Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 106

106

Upon hearing that Lapis had awakened, all the priests were relieved. His period of unconsciousness had been so long that they had been anxiously wondering if they would end up having to dispose of a corpse.

Of course, Lapis wasn’t happy at all. On the contrary, he even radiated murderous intent whenever someone tried to ask after him. From his perspective, it seemed he didn’t want to even hear about it, as it was a dark history he never wanted to remember again. And that was the same for Isana.

“Um, Lapis-nim [term of respect]. Are you feeling alright…?”

“Do you want to die?”

“Ah, no, I’m sorry.”

At his murderous gaze, Isana turned pale and immediately apologized. I quickly shielded him, glaring at Lapis.

“Why are you scaring him? He was just asking out of concern as a comrade.”

“There are three types of people I can’t forgive in this world. First, the incompetent. Second, those who challenge me. Third, those who lack tact.”

“That’s not a crime!”

“It is to me.”

You heartless bastard!

Since he was acting like this even towards his comrades, all the priests only glanced at him from a distance, not daring to approach him. But among them, there were bold people who ignored it and spoke to him. They were High Priest Ruyan and Kaitain.

“I’m truly relieved that you’ve awakened safely.”

Lapis’s expression immediately soured at the calmly delivered words. But the two priests didn’t seem to feel the murderous intent emanating from his entire body at all. Rather, Lapis’s eyebrows twitched greatly at their softly smiling faces. Fearing he might cause an accident, I quickly stepped in front of him and said.

“Thank you for your concern. Well, now that this guy has woken up, we’ll be leaving this place.”

“Oh, already?”

“Yes, we have something we must do.”

It had already been ten days since we had stayed at the temple. Considering that we had originally estimated the journey to take two or three days at most, we were staying for far too long.

Of course, there was the practical problem of whether we could meet Duke Carrowell immediately even if we went down right away. Officially, he was in seclusion, and according to rumors, he hadn’t left his mansion for years. Not only were all the entrances to the mansion sealed off, but there were also rumors that numerous soldiers were guarding the area. We couldn’t reveal Isana’s identity in front of them, so we had to find another legitimate reason to enter.

“Why did the Duke even start secluding himself in the first place?”

The day before leaving, Lapis asked bluntly at a meeting to discuss future plans. Isana’s face showed a momentary embarrassment.

“Actually… I don’t really know.”

“You don’t know?”

“My brother was originally the commander of the border guard. Although he retired to his hometown when my uncle suddenly passed away from illness, he continued to maintain a relationship with the late Emperor, exchanging letters. But suddenly…”

“The news stopped?”

“Yes.”

“And there was no contact after that? Even when your father was executed?”

“…Yes.”

A slightly delayed answer followed with a slight breath. It was probably a story that Isana still couldn’t easily bring up. I could see his two hands clenched tightly on his lap. I gave Lapis a light glare.

“Lapis, choose your words carefully.”

“I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“You said you hate people without tact, right? You should be more considerate.”

“I don’t care. I’m doing it on purpose, knowing full well.”

That’s even worse!

I felt like the definitions of good and evil were becoming blurred when I talked to this guy. As I was feeling bewildered, Isana smiled awkwardly and grabbed the end of my sleeve.

“I’m okay, El. What Lapis-nim said isn’t wrong.”

“Ugh, you’re too nice, that’s the problem. You can say you feel bad. You don’t need to be polite in front of someone who talks so rudely.”

“Oh, really?”

Lapis glared at me, but I immediately ignored him. Seeing that, Isana smiled even more awkwardly.

“No, really. Actually, it was something I always found strange. The Carrowell brother I know would never do that. He would have given his life for the Imperial Family, especially for the late Emperor. If my brother had stepped in, the late Emperor might not have faced such a tragedy.”

“Hmm, was it said that he was ill?”

“I heard that rumors started spreading among the people as his seclusion continued for years. It hasn’t been confirmed.”

“So it might not be true. If he’s not sick, what could be the reason?”

“I don’t know. But it’s certain that something is wrong. He wouldn’t do that on purpose.”

“Or he might already be dead.”

It was Lapis who poured cold water on us again this time. The moment he said that, Isana’s face turned noticeably pale. When I glared at him, he gave me a brazen look as if asking what was wrong.

“What? There’s been no news for years, no one has seen him, so the result is obvious, isn’t it? He either betrayed us or he’s no longer in this world. One of the two.”

“But, the official documents that must be sent to the Imperial Family every year have never been missed.”

“Are you stupid? Those documents only need a seal, so someone else must have been handling them.”

“No. Although there are no formal outings, there were people among the merchants who visit the mansion to replenish necessary supplies who said they saw my brother.”

“What, so it’s betrayal then?”

I wondered if he might have a heart attack. Isana’s face grew paler and paler as Lapis continued to speak. I tried to stop him, but I had to shut my mouth because of what he said next.

“Th, that can’t be… There’s no way my brother would do that.”

“Tsk, you don’t know anything. Where’s the ‘no way’ in human affairs? How easy is it to betray someone?”

“But my brother would never…”

“There’s no absolute standard for anything. Especially if it’s a human affair. Well, come to think of it, that’s right. If he were alive, he would know that this guy has escaped from the Imperial City and is looking for me, but he hasn’t lifted his seclusion and is staying quiet. It seems like he’s pretending not to know that the Grand Duke’s soldiers are searching the territory.”

“…”

“What, at this point, it would be stupid not to realize it? What are you going to do? Looks like you’ve been wasting your time.”

That’s right, it’s not too late now. Let’s shut that guy’s mouth.

I sighed and then created a huge water balloon in the air. And I dumped it on Lapis’s head.

“Ugh? Ugh, ugh!”

He couldn’t resist the sudden attack and struggled. He seemed to be trying to get out right away, but there was no way that something created by the Spirit King could be easily undone by force.

Well, he’s a dragon anyway, so he won’t suffocate that easily. I muttered to myself and smiled brightly at Isana. He was still staring at me with a frozen face (though it seemed frozen in a different sense this time).

“Don’t pay attention to what that lizard says, Isana. Let’s think about how to meet the Duke first. It’s not too late to think about everything after we’ve confirmed it.”

“Ah, okay. Um, but El… Is it okay to just leave Lapis-nim like that?”

“It’s okay. He said he likes water. He’s with the water he likes so much, so what’s wrong with that? All he can do is suffocate and die, right?”

“El… I feel like your personality has changed a bit.”

Hehe, of course. I’m still a spirit who hasn’t been born for very long. Originally, children’s personalities are formed according to their surrounding environment, right? In that sense, it’s all the fault of the people around me that my personality is getting worse. Yes, that’s right.

However, the peaceful time didn’t last long. As if to prove he was a Red Dragon with fire, he evaporated that large amount of water in an instant.

“Damn it! Hey, El! What the hell are you doing!”

As soon as he regained his freedom, he yelled at me. I had no choice but to click my tongue in regret.

“Tch, I thought you’d last at least 5 minutes.”

“Are you even saying that right now…!”

Fortunately, the commotion quickly subsided. A light knock was heard, and someone opened the door and peeked in. It was Kaitain, cautiously looking this way.

“Um, El-nim. May I come in for a moment? I have something to tell you.”

“Ah, yes. Come in.”

What’s going on with Kaitain all of a sudden? I nodded, feeling bewildered, and he bowed lightly and came inside. Immediately after, we received an unexpected proposal from him.

“An envoy?”

According to Kaitain, there was a rule that when a religious order was promoted to a nation, it had to deliver related documents to the lord of the region. Therefore, they could request a formal visit to the lord of Clamore as an envoy, that is, with the qualifications of an emissary.

“As it happens, I will be leaving soon for my next pilgrimage, so I have decided to take on that task on the way down. If El-nim is okay with it, you may be able to enter the mansion disguised as part of the delegation with me.”

“Wow, I’d be so grateful! Is it really okay to do that?”

“Of course. In fact, it’s not a complete lie, is it? El-nim is also a formal priest of Eluien-nim.”

Brilliant light shone behind his smiling face. Could it be that he was supposed to be born as an angel but was mistakenly born as a human? It seems so. Even the Spirit King is born wrong, so there’s no reason why the gods wouldn’t be. I looked at him, immersed in intense emotion.

“It’s no use going anyway. It’s obvious that it’s a betrayal.”

I decided to lightly ignore the voice that was pouring cold water on me at times like this. If Kaitain was an angel, that guy must have been a demon in his previous life. No, maybe he was a demon king. And he must have been an incredibly evil demon king of all time. Looking at his dark personality, it was certain that he would do that.

What is the Demon God doing? Why doesn’t he find his bloodline quickly?

I blamed the innocent Demon God in my heart for no reason. Have I built up too many prejudices? I felt a little sorry for making him the target of my misplaced anger, even though I had never met him before.

* * *

When the day of departure came, we finished all our preparations and left the temple. The priests who heard the news rushed out to see us off.

“So you’re leaving like this.”

The High Priest, who came out to see us off, had a very regretful expression. I shook hands with him lightly and said.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Don’t say that. This place is now your home. Come back whenever your heart leads you. We will always be waiting for you.”

He said firmly, but I could only answer with an awkward smile. This was because there was almost no possibility that I would return here as he wished. And the High Priest also seemed to know implicitly that today was the last day.

“Ruyan-nim [term of respect], then I’ll see you next time.”

Following the farewell I gave while turning around, Kaitain said goodbye for the last time. The High Priest looked at him with a sad yet worried expression.

“I won’t see you again until a year from now. Have you decided where to go this time?”

“I haven’t decided on a specific place yet. I plan to decide slowly while traveling.”

“I see. Well, I’m sure you’ll do well on your own. But be careful of the Demon God’s order wherever you go. Until now, their attitude has been favorable to us, but from now on, we don’t know how they will change.”

“Yes, please don’t worry too much.”

“Please take care of yourself.”

Even after that, the High Priest gave him several requests. The two, who appeared to be of similar age, were actually not that far apart in age. Moreover, they had entered the temple around the same time and spent their childhood together. Perhaps that’s why both the High Priest and Kaitain seemed to cherish each other especially.

“May Eluien-nim’s blessing be with you all.”

With the High Priest’s blessing as the last, we turned our bodies. The priests stood there and waved endlessly until our figures completely disappeared.

But as soon as we went down the mountain, an unexpected problem occurred. Isana and Lapis could no longer move and stopped walking.