༺ The Sun Is A Radiant Star! (2) ༻
“I didn’t want to kill animals in the testing. But I guess I have to.”
Naru and Cecily liked animals.
It was self-explanatory, the way Naru was affectionate with her familiar Molumolu, and Cecily with her ragdoll cats.
Hina probably liked animals, too.
Perhaps that’s why I was a little reluctant to kill the demon dog, Orthor.
Those black eyes were strangely brilliant.
But then after hearing that weird mantra, the dog went feral and its eyes bled from all the popped vessels.
It was a pure rampage.
It seemed like it was suffering.
“I’ll relieve you.”
With a hand chop, I struck down heavily on the dog’s necks.
━Keeeen—!
━Guwak—!
The demon dog fell over with a yelp, its body twitching.
It passed.
This was the only way to calm and suddenly feral specimen.
Uhm, they won’t ask for compensation, right?
I was worrying slightly when the arena door opened.
Was I allowed to leave?
When I stepped outside the cage, Elle Cladeco covered me with a white gown.
I was putting it on when she spoke, highly impressed.
“Your karma level has been updated. Though by a little, it has increased for sure.”
“Yeah well, I killed a dog.”
“It’s fascinating. Judas, at a level like yours, it’s difficult to accumulate karma. It doesn’t increase with just any kind of situation. This data will be helpful.”
It was difficult to understand with all the complicated talk, but it was basically that the higher level one is, it’s hard to gain experience, right?
And that in comparison, I was gaining experience rather easily?
Did the experience points modifier vary between people?
“However, there is a limit to using Orthor. Anything stronger would be a Crimson Ogre…, or a Cyclops…”
Crimson Ogre.
Cyclops.
They were all powerful monsters.
However, I decided to be honest.
“Even if you threw both of them at me, I would hardly break a sweat. Do you have anything stronger? Since we’re testing, anyway. I want to give it my all, too.”
An opponent with whom I can fight at full strength.
There weren’t many, honestly, but there were some.
“Enkidus, would you like to do the honors?”
The Grand Abbot addressed Enkidus.
Enkidus had been quiet since earlier, which I assumed he might’ve been in silent meditation as he tended to do occasionally.
“A spar against Enkidus.”
It has been a while.
With that, Enkidus and I entered the cage.
“…….”
Clap—
Enkidus put his hands together with a clap.
It was always like this whenever I sparred with him.
“We haven’t sparred in a while. Don’t take it easy on me this time.”
“…….”
Instead of replying, Enkidus took a stance.
He stood straight with his heels together, one hand behind his back and the other showing the back towards me.
Whoosh—
As I was drawing the form of his stance in my mind, Enkidus raised a foot high.
His foot pointed at the ceiling.
It slammed down towards the floor.
Baaaam—!
It was a technique called ‘Stamp-Pēd’ if I recall correctly.
Its force was so great that the steel floor which withstood even the Orthor’s rampaging dented under him.
The shock of it made the foundation wobble like tofu.
In the short moment I lost my balance, an iron-like fist was already at my face.
“Shh—”
I don’t have time to block.
Will just have to make it hurt less.
I twisted my body away in the same direction his fist was heading.
Baaaam—!
My face felt like a cannonball crashed into it and I flew from the impact all the way into the camera on the wall.
“Guuk.”
That hurt.
But before I could regain my standing, Enkidus leaped towards me
Dadadadada—
Punches came in quick succession, appearing like a hundred fists.
Was the skill called Rapid Fire Punch?
“Definitely not taking it easy!”
I concentrated on evading the best I could.
But the surrounding cage was already partially destroyed.
「Wait, the damage level of the testing area….」
Voooom—
Even the speaker’s light turned off and then the whole area plunged into darkness.
It was pitch dark.
“Your mistake, Enkidus. You’re weak in the dark. This is my stage now, don’t you know?”
I asked him.
I was about to move, thinking that he wouldn’t answer because of that silent meditation of his when a familiar voice came out of the dark.
“I finally have an opportunity. The power will return soon, so I will keep it simple. Judas, I believe this monk has been mistaken.”
“What do you mean? Mistaken about what?”
Vooooom—
Just then, the lights in the arena came back on.
Seeing the camera blink again, I was starting to get why Enkidus was using destructive techniques to damage the arena.
He wanted to tell me this without being watched.
「As the machines have been damaged, we’ll stop the testing for now. That will be it for today.」
* * *
“That was it.”
Dinner time.
I explained what happened today to Cariote, Brigitte, and Salome.
Brigitte asked after listening for a while.
“That sounds pretty simple. So that was really the end?”
“Like I said. Well, they did say that from today’s test, they gathered more data than they have in the past 3 years.”
Elle was very pleased but as for me, well, I didn’t do much so it was whatever.
When Brigitte and I finished, Cariote, who had been quiet this whole time, spoke.
“The demon dog Orthor is a strong creature. I’ve hunted a few before as well. But hearing that it suddenly went feral is somewhat concerning.”
Is that so?
It was concerning, true, if I think about it.
Forcing a monster to go wild.
Soon, Salome asked.
“So, between you and the bald monk, who won?”
Salome’s focus seemed to be on who won the fight between me and Enkidus.
Then again, Salome was always interested in the ‘victory and loss’ of things.
Well.
The fight was interrupted because the arena got partially destroyed so it was hard to say that anyone won, really.
“Wouldn’t I have won?”
The current me was strong.
But I had a doubtful ‘feeling’.
That Enkidus, even if he was a lower level than me, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to beat him that easily.
A feeling that he was hiding something up his sleeve.
But that couldn’t be true.
Anyone else, maybe, but it was impossible that Enkidus would be keeping something hidden.
So, where is he now?
As I was thinking about that, Brigitte, who had been pondering, spoke.
“I think I will also be working in the testing lab starting from tomorrow. We’re going to officially start creating the artificial ‘vessel’. The artificial Demon King, that is.”
At that, Cariote clicked her tongue.
“Creating a Demon King. I honestly have a bad feeling about this.”
Me, too.
Something’s going to happen, 100 percent.
Swoosh—
Out of habit, I stuck my hand in my pocket.
The cold feeling of the butterfly knife was familiar.
A worn butterfly knife.
It was like my good luck charm.
For someone who steals items rather than purchasing, it was the only thing that I paid full price for and was using.
If one read the effects, it’d be something like this:
「Judas’ Butterfly Knife: A worn knife. Has dulled to the point that it can’t even peel fruit. It gives the possessor peace of mind. It’s fun to spin around. Princess power -1」.
That’s right.
It was the same as the one I gave to Naru as a present.
I thought about why goddess Epar might have given this to me, but I decided to not contemplate too deeply yet.
* * *
“Enkidus, how did you find me?”
The highest tower in all of Freesia.
A low and solemn voice rang out from the top of the tower.
Soon, someone stepped out of the dark.
They were bald.
“Mara, out of all of us, you spent the most time meditating. And it was a habit of yours to climb the highest tower to meditate.”
“…….”
“Though you have abandoned the doctrine and left, habits are not easily changed.”
At Enkidus’ words, the apostate monk Mara uncrossed his legs from his seat at the top of the tower.
“Why are you here? Did you come to interrupt my meditation? You would also remember that I despise being bothered while meditating.”
“There is one thing I’d like to ask. Mara, would you know anything about a mantra that makes one go berserk…?”
“…….”
Mara kept quiet in response.
About 5 seconds of silence passed.
Soon, the apostate monk, Mara, broke it with a laugh.
“…I hear that the Grand Abbot is in the city. Indeed, you’ve seen something that gave you certain thoughts. Has that old snake shown its tail before you as well? Perhaps because she has met with Judas.”
“…….”
“In the past, my rage may have been incited by someone rather than of my own will—Is that what you are thinking, Enkidus? That killing the brothers and fleeing may have been because of an induced state of madness.”
“…….”
“You could never lie. So you have a habit of keeping silent. However, Enkidus, your assumption is wrong. My madness is solely my own. I left the sect willingly.”
“Is that so?”
“Enkidus, you always did miss a step. The one who the Grand Abbot drove mad, was not I. You also know this madman well. I saw, that day. That man.”
“Madman?”
“He was a truth-seeker in ragged clothes. Someone unusual. He climbed the 300 thousand steps to the temple relying on two sticks, and as he was dying he asked the Grand Abbot for directions.”
“…….”
“Why do you think the Grand Abbot sent you, the secondary, instead of me, her top disciple, to the subjugation of the Demon King? Because you are one who knows nothing. That day, the name of the truth-seeker I saw was Sabernak.”
“……!”
“A snake who fails to become a dragon goes mad in the end. There is no truth at the temple. How can you teach anyone when you yourself are lost?”
Enkidus couldn’t listen any longer.
Because he was short on time.
‘Did Judas not want to show the children from the future to the Grandmaster because of this?’
He had excellent instincts.
And the time for Enkidus to make a decision was approaching, it seemed.
‘I had noticed something, but—’
There was no time.
Enkidus needed to tell Judas before the Grandmaster approached the children.
Although he didn’t know what the Grandmaster was planning to do in this city, it was all the more concerning because he couldn’t predict it.
So he ran as fast as he could through the dark.
His body always moved according to his will but today, his legs felt heavy.
Thankfully, he could see the 「Junk Mansion」 at a distance.
However, even closer than that, someone with bright, shining eyes appeared from an alley.
“My dear disciple, where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“…Master.”
“Today, I noticed that you behaved unlike how you usually do. You are one who holds his tongue rather than lying. This Unenlightened One has taught you this way.”
“Master, what will you do to Judas?”
“Nothing will happen to that man. However, depending, I will do to his children whatever is necessary. Hence, my disciple, go back. I will not tell you twice.”
Enkidus, disconcerted, hadn’t felt like this in a long time.
What is it that he should do here?
What would happen if he went back the way he came?
“Will you disobey the will of your master? You would throw away the one who found you at the temple and took you in and raised you, for a relationship of merely 2 years, at most.”
The Master was Enkidus’ parent.
To love them was a child’s instinct. Even if that parent was a kind of evildoer.
Judas and Naru, Cecily, and Hina were proof of that.
As well, habits were not easily broken.
Enkidus, who had always obeyed his master, knew very well that he had to obey her command to go back.
“…….”
Bow—
At last, Enkidus put his hands together and bowed his head toward his master.
“Master.”
“Good, Enkidus. You always were a bright child. You understand this one’s─.”
“Please do not ever forgive me.”
Inhaling deeply, Enkidus yelled with all that he had.
So that it would reach everyone who would be sleeping at the mansion.
“━━─.”
However, the sound did not travel, because a woman’s arm pierced through his lung.
When that arm withdrew from his chest, Enkidus could feel his vitality spill out through the gaping hole.
“Cough….”
“You foolish child. You would have eventually been able to climb the steps and become a dragon. However, this, too, is fate. My disciple, you were born meaninglessly and abandoned by your birth mother, only to die the same at the hands of the mother who raised you.”
“…….”
“Even Judas would not have been able to hear your last words. Such a pity. Pitiful. How sad.”
Enkidus saw golden tears fall from the golden eyes of his master.
Was it out of sadness, for losing a disciple who was like her child?
No, it wouldn’t be.
The Grandmaster was not mourning Enkidus.
“Even after killing a precious disciple, this Imperfect One cannot feel even a feather’s weight of karma on her shoulders. Ahh, how pitiful. A single step. Though I have only one step to climb….”
Enkidus could feel his body grow cold.
The last cry that may have been his will.
Judas wouldn’t have heard it.
However.
It wasn’t meaningless.
Because the current Judas was not alone.
Out of the relationships that Judas built, someone will surely have heard it.
Someone….
And that someone was quick to act.
“How strange. Grand Abbot, why did you kill your own disciple?”
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