It did not require much time before Meursault responded.
"There is a Mountain Spirit dwelling within your body."
"Mountain Spirit...? I feel like I've heard that before..."
It definitely felt familiar, like something from a dream... or was I mistaken?
"Before that, there's something I need to verify. Have you experienced pain anywhere, symptoms like your heart is about to burst?"
"Hm...no, nothing like that... ah! Except when I pushed my body to the limit. Then it did feel like my heart would explode."
It was a valuable realization that simple exertion could make one feel as if they might literally tear apart. Although it hurt like hell. The first time it happened, I genuinely believed death was imminent.
"I see..."
"Why? Does that correlate with those symptoms?"
"Indeed. A Mountain Spirit refers to the offspring of the Cheonjimok, the Behemoths of Danguk. Over successive generations their divine power waned, but as they still harbor divinity, any human hosting one risks an internal overload and death."
"What?! So I'm going to die?!"
"Not all cases end that way, so don't panic. Survival rates are below three percent, although that figure is scarce."
Sub-three percent survival is brutally low. Let's round it up to four percent!
"That rate applies to the weakest of those entities. Do you recall its appearance at all?"
"Uh...hmm...no. Nothing."
"Understood. For now, that will have to suffice. If you learn anything more about what resides within you, report immediately."
I was certain I had seen it. Yet its form escaped me entirely. It felt as if I were groping through a fog.
"I have another question. What exactly is the connection between that Shei's Fragment and the item you possess?"
"...Hrrmm..."
Meursault stroked his chin twice. Somewhere between contemplating and searching for the right explanation.
"This is the clandestine refuge of the Left State Councilor I was assigned to protect. Even the central court cannot pinpoint its location."
"Huh? Why bring that up now?"
Then again, if he ranked among the Sword Sect's highest echelons, he would surely escort government ministers...
"He was incorruptible. A rare figure in a court drowning in graft."
"When you say 'was'..."
"...I failed in my mission. I could not protect him. He was assassinated."
Meursault was a peerless swordsman. That did not render him infallible. He, too, had known failure.
"What he left me was this hideout and...this."
"What is it? A rocket? A pendant?"
It was a silver necklace set with a shifting jade-green gem. Calling it a gem would be an insult. There was an aura—an elegance, an atmosphere—so alien that ordinary jewels seemed mere pebbles.
Throb
"Ugh...gack...heak...!"
My heart strained as if about to rupture, my skull pounded as though screaming from within. Pain radiated like something clawing through my brain. All I could see was that gem.
"■■■. How could you be in such a state..."
"...Who are you?"
Thick blood escaped my mouth, and a voice not my own addressed Meursault.
"I am the Mountain Spirit, formerly known as ■■■."
The whisper was inaudible—Meursault heard nothing.
"Do you wish to reclaim this?"
"Ah. I never imagined you would be hiding here..."
"When the time is right...your true master..."
"Master?! You call me a master?! Ha! The head of a sect and protector of ministers, yet so naive. Do you think my owner still lives?"
"By the usual definition, Baekhyun is alive."
"Yes...that part is true. But know this: the boy you know isn't the only one inhabiting him."
It was obvious. Those eyes—when he felled the bull—they were not his.
"Yet your body cannot withstand this...hah...hah..."
Blood gushed from my mouth in a foamy torrent. My nose streamed crimson.
"Remember this, cub: he does not host only me. On the contrary, I serve as a stake keeping something at bay. Muhuhuh..."
A stake? What could be so vile that it needed to be driven in as a stake?
"This...or rather, this spirit, I will pass on to Baekhyun when the time comes. Rest easy."
"Hmm...so be it."
"cough...ugh...damn..."
What just spoke was not me. It was that Mountain Spirit. And apparently there is something else inside me besides that.
"Are you alright? Rest for now..."
"No, first answer this. What is that?"
"It is the seed of the Machilus, the Danguk deity among the Behemoths, and it is its true body."
"...? What?!!!"
Behemoths—colossal monsters from a bygone age on Terra. Its seed, and its true body? But it was so small...
"Why entrust this to Meursault?"
"He was once venerated by the court, though bureaucrats stripped him of his power. The Left State Councilor smuggled out the seed in secret and left it with me."
"Then why did he say he would hand it to me?"
"Originally he intended it for the next generation of Sword Sect prodigies with your talent...but since you already host a Mountain Spirit, entrusting it to you is safer, and it will benefit you."
"To me?"
"If what's inside fights to break free again, more blood will spill. With this, that symptom may subside."
"Really?! Then now...!"
"I cannot give it to you yet. Its value prohibits haste."
Argh... I expected as much—no gift for now.
"When will you give it?"
"When I deem it ready. I promise."
"Understood. A promise among men?"
"Must we specify 'among men'? Very well. A promise among men."
At least he conceded immediately. He knew I would raise hell otherwise.
"I still can't believe Shei's Fragment was acquainted with this seed..."
"I do not know the full backstory. Only that they were friends."
Friends among gods and monsters... this world never ceased to astonish.
"May I leave now?"
"Wait, let me—"
Right, the blood. I needed to wipe it off.
"Are you out? Otis asked you to come for dinner...whoa!! Your face?!!"
"That's not an insult, is it...?"
"Otis! Hyun's face!!"
"What's all this commotion, child...did someone strike you?"
"Uh...no? If anything, self-inflicted."
"Take better care of your body...since when has a child bled from the face with a cheerful smile?"
"I'm right here."
"First, let's wipe that blood away."
"Thanks, thanks~ So what's for dinner tonight?"
"Tonight is the least of my concerns—are you even all right?!!"
"Why focus on my face? I think I look handsome."
"Child, you could benefit from learning humility."
"I concur."
"Faust agrees as well."
Why the hell?!
"Mojang, am I ugly?"
"Beauty is subjective, but by average standards you lean toward the opposite end."
Phew...so I am ugly.
"But do learn humility."
"Damn."
'Fine, whatever. How hard can that be.'
"Also learn to organize your thoughts before speaking."
Study?
"Shall we go then?"
"Yes. I will accompany you."
"Let's eat something first! Hey! Even if you won't let me keep the seed, at least wipe my blood off?"
"Erudition requires self-discipline even in suffering."
"I refuse!!!"
"Struggling won't change anything. Let's go inside and study."
"You dare make me vomit blood again?!"
"Heh."
I swear he only answers then...