Chapter 130 - Winter Queen (1)
Chapter 130 - Winter Queen (1)
The hero's party had arrived at the northern ancient ruin. They were here, because they had received information that the hidden skill within the ruin was needed to defeat the 2nd ranked Four Heavenly King. It was needed to defeat the Fire witch Etna.
The ruin was long, and the hero's party wasn't used to the cold. They used only the resistance granted to them by their levels to endure the cold.
The warrior bravely march forward in front of the party. The thief didn't want the warrior to gain more favor in the eyes of the hero, so he stuck close to her. He also did his best to see to the needs of the hero. The rest of the party had a neutral expression on their faces. Some let out a bitter laughter as they followed after the warrior and the thief.
They had defeated many monsters as they explored this seemingly endless ancient ruin. They endured the cold as they finally arrived at the heart of the ruin. They gained the right to acquire the rewards.
Except…..
[It is impossible for me to give you all I have.]
"Why?"
Regina retorted with a question when she heard the voice, which was as clear as the winter sky. The voice that came back was colder than the temperature of the Ice continent. Strangely, there was a trace of regret in her voice, and this sentiment was delivered to Regina.
[There was a preceding visitor. He didn't have the right to acquire me, but he had enough qualification to take an item for his paramour.]
The Winter Queen's ruin was a testing ground for adventurers. Maybe, the preceding visitor did this on purpose, but the hero's party was unable to complete all the achievement thanks to him. The reason being that the hero's party had been slightly late in getting here.
"Is it because we weren't the first one to arrive here?"
[That's right.]
"The Fire witch…… We have to defeat her. We passed the test, but the rewards you offer is not enough. This is like eating burnt meat or an ice cream that fell on the floor."
Regina dejectedly shook her head. When the Winter Queen saw this, she let out a small laughter as she spoke.
[You don't have to be so disappointed. The connection between us isn't at an end here…. You won't be too late. We might meet once again well before this time.]
"I possess no spells that allows me to return to the past."
[Hoo hoo. Yes, you don't have it. Let's see how it all turns out. Your reward ends with a blessing this time around. However, you will be able to see something very fun in the past that will come in the future.]
"I decline to talk in hypothetical."
Regina was barely able to reply. The rest of her party was struck dumb.
[What a cute child. You weren't born as a human, so you dream of becoming a human. The wish you desperately want can't be found here, but it can be found then.]
"This is why I don't like pretentious people."
Regina grumbled, but only a light laughter answered her words. Afterwards, the entire ruin started to let out a white light.
The light morphed into overwhelming amount of Mana, and it headed towards the member that was most suited to receive the Mana. It entered into Regina, who was the magician of the hero's party.
[Then I wish you well on using this power. I just want you to take this words to heart. The truth you are faced with is only the truth to you…..]
Regina sculpted the massive amount of Mana into a special form. She closed her eyes as the power intruded on her Record.
She mumbled her words.
"······you are a know it all until the end. You suck."
Artpe opened his eyes. Regina's face was right in front of his face, and she was staring at him. When a sour expression appeared on Artpe's face, the sides of her mouth slightly twitched.
Artpe was barely able to discern that Regina had a pleased expression on her face. Needless to say, she was probably under some ridiculous delusion.
"······you expression says you want something from me. If you speak it out loud, I might grant it or I might not."
"First, I don't want anything from you. Secondly…. Your speech sounds more natural now? Your sounded like a politician right now."
"Mmmm······."
At Artpe's counterattack, Regina blinked dumbly. She finally nodded her head.
"Agreed. It is thanks to Sienna."
"All right. Go sleep next to Sienna."
"Denied. My mental, physical and magical energy has been recovered. I am studying Artpe's unnecessarily handsome face. Somehow, you keep getting entangled with women. There is a possibility that your face is an Innate ability. I cannot deny this possibility."
"Stop researching my…..."
"Hurt."
Artpe pushed away Regina's unusually tidy face as he yawned. However, he was thinking about the dream he just had.
'I've been having a lot of these dreams recently. These dreams are about events that I never experienced in my past life….. What is going on? Is it because I investigated the hero's party in my past life? I did come to the ruin first, and I took the sculpture in my past life. Am I subconsciously blaming myself for that act?'
That's right. In his past life, he had tried to calm down the inner fire within Etna, so he had taken the sculpture from this ruin. Of course, the hero's party found the ruin after him, and they couldn't acquire everything the ruin had to offer.
'What's wrong with that? At the time, I didn't even know about what would happen, and I was their foe in my past life…. Mmmm. As expected, that doesn't really explain why I had that dream.'
Why did he have such a dream?
He was seriously mulling over this question.
It seemed Regina wasn't tired of staring at him, so she continued to stare at the side of his face.
If others were awake, he would have told her to stop. However, Sienna and Vadinet were tired from the continuous battles. Maetel, who always slept a lot, was soundly asleep. Even Roa was sleeping. It was truly a rare occasion. They were in the quiet safe zone of the ruin, and only two of them were awake.
This was why her gaze made him feel that much more uncomfortable.
"What?"
"I'm researching."
"······."
Something vibrated within Artpe's pocket. He didn't have to take it out to know what it was. It was the Artifact that had been refined into a Demite. It was Pipi.
It seemed Pipi wanted him to treat Regina with sincerity. However, Artpe ignored the vibration as he turned his body away.
He still wasn't able to perfectly understand Regina. He just knew that her actions didn't arise from a bad place. This was why he let her do whatever she wanted. He didn't micromanage her actions. This was the result of such a policy. It resulted in this weird confrontation.
"······."
"······."
"······."
Was it because he had that weird dream today?
Regina's gaze was making him feel more uncomfortable than usual.
"······what is it?"
Artpe's emotion was expressed in his astringent voice. On the other hand, Regina's eyes shone with a clear light. She gave her reply, and the answer was the same as before.
"I'm researching."
"All right. Do whatever you want."
Artpe tried very hard not to be conscious of her gaze. He took out his magic tome. Then he circulated the overwhelming amount of Mana within his body, and he started pouring it into the magic tome.
In truth, he had finished the magic tome when they reached the 8th floor. However, he was trying to dot the i's and cross the t's. He was trying to fill in the gaps that remained within the magic tome.
According to Artpe's standard, the magic tome wasn't complete. When he decided he had progressed sufficiently in his task, he would attempt to use Reinforcement on the magic tome.
"You want me to supplement you with my Mana?"
"No. It is best for the magic tome to be finished using only the magician's own power. I had a lot of trouble trying to empty the Mana of the previous owner."
There were many requirements that had to be fulfilled to construct this item.
Of course, there was the materials. Then there was the Mana infused within the materials. As the item was constructed, its formless history remained behind in the constructed matter as its Record. If he looked past those requirements using his Read All Creation ability, his brain would overload. It would feel as if his head would explode. This was why he didn't look beyond to see the remaining countless requirements making up the item.
"Artifacts can divide or compose matter. While doing so, it allows one to artificially manipulate matter to create a magical effect. Countless variables are tuned to create a specific frequency. In the case of the magic tome, each page has to be tuned, so the difficulty in creating it is crazy high."
"Understood. You are my junior, but you are well-learned. I give praise."
"······."
Regina nodded her head as she continued to look at Artpe's work. When he continued to receive her unwavering gaze, he was able to somewhat get used to it. He was able to continue his work without worrying too much about her.
"······."
"······."
They were deep within the ruin, so there was no way they could keep track of time. They used magical flames to keep away the approach of the guardians of the ruin. It was possible to estimate the time by seeing the rate at which the fuel was consumed by the fire.
"······."
"······."
His dream had a complicated content, and it was hard to let it go. It also seemed Artpe had woken up very early.
Normally, Maetel would be awake by now, and she would be clinging to his neck. Sienna would snuggle up against him in a half-awake state. Vadinet would put on a bright smile as she prepared a breakfast meal to his taste. Her smile would be so bright that it would make him feel uncomfortable. Time continued to pass, yet the three of them were showing no signs of getting up.
"······Artpe."
Was Regina cognizant of all of this?
When his work was about to wrap up, she called out his name. Artpe didn't turn around as he answered her.
"What?"
"May I ask you a question?"
"Go for it."
"Have you copulated with Maetel?"
"Shut up forever."
"It was a light joke."
It didn't seem like she was joking, but he decided to overlook it just this once.
"What is the purpose of the magic tome?"
"The Demons…. The magic tome was created to create an existence that isn't a Demon."
"What is its purpose?"
"······I can't tell you everything right now. However, I guess I can tell you that the final goal is freedom."
"Freedom······."
Regina rolled that word around in her mouth when she suddenly had a thought. When she truly found her freedom in the Forest of Eternity, she felt a strange sense of kinship with Artpe.
"Artpe's freedom?"
"No. There is no one that is truly free in this world. Everyone is bound by their position and role, and they have to live a forced lifestyle. The hero is the prime example of this. The hero is appointed to fight against the Demon King. The hero is forced down this path."
"······understood."
In truth, she couldn't understand him. Regina's temperament didn't allow her to accept the reason behind the kinship she felt with Artpe since it was explained in general terms. She felt closer to him. When he spoke to Regina as he laughed, she could dimly feel his frustration and anger hidden within his words.
It was like the time when Regina couldn't stand the situation the Elves were in, so she had betrayed her masters. Maybe, Arpte couldn't stand the situation Regina had been in, so he had tried to goad her into action….. Regina was having such thoughts.
'Denied. Artpe is human. He is a free human.'
Regina thought she was deluding herself into thinking that way. She just wanted to be regarded in the same light as him. She wanted his situation to overlap with hers, because….
She didn't know why, but for some reason, she became a bit embarrassed. Regina desperately stopped that train of thought. She was somehow able to give a safe answer.
"I'll help Artpe. We'll kill the Demon King, and we'll regain your freedom. I will repay my debt."
"Your words are full of spirit. ······I am thankful for your words."
Until the special properties of the Demon King's Innate Control called the Absolute Control became known to her, he hadn't expected her to take on such a willing attitude. He never expected her to be so understanding of his position as a hero.
"Artpe."
It seemed she still had more questions to ask.
"What?"
"Will you become free if we defeat the Demon King?"
"······I'm not sure. When that time comes, I feel as if I'll be tethered by something else."
"Life is transient….."
"Still, it would be better than my life right now."
Yes. He could go into the dairy industry or he could live at a house down by the beach. He might be constantly chased by something, and he might always be busy. However, all of that sounded like a better life than what he had right now.
It was better than his previous life where he took on the role of Four Heavenly King under the yoke of the Absolute Control. It would be better than his current situation where he had to fight under a mismatched title of hero…..
"Right now. Artpe's eyes..."
"······huh?"
When he woke up from his reverie, Regina was closer than ever before, and she was staring a hole through him.
"You are too close, you dork."
"You are hiding something. You are hiding something you haven't told me yet."
"······."
He never expected to be caught by Regina to this extent. Artpe was about to let out a bitter laughter, but Regina's face continued to get closer. Her flawless white skin was very well-suited for the Winter Queen's ruin.
"Artpe."
It didn't matter what she asked. He would deal with it like he did with Maetel. He'll come up with an adequate excuse. When he was having such thoughts, a clear voice could be heard near Artpe's ear.
"As expected, you are copulating with Maetel?"
"······."
The party woke up not too long afterwards. They were a bit puzzled at the large bump on Regina's head, but Regina continued to keep a neutral expression on her face.
They only had a little bit more to go in the ruin.