Conquering the Academy with Just a Sashimi Knife (Novel) - Chapter 124 - The King of the Dead (3)

Chapter 124 – The King of the Dead (3)

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

======================================

“…Oh, oh.”

The undead’s admiration continued. He kept touching his jaw in disbelief.

With the [Blessing of Regeneration] and the [Blessing of Transference], the muscles and tissues were restored to their best condition. I had already experienced readjusting Leon’s bones before.

However, I had doubts about whether I could truly revive flesh that was already rotten. The blessing’s effect was to ‘proliferate,’ but what was needed here was ‘resurrection.’

Even so, the result was a remarkable success, as if I had breathed life back into a rotting, bloated fish.

That made Abel’s and Shail’s eyes widen simultaneously. It seemed this way of using blessings surprised many people.

In this case, even I was quite surprised. It was an impressive feat, almost as if it surpassed a skilled surgeon.

‘If things go well in this life, I might actually end up with a professional title like “Doctor” or “Master” attached to my name.’

Of course, since the cell damage was so severe, complete restoration was impossible.

Still, compared to the previously precarious state, a clear voice leaked out from his mouth.

I gestured to the two of them to postpone the explanation. They swallowed and nodded. It meant they understood for now.

That wasn’t the priority right now. I looked forward again. The undead was opening and closing his mouth like a carp.

I watched that scene and asked.

“…What are you?”

It was a question thrown for verification. By using two blessings together, I had turned a completely broken jaw into something halfway functional.

I wanted to see if conversation was truly possible, and if he had enough intelligence left. Most of all, the former was important.

The undead, who had been lost in wonder for a while, suddenly bowed to me first.

In that state, he expressed his gratitude loudly.

“Thank you. Noble benefactor……!”

Perhaps because of the damaged jaw, his pronunciation was slurred. But sincerity dripped from every word.

Soon he dusted off his knees, stood up, and greeted me with courtesy.

“Nice to meet you, living ones. My name is Michelan.”

Even as his limbs dangled, his gestures were imbued with elegance. Abel and Shail flinched and stepped back a few paces.

“…Why is that? Is there some problem?”

“……”

On the other hand, Michelan tilted his head as if he didn’t understand that reaction. His eyeballs rolled around in his eye sockets like ping-pong balls.

His expression was innocent, but his appearance was truly…….

Even I, who was indifferent to such things, felt a sense of repulsion.

However, there was absolutely no ill will felt from Michelan. Instead, he looked at me with eyes that had lost their vitality but were twinkling.

Each of Michelan’s eyes was filled with gratitude and awe. He moistened his lips with a tongue that had long since dried up and spoke again.

“I have seen living people who visited occasionally for about 700 years. But usually, they would run away screaming or try to draw their blades first. How·ev·er, for such a day to come! It is truly worth living a long life.”

“…700 years?”

I asked back, thinking I had misheard. Michelan blinked once and nodded.

“Yes. In fact, I counted up to 689 years, but once I missed just one year, I forgot. I must be getting forgetful because of my age, hahahaha!”

That undead mentioned centuries quite non-chalantly.

“I do not know how you did it, but to make it possible for me to even speak like this. It seems to be literally a miracle of God. Having lived as a corpse for 700 years… this and that.”

And he was an enormous chatterbox. He moved his mouth without rest, as if pouring out words he had held back. Every time he did, a creaking sound came from his jawbone.

‘…I just fixed it, but is it going to break again soon if he does that?’

I cut Michelan’s words off and said.

“If you keep moving your jaw like that, it might get loose and fall off. It’s a mystery whether I’ll be able to reattach it then or not.”

“Hup.”

Michelan covered his mouth with his hand.

“Michelan, I understand your situation is pitiful, and that you’ve been trapped here for nearly 700 years. But I’m a bit of an impatient person, you see? I’d like you to answer only what I ask, as much as possible.”

“……”

“If you don’t like that, I can restore you to your previous state, so I’ll leave the choice to you.”

“……!”

I tapped my shoulder with the sashimi knife. Michelan shook his head with a deathly pale complexion.

Suddenly Abel whispered in my ear.

“…Isn’t that a bit too harsh?”

“If I’d left him alone, he would have talked all day. Time is tight as it is, so we can’t afford to waste it on useless things. Well, Abel, if you’re thinking of continuing to be a conversation partner for that undead, I won’t stop you.”

Abel flinched at those words. Just as she was about to pull back after stealing a glance at Michelan.

A sound leaked out from between the fingers of Michelan, who was covering his mouth.

“Wait! That lady there, by any chance, those golden eyes… could, could it be that you are a descendant of the Sword Saint, Master Aron Nibelung?!”

Abel’s shoulders rose sharply. Shail and I were also surprised, though to a lesser degree.

Abel spoke with a face full of bewilderment.

“Do you know the first family head?”

Michelan nodded immediately. Right away, he released the seal on his mouth.

“Of course! I am a person who was about a cousin’s friend of a close associate……! of the Sword Saint!”

Isn’t that completely a stranger?

“My goodness, for such a coincidence to happen once more. God has not abandoned me yet! Ah, thank you.”

Michelan muttered as if sobbing. However, Abel recalled the words he had spat out and asked back.

“You definitely said ‘once more’ just now.”

“Ah, yes yes. If my memory serves me right, about 10 years ago, a descendant of the Sword Saint also visited. They were probably with someone who looked like their wife. In my 700 years of life, it was the first time I had seen such a handsome and beautiful couple who looked like a match made in heaven—.”

“That.”

Michelan flinched at the resolute call.

Step, step. Abel moved forward. With her hand tightly gripping the hilt of her blade.

Michelan gasped. Abel stood tall right in front of his nose.

…A brief silence ensued. It was a stillness as if even the sound of breathing had died.

Soon, Abel spoke in a low voice.

“Please tell me about those people in more detail.”

* * *

“…So, what I have told you so far is all that I remember.”

Michelan finished his explanation carefully. He looked around and sensed the atmosphere.

“……”

“……”

A heavy atmosphere descended. His salivary glands had long since dried up, but Michelan tried to pretend to swallow dryly for no reason.

‘…Did I say something wrong?’

He was a man who had lived for countless eons with his mouth sealed.

The vast majority of undead were deprived of their intelligence before their bodies rotted. The ‘brain’ was the part where decay progressed fastest among all physical organs and intestines.

Therefore, it was the standard for undead to only mutter primitive groans like ‘urrrghghgh.’

However, Michelan had maintained a clear thinking ability for as long as 700 years.

For hundreds of years when the skeleton and flesh would have crumbled and permeated the soil, he was living with a dead body and a living mind.

Of course, perhaps because he had talked a lot in his lifetime, the area around his jaw became a mess particularly quickly.

‘But that noble benefactor treated it in one stroke.’

Michelan’s gaze shifted sideways. A boy with black hair and black eyes was standing still with his arms crossed.

Was his name ‘Kang Geom-ma’? Michelan vowed that he would carry those three syllables in his heart even after death.

‘…Even though I’m already a dead body!’

However, as he kept looking, that appearance, the black hair and black eyes, felt like he had seen them somewhere before.

Michelan looked at Kang Geom-ma with a new look. Memory slipped out like a handful of sand.

Since he was a man who had lived for over 7 centuries, it would be hard to find even if he fumbled for a long time. But Michelan did not want to miss this current sense of incongruity.

As he threw his gaze while even scratching his temples like that, Abel, who had been quiet, opened her mouth.

“…Wait, it took a long time to organize my thoughts. I’m sorry, Mr. Michelan.”

“Ah, no. It’s understandable that you would be shocked, descendant of the Sword Saint.”

Michelan shook his head vigorously.

Michelan was a person who had experienced the First Human-Demon War in his lifetime.

Of course, there were plenty of such people in the Undead Dungeon, but their thought circuits had long since stopped.

Therefore, he would probably be at least the only being on the human side who vividly remembered that living hell.

And the ancestor of the girl in front of him. What kind of person the first Sword Saint was also remained clearly in his mind.

That martial prowess as if receiving love, no, favoritism from the sword.

A person who was the human who took the lead in subjugating the demon race along with the Hero of Origin, and who was the hope of humanity.

But for such a descendant of the Sword Saint to apologize to him. It was something that could not happen, and should not happen.

Michelan’s judgment was clear even though he was already a dead body.

However, despite this reaction of his, Abel showed polite courtesy.

“No. Thanks to you, Mr. Michelan, I was able to reconfirm that my parents visited this place. In fact, even after arriving at the Undead Dungeon, I was questioning whether my parents really disappeared from here.”

“…I am just sorry that I seem to have delivered some unfortunate news.”

A formal conversation took place between the two, with Michelan expressing regret and Abel repeatedly bowing her head.

Kang Geom-ma, who was quietly watching the scene, spat out words.

“…So, do you know anything about the whereabouts of Abel’s parents?”

Michelan nodded at that.

“…Yes, unfortunately, since I was hiding behind a distant pillar, I do not know exactly where the two of them headed.”

“What is the reason you were specifically hiding?”

“Until then, heroes visited this place frequently. As soon as they entered, they would indiscriminately slaughter the undead. Other undead probably ran out, but for me, I couldn’t bring myself to approach them.”

“……”

At those words, Abel lowered her head with a dark expression. Michelan added words quickly.

“However, unlike other heroes, the descendant of the Sword Saint did not slaughter the undead recklessly. Rather, the two of them were against it. They refrained from using their hands as much as possible, and even if they did, they showed respect. Just like you, descendant.”

“……!”

Abel’s eyes widened. She lifted her head.

As if to ease her worries, Michelan pulled up his blueish lips. His pupils were cloudy, but light remained in them.

Michelan said.

“Perhaps that’s why, when I saw the descendant of the Sword Saint bowing while cutting down the dead earlier, my legs moved unconsciously. It was a courage that I, who am originally a coward, could never have produced, but I think it might be because of the déjà vu from 10 years ago.”

“I see…….”

Abel’s lips twitched as she continued.

“Mr. Michelan, is there anything else you remember? I would appreciate it if you could tell me even something trivial. Anything, even something really small, is fine.”

“…Haha, I have told you everything in my head……. I am just sorry that I can’t be of help⎯”

At that moment, Michelan suddenly said as if he remembered something.

“Come to think of it, I remember a conversation the two were having. I think they definitely said, ‘We must break the reaper’s curse.’ Their expressions when they said that were very dark.”

“…The reaper’s curse.”

In fact, the purpose of her parents entering this dungeon was unclear. Why did those people come to the D-rank Undead Dungeon?

They were the most famous pair at the time, and top-tier heroes except for the Seven Stars.

But one day, they set out to subjugate the lowest-rank dungeon. She guessed there was some kind of reason. But she could not know what it was at all.

That was why she investigated and studied the Undead Dungeon. To find their purpose that must be there.

“Must break the curse…….”

Abel repeated those words and ruminated on them.

A clue must be hidden in that single sentence that was only mysterious.

“…Why does work always.”

While a silence ensued for a while, Kang Geom-ma muttered with a deep sigh. A deep shadow was cast on his face.

His expression was grave enough to tense anyone who saw it.

“Abel.”

Kang Geom-ma called Abel in a low voice.

“Yes?”

“It seemed that your parents got involved with something they shouldn’t have.”

Abel’s face hardened like ice. She didn’t completely understand what Kang Geom-ma meant.

But from his tone, she could feel it.

Those words were an undeniable truth. His expression said it all.

“Even so.”

Kang Geom-ma tightened his grip on Permafrost, took a deep breath, and then spoke as if making a declaration.

“I’ll help you. Until you break that curse, or whatever it is.”

Abel looked at Kang Geom-ma’s back. The sashimi knife in his hand gleamed coldly, but the warmth in his words was real.

[Blessing of the Sword God] is a blessing that cuts what cannot be cut.

Whether it was sound, air, or wavelength, nothing was an exception.

“My blessing is roughly like that.”

“……”

Ryozo, who was staring at me blankly, soon let out a shallow sigh.

“Geom-ma, I really don’t know whether to call your ideas genius or if you’ve lost your mind. I guess the fact that your score is immeasurable suits you perfectly.”

“…Is that a compliment?”

A crackling wrinkle formed on Ryozo’s brow.

“Then, would it be an insult!”