Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 5

5.

“Okay, then let’s go inside now… Ah, wait. I almost forgot.”

“……?”

At Arehis’s words, I looked at him with a puzzled expression. Just then, Preuniss, one of his subordinates, stepped forward and abruptly handed me a mug with hot steam rising from it. I wondered when he had prepared something like this, as he didn’t seem to be holding anything a moment ago.

Anyway, I couldn’t understand what he was doing, so I looked at his superior, Arehis, with a ‘What is this?’ look. He explained as if he had been waiting for it.

“It’s a solution that alleviates the dimensional pressure you receive when passing through the gate. It would be good to drink it. It also helps prevent various side effects after reincarnation.”

“……You want me to drink this?”

Inside the cup was a thick liquid with a reddish glow, like lava. The occasional bubbles that popped and burst made my thousand-year appetite disappear.

‘Is it… really okay to drink this?’ I reluctantly accepted it because I couldn’t refuse, but my face naturally frowned. Noticing my feelings, Arehis quickly added.

“It might be a little bitter, but the taste isn’t too bad. It’s harmless to spirits, so don’t worry too much and drink it. Do you think I would give you something that would harm me?”

“Ahaha… Is that… so?”

‘But, you know, Mr. Arehis? I’m scared because you seem like you’re capable of doing that.’

I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘yes’ to his face, so I chimed in with an awkward laugh, but the more I did, the more distinct my aversion to the unidentified liquid became. Then Arehis came closer with a grinning face and forcibly shoved the cup into my mouth.

“Come on, why are you hesitating so much? Don’t you know that the better the medicine, the more bitter it is? Drink it quickly, quickly!”

“Eh? W-wait a minute! What is this… Ugh!”

There was no time to protest. He poured the liquid into my mouth through the gap where it opened. The sticky, slimy feeling filled my mouth in an instant. In my panic, I didn’t even think of spitting it out and inadvertently swallowed it.

And the result was terrible.

“Cough! Uwaaack! What is this!”

“Oh dear, are you alright?”

“Is that what you’re saying now…! Ugh! Uwaaaack!”

‘What? A little bitter, but the taste isn’t bad?’

I swear to heaven, no bitterness in the world could be worse than this.

The unpleasant feeling filling my stomach made me continue to gag. It was such a nasty sensation that tears even welled up in my eyes. But no matter how hard I tried to throw it up, the liquid that had gone in once didn’t seem to want to come out again.

‘To force me to drink something like this!’

I glared resentfully at Arehis, who had orchestrated this whole situation. There was no way he didn’t know the taste of this drink. Forcing me to drink it was proof of that.

But no matter how much I shot him a murderous glare, he just observed me with a leisurely attitude. That’s right. That gaze was definitely ‘observation.’ Like a researcher conducting a drug experiment and waiting for the results.

‘You son of a… Am I perhaps a guinea pig?’

Could it be that he’s been distracting me with talk about being a Spirit King and is actually experimenting with strange drugs? Because of the situation, all sorts of thoughts popped into my head.

But even these thoughts didn’t last long. Perhaps sensing that I had calmed down, Arehis suddenly poked his head in. In that state, he abruptly said.

“Now then, Elquines-nim! I have a question for you.”

“Q-question?”

“What is 1+1?”

“……”

At this moment, I deeply realized what it felt like for a person to be filled with murderous intent.

He fed me a horribly bitter medicine that made me seethe with anger… What? What is he even saying?

“E-Elquines-nim?”

Perhaps it was because he was taken aback by my grim expression. I could see Arehis and his spirit guide subordinates shrinking back. I gritted my teeth and asked.

“What did you just say? 1+1……?”

“Yes, th-that’s right.”

“Wow, this is driving me crazy. Does this person really think I’m a pushover! Are you seriously asking me that now? 1+1? Ha! Just so you know, I was a high school student in Korea! Are you asking me something that even a five-year-old knows? Do I look that easy to you? Or do you think my brain is innocent [naive]?”

“Um, I’m sorry, Elquines-nim. But neither you nor I are human……”

“Ugh! That’s not the point right now! What does it matter if we’re not human! Does being not human mean you can ask me what 1+1 is? What *is* 1+1! It’s 2, 2! Isn’t it 2? I guess 1+1 isn’t 2 here? Ah— is that so? It’s not 2 here? Wow, that’s the first time I’ve heard that. I guess the concept of numbers is different here than in Korea?”

“Ahem, I understand. I understand, so please calm down. Hmm, it’s not working. What should we do……”

Arehis was sweating profusely and looked embarrassed. He seemed more troubled by something other than my rude behavior. He calmed me down, who was still huffing and puffing, then went to the corner with his subordinates and began to whisper something serious.

“My prediction was correct.”

“Then what do we do now?”

“We can’t just let him go in like this……”

‘What are they talking about?’

For some reason, I had a bad feeling, so I cautiously approached the side where they were discussing.

They were mostly speaking in whispers, but I could make out a few words here and there.

“……I’ll have to, we should feed him more, right?”

“He definitely needs to drink more……”

“……until he does, should we keep trying……?”

‘Gasp!’

At that moment, I reflexively backed away from them. I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, but those few words alone made their purpose clear. They were trying to feed me that solution from earlier again!

‘Not on my watch!’

One sip of that terrible drink is enough for my entire life! No, it’s more than enough! If I ever drink something like that again, it means you’ve underestimated human Kang Jihoon too much! Do you think I’ll just stand here and take it?

Seeing the six eyes slowly focusing on me as their conversation ended, I desperately looked for a place to escape. It was as natural as a chick growing into a chicken that the ‘Gate of Life’ in one corner came into my sight.

I know that strange liquid is supposed to alleviate dimensional pressure. I don’t know what will happen if I go in without properly drinking it. But…….

“Ah! Wait a minute, Elquines-nim!”

“Ugh, I don’t care! If it comes to this, it’s all or nothing! I’d rather die than drink that kind of liquid again, damn it!”

……Looking back now, I think I had a tendency to gamble with my life unnecessarily over trivial matters. Anyway, my reason was paralyzed by the terribly bitter medicine, so I fearlessly threw open the Gate of Life before I could even hear Arehis’s dissuasion,

“Uwaaaaaah!”

I was caught in a strong current that sucked me in so violently that I lost consciousness and fell into the gate. I thought I faintly heard Arehis’s cry from the other side, but I couldn’t answer because I completely lost my mind the moment I was pushed into the current.

That was my last memory as ‘human Kang Jihoon.’

* * *

Inside the Gate of Life that swallowed Jihoon, a fierce vortex began to rage. The usually calm air moved so violently only when someone entered it. The rough energy was rampaging in all directions as if it would swallow everything, but as always, it did no harm to Arehis or the two spirit guides of the underworld. The only thing that current sucked in was the soul to be born in the human world.

“Hmm… Did he hate that medicine that much? To leave without even saying goodbye properly.”

Even though Jihoon had opened the gate and entered on his own, Arehis’s expression was as calm as usual. For him, one of the problems that had been plaguing the underworld had been resolved, so he looked rather relieved. However, the thoughts of the guides beside him were different. They looked at Arehis with worried faces.

“What will happen now, Arehis-nim? Since the Water of Oblivion [a magical potion to erase memories] was useless, Elquines-nim will be born with human memories. Won’t there be chaos in the spirit world?”

“That’s right. If he can’t perform his duties as the Spirit King because of his past life memories……”

However, unlike the two men’s concerns, Arehis smiled lightly.

“That won’t happen. No matter how he lived as a human, he is a pure Spirit King whose soul is fundamentally different from humans. There will be some growing pains in the adaptation process, but we have to accept that to some extent. Rather, I’m looking forward to it.”

The Water of Oblivion, which he had used to erase his memories of being human, had no effect on Jihoon. Originally, it was a legendary liquid that, from the moment you drank it, would make you forget not only how to calculate numbers but even who you were or how to speak, returning everything to square one. This was because the existence of the Spirit King was close to God, but it was even more possible because Jihoon was Elquines, who controlled ‘water.’ Considering that it had no effect even though the oblivion content was higher than usual, the latter reason was more likely.

Arehis smiled as he watched the dwindling currents.

“Having a Spirit King who understands humans…… might not be so bad sometimes.”

* * *

Abundant land and clear air, overflowing fresh water and burning flames of passion. The blessed land of Arkhadon, full of abundant vitality.

But now this place was no longer the prosperous world of the past.

The dry land had long been unable to bear fruit, the wind had become a dust-filled storm, and the beloved flames had become a catalyst for the dry air, turning into a ferocious being that devoured life day by day.

The absence of water.

Everything was due to the severe drought that had begun 10 years ago.

From ancient times, so far back that numbers could not count, Arkhadon had never lacked water. A moderate amount of rain fell every year, and clear, clean rivers could be easily found anywhere on the continent.

But at some point, it stopped raining from the sky. It happened suddenly without any signs, but even after the first year or two, people didn’t take it seriously. They thought of it as just one of the minor and major happenings that could occur in everyday life. But the drought, which they thought would stop in a year or two, showed no signs of improving even after 3 or 4 years. And finally, after 10 years, people sensed the end of the world.

The river had already dried up and revealed its bottom long ago.

Desperate, people did anything to solve the drought. They drew water from the distant sea, refined it, and sprinkled it, or created artificial rain to soothe the dry land. They even held their king responsible and sacrificed people alive to the gods. But none of them found out the real reason why it didn’t rain on that land.

The reason why the drought has continued in Arkhadon for 10 years. It was a disaster caused by only one thing: the Water Spirit King had not been born in the spirit world that governs nature.

* * *

“Minerva.”

At the voice coming from behind, the Wind Spirit King Minerva stopped walking and turned around. He was just about to head to the Water Domain. A strange sign had been detected there a little while ago, after 10 years of no change.

There, when he turned around, stood a dark-skinned boy and a reddish-skinned girl. They were the Earth Spirit King Trowell and the Fire Spirit King Ifrit.

“You guys…….”

“That just now, was that the Water Domain?”

“Did you feel it too?”

“You too?”

“Yeah.”

After briefly confirming their intentions, they looked at each other with hardened faces.

The Water Spirit King Elquines. It had already been over 25 years since the Water Spirit King, who was supposed to be born after the demise of the previous generation, had not been born. The God Realm, which belatedly noticed the situation, dispatched an investigation team some time ago, but no special measures have been taken yet. Because of this, the spirit world was currently in a state of emergency every day.

It is not only Arkhadon that is suffering from the absence of water. The spirit world was also suffering from a long period of pain to stabilize the unbalanced power.

The four major spirits are a system that perfectly complements each other with equal power, without any one being strong or weak. Because of this, it had the disadvantage of collapsing easily with just one absence. To maintain the fluctuating balance, the Spirit Kings were all extremely controlling their power. In this situation, the suspicious signs that occurred in the Water Domain were not a good sign.