Changing People, Unchanging End (1)

It was the evening of the 60th day of the Monster Wave.

Guard Commander Fabrice declared that the Monster Wave had ended early.

When the representatives vouched for Fabrice’s proclamation, the citizens sheltering in the square’s tents finally began returning home, one by one.

They’d endured two miserable, painful months, yet things were better than at the bleak start — and everyone knew it was all thanks to the swordsman Kim Han.

Thus, each returned home with the hope that life would improve now that the Monster Wave was over.

The citizens from the northern residential area fared well.

Their houses, surprisingly intact despite being near the northern wall where fighting had taken place, even yielded a few gold coins; they happily declared they’d rest through the workless year-end.

But those from the eastern and western walls arrived home, stood stunned for a moment, then collapsed and wept.

Most houses had collapsed or teetered on the verge of ruin.

Their tragedy didn’t end there: sons and youths conscripted to carry loads or run errands returned as cold corpses.

What made the survivors’ hearts ache more was the condition of those bodies.

Limbs were severed, heads were gone, and bodies were slashed from head to toe.

Bodies lay haphazardly; piled severed parts gave no clue as to who they had belonged to.

The attitude of the continentals living near the eastern wall shifted.

First, the daily morning and evening pilgrimages to the temple stopped abruptly; attendance dropped to less than ten percent of its former number.

On top of that came open resentment toward the gods enshrined in the eastern temples.

It was the first time since the opening of the Battlefield of the Gods that continentals had begun to resent the gods.

Neither Benialis nor even Giorgio had expected such a shift. To them, the continentals had always been as obedient as dull-witted slaves.

In hard times, people seek heroes or beings to rescue them.

For the continentals that being had been the gods; but when the gods and their representatives brought more hardship and pain, they began to search for other beings to trust.

While Kim Han was absent, the number of Exorsus citizens moving toward Kim Han’s mansion steadily grew.

Unaware of the gathering at Kim Han’s house, members of the Rebound Legion finished a simple drinking party and waited at the northern wall.

They had reasons—cleanup around the northern wall they were responsible for after the battle and the mansion’s proximity—but the real reason was they felt uneasy under the glares from the eastern temples.

The mood was overtly hostile.

Some hot-headed representatives had even drawn swords and slit the throats of paladins.

Using that as an excuse, the Rebound Legion members and mages who had moved to the northern wall waited for Kim Han.

Kim Han was currently being visited by Fabrice and hadn’t left the northern guard commander’s office in over an hour.

Then it happened. One wall of the northern guardhouse—logs and bricks—burst open.

Kwak-kwak-kwang―!

“…Kim Han!”

“Fabrice, I’m really curious so I’ll ask again: do you believe in the title of Guard Commander? Or do you believe that a transcendent cannot die? Or do you simply hate breathing? Do you want to die miserably, begging to be killed, do you want to die that way?”

Kim Han’s companions flinched, but as if they had anticipated this, quickly took their positions.

Ripples trembled around Hazel, and a fan of red and blue was in Lee Hyo-ju’s hand.

Naruan’s whole body was engulfed in red flame, and black auras welled and flowed from Mae Young-ryeong’s body.

Beside Arun, a high-ranked water spirit materialized, and warrior representatives formed a wide encirclement around Fabrice.

The magic tower mages finished their calculations and awaited the tower master’s orders.

As the Rebound Legion prepared for battle, watching representatives, overwhelmed by surging divine fluctuations, couldn’t breathe freely and swallowed nervously.

I felt the surroundings descend into chaos, but I was so furious my brain felt like it was melting.

“Ha! Guard Commander, tell me this: what on earth were you thinking, spouting such bullshit?”

“…Ugh. Think carefully, Kim Han!”

Fabrice spat a short string of nonsense and left the room.

He walked awkwardly, sweat beading on his brow, yet acted as if he’d never been surprised or afraid.

As I watched his retreating back, the more I thought, the more I suspected the old lunatic had injured his head during the Monster Wave.

Fabrice had come to see me just after we moved to the northern wall, following a morning drinking bout.

About an hour earlier Fabrice had shown up out of the blue, claiming something important to discuss and asking for my time. When he said it was urgent, I had the members tidy up and went into the guardhouse.

The story Fabrice abruptly brought up was completely unexpected.

“…This is the situation. So I want you to take care of them.”

“Take care of them?”

Fabrice said Exorsus citizens were gathering in front of my mansion.

It was easy to guess why they were gathering without even being told.

Since the Exorsus citizens near the northern wall were helping us, something must have gone wrong in the west and east.

Moreover, even I had frowned at how the continentals’ corpses had been left scattered after the defense of the eastern wall.

Setting aside the unpleasant sight, how could anyone leave corpses that might cause stench and spread all manner of disease?

At the time we couldn’t touch them, so casting purification magic and short-term preservation spells was the best we could do.

Knowing all that, Fabrice’s evasive tone began to irritate me.

“Fine, I’ll take care of it.”

“How?”

“How? With compensation, of course. Give them a few gold coins each. You’re the richest of the representatives.”

“…And?”

Convinced he’d secured a positive response, Fabrice brightened and began to explain.

He looked as if something were chasing him, or as if he were under a spell.

“While giving them gold, tell the Exorsus citizens that this was an accident.”

“An accident…”

“Right. It’s not Benialis’s or Violentia’s fault—monsters broke in. For heaven’s sake, do you want to keep acting suspicious? Accidents happen during sieges!”

“I know.”

“Right? Haha. So tell them that and soothe them into leaving.”

Was he suddenly concerned about Exorsus’ mood as guard commander? Fabrice’s sudden change bewildered me.

But if I revealed my suspicions, the transcendants would notice like ghosts—so I couldn’t say it to his face.

“What about next?”

“Next? Ah, there’s a next thing. You still have that, right? The Latens Cube.”

“…Yes.”

As soon as I answered he leaned over the table and spoke in a suggestive tone, as if doing me a huge favor.

“That thing’s troublesome for you too, isn’t it? I’ll handle it. How about that?”

“The Latens Cube?”

“Yeah! To be honest, even if you have it it’s useless to you. I’ll deal with it. Even if it’s broken, it’s still a kind of god’s toolbox—I’ll give you fitting compensation.”

“Oh… compensation, huh. What kind of compensation?”

“Haha. I don’t have cash. Two transcendent-grade weapons and three manuals that produce effects similar to ‘Transmission.’”

“…Hah!”

“Hahaha! Surprised? I’m a man who spends boldly when I use things!”

I was surprised. A transcendent-grade weapon is demigod-grade; two of them and three manuals—so the Latens Cube must be that important.

But Fabrice also had no use for taking it. Even Talis had given up trying to use it.

According to Talis, executing access itself was impossible because one lacked the qualifications.

In other words, it’s like you need to turn on a computer but there’s a security pad fixed to the power button.

‘And yet you want it? So desperately?’

“I’ll think about the Cube.”

“Aha! If time passes I’m not interested either. It has to be now. It must be now.”

“Why?”

“…Huh?”

“Why must it be now?”

Fabrice’s face, which had been wearing a sly grin, stiffened completely.

But I wasn’t going to let this slide. The Fabrice before me didn’t seem like the Fabrice I had known.

“…Don’t you have a reason?”

“No, I want to know it.”

Displeasure flashed across Fabrice’s face, but he composed himself and rebuked me in a friendly tone.

“Aha, what’s this about. Is the compensation insufficient? Then tell me what you want.”

“Compensation…”

“Yes, if the compensation isn’t enough, say it. I’ll try to get as much as possible.”

Look at him—how proud. He alternated honorifics and demeaning tones even toward Talis and Bioss.

Yet this man, who looked offended by my blunt speech, still endured it.

“What’s your scheme, old man?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Look. Before, you would have left without looking back, calling me insolent. Now you’ve held back—what’s changed? Speak plainly, old man.”

“You coddled him and now he’s crawling up on you!”

I stared as Fabrice belatedly tried to feign anger, then snorted and stood up.

“I’ll put it in terms you’ll understand. Before the Monster Wave, you suddenly asked me to take charge of the northern wall. Out of obligation when you transmitted, I agreed readily. Now, thinking about that compensation, you know better than anyone it wasn’t much.”

“…Ugh.”

“We were the ones who saved Exorsus when Benialis pulled a stupid stunt that nearly doomed it. Yet you come to me before I’ve even finished sorting supplies and tell me to clean up the mess those two left—using my money, no less. I’m so annoyed I’m about to flip the table. But there’s more madness: now you’re giving a flimsy excuse and asking for the Monster Wave’s crucial data, the Latens Cube. And unlike before, you’re even trying to curry my favor.”

“Th-that’s…”

“Now imagine you’re in my shoes. Would you just accept a guy saying that and do everything he asks? Or would you beat the bastard until he spilled it?”

As I listed the facts one by one and built momentum, the table rattled and shook.

Only then did Fabrice seem to realize I had called him a bastard and threatened to beat him up.

His face flushed, and Fabrice began to gather his own momentum.

Kuuuung―

The surges of force Fabrice and I raised collided with a dull impact; the table shattered and scattered.

“So the one who shit at someone else’s doorstep is the one getting angry now?”

“Y-you old man!”

“Old man, you think because you’re a transcendent you can’t die? No, you can die. Representatives die during training; being a transcendent doesn’t guarantee immortality.”

“…!!”

“Old man, do you want to die painfully? Do you want to beg to be killed—licking my shoes and crying your eyes and nose out?”

“Kim Han!”

Kwaaang―!

At that moment, a powerful surge erupted from Fabrice.

Matching it—or rather exceeding it—I collided head-on with that surge.

Not only was Fabrice pushed back by the force, but the wall to his left burst from the impact.

Kwak-kwak-kwang―!

“…Kim Haan!”

Fabrice, shocked that I’d rushed him or repelled his surge, widened his eyes and screamed my name at the top of his lungs.

He sounded like a frightened dog barking more ferociously.

Even after reconsidering the earlier situation, I couldn’t fathom the old lunatic’s motive or what he had been thinking.

Fabrice awkwardly approached the mages and representatives surrounding him, glared, and shouted.

“Stand aside!”

The representatives’ and Rebound Legion members’ gazes turned to me; they were about to comply.

“Fabrice, come and see us.”

If not for Talis’s voice, which sounded before I realized it.

Fabrice slowly turned his head toward Talis’s voice, like a broken robot forcing movement.

“There’s something I absolutely want to hear from you about the Latens Cube you mentioned.”

Fabrice’s head sagged helplessly.