Chapter 35

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"Ga, Gadio-san, you have a child?"

"No... I told you to call me Papa, Harom."

Gadio stroked the head of the girl called Harom as he spoke.

His familiar manner made him look like a father, but by denying it, it seemed they were not related by blood.

"Papa is Papa. It's officially recognized by Mama."

Harom puffed out her cheeks in anger.

Gadio, at a loss, gave a wry smile. Then, a woman with red hair, who seemed to be about the same age as Gadio, appeared.

"Welcome back, Gadio."

"Ah, I'm home, Kerena."

Their exchange looked like that of a married couple.

However, since Harom was not his child, Kerena was probably not his wife.

"Can't you finally accept being called Papa?"

"It's impossible, I can't face Soma."

"Not just Soma, but Tia too, right? Really, you're too principled."

"...Let's talk about that later. We have a guest now."

"Oh, right."

Kerena looked as if she had realized something.

She finally seemed to notice Flamm.

"Sorry for letting you hear such a deep conversation. Ah, are you Flamm? The one Gadio often talked about, saying you have good potential."

Flamm was surprised to find that she was known.

She felt a bit embarrassed.

However, being called "good potential" seemed like an exaggeration.

At least during her journey, her status was all zeros, and she couldn't use knight sword techniques at all.

"Let's not talk here, come in, come in. Gadio, is the guest room fine?"

"It's a complicated matter, so it's better to talk alone. Can Kerena and the others wait somewhere else?"

"Ah, I see. Got it."

"Ugh, I was looking forward to playing with Papa!"

Gadio picked up the pouting Harom and handed her to Kerena.

Despite being seven, she seemed quite heavy, but both of them handled her easily.

Kerena's exposed arm had scars, suggesting she was once an adventurer.

So, Gadio and Kerena were probably former comrades from their adventuring days.

"Alright, Papa will play with you later, so play with Mama for now."

"I'm tired of playing with Mama! I want Papa!"

Harom, saying something quite mean without thinking, squirmed on Kerena's shoulder.

Kerena, however, didn't flinch, and they disappeared into the depths of the house.

Flamm, left behind and unable to follow the conversation, watched their backs in a daze.

"Let's go, Flamm."

Without any explanation, Gadio walked into the house.

"Y-Yes...!"

To keep up with his long strides, Flamm had to run a little to follow his large back.

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The walls of the guest room were adorned with expensive paintings, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling.

The sofa was so plush that when Flamm sat down, her bottom sank in more than she expected, making her exclaim, "Whoa!"

Everywhere she looked, there were luxury items.

It seemed a bit nouveau riche—unlike the current Gadio.

"Originally, I only intended to hand over the equipment."

Gadio, sitting across from Flamm, sighed.

"Equipment?"

"In the warehouse of this house, we have stored the equipment we collected. There should be some cursed equipment, which I thought might be useful for you."

"Can I really have it!?"

"Don't worry. Cursed equipment is generally useless."

"Thank you. Then I'll accept it without hesitation."

Cursed equipment is often discarded by many adventurers or, in the case of particularly strong curses, sold as collectibles in the market.

But such items are very rare.

Flamm sometimes looks at the stalls on the main street in the central district, but she hasn't found anything that satisfies her yet.

And places like the research facility, where bodies are piled up, are not common—Gadio's offer was a great help to her.

"But, that can wait. You're probably curious about the child and the woman, right?"

"Of course."

Kerena, who wasn't his wife, and the two of them living together.

Moreover, Harom wasn't Gadio's child.

Flamm's head was about to explode trying to imagine the complicated relationships.

"To put it simply, Kerena is my best friend Soma's wife, and Harom is Soma and Kerena's child. Soma died six years ago in a battle with a monster."

With those words, Flamm's confused mind was neatly organized, and she understood the situation.

In other words, Harom, who looked about six, had hardly met her real father.

Gadio had been like a father to her.

That's why she called him Papa, and probably Kerena too—

"Was Soma also very strong?"

"Yes, he was stronger than me. He led the team as the leader and fought bravely. Actually, the armor and greatsword I usually use are Soma's mementos."

That's why—Gadio had been using legendary-quality equipment all along.

But it wasn't a beautiful story about carrying on Soma's legacy.

It was to not forget his own sin.

"You were a team, right?"

"Back then, yes. Me, Soma, Kerena, Tia, Jane, and Lou—three of us were S-rank, and the other three were A-rank. We were so arrogant, thinking we could never lose to anyone, anywhere."

No—this wasn't arrogance.

With three S-rank members, they were already a threat, and the other three being A-rank made them undoubtedly the strongest team in the kingdom at the time.

Their opponents would have been impossible for any other group of adventurers to defeat.

"This house is a remnant of that time. We built it to live together, but back then, we laughed at how big and expensive it was."

"To live together, you were that close?"

"Yes. Being with them was fun in itself. I had just formed a bond with Tia and was at the peak of happiness."

Gadio stared at the table with a vacant look.

His face was reflected in the well-polished surface.

"Formed a bond... like marriage?"

"I rushed into it. Back then, I didn't want to lose to Soma in anything. But... right after I swore to protect her forever, Tia died."

Gadio said this with a self-deprecating tone.

"Six years ago, the mission we accepted was to slay a large dragon in the southwestern part of the kingdom. A simple dragon should have been easy, and we were laughing about how we would quickly finish and return to the capital. Kerena, who was about to give birth, was waiting for us there. But—when we encountered it, it wasn't just a dragon. Its face was... spiraled."

A spiraled face.

That meant only one thing.

"...Could it be?"

"The boy Nect we fought the other day was the same. Looking back, it was probably the result of the church's research."

His voice was calm, but there was a hint of anger.

Gadio might have thought it was just a mutant monster all along.

But now that he knew it was created by the church, his hatred must be directed at them.

"First, we were ambushed and suffered devastating damage. Jane and Lou died. Soma fought well but was minced inside his armor right in front of me. Tia protected me and was shot through the heart, dying... I was the only one who survived."

The frustration of that day still hasn't faded, even after six years.

No, Gadio would probably carry it for the rest of his life.

Even if someone told him, "Gadio, it's not your fault," he wouldn't forgive himself.

"Escaping with my life, I returned to the capital, only to be met by people and fellow adventurers who called me a 'coward.' Yes, they were right. I was definitely a coward. I abandoned my comrades, my best friend, and my wife, and returned unscathed—a coward, nothing more!"

Gadio clenched his teeth and fists.

The veins on the back of his hand stood out, and his arm trembled.

He tried to find the bodies and pay his respects, but only Soma's armor and sword remained.

After that, he devoted himself to swordsmanship and improved his skills as an adventurer, but the emptiness never went away.

Flamm, facing him, couldn't say anything.

She only knew the recent Gadio, so it was natural that she couldn't find the right words.

But she continued to search for something to say, and finally found—

"No matter what happened in the past, Gadio, you are a hero to me. You're not a coward."

It was a meaningless statement, neither a poison nor a medicine.

Flamm felt frustrated at her inability to say something more appropriate, but Gadio seemed to understand her feelings.

His expression softened, and he regained some calm.

"...I lost my composure. You're kind, Flamm."

"No, it's nothing..."

"Since we're talking about this, I also want to tell you about the church's research. I plan to tell Eterna later, but—"

"Wasn't what you told me the other day the whole story?"

"I tried to cram all the information from the documents I found into my head. I thought it would be better to take some time to organize the causal relationships before explaining it properly."

Time was short.

The cathedral's security was tight, and it was a life-threatening infiltration.

Even if he had been discovered, he could have easily defeated any number of church knights.

But the price was that he could never return to the capital.

Gadio wanted to avoid that, so he was cautious and quick, abandoning unnecessary thoughts and focusing only on memorizing the text.

"The crystal that seals the power of the Origin God is called the Origin Core. The church used this core to establish three research teams."

"Three... one of them is the Spiral Children, right?"

"Yes, they are often called 'Children' within the church. The other two are—'Necromancy' and 'Chimera.'"

"...Just the names give me a bad feeling."

Just imagining the content made Flamm shiver and hug herself.

"I couldn't see the detailed research content or the location of the research facilities, but I can infer from the fragmented information. Necromancy is the study of resurrecting the dead as loyal soldiers by embedding the core into corpses."

Hearing this, Flamm remembered the research facility she explored with Sera near Enichide.

The corpses with spiraled faces set as traps inside.

Were such desecrated tools being mass-produced?

"Chimera is the study of combining multiple organisms to create a more suitable body for the core. They use the results to improve the core, gradually making it more suitable for humans."

"Which team created the monster that attacked Gadio's team?"

It could have been created using a dragon's body or by combining a dragon with another monster.

Both scenarios made sense.

"The team that used monsters for research was Chimera. The dragon was probably one of their creations."

So Chimera had been conducting research outside the capital for six years.

The research facility near Enichide, abandoned about ten years ago, might have been used by the Chimera team.

The spiral-faced ogre was likely one of their results.

"Um... Do you, Gadio, want to take revenge on the church?"

"To say I don't would be a lie. Abandoning my comrades was my own sin. But I do hate the monster that killed them."

It's unknown if the monster that attacked Gadio's team still exists.

It might have been discarded long ago.

But the research team "Chimera" is probably still active.

"What about you, Flamm? Do you think revenge is just futile?"

When asked, she immediately shook her head.

She imagined.

If Milkit, her family, or dear friends were killed—Flamm would probably try to kill the culprit in revenge, just as she did with Dean's subordinates and Dean himself in Enichide.

"I know it might sound insensitive, but... I think it's actually reassuring. I believe people can perform better with a clear purpose than with vague ideals or a sense of duty."

"Then I can take revenge without hesitation."

"What would you have done if I had said no?"

"There wouldn't have been a big change, but I would have been more considerate. I would have tried not to show my hatred in front of you."

He was right; it wasn't a big change.

But in battle, even a slight waver in resolve can be fatal.

Flamm's support gave Gadio more strength.

It might sound exaggerated, but it was a fact.

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After finishing the conversation in the guest room, Gadio led Flamm to another room.

Their destination was the warehouse where the equipment was stored.

Flamm walked on the stone floor that reflected light and shone.

The walls were adorned with paintings, and the windows were so clean that you might not notice they were there.

Art pieces like vases, urns, and busts were placed at regular intervals in the hallway, and the doors of each room were as ornate as the art pieces.

Just looking at them made her sigh.

One of those urns alone was probably worth more than Flamm's entire house.

"Let's go down."

Following his lead, they descended the stairs.

It seemed the warehouse was in the basement of the house.

The basement was well-equipped, indeed.

As they approached the bottom, the surroundings grew darker.

Eventually, it became almost pitch black.

When Gadio touched a switch on the wall, the room was faintly illuminated, revealing its contents.

Several wooden mannequins lined the room, each dressed in various types of clothing and armor.

From dresses and robes to leather and plate armor, the sizes and designs were diverse.

On the shelves were helmets, tiaras, gauntlets, greaves, boots, brooches, and rings.

One-handed swords, two-handed swords, spears, hammers, maces, staves, and bows—various weapons adorned the walls.

When Flamm casually used her Scan skill, she was amazed to find that they were all Legendary or Epic quality.

The value of the equipment in this room alone far exceeded that of the entire house.

"Wow, this is incredible..."

"I should dispose of what I don't use, but the memories make it hard to let go."

Some of the equipment showed signs of use.

It probably included items used by his comrades, best friend, and wife.

But Flamm's focus was elsewhere.

Wearing Epic equipment would only reduce her status and make it hard to move properly.

The cursed equipment was in a room at the end of the warehouse.

When Gadio opened the door, a musty, iron-like smell hit Flamm's nose.

It was the smell of blood.

The small room was filled with various items that looked like cursed equipment.

Flamm's blood-soaked steel gauntlet, hanging from her waist, was similar to the items in the room—many of which probably couldn't be cleaned of blood no matter how much they were washed.

She had to search through this pile of metal scraps, which no one would normally touch.

"Low used to collect these as a hobby, so you'll find some strange equipment."

"He must have been quite an eccentric person."

"The others often told him to throw them away. I never thought they would be useful in this way."

Gadio reminisced about the past.

This house was filled with memories—happy ones that were also painful.

Flamm reached into the pile of equipment.

She scanned each item, which had blood stains, face-shaped stains, or made strange sounds when touched.

Although she winced at times, it was much easier than searching for equipment among the pile of bodies in the research facility.