Chapter 83. The expert (4)
left the outer castle gate of Whitlin just before it closed.
Randel stepped in front of the gate guard and refused to check on the unknown man in the group wearing a black robe, citing the reason that ‘there was an urgent need to return to Kairisis’.
After that, I rode until late at night. After passing through Whitlin, I came to the place where Siegfried was located through the moving magic circle. No matter what time of day you start, you will eventually have no choice but to rest in the forest, so I thought that the forest near Siegfried Ridge would be better than the forest near Whitlin.
When we arrived at the new forest and stopped, the sky was getting brighter little by little. Since the horses and Landel needed rest after running forever, we agreed to stop for a while, get a late nap, and then start again.
– Saaaaa…
the welcome wind blows again someday.
The sound of the wind in the forest is as welcome as the sound of the waves.
Maybe it was the cry of a warbler that I heard in the meantime, maybe it was the embers of a bonfire that was quietly spreading, or maybe it was the memory of the first time I encountered the wind in the forest. Even if I don’t know for sure, I know for sure that it’s nice and nice to see it.
I also know that it’s different from when I said I like strawberries. It was different from the red fruit that I pulled out from memory because I didn’t hate it because I couldn’t think of anything else. It was obviously nice and nice to see you.
– You must have noticed.
Before I even had time to enjoy the joy, Kirie spoke.
Calian, who was sitting against a tree, quietly closed his eyes, Randel lay down in his sleeping bag, Kyrie scouted the surroundings, and Plantz, who was in the guise of Arsene, took the horses and fed them grass. It was while I was practicing.
While I was watching the back of Calian, who was sitting far away, watching the horses, Kirie suddenly appeared without a sound and sent me a sign language. Calian must have noticed.
-My ears cannot deceive me. No matter how you hear it, it’s your footsteps. Don’t say that.
– I’m going to get caught by my brother because of you.
Plantz frowned and answered briefly.
He was discovered first by Kyrie. He was probably caught by Plantz as soon as he entered the garden where Calian was with Randel. It was expected.
– Are you going to talk to your brother too?
Plantz asked after closing his blue eyes for a moment. Because I had to change my future actions, what I would do if Kirie spoke and what if she didn’t.
– You already know this.
Kirie, who said this, looked at Plantz.
Isn’t Kyrie supposed to tell Calian everything she hears and learns? But Kirie just ran his horse in silence all night. And I questioned it like this.
– Speak directly. Before the prince mentioned it first. And go back.
– why.
– Don’t you know? If you become dangerous again…
– If you block my brother’s path again, I’ll have to say that.
– Lowering.
– I didn’t come here to be dangerous. I didn’t come here to block my brother’s path. I gave up the idea of entrusting my life to him because he said he would save my life, and I am not stupid enough to follow him and take my anger out on him by saying that it is annoying to be constantly protected.
Plantz, who said this, looked at Kyrie.
– If you fall a few times while learning how to walk, don’t keep sitting down only to see that the child tries to get up again, and promise that he will definitely fall again this time. Don’t worry about being disappointed because it’s obvious you’ll fall.
– Then please tell me the reason. I need to know why you took the risk and deceived the prince to follow me.
Kirie only slightly frowned with her right eye. Plantz moved his hand while looking at the blue eye on the other side, which was looking at him without frowning, with similarly colored eyes.
– I didn’t come here to take risks, but I came here to avoid danger. Take your brother with you.
– What do you mean by that?
Plantz turned his head for a moment to check Calian’s back in the distance and then looked at Kyrie.
– That territory. Because if you stay there, you and I will be in danger.
There were many gaps in what happened here.
Incongruous things continued to happen.
‘Where did I go wrong?’
I was lost in thought with Kalyan in front of me, who had said that he would leave Plantz and go see Danu. I started putting together all the things that I had been saving without organizing them one by one. At the same time, I thought about all the events that came to mind, the background facts that have been revealed so far, and the newly learned secrets, putting them all into each situation.
Freyr died a few years ago.
And Whitlin disguised himself as Freyr and pretended to be him.
There was a harpy in Calian’s villa built in Whitlin. This happened even before the attack on the royal family. And the villa was managed by the three Barons of Whitlin and another who recognized the harpy feather thrown by Calian, the commander of the outer castle garrison who died in the villa. It’s Whitlin.
I searched my mind again, where I had already come to a conclusion. We found out why Whitlin was behind the villa. Then, one by one, clues that could be the reason came to mind.
On the first day, a harpy appeared and attacked Calian.
It doesn’t matter who got hurt in the fight. What matters is time. The fact is that he was stranded overnight inside the shield of the royal carriage.
‘One night.’
In that one night, Rashid Briesen fabricated evidence to falsely accuse Kalyan, who had joined hands with Navia, of preparing to send the harpy he had kept in his villa to the capital. This is the letter and Harpy Magic Stone that Aela discovered this time.
But Rashid could not finish the job. Before the evidence could be hidden in Navia’s mansion, something went wrong.
It wasn’t because of Kalyan.
That’s why Gray Brisen intervened.
Gray Briesen has intercepted the villa and the harpy. He moved someone, probably one of the three barons, to place a fake letter imitating Rashid’s handwriting in the villa’s study and freed the remaining harpies that Rashid had left behind. They tried to frame Rashid Briesen with the false accusation that he had raised harpies and attempted to murder Calian in order to slander Siegfried.
‘The real victim is Rashid Brissen. The perpetrator is Gray Briesen.’
In the course of a series of events, Plantz and Calian almost died side by side, but if you look at the reality, that is not the case. It’s as if Gray Brissen intercepted the false accusation that was intended to go to Calian and laid it on his own son. In this way, Gray took it upon himself to create false evidence to prove Rashid Brissen’s guilt.
‘So… you were targeting Brisen.’
It is Briseen who falls into the abyss because of this.
This is a trap that will use Zeon’s attack on the royal forest of Kairisis and the forest north of the palace as an opportunity to completely trap Brisen.
It wasn’t a trap made by Calian.
‘Whitlin.’
Rashid Briesen and Gray Briesen.
Whitlin held hands with both of them.
And he put them both in a trap.
Whitlin’s target was Brissen. Calian didn’t mean much to Whitlin. Therefore, he neither tried to protect Kalian nor tried to kill him. I probably calculated that I wouldn’t die from one or two harpies, but I didn’t care whether I died or not.
‘I guess they used my brother as bait.’
Kalyan is bait.
Kalian was used as bait.
It was not that he was indifferent to Kalian. Whitlin clearly knew that Calian was Freya’s son. So it wasn’t like he wanted to die. He must have known that he had the skills to not be killed by at least one or two harpies.
There was just that level of interest.
A friend’s son who has something to write about.
That’s exactly the level of interest.
Whitlin’s reaction to seeing Calian surrounding Plants was bewilderment, ‘to see Calian, who would have been of more use in a confrontation with Vriesen, having a variable surrounding Vriesen’s veins.’
After finding out who Calian is, the reaction shown in front of the sculpture given by Arsene is a lack of understanding of ‘Callian, who is clearly a stranger but lives by acknowledging that he is Freya’s son.’
That is why his attitude did not change from before even though he knew Kalian’s secret.
Because I don’t have any feelings for Kalyan. Because he was more emotionless than other nobles in the Whitlin territory who clung to Calian’s appearance.
It must have been Whitlin who leaked the word to Rashid that Kalyan was a fake. It is obvious that Rashid, who has clear feelings for Kalyan and Planz, will check to see if it is true. So Rashid came to Planz that day and got into a fight with Kalyan, which almost resulted in his death.
If Calian dies in that fight, Rashid will be held accountable for killing the prince, and if Rashid dies, wouldn’t it be better for Whitlin?
So in the end, all of this was Whitlin’s doing.
‘The two things don’t match.’
However, the two things do not match.
If Whitlin hates Brisen so much, why is he making his move now? Calian’s visit to Whitlin was entirely coincidental, but why didn’t he come forward sooner rather than later, as if he had been waiting for him?
And why does Whitlin want to get rid of Brisen? If it was resentment due to things that happened in his past, there was no way he would show that to Kirie and Hina. If it was revenge on Freyja, there was no way she wouldn’t blame the current Calian. In the first place, if you know how to hold a grudge, there is no way you could say, ‘I have no intention of being criticized, even by Kirie and Hina.’
‘… Danu.’
Danu.
Is Whitlin also Danu’s horse? Is Danu using Whitlin’s ‘justice’ just as Whitlin tried to use Kalian?
If the elf who was abandoned by Danu becomes part of elf society again and becomes Danu’s daughter again, it is more important than life to the elves. So, as Whitlin said, if Danu does what he wants on the condition that he brings Whitlin back.
‘Then what does Danu want?’
Danu moved Whitlin.
They wouldn’t do something like that just to shut down one family in the human kingdom.
Moreover, Kalyan almost died in this incident. The reason Planz was injured was because he jumped in front of Calian, not because he was targeted by Harpy. Harpy targeted Kalian from beginning to end. Whitlin acted as if he had not considered the variable that Calian could die at all.
That can’t be true.
‘…. Not Kalian.’
Wasn’t it Calian you wanted?
Wasn’t the purpose of showing the king that day to comfort Calian? Was it to remind Kalian of that day and to make him see the face of the person who found him that day again so that he would not forget his resentment?
Sinastar. Wasn’t the reason Danu handed the sword to Kalian to give it to Kalian?
to me.
To the sword’s original owner.
Was it to return it?
So, are they ‘using’ Whitlin to push Brisen out? Because I wanted to close Brisen to Calian.
‘In the end, if what Danu wanted was me and not Kalyan. ‘The reason you tried to shake me by showing me the memories of that day.’
To Danu.
‘Because the Mad King was needed again.’
A gaping gap.
It’s something that doesn’t fit together.
‘Lord Hertz. ‘Take him.’
As a result of thinking about it and reading Danu’s intentions, Plantz, who had recommended Arsene to Calian, raised his head. Then he looked at Kyrie and moved his hand.
– I followed you to a safer place.
A tree that uses my brother as bait.
Isn’t it the smart head that is the back of the tree or the mane other than my brother?
* * *
I had a dream.
For a moment, I thought about whether it was a nightmare, but soon I was immersed in a dream.
A dry, windy and cold night. The cold memory of a young day when I had just created a circle while hiding between large rocks to avoid the constantly blowing sandstorm was repeated through my dreams.
Thanks to the rock I leaned my back on, I was able to avoid being buried in the sand, but instead, the chill that pierced my insides wrapped around my entire body. No matter what magic I could, I couldn’t keep it warm. So in the end, I had to hug my knees and endure the cold.
‘Did you know that the nights in the great desert would be so peaceful?’
The day I endured the night of the great desert, which was said to be vaster than the sea of Rivern and darker than the valley of the Leidos Mountains, with my bare body. It was the teacher’s angry voice that instantly took away the chill of that long night that would never happen again in my life.
‘They say that if a wizard dies a hundred times, one of them will be the result of a knight with a grudge against him, and the other 99 will be due to his curiosity. ‘You are the perfect match.’
It was just as the teacher said.
When I heard that the night in the Great Desert was so amazing, I couldn’t overcome my curiosity and ran out.
‘I didn’t know it would be this cold.’
‘Ice magic and fire magic, quit everything. What would a person who doesn’t know the future learn magic and use it for? Even if I take a Great Desert dog and raise it, it will be better than you.’
The young disciple couldn’t believe that a place that was so hot during the day could get so cold at night, so he sneaked out of the house by himself. Thanks to this, the teacher covered his eyes, dug his ears, and walked all night in the sandstorm blowing through his mouth and nose. I crawled into the night of the great desert and walked and walked to find my young disciple who did not return.
That’s how I managed to find the pale-faced, pale-haired disciple who was sleeping with his back against the cold rock.
‘You are probably the only ice wizard who almost froze to death in the great desert. Don’t go anywhere and say anything. I’m so ashamed of everything.’
And I got scolded.
It was a dry, windy night, and the hard rock I leaned on was like ice.
I was scolded in that cold. I was scolded very harshly by my teacher who was thawing my frozen body with fire that wouldn’t burn me.
‘I’m sorry, Master.’
‘Okay, follow me. let’s go.’
‘Yes…’
I had that dream.
“……Mr.
Maybe it’s because I slept face down, but the corners of my mouth are dry and twisted, the wind blows outside the window, and the marble floor I lie on feels like ice.
Arsene, who woke up in the freezing cold of dawn, started cursing without really opening his eyes.
Since a robe can take care of both cold and heat anyway, he was only wearing black pants and a thin blue-purple shirt underneath the robe. But before I knew it, the robe had disappeared. He lay face down on the marble floor wearing a thin shirt and slept until morning.
I almost followed my teacher to a place far away in Asrai, so I wonder if I will be cursed or not.
– Slurp!
A sheet, unknown whether it had been covered or thrown over Arsene’s body, fell to the floor. The coldness of the marble floor couldn’t be solved with just a piece of cloth anyway, so Arsene moved his clenching body starting from his fingertips to relieve the paralysis little by little.
“Mr.
And he said harsh words again.
“Oh. You’re awake.”
Arsene, who was shaking his blue hair and trying to come to his senses, heard a quiet morning greeting.
Arsene, sitting down on the smooth marble floor and warming the air around him, raised his head. After that, I came face to face with the one person I never wanted to see.
“President of the Association?”
Euria, who had had a good night’s sleep for the first time in a while because Randel, who was the object of escort, had gone out, raised one hand with a very refreshed face.
“The little boy was sleeping on the floor. Is it a habit of staying together?”
“He passed out on the floor.”
“Your kids said they were going to wake you up and put you on the bed, but you were sleeping so well that I told them to leave you alone. You were sleeping like you were dead.”
“I almost died in my sleep. Master motioned for me to come with him.”
After explaining Euria’s deeply misunderstanding, Arsene groaned and stood up. Euria clicked her tongue as she looked at that and spoke again.
“At our age, sleeping on the bare ground hurts your bones. Sleep in a bed.”
“You know it’s not like that. Don’t make fun of me.”
“If you don’t like it, don’t wear the sleeping scent.”
“…Did you really know and were making fun of me?”
“How could you not know? I made it.”
Arsene looked at Euria with a speechless face. Then Euria handed something to Arsene. Arsene suddenly held out his arm and took it and examined it.
It was a fairly thick wad of paper.
I was about to ask again what this was, but
Euria threw away the object in her free hand.
– Cheolpudeok!
It was too big to grab with one hand and landed on Arsene’s face. This time it was a pitch black robe.
“What is all this?”
Arsene asked, taking off his black robe and straightening his trembling back. Then, without answering, Euria pointed at the stack of paper with her chin. It probably means what to do with your eyes closed.
Arsene’s eyes widened when he saw it rustling. The world’s most disgusting handwriting was imitating the world’s most unpleasant way of speaking.
– read. Wizard.
It was a letter that began with these words and clearly showed the will of the wizard, ‘I’m sure you don’t have the ability to understand what I’m saying, so I’ll write it out at length with patience.’
However, should I call it a letter or a report? Arsene, who had a frown on his face, soon shifted his gaze. The face that had been reading the long text, written in flowing cursive, gradually became stiff.
And a while later, when the letter ended with the words, ‘Be careful,’ Arsene looked up with sharply sunken eyes.
– Howling!
A letter that no one should see anymore burns.
Because I already have the important information in my head.
Arsene thought he wouldn’t have time to wash, so he cleaned his body and put on the black robe he had just received. And then he opened his mouth towards Euria.
“Where are your three servants?”
“Sir Brigitte has gone to the outer castle with some of your children and servants. To meet the healer Sir Verne, who may be coming.”
“Yes. Then, I told the other members. You didn’t wake up. But the Balkans didn’t really believe what I said. They were in a hurry, so I went to meet Lord Verne, but the other horses said they would only move if they received your order. Go and tell the president of the association .
“It’s true, so all you have to do is tell me to do as I’m told. I’ll take care of my own business.”
“Ah… thank you for your help.”
“I wasn’t helping you, I was making a deal with you. The magic stone was too good to just exchange it for the sleeping scent.”
“Thank you, though.”
“Do it.”
“I understand. Then, Mr. Association President, you didn’t see me today.”
“know.”
Arsene nodded in response and used his magic power.
Soon Arsene’s body gradually turned transparent. Euria, who was watching it, blurted out.
“Be careful, kid.”
Arsene, who had a bizarre appearance with only his face floating in the air, smiled and opened his mouth.
“It’s good that you’re worried, Chairman of the Association.”
“uh.”
“Association president, please be careful too.”
“Worry about who you care about.”
“Yes. I’m worried about the people I have to worry about.”
With those words, Arsene completely disappeared and became invisible.
Smiling, Euria opened Arsene’s door. After a brief pause, she went out, closed the door, and walked away.
Toward the room where the crown prince was lying down after drinking alcohol as soon as he woke up from his wounds and then collapsed again, but was actually empty.
