Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 160

160.

“To dare sacrifice my son…”

“Pardon?”

The angel reacted to his mutter, but Ellyuene did not respond. His mind was already filled with thoughts, unaware of his surroundings.

A soul misassigned to its fate generally leads an uneven life. That’s why he hadn’t bothered to look into El’s past life. The scars still remained all over him, and just seeing them was unpleasant enough. But to think it was all caused by someone’s deliberate scheme. He felt like catching all those involved and tearing them to shreds wouldn’t be enough.

Whether they committed a taboo or not, the Demon Realm would not escape punishment for this alone. But finding evidence of this was also not easy. The question was how the demons had even accessed the Underworld in the first place. The Underworld, the realm of the dead, was the most secretive and difficult to visit of all the dimensions. It was impossible for beings with physical bodies to even approach it.

Even the gods belonging to the Divine Realm could not contact the Underworld beings without permission. The reverse was also true. Their bodies were ethereal, so they shouldn’t even be visible to those with physical bodies. It should have been the same for the demons. But that obvious rule was shaken to its core. Just thinking about where to start investigating and finding out made his head throb.

“……?”

Just then, Ellyuene inadvertently raised his head and saw an angel standing blankly in the corner. A cute-faced girl with cotton candy-like pink hair. It was Nadiel.

“Nadiel.”

“…….”

“Nadiel?”

She seemed to hear his call belatedly and answered with a start, causing Ellyuene to frown. At the same time, the faces of the other angels in formation turned pale. During work hours, especially inside the office, a serving angel failing to respond immediately to the call of the god they served was a very serious matter. Even for the favored Nadiel, this was not something to be taken lightly.

“Why are you standing there like that?”

“Yes? Ah… I’m sorry.”

“I’m not asking for an apology. Is there something wrong?”

“Ah, no. There’s nothing wrong…”

However, unlike her answer, Nadiel’s eyes remained hazy. She didn’t seem to be aware of her own condition at all. Rather, the gestures of the angels around her became even more urgent. Ellyuene watched them for a moment, then his face lit up as if he had remembered something, and he swiped his hand through the air. Then, a huge screen appeared where his hand had passed.

Filling the screen were the images of El and his party. Until recently, they had been on the sea, but they had moved to a different location and were now in the middle of a desert. The peaceful scene, no different from usual, slightly relaxed Ellyuene’s hardened face. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like anything urgent had happened.

The gods strongly empathize with the emotions of the gods they serve. The reason why the angels of the palace have similar personalities is largely due to this influence. However, in Nadiel’s case, she was influenced by El during her creation, so she also empathized with his emotions. In other words, Nadiel’s unreasonable behavior meant that El’s mind had become that much more unstable.

His son, filling the screen, was talking to someone. Only then did his gaze fall on the unfamiliar being next to him. A man with blue skin, silver hair, and conspicuously protruding ears.

“That is…….”

Ellyuene’s eyes narrowed as he discovered the man. No matter how elaborate the transformation, it couldn’t deceive his eyes as a god. The exterior was that of a Blue Elf, but the man’s true identity was undoubtedly a Saint-Ma [a member of a holy race with unicorn-like features]. And a fairly strong one at that.

‘Were there any Saint-Ma left on the ground?’

Their clan, once called Unicorns, had long been incorporated into the Divine Realm. No Saint-Ma had descended back to the Middle Realm since then, so he must have been one of those who remained at the time of incorporation. But even so, the man in the video looked too young.

“Sanael.”

At his call, an angel quietly appeared as if waiting. It was the angel he had told to occasionally watch over El and his party, in place of Ellyuene, who was busy with work.

“What is that?”

“He is someone who joined Elquines’ party some time ago. He seems to have been trapped inside the Seal of Time and was recently released thanks to Elquines.”

Sanael answered the question without hesitation, as if he had already prepared a report. A Saint-Ma trapped in the Seal of Time, that explained why he was so young. Ellyuene nodded indifferently and asked.

“What is his disposition like? Is there any chance he will hinder or bother El?”

“He is not of a bad nature. However, he seems to have some problems with his memory.”

“Explain in detail.”

“This is the first time the Water Spirit King has contracted with a human. However, this man claims that there was already a human who contracted with Elquines 4,000 years ago, and that he was friends with him. He even says that that person had the same face as the current Elquines.”

“The same face?”

“Yes, so he seems to regard Elquines as that person’s reincarnation.”

Ellyuene frowned at the absurd story. The fact that Spirit Kings do not have past lives is something that most long-lived races know. Even the Saint-Ma clan, who are close to the gods, could not be unaware of this fact. El was a bit of a special case, but even that was an unrecorded life, so it was just like a dream.

More than anything, 4,000 years ago was when Ellyuene himself was Elquines. But he had never contracted with a human, let alone been summoned. No matter how much time had passed, he couldn’t have forgotten such a fact. Especially if he resembled El.

“The shock of being sealed must have been great. He’s talking nonsense.”

Was that why his mind was disturbed?

He could roughly guess what the situation was. El probably knew it was a lie the moment he heard his claim. Even if he didn’t look at the history books, he would instinctively know through the senses engraved in his body.

But he had not yet fully awakened the instincts of the Spirit King. Because of this, he was a little weak at confirming his own judgment and confidently expressing his opinions. If someone told him a different history from what he knew in that state, it would be confusing. Of course, he wouldn’t be swayed for long, as the recorded facts were clear.

‘It’s not a big deal to worry about.’

Ellyuene muttered inwardly and looked over the Saint-Ma’s appearance again. If his claim was true, he would have known him back then. But no matter how much he thought about it, it was a face he didn’t remember.

“Do you recognize him?”

“No.”

Ellyuene immediately shook his head at Sanael’s question. He couldn’t read any impure intentions in the gaze watching El. He seemed to genuinely believe it. A Saint-Ma making claims that differed from the recorded facts was interesting. But that was it, no other impressions came to mind. If there had been even a fleeting connection, he wouldn’t have felt so indifferent. Just looking at that, the given truth was clear.

“I don’t know him.”

* * *

The life-like yolk, the sandy ground became drier as it went deeper into the Empire. There were oases and springs in places, but they were so small that not even small trees could grow properly, let alone bushes. Fortunately, there was a large river running through the entire Empire. Near it, huge forests and plains were often formed. The same was true of the areas where people lived.

The closer to the river, the larger the size of the village. The walls were larger and more solid, the interior was much wider, and the residents were not wary of strangers. Among them, Soreta, which we happened to pass by, was the most splendid of the villages we had encountered so far. The streets were lively and vibrant, and huge buildings lined the well-maintained roads. It was the first proper village we had encountered since crossing the continent.

“It’s quite a big village.”

“I know. We can get more diverse spices here, right?”

“Then, since we’re here, shall we take a look around the shopping district? We need to buy some new supplies anyway.”

At my suggestion, Isana and Sibelius readily nodded. After seeing only the desolate desert landscape for days, they both seemed excited to be in a bustling area for the first time in a while.

We headed straight to the shopping district. The village was divided into areas with houses and shopping districts, and areas with forests and cultivated land. Here and there, huge mansions were built on each cultivated land, and the owners probably lived there. It was a scenery that I would have just passed by normally, but suddenly one scene caught my eye. It was the sight of swarms of dwarves with dark skin running around.

“Huh?”

“Huh? What’s wrong, El?”

“Oh, no, just…….”

The dwarves were running wildly through the sprouting fields. It was a sight that workers would be horrified to see, but no one nearby stopped them. They probably didn’t even know it. Because they were ‘gnomes’ [earth spirits], the spirits of the earth.

Rather, from the workers’ point of view, it was a good thing for the gnomes to run around. The land where the earth spirits stomped became more fertile. In fact, the sprout leaves came to life more vividly each time the gnomes trampled on them.

It was too natural for earth spirits to be in cultivated land, so there was nothing new to be surprised about. What I paid attention to was the distribution of the gnomes. Normally, if the land had the same conditions, the earth spirits would be evenly distributed in similar numbers. But here, most of the gnomes were gathered in one place, strangely enough.

‘There are so many earth spirits only in that place?’

It wasn’t just a lot, it was extremely many. It was far superior even compared to the Swart Empire, where the climate was much better. That’s why only the crops in that field were growing so abundantly compared to other places. The quality of the harvest would probably be much better as well.

“That’s strange. Why do the earth spirits only favor that field?”

Then, I heard Sibelius muttering next to me. I was a little surprised and turned to look at him. I wondered if he could see the spirits in their natural state, since he recognized the spirit’s seal.

“Can you tell?”

“I can’t see the exact appearance of the spirits. I just feel that the power of the earth is stronger than other places. And only that field is growing crops so well.”

“I see. Yes, that’s right. There seems to be an earth spirit master among the people involved in that field.”

“Heh, an earth spirit master? Here in the Tara Continent?”

It was natural for Sibelius to be surprised. In fact, I thought it was a bit unexpected too. Usually, the attributes of a spirit master are greatly influenced by the environment in which they live. For example, a spirit master who grows up in a place with strong fire energy is likely to have fire attributes. The reason why water spirit masters were not born during the drought was precisely because of this. For the same reason, it was difficult for earth spirit masters to be born in the desert. The fact that the land was not fertile meant that there were fewer earth spirits.

“Well, it’s been 4,000 years already. It seems like it’s trying to recover to its original state.”

“Original state?”

“This wasn’t a desert when I lived here.”

“Really…… Huh? It wasn’t a desert?”

“Yes, rather, it was the most livable land on the continent. It was called the Continent of Wind because the wind energy was particularly strong.”

“But didn’t you recognize it because it was a desert?”

I asked, a little puzzled. Clearly, when he first mentioned this continent, I got the strong impression that he recognized it because it was a desert. Sibelius nodded immediately, as if he understood what I meant.

“I didn’t confirm it directly, I just heard rumors.”

“Rumors?”

“The rumor that the Tara Continent was cursed by Trowell and turned into a desert.”

“……!”

Wow, what is this?

I widened my eyes at the completely unexpected words. Isana was hiccuping because she was so surprised. Sibelius chuckled, as if he found the reaction amusing.

“When I saw the endless desert stretching out before my eyes, I thought the rumor was true. There weren’t no deserts back then, but not on the scale of occupying most of the continent like this.”

“Really, it was originally a decent land? But Trowell made it like this?”

“Yes, if you think about it, isn’t it strange that only this place is a desert? Even though there are spirit kings who control nature, there is still abandoned land like this.”

“Oh, well, that’s true…….”

I trailed off, because what he said made sense. In fact, it was more difficult for Arkhadon to have a desert than not to have one. Because there was a spirit king who could turn sand into soil if he wanted to.

Besides, it had just gone through a major period of regeneration. It was a time when all four elemental spirits worked together to rebuild Arkhadon. Many lands had become deserts due to the long drought, but most of the barren lands were turned into fertile lands during that period. Nevertheless, the fact that this place was still a desert meant that it was deliberately left that way.

But no matter how much I retraced my memories, I never restricted water to a specific area. I seemed to have watered it and opened the river in the same way as on other continents. But most of the soil here is dry and crumbly without moisture. It means that the land doesn’t hold water. I just thought it was because it was a desert, but it seems like the opposite. The land is like that, so this place has become a desert. If this is true, the mild climate for a desert is all explained. All the circumstances were quickly grasped in my head. Although I couldn’t accept it emotionally.