The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The boss wants to die.
Episode 69
The Merchant glanced at Aktr.
More precisely, he was eyeing Aerial, who lay draped across Aktr’s back.
“Why would you take a sick person to a place like that……?”
The Merchant’s tone was heavy with disapproval.
“I have business there.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
The Merchant waved both hands in emphatic protest.
“No matter how high a Player’s level is, if you venture into the Water Ruins, there won’t be enough left to bury. And with a sick person in tow, no less—you might as well march straight into the grave.”
“What?”
I was startled by his unexpected vehemence.
The Merchant swept his eyes over a passing tourist with visible regret, eager to hurry his explanation and move on.
He clearly wanted to send us away so he could return to soliciting customers.
“People never go there.”
“Why not?”
“You’re asking why? Because the Water Deity has awakened, and anyone foolish enough to intrude is ground to pulp.”
“Ugh…….”
Aerial whimpered, his body wracked with sweat as though gripped by a nightmare.
I lowered my voice, watching his reaction carefully.
“Why is that?”
“You know nothing, it seems. There was a terrible incident several years ago—a massacre. Don’t you know?”
I shook my head.
Apparently abandoning hope of making a sale today, the Merchant launched into a fuller explanation.
“The Water Ruins sit in the most remote corner of Undine Island.”
The Merchant glanced around to ensure no one was listening, then leaned forward.
“There were people living there who called themselves the Water Tribe—all of them had blue hair.”
“The Water Tribe?”
“Yes. Outsiders wouldn’t know, but locals here on Undine Island, they all know the story.”
The Merchant straightened up again, speaking with a flat affect.
“The Water Ruins were never meant to be inhabited. The sea there is so fierce that no one can survive even a single day. According to legend, it’s because the place lies near where the Water Deity sleeps, though no one truly knows the reason.”
I gazed down at the hair of Aerial, who rested on Aktr’s back.
It was dyed blood-red now, but I still remembered the true color of his hair when it had briefly shown through.
‘Definitely a piercing, vivid blue.’
Like aquamarine.
“Waves in the Water Ruins crash with such force that entire buildings are swept away. Have you ever seen a tidal wave?”
The Merchant spread both arms wide, drawing a large circle.
“On bad days, waves the size of houses come crashing down, or so they say.”
“How could anyone possibly live in such a place?”
“Exactly. It felt so ominous that the people of Undine Island never took kindly to the Water Tribe.”
The Merchant’s face twisted with lingering distaste as he pursed his lips.
I tilted my head and asked, “Do they still live in the Water Ruins?”
“Ha. Not a chance.”
The Merchant laughed outright.
Actually, it was more of a bark.
“Pirates came crawling in years ago, and whether they were targeting the Water Tribe from the start or not, they stripped that place completely bare.”
“So…….”
“Yes. They didn’t leave a single soul alive.”
That was the truth behind the massacre.
‘Then Aerial is a survivor of it?’
I fell silent.
“Ever since, the sea has grown even more violent, and that place is now a complete wasteland. No matter how strong you are, nature shows no mercy—one wrong move and you’re swept away by a tidal wave. That’s why I’m telling you not even to dream of it.”
“…….”
“There are stories of curious souls who ventured toward the Water Ruins and fled in terror, saying the Water Deity had raged. After that, nobody goes.”
“You mean the Water Deity grew angry because of the massacre?”
“That’s right.”
Sensing my stubborn resolve to find that place regardless, the Merchant’s eyes blazed with intensity as he warned me.
“It’s a place where the Water Tribe died in droves and grew only more cursed. Don’t get curious about it. I’m telling you this for your own sake.”
He finished by looking directly at Aerial with his red-dyed hair.
“If you came here to vacation and end up harassed by vengeful spirits of the Water Tribe, that would be a shame, wouldn’t it?”
***
Aerial woke only when night fell.
Strangely, the moment his eyes opened, he knew he’d arrived on Undine Island.
“We’ve made it…….”
He lacked the strength to open his eyes fully.
It was strange that he was alive at all.
Without food, his body should have wasted away, yet Aerial remained unchanged—his frame undiminished.
The peculiarity of it chilled me: his body showed no sign of illness, yet fever burned through him relentlessly.
‘Not a curse, then. What is it?’
I activated my skill to search for any abnormal condition afflicting Aerial.
[‘Demon God’s Eyes Show All’ search skill activated.]
But nothing appeared.
‘That’s odd. It doesn’t look like a common illness or cold—I would’ve expected something skill-related.’
Aerial couldn’t wait any longer and pressed me forward.
“Let’s go to the Water Ruins right now.”
“Not now. It’s dark. It’s dangerous.”
“It’s fine.”
I frowned.
“You want to die uselessly after coming all this way? If you return to the Sanctuary, getting on that boat will have been for nothing.”
Aerial’s breathing came in ragged gasps.
I wiped the sweat from his forehead with a dry cloth and spoke firmly.
“Aktr is looking into a safe route to the Water Ruins for us. Just hold on a little longer.”
I couldn’t understand why he wanted to go to the Water Ruins so badly.
There were plenty of places where he could rest comfortably as a resort.
I recalled what the Merchant had said.
Blue-haired people who lived only in the Water Ruins.
The Water Tribe.
‘Aerial must be of the Water Tribe, mustn’t he?’
Whatever the truth, his eagerness to head toward the Water Ruins alone wasn’t driven by simple comfort.
‘Should I really take Aerial there?’
It wasn’t as though Aktr and I would stay with him.
Eventually we’d have to leave.
It was only a matter of time before Aerial would die in the Water Ruins—that much seemed certain.
Unable to contain my curiosity any longer, I cautiously probed his intentions.
“Why are you so set on going to the Water Ruins?”
“…….”
“The place has supposedly become more dangerous.”
“……More dangerous?”
He clearly didn’t know.
I relayed what I’d heard directly.
“The Water Deity……?”
Aerial lifted his crimson eyes.
His gaze was fever-hazed, consciousness fraying at the edges, yet the pallor of sickness was unmistakable.
“The sea has grown rougher—tidal waves strike the Ruins multiple times a day now. How do you expect to survive that? Are you trying to die?”
“No, no……. That place is…….”
Aerial deliberated for a moment, then looked directly into my face before answering honestly.
“That place is my sanctuary.”
“Your sanctuary?”
That barren wasteland?
‘Don’t tell me he’s actually planning to live there.’
As shock seized me, the door opened and Aktr stepped inside.
He held several Teleport Scrolls in his hand.
Aktr gazed down at Aerial lying on the bed without a word.
Spotting the Teleport Scrolls in his hand, Aerial reached out toward them.
As if pleading.
Aktr glanced at me, as if seeking permission.
“What should we do?”
Despite having obtained the scrolls himself, he unfailingly asked for my opinion.
‘If I give them to him now, he’ll teleport immediately.’
Yet Aerial had the look of someone whose eyes would remain wide and urgent until the scrolls were placed in his hands.
I had no choice but to nod.
Rip!
The Teleport Scroll I’d tossed to Aerial tore cleanly in two.
“…Thank you…”
Aerial’s voice blurred like an afterimage, then vanished entirely.
“…Are you going after him?”
Aktr asked with a look of displeasure.
“Why? Would you rather I didn’t?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
……
“You never liked Aerial from the start, did you? What’s with all the hatred? Come on, spill it.”
“It’s just…”
Aktr rolled his eyes and shrank his broad shoulders timidly.
“He’s always being so arrogant to you.”
…When?
He acts servile enough, calling me his master—I’ve never seen him act that way.
Was he talking about when he got upset and told me not to nurse him?
As I frowned, caught in bewilderment, Aktr continued.
“Pretending to be hurt and wagging his tail like that…”
Wagging his tail?
When exactly?
What on earth is he talking about?
“Aktr, Aerial was genuinely ill.”
“That didn’t mean he was at death’s door.”
Aktr glanced at my face, gauging my reaction.
“He woke up from sleep and suddenly grabbed your hand…”
“You don’t actually think that’s tail-wagging, do you?”
Aktr’s head lowered even further.
“…I don’t like Aerial…”
He muttered to himself about some red nine-tailed fox, some arrogant wildcat.
This one’s getting dangerous, isn’t he?
“Aktr, that’s a sickness. You’re going to develop paranoia if you keep that up.”
I was worried about how he’d gotten so twisted.
“At least say something that makes sense.”
“I know it’s unreasonable…”
He knew?!
“But I still don’t like him…”
“You know that deliberately doing something unreasonable is worse, don’t you?”
“And I’m getting scolded because of him right now.”
Sigh.
I pressed my forehead.
“Besides, we can’t just let Aerial go anyway. You know that.”
Aktr needed to reform Aerial, and I needed to raise his Favorability Points to eighty.
‘Aerial doesn’t seem like he’ll stay with us willingly. I need to see how he reacts.’
I stood up.
“Let’s go after him.”
Aktr’s face fell completely.
“Stop your whining and come on.”
I grabbed his wrist decisively and pulled him along.
Of course, since I was the Demon God and possessed considerable strength, his massive frame followed like a paper doll.
I extended my hand and made my demand with confidence.
“Give me a Teleport Scroll.”
Aktr, his brows drooping sorrowfully, handed me a scroll.
I thought I glimpsed something that looked like a drooping tail, but I deliberately ignored it and tore the scroll at once.
A soft wind brushed past, and my body stretched like taffy before being pulled away to somewhere else.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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