Chapter 77. Just listen to me for a moment (6)
Instead of arms, it had red, long wings.
Unlike Alan’s hair, which starts out silver and ends in red, some of the hair, some red and some silver, sways here and there in the wind.
Its legs are also full of feathers of the same light, and at the tips of its feet are sharp claws that Aela might carry. It is said that its claws and blood contain a special poison.
“But why are you walking alone?”
I think I read that it moves around in groups and is quite timid, but it was alone.
“… Well, not everything written in the book is true.”
It is different from what has been known.
If I was scared, I wouldn’t have come out in front of so many people. I couldn’t tell if the book was wrong or if that guy was an exception.
He doesn’t care.
now.
– Kyaaaaaah!
Trained horses are frightened by the sound that one person makes. Surrounding the Silent upside down seems to have no effect, so even if he covers his ears, the eerie cries of the thing that he hears without any reduction shake his mind.
‘What’s this?’
‘Communication supplies. It’s a gift, Hina. It’s made from magic stones, so you can use it even if you can’t handle magic.’
‘But the magic stone is pink.’
‘ah. Maybe it’s not that good? ‘Is it a color you don’t like?’
‘If you say you don’t like it, I’m doing it so they can make a new one.’
‘of course. If you don’t like it, I’ll
‘no. you are pretty. I don’t like it. I’m just curious. I didn’t know there were magic stones of this color. The magic stones attached to things like magic lanterns or bathtubs are usually yellow or brown.’
‘Those are things I got from low-level monsters, but this one is of a different kind. It came from a fossilized harpy egg. They say the magic stone from a fully grown harpy is a slightly darker color than this, but I’ve never seen that before.’
‘Because there are no more harpies?’
‘okay. The existing magic stones are so rare that they are not sold, and there is no way to obtain new magic stones anymore. The harpies went extinct not long after the War of the Two Gods ended.’
‘He disappeared not during the war, but after it ended?’
‘huh. Magic stones have already become rare, but the color of the magic stones is even pretty.’
‘Then he died because his heart was beautiful.’
‘Well… that’s what it means.’
okay. It was ruined.
After the population plummeted due to the War between the Two Gods, they were exterminated by humans. Now, we know that they were on this continent of Cysterra through the magic stones left behind, such as corpses and eggs that have not yet rotted.
Why did that guy suddenly appear?
Was there a surviving entity or was it Danu again? Are monsters that are said to live on another continent other than Cisteria being brought to this land?
I’m not interested in that either.
now.
‘What does it look like? ‘Do you look pretty too?’
‘Even so, it’s a monster. Even you would be quite surprised to see the drawings of harpies hunting.’
‘Is it that much?’
‘huh. It’s cruel from humans’ point of view. Although they look similar to humans and sometimes communicate well, there is a reason why they are classified as monsters rather than as other races such as elves or mermaids.’
The only thing that matters is that such a guy is right in front of you.
I feel like I’ve entered that illustrated book full of pictures that made me cringe, which I read from the library secretly from Louise and Chase when they were children. Or it feels like I’m dreaming.
– Kyaaaak!
– Kagaga River!
“… It’s more than I imagined when I actually heard it.”
Calian struck away the man’s claws, which were flashing with pitch-black light, and immediately adjusted his grip on the sword and swung it.
– Flap!
Movement is fast.
With a single flap of its wings, the guy who had retreated suddenly launched himself into the sky.
Calian, who felt like he had just knocked the wind out of him, turned his head for a moment. The faces of Jan, Reric, and Den, who had no talent to withstand its cries, all turned pale.
– Jan. Get into the carriage with the other servants.
– …… Prince Randel is in the carriage.
– Go in. I’m not the type of person who would hate sharing a carriage, even in this situation.
Yan nodded slightly and opened the carriage door, taking the two with him. Surprisingly, the pea standing next to him had not withered and he was looking for a bow. Before I had time to watch it any longer, it flew in once again.
– Kaang Kagagang!
Calian quickly raised his sword and blocked the creature’s claws and struck it away.
Surprisingly, it was able to dodge attacks and counterattack by moving through the air at a speed that could never lag behind Calian.
– Whirr!
– Kaaaang!
When I once again swipe away the harpy’s claws, the tips of its wings swing towards my neck. The harpy’s feathers brushed through Calian’s hair as he quickly threw his head back.
-Sarak…!
Calian let out a laugh as he saw the black hair that had been cut off about a word fall down helplessly.
“I’ve never seen even the feathers look like blades.”
That’s right.
If you take a bunch and give it to Aila, she’ll like it.
Kalian, whimpering and lightly tapping his feet, gained a little more distance from the harpy and then traced his memory. Was there anything else hunters of the past had to pay attention to in how they caught them? I remembered that.
-Why are you fighting alone over the wizards?
In that split-second gap, Aila’s voice was heard.
Calian answered right away.
– no. As far as I know is…….
Calian, who was counterattacking moderately and keeping an eye on the attacker’s attack method, hurriedly took a stab at Aela before responding. The smell of fresh blood wafts from the claws that were raised as if to cut off his head.
It means that they have already ‘hunted’ somewhere.
Kalian frowned slightly and used his magic power.
– Slut!
A spear of wind was created in an instant and flew towards the guy’s head.
The guy didn’t avoid it. He opened his mouth instead.
The mouth of the guy with the human face opens to an abnormal size.
– Fasut……!
The spear of wind was sucked into the huge mouth, which automatically frowned. As if he knew this would happen, Calian created a shield in front of himself. Almost at the same time, the bastard’s mouth opened again.
Familiar magical power.
Calian’s magic gathers again in its mouth.
– Slut!
A spell that is completely identical to the one sent by Calian just now strikes towards Calian.
– Kwakagak!
Calian, who was watching the spears blocked by his shield scatter and disappear, grabbed his sword. Then he kicked his feet and finished conveying his answer to Eila.
– Even if they can’t use magic, they know how to send it back.
– …… I think so.
– Tell your brother not to shoot the arrow. I don’t like arrows flying at me.
– Harpy?
– I.
As soon as he finished speaking, Calian jumped up to the high place where the harpy was and struck with his sword from below. The sword quickly became entangled in the claws of the bastard who put out his paw. A new sword was created in the hands of Calian, who let go of the sword without any hesitation.
– Flap!
Its wings move again as if trying to remove his body.
Calian stepped on the guy’s foot and launched himself into the air again. The moment I came face to face with the guy from a high place with nowhere to stand but his body, I used my now free aurors as I could. And he thrust his sword towards the guy’s neck.
– Cum, cum, cum!
The four daggers that emerged at the same time rushed towards the guy’s wings.
The harpy twisted her body.
Instead of his broken right arm, he catches the stray sword with his good left hand and slashes it again. A dagger that flew next cut off the tip of a red wing, but that was all the dagger that was reaching towards the guy who had retreated disappeared as if scattered. It was beyond the scope of Kalian’s control.
-Shoouuuk……!
Calian’s body, which had no choice but to fall because it had no wings, began to fall toward the floor. As I got closer to the ground, the sound of the wind grew louder, disturbing my ears.
– Aaaah!
The guy who didn’t miss it approached Calian faster than an arrow. And he waved his wings towards Kalian.
Sigh.
As if he had been waiting.
His red mouth turns up.
– Ugh!
An auror the size of a fist is created under Calian’s body.
– Taaat!
Calian twisted his body in the air and leapt, stepping on his Auror. He flew towards his harpy, stepping on a bundle of aurors that were like stepping stones in the air, as if he was flying into the sky.
“… You are amazing.”
I couldn’t do it when I fell off the cliff in Schrinz, but I can do it now. Any number of crazy things are possible.
Despite Eila’s dissuasion, Planz, who was measuring arrows with his knights, muttered to his younger brother, who was doing crazy things like flying through the air without wings. As if he had heard that sound, Calian’s red lips drew a slightly longer line.
– Boo!
Calian lunged at the Harpy who had climbed higher and swung his sword.
The harpy’s body fell far away again. Kalyan follows. If you dodge the red light sword, a dagger will fly at you. If you dodge the daggers rushing in front of you, another dagger coming down from above will try to cut off your wings. If he avoids it and pulls his body out, the person who should have fallen to the ground rushes right in front of him and stabs him again with his sword.
It’s not like I’m using magic.
How on earth?
– Patter patter!
Before I knew it, dark red blood was dripping from the tip of the pierced and torn wing. When it fell to the ground, the grass where it touched the harpy’s blood turned black and withered. Calian’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at that figure.
The blood was so poisonous that no one was exposed to it and survived.
– There is poison in the blood. Tell Aila not to remove the shield.
– all right.
Because I was able to see its incredible toxicity with my own eyes.
* * *
I definitely had to be excited.
Sispanian appeared and blessed the entire Cairisis.
So he had to say words of admiration to Le Main with an excited face, whether sincere or not. He had to choose the most pleasant words in the world and be happy as if he had met his distant ancestor.
But everyone kept quiet. This was the first meeting held since Lemain returned from his brief absence from the royal palace, so it was a day that was not enough for all the nobles to spend the day praising the royal family in unison.
“What kind of behavior is this all of a sudden?”
The nobles all swallowed their saliva at the sound of Lemain’s voice that came out at the end of the silence.
‘Is that rumor true?’
‘They said Briesen tried to invade the empty royal palace… It wasn’t a false rumor spread by the royal palace.’
Their thoughts and where their eyes are directed.
Beneath the feet of Lemain, who was sitting on the largest and most ornate chair in the highest position in the conference hall. The person who placed his knees, palms, and forehead on the cold floor.
“… I have something to apologize for, Your Highness.”
Gray Briesen’s miserable voice echoed through the conference hall.
The blue-gray eyes that were looking down at his back moved quietly toward Lemain. The Duke’s representative came to the palace to personally check the results of the ‘well-planned plan’ on behalf of Calian, who was not present. It was Siegfried’s minor duke Dmirea.
Lemaine’s low voice reached Demirea’s ears.
“Apologies. What does that mean, Marquis Briesen?”
“I know that your army, Balkan, fought a great battle before Sispanian came to this land.”
At Gray’s words, the barely continuous breathing of the nobles stopped in silence.
There was no longer anyone who did not know that a major battle had taken place there between Balkan and an unknown force. Everyone knew that it was not just dry lightning that lit up the sky that day.
Nevertheless, the reason the nobles did not want to talk about the incident was not because they wanted to overlook the battle and ignore it. This was because the identity of the opposing force was not yet known. This was because it was unclear whether it was just a simple combat exercise in the Balkans or whether there had really been an invasion.
If you keep your mouth shut right now, you will follow the gesture of Lemain, who has re-proven that you are a ‘descendant of the Cispanians’, and instead of leaving the palace and returning home, you will be erected on the Renicita leaf in the square.
“Do you mean what happened in the royal forest?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What do you mean by apologizing for that?”
But Gray was talking about it.
He was even ‘apologizing’ to Lemain for that matter.
As Dmirea listened to the conversation between the king and the marquis over a calm typhoon, the conversation she had with Calian after Sispanian left came to mind.
– then. What the prince is saying is that you plan to blame Marquis Briesen for what Danu and Zeon did?
– why. Don’t you like it?
– I know why the prince wants to get rid of the Marquis of Briesen. And I also hate Brisen to my core. So it happened.
– okay. I know, Demirea.
– But the method the prince spoke of was too much.
– Is it too snake-like?
– yes. That’s right. This isn’t fair. Is the prince’s behavior any different from Briesen’s in defeating him in that way?
– also. I knew my fiancé would think that way.
– You know this, but you want me to tell you that. I did not stand on the prince’s side to help with such a scheme.
– know. I know very well, Demirea. So just listen to me for a moment.
“…Keep talking.”
The memories that continued like that were paused for a moment by Lemain’s voice. Demirea, who came out of the flashback, looked at Lemaine and Gray again.
“Yes, Your Highness. I heard that the number of Vulcans who went to battle in the royal forest that day reached hundreds.”
“I never asked you to explain that matter, Marquis Briesen. What do I need to apologize to you for that incident? I only asked that.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll tell you.”
‘Prince Calian will definitely try to blame the Marquis for what happened. Therefore, the marquis must first appear in front of the king and inform him of the invasion from outside. ‘He apologizes for not being able to help in Vriesen while Balkan stepped in to suppress the invading forces.’
‘This means making the nobles whose safety has been invaded tremble. The idea is to completely forget that the Sispanians came and to resent and distrust the king. Do you understand what I am saying, Marquis?’
Rashid says.
My son’s words that I will never forget. Lynn Gray, still recalling that and still bowing his head toward the floor, continued.
“The reason I want to apologize to you is for no other reason than to try to invade the royal palace through the royal forest…”
Lemain leaned his back against the throne.
He slowly closed his eyes and waited for Gray’s next words.
Gray’s voice, which had paused for a moment, came again.
“Baron Rashid Briesen. This is my son, who returned to Kairis only a few months ago.”
The silence was broken.
There was a commotion that threatened to leave the conference room.
“… What do you mean? Marquis.”
“It’s just as I said, Your Majesty. I found out too late that my son dared to invade this palace. As soon as I found out, I came in front of you like this. I apologize for this.”
It is said that it was Brisen’s army that fought against Balkan in the Royal Forest.
However, it is said that it was not the Briesen family that led them, but an individual named Rashid Briesen. The words of apology for not being able to find out and stop it led to an uproar in the conference room.
“After the plan failed, my son immediately left Cairisis. Currently, the knights of Brisen are searching in various directions to capture my son. I am sorry for not recognizing my son’s greed in advance. What punishment will you do? “I will accept it sweetly.”
Gray bowed his head.
The father’s forehead touched the floor again as he tried to somehow avoid being implicated by first accusing his child of treason and then personally setting him up on a lenicita leaf.
Lemain, looking down at it, let out a short sigh.
“… It’s a sight to behold.”
LeMaine’s unvarnished evaluation of Gray flowed out. I couldn’t bear to say ‘I’m sorry’ in this situation, so I brought it up instead.
He said, ‘It wasn’t us who framed Brysen. It is said that the prince said that only a move would be made to do so.’
‘Then, Marquis Manasil. What do you plan to do after that?’
‘You don’t have to do anything. Marquis Briesen will take Rashid’s head and offer it up.’
Malcalian’s prediction, relayed through Demirea and Alan, was coming true, so he had no choice but to say such a thing.
Le Main, who listened carefully to his son’s words, is solidifying his position as king, but Gray, who ignored his son’s words, is trying to cut off his own head and that of his child.
Isn’t that sight truly spectacular?
– Is this a trap for the Baron, not the Marquis of Briesen?
– that’s right. Demirea.
– I understand what you mean.
– huh. But you still hate it because it’s like a snake?
– It’s extremely cunning… It’s like a black cat.
– You mean you still don’t like it?
– You see Marquis Briesen’s thoughts so well, but you don’t understand what I’m saying.
– Ah… So, are you praising my plan, fiancée?
– yes. It’s a compliment.
– and. Thank you Demirea.
– Are you that good again?
– Of course, anytime is fine. It’s a compliment to my fiancé. Actually, I did something that got me scolded, but I’ll tell you about that later. I’m in a good mood, so I’ll scold you later, Demirea.
Demirea, who had been listening to Lemaine’s harsh words and hearing Calian’s voice again, looked up.
And lowered her eyes.
She looked down at Gray’s shabby back.
“It is truly a sight, Marquis Briesen.”
It seems as if Demirea’s feelings were fully expressed.
Lemain’s voice rang through the conference hall once again.
* * *
– Flap!
The harpy, who had lost her balance and stumbled, moved her wings again.
Calian, who still had time to spare and used the remaining aurors again, threw out her sword without waiting any longer. More than a dozen daggers flew at the same time toward its neck and wings.
– Kill the harpy without touching its body.
– In this situation? Is this my first time seeing that guy?
– therefore. You don’t know where the magic stone is.
– I’m fighting quite hard, Ayla. Do we even have to consider that?
– Isn’t it enough if you have the presence of mind to chat with me? Don’t destroy the precious magic stone, just cut off the head.
– …… Yes. okay.
So I’m only targeting his neck and wings. He couldn’t remember where the Harpy’s heart was, so he was only attacking like that.
– Slut!
– Kaaang kaaang!
The man’s half-severed right foot swung.
Calian, who hastily moved his body, dodged the black and red blood that was more repulsive than the claws. Then he leapt high into the sky and sent down countless daggers.
-Flutter…!
Even with wings that could be broken and tattered, it was still fast. He dodged and parried Calian’s constant attacks and flew up again.
He said he was very scared.
The guy who didn’t even run away and kept running at me turned his head. And he looked at a place he had never paid attention to before.
A place surrounded by numerous shields and ice barriers.
I looked towards where Calian’s group was.
When Calian noticed this and tried to block the guy’s path.
– Hwiik!
It flew towards the group with such terrifying speed that it was hard to tell where it came from.
Calian took a short breath.
And in an instant, he used as many auras as the day before Danu.
– Ugh!
– Ugh! Ugh!
The same long aura that held his hairpin pinned to the cliff turned towards him. Instead of Calian, who could not move as fast as if he was standing on the ground while floating high up, the extended aura wrapped around his body.
– Kyaaaaaah!
The harpy, whose entire body movement was momentarily restrained, twisted his body.
That cry makes me want to sit down on the ground and cover my ears.
Gritting his teeth, Calian flew back towards the bastard.
While forcing the struggle of the guy trying to escape, he tore off one corner of the auror he had pulled up and struck it towards the guy’s wings.
– Suddenly!
And finally.
– …… Tuk!
I cut off one of the wings of the one that had been giving me so much trouble.
Calian took a deep breath again and pulled the Auror holding him.
– Kuung…….
I feel like I can hear the aura inside my body shaking.
He packed it up and sent it out again.
– Suddenly!
The scream of a creature that has lost its other wing turns my stomach. Calian, who closed his eyes and tried to come to his senses from the shock of the sound, slammed the guy’s body to the floor.
– Coooooo!
The sound of something heavy hitting the floor is heard.
Calian then stepped on the floor with a light movement and took a step away from the guy. This is because the blood of this guy who rarely stays still has begun to stain the entire place with its deadly poison.
– Ugh!
Calian’s energy moved constantly.
The form of the auror that had been stepping in the air changed into a blade. It was shot towards the guy.
But at that moment.
– Bwaaaaah!
A harpy that had lost its wings let out a long cry as if making its last struggle.
peewit.
You should have noticed that it was different from before.
But Kalian couldn’t do that.
– Whaaah!
The harpy’s mouth opens again as he is forced to stand up.
The red auror’s sword is swallowed into the mouth.
Recognizing that the auror was also magical, he put Kali An’s dagger in his mouth. And then he turned his head.
– Excited!
Calian’s heart beats as he senses danger.
Kalian kicked his foot.
The guy’s mouth opens.
Inside, a red sword with enough power to pass through Arsene’s ice curtain and numerous shields shot out like a shot.
“…… shit.”
Those who were weighing the protests without taking a single step back from within that thick protective shield. The person who stood in front of them.
– Slut!
Toward the person on the white horse.
[Side Story] Senyu
The river is quiet.
It is always and forever so quiet.
It’s so quiet all day long.
perhaps.
* * *
“Master.”
“why.”
“Master, you are such a bad guy.”
“know.”
An old man who was grilling a fist-sized desert rat shook his head. A young man with bright blue hair who was sitting next to him opened his mouth as he put a palm-sized lizard on his skewer.
“Aren’t you asking why I call him a bad guy?”
“I’m not curious.”
“Are you really not curious?”
“Yeah. I’m not curious.”
The young man with deep blue hair frowned and turned his head. And he looked around with bright blue eyes.
The guy who lost a part of his chest, the guy who really had a hole in his throat, the guy who only had an arm and a leg left, and the guy next to him who lost his limbs. The guy who showed his back and tried to run in front of the dead guy died. The guy who died trying to protect his comrade, the guy who died with that comrade behind his back.
Warrior of the Great Desert. Wolves of the Great Desert.
Blue eyes fell upon their miserable corpses.
“how…….”
“I was wondering why they called him a bad guy.”
The bright blue eyes that scanned the body moved emotionlessly. The icy eyes that showed no emotion at the sight of the corpse fell on their luggage.
“How do you eat rats, Master?”
“I didn’t just eat it once or twice.”
“Don’t you know how cute the Great Desert Rat is?”
“I know what’s delicious.”
“You know there’s meat in that bundle, right?”
“I don’t know what was in that meat.”
“Do you eat the Great Desert Rat, in case the meat is poisonous?”
– Howling!
The bonfire, which was about the size of a human head and was burning reasonably well, burst into flames in an instant. Arsene, a blue-haired young man who hastily removed his head, which was almost scorched by the flames that suddenly grew to the size of a human body, glared at his teacher while holding the lizard skewer tightly in his hand.
“Eat it up. It’s noisy.”
Either that or not.
The master, who had failed to singe the head of his disciple who had killed twenty Great Desert warriors, put the meat of the Great Desert rat in his mouth and muttered.
“Master, you are such a bad bird…”
– Howling!
“You’re a bad boy.”
Arsene, who pulled himself away from the flames that were now as big as a horse’s body and could no longer be called a bonfire, spat out everything he wanted to say. And at least I chewed and swallowed the meat of a lizard that looked like it was one of the cutest things in the great desert.
“Speak politely.”
“This is polite.”
The teacher turned his head and saw the student who didn’t say a single word. Then, he put another piece of Great Desert rat meat in his mouth and chewed it thoroughly. It was as if the meat, which had no salt or pepper, was tasteless and full of the scent of a meal, was a banquet at the palace of King Kairis, a place he had never been to.
After a long time like that.
The Master, who had put four Great Desert Rats in his stomach, looked at Arsene. And then he spoke to the pale blue disciple who still had lingering dissatisfaction.
“let’s go.”
The teacher got up without hesitation and turned off the light that brightened the night.
Then he spat out the shank bone of the desert rat that was mumbling in his mouth and walked away.
The fact that I ate the Great Desert Rat didn’t just happen for a day or two, but my Saeparan disciple is obsessed with the Great Desert Rat like that today, so I think it’s time to think about whether he’s criticizing me and calling me a bad boy because of something else. As if.
It was as if he had no idea that the pale disciple was saying such things because that morning he opened the useless diary he had briefly taken out of his luggage and saw the portrait of his son sandwiched between the useless diaries.
“…… yes.”
As if I didn’t notice anything.
If you do that, there will be no more misunderstandings.
* * *
– Slut!
A sharp day of ice cuts through the air.
Just like that, a cool sound spreads across the sandy plains.
– Kwasik!
The cold, relentless pressure that took my life.
This is already the second pack of wolves we have encountered today.
The wolf hunter’s spear blade, handed to him without even explaining why he was attacking or killing him, melted and disappeared under the blazing heat of the sun.
“why…….”
Because I was curious about that.
The moment he took his last breath, a warrior who had closed the huge hole in one side of his chest looked at Arsene and asked, as if he needed to know one thing.
The cold blue eyes, incomparable to the ice spear, were aimed at the warrior. The hunter, who walked along without paying any attention to the blade in his hand, listened to the warrior’s breathing gradually calming down a few times and then shifted his gaze.
Those blue eyes turned to the tattoo on his forearm.
He looked down at a tree branch with several red flowers in full bloom.
“You know, right?”
A fact that many wolves already know.
A wolf hunter who only visits warriors who have tattoos of the wind on their bodies that would not suit the wolves of the Great Desert.
A tree that blooms for the wolves of the great desert.
Isn’t this a picture that doesn’t fit at all in this barren land of sand? Isn’t this a very presumptuous dream for them to dare to covet?
Because he hates the sight of it, he hunts down wolves with that tattoo. That was the rumor among the warriors of the Great Desert. So, if you happen to have a tattoo like that and still want to live, hide your arm in front of that hunter. I’m going to take revenge. Don’t go looking for me, just roll down your sleeves. That’s how the rumor spread.
“That’s the only reason they treat us like that….”
But is that really all it is?
Is it because the warriors of the great desert are trying to dream in vain?
Finally, the warrior raised his head to hear the answer, and only after he was about to die did he truly see the wizard’s blue eyes. His face was filled with despair.
“…… why.”
There was nothing in the bright blue eyes.
No matter how much I looked into those eyes, I couldn’t find a single speck of emotion. So he despaired. Because he could not find the reason for killing himself in the desolate, windy snow of the great northern desert. Because he knew that his own death was meaningless, nothing more, nothing less.
“Why on earth… why…”
The warrior’s voice, which had been saying the same thing again, was cut off.
Arsene, who was looking down at the body of the warrior whose eyes could not be closed, opened his mouth. However, he realized that no one would listen anymore if he tried to remember and tell the real reason why he killed the man, so he closed his mouth again.
In the end, this time, they were unable to tell us that the long-dead wolves that had thrown a blue-haired child into the world after only three days of hunting humans for fun had the same tattoos on their arms.
“What? I’m curious.”
But like this behind Arsene’s back.
I heard a voice curious about the words I had swallowed.
The blue eyes that had been looking down at the corpses with emotionless eyes quietly lifted up.
– Slut!
Instead of answering the words spoken, a spear of ice flew out.
The teacher was not with us on this hunt. So, the only people who would talk to Arsene in this vast desert would be his enemies. Moreover, the voice heard was completely different from the teacher’s.
So he sent an attack.
Without even turning his head to check who was speaking.
– Kagang!
But I heard an unfamiliar sound.
It was not a sound of splitting bone or piercing flesh. There was a sound of an ice spear being blocked by something dull.
Arsene narrowed his eyes and turned his head.
An unfamiliar wizard was standing looking at Arsene.
Arsene asked, looking at the wizard with quiet eyes.
“Do warriors even hire wizards now?”
Then he gathered his magic again as if he didn’t need to hear an answer.
-Ssam! Scum!
A sharp attack continues against an opponent who is clearly an enemy.
Arsene frowned as he watched the blue afterimage of the ice that flew away with the power to pierce anything.
– Ride! Kagang!
This is because he saw all the ice spears coming from all directions towards the guy who spoke his words, all blocked, shattered, and disappear. With a single gesture from the wizard. With just one movement.
Arsene’s eyes closed a little more.
It seems that the wolves of the Great Desert, unable to avenge the dead warriors themselves, hired a wizard. It looks like they found a fairly strong wizard and sent him there.
When Arsene, who still thought that way, gathered his magic power again.
Eyes that are completely different from the dull, bright blue eyes.
The red-brown eyes filled with ‘anger’ without even the slightest hint were sharp.
“This little bastard….”
An extremely angry voice continues.
A purple-haired wizard was happy to see someone who wasn’t a barbarian in the middle of the desert, so he started talking to him, but was attacked from the beginning.
“Go back.”
The one who brings death in the midday sky spoke as if chewing.
* * *
A fist-sized chunk of beef flew into my face.
When the teacher saw Arsene taking it, he clicked his tongue.
“It’s like being hit by a water fist.”
“It’s not a water fist, it’s a fist made of water, Master.”
“Same thing.”
“It’s completely different.”
-Slap!
Instead of retorting, a second piece of beef flew out and landed on his face.
Arsene, who tried to frown because his chapped lip hurt, stopped and placed a piece of meat on his puffy cheek and forehead.
“I told you so many times. When you see someone, greet them properly and be polite.”
“I didn’t know it was a person.”
“If you don’t know, then where did the dog bark?”
“I thought so.”
“With a temperament.”
A purple-haired wizard who uses electricity and water.
After hearing this explanation, the teacher seemed to know who he was, but did not tell him. He only scolded me for not telling me to properly greet new people.
“Anyway, you don’t have eyes for people, so it’s a shame.”
“Why do I have no eyes for people? Master, I came to visit you well and am living well.”
“So that’s what you’re saying. Why are you following me around?”
“Didn’t the teacher say that? A wizard can choose someone who is stronger than me and follow him around?”
“When did you call me a bad bastard and now you treat me like a scoundrel?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“This is why they say you don’t have eyes to see people.”
The teacher shook his head and continued.
“If you are going to follow someone who is more stone than you, follow the person who is too thoughtful and not a person like me. That person who is too thoughtful is a person who turned around because he is a person.”
“Then Master, you’re not even a person?”
“What did it look like in your eyes?”
Arsene thought for a moment and answered.
“I guess I chose the wrong person. There are many times when it doesn’t seem like a person.”
-Slap!
A third piece of beef flew out and covered Arsene’s mouth.
Arsene picked it up and placed it on his eyes, which were not even half open.
“I only know ice magic, which I don’t know much about, but it’s my fault for not teaching him how to do it because I was too busy learning it. In any case, think of it as a fluke that I didn’t get hit by lightning and only got hit.”
Arsene nodded his head.
When the teacher frowns, unable to tell whether that means it’s all the teacher’s fault or whether it means he knows it’s a fluke.
Arsene, who was still thinking about the wizard whose name he did not know, answered in a muttered tone.
“I know it was a fluke.”
“That’s right. That guy got caught out of sight and escaped alive.”
“I didn’t run away.”
“Unless you ran away.”
‘what. ‘He was already dead.’
“… I just left. They said he was already dead and there was no need to kill him again.”
At these words, the teacher pursed his lips.
Either that or not. Arsene turned the lukewarm beef over and covered his face again. He doesn’t care if he’s already dead or alive, so he hopes that the blue bruise will go away quickly.
The teacher, seeing this, clicked his tongue again.
A little louder for a little longer.
He clicked his tongue as if sighing.
“I have to go now.”
Then he said this:
“Where are you talking about?”
“The Great Desert.”
Arsene, who looked more reddish than pale, looked at his teacher.
“Why are you stopping?”
“I’m not going. Now.”
“So, why are you saying you’re not going? There are still a lot of them left. There’s a long way to go to catch them all.”
The teacher, who was looking at his student indifferently, threw the two pieces of beef on the black bruise and placed them on a plate, one by one. He then created a fire from the tip of his hand and roughly roasted it, saying,
“I think it’s time for you to stop living and dying.”
Arsene didn’t understand those words.
Until then.
* * *
Time passed.
A lot of time has passed since the wound from being hit by a fist made of water, not just a water fist, has completely healed.
In the meantime, I still roamed the great desert.
However, we no longer had to see the Great Desert rats being turned into meat and roasted. That’s why he went alone without a teacher.
“See you again, little one.”
“I’m not a kid.”
“Again, Dad’s little boy.”
For the third time, I met a purple-haired wizard who was flexible enough to change his title to better reflect the listener’s complaints.
“I’m not confronting you.”
“Yeah. You’ve become a lot nicer, kid.”
Actually, when we met for the second time, I couldn’t forget how painful it was at the place where I was first hit, so I made up my mind and attacked him. And I was beaten again to the extent that three pieces of beef couldn’t solve the problem. I spent two full months in bed and learned ‘Beobeuljangmeori’, which my teacher forgot to teach me.
That’s why I didn’t attack him the third time we met.
Instead, I said hello.
“…… yes.”
Euryan Siren.
Only then did I know his name. And he naturally learned ‘politeness’, which his teacher had given up on teaching.
“I heard you were walking around with your teacher, but why are you alone every time I see you?”
“Master is no longer coming.”
“What. Where does it hurt?”
“No. He corrects me a lot. I don’t know why he doesn’t come.”
“Uh. So you’re just walking around alone in the great desert?”
“Yes. That’s why I go alone.”
“You’re not afraid.”
“Master said the same thing. Stop walking around alone without fear and just sit down. You made such a fuss, but I can’t sit still, so I just walk around alone.”
“why?”
why. Called.
Ask why.
Those dying in the Great Desert asked why they were killing them, and Euria asked why they came back to the Great Desert alone, even leaving their teacher behind.
“I do not know.”
Since it was the same question anyway, there was nothing special to say. So I just said I didn’t know and kept my mouth shut.
A forest on the border between Kairis and the Great Desert. A place where temporary barracks are located for wizards like Euria, who came here because barbarians have frequently appeared in recent years. Arsene, who was sitting at a bonfire a long way away, looked up.
He stared for a long time at the place where there was a wide sandy land that seemed to start from the end of the forest, although it was not visible because it was immersed in darkness.
-Track, crack….
The sound made by a life that has already died burning away.
The peaceful sound of the bonfire, which the teacher always said was contradictory, quietly resonates in the forest at night.
“Why are you coming if you don’t even know why?”
Euria’s question reached Arsene’s ears.
Arsene opened his mouth, trying hard to think in fear that if he just said he didn’t know and the stinging fist of water would come flying at him again.
“…… I do not know.”
After thinking about it for a long time, I still don’t know.
Did you recognize that hard work?
Luckily we didn’t hit her.
“You can see the barracks over there.”
Instead, she pointed to the barracks in the distance and spoke.
“Yes. I can see it.”
“Among the wizards who gather like that, there are quite a few like you.”
“What kind of guy is like me?”
“A dead guy. A guy who kills people without knowing why, but just breathes day after day, thinking that’s how he lives. Those guys.”
Arsene looked at Euria.
“Well, I have a good family, my parents are good, and I grew up learning magic under my grandmother without any difficulties. Even if you, little one, or those guys over there, don’t know how they lived.”
“…Are you bragging?”
“I’m telling the truth. Anyway, that’s why I can’t even imagine other people’s inside stories no matter how much I listen to them, so I don’t understand them. It’s a joke. Anyway, it’s funny to say that I understand people other than myself, no matter how I lived.”
“you’re right.”
“Yes. But after watching it so much, I learned one thing clearly.”
“Do you mind if I ask what you mean?”
“Oh, I shouldn’t live and die like that.”
Arsene chuckled.
“Child, why do you keep coming to the Great Desert? Why did your teacher tell you not to come? Think about it properly.”
After saying this, Euria stood up from her seat.
Then he said, shaking off the dust from her clothes.
“Don’t come any further and live. Now.”
Arsene didn’t understand those words.
Until then.
* * *
The day after I left my teacher’s house.
The day after I met Euria at the border facing the Great Desert. The day she returned, disturbed by Euria’s incomprehensible words.
“What is all this?”
Arsene asked as he opened the door to his teacher’s hut.
This was because I saw numerous boxes and bags piled up that could not even fit into the wizard’s pocket.
The Master, who was clapping his palms and shaking off the dust, glanced at Arsene. Then he spoke bluntly, without any sign of being pleased with his student who returned sooner than expected.
“Goes.”
“I’m leaving.”
“I don’t want to see you getting caught in the sandstorm.”
“… So… are you leaving?”
“okay.”
His bright blue eyes sank deeply at the answer that came out without hesitation.
I sank so deep that it couldn’t have been any deeper.
“Was it possible for you to leave?”
A voice that seemed to have been cut by a piece of ice in the great northern desert flowed towards the teacher.
“…Was it possible for you to go like that?”
He punished me for not even saying hello to someone I met for the first time. Then he said that anything that was cooked was food, and he blindly gave baked rye dough to a child who had starved for four days. He lamented that it was his fault for not being able to teach him to grow long hair.
Even though I knew you liked fire magic so much, I told you to learn ice because you were better at ice than fire. I said I would use the fire, so you should use the ice. I thought it would be better if we went together like that because we had fire and ice.
You learned ice magic, which you were not good at, by complaining to other wizards and teaching them to them one by one. He excitedly told me that if the fire magic you used seemed that good, you should try using it as a hobby.
The day I got hurt for the first time in a fight, I saw the face that was examining the wound and ran to me with a more surprised face than the injured person. He was completely white-faced and so angry that he asked why a wizard would go right in front of a person using a sword and use magic.
Still, I said it was okay because I lived.
“… If you want to live, even if it means being trapped in that sandstorm. If you want to live like that, then you said to follow me. You said we should go and live together. Now you say you don’t like that and are leaving?”
I said it was enough because I lived.
While doing so.
“I am Master.”
I thought he was my father.
Are you saying you’re leaving because you don’t like living like this? Was it possible for me to leave just because I didn’t like living like this? Was he a person who could be left behind like this?
“I… Master…”
I thought it was my father.
He thought so.
He wanted to say something like that. I wanted to say that because I felt unfair, angry, and frustrated. But no words came out.
I’m afraid it wasn’t me. So I couldn’t do it.
I just lowered my head.
You decided to leave anyway. Good luck. May you live long and well. I couldn’t say anything like that, so I just lowered my head. I turned back.
“…… Rensir.”
Arsene’s hand had just reached the door when his teacher called him out. Then he walked over, stood in front of Arsene, and held out a piece of paper.
– Kairisis Teinanshah 6th Street, Baron Hertz’s home.
Kairisis, the capital of Kairis.
It was a piece of paper with the address of the teacher’s house there written on it.
Arsene, who took it and stood still, heard his teacher’s voice.
“You keep going away, and I’m starting to feel achy now, and the association keeps calling me. So what can I do? I don’t want to be a burden while shooting with you, and I don’t want to worry about sending you out. Rather than that, I thought it would be better to just go to the capital first.”
Because I couldn’t say a single kind word that I wasn’t throwing it away.
So he listened to the teacher explaining every word.
“I’m going to go first, so I was going to tell you to stay here as long as you want and come back when you get tired of the sandstorm.”
I can’t ask back because I don’t know if I understood the touching details in those words. When I asked him if he understood correctly, he couldn’t open his mouth.
In the end, Arsene lowered his head.
He leaned against the door and slid down to the floor.
“Then wouldn’t you understand if you told me that you weren’t leaving me like that?”
He sat down like that and let out a voice that sounded like a long sigh.
Then, I heard the teacher’s words sound like a long sigh.
“Why am I abandoning you? There is no reward for teaching me.”
Arsene lowered his head a little more.
I stayed still, not even thinking about lifting my lowered head again.
He tightly held the note from his teacher, who was just as bad at writing as he was.
* * *
Time passed.
Time passed silently like a quiet river.
A long time has passed since the day the older wizard of the two people who lived in that small hut left for the capital, and since the day the young wizard with blue hair, who had been staying alone in the small hut for several days, packed a light bag and left.
The old wizard, who had accumulated each day as years rather than time, did not make it to the 7th Circle. Because of this, the older wizard spent each day faster than Arsene’s teacher. As each day passed, he grew older day by day.
“Master.”
“I’m not going.”
“I found a good carriage that will take you to the cabin in one go. It will be better if you go and rest for a while.”
“I said I wasn’t going.”
It was only after seeing his teacher aging too quickly that he realized that he was not the only one who could survive in the sandstorm of the great desert. It was only after seeing the wizard, who had left the Great Barrier where he had spent his entire life, locked himself in the capital and deteriorating day by day as if he were disappearing, that I realized this.
“Why are you so stubborn? Aren’t you having a hard time staying here?”
“Does that mean I’ll leave you again?”
“I can go with you too.”
“It’s okay. You should stay here. You should stop getting caught in the sandstorm and live in the good wind.”
“Then, Master, how about you come visit for a little while?”
“How would you live without me? I’ll grow older worrying about you.”
At that time, conversations between priests were always like this, and they were always concluded at the teacher’s insistence.
The last few days I spent alone in the cabin.
Because I realized that you do not want your students to grow old and die as people who could only live in the sandstorms of the great desert. Because it was only then that I realized that my capable and talented young disciple did not want to end his life hunting wolves in the Great Desert.
“What will you do without me? I’m already worried.”
Arsene, who knew that the stubbornness was for his own good, could not overcome his teacher’s stubbornness. So the conversation was repeated day after day, with Arsene always losing in the end.
So time passed again.
The teacher naturally spent more days at home, and as a result, he spent more days sitting down. Naturally, the number of days I spent lying down increased.
“Don’t open this, but take it to the head of the Wizards Association.”
“What is this?”
“I have asked for advice there. It is a secret matter, so please bring it to me without opening it.”
Then one day, my teacher handed me a letter and said these words.
The association did not ask whether there was anything to ask for advice from Master. And he did what his teacher told him to do and went on his way without opening the letter. I conveyed this to Euria, who had been serving as the president of the Wizards’ Association since the time the teacher and Arsene came to the capital.
Time passes.
Like the Seine River, which is always calm but never stops, seen outside the window. It flows and flows.
* * *
okay.
Time passed like that.
“Master. Just one thing… Would you mind if I ask you one thing?”
“I guess it’s time for me to die. You’ve run out of polite words.”
The day when time will stop for my worn-out teacher has arrived.
“… I once saw a notebook with a diary written in it. Inside…”
I opened the tightly locked lock.
I opened a door that would no longer be open except today.
“I saw something in there.”
“… Exactly. He died at about the same age as you when he first came to visit me. So I couldn’t stay in this house where he lived any longer. I went somewhere.”
My ears were buzzing from the faint sound of words. Finally, the sound of words coming from inside the open door, as if they were going to stop at any moment, became louder than thunder.
“At first, I thought he came back alive. Even though I knew he wasn’t, I did that. Even though I knew he wasn’t, I looked at you like that. I raised you as if you were him… I raised you.”
answer.
I tried to answer.
Even if you raised me as if I were your son, I would still be different from you. Teacher, your son and I were probably very different. It would have been very different.
Even though Master raised me in his place, I never grew up in his place. I was raised well as Master’s other son, not just that guy.
“sorry.”
I tried to answer.
I thought of Master as my father.
To me, my teacher was my father. Father.
like that.
answer.
I tried to answer.
“Master. I am”
But time did not wait.
Time had already stopped for the old teacher.
“…… Master……”
With so many things left unsaid. Without being able to tell you anything I needed to say. Just leaving all those words alone.
Father said those short words in the end.
Without ever being able to hear it.
* * *
The Senue has always been a quiet river.
A red flower rose above the river.
“Go to the river. Don’t stay here.”
“I will just stay here, President.”
“Flowers. You should put them up, too. You should put them up.”
“I can’t… yet.”
But there was no Arsene flower on it.
There were no flowers because I couldn’t say even a single word.
“I was going to give this to you on the day you passed away. If I had, you would have been happy… but you didn’t see it.”
Euria came to visit Arsene and gave him a letter instead of flowers. Euria took it and patted Arsene’s shoulder as he looked at him, then turned on her foot. I walked towards the place where the flowers were growing. Euria walked to the river on Arsene’s behalf to convey the contents of her letter to Master Nama.
Arsene, who was watching, lowered his head.
I quietly looked at it, which was sealed with the royal seal mixed with gold dust.
– Palak.
She opened the letter.
‘Wizards.’
Unfamiliar name. Wizards.
There was talk about working in a place like that. It said that he was the person who recommended Arsene, and the names of his teacher and Euria were written on it.
It was full of unfamiliar things.
However, I did not pay attention to those unfamiliar things right away.
‘Arsene Hertz.’
Something more unfamiliar.
A name other than Arsene Rencir.
‘Adopted son of Baron Reiger Hertz. Arsene Hertz.’
That’s because my eyes fell on the letters written on the identity verification result that was enclosed. Because only then did I no longer see any other writing due to the dripping regrets.
“No matter what, it’s the last name of my deceased parents… Master, if you’re going to change it like this, shouldn’t you at least ask me a question? How about leaving the nicer last name behind and using the strange last name Hertz… I asked. “Shouldn’t you see it?”
Pop. Pop. Pop.
Words that couldn’t even be contained in a flower fell on the bridge over the Seneu River, which always flows quietly.
* * *
When you see someone, say hello first.
Speak politely. Don’t be rude.
When fighting, don’t worry about the front or the back, but keep the top and bottom in mind.
If you want to find and follow the stone guy, go find the rock guy who has a lot of thoughts.
– I’m sorry for blocking your way.
What would you do without me?
I’m already worried a lot.
– The dead are passing by now. So, if it is not urgent, I would like to ask if you could wait for a moment.
anyway.
Now try living properly without me.
– Is this a funeral ceremony?
– yes. That’s right. sorry.
Stop breathing in the sandstorm.
Live in the good wind.
-There is no reason to interrupt the dead man’s steps. There’s nothing to be sorry about.
What would you do without me?
What would you do without me?
I’m already worried a lot.
– I hope you go in peace. May you rest in peace.
I’m already worried a lot.
* * *
The reason the river is so quiet is
okay.
Because it holds more than the flowers that floated down the river.
There are so many words that I cannot bear to let go.
Because so many complaints are buried.
okay.
So it has to be so quiet.
It has to be so quiet all the time, day after day.
It will always be that quiet forever and forever.
