"Tentu, aku punya waktu luang, tapi aku akan bertemu pacarku di sini sebentar lagi," kata Larry, saat memutuskan untuk meneman William. Meski dia memasang senyum khas dan terlihat seperti pria santai, dia sadar baru saja mengungkapkan informasi sensitif ke William. Kemungkinan besar informasi itu tak berarti bagi mereka, apalagi kalau bukan dari Bumi, tapi tetap variabel.
"Aku nggak ketemu namamu," kata William saat mereka berjalan kembali.
"Larry."
"Baik Larry, ini saudara-saudaraku: Jotun, Nisar, Batu, dan Henry."
Mereka berempat melambaikan tangan dari tempat duduk, tak repot-repot bangun. Pakaian santai dan segelas minuman menarik di depan mereka benar-benar membuat mereka terlihat seperti sekadar kawan-kawan yang nongkrong.
"Nak, ini Larry. Katanya temennya mirip banget sama aku. Aku belum pernah ketemu doppelgänger, jadi aku ajak dia ke sini. Pastinya seru."
"Nama temenmu Lex?" tanya Henry, terlihat sedikit penasaran. "Kamu lihat Guest Registry? Nama teratas di situ juga Lex."
"Iya, aku lihat. Aku kaget karena nama sama, tapi mustahil dia temenku. Lagian dia lebih lemah dari aku."
Larry bicara penuh keyakinan, lupa total Lex adalah Leo gara-gara Ruang Rahasia.
Henry cuma mengangkat bahu, seolah hal itu wajar.
"Lalu Marlo yang kamu sebut tadi?" tanya William. "Ada kemungkinan dia yang di registry? Orang itu di top 100."
Kali ini… Larry ragu.
"Dia… mungkin, jujur aku masih ragu. Kita dari planet sama. Dia memang kuat di planet kita, tapi baru baru ini mencapai alam Nascent. Aku nggak lihat caranya bisa masuk top 100. Aku sendiri belum top 20.000 tapi cuma satu realm kultivasi di bawah dia. Seberapa besar kesenjangannya?"
"Itu daftar pencapaian, bukan daftar kekuatan. Apa saja bisa terjadi. Mau minum?" tanya Batu, yang sedang menyedot sesuatu yang kayak jus buah.
"Nak, Larry nanti ketemu pacarnya, jangan sampai kebanyakan minum! Jangan bikin citra buruk," kata William. Lalu menoleh ke Larry, "Kalau mereka ngegodain, abaikan aja. Kecuali Jotun, semuanya di sini bujang, jadi iri."
"Bernama sama kekayaan raya, tak heran kamu gampang dapat pacar," kata Larry, tak sadar kalau sebenarnya kebalikannya. Kekaisaran itu dinamai dari namanya, bukan sebaliknya.
"Bukan pacar, istri," tegur Jotun wajah serius. "Jangan sampe dia dengar kamu bilang begitu, atau kita semua mati."
"Jangan sampe aku dengar apa?" tiba-tiba suara perempuan keras di belakang Jotun. Mata Larry sedikit menyipit melihat wanita itu. Bukan kecantikan menakjubkan yang mengagetkan Larry, tapi penampilannya yang dewasa. Jotun berhasil menikah dengan wanita lebih tua. Diam-diam, Larry berikan jempol ke Jotun.
Dia mau tahu dari mana kalau wanita itu sebenarnya puluhan ribu tahun lebih muda dari Jotun?
*****
Sementara Larry duduk di antara sekelompok manusia kuno yang sejati, makhluk kuno lain yang dulu manusia menatap bayinya dengan tatapan penuh kasih. Mereka di penjara sementara di samping greenhouse, tempat para penyerang Inn dulu ditahan.
Banyak pembajak yang menyertai mereka sudah jadi pupuk, tapi Lex tak sanggup membunuh tahanan, jadi dia biarkan mereka di sini. Bukan berarti dia lupa, tapi tak nemu solusi lain, jadi diamkan saja buat sementara.
Pembajak-pembajak itu benar-benar sampah alam semesta, yang nikmat merampok dan membunuh, dan bunuh lebih untuk kesenangan dari pada harta atau kekayaan.
Mereka cuma dikurung, bukan disiksa, tapi hal itu saja cukup menimbulkan tingkat keputusasaan di antara mereka. Keputusasaan itulah yang sekarang dimakankan ke bayi Cthulhu. Tapi meski cukup buat makan anak itu, jangka panjang nggak cukup.
"Kamu harus keluarin dia dari Inn sesekali. Tempat ini nggak mendukung pertumbuhan bayi. Kamu bahkan nggak perlu ke zona perang, cuma bawa ke kumuh sembarangan yang dipakai ras apapun sudah cukup buat makan dia di awal hidupnya," kata Abroar, roh itu.
"Kenapa harus ke kumuh?" tanya Anita, kecantikannya terlihat nyentrik di dungeon.
"Sebelum aku hamil anak sendiri, aku punya banyak dungeon di rumah. Qawain akan bawa dia ke sana dan makanin dengan baik. Aku cuma mau yang terbaik buat anakku."
Tak ada tahanan yang benar-benar terluka saat proses makan, tapi pemandangan bayi monster itu bikin mereka ketakutan setengah mati.
Setelah bayi kenyang, Anita suruh undead-nya bawa bayi itu balik ke gerobak raksasanya, dan keluar dari penjara.
Little Blue sudah menunggu di luar, berbarengan Fenrir, Young McDonald, dan Zen. Menurut hierarki Inn, bayi itu anggota termuda kelompok mereka, dengan Little Blue yang paling senior.
Merasakan kehadiran familiarlyet mengganggu, bayi itu membuka matanya dan coba gunakan kekuatannya untuk menakut-nakuti mereka. Tapi upayanya gagal total. Sebagai adik termuda, monster nightmares dari jurang alam semesta ditakdirkan jadi yang paling lucu.
Lagian, saat Z tadi baca light novel ke mereka semua, dia jelas bilang kalau saudara laki-laki berkumpul, masing-masing punya peran berdasarkan senioritas.
*****
Lex ada di ruang kerjanya saat Mary tiba-tiba muncul dan bilang, "Ada tamu mau ketemu kamu. Salah satu tamu yang kamu suruh aku awasi."
"Sure, I have some free time, though I'll be meeting my girlfriend here soon," said Larry, as he decided to accompany William. Although he had put on his familiar grin and seemed like a carefree guy, he was cognizant of the fact that he had just revealed some sensitive information to William. Most likely, that information wouldn't mean anything to them, especially if they weren't from earth, but it was a variable nonetheless.
"I didn't catch your name," said William as they walked back.
"Larry."
"Well Larry, there are my brothers, Jotun, Nisar, Batu and Henry."
The group all waved to Larry from their seats, not bothering to get up. Their casual attire and the various interesting drinks around them really made them seem like a group of guys simply hanging out.
"Guys, this is Larry. Apparently, his friend looks a lot like me. I've never met a doppelg?nger before, so I invited him over. It'll be quite exciting."
"Is your friends' name Lex?" Henry asked, looking slightly curious. "Have you seen the Guest Registry? The top name in that is also Lex."
"Oh yeah, I've seen that. I was really surprised since they have the same name, but it's impossible to be my friend. After all, he's even weaker than me."
Larry spoke with full confidence, having completely forgotten Lex was Leo due to the Chamber of Secrets.
Henry just shrugged, as if it was expected.
"What about that Marlo guy you mentioned?" William asked. "Any chance he might be the one from the registry? That guy is in the top 100."
This time… Larry hesitated.
"He… might be, honestly, but I still have my doubts. After all, we're from the same planet. Although he's very powerful on our planet, he only recently reached the Nascent realm. I don't see how he could reach the top 100 on that list. I mean, I myself am not even in the top 20,000 but I'm just one cultivation realm below him. How big could the gap be?"
"It's an achievement list, not a strength list. Anything could happen. Hey, you want a drink?" asked Batu, who himself was sipping what looked like some kind of fruit juice.
"Guys, Larry has to meet his girlfriend soon, so don't fill him up with drinks! We don't want to make a bad impression," said William. Turning to Larry, William said, "If these guys try to goad you, ignore them. Other than Jotun, everyone here is a bachelor, so they get jealous."
"Named after such a prosperous empire, it's no wonder you were able to get a girlfriend so easily," said Larry, completely unaware that it was actually the opposite of what he said. The empire had been named after him, not the other way around.
"Not a girlfriend, a wife," Jotun clarified with a stern face. "Never let her hear you say that, or we're all dead."
"Never let me hear what?" asked a woman loudly who suddenly appeared behind Jotun. Larry's eyes constricted a little when he looked at the woman. It was not her astounding beauty that actually got to Larry, but her mature looks. Jotun had actually managed to marry an older woman. Secretly, he gave Jotun a thumbs up.
How was he supposed to know the woman was actually several hundred thousand years younger than Jotun?
*****
While Larry sat amongst a group of truly ancient humans, another ancient being who was formerly human looked at her baby with an endearing look. They were in the make-shift prison beside the greenhouse where the prisoners who once attacked the Inn long ago were being kept captive.
Many of the pillagers who accompanied them had already become fertilizer, but Lex couldn't bring it to himself to kill prisoners, so he just left them here. It wasn't as if he forgot about them, but since he couldn't think of another solution, he just left them here for the time being.
These pillagers were truly the scum of the universe, who took pleasure in looting and killing, and killed more for fun than to steal treasures or wealth.
They had only been locked up, and not tortured, but even such a thing had managed to create some level of despair amongst them. It was exactly that despair that was being fed to the Cthulhu baby right now. But while it was barely enough to feed the child, it would not do long term.
"You'll have to take it out of the Inn from time to time. This place is not conducive to the baby's growth. You don't even need to go to any war zones for now, just taking it to any random slum used by any race should be more than enough to feed it during its early days." said Abroar, the spirit.
"Why should I take it to a slum?" Anita asked, her beauty looking completely out of place in the dungeon.
"Before I got pregnant with my own children, I had plenty of dungeons back home. Qawain will take him there and feed him properly. I have to serve only the best to my child."
None of the prisoners were actually harmed in the feeding process, but the sight of the baby monster had left them scared out of their wits.
Once the baby had been fed, Anita had her undead carry it back into its massive stroller, and took it out of the prison.
Little Blue had been waiting outside, alongside Fenrir, Young McDonald and Zen. By hierarchy of the Inn, the baby was the junior most member of their group, with Little Blue the senior most.
Sensing their familiar yet annoying presence, the baby opened its eyes and tried to use its powers on them to scare them away. But its attempts failed miserably. As the youngest brother of the group, the horrid nightmare from the depths of the universe was destined to be the cutest.
After all, when Z had been reading a light novel to them all earlier, he clearly told them that when brothers got together, they each had a role based on their seniority.
*****
Lex was in his study when Mary appeared suddenly and said, "a guest wants to see you. It's one of the guests you told me to keep an eye on."
Komentar Chapter (0)
Login buat ikut berkomentar.
Belum ada komentar di chapter ini. Jadi yang pertama!