Chapter 187

Chapter 188. Falling Has Its Wings (1)

Decameron added an explanation to his words.

“The first and second memory slots are absolute memories that cannot be altered unless under special circumstances. Therefore, Keter, please inject me with the third memory.”

“Hmm, subtle. I think I understand, but it’s still a bit vague. What are the first and second absolute memories?”

“First, my role is to observe and record Keter. Second, only Kai and Keter can issue commands. Third, it’s blank.”

“That sounds more like commands than memories.”

“You can interpret it with any word you like, as long as you understand the essence.”

“But you’re talking to me just fine right now.”

“This function will stop in 12 seconds. 11 seconds remaining.”

“Wait, you said you remember all the information before losing your memory. Then remember this one more thing. You are Decameron, and also ‘Six Hundred.'”

“Six Hundred… What does that mean?”

“It’s a nickname I use to call you. I named you Decameron because I wanted to give you a cool name, but I thought it would be fine to give you a nickname as I please.”

“What does ‘Six Hundred’ mean?”

“Because your body is worth 6 million gold.”

“…I will remember that.”

With Keter giving Decameron the nickname ‘Six Hundred,’ Decameron’s last bit of freedom came to an end.

Six Hundred’s eyes closed and opened. It was literally the blink of an eye, but many things had changed.

“His eyes…”

Catherine, who was sharp at reading others’ emotions, felt that Six Hundred’s change was too drastic.

“He’s become like a doll.”

Catherine didn’t know that Six Hundred was a homunculus, but she could tell he wasn’t human. However, Six Hundred’s eyes clearly showed a will to live, and there were emotions there.

But now, he was like a doll mimicking a living being. There was a sense of life force, but no signs of life.

Keter also noticed Six Hundred’s change, though not as much as Catherine, and felt a slight concern.

“He hasn’t become a burden, has he? Six Hundred, answer me.”

Keter casually threw out a question to test him.

But inside Decameron’s chest, a tremendous reaction occurred silently and instantly.

-[Third Memory Slot: Blank.]

-……

-[Third Memory Slot, Accepted.]

-……

-[Third Memory Slot: Answer Keter’s question.]

“If you wished for me to act on my own, then I am now a burden. But if you wanted a doll that mostly obeys commands, then I am not a burden.”

When answering, there was a sense of life. Emotions were mixed into his tone. But once the action was over, he became a cold and rigid ‘something.’

Catherine, surprised and frightened by the change, unconsciously took a step back.

Keter felt interest and amusement.

“If I don’t give you a command, will you just stay there? Forever?”

“That would violate the first memory. I have a duty to observe and record Keter. Therefore, I must be able to observe Keter.”

“Hoh.”

Keter, who preferred experiments over theory, circled around Six Hundred. Six Hundred’s head followed him.

This time, Keter moved to another room, and Six Hundred walked to the adjacent room where Keter was.

‘So, he follows me without a command. The distance is roughly 1 to 2 meters.’

Keter smiled mischievously.

“Don’t follow me.”

At Keter’s words, Six Hundred’s circuits heated up again.

“The command to not follow violates the first memory. However, if there is a valid reason, I can accept it for a certain period.”

“I’m going to the bathroom. You don’t need to record me doing my business in the bathroom.”

“…I will accept it. I will not follow.”

Six Hundred’s deliberation was brief, but in reality, it was different. His logic circuits had verified Keter’s words millions of times before concluding.

And it was only a 51% majority, a mere 1% advantage, that allowed the third memory to settle.

With that, Keter really went into the bathroom, and Six Hundred, as promised, did not follow him into the bathroom.

But what if Keter came out through the window instead of the bathroom door? Would Six Hundred wait forever for Keter to come out, with the command to not follow imprinted?

Only Keter and Kai could issue commands to Six Hundred, so what would happen?

Keter was deeply curious, and he couldn’t resist his curiosity.

Thud.

He opened the bathroom window and jumped down towards the ground.

The dark night and the 10-story height were no obstacles for Keter.

As he fell headfirst, Keter rotated his body just before landing and landed softly on the ground.

Thump!

Despite jumping from 10 stories up, it was quiet. Only the sound of his feet dragging was heard.

Crash! Shatter!

A moment later, the sound of a wall breaking above Keter’s head was heard, and glass came pouring down.

It wasn’t just bricks and glass that fell. A blue-haired boy, Six Hundred, jumped down from the 10th floor even faster than Keter—

Boom!

Unlike Keter, who landed like a cat, Six Hundred landed like an elephant, heavily. The road flipped, and a massive shockwave shook the city.

Crash! Shatter!

Windows shattered like dominoes from the shockwave. The dark city lit up with screams.

Keter faced Six Hundred, who was staring at him without any emotion.

Six Hundred didn’t question Keter about jumping out of the bathroom.

But Keter was curious. Why did he disobey the command to not follow?

“I told you not to follow, so why did you follow?”

“Because this is not the bathroom.”

“Ah…!”

Keter thought he had only given the command to not follow.

But that was Keter’s mistake. The command Six Hundred actually received was interpreted as ‘do not follow into the bathroom.’

Why? Because the bathroom was mentioned as the basis for the command to not follow.

‘Six Hundred didn’t misunderstand or think on his own. I need to be clear with my words.’

Keter learned that he couldn’t give commands casually, thinking they would be understood vaguely.

“Who’s there?!”

A small mistake that woke the quiet city night turned out to be a valuable lesson.

* * *

The night before.

Keter had fully understood the mechanism of Six Hundred’s ‘only three memories’ and thoroughly dissected his specs.

-[Homunculus-Prototype A]

-Can infinitely extract aura and mana energy from the core. However, there is a limit to capacity beyond a certain output.

-Cooling is required after overuse.

-Stored swordsmanship: 112

-Other martial arts: 32

-Imprinted magic: 68

-High resistance to all attack types

-Simulated battles with 5-Star Masters of the Empire: 99 battles, 98 wins, 1 loss

-Simulated battles with 6-Star Grandmasters of the Empire: 99 battles, 84 wins, 15 losses

-Simulated battles with 7-Star Primes of the Empire: 10 battles, 10 losses

-Simulated battles with 8-Star Irregulars of the Empire: 1 battle, 1 loss

-Core expected lifespan: 3 years

The potential uses for Six Hundred were endless.

If used as a combatant as originally intended, he was a combatant on par with a 6-Star Grandmaster or higher.

And there was no risk. A self-repairing body. No fatigue from battle, no mental pain.

Even if not used for combat, he was perfect for escort duty. A homunculus doesn’t need food, drink, or sleep.

But Keter didn’t want to treat Six Hundred as a tool.

Instead, he decided to treat him as a pack mule.

“Good timing, since the dimensional tunnel was eating up a lot of mana.”

Keter had been able to pull out items disproportionate to his pocket size because he used the dimensional tunnel to ‘retrieve’ items from a distance. To others, it looked like the items were coming from his pocket.

But the dimensional tunnel consumed ten times more mana than other classified acceleration gates or refraction panels.

Even for Keter, who had mana of such high purity that he could be considered superior, the mana consumption of the dimensional tunnel was extreme.

But Six Hundred here, albeit conditionally, had infinite mana.

“If you use the dimensional tunnel, we can use it on a much larger scale.”

Keter, who had only used it for fist-sized objects, could expand it four times in area using Six Hundred’s mana. It could even allow a person to pass through.

But using it for teleportation was impossible. Keter knew this well, having experimented with it in his past life.

‘Magic is fickle. There are many cases where ‘this works, but why doesn’t this?”

Living beings cannot pass through the dimensional tunnel. It’s as if something is firmly blocking them, preventing passage. Keter didn’t know the reason.

Keter was merely a user of the ‘dimensional tunnel,’ not its creator. He had only applied what he learned from his master.

To know why it didn’t work, he would have to find his master, but of course, he had no way of knowing his master’s whereabouts.

And it wasn’t like he was desperate enough to find him, so he didn’t bother.

‘Even if limited, I can use teleportation magic circles.’

Returning to the original point, Six Hundred was quietly following Keter around like a dog.

“Keter, are you ready to leave?”

Taragon, carrying a bag, asked.

The Sephira siblings were now packing up to return to Sephira.

It wasn’t unusual to return to the family immediately after the tournament. Other nobles didn’t stay in the city or enjoy the festival with commoners either.

Keter stroked his chin.

‘Ready to leave.’

The tournament was over, and there was no business left in this city. The treatment of Lyze, requested by Eslow, was completed as soon as the sun rose this morning.

He hadn’t brought anything to this city.

Rather, something new had come.

Decameron, Six Hundred.

Six Hundred would follow without being told, so he could be considered well taken care of.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

As Keter nodded, Mail spoke.

“Then let’s go.”

The Lunar Knights had already prepared the carriage outside, and the Sephira siblings, Catherine, and the newly joined Six Hundred all boarded.

Neigh!

Just like when they departed from Sephira, Didos, the escort in charge, asked Mail.

“Prince Mail. The destination of this journey is the Sephira family mansion. The goal is to arrive by 2 PM without any stops or breaks. If there are no special circumstances, may we depart?”

Mail glanced out the window at the cityscape. Memories of when they first arrived in this city came flooding back.

Overwhelmed, ignored, Sephira with no one to rely on.

A metropolis where countless people lived, but it felt more desolate than a barren desert. A place where hostility and attention suffocated.

But now…

‘It’s nothing special. Just a place where people live.’

It had been tense, difficult, and exhausting days. Each day felt like his blood was drying up.

But he endured.

‘Keter…’

Mail’s eyes fixed on Keter.

‘Thanks to you, I endured.’

“…Let’s go to the palace.”

“…You know I’m strong, so why are you worried?”

“…What’s going to happen will happen anyway.”

Keter wasn’t always by his side.

But he appeared every time there was a crisis and protected them.

Mail had eaten countless dishes in his life, but he would never forget the taste of the chicken soup Keter made for him that day.

The taste of the chicken soup Keter made. The warm and intense flavor that embraced his weary and worried soul.

Knock knock.

Mail, who had been reminiscing about the taste of the chicken soup with his eyes closed, was startled. Didos was knocking on the window.

“Prince. There’s something you need to see.”

Just as the taste of the chicken soup was about to come back to him, Mail swallowed his disappointment and rolled down the window.

The carriage had already arrived at the city gate, where a massive crowd had gathered to block Sephira’s carriage.

This was different from the time when women blocked the carriage. This time, there were also many burly adult men.

The crowd was diverse in age, gender, and class. There were even knights. The number was roughly over 500.

“Are they waiting for us?”

“Yes. The carriages ahead were allowed to pass, but ours was stopped. It seems they have business with Sephira.”

“Do you know the reason?”

“I don’t know. They’re holding baskets, but I can’t tell if it’s a gift or a weapon.”

“What about the guards?”

“They’re watching.”

“Move forward.”

“Yes.”

Mail didn’t ask his brothers for their opinions. He didn’t hesitate.

He couldn’t be a coward forever. If he had to worry and be cautious in such a situation, it would be excessive.

He had to be confident when it was time to be confident. Even if it meant fighting. If something happened, he would deal with it.

Mail faced the crowd. But what Mail feared didn’t happen.

Swish!

The citizens reached into their baskets and scattered something. Mail, thinking it might be a hidden weapon, was startled, but then he laughed at the sight of the fluttering ‘something.’

“Is this… flower petals?”

Taragon, reaching out the opposite window, touched a purple petal. It was a fresh, moist petal, recently picked. The crowd was holding baskets of petals.

As Sephira’s carriage passed, the citizens scattered petals and shouted.

“Congratulations on becoming the Southern Palace, Prince Keter of Sephira!”

“The knights of Sephira are our pride of the South!”

“Thank you for saving us back then! We won’t forget!”

“May Sephira’s path be filled with flowers!”

From children to adults, everyone blessed Sephira.

It was the result of the good deeds Sephira had accumulated during the tournament. As a participant, sometimes dignified, sometimes satisfying.

During Ayrus’s undead invasion, it was Sephira’s knights and brothers who actively saved the citizens more than any other knights. Other knights were too busy protecting their lords and themselves.

It wasn’t just the weak citizens who owed their lives to Sephira’s arrows. Knights, who would stake their lives for pride, lined up on both sides of Sephira’s carriage and knelt on their left knees.

The right knee is for the lord, the left knee is for a respected opponent.

Knights holding swords with both hands shouted in unison.

“Glory to the honorable Sephira!”

“Blessings to Sephira’s chivalry!”

Knights who owed their lives to Keter and Sephira praised Sephira’s achievements and blessed them.

“……”

The Lunar Knights escorting the carriage looked stunned. In all their lives, they had never received such grand blessings and reverent greetings from other knights.

The same was true for Sephira’s brothers. They trembled with expressions that were a mix of crying and laughing.

Sniff.

Finally, unable to hold back, the brothers shed tears.

It wasn’t a wailing cry. Tears accompanied by awkward smiles, tears of joy.

The three brothers learned for the first time that people could cry from too much joy.

Of course, Keter didn’t shed tears. Having received much praise in Ruquer, such praise was common for Keter.

But for some reason, he felt emotional.

It wasn’t because of the crowd expressing gratitude. Seeing his brothers shedding tears of happiness, his heart felt like it was floating.

‘What is this feeling?’

Keter genuinely didn’t know. This strange feeling of buoyancy he was experiencing. His feet were clearly on the ground, but his body felt like it was floating.

A feeling that wasn’t sadness or joy.

An indescribably complex feeling.

‘It’s like… I’m feeling my brothers’ emotions.’

The unfamiliarity of it felt very alien to Keter. Why should I feel others’ emotions? And why am I feeling them?

He didn’t know. No matter how much he pondered or agonized.

But one thing was certain.

‘It feels like the distance between our hearts has shrunk.’

Abstract as it was, Keter could only express his change this way.

Catherine also quietly wiped her tears and smiled.

And all of this, Decameron quietly watched.

Sephira’s carriage passed through the city gate, receiving grand praise and blessings from the crowd.

Then, a familiar person blocked the carriage’s path.

“Captain Nomider of the Peacekeeping Force.”

“Didos, 5th Division Leader of the Lunar Knights.”

“Are you leaving the city?”

“Yes.”

“In principle, we need to inspect the carriage when leaving the city, but…”

Thud!

At Nomider’s gesture, the city gate creaked open.

“If it’s Sephira’s carriage, you may pass.”

“Are you sure you don’t need to inspect? I heard even upper nobles are inspected without exception due to the appearance of the Dark Mage.”

Despite Didos’s suggestion, Nomider firmly shook his head.

“No. How could someone like me dare to doubt Sephira? Prince Mail! Prince Anis! Prince Taragon! And Prince Keter of the Southern Palace! Lastly, Lady Catherine! Thank you for visiting Eslow’s territory. Please visit us again! Salute!”

Nomider even saluted the carriage.

Didos chuckled. When they first met, Nomider didn’t salute Sephira’s carriage and confidently conducted the inspection.

But now? Despite the intensified inspections due to the Dark Mage’s appearance, he voluntarily chose not to inspect.

“Good work.”

Didos took the lead. The carriage began to move. Then, the carriage window opened, and a hand reached out.

Swish. Click click.

Following the gesture to come closer, Nomider quickly ran to the carriage.

“P-Prince Mail!”

It was Mail who called Nomider.

Nomider was extremely nervous. One word from Mail could cost him his head. It wasn’t a metaphor but a harsh reality.

Nomider had firmly resolved to endure any insults or beatings from Mail—but what came to him was neither insults nor punches.

“Good work.”

What Mail handed him was a platinum coin.

Nomider’s eyes widened.

“W-why this?”

“Because you kept your promise.”

“……!”

The window closed, and the carriage moved away.

Nomider saluted the back of the carriage once more and stood there for a long time.

* * *

Inside Sephira’s carriage, it was quiet. Mail, Anis, Taragon, and even Catherine. All were asleep.

It was understandable. The fatigue had accumulated, and even after the tournament ended, they couldn’t relax.

Only after leaving the city did the tension ease, and they fell into a deep sleep.

And on a hill overlooking Sephira’s carriage, there was a man.

“Keter…”

It was Jordic.

A spearman with the grand title of ‘Dragon Spear,’ but overshadowed by the emergence of formidable masters and the overwhelming presence of Keter, the youngest of the Baydant family.

For