Joint Combat Practice 2 (12)
If you are going to discuss Adel’s biography, you have to start from the commercial city of Oldeck.
My first memory is of the harbor sky with seagulls soaring.
As Adele got off the boat, holding her mother’s hand tightly, the sight of a busy dock filled her eyes. Only then do you realize that you have set foot in a faraway country.
War refugees who abandoned their homeland and took refuge in the Western continent where wars of conquest were in full swing. Adele’s parents, whose faces I no longer remember, were barely of that level.
Although they settled in Oldeck and lived in the slums for several months, Adele’s parents were never able to adapt to Oldeck’s calculating culture.
No matter what you do, you get stabbed, taken advantage of, and caught up in fraud, so it’s easy to end up in debt.
When I came to my senses, there was no room left for them in Old Deck. Accumulated debt and pressure from debtors make it difficult for the poor to even eat a piece of bread. It was a life not much different from when I lived as a war refugee on the Western continent.
Adele grew up too quickly. I thought that the day would come when this kind of life would eventually reach its limit. Therefore, my mental preparation was already complete that morning.
A dockside lined with luxurious commercial buildings. Adele’s father took Adele to a bench on one side of the place and sat down with her next to him.
There was a lot of food that was difficult to see on a regular basis.
A sandwich full of warm bacon, sheep’s milk with fruit syrup, and a chocolate cookie that cost more than a month’s food cost were placed in my hand… and I watched Adele enjoy the food.
After looking at Adele quietly for a while, he slowly stood up and spoke. I have to visit my dad for a while so I’ll go somewhere and come back. I’m waiting for you.
Like that, he dusted his pants a few times… After staring at Adele for a while, he slowly started walking away.
Adele lowered her head and munched on her sandwich as she spoke quietly to her father as he left. You had a hard time.
Adele’s father trembled at those words, but soon he moved again little by little and disappeared into the crowd.
Adele ate her fill of food, got up from the bench, and headed to the church in Oldeck, where she often went to pray with her parents. I went there and prayed all day.
I prayed for a long time and did not get up when the last service of the day ended. Then, after delivering the last words, the high priest Verius, who had come down from the podium, passed by and spoke confidently.
“I became an orphan.”
From then on, it was all smooth sailing.
He worked and lived at the Deldros Orphanage, which was supported by the Telos Church. I washed the bedding, mopped the hallways, fetched drinking water, and read a book at night.
It was also at this time that I played the lute for the first time. I picked up a lute with a broken string on the dockside, found the string, and tuned it myself. I would get hymn sheet music from the cathedral, play it, play the notes, and even compose my own songs.
The years of maintaining a faithful life as a servant of God at the Deldros Orphanage. However, like most things in life, things don’t always go smoothly.
One day Adele saw the future.
It was a scene where Verdio, the high priest of the Old Deck Cathedral, came down from the podium and knocked over a candlestick. As it was, the fire from the candlestick spread to the decoration of the chapel, causing chaos.
At first, I thought it was a dream, but Adele was standing next to the candlestick, fully prepared just in case. Sure enough, Verdio knocked over the candlestick, and Adele extinguished the fire early by pouring water that had been scooped up before the fire could spread to the decoration.
From then on, Adele caught Verdio’s eye.
About once or twice a month, she would see scenes from the future without warning… but it was difficult for Adele’s foresight, which she could not control, to change her life significantly.
In addition, most of the time it is someone else’s future that has nothing to do with one’s own. It was interesting, but that was it.
However, Verdio was keeping an eye on Adele’s abilities. Eventually, on the day when Verdio was recognized for his abilities and appointed as the archbishop of the Holy City, Adele was recognized as the next saint and headed to the Holy City with Verdio.
The magnificent Seonghwangdo building. A monastic robe made of expensive fabric. More than ten servants. A sumptuous meal. Adoration of high-ranking clergy.
All of those things come into Adele’s hands overnight. Of course, not only good things happened.
I had to pray every day, learn etiquette, and study while sleeping less. However, it could not be compared to the time when I lived as a war refugee or poor person.
As the bishops exchanged opinions on her suitability as a saint for a long time, and public opinion reached a certain degree of agreement with the decisions of the Holy Father and the Archbishop, Adele soon began formal procedures to take over the position of a saint.
She was baptized three times by the Archbishop of St.
The more baptisms and blessings she received, the stronger Adele’s spiritual power became. Although he had no talent in the magic of magic itself, his role as a vessel containing divine power was outstanding, and as his divine power became more enormous, his visible future became clearer.
Eventually, when all other procedures except the stigmata baptism were completed, Adele was finally able to glimpse her own future… and as
she said, she gave up on becoming a saint.
Archbishop Verdio opens the saint’s room and enters.
The spire where the saint resides is a place where even the saint is reluctant to set foot. However, strictly speaking, Adele was not yet a saint.
Verdio asks Adele. I raise my voice and talk to Adele about what she means by giving up on becoming a saint.
Citing various reasons such as anxiety, loneliness, and lack of ability, they say that they want to serve Telos in a way other than as a saint.
After arguing for over an hour, Verdio shakes his head and leaves the saint’s room. Adele was able to notice that.
Verdio… sensed to some extent that Adele had seen the future and had given up on becoming a saint.
Once that happens, there is absolutely no way to persuade Adele. Trying to nominate her as a saint was a wrong choice.
Thus, Adele is not a saint of the Telos Church, but settles down in the Holy City as a custodian of the sacred flame.
After caring for the torch for many years, Adele agonized over the future she saw.
Burning chapel. A huge Seongchangryong visible through broken stained glass. Archbishop Verdio stands on the podium and speaks. The plan went wrong. In order to appease the God-eating Holy Spear Dragon of the Creation, a saint born with enormous divine power must be sacrificed.
That scene came to mind again, and Adele would jump up from her sleep.
Just like that, time goes by again.
Even as Adele tended the torch, looked up at the sky, and played the lute, at night she gathered rumors about the Holy Emperor and overheard the conversations of high-ranking priests.
As each day passes, Seonghwangdo’s financial condition worsens. The subjugation of the northern sub-race will be stopped and there will be no war. As the period of peace continues under the reign of His Majesty the Wise Cloel… people gradually cease to seek God.
The power of the Holy Emperor, who even the emperor had bowed to, has gradually diminished, and the object of people’s respect has long since changed to Emperor Cloel, who opened this era of peace.
Archbishop Verdio is a priest and businessman.
If God doesn’t perform miracles, people don’t believe in God. If the number of believers does not increase, this prosperity cannot be maintained.
In order to receive more respect and raise the prestige of the Holy Emperor, you must ultimately perform a divine miracle.
However, for that to happen, there were many things to prepare.
A few years later, the next saint, Clarice, who is gifted with tremendous divine power comparable to Adele, climbs to the top of the Holy Emperor’s Tower.
Playing the lute at the top of the spire, Adele always watched Clarisse.
Clarisse could not interfere with the flow of time by touching the power of the Aspect with her divine power like Adele, but the amount of inherent divine power itself could not be compared by any priest.
She has an elegant demeanor, good absorbing power, and a natural personality, so it seems like she was born to become a saint.
Although she believes that she is the perfect child for the spire of the Holy Emperor, a deep sense of guilt remains in Adele’s heart.
Originally, the saint who was killed by Holy Changryong was Adele herself. Since he ran away from that future, someone had to take his place.
Ultimately, that replacement will be Clarice. This much was a well-known fact.
I sat by the window of Clarisse’s room, played the lute, talked to her, and spent time together, creating a special relationship with her. Clarisse, more than I thought, had a heart as beautiful as her appearance.
The more this happened, the more deeply rooted the guilt in Adele’s heart grew, little by little.
Adele couldn’t bear to talk. I ran away because I didn’t want to die. The result of my struggle to survive is your death. Holy woman. Those words… I couldn’t get them out of my mouth.
Adele did not want to be hated by Clarisse, who always sat by the window and listened to the lute music with sparkling eyes, nor did she want to show her darkness.
That’s why I sang about the romance of freedom.
He encouraged people not to be satisfied with the colorless life of Seonghwangdo, but to pursue freedom by exploring the vast world.
Clarisse felt skeptical about her current life and was driven to seek a new life.
He sang as if he knew all about the romance of the wide world, even though he himself lived in the slums of Oldek with hard bread in his mouth. He whispered the contents of the books he had read in the corner of the buggy room of the shabby orphanage into his ear as if he had experienced them with his own eyes.
I have never seen the beautiful rock formations of the Rameln Mountains, the wide grasslands of Pulan, or the desolate horizon of the Great Desert of Drestea. All she knows is the back alley of Old Deck, with only a dingy expanse of brick floor and a few rats playing around.
However, Clarice continued to dream even after hearing Adele’s song.
The dream of wandering around the world, taking in beautiful scenery, and meeting someone who will one day stand by my side at the end of the journey… coils up in one corner of Clarice’s heart.
Even if the person who nurtured the dream was a fake bard who had been tainted by the flow of the world, the romance in the dream itself was not stained with a single trace of grime. That fact alone made me feel fortunate.
However, Adele could no longer remain in Seonghwangdo. Her own mind wouldn’t allow it anymore. Adele’s continued remaining by Clarice’s side is nothing more than a deception towards her.
In the end, that life continues in another direction.
From the western war zone, to the commercial city of Oldek, from the commercial city of Oldeck to the capital of Carpea, and from the capital of Carpea, the final location was… Aken Island at the southernmost tip of the empire.
Early morning before the sun rises. I pack up all my luggage, put on my lute, and leave the steeple.
There is no specific destination that comes to mind. There is no one in the world who can be called Yeon, and it is not even possible to confirm whether her parents are alive or dead.
It’s just about going where you want to go. Stop by Cret, the land of alchemy, and take a look at alchemy, or take a look at the magnificent Emperor’s Street in Cloeron, the imperial capital. Take a walk through the Rameln Mountains, marvel at the wide mountain range, and learn some magic at a place like Sylvania Academy. It might be good to see.
Anyway, I have a lot of money saved over the years, and I am quite confident in my playing and singing skills, so I think I can take care of myself.
When I sneak out at dawn and look up at Seonghwangdo Island, it is still majestic and tall. A wide outer wall expressing the majesty of God surrounds the spire like a prison.
Breath leaks out into the cold early morning air of late fall. If you look back, the road leading to the street stretches out endlessly.
In this way, the girl finally becomes a bard.
* * *
“Woo Wook Black ….”
I moved to an inconspicuous place as much as possible, but if I get closer to the Bachelor’s Cathedral, I have to come out to the street.
People around looked at Adele as she walked away with blood dripping, and some asked if she was okay. However, Adele did not respond at all and continued to walk towards the cathedral with unsteady steps.
Arrived quite early. At first, I wasn’t sure about the timing of Seong Chang-ryong’s resurrection, but now I could predict all the timings to some extent even if I closed my eyes. It is quite possible to guess what is going on inside the cathedral right now.
I now know damn well what happened after that. It was not difficult for Adele to imagine it either.
I will lead my speechless body and open the door of the cathedral and enter. Then Taldarek, the 3rd ‘Apostle of Telos’ guarding the entrance, speaks. Currently, outsiders are prohibited from entering. At the same time, when he tries to stop Adele from entering, he rolls up his sleeves to show that the ‘Blessing of the Holy Law’ is imprinted on him.
Taldarek takes advantage of the momentary panic and enters inside, and before long, it is a large chapel.
On the podium of the large chapel, the relic Velbroke’s Molar Necklace left behind by Luden, the ‘original sword saint’, will be placed in a luxurious box. It is an artifact that will resonate with Seongchangryong Velbrok and serve to awaken his spirit.
Here and there in the chapel, the ‘Apostles of Telos’ brought directly from the Holy Capital would be waiting in battle readiness.
Archbishop Verdio and Holy Emperor Eldein will be sitting next to the podium, and they will be finalizing their plans on how to deal with Holy Spear Dragon when he is resurrected. He was checking the scene one last time before going to pick up the saintess Clarice, who was waiting at the Trix building.
No matter what you say when you burst into the scene, it has no meaning. Adele has already done it all.
The ‘Apostles of Telos’ are a ridiculous force that can withstand tens of thousands of large armies when five or more of them gather together, but in front of Seong Chang-ryong, they are all just insignificant victims.
Why are we quick to conclude that we can deal with the dragon of disaster, which only exists in history books, with human power?
However, the high priests, caught between arrogance and desperation, do not listen. There is no point in arguing for a long time.
Their unexpected ‘variable’ causes Seong Chang-ryong to descend much sooner than the priests expected. The point is that Great Sage Sylvania’s seal has become more unstable than expected over a long period of time.
The majesty of the Holy Spear Dragon, which is bigger than they thought and more enormous than they thought… will make them all unable to even move. I would never have imagined that Seong Chang-ryong, whom I had only seen in books, would be such a disaster.
What he finds later is a saint who will save him from his arrogance. In order to put an end to that huge disaster, it was necessary to sacrifice a saint with great divine power, enough to fill the Holy Changryong.
In preparation for times like this, the Saint Clarice, who would sacrifice on his behalf, could not be brought from the Trix House.
Adele sees the ‘Sacrifice’ painted in the middle of the chapel. Originally, the person who should have knelt there and prayed would have been Clarisse. The only person who can put Belbroke to sleep by sacrificing his divine power and life is a saint who has received the blessing of Telos.
It was time to look back on my past life and shake off the guilt that had built up around Clarice.
I am afraid of death, but what I am more afraid of is a life so painful that it would be better to die.
I wandered around the world chasing romance, but in the end, I couldn’t shake off the guilt that remained in my heart.
That is why Adele did not go to see Clarice for a long time after hearing that she had entered the school.
Because he didn’t think he deserved to meet Clarisse.
Now it’s time to end it all.
He pushes his way through the apostles, sits down in the temple, and prays. Dark red magic blooms from Velbroke’s molar necklace. What is felt is a clear killing intent.
I feel that unpleasant and thick magic power eating away my life.
However, what no one expected was that Adele’s divine power was so vast that it rivaled the power of the Aspect. Her magical power, which allows her to glimpse the future, seems to distort even the flow of time.
This is an area that no saint in history has ever reached, so it is unprecedented.
The protection of the Holy Law that surrounds Adele’s body uses any means necessary to protect her life.
In order to save Adele’s life even as Velbroke’s magic surrounds her body… she mobilizes the divine power imprinted on her body… and eventually rewinds the world’s time.
A realm of sainthood that no saint in history has ever been able to reach. It can happen because Adele has reached that goal…a reversal of time. As for magic, it is a forbidden area.
However, the reversal of time does not mean the solution to the situation. It just postpones the situation.
“Cough…cough…”
Adele slowly walked in, coughing with the smell of blood.
In the end, the reason this story cannot be concluded is because Adele’s divine power remains too vast.
All you have to do is consume all of the inherent divine power so that it can no longer be converted into magical power. Even if Adele is born with more amazing abilities than any other saint in history, if she repeats it dozens or hundreds of times, she no longer has enough divine power left to activate the divine protection.
My vision started to blur and the bleeding started to get worse. No matter how much the protection of the Holy Law was, it could not be fully exerted as there was almost no divine power left in Adele’s body to be mobilized.
There really isn’t much left now.
Thinking that the seemingly endless repetition was now coming to an end, Adele even felt relieved.
Although it was a fleeting biography, it does not mean that nothing was left behind. It was only a lie, but Clarice’s eyes brightened when she heard her song anyway. In fact, I think that alone would be a life worth living… Adele smiled faintly as she staggered out.
“Now… once or twice… or… two or three times… and it will be over…”
In the previous episode, Clarice stormed into the cathedral. It was quicker than I thought.
But the finish is not far away. There is almost no spiritual power left in the body now.
Thinking like that, Adele continued walking toward the cathedral. After thinking about it this way…. it turned out that life wasn’t as bad as I thought until it ended.
However, life’s story does not always go according to one’s predictions and plans.
From the beginning, Adele was complacent. This may have been due to the repeated deaths causing him to lose his mind.
He should have guessed the variables he couldn’t catch and what actions Clarice, who was traveling through time with him, would take… at this point.
“What…”
When Adele was halfway up the stairs, what Adele saw was the saint’s large, neat carriage parked next to the cathedral.
-widely.
The moment I checked it, I felt like someone was grabbing the back of my head.
“What… laugh… uh…”
Adele, who was quickly dragged away, was unable to withstand the force and sat down on a nearby wooden bench.
The person who was pulled out by the scruff of the neck and forced to sit on the bench was completely unexpected.
“Do you like orange or just cold water?”
“…yes…?”
“I just like drinking cold water, so you drink the orange.”
A drink sold in mugs at the student canteen. It was a delicacy that could be enjoyed refreshingly with floating ice.
The man in front of me―― Ed Rosstaylor, sat Adele down in a natural manner and pushed her drink into her lap.
Adele, who had difficulty fixing the mug with her blood-covered hands… looked at Ed with a puzzled expression.
Ed sat down next to Adele and looked up at the cathedral.
Then he took a gulp of cold water, exhaled heavily, leaned back against the backrest, and looked up at the tall cross.
Adele… was so embarrassed that she couldn’t say anything.
So Ed just looked up at the cathedral for a long time without saying anything.
“This… this…”
“Hey.”
Adele, who had been sitting dumbfounded for a long time, finally began to speak, but was quickly cut off by Ed.
Ed spoke first.
“You will die soon.”
Those words seem familiar somehow… Adele holds the mug still and then answers.
“…i know.”
“…okay.”
And then there was no conversation for a while.
Although Sung Chang-ryong will soon arrive and cause chaos, the scenery of the bachelor’s school is still peaceful. The cross of the cathedral that I look up at also seems to praise this era of peace.
“Is that the end?”
“…yes?”
“Is that the end? Is there nothing more to say?”
Eventually, Ed asked once more, and Adele began to become confused about what to answer.
In the first place, it was completely unexpected for Ed to appear at this location and snatch Adele. Ed was not paying attention to the variable itself.
However, Ed’s existence… is the only variable that Adele is not aware of.
A man who moves in a different way each time and searches for answers in a repetitive world.
The fact that there was such an Ed next to Clarisse was completely unknown to Adele.
And I also don’t know the intention of the question.
That’s what it means to appear right in front of your eyes, ignoring the repetitive laws of time.
He knew very well that he would face death. The same goes for one’s own future that is seen intermittently, and it is also a fact that is constantly confirmed through repetitive time.
As for how Ed knew that, it was impossible to know from Adele’s perspective.
Adele’s answer was decided. Of course there is nothing more to say.
Rather, there are a lot of things I want to ask about here. I tried to slowly check those things first…
but soon the bench I was sitting on felt big.
If you look around, you will find a back alley in the commercial city of Oldeck.
Warm steam rises from the bacon sandwich in my hand. The man leaving in the distance is Adele’s father. I tried to say something, but in the end, after much thought, the only thing that came out was that I had worked hard.
Come to think of it, the same is true at the window of the Seonghwangdo spire.
It seemed like he was about to say something in front of Clarice, whose eyes were shining at him.
But in the end, all that came out of his mouth were lyrics praising freedom.
“scary.”
Adele trembled as she looked at the hand holding the mug. The sound of someone holding their breath was heard. My trembling voice barely escapes my throat.
“I don’t want to die.”
Adele just lowered her head and sobbed for a long time.
Ed was sitting quietly next to him, looking up at the tall cross of the cathedral.
“okay.”
The sky I looked up at with my arms draped over the backrest was as high as always.
“Sometimes it’s very difficult to say the obvious.”
Ed has no way of knowing what a tumultuous time Adele and Clarice had.
It would probably have been a disgusting story for both of them.
Now it is time to come to an end.
“Tell me everything you know. Let’s end it now.”
