# Chapter 63
“No one recognized you?”
“…”
“Oh my. In the past, there was such a commotion about you being Noah’s reincarnation. Back then, there would be an uproar if even one qualification for kingship was missing, you know? You know Duz, right? But now, they don’t care about such things. Black hair and purple eyes. Anyone can see you resemble Noah. You even have these adorable horns. How could they call you a monster?”
Artalis sighed while fiddling with my horns. My head went blank for a moment, but truly just for a moment. No matter what I resembled, the result remained unchanged. Humans weren’t broad-minded enough to accept beings different from themselves. I shook my head vigorously, causing the hand touching my horns to fall away.
“So touchy. It’s not like they’ll wear down just because I touch them.”
“Get off.”
“There’s no need to feel so wronged. It’s not like everyone saw you as strange.”
There was just one person. Someone who told me I wasn’t a monster. Someone who would call me Rite until the end, even if I transformed into a perfect monster and attacked him.
But now he was gone. Could I go back again? When? After a long time had passed, would Arden’s side already be filled with someone else? Just thinking that far made me feel like blood was rushing to my head. My eyes grew hot, and my fists clenched involuntarily.
“Still not interested? If you kill the Emperor, you could become someone who receives people’s love and respect. You’d be a hero.”
“I don’t need that.”
That wasn’t what I needed right now. When I was younger, I might have dreamed of such things, but currently, I only needed one thing.
“If you don’t like playing hero… how about this?”
Artalis snapped her fingers, making a sound. She was still smiling.
“If you accept your destiny and carry it out, I’ll grant your wish.”
“…”
“Your expression changed again.”
A wish. My eyes flew open at that word. Although she was the one who had made me like this, she was also the only one who could grant my wish.
The only god of Artalis who could make me human.
If that could happen, I could stand proudly beside Arden.
“Can you make me human?”
“I could, but it’s not good to make a wish right now. That’s something you should do carefully. How do you know how your heart will change by then? Didn’t Arden teach you even that?”
“No. There’s only one thing I want.”
If only that were possible. Just imagining it made my heart beat faster. I wouldn’t have to hide anymore. I could demand and receive Arden’s love without worrying about any gazes at his side. I could obtain Arden’s love with my own power. Because it was originally mine.
“There’s no need to rush when I’m not going to grant your wish just because you state it now. Anyway, you’ll do it, right? I usually don’t do this kind of thing, but I’ve recently had some painful memories…”
Artalis waved her hand in the air, and sparkling powder gathered to form something like a paper. In the same way, she also created something similar to a quill pen, but upon closer inspection, the feather was actually a large, hard black scale.
I glanced down at my right arm. It was much larger, but it had a similar appearance to the scales on my arm.
“It’s a contract. It’s a bit formal, but there’s no helping it. The world has become harsh, hasn’t it? There’s nothing much in it—you faithfully fulfill your destiny, and I grant your wish.”
“It’s not about conforming to destiny, but me fulfilling your request, right?”
“Yes, yes. Then let’s write it that way.”
Artalis swept her hand over the paper once, erasing the writing. She wrote the contract again from the beginning, signed at the bottom, and passed the pen to me.
“Here. Just sign it.”
“Before that.”
“Yes?”
“How exactly am I supposed to kill him?”
I didn’t know where the Emperor was. I knew the capital was Moran and that there was a palace there, but I didn’t know anything beyond that. The Emperor of the Empire would be incomparable to killing a dozen monsters.
“You are the Emperor’s weakness itself. You are the weakness of that human who boasted even to the gods.”
That disrespectful bastard. Artalis muttered a small curse.
“So you need to have more confidence.”
“What if I don’t succeed—”
“And you’re not alone, are you?”
“…”
“Now it’s time to return. To home. He’ll be waiting for you.”
Artalis reached out again and gently lifted my chin. The eyes that met mine were clearly not human, as they emitted their own light.
Perhaps because of the warm light, I felt my body warming up too. Not refined at all. Artalis frowned and muttered, but the sound was faint. All my senses were fading, as if I were submerged in water hearing sounds from outside. Something was surging around Artalis, but I couldn’t see it clearly.
My mind was foggy, and my whole body itched. It felt like things that had been jumbled inside were being put back in place one by one. Blockages were opening, and the sense of foreign objects that I had grown so accustomed to that I didn’t realize they were uncomfortable was gradually disappearing. At the same time, things that had been blurry were becoming clearer bit by bit.
A dazzling light was rippling around Artalis. I was at the end of its movement. The light enveloping my entire body was warming me gently.
“I did some repairs. It would have been better if you had been picked up by a former mage rather than a former engineer.”
“…What did you do?”
Even as I asked, I knew the answer. I could most keenly detect the changes happening in my body.
“Still, since I made you directly, it’s shameful not to be able to control even one bit of magic.”
“…”
“Finally, your long growing pains are over.”
I didn’t answer, but Artalis smiled and let go of my chin. I wrote my name below Artalis’s signature. Rite. As soon as I finished writing, the paper sparkled, rolled up, and went straight into Artalis’s sleeve.
“The contract is established. Now go home and put your heads together with that clever engineer to make a plan. You know the way home, right? Oh, I forgot to mention this.”
Artalis, who had been rapidly spilling words, clapped her hands with a sharp sound.
“If you kill the Emperor, you will also disappear.”
“…What?”
“You’re a being that broke off from the Emperor’s body. If he dies, you will naturally disappear too.”
I can’t create something from nothing. I molded you by choosing only the purest part of that bastard’s life force. Despite the content of her words, Artalis’s expression remained nonchalant. Because of that, it took me half a beat longer to understand what she was saying.
“I told you it would be better to think carefully about your wish, didn’t I?”
“Are you kidding me? Rewrite the contract.”
“I also told you the world has become harsh. Contracts aren’t something to be written carelessly. You should have examined it thoroughly.”
“You’d better rewrite it. What if I don’t kill the Emperor?”
“That won’t happen. Aren’t you more desperate than me?”
I should have said no, but it didn’t seem like it would work. I exhaled irritably.
“Use your head. That person waiting for you is clever too. Or you could beg for my mercy.”
“Swindler.”
“So you have no intention of begging for mercy?”
Artalis laughed pleasantly. It was completely different from the image of God I had imagined as a child. Is this what it feels like to have childhood innocence shattered? Still, strangely, I didn’t feel entirely bad. It was because I could finally see the end of my journey.
“Still, you’ve grown up surprisingly well-behaved. It couldn’t have been easy to suppress your nature.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You’re a being created to kill him—do you think I would have made you timid and quiet? Perhaps it’s because you were raised by that traitor.”
It seems that living for a long time gives one different standards. Instead of asking more, I decided to accept that thought and move on.
“Then, see you next time. I hope the Emperor’s head will be beside you then.”
Artalis, who had appeared without a trace, disappeared just the same. Like snow blowing in the wind, golden powder scattered bit by bit until she was gone.
I turned back without hesitation. Although I had walked here aimlessly, I wasn’t at a loss. The way home is something one can find even with closed eyes.
* * *
At some point, I began to smell Arden’s scent. Similar to mine but different, a scent I could neither confuse nor forget.
I stopped when familiar scenery appeared. Though everything looked similar, I could tell I had reached the forest near home. Instead of entering the house, I waved my hand in the air. While I had lifted or blocked existing objects before, creating an entirely new form was a first.
I tried moving my hand as Artalis had done, but though it sparkled briefly, it broke into pieces without taking form. Giving up on creating something entirely new, I looked around. Trees. Branches. Pine cones. And snow.
I stretched my palm facing downward, and the snow piled on the ground rose into the air as if time were rewinding. Withdrawing my hand, I meticulously carved and shaped it in my mind. Whether magic or inserting horns, the process was generally similar. Imagining and concretizing was the first step. Books about magical tools I had found and read on Arden’s bookshelf were also helpful. Although there wasn’t much direct theoretical help, they at least made me aware that what I was using was magic.
I hadn’t known for long that the small abilities I had used naturally were magic. The day I first went hunting monsters, I discovered a magical tool around the house. It vibrated and reacted as soon as I approached, making it impossible to miss. I knew Arden had installed magical tools, but I had never seen them directly. Perhaps worried that I might touch them out of curiosity, Arden had never shown them to me.
My intention in opening the book on Arden’s shelf was mere curiosity. I had no intention of finding answers or discovering anything. It was mostly to pass time. But I had unexpected results from that book.
“The method of distinguishing new magical tools from used ones is simple. Inserting new magic into a magical tool that already contains magic is very tricky, and it’s easy to break if you make a mistake. To prevent this, most magical tools have security measures, which cause them to react differently when different magic is detected. If a magical tool shows an unusual reaction, it is already a used one containing someone else’s magic.”
The repair Artalis had done was quite effective. With magic that could at best block doors, I now created the form of a large beast. When I kneaded the snow together with magic, this time it didn’t collapse easily.
“Bring Arden here.”
At my command, the clump of magic in the form of a unicorn headed toward the house. The reason I didn’t open the door and enter myself was nothing special. It was a kind of surprise gift. I wanted to create an unforgettable moment for Arden. I wanted my place within Arden to be even larger than before.
‘A unicorn guided me to where you are.’
For that, I needed a dramatic scene. Hoping my direction would please Arden, I took the mobile out from my chest.
I would soon meet Arden again. With that thought, my teeth ached. I pushed my fingers into my mouth and felt the surface. Instead of the sharp teeth, relatively smooth ones were felt.
“…Soon I’ll become a real human.”
