bird’s egg, although I don’t know why it was in my pocket.”
“Ho ho, dreamer—interesting claim, if you don’t mind me doing some research?”
Varen’s eyes began to sparkle as he heard the word dream. Marpez, dozing soundly on his home desk as usual, opened his eyes.
-piy?
The blue, fluffy feathers were still the same. The water-bound dreambird had been Varen’s companion for decades. Like its owner, it had gotten fat, increasing in size by about one and a half times.
“Whatever you say, then I’ll just take a moment—”
Ronan stood up from his seat. It had only been a day since he’d quit smoking, but his hands were shaking with withdrawal symptoms.
“You need to get some air, Won.
After all, being a good father isn’t easy. He was about to leave office. A bump. Suddenly, the door opened and a familiar woman walked in.
“Ronan. There you are.”
“Instructor Nabiroze?”
“It’s good to see you, how are you?”
Ronan raised an eyebrow. The first thing he noticed, after the shock of seeing Varen’s body so horribly mangled, was that it was in better shape than before. No uniform could hide what had gone in and what had come out.
“This is the way it should be. People shouldn’t be ruined because they’re happy.
Ronan gave himself a mental thumbs-up and smirked. This was the car he’d told himself he’d never be like Varen. A shadow fell across Nabirozé’s face.
“Of course.”
“Yes?”
Ronan had no time to react. Nabiroze closed the gap in an instant and drove his polearm into Ronan’s abdomen. His body bent forward at the unexpected surprise.
“Kaboom!”
“You sneaky bastard, follow me.”
The next flying hand grabbed Ronan by the ear. His index finger and thumb, which could cut through a coconut, had the power to make a grown man wriggle like a salmon just caught. Nabirozé left the room.
“Gahhhhhhh! Help me, Varen!”
Ronan screamed piteously, but Varen, focused on his research, did not hear him. It wasn’t until they reached the roof of Tower 13 that Nabiroze let go of Ronan. The bustling grounds stretched out beneath the afternoon sky.
“This should be fine, it’s a nice day.”
“Damn, what the hell is this?!”
Barely free, Ronan cried out. His reddened earlobes still bore the marks of his fingers. Nabiroze said.
“I heard it all. This bullshit.”
“You heard, from whom and what?”
“I heard about Adeshan. You’re not even officially married yet, and you’re having a child. If you have a mouth too, make your excuses.”
Ronan gulped at the unthinkable. A crisp spring breeze blew over the railing.
“What. How did you know that? I certainly didn’t tell anyone.”
“He said, ‘What do you think I should name it,’ and I said I’ll think about it and get back to you.”
Nabiroze took the cigarette out of her arms and put it in her mouth. I thought she’d quit, but she’d started smoking again. My hands began to shake again as I watched the smoke drift away in the breeze.
“—South Toruba Mountain.”
“Aye. A leaf from your own land, after all. Would you like one?”
“I can’t. I’m not smoking.”
Ronan clenched his fists. Part of him wanted to snatch it away and smoke it right then and there, but he couldn’t, not with Adeshan still in labor.
“That’s a good mindset, I hope this wasn’t an accident.”
The smirking butterfly put out his cigarette. She seemed to have realized the reason for the quit. After a moment of silence, she spoke.
“Ronan. Adeshan is my daughter.”
“—Yes?”
“I mean it figuratively. You know, she’s special to me.”
Ronan shook his head. Anyone who watched them could tell. In fact, many of Phileon’s students knew Adeshan and Nabiroze by blood.
“And what’s special is you, too. You’re a ghastly man, and you don’t look like a bastard like Adeshan—but I want your lover to be happier than anyone else in the world.”
“Uh—thanks, but why did I get hit? For speeding?”
Ronan asked. My stomach was still whining. The conversation itself was uncharacteristically cordial after the harsh introduction.
“That’s one thing, but–I’m sorry you didn’t tell me the good news, so I punched you. I wish you had told me, if no one else, for I might have been able to help.”
“Hmmm. I certainly should have told the instructor, but weren’t you single all this time, and surely that was the first time you’d ever shown your nakedness to anyone—cuck!”
Nabirozze’s fist flew out again, this time connecting with Ronan’s gut. Only after he spat did he realize that he deserved it, so he didn’t block or dodge.
“Damn, I didn’t even realize it at the time.
It hurt worse to be hit in the same spot again. Nabiroze wiped the slight flush from her face.
“—There’s always something else I can help you with. We’re the same woman.”
“Uh huh, you’re right—it was my fault.”
“There you go. I’m glad you didn’t treat having a child like a mistake, because if you did, I really wouldn’t have let it go.”
For a moment, Nabiroze’s voice was low. Eerie life flickered briefly in her dark green eyes, then vanished. Ronan, gagging against the railing, looked up.
“No way, that’s my girl.”
“—You’re a good boy again, and now that you’ve had your fill, get up and accept my gift.”
“A gift?”
Ronan pushed himself to his feet and shook his head. Nabiroze, who had been darting around, stepped away from the railing and stood in the center of the roof. As if to avoid harming the school.
“Yes. Only you can accept this as a gift. I have to get to class, so I’ll only show it to you once for now.”
“What? What does that mean—”
Ronan frowned. He didn’t understand the meaning of showing, not giving, a gift. Then Nabiroze slowly drew out his dagger.
“The key is to make them understand that you are the predator.”
Ronan was about to ask a question when the car said something he still didn’t understand. Suddenly, his vision was engulfed in darkness. Ronan’s eyes widened.
“This.”
It was a familiar discomfort. Every inch of my body was immobile, as if it had melted.
He could feel his senses slowly withering away. As he caught his breath, he slowly closed his eyes and opened them. Nabirozé was gone, and a giant venomous snake had taken her place.
“You’re strong enough already, but you might need to use it someday.”
The snake spoke. It was Mansa, her Auror, the one who had made Nabiroze black. Her growth was evident in the snake’s size, now much larger than before.
“Instructor.”
It was an unexpected gift. Ronan was about to say something. A loud boom echoed from somewhere, and the surroundings brightened.
“What the fuck?!”
“Mmm—!”
Ronan’s shoulders jerked in surprise. Before he knew it, Nabiroze had drawn his sword and was holding his stance. Their eyes widened at the sight of the rooftop, fully lit and exposed.
“Sita?!”
“Paaaaaaa—paaaay?”
Out of nowhere, Sita popped up, stunned, on her stomach. Her four wings were splayed out over the railing, as she was so large. She was disoriented, but thankfully unharmed. Nabiroze sighed.
“I must have gotten in range of everything while trying to get to you. I apologize.”
“That’s fine because he’s strong, but this guy—.”
Ronan dragged his horse’s tail. Sita’s cheeks puffed out like a squirrel with an acorn. Sure enough, as he groped around in his mouth, something came out. It was an unidentifiable statue with yellow paper stuck to it.
The yellow paper was covered in dense red writing, but I couldn’t make out what it said. Nabiroze’s eyes narrowed.
“This is from the New World.”