Ch.133Golem (10)

“First… I’d like to apologize for my rudeness earlier.”

“Did your grandmother tell you to say that?”

The two shapeshifters, whose names I heard were Elimul and Elize, stood before me.

Two individuals with wildly grown sunset-red hair. Shapeshifters who appeared to be twins.

They were showing me a completely different attitude from just moments ago.

Elize, a woman who bowed her head and avoided eye contact.

And Elimul, who met my gaze with a smile full of goodwill.

The two were expressing their favor toward me in different ways.

“The Empress told us to treat you fairly as a potential collaborator and adoptee.”

“Is this what that means?”

“It could be said so, or not.”

Elimul approached me with a smile. I observed the shapeshifter.

Receiving goodwill from others is certainly not unpleasant. Rather, it feels good.

Especially Elize, who seemed to be the younger sister, had a cute face and a certain charm with her previously feisty demeanor.

But recalling what I had just realized, I couldn’t simply be happy about it.

Something within me, some unknown factor, was enchanting beings from the Three Clans.

And it was doing so intensely yet subtly, to the point where they themselves didn’t find it strange.

If it had been someone other than Isla or Lorian—someone I didn’t know at all—it wouldn’t be strange for them to suspect I was doing it deliberately.

The same probably applied to these two. Elize and Elimul were showing me goodwill to a degree that was hard to believe, considering I had been beating them up just moments ago.

When I didn’t know about it, it seemed like a nice ability, but now that I did, it felt strangely uncomfortable.

No, it would be fortunate if it were merely uncomfortable. The worst-case scenario came to mind unbidden.

What if someone told those two that their feelings were fake, and that they didn’t actually like me that much?

Or what if those feelings suddenly reversed?

I couldn’t dismiss the possibility of losing what I had so easily gained as absurd.

In fact, I knew all too well how easily such things could disappear.

The day my sister, who had cared for me since birth, disappeared, I realized that everything vanishes more easily than one might think.

Even if she hadn’t disappeared that day, anything could happen in this cold reality.

A traffic accident could have made my sister… Ah, fuck.

Just thinking about it was painful. My stomach churned and I felt like vomiting, unconsciously biting my lip, and Lorian approached me.

“Are you alright? You don’t look well.”

“No, I’m fine. More than me… are you okay?”

“I’m, I’m… hmm.”

Lorian’s expression wasn’t good either. She hesitated for a moment before moving away from me, while Elize and Elimul stopped their chatter and observed me.

They seemed wary and afraid that they might have offended or irritated me somehow.

That very attitude planted discomfort in me. Even though their favor could evaporate at any time, I still found it difficult to push away people who liked me.

It seemed like a harmless trait, but the real problem would arise when an actual issue occurred.

What if their favor truly evaporated and nothing remained?

What if I had developed genuine human affection for them and considered them friends at the very least?

Could I harm those whom I alone considered friends?

It was a question I couldn’t answer definitively. I shook my head at the twins who were looking at me with worried expressions, and after observing me for a moment, they led the way.

We were crossing through the village of golems.

Since we were each walking with different scenery in mind, what entered our vision would naturally differ, but at least our paths overlapped.

“Our mission was to investigate that.”

Elimul stretched out her finger. At the end of where she pointed stood something towering like a great mountain.

A mountain range with faces. Something whose exact nature, let alone identity, was unknown.

As I had expected, it seemed the shapeshifters had also noticed it and were trying to investigate.

Something that was the master of the golems and whose exact nature was unknown.

Perhaps something that could be a god, just as “Father” had been.

Seeing it, a possibility I had never imagined before began to emerge.

“Father” was once a god.

It was a being loved by all things, and all creatures loved it.

Can that truly be called love? If one’s ability is to force others to love them.

That’s more like…

I found myself biting my lip again without realizing it. Isla, with whom I had already merged bodies, came to mind.

If Isla’s feelings suddenly reversed, would I be okay?

To be honest, I didn’t think I could be fine. It occurred to me that everything I had done might have been violence and coercion to Isla.

Although I had told Lorian to be careful…

I didn’t think this was something that could be avoided just by being careful.

What should I do?

Should I talk to my sister about it? She would surely…

“Have this.”

As I swallowed to settle my churning stomach, a hand suddenly appeared in my field of vision.

I belatedly recognized that hand.

The shapeshifter woman who had been beaten to a pulp under my fists, with a somewhat innocent-looking face, was offering me candy.

“…Candy?”

“So you know what it is. Did you see it while you were contained in the blood sac?”

No, it’s because I’m from the modern world.

I didn’t say that. It would only confuse both of us.

“That’s right. This is…”

“It’s candy made from herbs. It’s good for motion sickness, so we eat it when descending from high places.”

“Don’t you bite your tongue?”

“Even if I do, I can regenerate, so it’s fine.”

Ah, right, they’re shapeshifters. Though I acknowledged this already-known fact, it still felt somewhat strange.

Still, my stomach really wasn’t feeling well, so I took the candy without hesitation and popped it into my mouth.

Even if it were poisoned, my body wasn’t one that succumbed to poison, and at worst, if the poison’s effects arose, I could accelerate regeneration with the power flowing from my “heart.”

The complacent thought that they wouldn’t betray their goodwill so soon crossed my mind, but I deliberately ignored it as I put the candy in my mouth and licked it.

It had a pungent aroma, somewhat like ginger or perhaps licorice.

Yet it was properly sweet and pleasant, making me feel like the churning in my stomach was subsiding.

Indeed, I hadn’t felt this kind of relief since getting trolled during my promotion match.

No, maybe it was worse than that? Actually, I barely remembered it now.

Having been imprisoned for a year, there wasn’t much to do.

“Personally… I want to apologize.”

“I struck first, so there’s no need—”

“No, no. Considering the mission, I didn’t need to get angry… I could have just blocked and persuaded you. It’s not like we would die anyway, so I overreacted.”

Elize, the woman who had growled at me asking if I wanted to die while transforming after being beaten by me, apologized to me respectfully.

It was uncomfortable.

“I don’t mind… don’t apologize. I would have been pissed off too in your position.”

“You’re quite magnanimous.”

As if. You’re being manipulated.

But I kept walking without showing my thoughts. While part of me thought I should take advantage of the situation, I wasn’t sure if I could actually do so.

I guess I’m a bit of a softie. Even the second mourning was for those who had tried to kill me.

Actually, from the second mourning until now, most of my mourning had been for those who had tried to kill me.

Perhaps I was more pathetic than I imagined. Not in body, but in mind.

The peculiar sweetness of the candy, both pungent and mysterious, was comforting.

Before I knew it, we had passed through the center of the golem village and were approaching the mountain-like peak that towered above.

The candy had completely dissolved, but my stomach was no longer churning.

Only the bitterness left after the candy dissolved lingered in my mouth.

“So this is how it feels.”

While the shapeshifter twins were saying something to the golems blocking the path, Lorian approached me.

She had been keeping her distance and observing how Elize and Elimul behaved without saying a word.

Our contact with them had clearly been less than a day. Nevertheless, Elize was openly showing favor toward me, and even Elimul was displaying goodwill.

Despite having tried to kill each other just a few hours ago, punching each other’s bodies.

It was indicative of a very powerful enchantment. The scarier part was that this wasn’t all.

“It’s like a snowball rolling downhill.”

As Lorian said, my enchantment seemed to grow at a tremendous rate, like a snowball gathering mass as it rolled.

Isla, who was initially somewhat wary of me while showing a certain degree of goodwill.

She now considered me marriage material.

Lorian, the blood knight who could have cut my throat without hesitation, had now declared herself my concubine.

Ortemilia was the same, wasn’t she? She said she felt maternal toward me.

For an alchemist who had conducted various research over a long time to feel maternal toward a mere test subject.

It was impossible. It revealed the abnormality of my ability in itself.

“What do you want to do?”

So I asked Lorian. She frowned with a pained expression, then sighed.

Still with a confused expression, she ruffled her hair and glanced up at me.

Her eyes still reflected goodwill.

“I don’t know. I’m confused. I need to gather my thoughts.”

As she said this, she briefly glanced at me, checking my reaction. After contemplating whether she should say such things, she spoke with a long sigh.

“Clearly… if this ability is used well, it could unite and revitalize not just the blood clan but the entire clan.”

Lorian trailed off, stroking her prosthetic arm. She now wore a sorrowful expression.

“I don’t know if this is right. Of course, it’s not your intention. But I’m not sure if I can fully believe that either.”

Lorian is not a fool. Although she has naive and innocent aspects, she was still an excellent blood knight.

She would logically understand that I had no reason to do such things.

But when were humans ever perfect products of reason?

Humans are rather emotional animals. The Three Clans were no different.

Since realizing that her emotions might be fake, created through manipulation, Lorian had been wary of me and suffering.

What was real, what was fake, and was it truly unintentional on my part?

If it was intentional, what scheme was I plotting?

She seemed more confused because she couldn’t tell.

While the demon of doubt possessed her, there was nothing I could do. I could only hope that Lorian would find her own answer.

Meanwhile, the hand that had quietly reached out to grasp my collar revealed something she couldn’t suppress.

“I hope we’ll have a chance to talk properly later.”

And then the hand quietly released my sleeve. As she distanced herself, the shapeshifter twins approached me.

“Shall we go in?”

I followed them into the interior of the great mountain.

Into the body of the unidentified entity that was once the master of the golems.