The Immortal Had a Guardian Spirit Chapter 6

True to form, the sounds of something being sliced and cut could be heard. The screams of monsters pierced the eardrums, and the thick stench of blood wafted sharply.

And yet, nothing touched his body. Instead, a weightless touch settled over his head, and a low, tender voice was heard.

“[I shall finish this quickly and return. Stay still there.]”

What followed was a continuous sequence of hunt and slaughter.

As if refusing to tolerate even a single monster, the black-haired, green-eyed man—bearing the same color as Raven—scoured the surroundings thoroughly, cutting down every monster.

At times, the moment he moved even a little distance away, monsters that had been hiding somewhere would charge at the two seemingly defenseless figures. But each time, this mysterious man would appear like a ghost, slaughter them, and vanish. Not only did the monsters fail to reach them, but not even a drop of blood ever splattered their way.

Skill that was, quite literally, ‘ghost-like.’

Dan, who had been dazedly watching all of this over Raven’s shoulder, belatedly came to his senses and flinched, trembling.

Now was not the time to be spacing out.

“…—!”

“Ah.”

At the sudden thrashing, Raven, who had nearly lost hold of him, reflexively wrapped his arms around the boy, pressing him tight as if to suppress him.

…Seems reality has finally sunk in. I understand the fear, but if he breaks away alone here, the odds of survival are zero in a hundred.

“Calm down.”

After all that desperate will to live, you’re going to die right in front of my eyes, of all people?

“Calm down, I said. Do you want to die here?”

That’s not quite right.

The cries of monsters scraped savagely against the eardrums. With his vision blocked, his senses, sharpened to an edge, momentarily stirred irritation. But he couldn’t become a pathetic adult who snapped at a child. After soothing him with words a few times, Raven pressed his lips tightly shut.

‘…Damn it.’

Seeing that he wouldn’t calm down easily, he felt the need for another measure.

He briefly considered striking the back of the neck to knock him unconscious. But the judgment quickly followed: raising a hand in violence against someone not yet an adult was something he couldn’t do.

Of course, it would be easy and convenient to just close his eyes and knock him out. But his emotions were already dulled and his discernment blunted from a long life lived roughly, steadily corroding his humanity. In such a state, he could not cross the minimum line he had drawn for himself in order to remain human.

So, what could he do?

‘This is why I dislike children.’

Smiling wryly as if in self-mockery, Raven adjusted his hold on the other and began to soothe him. Surprisingly, he knew well what to say to a child paralyzed with fear in this situation.

Words that the immature human, upon coming into the world and meeting a proper adult and guardian for the first time, had heard from the guardian spirit—and later, words he himself had spoken to his first disciple, and to the disciples after.

Filtering out negative emotions like bitterness or irritation, gathering only the gentlest, warmest feelings, he opened his mouth softly. Words he never thought he’d utter again now flowed out once more.

“Shh—, it’s all right.”

You don’t need to be anxious.

“The monsters won’t reach you.”

I will take responsibility for your safety.

“Keep your eyes closed for just a moment. It will be over soon.”

At the voice that seemed to have gathered all the purest tenderness in the world, Dan flinched and stopped moving. The emotions that had become heated in his urgency subsided, and his narrowed field of vision opened up.

Only then did he remember a very simple way to convey his intentions efficiently.

“…Hm?”

As if frustrated, he took hold of Raven’s hand and pulled it down. Raven, who readily offered his palm, flinched at the sensation of cold fingers touching it.

For Dan, the fear of monsters had been secondary from the start. What he wanted to convey was something else…

— Help me.

“You….”

Silence flowed.

Raven, who had been gazing blankly at his palm for a moment, seemed to belatedly collect himself and finished the words left incomplete. A voice bearing composure resonated lowly.

“…You can’t speak.”

More than that, help me.

Come to think of it, the state he’d been in when first discovered… was excessively desperate to simply be about surviving the monsters. As if he had some kind of mission…

‘….’

Murky gray eyes scanned the place where the child would be.

…The changed eye color, the person appearing out of thin air. That person butchering monsters with a sword he hadn’t had before—there were mountains of things to point out, yet he’d said nothing about any of it, simply asking for help. It must mean he was that desperate, that earnest.

“First… your name?”

— Dan.

“All right, Dan.”

He had a rough grasp of the situation.

He reached out his hand. Groping to gauge the likely position of the child’s face, he lowered it slightly to find the neck.

At the touch on his neck, Dan’s body went rigid. At the same time, Raven’s expression hardened as well.

…I had hoped it wasn’t this.

“Wait… just a moment. Shall we try ah—, for a second?”

“….”

“There’s something I need to check.”

As if seeking permission, he tapped lightly near the mouth with his finger. Dan, hesitating, seemed to recall his position as one needing help and opened his mouth. The finger slipped right in.

“As I thought, you’re….”

“….”

“A runaway slave.”

The rough, bumpy scars on the neck and the severed tongue.

Moreover, the child’s reaction of going rigid the moment another’s hand touched his neck clearly stemmed from terror.

‘A slave, huh….’

At the word, not unfamiliar, Raven gave a bitter smile.

No matter how much the state prohibits it, where there is demand, such things inevitably exist in the shadows. Slavery was exactly that.

Officially, each nation only permits the enslavement of criminals and nobles of defeated countries. But as if such rules would be followed to the letter.

There were many who desired slaves, but the number was woefully insufficient.

Slave traders, blinded by the sums offered by those willing to pay extra to obtain slaves, began raiding homes, kidnapping innocent people to sell. It wasn’t hard to guess that this boy before him was one of those victims.

“I’ve heard that a useless male slave of an ambiguous age without particularly outstanding looks gets his tongue and vocal cords ruined and is exploited for labor. They can’t write either, so it’s said to be impossible to ask for help anywhere….”

At that moment, a hand shot up and grabbed his collar.

Not missing the moment Raven faltered, something aimed for his head came flying. Swiftly tilting his head aside, narrowly dodging, he didn’t miss the sound of wings passing right by his ear.

“This is…!”

He seized Dan as the boy tried to push away roughly, releasing the collar and backing off. Grabbing the struggling child’s wrist, stepping forward to close the distance created, Raven’s eyes were somewhat widened, as if faced with an unexpected situation.

Something that had flown at him threateningly at a coincidental timing. Judging by the sound, it was estimated to be a bird species not too large, and Dan had acted as if anticipating this bird’s movement.

Raven knew these characteristics well.

“‘Sculpted Soul Orb’…?”

“!”

Those whose soul partially detaches and takes the form of an animal.

Because it is a ‘fragment of the soul,’ the animal-shaped form was called a ‘Sculpted Soul Orb,’ and its main body was called the ‘Sculpted Soul Orb Master,’ or simply ‘Orb Master’ for short.

As they were originally one soul, they shared all senses—sight, hearing, etc.—and because they directly wielded the soul, their power was considerable. That was why most of those who played active roles when the Gate Incident first occurred were Sculpted Soul Orb Masters.

Even knowing that his neck could have been broken or his head smashed, Raven didn’t get angry but focused on another point instead.

“I thought they had nearly all disappeared by now. Meeting one here is a bit unexpected.”

In the aftermath of the first Gate Incident, ‘Sculpted Soul Orb Masters’ became symbolic figures.

Those who were treated as heroes by their very existence. Especially now, as time passed and the number of newly born Sculpted Soul Orb Masters dwindled, they would be treated as precious regardless of the form of their Sculpted Soul Orb. So the idea of such a person being held as a slave was rather absurd.

“…No need to be so wary.”

He didn’t have good feelings toward Sculpted Soul Orb Masters, but he wasn’t rotten enough to mistreat a child over it.

Thwack! Pressing down the attacking bird once more as if swatting a fly, Raven swallowed a sigh and patted the back of the frozen boy.

“First of all, it’s fortunate that you know how to write. You were hiding both the fact you could write and that you’re a Sculpted Soul Orb Master, right?”

“….”

If they had known he could write, he wouldn’t be alive before him now.

A runaway slave becomes the blade that brings down illegal slave traders. There was no way they would have left someone who could be a witness to put them away alive and with both hands intact.

…But there was no response. He tilted his head to one side.

“Ah, my treatment of you won’t change just because you’re a slave, so don’t worry about that. In the first place, I have no interest in a person’s status.”

“….”

“….”

Still no response. Was he still on guard?

Well, it was a foolish thing to try to lower his guard in the first place. He’d taken the wrong approach. It wasn’t about easing his wariness first, but…

“…Come to think of it, you did ask for help, didn’t you?”

Only then did Dan’s head lift. Raven, who had been sharpening all his senses observing him, curved his eyes toward where Dan’s face would be as if he’d been waiting, raising both hands in a show.

The crow that had been pinned to the ground gained its freedom and soared into the sky.

“I’ll help you.”

“…!”

He’d finished grasping the situation a long time ago.

Dan’s desperate steps must have been to find someone to ask for help, rather than having a specific destination. A request for help from an escaped slave would be to ask to be hidden, to rescue a precious person still bound as a slave there, or to help because another slave who escaped together was in poor condition.

Whichever it was, it didn’t matter.

“So let’s have a little conversation.”

“….”

“Hm?”

I’m weak to children who haven’t fully grown, and weak to the victims of the gates. The moment this boy asked for help, the answer was as good as decided.

After hesitating, Dan slowly nodded. As Raven exhaled as if releasing tension, fingers rose onto his palm.

— Your name?

“I have no name. Call me Raven. I already heard your name, so let’s skip that. How old are you?”

From the brief glance, he seemed to have only just recently shed his boyish look. The feel of his bone structure upon contact was also immature.

Raven raised his free hand and felt Dan’s face.

“About 17? 18? Something like that.”

— 17.

“As I thought.”

So young.

‘A young Sculpted Soul Orb Master….’

It feels like it’s truly been a long time since I’ve seen one. Ah, I’ve been in hiding for ten years, so it’s not just a feeling—it really has been a long time.

An age where one would want to show off and boast about having something special that others don’t, yet he’d managed to hide it until now. That’s quite remarkable, now that I think about it.

The hand feeling his face moved up to lightly press on his head.

“…?”

“You’re young, but you held up well. You’ve been through a lot.”

Knowing how to write was one thing, but especially if they’d found out he was a Sculpted Soul Orb Master, it wouldn’t have ended well.

Due to the nature of Sculpted Soul Orb Masters—if one dies, the other dies too—just strapping a bomb to the Sculpted Soul Orb would render him completely helpless. It would’ve been like handing his heart over to them.

‘Which is why, in the past, there was the perception that Sculpted Soul Orb Masters were suitable as slaves.’

Well, that was a past no one knows now.

‘Since the Sculpted Soul Orb is a bird species, it must have been easy to hide.’

And fairly useful for escape, too.

Could this be considered fortunate, at least to some degree? Unless it was a clearly powerful beast form, a Sculpted Soul Orb of a very small or common animal form was better.

It seemed to be about the size of an ordinary bird. Unless attacked by formidable wild predators, there probably wasn’t much to worry about usually.

‘…Some people had a hard time because their Sculpted Soul Orb was a white snow fox, I heard.’

Weak for use in combat, couldn’t be sent to infiltrate anywhere, and carrying it around made it conspicuous, practically announcing its weakness to everyone in all directions.

How enviable. As Raven idly thought this, his expression suddenly stiffened at a not-insignificant pain felt from within.

…The pain wasn’t the problem. It was the hot liquid trying to surge up along with it that was the problem.

Probably, a fishy liquid tinged with red.