Ugly Guy, Hardcore Fighter-Chapter 90: House of Gratitude (Patreon)

-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and CannedbreadFollow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-

The 〈House of Gratitude〉 wasn't a house.

It was a giant stone storeroom.

Above ground, there were white walls and flowerbeds; if you only looked at the front, it looked like a sanatorium. But the cart didn't go through the entrance—it went down a slope in the back.

Three iron doors opened.

Cold air passed through the pig's snout.

Below ground, shelves lined the walls.

Chairs. Clocks. Swords. Vases. Dolls.

Every one of them was carefully polished and tagged with a number.

A warehouse storing what had once been people.

“The Hero statue goes in the center. The Saint statue beside the altar. The pig can go... in the corner.”

A guard set me down on the floor.

The difference in treatment was incredible.

Footsteps receded.

The iron door closed.

Even so, we didn't move.

10 seconds.

30 seconds.

1 minute.

The small window in the door opened.

A guard peered inside.

Right in front of me, Seika-san, now the Saint statue, was looking diagonally upward.

The earlier art mistake seemed strangely mystical here.

The small window closed.

I waited until the footsteps had receded even further.

I released the three spells one by one.

First Seiji-san.

Then Seika-san.

Finally me.

“Everyone, were you conscious?”

Seiji-san lowered his voice.

“Yes. My body wouldn't move, though.”

“Me too. The leaves are amazing, aren't they?”

I showed the three leaves I'd pressed to my forehead.

They looked like nothing but ordinary leaves.

“They're a little dry,” Seika-san said worriedly.

“They dry out more each time we switch. Let's get back before the patrol comes.”

Layering lie upon lie, we went between the shelves.

The first thing we found was a black office desk.

Burdened with a mountain of ledgers, it kept turning the gears on its top and continuously floating white numbers.

『Beginning calculation.

Calculating the resource allocation required for the King's policies.』

“Kato-kun.”

Seiji-san placed his hand on the desktop.

The numbers didn't waver.

The gears didn't stop either.

“Kato-kun. I'll definitely save you.”

Seika-san pressed her lips together.

There was no reply.

Only the resource allocation calculation advanced to the next line.

To me, it felt like a reply from Kato-kun.

On the next shelf was a red music box.

Inside its lid, a tiny Ria kept spinning while smiling.

『Comforting the King's heart.』

“Ria-san. Just a little longer,” Seika-san said.

We passed between the shelves and headed deeper into the storeroom.

On the wall at the far end, a single newspaper was fixed open.

The page was still blank.

There were none of the 〈Help me〉 letters that had appeared before.

As I thought, this thing apparently can't produce letters by its own will.

Next to it were three black suits of armor of the same shape.

All of them had their faces covered by eerie masks.

They looked like villains who get defeated by a hero on stage.

Further back stood a statue with a valiant appearance.

Golden hair. White wings. Red armor. And a third eye on its forehead.

Could this be the guy who kept repeating the same lines over and over in the plaza?

At the statue's feet lay an old wooden knight.

There were signs that one arm had been repaired.

“This is...”

When Seiji-san tried to pick it up, the sound of keys came from the corridor.

“We're going back.”

The three of us ran back to our positions.

I cast the spell on Seiji-san.

He returned to the Hero statue. But he was one finger's width shorter than before.

I returned Seika-san to the Saint statue.

This time she faced forward.

I became the piggy bank.

It should've been this shape, I was pretty sure.

I couldn't check my own form myself.

A heavy creak echoed.

Had someone come?

The inside of the storeroom brightened faintly.

The guards with lights seemed to have returned.

From the footsteps, two of them?

“Saint statue, wasn't it facing the wall earlier?”

One set of footsteps stopped.

“You must've mistaken it when we carried it in.”

“Isn't the Hero statue a little smaller too?”

“You trying to find fault with the King's miracle?”

The other guard said in a low voice.

The suspicious guard fell silent after that.

Once the King's name was invoked, he apparently couldn't say anything more.

In this country, the so-called King's miracle is absolute, huh.

Apparently Abel isn't here.

Just a patrol by two guards, huh.

The patrol's footsteps receded.

Now then, I'll undo the transformation and continue searching—or so I thought, but more footsteps?

Looks like the next one's coming.

Busy place, this 〈House of Gratitude〉.

For a mere storeroom, it's pretty dangerous.

“Bring Dario.”

That voice—Abel?

So the star finally makes his entrance.

The iron door opened once more.

Two guards carried in a large photo stand.

The bottom of its wooden frame touched the stone floor with a clunk.

At the edge of my right eye, I could see the photo.

Dario, whom I'd seen at the Gratia trial, had his arms around his wife and daughters.

“I thought you'd become a waterwheel model... but a family photo, huh. I see. That's just like you.”

As expected, even Abel apparently doesn't know exactly what someone will turn into.

The parrot on his shoulder turned its face toward the photo stand.

“Dario, remorse level, 98.”

Remorse level?

Wasn't it a bird that measures gratitude?

Is this thing connected to Abel's power too?

“If you have something to say, try saying it.”

The parrot tilted its head again and again.

“Dario, remorse. Cannot speak well.”

“Do you understand what you did wrong?”

“Family, wanted to save. Gratitude, made. But I, was wrong.”

The parrot was answering for Dario.

“I see. I'm not a demon. I understand wanting to save your family.”

Abel's voice softened just a little.

“Can you work properly again?”

“Dario, yes. Water, fix. Daughters, want to apologize.”

“The people you need to apologize to aren't just your daughters. They're also the people who couldn't receive bread or medicine because of your corruption.”

“Dario, understand. Will make amends.”

“I see.”

Abel extended a hand toward the photo stand.

“Dario Basque. I forgive you.”

I'd been waiting for those words.

『Forgive』, which was in the Special Notes.

It's finally activating, huh.

I focused my awareness into the pig's right eye.

The angle was just barely enough, but I could see the photo stand.

From the gaps in the wooden frame, a pale golden light spilled out.

When it sealed away those who defied him, it was white.

When it's 『Forgive』, it's gold, huh.

The photo stand was wrapped in light, and its outline swelled into a human form.

Dario, restored, dropped to his knees on the stone floor.

So this is 『Forgive』.

But it wasn't released by words alone.

Before that, Abel had repeatedly checked whether Dario understood his own mistake.

The Special Notes said this:

『Don't come out of there until you truly understand what you did wrong.』

And one more thing.

『No matter how much you apologize, I'm the one who decides whether to forgive you.』

Are these two the conditions to open the cage?

I still don't know for sure.

But at least Abel's cage has an exit.

Dario looked at his own hands and wept.

“Thank you, Abel-sama. I will definitely atone.”

“I see.”

“When you go home, what will you do first?”

“I'll apologize to my daughters.”

“I see. Will you tell them everything you saw in the 〈House of Gratitude〉 too?”

“...Um.”

“Abel, sad.”

“Hmm. I see.”

“Please wait!”

“Why can't you answer right away? Is it something you'd hesitate over?”

“I won't tell them. Not my daughters, not anyone.”

“I don't need superficial words. This little one will tell me your true feelings.”

“Abel, sad.”

“See?”

Before I could understand the meaning of his smile, a white light pierced Dario's chest.

This time, he wasn't transforming into something.

His very human form was crumbling from the edges.

It was too sudden.

Faster than I could react.

“Abel-sama... w-why...”

“Hey, hey. Don't look at me like that.”

Abel tilted his head as if looking at a troublesome child.

“You truly repented. That's why I forgave you once, didn't I? But you defied me again. I never said I'd forgive you a second time.”

“...Why did I... for a man like this... I'm sorry... for being this kind of dad...”

Abel...!

If I'd had a throat, I would've shouted that name.

Abel turned back to the guards.

“This isn't punishment. It's a judgment necessary to protect the country.”

The last light vanished.

Nothing remained on the floor.

Something nearly snapped with a crack deep in my mind.

No. I can't.

To maintain the spell, I have to stay calm.

Don't screw with me.

What judgment?

He's just making up convenient reasons and erasing anyone who doesn't obey.

I want to leap out and grind his face into the floor.

Pulled by my anger, a thin crack ran across the pig's back.

Abel turned toward me.

“What?”

I didn't move.

Seiji-san and Seika-san couldn't move either.

If I revealed myself here, I'd be leaving behind Kato-kun, Ria, whoever was turned into the newspaper, and the fake Ardeen.

I forcibly stopped the crack from spreading.

Abel glanced at the cracked piggy bank.

“Already cracked, huh. Cheap piece of junk.”

Then he spat toward the place where Dario had vanished.

“Scum.”

His footsteps receded.

The iron door closed.

For a while, I couldn't release the spell.

If I'd returned to my own face, I probably would've screamed.

Abel.

I don't know how hard you worked.

But after seeing that, I understood one thing.

This guy crossed the line a long time ago.(TL Note: Yep, I was right earlier. This Abel guy has to die.)

-Thank you DCRangeRange, Dean Dexter and CannedbreadFollow me on Patreon via Linktree https://linktr.ee/Mnotia-