IBSFW 10

Chapter 10…

I could feel the creatures’ scorching body heat surging. That heat was rushing straight toward me.

My bloodlust was gone, but not everything had disappeared.

I still had a sword in my hand.

I thrust it toward the ear-piercing shriek.

—Slash!

Hot blood splattered into the air. I felt the sensation of a thick, enormous wing being severed.

The Crystal Bat tumbled across the floor, shrieking in agony. I shouted toward Chezare.

“Chezare, over here!”

With this much blood in the air, Chezare should be able to locate me. And sure enough, moments later, I heard my disciple approaching.

—Crack!

The sound of flesh and bones breaking. Blood sprayed in every direction as the Crystal Bat thrashed violently.

While Chezare dealt with the creature, I turned toward the entrance.

—KWAANG!

I swung my sword, channeling what little mana I had left into it. Some of the collapsed rocks were shattered by the force of the blade.

A throbbing pain spread through my chest. As expected, was this too much to handle with only one mana seal?

Still, I had managed to break open the passage enough for light to enter. As the surroundings brightened, I spotted the Crystal Bat that had been impaled by the spear and killed.

Only blue blood remained on the floor.

Chezare didn’t appear to be injured. He retrieved his spear and shook it clean.

“Whew! I barely managed to block its charge with my spear. I thought it was going to break! How did you manage to kill it?”

So he had blocked it successfully. Perhaps I had worried for nothing.

I wiped the blood off my sword.

“Thanks to you. You helped bring this to a successful end.”

“What did I even do? I only cleaned things up at the end.”

Chezare gave an awkward smile before looking toward the nest. The workers’ faces brightened as the area became illuminated.

“W-We survived! We’re alive!”

“Quick, let’s get out of here!”

They began crawling out of the nest.

I hurriedly shouted at them.

“Stop! The ground there is—!”

The moment the workers scrambled out and stepped onto the ground, cracks began spreading across the floor.

Crystal Bats usually built their nests near mica, a mineral that easily shattered when subjected to impact. In other words, it was a trap designed to make the ground collapse as soon as intruders approached the nest.

Before I could stop them, the floor gave way.

A dark abyss opened its enormous jaws beneath us.

“AAAH!”

The workers desperately clung to the edge of the nest. The director had barely managed to grab onto the very edge as well, but he wouldn’t be able to hold on for long.

He was too far away. Just as I hurriedly started running toward him, the director lost his grip on the branch.

With a scream, he began falling.

There was no way I could reach him in time.

Just then, a spear shot past me.

It plunged into the darkness, and Chezare appeared at the spot where it landed. He grabbed the spear with one hand and the director with the other.

“Got him!”

He must have squeezed out the very last of his mana.

Now all he had to do was make his way back.

That was what I thought.

—CRACK!

Chezare’s spear shattered into countless pieces.

Hadn’t he said it could withstand his mana twice?

Then I remembered what he’d said earlier about blocking the Crystal Bat’s attack. That must have been what destroyed it.

Chezare looked startled. Then, with all his strength, he hurled the director toward me.

I caught him and threw him onto the ground.

The director was safe.

But what about Chezare?

The moment our eyes met, he smiled without a trace of worry.

Chezare began falling into the darkness.

I frantically looked around. There wasn’t anything nearby that could contain Chezare’s mana, nor was there a living magical beast.

There was no way for him to return.

My disciple had accepted the possibility of death.

And yet, he had smiled.

You foolish disciple of mine.

Did you think I would smile just because you were smiling?

I clenched my fists so tightly that they felt ready to shatter. Then I noticed the red blood smeared across my hand.

It hadn’t completely dried yet.

It was the blood that had gotten on my hand when I treated Chezare earlier.

My hands trembled as I hurriedly absorbed Chezare’s mana.

“Chezare! Come to me! Right now!”

But no matter how many times I shouted, Chezare still didn’t appear.

“Chezare, come back!”

I still hadn’t heard the sound of an impact. Just as I approached the edge of the hole, desperately trying to find a way to save him—

Pain exploded through my body as though it were tearing me apart.

The taste of blood spread through my mouth, and a light flashed above my head.

It was Chezare.

—THUD!

I caught Chezare with my entire body as he fell on top of me.

He let out a groan.

“Ugh, I think I’m going to throw up…”

He was alive.

He was breathing.

My disciple had returned alive.

It felt as though all the strength had drained from my body. I couldn’t tell whether it was the aftereffects of mana depletion or simply the overwhelming relief.

Chezare let out a ragged breath.

“Wow, I thought I was going to die. Master, are you okay? Does the mana make you hurt—Agh!”

I immediately flicked him hard on the forehead.

He groaned and stuck out his lower lip.

“Master, that hurts! My head’s already stupid enough. You’re going to make it even worse!”

I struck him several more times.

I didn’t mind if he drank, swore, or acted like a complete delinquent.

But I couldn’t forgive this.

Neglecting himself. Throwing himself away. Trying to die.

“Why did you try to get yourself killed?”

“I didn’t know my spear would break!”

“Then you should have told me to absorb your mana!”

Chezare blinked a few times before averting his gaze.

“Well, I thought it would hurt Master… And besides, I could hear the sound of water coming from below.”

“Water?”

“It sounded like a river. The current was pretty strong…”

“Argh!”

I hit him again.

Grabbing Chezare, who looked as though he might die from frustration, I continued scolding him.

“Water? You thought you could determine the depth just from the sound? You risked your life based on nothing but the sound of water in such an uncertain situation?”

If the water hadn’t been deep enough to cushion the impact of his fall, he would have died on the spot.

Avoiding my gaze, Chezare replied,

“Well, I survived, didn’t I?”

“You little brat!”

I kept smacking him until he could no longer spout nonsense.

Chezare covered his head with both hands, looking utterly miserable.

“Master. Losing Jenia was my responsibility. I was just trying to take responsibility for it…”

“We can find information about Jenia through other means. And this isn’t what taking responsibility means. Never do something like this again.”

Chezare hesitated before nodding.

I wasn’t sure whether he had truly understood.

Just then, as though he had remembered something, Chezare held out the object he had been clutching.

“Oh, right! While I was falling earlier, I managed to grab onto the wall. There was something embedded in it. What is this?”

It was a crystal that glowed a deep, dark blue.

I could feel an intense amount of mana emanating from it.

He had actually managed to find something like this while falling?

“I haven’t seen one of these in a long time. It’s a Spirit Mana Crystal. It takes several hundred years to form.”

“What is that?”

“A crystal that can never be destroyed by mana. It can also withstand most forms of physical damage.”

Because of its extraordinary properties, it was a highly expensive gemstone. Any magic tool craftsman would go crazy upon seeing it.

Chezare stared blankly at the Spirit Mana Crystal. Then he infused it with his mana and handed it to me.

“Then Master should keep it. That way, I’ll be able to return to you whenever I want.”

I silently looked at him before nodding.

I accepted the crystal, which now glowed red after absorbing my mana.

Chezare flashed a wide grin.

“Shall we take care of the original matter now?”

I looked at the director, who was groaning on the ground.

The man who had sold off an orphanage simply because of gambling.

I met his eyes and asked,

“Do you remember Jenia?”

“Jenia? What are you talking about…? Did you come here looking for one of the orphans?”

“That’s right.”

The director’s eyes changed for a moment. A flash of greed was clearly visible.

He spoke as though trying to bargain.

“There were so many orphans that I can’t remember… But there are documents outside. If I look through them, I’m sure I’ll remember.”

In the end, he was asking me to get him out of here.

I grabbed him by the collar and stood up.

Over the many years I had lived, I had come to realize something.

Some people didn’t deserve kindness.

I dragged the director toward the edge of the hole and stood him there.

If I let go of his collar, he would fall straight down.

“You should at least make your lies believable. A man who sold off an entire orphanage wouldn’t have bothered keeping the documents, would he?”

The director couldn’t argue.

When I slightly loosened my grip, he hurriedly grabbed my wrist.

“I-I remember! A red-haired boy brought her here! She was adopted about six months before the orphanage went bankrupt!”

Only then did the director finally confess the truth.

Chezare approached with a hardened expression, but I stopped him with a gesture.

“Where was she adopted?”

“I don’t know the exact address, but she was adopted in Wisteln!”

Wisteln.

It was a rural village some distance from here.

At least she hadn’t been abandoned somewhere on the streets.

Judging by his expression, he didn’t seem to know anything else.

I slapped the director hard across the face.

He fainted without even making a sound.

Leaving the unconscious director behind, I headed toward the exit. Chezare came up beside me.

“Are you not going to beat him up some more?”

“If Jenia isn’t in Wisteln, we can always come back and deal with him again.”

If that bastard hadn’t gambled away the orphanage, Jenia would probably have been doing just fine.

And if Chezare had died while trying to save trash like that…

As we silently made our way out of the crystal cave, I spoke to Chezare.

“Chezare.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t die. And don’t take unnecessary risks or go on dangerous adventures, either.”

I remembered the way Chezare had smiled just moments ago.

The sight of him smiling even as he fell into the darkness.

Chezare stopped for a moment and looked at me.

His green eyes were calm.

“Master. I’m a good-for-nothing mercenary bastard. My job was to throw myself into danger for a few coins. My life was cheap.”

“……”

“But if I could die for Jenia, then I would have been worth a lot. Enough that I wouldn’t have any regrets.”

His voice was perfectly calm, as though he were discussing something completely obvious.

How many times had Chezare placed his own life on the scales until now?

“Do you think you’re worthless?”

“Of course. I’m not exactly a good person, am I? My hands tremble like this, and even the smell of alcohol makes me feel like I’m losing my mind.”

He raised his hand.

It was trembling noticeably.

“I’m also not suited to Balranus. Even guilds and mercenary groups would kick someone like me out.”

Speaking with a self-deprecating sneer, Chezare slipped his hand into his pocket.

I immediately grabbed his wrist.

“Mercenary groups and guilds might care about those things. But we don’t.”

“Then what do you care about?”

“What we want is you, Chezare. No matter what kind of person you are.”

The young Chezare who hadn’t yet learned how to fight.

The mercenary Chezare from the fighting pits.

And the broken Chezare who drowned himself in alcohol.

He had always been my precious disciple.

A disciple I wouldn’t trade for even tens of billions.

Chezare said nothing.

Only his wrist trembled faintly.

I couldn’t tell whether it was because of the alcohol or his emotions.

“You’re going to end up disappointed in me. Are you really okay with that?”

“Yes. I can’t promise that I’ll never be disappointed in you, but the fact that you’re precious to me will never change.”

Chezare remained silent for a long while.

Then I heard a faint chuckle.

He slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket.

“……You used to say things like that when I was little, too. You said things like this quite often.”

His hand was still trembling.

But without trying to hide it, Chezare smiled at me.

“I’d forgotten. It’s been so long since I last heard those words.”