Chapter 26. It’s not difficult (5)
It should have just disappeared.
It should have been better.
It should have disappeared and never appeared before my eyes again.
So suddenly.
So suddenly.
…… So suddenly.
why!
* * *
Just like Bern.
Something that shouldn’t have been there at a time it shouldn’t have been in a place it shouldn’t have been.
In pieces and not even whole.
okay. Just like Bern.
It was better not to see it.
Not knowing is a hundred and a thousand times better.
I wanted to know why the axis of time moved and who moved it and for what purpose. I followed it. I never wanted to face the axis of time again. I never dreamed that I would see it again.
– They say they can turn back time just once.
Those were Chase’s words.
Just one line I found in an old, very old book. It was said that it was the only information about the axis of time. So I just took it for granted. I thought that after using it once, it was gone.
But I ended up watching it again like this.
Even if he could gather all the words that existed in this world out loud, they would not be able to express Kalian’s feelings right now.
Calian’s mouth opened slightly as he looked at the golden ring floating alone in the air.
“Ha…”
A sigh flowed out, containing words more certain than anything else in the world. As I watched him exhale, fortunately it didn’t seem to be so terrible that he had to give up on life, so I let out a laugh at the end of my sigh.
I now understand why, before entering this place, Alan tried to lighten Calian’s mood by telling jokes that he didn’t usually make. The moment he came in and saw that, he must have been worried about what would happen to Calian.
Don’t be surprised, don’t be agitated. I couldn’t even tell him that, so I must have joked or said something like that.
“It’s funny. If my brother had cooked his food properly, we wouldn’t have seen something like that so suddenly.”
While laughing, Kalian also joked.
To Alan, who was only looking at the back of Calian’s head, he meant to tell him that it was okay and not to worry. He mentioned an innocent person without any connection to the rediscovery of the shaft fragment.
“Thank goodness. It’s only a small part, and part of it is here.”
And added this:
I’m glad I’m a part of it.
“I don’t have to have expectations that I shouldn’t have and I don’t have to worry about the same thing happening again. That’s a real relief.”
I’m so glad I don’t have to have expectations that I shouldn’t have because it’s only a part of me.
“Because some are here, so the same thing won’t happen again, wherever the rest are.”
How fortunate I am for that too.
In the end, there is nothing fortunate about Kalyan himself. He said he was as happy as the day he found out that Bern’s life had been completely erased and forgotten.
“… Don’t swallow it like that. It will upset the prince.”
This is Kalyan, whose stomach melted after swallowing Silike’s poisoned tea. I swallowed it all without frowning in front of others. He says he is fortunate in a normal voice, but is it any different this time?
Even so, poison got into the sun again.
Calian did not respond for a while. Alan tried hard to suppress the urge to immediately go next to him and check what Calian’s face was like.
Calian spent a long time in silence.
Alan just watched Calian without saying anything.
I’m worried that it might collapse.
“It’s okay. My heart is strong.”
After a while, I finally heard an answer from Calian. It was a calm voice that did not waver in the slightest.
Now that I knew it wasn’t such a terrible feeling as to die, I thought it was okay. Even after seeing this, I realized that there was nothing I could do about it.
“Is this going to be any different now? Even if by some chance I can completely take control of the axis of time and move time again, how can I change something that has already become so out of sync?”
What if someone other than Bern is forgotten again?
What if someone other than Kalyan loses his name again?
So just close your eyes.
“…How do you plan to handle it?”
Although he didn’t believe Calian’s words that it was okay, Alan only asked this. I thought it would be better to continue my thoughts in a different direction.
“That’s enough for me. No more.”
Calian said something that seemed like an answer and stepped closer to the golden ring.
The idea was to look into it a little more first and then destroy it. This was to prevent the axis of time from ever appearing in the world again, regardless of whether it was new or not.
It didn’t matter what power it contained or how great its ability was. The horrible thing of turning back time should never happen again. That was the most important.
-Tap!
However, the foot stopped before taking three steps.
This was because his feet stopped right in front of the ring. To be precise, I would have to say that I was blocked by something and couldn’t get any closer.
An invisible wall stood between the axis of time and Calian. Something was protecting the shaft fragments.
– Ugh…
Calian, who knew that, took out his sword without hesitation.
As the sword filled with dark red aura made a deep resonant sound, Allen guessed what Calian was thinking and took back the shield he had placed on Calian.
With that, Calian swung his sword.
– Kaang!
A sharp sound filled Sispanian’s space.
Calian’s sword, which seemed to be dripping with miserable light, was still blocked by the invisible ‘wall’ and stopped in the air. I swung my sword again, but all my attacks were blocked by the wall.
Alan, who watched Calian’s behavior for a moment, spoke quietly.
“Please stop taking the sword. I haven’t even been able to go in.”
Calian chewed his mouth.
It was not for nothing that there was no security device. If you can’t access it, who will touch it?
In the end, Calian scattered the mana and aura that made up the sword. A cluster of dark red lights resembling Calian fluttered here and there before disappearing.
Calian, who was quietly watching the scene, opened his mouth.
“Sispanian…”
A barrier created by a force that even Alan could not do anything about. There is only one person here who would bother installing such a device. Sigmund Khan Sispanian is clearly the owner of this space.
“It must have been Sispanian’s doing.”
If not, it would be Serenti.
However, Calian did not mention anything about Serenti and only said this. Because I wasn’t short-tempered enough to say things carelessly in a situation where I wasn’t sure about God’s intervention.
“Master. You saw the axis of time in Secretia.”
“Yes. I saw it once.”
When Chase tried to find out about the axis of time, he called Alan to Secretia. Then Alan saw this too.
“So, I guess that means he was fine in Secretia at the time, but when I opened my eyes, he was gone, and I don’t know when, but some of him came here.”
Calian kept his head still and lowered his gaze. Quick thoughts and words continued at the same time.
“Whether directly or not, it seems that Sispanian was involved. It seems that Sispanian hid the fragments of the axis himself. I don’t know if it was before or after he met me.”
The Sispanian empty nest in Siegfried Territory is a known place. This is a place no one knows. If she wanted to hide something, but assuming there were circumstances in which she had to hide it somewhere other than ‘her own space,’ she may have thought this place was the safest.
“Then it was revealed when the palace collapsed.”
Should we give permission to erect a statue of Arsene?
Calian let out a heartless laugh at this sudden thought and took out a pebble from his pocket. It was the same black stone that Alan said could be an ‘artificial new object.’
What the shaft fragment and the stone had in common was a character that not even Calian could read.
When I was in Bern, I never paid attention to the letters engraved on the axis of time, but not now. Since I couldn’t go inside the wall and look closely, I wanted to compare the letters here.
“It has already been confirmed.”
Alan, noticing what Calian was thinking, said.
Alan also thought the same thing. Therefore, Euria had already compared the letters she had copied. So, on the way here, we also brought up a story about stones.
“There were no identical letters. However, we confirmed that they were letters in a similar format.”
“I guess it means they are different letters of the same letter.”
“It is possible.”
After hearing those words, Calian was silent again for a while.
Alan, who was waiting for Calian’s words, looked around. It was a wall carved with the stories of eight people who led the War of the Two Gods to victory.
Among them, only the face of ‘Secritia the Great’ was not filled in. Her nameless face is only an outline. Nothing about the eyes, nose or mouth was engraved on it.
Alan laughed bitterly when he remembered that. It may not have been for the same reason as Bern, but it was because I thought that she too had a forgotten face and name.
Soon Calian’s voice brought Alan out of his thoughts.
“Anyway, now I have to move a little faster. If I hadn’t found it, I wouldn’t know, but I found it. I think I should ask in person.”
“Do you want to meet Sispanian?”
Alan, who thought of someone Calian could ask about this matter, asked this, and Calian immediately nodded and answered.
“Yes. I don’t think I can remove the fragments of the axis here… I guess I have to meet them. Why is the axis of time that has served its purpose in the ‘past’ and disappeared in the ‘present’ and only a part of it remains here? “I wonder if it is true that the rest have truly disappeared. Among those who know the reason, the only one Calian can meet is Sispanian.”
I might not be able to answer again, but I still had to see him. Isn’t it possible to cross the Seneu River to meet Serenti, the god who symbolizes life and death, in person?
“Are you going right away?”
“No. After I finish this job. Even though I have a moving magic circle, there are more urgent things to do right away. I can’t believe what these two hard-working guys will do while I’m away.”
Alan, who understood who the ‘two heavy-handed guys’ were talking about, smiled slightly.
Anyway, didn’t Sispanian tell you to come visit us when everything was ready? The discovery of the axis fragment here and the preparations Calian had to make were completely different issues.
“First of all, I have to meet Brother Randel again.”
A black pebble with letters engraved on it that seem to be the same as those on the axis of time. And the force used by some kind of organization to which the pebble reacted. Their connection with Randel.
Calian said this as he made up his mind to meet one of the two hard-working guys.
* * *
“Please answer me, Brother Randel. Should I think of you as an enemy, or should I embrace you as well? I want you to tell me that directly.”
That’s what he said.
“I don’t need to tell you right now how much is hidden in the oath seal, so just tell me that one thing first.”
He also said this.
“You keep Brisen and Your Highness together.”
Randel, who looked at Calian for a moment, quietly opened his mouth.
He realized that Briesen and Lemain were on the same line. Not only Lemain, but if Landel is targeting Briesen, isn’t there a strong intention to stop it?
Calian nodded as if he had nothing to hide.
“I decided not to place the Marquis and Margrave in the same position as Brisen. I gave up the idea of having that entire family as enemies. The Marquis and Margrave Lennon, Viscount Briessen. I think I’ll just delete those three and save the family. “I have something to write about.”
“I wonder if it’s your pride or yourself. You probably don’t know how difficult it is to get rid of all the heads while maintaining the power of Brisen, and how unlikely it is to properly use the Brisen that has been kept alive.” “I have some faith in him
. It’ll probably be okay.”
After saying that, Calian tapped the rim of the teacup with his finger and continued.
“If something escapes the hands of that trustworthy corner, you can just go and strike it down, so it won’t be difficult.”
Brisen’s power is needed, but It’s not precious. If there are guys who act outside of Plantz’s hands, you just have to get rid of them. It’s not difficult.
Pruning.
Haven’t you already done it too many times?
“You don’t doubt the kid you trust.”
A corner of belief . He said this already knowing that it was Plants, and Calian laughed for a moment. Randel
was right.
It was boiled peas that I couldn’t help but love and hate. I never had any doubts.
Bern wasn’t good at creating his own people. Instead, those who came into his enclosure. I didn’t doubt it.
Of course I got hit in the back of the head, so I know how much it hurts. Nevertheless, I didn’t doubt my person.
“Because I trust myself more.”
It wasn’t because I foolishly liked people. It
was because I trusted myself.
“I am not the type of person who would fall because of betrayal or something.”
It could have been confidence or arrogance, but in any case, the same was true for Calian now. So from the moment I decided to join hands with Plantz, even though I hated him, I never doubted him.
” okay. I understand.”
“Shouldn’t you answer now?”
Randel answered, and Calian looked at Randel again.
Randel, who looked at Calian for a moment, opened his mouth.
“It’s something else. I’m not targeting your Highness or Brisen.”
“Can’t you tell me exactly what it is?”
“Yes.”
“Because of the contract?”
“Okay.”
This is
enough for now.
Calian, who had made his decision, nodded. I nodded.
In order to protect Lemain’s life from being shortened, I have to protect him from falling into the hands of others until the axis of time is destroyed. In addition to protecting the heart of the grass-eater, I have to protect my eldest brother as well. I can protect everything. Well, I can do it in
parallel
. It shouldn’t be difficult since it’s a job.
“I understand.”
The scent of bergamot no longer rose from the cooled black tea.
I couldn’t tell if it wasn’t coming out or if the scent was still there but I couldn’t feel it. Anyway, now there was only a bitter scent and a bitter taste. “You always turn your back on Brother Randel.” It wasn’t friendship
that
could be shared face to face with Randel right now. Because if we faced each other, we would have no choice but to point our swords at each other. This
time, it wasn’t to turn our backs, but to protect him. There are differences, but in the end, all Calian can show Randel is his back. That is the best for now.
“Don’t step out of my shadow anymore.”
Calian’s red eyes stared into Randel’s abyss.
“I’m dying.”
Breath. I extended my hand for the first and last time towards those dark blue sea-colored eyes that were closing in on me.
