CH 54

Although Rihalzam looked very unseemly being carried by myxomycete, he did make it back to the capital.

He had enough pride left in him to stop before actually entering to stop the myxomycete, and he crawled out of it like he was swimming. Fungus then scattered around him.

After making sure all of it left his body, he took out a scroll and sent it back into it.

He was sticky from head to toe, and the swelling on his left thigh was now making it thrice as big as it should be.

Normally he would probably be stopped immediately by a guard and taken to the station, but for some reason he entered the capital completely unhindered, despite the way he looked. The master alchemist medallion could be seen behind his ragged clothes, but it was hard to tell what it was with all the dust, mushroom smoothie, and myxomycete fluids.

Rihalzam thought only about his hatred of Rust, the swelling on his left leg, and getting a potion from the alchemist association. He completely failed to notice the tense atmosphere in the capital.

There were fewer people walking around, some could be seen wounded on the ground, and everyone seemed to be at least somewhat dirty. It was as though there had been a large-scale monster attack.

Rihalzam paid no attention to this, and continued dragging his leg towards the alchemist association. The swelling still did not hurt, as if whatever was causing it was also secreting something to numb it.

He continued walking forward with a blank look on his face, until he reached the place where the building of the alchemist association once stood. However, all Rihalzam saw was a pile of rubble.

He stared at it as if trying to block out reality. He looked left and right, and saw that while the buildings next to the association were damaged, they did not look all that different than they did before. But as Rihalzam looked at the alchemist association again, he saw it completely destroyed.

He fell back and sat on the ground.

“No way no way no way no way… This… This can’t be happening. I gave my life to this job.”

He said with an empty tone, before hearing someone else’s voice.

“Well if it isn’t Master Rihalzam. Welcome back. It seems it has encroached quite a bit.”

A man’s voice echoed, breaking the silence. All of a sudden there was no one else around them.

The man had a hood pulled very far down, making it difficult to make out his facial features.

“Ah, this?”

The man followed Rihalzam’s gaze and pointed to the pile of rubble.

“What a spectacle it was. That many armored salmon attacked, and from the sky no less. And for some reason they seemed to be heading straight for the alchemist association. It’s like someone left something they like inside it. But there was this annoying swordswoman. I was excited when I saw all the armored salmon attacking, but she jumped in and took out a lot of them. Most places besides this building only suffered moderate damage. What a shame.”

“W-who are you?”

Asked Rihalzam with a blank expression.

“Just a trivial, unimportant man. I simply thought I should thank you for shipping those defective magic circuits. Our plan was ruined thanks to you. Finished. I figured I had to make sure to thank you.”

The man opened one hand, and with his fingers that looked like spider legs, he grabbed Rihalzam’s face from the front. A faint black haze seemed to hover around his fingers.

“Ugaoh.”

Rihalzam let out a strange sounding voice, and bruises appeared on his face, very similar to the ones on the face of the knight priest Taula.

“Oh, look at this, yes, yes yes. I may have found something marvelous. The demon inside you is growing very well. You have outstanding magic affinity towards fungi, and you are filled to the brim with negative emotions. This could be…”

The man sounded happy all of a sudden, and all Rihalzam could do was twitch while still on the ground.

“Master Rihalzam, I am going to give you a great present. No need to thank me, this is a token of my gratitude for what you did.”

A large amount of black haze poured out of the man’s hand as he grabbed Rihalzam’s head. It entered his eyes, nose, and mouth, and the bruises on Rihalzam’s face began to re-write themselves.

“A new life awaits you. You will feel as though you were reborn. How wonderful. I’m glad I stayed here after all, but I will have to excuse myself. You never know when that woman might come running. Have a happy demon life!”

The man said before he left, and the noise around Rihalzam returned.