Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 77: A “Nightmare”
When he heard the phrase “Stargazers Society,” Father Kalen looked as if he had swallowed a live fly whole.
“No matter the country, the ‘Stargazers’ of the Stargazers Society are top-priority wanted criminals.”
The priest’s tone was heavy, and his emotions were unusually intense.
“Those people are like a plague. They appeared out of nowhere twenty years ago, and they haven’t vanished since.”
“No one knows who their leader is. On every country’s wanted notices, there is only a masked person. They can’t even confirm whether that person is male or female, old or young. They hide like that behind the curtain of the Lord of Shadows… those fanatics who defile the shadows…”
“What exactly did they do?”
Salaar raised his eyebrows. “Forget other countries. In the Aufon Kingdom, isn’t the Church of Candance known for its ‘tolerance’?”
“Tolerance isn’t indulgence, sir. They aren’t spreading another faith, nor are they living in ‘mutual noninterference.’ They publicly attack all gods.”
Father Kalen said solemnly.
“The Stargazers fundamentally deny the existence of gods. They firmly believe that the magical enlightenment three hundred years ago was an outright conspiracy, and that the various churches, for the sake of their own interests, are encouraging this conspiracy.”
“The Stargazers Society goes around claiming that magic is bait, and that the Magibase is a cage. If humanity continues to indulge in this power of unknown origin, humans will only step into the abyss of the apocalypse.”
Salaar couldn’t help glancing at Myss. Myss puffed out his chest, as if the word “apocalypse” was a shining golden medal.
Lord Archdemon prepared himself to receive Salaar’s displeased gaze. In the end, this guy only looked at him calmly once, then swiftly withdrew his gaze, with a force weaker than being licked by a small animal.
What’s going on? Had Salaar not eaten?
Myss unhappily deflated his chest and continued listening out of boredom.
To be honest, he had no favorable impression of the Stargazers Society, but he didn’t particularly dislike them either. In a certain sense, that group was right. The human world was indeed about to welcome the apocalypse.
“Could the Abnormal Fruit be related to them?” Myss went straight to the point.
The Stargazers Society was constantly shouting about subjects like magic and gods, and the Abnormal Fruit happened to be connected to both.
“I don’t know.” Father Kalen lowered his eyes.
The priest’s loathing for the Stargazers Society was written all over him, but his words were quite objective. “We have never had deep contact with the Stargazers. But as far as I know, records related to Abnormal Fruit existed before the Stargazers Society appeared.”
Then never mind.
Myss instantly lost all interest in the Stargazers Society.
Kalen, however, cautiously continued, “My brother and I both once suspected that V.O.R might be related to the Stargazers Society.”
“However, during a certain cleanup of an Abnormal Fruit, we fought Stargazers. Judging from their attitude, V.O.R shouldn’t be a Stargazer. The Stargazers Society wholeheartedly wanted to seize the Abnormal Fruit and use it as magical reagents… or evidence that magic is harmful? I’m not certain.”
Now it mattered again.
So the Stargazers Society was his competitor for Abnormal Fruit. Myss decided to start hating them.
“…Oh, that group of paranoid lunatics who research ‘magic foundations’. I remember them.”
Tass rubbed his chin. “There was a Stargazer in a certain minor noble’s household. The family head found me and wanted me to quietly get rid of this ‘heretical madman.’”
“Funny thing is, the reason they gave was pretty similar to the Karns family’s. They said that Stargazer studied human sacrifices and used virgin blood as consumable material.”
Hearing the key phrase “human sacrifices,” Myss pricked up his ears. “And then?”
“After investigating, I found that the guy was living alone in the mountains, drawing his own blood for research. He was a forty-something-year-old virgin.”
Tass exaggeratedly spread his hands. “Someone like that isn’t on my target list, so I refused in the end.”
Myss felt a sudden wave of anticlimax; he had thought, for a moment, he found a kindred spirit of Kendrick Karns.
“Believe it or not, that guy made a magic device as big as a house. It was stuffed full of all sorts of gears, alchemical flesh, and gemstone lenses. He believed that all magic was fundamentally the same, and he was trying to disprove the various churches’ theory of ‘divinely bestowed magic.’”
“Actually, the contraption he made was rather convincing. But not long after I refused, he was still killed. Clearly, not every assassin has firm principles like I do… Ah.”
Tass seemed to think of something. He suddenly shook his wings and flew right in front of Salaar’s nose.
“Speaking of which, since the Karns family wants your life, I’m definitely not the only assassin they hired.”
Myss grabbed Tass’s trembling wings in one hand. “Tell us something we don’t know.”
“The one who hired me is called Owen Karns. The eldest son of Thurston, second son of Ratliff. Among the eight heirs, he’s a good-for-nothing second only to Kendrick.”
Myss: “…”
Why were there so many difficult-to-remember new names? They flowed through his mind like lukewarm water, leaving no trace.
Tass sighed.
“Let me put it this way. The head of the Karns family is Salaar’s—or rather, let’s just pretend he’s Kendrick Karns—grandfather.”
“Kendrick’s parents died early, leaving him with only one full-blooded older brother. The other six heirs of his generation are all children of Kendrick’s two paternal uncles.”
The Dragon Fae recited the details as if counting family treasures.
“The Karns family head ordered that whoever kills Kendrick Karns can inherit the share of property that originally belonged to Kendrick. As far as I know, including Owen, four heirs are very interested in this proposal.”
That was a lot of people.
After listening for ages, Lord Archdemon only grasped one key point. Salaar, no, Kendrick, had no father or mother, and only had four cousins who wanted to slaughter him.
…Damn the Karns family. Could they not give people simpler names?
The more Myss listened, the faster his drowsiness rose. Salaar had already taken precautions and stood behind him, in case Lord Archdemon collapsed on the spot.
“That information is enough, thank you. I’ll keep as low a profile as possible.”
Salaar gave a dry cough, interrupting Tass’s extremely detailed—so detailed it was somewhat unnecessary—intelligence sharing.
“As for the United Library, its security is still solid.” Father Kalen comforted him. “No assassin, no matter how bold, would cause trouble on royal territory.”
Tass nodded along. “Indeed. After all, Miss Magnolia has no interest in murdering her cousin.”
“Mag… Mag what?” Myss was bewildered.
“A Karns family heir, one of Kendrick’s cousins. She is a great scholar at the United Library and has quite a good reputation.”
Tass looked at Salaar in surprise. “Your boyfriend didn’t tell you?”
Myss: “…”
Myss ignored the word “boyfriend” and forcefully swallowed the urge to retort. “No. They probably aren’t close.”
Salaar nodded with extreme sincerity.
If Tass hadn’t specifically mentioned that name, he wouldn’t even have remembered this matter. In Kendrick Karns’s chaotic memories, his cousin Magnolia was no different from air.
……
The next morning.
“What is this?”
Myss held his breath and focused, staring at the… crude thing in front of him.
Salaar: “A flatbed cart filled with straw.”
“Of course I know it’s a cart.” Myss paced back and forth in dissatisfaction. “What I’m asking is, why is a ‘flatbed cart filled with straw’ appearing here? What happened to the promised luxury carriage?”
Two flatbed carts covered in thick straw were stopped in front of them, and the drivers’ eyes were gleaming.
“The people gathered nearby are all commoners. There are no luxury carriages to rent. Ordinary carriages have at least six seats and won’t depart until they’re full. And the floorboards are covered in mud and spit marks. You wouldn’t like that.”
Salaar said calmly, “I thought about it. Rather than spending a heavy sum to reserve an ordinary carriage, we might as well reserve this. The next week will be sunny, so there won’t be any problem.”
Myss made a soft hum and approached the cart to sniff it.
The straw was dry, soft, and sparkled with a pale golden glow under the sunlight. The flatbed cart had just finished delivering flowers to the new market here, and there was a faint floral scent among the straw.
To avoid damaging the flowers, the wheels were wrapped with specially made cork. The cart bed was about the size of a double bed, with more than enough space. In other words, he could lie on his hero cushion the whole way!
Myss’s spirits instantly lifted.
“As long as you let me lie on you, I’ll agree,” he offered on the spot.
“All right,” Salaar agreed immediately.
Myss: “…”
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was slightly off about Salaar, though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
Fortunately, after the cart began moving, Salaar changed back into the usual Salaar.
The priest was tall, so he took Tass and the pocket watch and occupied one flatbed cart on his own. Myss, meanwhile, comfortably lay down on his hero cushion, enjoying the faint floral scent from the straw.
Salaar lay on his back, facing the blue sky, one hand raised toward it.
As he moved, Myss heard a faint rustling sound of friction. He turned his head and saw the bottle of “Resolve to Elope.”
Beneath the clear azure sky, the tiny scarlet hearts squeezed into a pile. The color could be called pleasing to the eye. This thing seemed to be sweet-and-sour raspberry flavored. Myss smacked his lips and suddenly wanted fresh raspberries again.
“Why take that thing out?”
Myss tugged at Salaar’s nose. “Are you eating it now, or after we get to the capital?”
Seeing that Salaar’s expression didn’t change much, Myss suddenly had a flash of insight. “…Or is it because that magic artifact merchant claims to be an atheist, and you suspect he’s a Stargazer?”
Salaar nodded lightly.
Myss immediately turned his face and harshly interrogated the bottle of medicine with his gaze. But after staring at it for ages with his dilated pupils, he didn’t see anything suspicious. The magic inside was designed very delicately, but that was all.
So he buried his nose back against Salaar’s chest and fell silent.
Salaar silently looked at the medicine bottle for a while, then put it back into the bag and casually stroked Myss’s long silver-white hair.
Myss couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.
Previously, when he had used Salaar as a cushion, there had been at least some helplessness in Salaar’s eyes. By now, that helplessness had strangely disappeared.
And Salaar had started touching him all the time. His movements were careful, and his strength was just right, stuck precisely at the boundary where Myss felt comfortable and wanted to resist, yet was too lazy to resist.
Myss’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Sunlight filtered through them, producing a warm golden glow across his vision. Fork lay limply around his wrist, sleeping soundly as it basked in the sun.
Behind him was a relaxing stroking sensation. In front of him was Salaar’s scent, the smell of sun-dried straw, and the fragrance of flowers. The road leading to the capital was smooth, and the wheels were soft. Myss had the illusion that he was lying on a floating bed.
Not good. This must be a… new… method… of… attack…
Myss’s head sank, and he fell asleep.
Salaar lowered his head, a smile on his lips. He lightly pressed his lips against the top of Myss’s hair and his arms quietly tightened.
The azure light of the sky reflected in his eyes, making those lapis-lazuli eyes seem less dim. However, that brightness failed to dilute the sharpness in his gaze.
[Magic is bait, and the Magibase is a cage. If humanity continues to indulge in this power of unknown origin, humans will only step into the abyss of the apocalypse.]
…The Stargazers Society’s viewpoint was truly fascinating.
“Simulating magic fluctuations is extremely difficult, Salaar.”
In his memory, that familiar voice said, “Magic circuits are like fingerprints. Everyone’s is different.”
“I know, Madam.”
“We can’t borrow other people’s experiences, and human lifespans are far too short… Everyone is groping around in the dark, trying to find the path that belongs to them.”
The woman said gently, “Right now, everyone is using ‘half-baked magic.’ Once someone succeeds, magical theory will surely undergo a qualitative leap.”
“I know, Madam.”
The young Salaar lifted his head, his voice still quite childish.
“However, the differences between people are quite large. Even if there is a successful precedent, the same circuit may not necessarily work on someone else.”
“Hehe, child, a ‘leap’ doesn’t mean giving everyone the same copy.”
That voice was full of laughter. “Once we know the theory, we will have endless research topics, newer and more diverse magic systems.”
“If only the distributor truly knows the reasoning within, while everyone else can only blindly follow… placing everyone’s safety in the hands of one person, that is the true apocalypse.”
“…”
“Then what about me, Madam?”
“Why do all of you place your hopes in me?”
How had that lady answered him back then? Salaar tried hard to look, tried hard to listen, but everything was blurring.
His nose hurt a little.
“…Sa…”
“…Bastard…”
“…Hateful guy…”
Myss’s voice grew closer and closer, clearer and clearer. Salaar opened his eyes and found that Myss was tugging his nose.
Salaar: “…?”
Only then did he realize in a daze that at some point, he had fallen asleep beneath the warm sunlight.
“Where did you put the raspberry candy?”
Myss was groping around on his body. “You still have some on you, right? Hand it over. I want to eat it.”
“Say ‘please.’” Salaar rubbed his eyes.
“Please what? It’s all your fault for waving that bottle of medicine around.” Myss bared his teeth. “Less nonsense. Hand it over.”
Salaar sighed and took out a piece of candy from his inner pocket. He carefully peeled away the wrapper and held it in front of Myss with both hands.
Myss leaned in to bite it. Unfortunately, Salaar’s fingertips were pinching it very tightly, so this bite failed to take it away. Instead, he firmly held Salaar’s fingers in his mouth.
Myss glanced at him unhappily, lazily propped himself up, and went to pry open Salaar’s fingers. Only after eating the candy ball did he lie back down in satisfaction, exhaling a long breath with the scent of candy.
From beginning to end, he was careful not to meet Salaar’s eyes.
Actually, Myss hadn’t wanted candy until just now.
Salaar had fallen into deep sleep. His body had twitched slightly in the dream, and his heartbeat was a little faster than usual. Myss had been jostled awake by him, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Salaar’s tightly furrowed brow and slightly pursed lips.
Without a doubt, Salaar was dreaming, and it wasn’t a good dream.
Myss thought back for a while and discovered that inside the seal, Salaar had rarely shown such a state. Even when companions had died one after another in front of him, Salaar’s emotions had remained as steady as rock.
Now, the indestructible Saint Salaar was actually having a nightmare. This uncomfortable appearance was even more wretched than when he had been pierced through by Myss’s tentacles.
Served him right!
Myss buried his head again with complete peace of mind, determined to continue sleeping. However, the afternoon sunlight was too bright, and Salaar’s heartbeat was far too noisy.
Myss raised his head again to look at that familiar yet unfamiliar face.
He suddenly felt a surge of anger. Salaar had never, not even once, shown such a pained expression because of him. What made that nightmare worthy? It actually dared to usurp his own exclusive privilege to torment Salaar!
Salaar’s love had to belong to him, and Salaar’s pain also had to be possessed by him.
“Salaar!” Myss reached out and pinched Salaar’s nose. “Bastard, wake up!”
A thin layer of sweat emerged on Salaar’s forehead, but his eyes were still closed.
“Hateful guy, if you don’t wake up, I’m going to punch you there,” Myss threatened.
That was terrifying pain he had personally experienced. It would definitely be extremely effective. If not for the fact that he wanted Salaar to fall in love with him, Myss would have already punched.
Salaar finally woke up, and a dazed look flashed through his eyes.
Oh, he was awake. How should he explain? Myss belatedly thought.
The reason “I was worried about you” was too mushy, and he couldn’t accept it at this stage. “You annoyed me” was too crude and wouldn’t help his great seduction scheme.
Thinking of the bottle of “Resolve to Elope” from just now, Myss had a flash of inspiration and asked for raspberry-flavored candy.
Now the candy ball had entered his mouth, and the sweet-sour taste seeped into the tip of his tongue. Myss burrowed back into his warm cushion. He heard Salaar’s heartbeat return to normal again.
Very good. Now Salaar belonged only to him again.
……
For the next few days, life was so leisurely it could make a person sprout moss.
During the day, Myss lay on the cart, enjoying his soft cushion. At night, the driver would cover the flatbed cart with a tent-like rainproof cover, then light a campfire beside the cart and cook bacon onion soup.
“We’ll reach that…capital city…tomorrow morning. Will there be any problem entering the city directly?”
Myss held a bowl of onion soup and blew on it hard with his mouth. The wood burned red, wrapped in gray-white ash. The tongues of fire spat out countless sparks, yet none were as bright as Myss’s eyes.
Myss could sense a gaze like fine rain falling on his face.
“The Karns family will find out sooner or later. It’s better to go to the United Library as quickly as possible.”
Salaar sat beside Myss. His eyes looked at Myss, while one hand tore bread into pieces and threw them into the soup bowl.
An owl rested on Father Kalen’s knee, and the priest was gently stroking the bird’s feathers. “Approximately where is the United Library located? I can ask my little animal friends to check first.”
Silence.
Father Kalen looked toward Myss, who sat opposite him. Myss looked toward Salaar. Salaar looked toward Tass, who simply wore a look of utter disdain.
“Why are you looking at me? I don’t know either! …Kalen said before that no assassin, no matter how bold, would cause trouble on royal territory!”
“Besides, the United Library isn’t open to outsiders at all. Why don’t you ask me how to get to the king’s bedroom while you’re at it?”
Myss: “Oh. How do you get to the king’s bedroom?”
Tass: “…”
Tass plunged headfirst into the pocket watch’s gemstone and refused to come out.
Seeing Myss eagerly preparing to dig at the gemstone, Salaar patted his shoulder. “Don’t torment Tass. There’s actually a simpler method.”
He looked around at the companions sitting by the campfire, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.
“I think, out of politeness, I should greet ‘my’ dear cousin Mag.”
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