Chapter 220
Contrary to Shan's thoughts, the incident didn't become a big deal.
The first reason was that the Arahan Tika had spoken to had quite a cheerful personality,
And the second reason was that he got along particularly well when conversing with Tika.
"Wahaha! You already want to become an Arahan? Come on. You're still too young to become an Arahan. You need to be at least 100 years old."
"It's an important time to prepare from now to become an Arahan! I have to prepare hard to catch Anutara's eye and become a really cool Arahan!"
"Oh? Then will you catch all the scorpions later?"
"Just say the word, just say it!"
When Tika resolutely beat her chest, the Arahan burst into loud laughter again.
After laughing for a while, he wiped away the tears that had formed and let out a long breath.
"It seems like going outside the desert with Anutara was good stimulation. But just wanting to become an Arahan doesn't mean everyone can become one." "Then?"
"Anutara specially chooses people to become Arahan. You need to have sufficient inherent power to become a wonderful Arahan."
"How do you recognize that power?"
"I don't really know that either. Perhaps only Anutara can sense it? Before, Anutara briefly held my hand, then said I was suitable to be an Arahan."
Shan recalled how Anutara had held his and Tika's hands when leaving the village before meeting Yesung.
Tika continued asking.
"Then, after becoming an Arahan, did you do any special training or something? What did you do?"
"Nothing special, but I was able to do various things after receiving Anutara's teachings. But this isn't something that can be taught carelessly. What would be good to tell you."
"What specifically do Arahan do?"
"Various things. We make bait so scorpions don't come to Shambhala and go elsewhere instead. We help inconvenienced Shambhala residents. We patrol the desert according to Anutara's orders."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"Eh."
The Arahan, seeing Tika's obvious disappointment, patted her head.
"It sounds boring when I say it like this, but surely becoming an Arahan has meaning. It's rewarding to be able to help Shambhala."
Was it rewarding?
People respected the Arahan and Anutara,
But the Arahan had a mission to protect Shambhala from scorpions.
Anutara might be different, but usually it took five Arahan working together to barely defeat one scorpion.
Watching such Arahan and Tika, Shan impulsively opened his mouth.
"If Anutara disappeared, what would happen to the Arahan?"
The Arahan looked at Shan in surprise at that question.
The hand that had been patting Tika's head fell,
And the Arahan kept silent for a moment before answering cheerfully as if it was nothing.
"There would be no change for the Arahan. Even if Anutara wasn't there, Shambhala would still be where we live."
No change even without Anutara?
When Shan and Tika asked no more questions, the Arahan smiled and turned his steps.
"I have to go install scorpion bait. See you later. If you have any questions, feel free to ask anytime."
Watching the departing Arahan, Tika muttered.
"Somehow I feel like I only heard very model answers... My energy is completely drained."
"I think so too. But there wasn't really anything different from the facts we already knew. What the Arahan do is block scorpions and help Shambhala."
"That would be the case, but."
Tika, who had been grumbling, kept kicking the sand at her feet before raising her head.
Suddenly something caught her eye.
Whether the Arahan had dropped it while leaving, something was lying on the ground in the direction he had gone.
Tika looked around before sneakily going near the lost item.
Shan followed and asked.
"What's that?"
"A pouch made from scorpion stomach. The Arahan must have dropped it just now."
"Really? He said he was going to install scorpion bait, so we should go return it."
The small pouch that fit snugly in Tika's palm was made from tough, thick scorpion stomach, so the contents wouldn't leak and the temperature wouldn't change much.
Due to this characteristic, every Shambhala person had at least one scorpion stomach pouch.
But usually they weren't made this small.
Scorpion stomachs were precious materials,
And stomachs were usually used to store fresh water or fruit juice accumulated in hard fruits, so they needed large capacity.
Then what was this small pouch used for?
While Shan stood on his heels looking toward where the Arahan had gone, Tika opened the pouch's opening.
Under the bright desert sun, something like sparkling waves could be glimpsed through the narrow opening.
Water? Fruit juice? Milk?
Tika slightly tilted the pouch over her palm.
And,
The dark red substance that came from the opening flowed viscously down onto her white hand and the sandy ground.
A piercing scream rang out from the center of Shambhala.
*
"You lost that."
"I'm sorry, Anutara. I definitely had it until just now... It's my mistake."
Yurik looked at the Arahan who was earnestly apologizing, then passed by him and stepped forward.
When he extended one hand to the side, another Arahan quickly handed him a sharp piece made from scorpion shell.
Yurik, gripping the part that was bluntly ground to serve as a handle, scratched his white forearm.
Blood vessels spread like roots over his skin from the red wound,
And drops of blood that gathered at his middle fingertip fell onto the sand.
-Drip, drop.
Until the moment he saw the sand being stained dark, Yurik had been contemplating.
Whether to destroy Shambhala or not.
There were only two reasons Yurik had created Shambhala.
To pull Yesung out of the mud,
So that when Yesung woke up again, he could blend in seamlessly among species that resembled himself.
The 7,000 years Yurik had spent alone among the Elder Things and Shoggoths had been both humiliating and terribly lonely.
He had hoped Yesung wouldn't feel such emotions when he woke up again.
So after carefully cultivating it for millions of years.
-I'm thinking of going up there. To where there's an ocean. To a place where frozen glaciers still remain.
-...Then what about Shambhala?
-It should be fine since you're here. You're protecting this village. So it's enough for just me to go alone.
'Just me to go alone'?
That was nonsense.
If Yesung left, Shambhala would lose its meaning.
The natural fortress that protected them from external threats,
The oasis full of clear, fresh water.
People lighting fires to brighten the night and chatting together with murmuring sounds.
All of that would become nothing but meaningless play.
Yesung always spoke so easily and made decisions so easily.
Would his heart have been more at ease if he had been the one to sink into the mud instead?
Would Yesung have become someone who thought more about him and acted accordingly?
...Yesung was still Yesung, and the fact that he was a kind and gentle intelligent being wouldn't change.
But sometimes when he thought about how Yesung wouldn't move according to his words, he felt so frustrated he couldn't even sleep.
Yurik withdrew his hand from the wet sand with a displeased face.
"What's next?"
"This way."
The Arahan moved.
Those surrounding the man who was beautiful like the desert sun and white like the moon floating alone at night walked through sand and occasional blowing wind.
In the continuing silence, someone bravely asked a question.
"Um, Anutara. You've seemed to be in a bad mood recently. Did you perhaps have a fight with Yesung, your teacher?"
"What if we did fight? Should we make up?"
"It's not that. It's just that Anutara seems to be having a hard time, so we wondered if there was any part we could help with."
Looking at the 87th generation descendant of his self-replicating degraded version who was currently an Arahan, Yurik thought he was presumptuous.
He couldn't understand by what right he was trying to interfere between himself and Yesung,
And he doubted whether a mere distant descendant of a degraded copy could have any say in the relationship between Yesung and himself.
But the surrounding Arahan all began chiming in.
"That's right. Please tell us if there's anything we can help with."
"Surely Anutara's decision wasn't wrong. Perhaps your teacher misunderstood something."
"We're also sad to see you two being awkward when you met after such a long time."
"We're also worried because Anutara seems disappointed."
Or maybe even degraded copies had some intelligence.
Yurik crossed his arms with his injured arm and asked.
"Then give me advice. About why that person won't listen to my persuasion."
The Arahan fell quiet for a moment.
They would need to hear the context of what the two had fought about, but it was natural for the Arahan who hadn't even heard the circumstances.
But Yurik was waiting for the Arahan's answer even during that time.
Someone hesitantly said.
"...Since you met after a long time...?"
"What does that matter?"
"What I meant was, since you two seem to have met after a long time, there might be some awkwardness or such aspects. You know, awkwardness stemming from how someone I remembered from the past has changed like this."
Changed?
Me?
Yurik questioned himself. However, he thought he hadn't changed at all.
Excluding the 7,000 years spent with the Elder Things and Shoggoths in the first place.
Although the time spent with Yesung was short,
Yurik could swear there was no difference between how he felt toward Yesung now and how he felt toward Yesung then.
"That wouldn't be it."
"Ah, or even if appearance changes, people tend to find it difficult. I also feel a bit awkward when I see my seventh daughter whom I gave birth to."
He could hear other Arahan muttering things like 'That's definitely true', 'I also feel strange when I see my son these days, he's already 78 years old.'
Was that... the case?
Yurik was aware that he had grown quite a lot.
Before, it was comfortable to hug Yesung's waist, but now since Yesung was smaller than him, he didn't know where or how to hug him.
Before, he had to look up at Yesung, but now it was the opposite.
Was the changed appearance the problem after all?
When a faintly troubled expression appeared on Yurik's expressionless face,
The Arahan who had been reading the situation suggested.
"How about approaching Yesung like in the old days?"
"Like the old days?"
"I think it would be quite cute if my grown son called me dad and held my hand like before. It would remind me of old times."
That wouldn't work.
His past self had followed behind Yesung pointing at every single thing visible to his eyes.
Sky, tree, grass, lizard, cloud, water, water play, rock, what else was there?
That was fine then, but if he did that now, he might look like an idiot.
Yurik wanted to show Yesung a composed and dependable image as much as possible.
He just wanted to become someone dependable whom Yesung could rely on, just as Yesung had been for him before.
But the Yu Yesung he knew...
"...That person certainly does like taking care of someone."
Saving the Elder Things, saving himself, caring for, teaching, raising.
Even things he thought he couldn't do, Yesung eventually accomplished.
In the end, there had been only one answer from the beginning.
Instead of trying to make Yesung conform to his stubbornness,
Conforming himself to Yesung.
Because Yurik's current standard for dealing with the world was made up of one standard: Yesung.
For him, who would have lived like an ignorant insect without Yesung, it wasn't simply a matter of whether he could conform or not.
This was a matter of life, a matter of how he lived.
"We'll return immediately after installing the bait."
He would do anything to survive.
Blood that couldn't coagulate flowed down from Yurik's arm.
After installing the bait, when the Arahan and Yurik returned to Shambhala,
Those heading to Anutara's house encountered Yesung wandering around the oasis.
Yesung was slightly frozen in surprise at the unintended meeting,
But the Arahan secretly rejoiced inwardly and whispered quietly.
"Approach him friendly like in the old days, Anutara."
Anutara stood for a moment looking at Yesung, then stepped on the sandy path and approached Yesung.
Yesung looked back and forth between the Arahan and Yurik in bewilderment but didn't run away.
Yurik, who had arrived in front of Yesung, looked down at Yesung with red eyes for a moment,
Then leaned his forehead against Yesung's thin shoulder and said.
"It was hard..."
Whoosh.
The dry desert wind blew between them.
The Arahan watching that scene all thought with one mind.
'We didn't mean for you to act like such a child toward Yesung...'