Chapter 409
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Normally, when you’re at a disadvantage like this, you have to change the subject.
“Ah.”
“You’re saying you can tell me about Ray.”
I had a duty to tell Rachel, Ray’s mother, about Ray.
After all, it’s about her child.
Hearing news about a child she hadn’t seen in so long would surely be a pleasant thing.
I sat down with Rachel on top of a massive pile of books and talked.
About what kind of relationship Ray and I had. And what Ray’s past was like. Of course, her past was based on the original work’s setting, so it was something the original Yu Eunha wouldn’t have known.
Well, whatever.
As Rachel listened to my story, she would occasionally glare at me or look happy, and sometimes tears would well up in her eyes.
“So that’s how it was. No, wait, you.”
“Huh?”
“Why are you speaking informally? I’ve been noticing it for a while, but you’re way younger than me, aren’t you?”
“You looked young, so I thought we were the same age. Then it’s fine to speak informally. It’s because you look young. It’s because you’re young.”
Of course, if someone is uncharacteristically young for their age, they should be treated as such.
At least, that’s how I see it. I consider that to be basic courtesy toward a woman.
What Rachel needed right now wasn’t to be treated like an adult, but to be treated as an equal, a peer.
But besides that, there was also something arousing about it.
“In the end, Rachel, you’re becoming my mother-in-law and also my lover.”
It was a messed-up situation, but I quite liked this kind of messed-up atmosphere.
I wondered what Ray would say if she saw this sight, but wouldn’t she welcome it anyway?
Since it was like a mother and daughter being conquered by a single man.
Unlike me, Rachel bit her lip.
“I still don’t have any intention of getting into that kind of relationship with you.”
“There’s no chance your husband is still alive, is there?”
“That’s a separate issue.”
Rachel let out a deep sigh, as if there was something she still hadn’t said.
In the end, wasn’t it because of the conservative nature unique to elves?
No, before that, we needed to get out of here first.
Reuniting with her husband would be difficult anyway. If so, she needed to find her own life in her own way.
It was time for both me and Rachel to leave this place.
“Then we need to get out of here. Do you know the exit?”
I should get out before I start worrying more.
I liked the records here, but the Akashic Record already knew everything anyway.
It was a shame I couldn’t find Lizard Maid Volume 2, but oh well.
Wouldn’t Rachel know?
“I know. I found it beforehand.”
“You don’t know about Lizard Maid Volume 2?”
“Do you think I came here to read books?”
Well, no, probably not. Hmm.
I couldn’t say anything in response to that dumbfounded expression.
Should I have just asked the Akashic Record? Of course. The Akashic Record would know all about the maid too.
I ended up prying for a long time, though.
Since she said she didn’t know, I couldn’t press the issue any further.
Then there was only one problem left: why she wasn’t leaving.
“But why aren’t you leaving?”
“Ah, there’s a bit of a reason for that.”
It seemed she had a reason. We could talk about this later.
“Right. Well. It’s best to get out first.”
So we set off for now.
Finding the way was quite complicated.
I didn’t know why, but Rachel seemed to be having a hard time too.
I was terrible with directions in places like this too, so I had to get help from the Akashic Record.
“But why is this side so shitty? It’s more complicated than it was when I looked from the Control Room earlier.”
It just felt that way.
It was more complicated than I thought. This was probably because of the bookshelves stacked up to the ceiling, wherever that was.
The books scattered everywhere definitely played a part too.
Even monsters occasionally popped out and attacked us.
Should I have just rearranged the layout comfortably and set the path from the Control Room?
“Control Room?”
“The Control Room that had the bookshelf layout map for this place.”
“Was that weird sound earlier because of that? No, wait a minute. But I’ve never seen a Control Room until now.”
“Hey, no way.”
“It’s true. I searched this area for a long time.”
Something was a bit strange.
“If you’re lying, I’m going to pound your womb with punches, you know? There were safety rules too, right?”
“C-crazy. No, I’m telling you it really isn’t there! The Control Room was destroyed in the first place! As for the safety rules, crazy elves kept clinging to the discarded records in the Archive, so the Royal Family member inspecting the Archive decided it was no good and blew up the Control Room to bury the Archive completely!”
Then what were the safety rules?
Either way, it meant there really were some shady bastards around.
How did my interpretation fit so perfectly? Then didn’t that mean they eventually restored the Control Room?
“Didn’t those shady bastards restore the Control Room?”
“Those knowledge-crazed elves did restore the Control Room to try and maintain it somehow. But when the Royal Family member in charge directly reformed the record repository, they just used the Archive as a trap and even closed off the Control Room. But for you to say there’s a Control Room, just what are you…”
“Hmm.”
Rachel was saying some scary things, like a ghost story.
Was it really a ghost or something? Something like that?
Was that Rak guy or whatever actually a ghost too?
Hmm. Well, I was too out of the ordinary to be scared of something like a ghost.
“There’s no reason to keep a Control Room in a closed-off place to begin with. What you saw might have been an illusion that occurred only in this place.”
“An illusion, does that even make sense? An illusion directly affecting reality?”
“Because this is a place where illusion and reality are mixed. That’s what the Archive is.”
A space where illusion and reality were mixed.
As she said that, Rachel’s face grew somehow incredibly cold.
It grew cold at first, then she changed her expression again.
Noticing that brief moment of agitation, I decided to let it slide, since women were bound to have a secret or two.
“I guess the Kkanpes set it up shadily. No, wait, so you say there’s no Control Room, but have you ever actually gotten out of here?”
“That’s.”
She went silent for a moment again.
Why was that? I didn’t know what it was, but it seemed like Rachel was getting quieter and quieter.
It seemed there was a separate reason she couldn’t leave this place.
She didn’t seem to have any intention of telling me what it was yet,
But seeing as she was following me, she must have had something in mind.
There was no hostility.
Rather, the way she looked at me was a bit affectionate.
“Well, whatever.”
“Then we’re leaving, right?”
“Yeah. Is that the exit?”
In the distance, I saw an exceptionally glowing door, unlike the entirely dark color scheme.
That was probably the exit. That thought kept bubbling up.
Telling me that it was the exit, so I should hurry up and leave.
But as always, there was bound to be a trial in a place like this.
Normally, there’s a final boss at the very last moment when you’re about to clear a game.
For example, that black lump over there.
The entity blocking our path, blocking this corridor of the Archive.
“Giaaaaaaaaaaak.”
“What the hell is that now.”
“It’s the Knight of the Abyss, one of the Four Heavenly Kings who followed me into this Archive!”
Knight of the Abyss, huh.
The name alone was incredibly badass, though.
“It’s huge, but why would a guy like that come all the way to the Archive?”
“Because I’m a member of the Royal Family.”
“Ah, so they tried to kill you to wipe out the central figure.”
Normally, when an imperial nation falls, the Royal Family can become the central figure of the resistance.
That symbolism can never be ignored.
So that Knight of the Abyss invaded and tried to kill Rachel to the bitter end.
Did that mean Rachel had somehow survived?
“Kuhahahahaha! What outdated nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I still desire your life? When it’s already meaningless?”
Meaningless?
“So what’s that guy’s ability?”
“Knight of the Abyss. He’s a guy who gains power when he injures or kills a living creature. And he also gets stronger when he takes damage.”
There’s always one Mari with those traits in a game.
A berserker Mari who gets stronger the more they’re attacked, the closer they are to dying. Or an entity that gets stronger every time they attack an opponent and deal damage.
Or if not that, an item like that.
But you know. Why was that a worry right now?
If she was that worried, I could just kill him in one shot and be done with it.
“In short, I just have to crush him in one go, right.”
“Huh?”
I just had to take care of him.
Taking down an enemy blocking my path wasn’t that difficult.
After all, a guy like that was more than deserving of being called a total weakling by me.
“You arrogant bitch! How dare you, do you know where you are!”
“Yeah, just die.”
Snap.
As I snapped my fingers, a dreadful White Flame covered the Knight of the Abyss.
It slowly started from his feet and swallowed him whole.
Rumbleeeeeee
The Evil Dragon Dahaka was practically the strongest in the universe.
Even though I was fused into Yu Eunha’s body. Aside from that, the original Yu Eunha himself was already quite strong with his cheat skills.
If I added Dahaka’s power to that and used White Flame.
The Knight of the Abyss would melt in an instant.
“Kuaaaaaaaak, h-how can there be such power!”
The Knight of the Abyss staggered around.
But he couldn’t run away, nor could he counterattack.
Because the intense White Flame was overwhelming the Knight of the Abyss to the point where he couldn’t even attempt an attack.
“Just hurry up and die.”
“This makes no sense. Why? How could this happen! Kuaaaaaak!”
The Knight of the Abyss’s thick black armor gradually began to burn.
The dreadful flames, intense enough to completely melt the armor, were now bringing about its end, leaving only the gaunt knight’s defenseless body.
Even the body left behind after the armor melted didn’t have much time left.
It burned completely, slowly turning into powder, becoming ashes and soaring up in flames.
Rumbleeeeee Roarrrrrr holy and murky White Flame burned the Knight of the Abyss away.
Like the flames of Purification that perfectly incinerated everything.
In the end, the Knight of the Abyss only let out a final death throe before disappearing just like that.
“How on earth did you do that to the one I struggled so hard against?”
“Pretty easy, right?”
“This makes no sense. Then you could have saved the kingdom too.”
“Kingdom?”
“The Elf Kingdom. If our nation had a strong person like you, maybe it wouldn’t have fallen.”
Seeing her say that, it seemed the Demon King was a total weakling too.
“We live in different worlds, so it can’t be helped. The living have to keep on living. So we need to leave this place now.”
“Y-yeah. We should. But my feet hurt a bit.”
“Your feet hurt?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s because I’m walking for the first time in a while. What are you doing?”
“Get on my back.”
“For a woman who doesn’t seem like she’d care about this kind of thing.”
“I should do at least this much for my woman. Right?”
I gave Rachel, who said her feet hurt, a piggyback ride.
Her butt and everything else was so soft and squishy, I really liked it.
Elves really are great.
Honestly, human women are usually chosen ones. I mean, unless they’re heroine level. It’s hard for them to be this pretty.
“Why on earth did my daughter fall for such a playgirl…”
“I gave her the Bow of the World Tree, so she fell right over.”
“The Bow of the World Tree is there?”
“Yeah. It was in our world, so I gave it to Ray.”
If I appeal to her like this, Rachel will probably like it too.