The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

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[Name] Roze

[Race] Human

[Level] 99

[Health] －

[Mana] －（＋7250）

[Strength] －（＋3300）

[Endurance] －

[Agility] －（＋3070）

[Intelligence] －（＋4806）

[Luck] 7676

[Theoretical Arts Proficiency] 280

[Magic Arts Proficiency] 8020

[Mystic Arts Proficiency] 9999

[Possessed Skills]

≪Automatic Type≫

"Educator"

"Bard"

"Fire Magic Aptitude"

"Wind Magic Aptitude"

"Lightning Magic Aptitude"

"Ice Magic Aptitude"

"Light Magic Aptitude"

"Numerology Eight Million: All Things in Creation"

"Numerology 0: Eye of Fiction"

"Mystic Arts Nullification"

≪Activation Type≫

"Intimidation"

"Spirit Summoning"

"Lightning Cloud Summoning"

"Meteor Summoning"

"Threshold Compilation"

"Transcription"

"Relative Teleportation"

"Astrology"

"Phantasm"

"Terrain Manifestation"

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Roze witnessed that moment from the sky.

It was only after the battle had ended that she realized the purpose of the demon's attack was to keep Roze away from the destruction factor—Saaya.

By then, it was already too late.

Sensing the signs of battle in the distance, Roze immediately teleported to the sky above and looked down at Count Ketaaru's mansion.

It was at that exact moment.

When Ruruk fell, protecting Saaya.

For an instant, even she couldn't comprehend what had happened.

Ruruk's cloak had almost invincible properties against magic. It could defend against any magic, so she never imagined that mere dark magic could pierce through Ruruk's body.

But Ruruk had used that cloak to protect Elenora rather than himself.

Elenora's robe also had defensive magic cast on it. It might not be able to completely block attacks, but it wasn't so fragile as to allow instant death from elemental attacks.

Ruruk must have known that.

Even so, he prioritized Elenora over himself.

"That idiot!"

She couldn't see clearly from here.

He might still be saved—Roze thought, praying as she rushed to their location at lightning speed.

"Ruruk!"

Elenora was desperately attempting to revive him. An empty vial of Elixir lay on the ground.

...Ah, this is hopeless.

Such a cold voice echoed in Roze's mind.

There was a hole in his chest, his heart lost.

No matter what healing or resurrection magic, even with Elixir, the heart alone cannot be restored.

Even if he could be made to move again without a heart, he would only be revived as an undead.

Elenora continued to apply healing without even taking time to wipe her tears.

Roze wasn't composed enough to tell her to stop.

The sight of her beloved disciple dying was causing no small amount of distress to her as well.

...I'm such a fool.

No matter how much power one has, it's useless if you don't make it in time.

She should have realized this painfully in Elenora's homeland. Yet she had enjoyed the battle with the demons without even thinking about her disciples.

How foolish.

But now, there was nothing she could do—

"Uaaaaaaaaaah!"

Roze's consciousness was brought back to reality by Saaya's scream.

At that moment, Roze saw it.

The instant Saaya's numerology changed.

The most dangerous skill governing the concept of the number 1, being dyed in despair.

"Saaya!"

Roze instinctively grabbed Saaya's shoulders.

She was shedding tears of blood. Her consciousness was on the verge of slipping away due to the overwhelming despair.

And simultaneously, the surrounding scenery began to transform.

The world was growing darker, as if all color was gradually being lost.

It was darkness.

Not darkness in the sense of losing light.

It was a blackness named void, where all information itself was being lost from the world.

It was a sight that existed before this world came into being.

A skill that could steal the very concept of existence, capable of killing even Roze.

"Saaya! Pull yourself together!"

Roze had always feared this scenario, ever since meeting Saaya.

This development that would end the world.

She had to stop it!

This despair must be stopped at all costs!

"Saaya! Saaya!"

She shook her body and kept calling out to her.

There was no sign that she could hear.

Roze had known that Saaya held deep affection for Ruruk. It was a vast love, far beyond the simple crush of a 10-year-old girl.

That's why, while being cautious, Roze had felt somewhat at ease.

As long as Ruruk was around, Saaya would be alright, she thought.

But—was this the end result?

"Saaya..."

There was no other way now.

The skill hadn't stabilized yet. The world losing its color would likely collapse once the skill's evolution was complete. Of course, she didn't think the entire world would perish from an individual's skill... When she had seen this outcome before, only a single city had been destroyed.

But Saaya's existence was extraordinary.

Carrying the seed of a hero, her influence would surely cause far more devastating damage than that time.

This country—or perhaps this entire continent might disappear. In the worst case, even this planet might vanish entirely. She felt it had that level of danger.

Before that happens, before a part of the world ends.

"The only way... is to kill her..."

Roze placed her hand on the neck of the dazed Saaya.

She had decided.

She had been prepared all along.

If it came to this, she would have to stop it even if it meant killing her.

...But.

And yet.

"...Ruruk..."

She looked at her beloved disciple.

Could she really kill the child he had given his life to protect?

Ah, no good.

It was a mistake to think about it that way.

She couldn't do it.

Even if the world ended, she couldn't kill Saaya for Ruruk's sake.

"...In the end, I'll meet my end here too, huh."

Roze smiled faintly as she gazed at the sky.

The night sky losing its color and becoming hazy, the town, the plants and trees, everything felt ephemeral. Perhaps the correct answer would have been to kill Saaya here as the Mystic King to stop this.

Until now, she had traveled to maintain the world's order. She had acted as an immortal throne-level existence, as a part of the world.

But honestly, she was tired now.

Maybe it wasn't so bad to choose to fade away quietly together with her one and only disciple, without doing anything.

Perhaps it was better to die here with her beloved disciples than to live for eternity.

From the beginning, she had always wanted to die.

She was exhausted from living.

So this wasn't an unfortunate ending at all.

Roze tightly embraced her three disciples.

"I'm sorry for being such an unreliable master."

Hey, Saaya.

You didn't wish for this yourself, did you? Losing the person most important to you right before your eyes, thinking it was your fault, despairing to the point of resenting such a world—you really wanted to live, didn't you? In this harsh yet kind world, together with your precious person.

Hey, Elenora.

You, who had everything taken away by monsters and had nothing but despair, found companions and a rival in love, and I was so envious of how you seemed to enjoy each day despite your unfriendly demeanor. You, who fought against despair until the very end, wanting to live with your precious person so much that you would go to such lengths, I find you so dazzling.

Hey, Ruruk.

You were truly a strange person. Oddly generous at times, yet sometimes stubborn and clumsy. Even when Elenora and Saaya ran you ragged, you seemed to enjoy it, sometimes becoming a bit of a klutz. To be honest, I wanted to be with you much, much longer. You had so many things you admired, all of them romantic, and I loved the expression on your face when you talked about them excitedly. Although you were my disciple, you taught me so many things. The time I spent with you was the most enjoyable in these thousand years.

"Really, you were such a strange child."

You had perverse tastes in legends, were full of prejudice against adventurers, all your friends were odd people, girls liked you excessively but you were oblivious to it, you only developed mystic arts skills that were beyond imagination, and you had a mysterious admiration for alchemy—

"...Alchemy?"

Roze suddenly came back to her senses.

Ah, that's right.

Ruruk had an extraordinary fascination with alchemy. He was so particular about it that he would say nonsense like it wouldn't be alchemy if it could be done easily.

"Alchemy"

That is the ultimate theoretical secret art that completely replaces substances from their elements.

Once changed, it can only be returned to its original state by the same alchemy.

What's needed for alchemy is the Philosopher's Stone and the formula of "Synthesis".

Roze doesn't have either of those, but...

"Fu, fufufu, ahahaha!"

Roze laughed.

Ah, what is this?

There was such a simple method all along.

Roze touched the forehead of Ruruk, who wasn't completely dead yet.

She stroked the head of Elenora, who was crying and covering him.

She also caressed the back of Saaya, who was shedding tears of blood in despair.

Saaya.

I won't let you become a sinner of destruction.

Elenora.

Don't cry. It's going to be alright now.

...And Ruruk.

Live happily.

"Don't worry, my disciples. Ruruk won't die."

Roze whispered softly.

And then she chanted.

As the Mystic King who had lived for eternity, her final art.

"I offer 'All Things in Creation' numerology."

This body that had no lifespan because it was everything.

This body that could become anything because it was everything.

But because of that, it could never become real.

So this time, let's become just one thing for the last time.

Not an unstable concept like everything.

It's okay not to be able to become everything.

Just one, certain existence.

"Just, to be your heart..."

Roze changed the composition of her own body.

Adjusting each cell to match Ruruk's body, becoming one so that it would never return to its original state. Converting herself element by element, so that they would never separate. So that they would never return.

Slowly, her consciousness began to melt away.

She knew that an eternal sleep awaited her beyond this point.

But she wasn't afraid.

She felt something warm.

A happiness she had never felt before.

Now I'm no longer alone.

"Saaya, Elenora. I leave Ruruk to you."

With these last whispered words, Roze dispersed her body.

What remained where Roze had vanished was Ruruk, sleeping peacefully without a single wound on his chest, breathing quietly.

"Ruruk!? Ruruk!"

"Eh... Ruruk... is alive?"

Color returned to the world.

The end receded, and order was restored.

Elenora clung to him, while Saaya was dumbfounded.

Beside the two of them, Ruruk slept peacefully.

In his chest, a new heart was beating.

――――――――――

[Name] Roze

[Race] －

[Level] －

[Health] －

[Mana] －

[Strength] －

[Endurance] －

[Agility] －

[Intelligence] －

[Luck] 7676

[Theoretical Arts Proficiency] －

[Magic Arts Proficiency] －

[Mystic Arts Proficiency] －

[Possessed Skills]

≪Automatic Type≫

"Numerology 'Negative' Eight Million: The Faceless Heart"

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