Salvation Through Delusion C26

Chapter 26

 

Thud!

 

With a dull sound, Torida—who had been kneeling—collapsed to the floor. He’d already been kicked several times, but like an unyielding toy, he kept dragging himself upright only to prostrate again.

 

“I’ll find her. I swear I’ll find her, Lord Zab. There’s definitely an entrance to the Forest of Crimson Waves within the Ewik estate. Just a little more time—please…”

 

“The entire mansion’s already been searched by my men. Are you sure it’s there? Not buried somewhere under that pretty garden of theirs?”

 

“T-that’s…”

 

“I told you to find Baron Ewik. How many times must I repeat myself?”

 

Lounging idly on the window ledge, Zab stared lazily out the window as he gave his order.

 

“Forget it. Just crush him.”

 

“Lord Zab!”

 

As the knights approached, Torida cried out desperately, speaking fast.

 

“Silian’s whereabouts are uncertain, but we found traces at the place where she disappeared!”

 

Zab raised a hand, stopping the knights in their tracks.

 

“Speak.”

 

“She couldn’t have left on her own—someone must have taken her. We’re questioning everyone who was at the retreat at that time. We’re nearly done, but there’s one person left… someone difficult to investigate.”

 

“Who?”

 

Torida hesitated before stammering out a name.

 

“Adeye Rue.”

 

 

—

 

“Ugh.”

 

The moment I lay down, a groan escaped my lips. My muscles screamed in protest. It had been ages since I’d felt this kind of soreness from exercise, but I gritted my teeth and endured it.

 

God, how pathetic—that the only thing I can do right now is build up this weak body.

 

Impatience gnawed at me. Dr. Kim and I had stayed up half the night, plotting up to Plan M, but every route ended in the same dead end: Tyroc.

 

That damned connection between us ruined everything. It wasn’t bad enough that he already hated the Adeye family—I just had to make it worse by running my mouth.

 

I adjusted my position on the plush bed and winced as the ache flared again.

 

Eh, whatever. It’ll work out somehow.

 

For now, sleep came first. My eyelids felt heavy. But of course, I wasn’t allowed that peace tonight.

 

[Wiiide face~~~ Humans’ faces go wiiide when they lie down~~~ Humans shouldn’t sleep lying dooown~~~ Wide face, wide face~~~]

 

The ear-splittingly off-key singing echoed right in my head.

 

Damn it, Mo. I told you to transcribe spirit speech into text only.

 

[My systems were under maintenance due to overload. Should I shut down completely next time?]

 

What are you, my nagging mother-in-law? I gave up arguing and opened my heavy eyes.

 

A palm-sized spirit fluttered before my face, its tiny wings beating rapidly. Thankfully, it had stopped singing, but text was hardly an improvement—now I could see exactly what Venomie was saying.

 

[Why do humans not waaaake up~~ Do humans like lying wiiide~~ Nooo, nooo, what humans really love is—paaairing~ paaairing~ paaairing~]

 

I bolted upright.

 

Wait—what? How did we just jump from bedtime to that kind of conversation?!

 

“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Silian?”

 

[Our little flower~~ is all better now~~ Kyahaha~~ She’s growing pretty poisonous herbs again~~]

 

Even her shimmering water-patterned aura pulsed happily. So she came to brag, huh?

 

But then something unexpected floated toward me—a long, grayish twig-like object, no thicker than a finger.

 

For a second, I thought it was a bone. My breath caught—until I realized it was just a branch.

 

[A gift~ A gift for the humaaan~~ The prettiest branch~~ The strongest branch~~]

 

Ah, a gift. Right, Dr. Kim did say non-human beings decided their own rewards.

 

A branch, huh? I didn’t dare grab it right away and asked carefully,

 

“Wait… it’s not poisonous, is it?”

 

[Poison!! Humans wanted poison~~~ I’ll go get poison~~ I’ll bring you poison~~]

 

“No! No poison! I’m good! No poison, thanks!”

 

Her flapping wings stopped midair.

 

[Why? You hate poison?]

 

Without her cheerful ripples, the letters suddenly looked… menacing.

 

“N-no, it’s not that. I just… poison’s precious, right? You don’t need to waste such a rare treasure on me.”

 

Thankfully, her wings started fluttering again.

 

[A human who knows the value of poison~~ is a good human~~ A wide-faced, but good human~~]

 

“…Thanks for the compliment.”

 

[Thank you~ thank you~ Is that just words~ Why aren’t you treasuring it~~ Maybe not a good human after aaall~]

 

Oh come on. How was I supposed to show I treasured it?

 

Still, I didn’t dare complain aloud—this was Venomie, after all, the Spirit of Poison.

 

So instead, I looked around, found a thin strip of leather, and tied it to the branch, hanging it around my neck like a pendant.

 

“See? I’m cherishing it.”

 

[Kyararara~~ The human made jewelry from my gift~~ A good human~~ Kyararara~~ A human who’ll wear my gift for life~~ A good human~]

 

…For life?

 

While I despaired quietly, Venomie twirled gleefully in the air.

 

[I’ll tell Huuuuwick~ that there’s a good human~~ Huuuwick~ Huuuwick~]

 

Huuwick? I’d heard that name before—back at the retreat. When I’d rung the bell, Silian had said she’d pray to Lord Huuwick.

 

I’d thought that meant she was calling the wind. But what if Huuwick was the one who sent the monster instead?

 

“Hey, this Huuwick person—”

 

[Kyararara~~ Time to see our pretty poisonous flowers~~]

 

She vanished without another word.

 

I stared at the empty window, resisting the urge to curse aloud. She woke me up just to leave? Unbelievable.

 

I sighed and lay back down, but sleep wouldn’t come. After staring blankly at the ceiling for a while, I lifted a hand to touch the pendant.

 

The little twig’s knotted surface felt unexpectedly smooth—like a piece of dried wood polished by time.

 

Still, thinking how Venomie must have picked it herself—the prettiest and strongest one, in her eyes—I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of gratitude.

 

Yeah. I didn’t help her for a reward anyway—

 

[Huuuman.]

 

Text appeared before my eyes. Oh, for god’s sake, now who?

 

I pushed myself upright again. Before me floated another hazy, cotton-like shape—blurred by Mo’s visual filter. Oh. The Bichon-headed one. Or was it the Bichon-ass one?

 

“What is it now?”

 

[Huuuman.]

 

“Yeah, that’s me. A human.”

 

[Huuuman.]

 

Why are you repeating it like that?

 

I almost mimicked the sound but restrained myself. It seemed like he wanted a particular kind of reply.

 

Maybe I should respond with his name? Except I didn’t even know what he was. Probably safer not to assume. For all I knew, he could be some petty spirit of misfortune. Better to err on the side of caution.

 

“Greetings, O mighty, beautiful, and… fluffy being.”

 

[Hellooo.]

 

So he just wanted a greeting?! I exhaled in disbelief.

 

“Yeah, hi. What’s the occasion?”

 

[Giiift.]

 

Something small floated toward me.

 

Was today some kind of interdimensional gift exchange day? What, did they all hold meetings about this?

 

I extended my hand, and a plump little object—no longer than my finger—landed on my palm.

 

It was a bug. Its folded wings clung tightly to its body, dried and rigid.

 

Was… this revenge? Was I being punished for something?

 

I struggled to hide my grimace. Thank-you words refused to leave my throat.

 

But the creature was watching me intently, waiting.

 

“…Thank you. Really. You shouldn’t have.”

 

[Eaaaat.]

 

“…What?”

 

[Eaaaat.]

 

“…”

 

A suffocating silence fell between us. Then Mo’s voice intruded.

 

[The non-human entity is instructing you to eat it.]

 

Shut up, Mo! I know what it said—I’m just ignoring it!

 

I looked down at the bug. It was too well-preserved. Its tiny eyes were still visible. And now we were making eye contact.

 

How the hell was I supposed to eat this?!

 

[Eaaaat.]

 

The Bichon-head’s mouth opened wide. Thanks to the visual filter, it didn’t look horrifying—but knowing what was really behind that blur didn’t help.

 

Fine. Just pop it in. Don’t think. Swallow fast.

 

I took a deep breath, covered the bug’s eyes with my fingers, and shoved it into my mouth. It was too big to swallow whole, so I had to bite down once or twice.

 

Crunch.

 

The dry body cracked audibly between my teeth.

 

I swallowed quickly—then blinked.

 

Wait. Why did that taste like… roasted silkworm pupae?

 

It was nutty. Kinda good, actually.

 

“Huh. Not bad.”

 

Tilting my head, I chewed the rest and swallowed.

 

“Thanks, it’s delicious.”

 

Apparently pleased, the Bichon-head bobbed happily, bouncing in the air like a balloon. Then it spun around the room once before speaking again.

 

Tasty bug.

 

“Yeah, it’s got that nice, roasted flavor.”

 

“First human to like.”

 

“Well, of course I am. Who else eats bugs when told to?”

 

Still, I was Korean. I knew the glory of crunchy pupae.

 

“This is my first time getting a gift like this, though.”

 

“First.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Good human.”

 

…So there really was a right answer. Maybe Venomie wasn’t so bad after all.

 

“You’re a good… Bichon—uh, I mean, good, kind, honorable… spirit.”

 

Apparently I’d guessed right—it was indeed a spirit. The white fluffball spun joyfully in circles again before calling out a name in its strange accent.

 

“Fweeeewick! Tell Fweeeewick there’s a good humaaan!”

 

“Who the hell is—”

 

Before I could finish the question, it vanished too.

 

“…Never helping anyone again.”