Invincible
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#106
🕑 Added 2024-09-13 16:43:19 +0000 UTCHetherson Aola (2)
I was summoned early in the morning by the old professor to a secluded spot. Despite summer being just around the corner, each breath I exhaled came out as white mist, while Hetherson’s breath emitted gray smoke.
"Huu~"
Hetherson, dressed in a thick coat, stood gazing at the slowly brightening sky. Each time he brought his pipe to his lips, the chain of his pocket watch clinked. I had never attended one of his classes until the end, so I wasn’t sure how long he had left. But from the small freedoms he was granted, I instinctively knew that today was his last day.
"Oh, you’re here?"
Hetherson greeted me with an awkward wave, and I responded as usual.
"You sure enjoy that stuff."
"It’s expensive, you know. Supposedly grown in the demonic realm—unless the old man lied about it, right?"
The old professor coughed awkwardly. Hetherson, in a display of bad taste, extended the pipe toward me, seeing the grimace on my face.
"Wanna try it?"
"No thanks. It just makes me cough."
Honestly, it's not even the Age of Exploration, but somehow they’ve already discovered tobacco, and innocent non-smokers like me are the ones who suffer...
"The air outside is nice, so how about we just take a walk?"
Hetherson, who seemed eager for a stroll, started walking with a slightly excited spring in his step.
Crunch—
The snow underfoot was thin. It hadn’t accumulated much since it had drifted in from the snow-capped mountains.
"I heard about it. You were flying high during the exam, weren’t you?"
Hetherson’s words, spoken with an embarrassed smile, made me frown slightly as I responded.
"...That just happened by chance."
I hadn’t planned for any of it during the field training. My goal had been to gather some useful herbs and find a relic or two before returning. As for the young Roaming Band and the fights with the instructors, my plan was just to watch from a distance and let things unfold.
But Hetherson seemed to think I was being modest, and he chuckled.
"So those kids you brought in, they’re all orphans, right? You won’t gain much from picking them up, so why did you do it?"
Once again, I answered honestly.
"Because they’ll be useful, of course. Raise them, and they’ll eventually pay taxes."
Melin, in particular, was too promising to let go.
"They’re well-trained for kids and good for manual labor. They’ll work without complaining."
I made it clear that my decision was purely calculative. But Hetherson, perhaps coming to some odd conclusion, suddenly stopped walking, his eyes widening in surprise.
"You don’t mean... you’re planning to grant them Imperial citizenship, are you?"
"To collect taxes, that’s the only way."
That’s the law, after all.
"Well, the family will handle the rest. It just worked out that way, so no need to make a fuss about it."
"Yeah, sure. You just happened to defeat the instructors, and just happened to rescue the kids. Quite the series of coincidences, huh?"
Hetherson, with a mischievous grin like a playful five-year-old, mocked me with a sarcasm-laden tone. His narrow-eyed smile was so irritating that I unconsciously clenched my fist.
"If you keep teasing me, I’ll leave."
"Tch, fine."
After he agreed, the conversation turned to more trivial matters.
"That madam with the tear mole can really charm a person, can’t she?"
We talked about which cities were nice, the state of the red-light districts, and which gambling houses were the most honest—topics that had little to do with me.
"These topics don’t interest me. A righteous man like me doesn’t visit those kinds of places."
"Bullshit. You look like exactly the type who would."
"Think what you want."
As we alternated between walking and resting, three hours passed. By now, we were discussing food.
"You want to eat something spicy? Then try going to Melbana. It’s a southern town and my hometown. It’s famous for adding strong spices to all kinds of dishes."
"No wonder you like ginger cookies so much. But that’s not the kind of spiciness I’m after."
"You mean something like the spiciness of stir-fried pork?"
"Hmm, they might have something like that. Maybe I’ll give it a try."
Before long, we ran out of topics, and only the sound of our footsteps filled the air. We were both likely avoiding heavier subjects, afraid to break the silence. Hetherson didn’t seem to want that kind of atmosphere, and I was going along with his wishes, using my sense of tact.
After a while, as the silence continued, Hetherson rubbed his stomach, indicating his hunger.
"I’m hungry. How about we head back?"
"Sure, on the way, I’ll tell my maid to bring some food."
Selly has the day off today, so naturally, I’ll have to make things difficult for her.
"Oh, right. Speaking of ginger cookies, have her bring some of those too. And what else... Peaches? Yeah, those would be nice too."
As Hetherson smacked his lips and spoke, the old professor gave him a sharp look.
"You’re mean, Hetherson. You know I’m allergic to peaches, and you still ask for them?"
"So what? That makes me want them even more."
"Ugh, just a whiff of peach fuzz will give me hives."
And with that, our walk came to an end. On the way back, I stopped by Selly to give her some tasks and gifts before heading to the lecture hall. Once seated, I half-listened to Hetherson’s ongoing chatter. It seemed he had packed a whole conversation into his bundle and didn’t show any signs of stopping.
"Have you ever been on a boat? I was so hungry once that I picked up some bread, but a seagull snatched it right out of my hands. At that moment, Melissa, who was next to me, shouted in shock."
Melissa was probably the name of the woman who dumped him.
"You idiot. You should have caught it. Why did you just sit there staring? she said. And when I asked why she was so upset, she said she wanted to fry it and eat it. She was always such a frugal woman. But that was back when we were traveling with not a single coin to our names."
"…She wanted to fry a seagull?"
Hetherson seemed happiest when he talked about Melissa.
"Even though we were poor, those days were good. Melissa’s skin was always so smooth. Even after ten years, not a single wrinkle appeared."
Maybe he was at peace because he knew he would be seeing Melissa again soon.
Just then, I heard footsteps approaching from the hallway. It seemed Selly had arrived.
Creeeak—
The door opened, and Selly entered the lecture hall, carrying a basket full of items. As expected, her expression was sour, just like when I gave her a task.
I teased her slightly.
"Look at that face."
Selly clenched her teeth and whispered quietly.
"...Don’t make me do chores on my day off."
"You’ve been resting while I was away for the exam."
"I had to work at the café too, you know?"
"I know all about your days off."
Grumbling, Selly placed the basket on the desk. She glanced at Hetherson, who looked every bit like a criminal, and her expression didn’t seem too pleased.
"Well, I’ll be going now."
"Alright, thanks."
After Selly left, Hetherson rummaged through the basket, commenting.
"You’re pretty casual with your maid."
"She lacks proper manners, but since I’m generous, I let it slide."
"Hmm, got it."
Hetherson pulled out a peach, causing the old professor to recoil in fear.
"Ack, get that away from me! If you’re going to eat it, at least turn your head away."
"If you don’t like it, leave."
"It’s my duty to keep an eye on you! What kind of nonsense is that?!"
Hetherson grinned mischievously and played with the peach. He then took a big bite, and the juicy flesh burst with moisture. The old professor, seemingly suffering just from the smell, teared up and began coughing.
"Cough, cough!"
I was about to test whether healing magic could cure allergies when Hetherson suddenly dropped his playful demeanor and leaned in seriously. His voice reached my ear in a low whisper.
"Check this when you get back."
He slipped a piece of paper between my coat and shirt.
"You bastard, Hetherson!!"
"Sorry, old man. Must have been the juice that splashed there."
As Hetherson continued his charade, I carefully tucked the paper into my pocket.
"Alright, that’s enough. You can go now. I’ve got to have a chat with the old man here."
"Ahem, you and I, talking?"
"Come on, you’ve been listening all this time. Let’s relax and chat."
Realizing he was eager to send me off, I rose from my seat. It must be something serious if he was in such a hurry to get rid of me.
I thought about what to say as a parting remark… After a brief moment of consideration, I spoke.
"Thank you, Hetherson, and I’m glad I met you."
I wanted to say something more profound, but I wasn’t good with emotions, so only simple words came out. I figured this would be the last time, so I stood there waiting for him to laugh at me.
But to my surprise, Hetherson let out a deep sigh, then smiled brightly and waved his hand dismissively.
"Yeah, I’m glad I met you too."
And so, I left my teacher, who had been like a death row inmate.
***
As soon as I returned to my room, I pulled out the folded piece of paper. Donatan, who seemed to have taken a liking to him, made some uncharacteristically sympathetic remarks.
- I feel pity for his death.
'Hm?'
- He was an evil man, but he never really seemed evil. He had a good heart.
I sat down in a chair and unfolded the paper as I replied.
"Yeah? Maybe he would’ve lived a decent life if he hadn’t joined the Watchmen of the Shadows."
- Who knows? I’ve seen many people with outstanding talent held back by their social status.
I half-listened to Donatan as I read the first page. My eyes widened in shock. I let the sweat drip down my forehead as I responded to him.
"If that talent is beyond what anyone could have expected, it’s a different story."
- What?
"Hetherson… this guy… academically speaking, he might be a once-in-a-lifetime genius."
What was written on the paper was something that appears so frequently in games that it might be dismissed as nothing special. But in a world where it doesn’t exist, the significance of this discovery is unimaginable.
Inventory.
A magic that allows you to store items in a subspace, keeping them perfectly preserved and unspoiled.
Flip.
As I turned the page, a note came into view.
[I’m leaving you with one problem. When you turn the page, there will be blank spaces. I’ve even left hints, so if you walk around and investigate, you should be able to fill them in. You’re smart, so I figure it’ll take you about ten years to solve it.]
Below that was a complex formula, drawn as a puzzle. Just as Hetherson had said, there were blanks, with clues suggesting it was necessary to conduct some field research to fill them in. Otherwise, the puzzle couldn’t be solved.
This was a problem that needed to be completed first.
[Once solved, you’ll have the answer. Use that answer with the hundreds of gold coins I gave you, and the Inventory magic will be yours. Ah, but don’t share this with anyone else unless you want to live a very complicated life.]
"…Hundreds of gold coins?"
Wait, that’s not the point. If it takes ten years, it’s essentially telling me not to learn it. I don’t have that much time…
But when I turned the next page, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
"Heh."
Hetherson, you really do love playing tricks on people.
[But just in case, I’ll give you a hint. Maybe I liked you so much that I already taught you the answer. Anyway, the answer is a name. The name of the woman I loved.]
- Hersel, didn’t he mention that name earlier?
"Yeah, he did. No wonder he kept repeating it all day."
I used the hundreds of gold coins to write "Melissa" in the air. Nothing happened at first, but just as I was about to reabsorb the coins, the room was suddenly plunged into darkness.
Before me, a large canvas appeared, covered in intricate diagrams.
***
Click.
A manastone light flickered on. Hetherson lay bound to a bed, his face illuminated by the lamp overhead. He turned his head.
Clomp, clomp.
Rockefeller approached, wiping his hands with a towel.
"It’s been a while, Hetherson Aola."
"…You disgusting traitor."
"A traitor, am I? Heh, heh. That naïve perspective hasn’t changed. I was only doing my job. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for not spotting the spy. Am I wrong?"
At Rockefeller’s sneer, Hetherson gritted his teeth and shouted.
"You were unfortunate, but at one time, I considered you a comrade. After all, you’d suffered at the hands of the Empire just like I did! So why did you betray us?"
"Because the Empire granted me a title and helped me get to where I am today."
Rockefeller picked up an ink-stained pen and drew a dotted line on Hetherson’s forehead. With each prick, Hetherson winced.
"Heh, heh. You said you once thought of me as a comrade? How laughable. I’ve always seen you as nothing but a fool. Despite your reputation as an authority in Sadomachia, all you ever did was inflate others' egos and strut around arrogantly. There wasn’t a single thing I liked about you."
As Rockefeller rambled on, he inserted the needle. Hetherson felt his consciousness fading and closed his eyes.
Thunk!
The knife pierced Hetherson’s forehead. Rockefeller wiped the blood from his cheek and began to work with precise, slicing movements.
***
In the lobby of Schlaphe Hall, Athera whispered to Ricks and his group.
"You guys are going to have a party soon."
"A party?"
"Yeah, a party. After the field training, the professors always prepare something to congratulate us. You’ll even get to drink as much as you want! So don’t forget to sneak me a bottle too."
The mention of alcohol made many students gulp audibly. Alcohol was not sold to students at Frost Heart, making it a rare commodity.
"And get some new clothes from the club. You must have earned quite a few coins from the last training, right? And… Oh, right, you captured the leader, didn’t you? You’ll be getting a reward too."
Ricks asked, puzzled.
"We get rewards?"
"Of course. Those who contribute get recognized. Limberton caught someone too, didn’t he? With two from Schlaphe Hall, Adelle Hall will be making a fuss."
Athera’s expression was one of pure enjoyment.
"But what about Hersel…"
"Ah, Hersel? Who knows? I’m not sure what they’ll do. Has there ever been a student who captured an instructor before? They might need to create a new award for that. But do you think he even cares?"
Ricks nodded. Hersel was supposed to receive a medal, not just from the academy, but from the Pathfinder headquarters and even the royal family.
"Still, the professors will probably give him something just to save face. Anyway, I’ve told you everything. Pass it on to the others."
Athera turned on her heel, as if to say she was done with them, her voice dripping with a noblewoman’s elegance.
"Melin? Mother wants to have a meal. Could you fetch my coat? I’m curious about the texture of the new fabric I bought."
Melin whispered to Ricks, pleading for help.
"...That woman is weird. Can’t I get a different guardian?"
"Just hang in there a little longer. It’s only a few more days."
"Damn it."
As Athera clapped her hands, Melin clicked her tongue and followed her sulkily. Klabe asked cautiously.
"Doesn’t Senior Athera seem a bit more refined these days? That outfit looks new too."
"There were rumors that she made a lot of money while we were away, and it seems they were true..."
"But if she’s not in need, then why bother with Melin?"
"She probably wants to take her in as a maid."
