Ch.296296. Mountain Lord (5)

The ruler of this otherworld and the leader of this place, the Mountain Lord’s appearance… was more horrifying than I had predicted.

The Mountain Lord’s form, nearly the same size as a massive robot as big as a one-ton truck, was none other than a gigantic winged tiger. Considering that Mountain Lords are originally creatures without wings, those wings were likely a characteristic of being an “Old One”…

Such thoughts vanished the moment I directly encountered the Mountain Lord’s appearance, faced with its wretched condition.

The yellow (vermilion) fur with black stripes barely covered a body so emaciated that ribs were visible.

Naturally, the fur that should have been glossy was dry and patchy, with clumps missing, and the claws that could tear through metal like paper were cracked and split.

The eyes, which should have been filled with the distinctive vitality of felines, were clouded—not completely devoid of light, but clearly having lost a significant portion of their luster.

The white feathers on the wings growing from its back where the wing bones connected were withered, twisted, and sparse, hanging limply to the ground as if devoid of any strength.

And this physical deterioration seemed to be the result not simply of insufficient nourishment… but rather the effect of the illness that had confined this Mountain Lord to bed.

Between the sparse patches of fur, the skin was dotted with round growths resembling boils, and parts of the skin had hardened into calluses reminiscent of tree bark.

“Sophie, that Mountain Lord…”

“…looks like it’s in a lot of pain.”

The Mountain Lord’s appearance was so severely distorted that even we two, seeing it for the first time, momentarily felt sympathy for its miserable state.

Of course, this feeling didn’t last long.

‘Is it… high-rank?’

The life force I sensed was closer to mid-rank if strictly measured, but having practiced sensing life force for a long time, I could tell that its vessel… though diminished now, had an extraordinary maximum life force capacity.

This was especially true when, using the horns protruding from my head to sense magical power, I felt that its magical power was close to high-rank.

Although its body was deteriorated and it didn’t seem particularly sound spiritually either, the unique aura emanating from that deteriorated body was undeniably that of a high-rank being.

‘That is…?’

As I was carefully trying to grasp something that seemed vaguely familiar about its appearance, the Old One Mountain Lord, taking a half-bath (so to speak) in the hot spring, looked in our direction and spoke.

[…I’ve been watching. Let’s skip the introductions.]

“‘Been watching’… so you are indeed the Mountain Lord.”

Probably from the moment we entered this otherworld… perhaps even before that, it had been watching us. The Mountain Lord, despite its dimmed eyes, spoke to me.

“Yes, I am the Mountain Lord. The current situation is all a complicated, tangled mess. So now… I assume you know what has happened?”

[Of course. All the disrespect my… people have shown you. There’s no room for excuses.]

“…Oh?”

The Mountain Lord’s attitude was clearly that of someone who recognized their responsibility, while also showing a genuine intention to take responsibility for what had happened, even if unintentionally.

[However, even so, I offer my apologies. I won’t be tactless enough to ask for forgiveness. I apologize to you who have suffered because of my mistake.]

“…Sigh, I accept your apology. I hope such unfortunate incidents won’t happen again.”

[…Thank you.]

So I decided to forgive him once, considering his dignity, and was about to bring up the meat fruit I had seen earlier to discuss compensation when…

“…Hmm?”

[Is something wrong?]

“No, it’s just…”

Looking at his miserable condition, I suddenly recalled some symptoms I had read about in a book and spoke up…

“Mountain Lord. Your plague… could it be the ‘Time Disease’?”

[…Time Disease?]

[W-what do you mean… No, more importantly, are you saying you know about our lord’s symptoms?]

Amid their intense reactions, I began to carefully explain about the disease.

※ ※ ※

The name “Time Disease” might sound like some magical illness, but in fact, this disease… is more accurately a non-communicable condition like diabetes or this world’s mana excess syndrome.

This disease is a unique symptom that occurs due to the disparity between soul and body. More precisely, it develops in the bodies of beings who have lived far longer than their original lifespan through acquired training and other means.

The body and soul are, so to speak, complementary entities fitted together at the level of fate—when one grows, the other grows accordingly.

However, occasionally, the body’s growth lags behind the soul’s growth… or, though rare, the opposite occurs, and in such situations, their bodies manifest abnormalities stemming from this imbalance.

For instance, a human who has obtained an immortal body might break down mentally because their soul is not immortal, or a human with a soul that transcends human boundaries might experience various physical abnormalities.

The latter case, in particular, is the fundamental cause of mutations in humans exposed to the mysteries of the demon realm or outer gods—as their souls transcend humanity due to these influences, their bodies also transform grotesquely.

Among such symptoms, those related to the disparity between body and soul—specifically those concerning immortality or agelessness—frequently occur in druids, who transform both body and soul into ageless entities simply by acquiring magic.

Therefore, among druids, these symptoms are often called immortality disease, agelessness disease, or “Time Disease.”

Immortal or ageless beings have fundamentally different soul structures, so they rarely suffer from being “crushed by the weight of time” as often depicted in creative works.

Once one becomes ageless and can never die of old age, their perception of time typically changes, considering even years as mere moments, and through this process, their non-human nature or alien thought patterns may be amplified…

But what’s most important now is probably the symptoms manifesting in that Mountain Lord, so let’s move on.

The Time Disease, which commonly occurs among druids, usually arises when either the body or soul’s transformation into an “ageless” state is incomplete. The Time Disease symptoms currently appearing in the Mountain Lord indicate that the soul’s maturation has progressed further than the body’s.

The phenomena manifesting in that body now occur because while the soul is that of an immortal being, the body can still die naturally, causing it to age.

…This might sound like a strange cause-and-effect relationship for the symptoms, but it’s the result of such overlapping phenomena.

Anyway, this Time Disease itself is actually not too difficult to cure.

Since the body’s immaturity is the root cause of all this, it should be possible to cure it by accelerating the body’s growth or by injecting magical power into the body to speed up its growth rate.

[…Time Disease?]

[W-what do you mean… No, more importantly, are you saying you know about our lord’s symptoms?]

But those who didn’t properly understand this disease—the Mountain Lord and the bear-like creature—seeing my reaction as if I had realized something about their condition… perhaps finding hope, their eyes sparkled as they questioned me.

Of course, while maintaining a rather cautious stance, which suggested they were still assessing the situation and evaluating the credibility of my words…

“It’s called Time Disease. In the current state, it’s absolutely incurable.”

I carefully began to speak, trying to instill trust in them.

“It’s a symptom that occurs when soul and body are imbalanced… Mountain Lord, in your case, it appears to be caused by your soul’s maturation being stronger.”

[…Can you explain more?]

“Of course. Yes. However… I’m a bit reluctant to do so empty-handed.”

[W-what do you want?]

“Well, nothing much… perhaps I could have some of those meat fruits I saw earlier?”

After making a proposal requesting reasonable compensation in exchange for an appropriate reward…

[…That much we can offer as thanks for forgiving our children… but is that really all you want?]

I received an unexpected answer from the bear-like magical beast.