After the gavel struck Simon’s head, everything fell silent as though the world itself had stopped.
No, it truly had stopped. The aberrations that had been coming after me from behind had stopped moving as well.
It would be fitting to say that the ‘perfect stasis’ Simon had desired so desperately had, ironically, been realized through him.
“Ugh, agh.”
Simon lay smashed against the floor, coughing up blood as ragged breaths escaped him.
He twitched weakly like an insect desperately clinging to life until the very end. Blood, pitch-black ink, and blue Stasis Reagent mingled around his head, staining it an indescribable color.
“Professor Simon, strictly speaking, you and I are different. An Executor bears his sins within the boundaries called the law. You, on the other hand, are merely a sinner who hid behind the shield of noble purpose and turned away from the screams of others.”
I exhaled softly as I looked down at Simon, who lay sprawled on the floor like a flattened frog.
As though announcing that everything was over, the gavel had already reverted to William’s longsword.
Simon blinked several times before forcing out the last of his strength to speak.
“The weight…… we carry? Ha, ha. How ridiculous. Do you think…… you people truly bear the weight of those who die in the name of the law?”
Simon answered me with a mocking smile.
“Salus will…… eventually be devoured by the ink. Unless I…… stop that vaunted rule of law of yours. Everyone will suffer, in agony…….”
“Even that suffering is part of life, Professor. It is not something you have the right to take away.”
“I…… see.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Simon’s twitching body and skin slowly began to crumble like the pages of an ancient book. He could not even let out a final scream before dissolving into dust and settling onto the floor.
[You have broken the University’s Decree that bound ‘Professor Simon Iceberg’!]
[Hidden Truth: Your understanding of the University’s objective has increased!]
[You inherit the knowledge of the tormented soul ‘Professor Simon of the Stasis School’!]
[BOSS MVP : ‘The Absolved’ Ash Gray]
Along with the familiar messages that appeared whenever I killed a boss, all kinds of information seeped into my mind.
[Judgment : You are not guilty…….]
Another familiar message appeared, announcing that the matter had finally been brought to an end.
There was no longer anything left in this place that could threaten us.
“……Hmm.”
Where Simon had vanished, the remnants of the scholarly arrogance he had obsessed over remained behind as though they had been there from the very beginning.
[Tome of Stasis]
[Theory of Stasis ― Author: Simon Iceberg]
[Condensed Stasis Reagent]
“What a bitter ending.”
This time, I was not being given a choice of rewards like before.
Perhaps seeing the predetermined items had finally released the tension in my body, because muscle pain seemed to surge through me from head to toe.
But I had no time to rest.
I placed the spoils into the small bag I had brought with me and surveyed my surroundings.
My original reason for coming to this place, the ‘Sewer Rat Storehouse’, had been to steal the reagent and return. I had never anticipated things turning out like this in the first place.
I had certainly not come here to engage Professor Simon in some pedantic academic debate.
‘He was a difficult enemy.’
If I had not possessed the role of The Absolved, I might have died hundreds of times over.
If events had followed the original progression of the game 《Gray Judgment》, I would probably have been fighting the leader of a band of greedy, ink-soaked raiders by now.
Instead, the inside of the storehouse had been transformed into an unfamiliar sight that might as well have been a University laboratory. Even I had found many things puzzling about a situation I had never encountered before.
‘If the University took over this place, then either the Sewer Rat Gang became the University’s lackeys…… or they became experimental material.’
If it was the latter, the situation was more serious than I had thought.
If even an early-game farming dungeon had been altered this drastically, the knowledge I possessed might eventually become useless.
“I should at least take everything worth taking.”
Reminding myself of my original purpose, I thoroughly searched the laboratory.
* * *
I returned to the decrepit house where the two of them were waiting, my bag packed so full that it felt noticeably heavy.
When I opened the door, it seemed nothing unusual had happened in my absence.
“Y-You’re back? What happened!!”
The moment I stepped inside, Rin came rushing toward me and immediately began questioning me.
Seeing her like this almost made me understand how a father felt when he came home from work carrying fried chicken for his children.
“Yeah, Dad’s home. It feels like I haven’t been home in days.”
“Welcome home, dear?”
Ravenwood, standing beside her, answered with a quiet snicker from behind her mask.
“Refrain from saying anything so horrifying, old woman. You are going to make me vomit.”
“What is wrong with you? I make one joke, and you act wounded. So, miser, what happened with the ingredients?”
“Will this be enough?”
I took out the Stasis Reagent from the bag at my waist and handed it to her. Ravenwood examined it before murmuring.
“This should be enough. Nothing happened, did it?”
Ravenwood carefully caressed the reagent bottle as she asked me.
I should probably tell her.
“Something did. I had a confrontation with someone from the University.”
“What?”
Apparently, that revelation came as quite a shock. Even Ravenwood’s moving hand froze as she turned her head toward me.
“Now, calm down. It is a rather long story.”
“Just give me the important part.”
“I met Professor Simon Iceberg.”
At those words alone, Ravenwood’s hands trembled.
“……What happened to that damned bastard?”
“I enforced the law. That is all.”
There was no small amount of fury in her voice, and I answered with a light cough.
“It does not sound like something that can be explained briefly. Tell me what happened while I prepared the cure.”
At Ravenwood’s words, I began explaining everything that had happened.
I started with the conversation between Professor Simon and me, then moved on to the conflicting views of the University and the state governed by law.
I even explained how the University had stopped at nothing in its attempts to resist the Outer Gods.
It was not an especially long story, but Ravenwood nevertheless listened with a grave expression as she prepared the reagent, occasionally responding and nodding along.
“So, in summary, Professor Simon was responsible for the Stasis Phenomenon spreading throughout the city.”
“That is what it looks like.”
At my answer, Ravenwood lowered her head.
“Old woman?”
“I bear some responsibility as well. Your name was Paulo Rin, was it not? I want to apologize.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Ravenwood let out a sigh so deep it seemed capable of sinking into the earth before answering Rin.
“Haa…… If we are assigning responsibility, then some of it ultimately does belong to me. The Stasis Phenomenon itself originated from one of the theories I created.”
As though deeply conscious of her responsibility, Ravenwood cautiously confessed as if she had personally participated in Professor Simon’s atrocities.
“You…… did that to Kariya……!”
Rin gritted her teeth and glared at Ravenwood.
“Wait, old woman. Why are you only telling us this now?”
“After hearing your story, the thought occurred to me. No matter how much I prioritize my own objective, now that we are staying together, I cannot help but feel some responsibility.”
Even after hearing Ravenwood’s answer, Rin’s anger showed no sign of subsiding.
‘Damn it.’
The timing could not have been worse.
Ravenwood was not so foolish that she would fail to understand that saying something like this now would only leave both of them hurt.
So why had she brought it up?
I wondered only for a moment.
Rin’s eyes began trembling as they filled with tears, and she looked ready to lunge at Ravenwood at any moment and tear the raven mask from her face.
“You…… were the one who made Kariya like that? Me and the other Kerslings, all those children…… Was it all because of you that we became so cold, like pieces of ice?!”
At Rin’s anguished cry, Ravenwood did not turn away, as though she had no intention of avoiding the blame.
She merely continued silently mixing the reagent and other ingredients to prepare the medicine.
“Yes. I established the fundamental theory behind the Stasis Phenomenon Simon used. The idea was to slow the Erosion through stasis. I believed it could become a way to save Salus.”
“How is that, how is that salvation?! You cannot breathe, you cannot speak, you cannot even move because your whole body has frozen solid!!”
Rin finally shot to her feet and stamped hard against the floor.
A suffocating silence filled the room.
I could not simply watch anymore.
‘If I cannot calm them down here, I’ll lose one of them…… or both.’
Neither outcome was remotely acceptable to me.
I had to make Rin understand this properly.
I had no intention of spouting some empty platitude simply because we were companions.
I lightly tapped Ravenwood on the shoulder, signaling that she should say no more, then turned toward Rin.
“Rin, I know you cannot simply calm down. Ravenwood bears a great deal of responsibility, and I understand that you cannot forgive her. But you need to look at this a little differently.”
“Mr. Executor, do not take her side! I…… I cannot forgive her……!!”
Paulo Rin bared her teeth with a growl and snapped at me.
I thought her reaction was perfectly natural.
Even so, I had to stop her.
“I am not taking anyone’s side. You need to think clearly about cause and effect.”
I kept my voice deliberately calm and gentle while looking Rin directly in the eyes.
“Then let me ask you something. Suppose there is a blacksmith who makes a sword. Someone steals that sword, making that person a robber. Then the robber takes it and stabs someone. In that case…… who should be held responsible?”
My analogy briefly took the force out of Rin’s anger.
“That would…… obviously be the robber, but……!”
“Simon Iceberg was the robber who stole that sword and went around stabbing innocent people with it. The old woman making medicine over there was merely the blacksmith who forged the blade.”
I paused briefly to catch my breath before continuing.
“Of course, Ravenwood also bears responsibility for failing to warn anyone that the sword was dangerous. But…….”
I pointed toward the bottle of medicine Ravenwood was preparing.
“She is also the only person who can melt that sword down and turn it into medicine capable of healing the wound. Rin, if you truly want to save Kariya, then the person you need to fight right now is not the one who designed the weapon. You need to trust the ally who can prevent the tragedy before your eyes and wait.”
Only a heavy silence remained in the room after I finished speaking.
Ravenwood finally added in a cautious, trembling voice.
“……I know that I cannot expect forgiveness. My arrogance created the monster called knowledge that now exists within the University. I want to atone by curing your younger sister. Will you allow me to do that, little one?”
At Ravenwood’s words, the strength gradually drained from Rin’s clenched fists.
Her anger seemed to remain, but beneath it, hurt and sorrow finally spilled to the surface.
“……That is cruel. If I had never found out, I would never have had to think about any of this. What choice do I even have in a situation like this?”
Rin collapsed onto the floor and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
After all, she did not really have a choice.
“But…… you said you would cure Kariya, so I’ll trust you. Just this once. Only this once. I will not hate you anymore. But if something happens to Kariya…… then I will never forgive you!”
Tears still clung to Rin’s eyes, yet her words were both proud and filled with determination.
Ravenwood did not answer her.
She merely gave a short nod and continued devoting all of her attention to preparing the medicine.
I could not see what expression Ravenwood wore beneath the raven mask she always used, but her movements became even more careful and deliberate as she mixed the medicine.
‘Phew.’
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
I had thought The Absolved was supposed to possess the power to resist laws and rules.
I certainly had not expected the role to eventually involve mediating my companions’ emotions as well.
At least one problem seemed to have been resolved…… probably.
“I’m exhausted. I think I need to lie down and rest.”
“Are you tired?”
“Yeah. I’m so tired I could die.”
“Gasp!! Y-You cannot die! I’ll do something about it!”
The moment I said that, Rin’s face became visibly flustered, and she began rushing around in a panic.
“Your dad’s back hurts, so give it a good massage.”
“A-All right! Wait, who are you calling Dad!!”
“Dad’s not asleep…… Hrrrk.”
I tossed out another joke and entrusted my aching waist and back to Rin.
In a world where the slightest mistake could easily have left someone dead, the buds of a relationship were beginning to sprout once again.