Chapter 230 – ALTHEA’S LIFE (2/2)

「Wait」

「Eh?」

Althea grabbed me with her wrinkled hand.

「Why should I wait?」

「That is……he is……」

『Rodotos, huh』

「What?」

Althea and Eleanor said together.

I turned around in surprise. This ghost that doesn’t even have a shape, this is Rodotos?

『There’s no doubt, it’s him』

「……eii! If so, then let’s leave this place first!」

I couldn’t kill it at once, so I carried Althea and rushed out of the room.

☆

I gained quite a distance from the cabin. Although we’re still inside the forest, the silent air made me feel that we had ventured deeper.

Hikari remained in her Demon Sword form and Olivia and I faced with Althea.

And there, I had Althea explain what’s happening.

To save Rodotos whose soul is being sullied by Eleanor, Althea used an elixir to let Eleanor gain a physical body in exchange for releasing Rodotos.

Rodotos was released immediately but still passed away. His soul was released as well.

「ーーor, that was how it should have been」

「He wasn’t released?」

「He was, once. However, his soul did not return to the heaven completely. As you can see, he started to attack me」

「And because of that, you became like this?」

「It would seem that he has an attachment to life. He might be trying to revive himself by absorbing my life force」

「Is that so?」

I asked Eleanor.

『Although I don’t know whether it’s on purpose or just left like that, my powers might have remained in his soul. There are such times, when someone dies possessing my powers, they would turn into evil ghosts that are attached to life』

「You yourself were obsessed with having a physical body after all」

『That is true during this era. I do not anymore』

「Is that thanks to me?」

『Umu』

I spoke in the middle and let Althea and Eleanor speak to each other.

「I want to release him. What should I do?」

『It’s simple. Just ask this man』

「Me?」

『You only need to cut him. Not his soul, but my powers that is possessing his soul』

「I see」

「Can you do that?」

「Leave it to me. I’ll make him ascend to heaven the next time he comes」

What Eleanor is saying is not something that difficult. Rather, for me who was able to bring our powers that Eleanor didn’t have, the level of difficulty is just like riding a bike with one hand.

It’s Althea’s request. I’ll quickly end him.

「Rather than that, it’s you. That appearance, aren’t you in a really bad situation?」

「Let me see, it feels like he took fifty years of my life. I won’t live for long」

「Can’t you do something about it?」

「Well, when it comes to a person’s longevity……」

Althea made wry smile.

The Great Sage Althea, the woman who knows everything in this world.

She is saying that because she knows everything, she cannot do anything against a person’s longevity.

『……I see, it was like that huh』

「What do you mean by that, Eleanor?」

『I understood right now. I understood the reason why how she, an ordinary human, could meet you』

「What do I need to do?」

『You’re too quick to be convinced』

Eleanor laughed.

Althea, just Althea.

When we first met, she was an old woman who would suck up life force from humans, so I thought that she is from a long-lived race. But Althea who I met in this era said that she was an ordinary human.

I secretly had my doubts on why she was able to continue to live and meet me in the future.

『Do you remember? What I said to you after you slept with those Mercouri women?』

「Are you talking about Cima and the other girls? …………the way you sleep with a woman?」

「Don’t tell me……is it like this?」

Althea said and grabbed my hand.

Its the usual thing that Althea in the future does. That ability that absorbs life force.

She held my hand just like that.

「It’s that thing Rodotos was doing huh」

It looks like what I heard from Eleanor, was something Althea actually saw.