Chapter 388

Chapter 388

“Excuse me?”
It felt like someone had hit me over the head with a rock.
What just came out was clearly my father’s name.
Crimson eyes scrutinized my face.
“You said you’d recognize me at once, and I see what you mean, because your name is—Ronan. Is that right?”
“—Yes.”
“Come closer. Let’s take a closer look.”
I slowly rose from my seat.
Navarordje asked him to come closer, but he had to take half a step back in order to talk to him without touching him.
She stroked my cheek.
“Wow, you look a lot like him, especially the eyes. I thought he was dead.”
It was a delicate touch, like polishing a rare treasure.
I tried to calm my racing heart.
Navarordze knew my father, so it was no surprise that he knew me.
I took a deep breath and released my mouth.
“—Is your father alive?”
“You didn’t–you didn’t know that, and I’m sorry to say this, but Cain is already dead.”
“Alas, no, of course not, I expected that.”
I shook my head.
As I suspected, this wasn’t a huge shock.
All things considered, my father could never have been alive today.
Navardozé continued.
“Cain was a loving child. Even as his wounds festered and he died, he never forgot his charitable heart. I have never known a human being who was more compassionate.”
“Because that’s the way he is. What about Elsia?”
“How do you know Elsia?”
“Well, it just so happens that—.”
“Woohoo, that could be. That’s a nostalgic name, too—— Elsia followed in Cain’s footsteps five years ago, and died shortly after completing this place.”
“Damn.”
My clenched fist tightened.
This confirms that all of the founding members of Nebula Clasier are dead.
Navarordze explained that Elsia’s animism was instrumental in building the Resistance’s headquarters.
She had been ill since the day she lost Cain and collapsed at the unveiling of the memorial, never to open her eyes again.
“The child’s name is written at the top. With the heroes who fought the invaders to the last.”
“No wonder. Have you also heard of the name Iril?”
“If it is Iriel–ah, your sister that Cain mentioned.”
I needed to take another deep breath.
Like Adeshan’s life or death, it was painful but necessary to know.
After a moment of silence, Navarordze shook his head.
“—I’m afraid I don’t recall hearing about it.”
“I see.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. Elsia and Cain’s ashes are laid to rest here, would you like to see them?”
“——later.”
This was also as expected.
But shit can’t be helped, so I averted my gaze as best I could.
Your vision is back to normal after a brief blur.
“Hoo hoo, sure, by the way, they look so much alike—what a resemblance.”
“Hmm?”
Navarordje was still stroking my cheek.
I suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.
My palm was as cold as porcelain against my skin.
“Where have you been all this time, if you were alive, I wouldn’t have known—”
“What, are you okay?!”
Suddenly, Navarrozze interrupted.
I steadied her as she swayed.
The moment I put my arm around his shoulders, the feeling of dread washed over me again.
It’s cold, too.
“Your body is—!”
“Gee, did you notice?”
Navarordze let out a weak laugh.
The palm of his hand was covered in sticky blood when he removed it from his mouth.
I felt my heart sink.
Somehow, the temperature was too low for the Red Dragon.
Originally, it was supposed to be hot enough to make you sweat just being around it.
Her index finger rested on my lips, which were about to part.
“Shhh–don’t tell the other kids, I don’t want to make them feel uneasy.”
His voice was pleading.
I flicked my palm in the air and the blood was gone.
I nodded slowly.
The index finger is detached.
“Thank you.”
“—What happened?”
“It is as you saw and felt. I have but a short time to live, and my life is but a smoldering embers on a dying bonfire.”
Navarordze smirked.
It was the after-effects of back-to-back battles with giants.
She was the only one who could level the playing field, but the baldies didn’t insist on a one-on-one.
“I was severely overburdened. I couldn’t take it anymore. I fled here with my surviving children.”
The star sign was absurd.
Severely wounded, Navarordje decided to retreat the moment the third giant descended.
Thanks to his quick thinking, he miraculously managed to save a handful of people.
Somehow he had managed to build a survival environment and lead a resistance, but it was reaching its limits.
“Can’t we just focus on the treatment now?”
“If I’m lucky, I’ll live a few more years, but how can I, with so many children dependent on me for their lives. I’d rather spend my days teaching them in the sunshine than prolonging my life in a haphazard way.”
“What the—ah.”
I marveled at my hindsight.
For some reason, my first impression was that it was out of the ordinary.
The artificial sun overhead was radiating the power of the Navardoze.
“That’s some magic.”
“Hoo-hoo, a masterpiece. It’s only a fake—but it’s my heart.”
It’s easy to see why she’s one of the stars of the show.
It didn’t matter if it was fake or real.
She was already a goddess in the sense that everyone here was bathed in her light and warmth.
“Isn’t life beautiful? Even the fear and cold of death melt away like snow when you hear the laughter of children—.”
Navarordze’s gaze shifted over my shoulder.
The eyes that scanned the Resistance glittered with compassion and attachment.
The majesty of the world-scorching behemoth was no longer evident in his piteous expression.
“Shit.
I twisted my lips.
The situation was worse than I thought.
I thought Navarordze was relatively healthy, but this was like a patient in a hospice ward.
I felt like I had to act fast.
I wordlessly drew my sword.
I placed the index finger of my left hand on the blade and made a small cut.
Rin vibrated with anger.
“—What are you doing all of a sudden?”
Navarro Island was no exception.
She squinted, watching the blood trickle from the wound.
Instead of answering, I smirked.
“Navardose. Can you open your mouth for a second?”
“Do you have a mouth—?”
“I don’t have time to dwell, so forgive my rudeness.”
“Eek!?”
It was a flash.
I wrapped my right arm around her waist.
It was a moment of panic, and she stiffened.
I slide the bleeding index finger of my left hand between my slightly parted lips.
Unlike his skin, his mouth was still warm.
The tongue was soft and hot against my fingers.
“Woof!”
“Drink it, don’t freak out, trust me.”
I could have persuaded them or mixed it into their food, but that was too much of a hassle.
It was quick and easy in many ways to show the results, even if it was a bit rude.
I could feel my fingers reaching up to my uvula.
I squeezed all the blood out of the wound and pulled my index finger out.
[Crackle! Crackle! Hey, what the hell is this all about?
“Whoa—success.”
She shook me off.
I could finally breathe properly.
I licked up the remaining blood and smirked.
“It’ll be okay, we’ve all been there.”
[What’s the point? What’s the point of making me drink your blood?
Navarordze froze in his tracks.
I felt like something had changed.
The hairs on my head that had been rising like a raging fire had subsided.
Paaaaaaaaah-!
The sunlight that had been shining on the headquarters suddenly intensified.
“What, what?! The sun is—!”
“I, Navarordje!”
Screams came from all directions.
The sunshine that had been reminiscent of a fall afternoon had turned into the heat of the desert in the middle of summer.
Navarrozze, coming to his senses, quickly raised his arms.
“Yikes!”
The light cooled and the screams died down.
Navarordze clutched his chest and caught his breath.
The heat rising from his heart was rapidly thawing his frozen body.
“Thank goodness. It’s working.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I was relieved to see the sweat running down Navarro’s cheeks.
The wounds inflicted by the giants could not be healed by conventional means.
It’s been a while since I’ve used blood as a medicine, and I’ve gotten a little salty, but it seems to have gotten better because the curse is completely gone.
“But don’t push yourself too hard, you need to rest properly to heal, and until then, you should drink about once every three days.”
“What are you—?”
Navarordze ran a hand through his sweaty hair.
The way he looked at me was so different from the way he looked at Nana.
Now that we had the most urgent things out of the way, it was time to get down to business.
Trying to make up a story will backfire.
My worries were quickly over.
“Navarorde. I’m from another world, actually.”
“Another world?”
“Yeah. It’s like here, but different. Have you ever heard of parallel worlds?”
There wasn’t really a reason to hide it.
Not having to be watched is one of the few advantages in a fucked up world.
I briefly summarized the concept of parallel worlds that I had heard from Sarante and Asel.
The stage is the same, but the history is different.
After a long pause, Navarordze spoke up.
“——I’d like to hear more.”
His voice was serious.
Luckily, I didn’t get burned to death or have the guards grab me by both shoulders and haul me off.
I’m glad I fed him blood first.
“Okay, this is going to be pretty long, are you okay with that?”
“Rather good.
Let me show you around while we talk.”
Ding!
Navarrozze claps his hands.
Not far away, the sound of the earth shaking rumbled.
From the cave just behind the flowerbeds in the backyard, a giant walked out, his entire body covered in golden crystals.
It looked similar to a monster called a cave giant, but it was overwhelmingly huge.
“This is—!”
“The original owner of this underworld, Elsia, whose disembodied spirit inhabits this body.”
His eyes widened.
I never imagined it would still be there.
King of the cave giants, controlled by Eduon and Cyrilla.
In the original world, the King was not a weapon of war for Nebula Clazier, but a high-performance construction machine.
“Gooooo.”
The giant held out his palm as if inviting you to climb aboard.
Navarrozze climbed aboard, supported by me.
The giant started walking with us on his shoulders.
“Oh.”
In an instant, my visibility increased.
The view of the headquarters was wide open.
I could see details that I couldn’t see when I was on Orsay’s back.
Farms tended by fairies and buildings hewn from stone by dwarves.
The creaky joe is rising.
Same thing with Letancie, who’s lying dead in the corner.
It was a sight that spoke of a strong life force.
But the person next to me made it hard to focus.
Stretching her arms out in front of her, the Fire Mother was turning everything around her into a puddle.
“Alas, it’s been a while since I’ve felt this good.”
“——oh.”
I resented his eyes, which rolled like magnets.
My intelligence seemed to decrease in proportion to my increasing happiness index.
At this point, I’ve forgotten what I was going to say.
I opened my mouth, too scared to let her finish stretching.
“Okay, so let’s get started, where do I start—.”
I wasn’t sure where to start, so I decided to just start at the beginning.
“This is my second life.”
So, from the moment I regressed.