Chapter 119 |
TL/Editor: raei
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: None
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“What’s going on all of a sudden?”
As Ian and Kira fussed around, Pyra quietly appeared.
Ian explained the phoenix’s condition.
“It’s deeply asleep. Probably... well, I think it’s going to be reborn.”
Ian didn’t have the heart to say that the phoenix was ‘dying.’
“Is that so? That makes sense.”
But Pyra coldly said what he felt without a second thought.
It wasn’t because he was a cold-hearted person.
To Pyra, the phoenix was just an interesting bird.
He acknowledged it as a spiritual creature, but so what?
Just as an Indian considers cows sacred, they don’t make a fuss every time they see one.
“Oh, it’s just being reborn,” was all he thought.
“Since we’ve returned to Mount Gramunt, it’s likely trying to revert to its original form.”
“Probably.”
Thinking back, the phoenix’s journey ended here.
Its original destination was Mount Gramunt. Having arrived, it was only natural for it to return to its true form.
However, this ‘natural’ fact made someone anxious.
Kira, who had become a bird mom, felt this way.
“It’ll be okay, right? It’ll be fine...”
Humans fear what they do not understand.
Resurrection was natural for a phoenix. You couldn’t equate human death with a phoenix’s death.
But Kira, not fully understanding the phoenix’s death, felt uneasy.
“Chirp...”
The phoenix slowly opened its eyes.
People, including Ian, gathered around.
Among them was the raven Oberon.
[Oh no, stay strong! Pull yourself together!]
[Instructor Oberon... my body hurts...]
Winnie, the phoenix, sensed that its body was breaking down.
No longer needing to maintain a living body, it was instinctively choosing to self-destruct.
Not much time was left.
[Ian... will you take me... somewhere?]
“...”
Ian nodded.
This was probably the phoenix’s final request.
“Kira, Pyra, let’s get ready.”
“Understood.”
Ian carried the dying phoenix up the mountain.
The phoenix, cradled in Ian’s arms, chirped softly.
[I can feel it... another ‘me’ is coming.]
“Another you?”
[Yes. The true me. The current me is just a shell.]
The phoenix’s vocabulary had significantly improved.
As it said, it seemed the time for it to awaken as a mystery was near.
Ian slowly climbed the mountain, speaking quietly.
“You’re not just a shell, Winnie.”
Breathing in the cold air, he saw white puffs forming and then dispersing in front of him.
“Kira really liked you. So did Oberon.”
[Hehe. How about you, Ian?]
“I... liked you too.”
Ian said honestly.
It wasn’t a lie. He quite liked the phoenix.
Even though it had unexpectedly become a burden, it had safely reached its destination.
It would be a lie to say he hadn’t grown attached.
[... Ian.]
The phoenix Winnie spoke softly.
[When we first met... thank you for listening to my voice.]
Ian recalled the first time he met the phoenix. He remembered hearing a voice back then.
But he hadn’t heard exactly what it said.
“To be honest, I didn’t hear it clearly.”
When Ian spoke, the phoenix laughed.
[It’s okay. You didn’t abandon me and brought me here, right?]
Ian nodded.
[Without drinking the mountain’s energy, ‘I’ would wither and disappear. When humans took me far to the south, I thought everything was over.]
The northerners considered phoenix eggs sacred and collected them, bringing them to their villages.
The monk Isilla taking it to the empire was the problem.
[I trusted you, Ian. I believed you would return me to my homeland.]
“Do you usually have that much faith?”
[Hehe. Maybe so.]
Ian stopped in front of a cave.
At first glance, it looked like any other cave on the mountain, just an ordinary cave.
[Please go inside.]
Holding the phoenix, Ian entered the cave.
Icicles hung like stalactites in the underground cave.
On the icy ground, where hardened ice had formed into plates, there was a pool of milky liquid.
“Ooooh!”
Pyra let out an echoing cry.
“We’ve found it! We’ve really found it!”
Icicles hanging from the ceiling broke off and fell.
His voice was unbelievably loud.
“It’s the Tears of Hrundal! Indeed! You are truly a wizard favored by Hrundal!”
Pyra rambled on, but Ian didn’t hear him.
Ian was listening to the phoenix.
[Ian.]
The phoenix looked straight at Ian and spoke.
Life was fading from the phoenix’s body. Only its eyes glowed with a mysterious blue light.
It looked like a sage approaching nirvana.
[This is my parting gift. If you drink that, your spiritual pathway will become stronger.]
“...”
‘Tears of Hrundal’ was a sacred elixir.
Elixir = internal power enhancement. It’s a standard setting in web novels.
Though Ian had the privilege of being a status-windowed cheat player in another world, his body often couldn’t withstand the mysteries.
He had fainted not long after meeting the drake for the first time. When encountering the unholy spirit, he almost lost his mind.
If he drank this sacred elixir called the Tears of Hrundal, his spiritual pathway would become much stronger.
This meant he would have the strength to withstand powerful mysteries.
[Ian, you were looking for that. It’s a good thing I remembered.]
Winnie, the phoenix, spoke calmly.
Seeing this, Ian realized the source of the anxiety he had been feeling.
“Winnie. When the true ‘you’ returns, what happens to you?”
[Well, I don't know. I have no memory of that.]
“...”
That was as good as an answer.
When the true personality of the phoenix returns, Winnie’s memories would disappear.
All the memories of Ian, Kira, and Oberon, everything.
“One more question.”
[Go ahead.]
“Why did you call me Dad? Was it just out of affection?”
At Ian’s question, Winnie smiled softly.
[I don’t know what a dad is. I’m just ‘me.’]
Before being an egg, Winnie was a phoenix. Winnie’s parents were herself.
[But as soon as I saw you, I felt like I knew what a dad was.]
It was a concept often referred to as ‘imprinting.’
It’s a characteristic in birds where they recognize the first being they see upon hatching as their parent.
To put it bluntly, the reason Winnie called Ian ‘Dad’ was merely a manifestation of the biological trait of birds.
A coincidence driven by instinct.
A fleeting emotion that would disappear cleanly once dead.
But the emotions Winnie felt were real.
[Ian... I...]
Winnie’s head drooped.
Until now, it had held on to show Ian the location of the elixir.
Now that its purpose was fulfilled, Winnie had no reason to live.
[I wished... I could have talked to you more...]
Ian could also sense it.
A mystical presence approaching Winnie.
[The time has come.]
[Yes. You have arrived...]
[Accept me quickly. My fragment. I must restore order to this mountain.]
[Wait... Can’t you give me a little more time?]
[Sorry, but there’s no time for idle talk. The land calls for me.]
Ian saw it clearly.
Winnie was resisting its own memories.
[My fragment. The time has come.]
[But... I just started talking to Dad...]
[You are soon to be me. That wizard is merely aware of my existence.]
[Still... I talked... and even said thank you...]
Winnie's wings drooped.
Life was fading away.
Just one more step, and Winnie would disappear.
But...
Ian found it strangely difficult to just watch Winnie disappear.
Maybe it was just a whim.
Ian had only had a proper conversation with Winnie after it had become close to becoming a mystery.
But after having that conversation, he wanted to talk to Winnie more.
It was just a shell that would disappear anyway.
But Ian felt he needed a proper goodbye.
He didn’t want to treat the shell like it was just a shell.
“[Excuse me for interrupting.]”
So Ian spoke to the phoenix’s spirit in fluent Maronius.
Surprised that Ian had intervened, the phoenix responded in a reluctant voice.
[What is it, young wizard?]
“[May I also make a request, similar to the other you?]”
The phoenix’s spirit fluttered its wings irritably.
[How foolish. Would you hinder my task for the sake of a body that will soon disappear?]
Ian clicked his tongue.
That phoenix treated death like a trivial matter.
How could an immortal being understand the fear of death?
“[If you are so wise, why do you disregard the weight of death?]”
[...What?]
The phoenix’s spirit was taken aback by Ian’s retort.
Ian’s concept was too foreign.
For the phoenix, death and resurrection were as common as daily routines.
The phoenix had never worried about the death of its body!
“[As you said, your body is about to die. It will disappear soon.]”
[That is...]
“[But all life lives desperately until the moment their breath stops, despite knowing they will eventually disappear. Each seeks the meaning of life.]”
The phoenix forgot it needed to resurrect and listened to Ian.
The immortal phoenix had never considered the perspective of a mortal.
No one had ever explained mortal life to the phoenix.
Wizard Ian was the first to break that barrier.
“[If you thought a short life meant a short will to live, you were mistaken.]”
[...]
“[That's why I ask you for this favor. Not for long, just a day or two. Let Winnie leave this world peacefully.]”
The phoenix was silent for a moment.
The phoenix was not so foolish that it couldn’t understand Ian's words.
So instead of berating Ian, it sighed in pity.
[Yes... you are not a resident of this place, so you cannot feel the calamity that has befallen the mountain.]
“[Calamity?]”
[An evil presence has invaded the mountain. It must have harmed the Mountain King.]
The phoenix spoke in a gentle voice.
[Do you think granting my body’s wish is more important than investigating the calamity on the mountain?]
Ian looked between Winnie and the phoenix.
Then he answered.
“[Until Winnie dies, I will help you with your investigation.]”
[...]
"[Even then... is it not possible?]"
The phoenix stared at Ian.
[Hahaha!]
It burst into a loud laugh.
[How astonishing. Truly, a remarkable experience.]
“[What is so funny?]”
[Meeting someone who cherishes my body.]
The phoenix’s body usually died a few days after hatching. There was no reason to maintain it.
The phoenix had repeated the cycle of death and rebirth in the snowy mountains.
However, this time, it experienced a journey far away in the Empire.
And it met a human who cherished its body.
The sensation of being cherished was indeed a strange feeling.
[Very well, human. I grant you two days.]
“[Thank you!]”
[But be cautious. Something has undoubtedly happened to the Mountain King.]
The phoenix’s spirit circled around Winnie.
Then something remarkable happened.
Life returned to Winnie’s body!
[Ian...!]
Winnie, now revitalized, blinked in surprise...
And hugged Ian tightly with its little wings.
[Why...? Why did you do this?]
Glistening~
Ian turned his head away, feeling burdened by Winnie’s gaze.
“Well, just...”
[What? Because you like me so much? Because you wanted to talk to me too? That I can call you Dad???]
Watching the excited Winnie chatter away.
Ian couldn’t help but chuckle.
Indeed.
He was glad he had asked for the time to say goodbye properly.