Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 423

423.

On the day the child was born, a fierce wind howled. A sudden whirlwind, its origin unknown, arose and swept violently across the land. Roofs were torn off, and thick branches snapped like twigs. Against such immense power, a small house made of planks or old straw offered little protection to a newborn. The mother, having returned to work prematurely in her weakened state shortly after giving birth, saw the whirlwind engulf her home and frantically rushed back. But by then, the planks had already been crushed like tofu and collapsed. The mother wailed at the tragedy unfolding before her eyes, and those who witnessed the scene groaned in despair. Everyone expected the worst.

Then, someone gently tapped the weeping mother’s shoulder and pointed towards the pile of debris. Puzzled, the mother strained her ears and soon heard a faint cry. With an incredulous look, she rushed to the spot and found her child crying amidst the collapsed planks. The child was unharmed. Debris had scattered everywhere, yet the area immediately surrounding the child remained untouched, as if deliberately shielded. Overwhelmed with emotion, the child’s mother knelt and offered a prayer of gratitude to the King of Wind [a deity or powerful spirit associated with wind and protection].

It was the first miracle, unknown to anyone.

The child grew up to be a boy. The boy was the best at playing tag in the village. When the boy decided to hide, no one could find him until he revealed himself. Often, people would walk right past him without noticing, even when he was standing directly in front of them.

One day, he was playing hide-and-seek. The location was inside an abandoned mansion in the most secluded part of the village. It was a place adults had strictly forbidden them from entering, but adventurous children rarely heeded such warnings. The children who had snuck into the mansion immediately started playing hide-and-seek, and the boy hid in his usual, clever spot. He dozed off, and when he opened his eyes, darkness had fallen. Panicked, the boy looked around but couldn’t find anyone. It seemed his friends had given up searching and left him behind. Knowing he would be scolded if he went home, the boy sighed. Then, he heard a strange noise coming from somewhere. It sounded like crying or groaning.

The boy suppressed his breathing as much as possible and carefully scanned his surroundings. The sound was coming from the stairs leading to the basement. He should have ignored it, but his curiosity got the better of him that day. The boy mustered his courage and descended the stairs. The basement was deeper and wider than he had expected. Judging by the sound of rushing water, it seemed to be connected to an underground waterway. There, the boy found a girl tied up in a corner. The strange noise was the groan of the girl, who had a gag stuffed in her mouth. Startled, the boy hurried to free the girl. But unfortunately, footsteps echoed from the stairs. It was clear that the group who had imprisoned the girl was returning.

The boy supported the girl, who was too weak to stand on her own, and hid in a dark alcove. Soon, the atmosphere became chaotic as the kidnappers noticed the girl was missing. It was clear they would be discovered soon if they remained hidden. Making a quick decision, the boy hoisted the girl onto his back and ran in the opposite direction. He had a feeling there would be another exit on the far side of the basement. As expected, the boy found an exit and managed to escape with the girl to safety.

The rescued girl was the daughter of a noble family. The nobleman, who had been desperately searching for his kidnapped daughter, greatly praised the boy and rewarded him handsomely. The boy immediately became a hero in the village. Then, a traveler showed particular interest in the boy. When asked how he had escaped the basement, the boy answered honestly, explaining his instincts. The traveler, hearing explanations like, ‘I just felt like there would be an exit that way,’ and ‘It felt like the wind was guiding me,’ approached the boy’s parents and offered advice. He told them that the boy possessed the rare qualities of a wind mage and should receive proper training.

It was the second miracle, when the boy’s name was first whispered beyond the village.

Later, the boy entered the academy and smoothly progressed into a young man. Around that time, the young man began to feel immense pressure. Despite possessing considerable talent, he was unable to summon a spirit [a magical entity bound to a mage]. As the expectant gazes gradually turned to disappointment, the young man became increasingly withdrawn. On days when his mind was clouded with doubt and worry, he would climb to the hill with the best view and idly spend time there, seeking solace in the open space.

Then one day, someone approached him as he lay staring blankly at the sky. Judging by the uniform they were wearing, he assumed they were a student from the same academy, but he had never seen them before. The person asked the young man if he was troubled, and the young man, surprisingly, answered honestly. To his confession that he couldn’t summon a spirit, the person smiled knowingly and gave an enigmatic answer.

“Where a great wind blows, a small wind is pushed away.”

In other words, the King of Wind was watching over the young man, so other spirits dared not approach him. The person, noticing the young man’s bewildered expression at the unbelievable words, offered him a small cup. He accepted it without thinking, and it was filled with clear liquor.

“Drink. Then you will go the way you desire.”

The young man drank the liquor as if compelled. Immediately, his body became as hot as if it were burning from the inside out. Tormented by an unknown heat, the young man lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he was lying alone in a field. The figure of the person, whether a senior or junior, whose identity he didn’t know, was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it had all been a dream from beginning to end. As he blankly got to his feet, the young man slowly clenched and unclenched his fist. It felt like the wind was blowing unusually strongly that day. Perhaps that was the reason. For some reason, his head felt strangely clear. He felt, for the first time in a long time, like he could summon a spirit now. The young man recited the incantation that had almost become a meaningless habit.

At that moment, a tremendous storm erupted before his eyes. It was as if all the wind flowing around him had converged on him at once. A transparent form began to materialize amidst the intense vibration of the air. The form coalesced into the shape of a dazzlingly white woman. Tears welled up in the young man’s widened eyes. His obscured vision cleared, and he began to understand things he hadn’t known before.

“Ah, it was you. It was all you.”

The snow-white woman was the unfamiliar student who had offered him the liquor a little while ago. Before that, she was the traveler who had recognized the boy’s talent and given him guidance. She was also the one who had subtly guided the mother of the newborn towards the collapsed pile of planks, ensuring the child’s rescue.

The young man collapsed and wept. The snow-white woman gently embraced and comforted him. Her embrace was so tender that the young man couldn’t stop crying.

Afterward, rumors spread that the young man had made a contract with the King of Wind. It was the third miracle that shook the world.

* * *

It felt like laughter was echoing from somewhere far away.

A clear wind tickled his hair, and a breath full of rich earthiness rushed in. He must have been asleep for quite a while. His head was foggy, as if covered in a thick mist. He opened his eyes slightly, and the piercingly intense sunlight penetrated without any filtration. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, but a stabbing pain shot through his arm, and he swallowed a gasp. His whole body ached as if he had been severely beaten.

“Ugh, what is it…….”

His voice was also raspy and hoarse. After groaning for a while, he barely managed to sit up, and the surrounding scenery came into view. A vast field stretched out under the bright blue sky. Beyond that, a dense forest surrounded the horizon, like a carefully crafted illustration in a storybook. But it was completely unfamiliar.

“Where is this?”

Why am I in a place like this? He couldn’t properly assess the situation because his head was still clouded from sleeping for so long. It felt like he had been on a wild roller coaster or dragged through the mud. In the distant depths of his consciousness, he vaguely remembered experiencing a series of dizzying sensations, as if falling from a great height to a dark abyss.

What on earth had happened? He tried to calmly piece together the events, groping through his ink-black mind. Ah, right. He was trying to find Lapis’s soul. Ellyuen had said she would move him along the trajectory of his disappearance. He had felt a strange sensation and immediately plummeted downwards, and after that, all memories were blurred. Only then did he suddenly snap back to his senses.

“Huh! Then did it succeed? Did I arrive properly?”

Of course, there was no one else around, so there was no one to answer his question. But it didn’t seem necessary to confirm it verbally. The fact that he, who had been in the Spirit Realm [a plane of existence inhabited by spirits], had opened his eyes in a completely different place was proof enough that he had succeeded in his journey.

Above all, what he could be absolutely certain of was the distinct sensation of the climate. Since becoming a spirit, he hadn’t truly felt the temperature. He could intellectually recognize the temperature, but he didn’t fully experience it physically. But now he was definitely cold. Every time the wind blew, a chilling air brushed against his skin. Judging by the faded color of the field and the sparse branches in the forest, it seemed to be the middle of winter. Fortunately, he was wearing clothes. They were also made of quite thick material, tightly covering everything from his neck to the back of his hands. Of course, this outfit was also different from his previous one.

“Then this really means a new body…….”

When he touched his face, he didn’t feel any fur or scales. His hands and feet were also in the same shape he remembered, and there were no tails or horns. It seemed he hadn’t transformed into the monster he had feared. Judging by the skin color, which wasn’t much different from before, and the familiar shape of his ears, there was a high probability that he had become a human without any significant alterations. He unconsciously sighed in relief, but then something like golden thread flickered before his eyes. When he tried to brush it away, he realized it was his hair.

“It’s blonde.”

Well, since his body had changed, his hair color could also change. He had already anticipated such a possibility, but he was still surprised to see the tangible change. Is this color a little darker than Ellyuen’s? Still, it seems brighter than Isana’s hair color. The overall length seemed similar to his original hairstyle.

After grasping that much, he felt a strange sensation and explored his body further. His chest was flat as usual, so there was no sense of incongruity, but he felt a sensation that was a little hard to explain in a place that he hadn’t felt for a while. Thanks to that, he seemed to know one thing for sure without having to remove his clothes. The gender of his newly acquired body was male. It was a little uncomfortable to have something that had been absent reappear, but it was fortunate in that it was more familiar than a woman’s body.

“More than that, what should I do now…….”

After roughly sorting out the situation, he felt utterly lost. It was good that he had arrived safely, but he couldn’t see Lapis or anything that might lead him to her. He naturally didn’t know where this place was, and he didn’t have a single penny in his possession except for the clothes he was wearing. Even if he was lucky enough to find a house soon, he didn’t know if he could secure accommodation. But he couldn’t just stay here like this and freeze to death.

‘First, let’s get out of here and find a nearby village. From there, I’ll find a suitable job, earn some money, and gather information about this place.’

Even he thought it was a vague and overly optimistic plan, but he had no other good ideas for now. He simply started walking aimlessly. If the sun went down, the temperature would plummet further, and he might encounter dangerous beasts. He didn’t know the local ecosystem yet, but it seemed likely that wild animals roamed around in the dark. So he had to find a safe place before nightfall.

However, as they say, a doomed person is doomed no matter what they do. The crisis arrived sooner than expected. And in a far worse form than he had anticipated.

“……What is that?”

He hadn’t even ventured into the forest for long when a bizarre creature blocked his path. At first, he thought it was a chimpanzee or orangutan that was unusually large. But the shape of its horned head was clearly closer to that of a goat. Its fangs, which protruded sharply like those of a predator, and its abnormally long claws and nails, and the crocodile-like tail that hung behind its buttocks, were all clear indicators that this was no ordinary beast. It seemed that this place was also a world where monsters existed.

Saliva dripped from the creature’s open mouth. Despite having the head of a herbivore, it was clearly regarding him as a delicious meal. Of course, he had no intention of fulfilling that expectation.

‘Other monsters might be nearby, so let’s finish this as quickly as possible.’

He tried to manipulate the water to attack as he always did. But he didn’t feel the familiar sensation that should naturally follow at all. Bewildered, his face hardened at the belatedly sweeping sense of despair. Come to think of it, he wasn’t the Spirit King anymore. His body had changed, so there was no way he could control water.

‘……Wait, then isn’t it incredibly dangerous if I face a monster now?’

It wasn’t just that it wasn’t ideal, it was definitely life-threatening. He swallowed hard at the gravity of the situation he had finally realized. He never thought he would be forced to confront the fact that he could no longer rely on his old powers in such a brutal way. What was even more absurd was that he had sensed the creature’s presence before the monster had even noticed him. In other words, he had a clear opportunity to escape, but he had ignored it and even moved closer to observe. He had completely squandered the optimal window of opportunity.

‘Crazy. Where did you throw away your survival instincts, El?’

How could he make such a fundamental mistake? He had lived as a human for much longer, but he had become too accustomed to the power of the Spirit King in just a few short years. That was truly absurd. How many times had things gone wrong because he couldn’t adapt to being a spirit? But now he had to adapt to a human body all over again, what kind of cruel fate was this?

Anyway, what was clear was that it was nearly impossible for an unarmed human to defeat a monster alone. The monster in front of him was roughly the same size as him, but it was undoubtedly stronger. Even if he tried to run, he would definitely be caught quickly. As if sensing his fear, the monster in front of him seemed to understand his thoughts. Kikiik, a sound like scraping metal rang out, and the monster’s posture, which had been cautiously assessing him since their eyes met, immediately turned aggressive. When he tried to retreat urgently, the monster pounced on him with surprising speed. He reflexively broke off a branch from a dead tree that had fallen nearby to use as a makeshift weapon, but he couldn’t prevent his unbalanced body from falling backward. In an instant, he was pinned down by the monster.