Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 545

545.

After threatening to bury him alive if he kept talking in such a confusing manner, we got down to seriously planning our next move. Just because a glimmer of hope had appeared didn’t guarantee everything would go smoothly. First of all, the most important thing—meeting Lantasha—was fraught with complications.

From what I’d gathered during our previous encounter, Lantasha mostly stayed in her lair. As a Red Dragon, it was common knowledge that Fire Dragons usually resided in volcanic areas. According to Rapis, who was quite knowledgeable, Lantasha’s lair was located in a valley overflowing with lava. The average temperature inside the lair was said to be well over 500 degrees Celsius (932 degrees Fahrenheit).

Putting aside how the dragon’s hide could withstand such heat, it wasn’t a place I could easily visit, no matter how sturdy I was for a human. I could endure it for a short time, but not stay for long. Moreover, there was a barrier in place, making it difficult to find the entrance to the lair. No matter how I thought about it, there was only one place to ask for help.

“Hey, Father. How’s Ifrit doing these days?”

At my cautious words, Ellyuene glanced at me before lowering his gaze back to the newspaper he was reading.

“What kind of trouble are you trying to cause now?”

“It’s nothing like that! Anyone would think I’m always causing trouble.”

“Isn’t that the case?”

Well, honestly, I couldn’t argue with that. I *have* caused a lot of trouble.

“Anyway, it’s not like that this time. I want to meet Lantasha, but I don’t know how to contact her.”

Ellyuene could take me to the lair, but he wouldn’t appreciate me trespassing on the barrier without permission, especially now, with human perception worsened by Ain Idris’s betrayal. I couldn’t commit such a rudeness when I was the one asking for a favor. The smoothest way was through Ifrit. He had been silent ever since he returned, so it was hard to expect a good response, but it was better than not trying. But perhaps I underestimated the first barrier, Ellyuene, too easily.

“Who is Lantasha?”

I was speechless again at his puzzled face, as if he had never heard of her. A vague sense of déjà vu washed over me.

“You know… Ifrit’s contractor. The Red Dragon Lantasha. Don’t you remember? We saw her together before.”

“Did we?”

“Lantasha came to visit about two years ago. Minerva came too. Ifrit was impressed that the four Spirit Kings met in the Middle Realm [the human world] for the first time.”

“It seems like that happened.”

He was seriously muttering, so he wasn’t joking. He consistently didn’t remember things he wasn’t interested in. It made my heart ache to think of Rapis, who had put in so much effort to summon him and still couldn’t get him to remember his name. Just because they were mother and son didn’t mean they had to be the same in this way. I wondered how far the realm of genetics extended.

“Why do you want to meet that dragon?”

“Um… it’s nothing much. I just have a favor to ask Lantasha…”

“Is it related to you spacing out so often lately?”

Ugh, he knew. I thought I was acting natural, but it seemed like it showed. I broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that I would have been caught long ago if I hadn’t changed my way of speaking. Fortunately, Ellyuene didn’t pry any further. Since I hid so much anyway, it seemed like he was just letting it go this time. His patience probably wasn’t an endless spring, so there would come a day when it would explode, but for now, it was a relief.

“It’s definitely better to go through Ifrit. Don’t bother me and ask him directly.”

“But I don’t have a way to meet him…”

“You may not, but he does.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Ellyuene’s gaze was directed towards the fireplace in front of him. The space created by magic didn’t need to regulate the temperature, but Sibelius had deliberately created it because it was quaint. Embers were burning brightly among the newly added firewood. And where there were embers, there were bound to be fire spirits. I tried to avoid Ellyuene as much as possible, but sometimes brave fireflies would sneak in and stay for a while (I guess they enjoyed the thrill of a test of courage). One was currently perched on the firewood.

Ah, was he telling me to pass the message to Casa? That’s how I understood it at first. But Casa, receiving the Spirit King’s gaze, fluttered its wings and hurriedly ran away. It was too fast for me to even try to talk to it. I thought I would have to wait for another brave firefly, but at that moment, flames blazed in the air, and a huge firebird appeared before my eyes. It was Ignis, dazzling with fiery feathers spread out like a peacock.

—That guy is quick on the uptake, anyway.

Ignis clicked his tongue at Ellyuene and grumbled. Wait, why is he acting like that? Are the spirits of this era committing suicide in this way? I was momentarily flustered before realizing that the voice was different from Ignis’s usual one. It was the voice of someone I knew well.

“Ifrit? Could it be Ifrit?”

—That’s right. It’s me, Master. How have you been?

A cheerful voice filled with laughter poured out like light. Just as Ellyuene had borrowed Siquel’s voice before, Ifrit seemed to have used the same method. I have to try that when I get back.

“Ifrit, why haven’t you been coming lately?”

—Sorry, sorry. I’ve been a bit negligent, haven’t I? But it’s not that I’m not going, it’s that I can’t go. If I had my way, I’d want to go right now. But I think I need to stay in the main world [the Spirit Realm] a little longer.

Was it still that bad? No matter how great the backlash, it shouldn’t take several months to recover. What on earth did he do? With a sullen feeling, I turned to see Ellyuene giving me a look that asked what I was looking at. Ignis curved his eyes and smiled.

—It’s not because of Elquines [Ellyuene’s Spirit King name]. It’s because I still have difficulty controlling my power.

“Control? Ah, is it the influence of the rampage?”

I asked in a fluster, and the answer came back that it was. The Spirit Realm has a structure where the four Spirit Kings complement each other, so if one has a problem, everyone is affected. Because one side’s power becomes too great, the other powers are also stirred up. It was the opposite situation from when I wasn’t born, but the hardships were similar.

“Is Father okay?”

That meant Ellyuene was also having a hard time right now. I hurriedly turned to him, wondering if it was okay for him to be down in the Middle Realm, but a nonchalant answer followed.

“I’m always doing this anyway.”

He said that he was originally controlling his power, so it wasn’t anything new, said the strongest Elquines of all time. Ah, I see. As I tried to smile without any soul, Ignis’s expression twitched as he narrowed his eyes. I pretended not to hear the muttered words, “You’re annoying.” Not nodding was the best I could do. He was my father, but he was definitely a bit much at times like this.

—Anyway, you want to meet Lantasha, right? I’ll pass the message on. But she’s a bit of a free spirit, so I don’t know if she’ll agree.

“Just passing it on is enough. Thank you, Ifrit. I hope you get better soon so we can meet.”

—I should. Hmm, or maybe this state is better.

“Huh? Why?”

—There’s a troublemaker who doesn’t listen to anyone’s advice. If I get better, who knows what kind of accident he’ll cause.”

I didn’t bother asking who he was talking about. The feeling of excitement from the long-awaited contact quickly subsided. Seeing me close my mouth, Ignis also made a troubled expression (his new form had too many expressions).

—Well, anyway, I won’t be trapped forever. See you later. Take care until then.

“Yeah. See you later, Ifrit.”

Ignis, who had curved his eyes and smiled again at my farewell wave, disappeared in a blaze of fire. I took a deep breath to cool the heat that had warmed my cheeks. My mind was filled with complicated thoughts, but I decided to just think about the troublesome things later. It wasn’t like my worrying would solve anything anyway.

Several days passed without any news. I thought she would be curious about the matter even if she didn’t like the meeting, but it seemed like that was too naive of a judgment. Dragons have a strong sense of pride, so maybe she thought I was being arrogant and presumptuous with the Spirit King backing me.

“Hey, hey. Let’s give up on everything. Just ask Ellyuene’s past self to take us to Lantasha’s lair right now. Let’s just barge in!”

As the time of waiting without any promise grew longer, the nagging in my head grew louder. I could only sigh at the reckless suggestion that didn’t consider the future at all.

‘Easier said than done. What if Lantasha gets angry? Things will get even more twisted.’

“Just make contact with Lantasha. Most of what you sense is conveyed to me anyway. Whether you hold her hand or cling to her leg, just grab her and buy some time.”

‘What? Do you have a plan or something?’

“She probably put it in subspace [a pocket dimension] anyway. It’ll be easier to read the magic circuit if you make contact, right? I’ll try to break through Lantasha’s subspace coordinates.”

…So that’s hacking? More than that, he’s cheerfully talking about robbing his own mother’s vault. I was so dumbfounded that I closed my mouth, and Rapis added an explanation, thinking I didn’t trust him.

“Don’t worry. There’s almost no chance of failure. I’ve even raided Diagon’s subspace when I was a hatchling.”

‘…What kind of childhood did you have?’

“I didn’t do it on purpose, I accidentally stumbled upon it while doing research on analyzing magic circuits. After that, everyone put double security on the coordinates, so it ended with a one-off. But that’s not relevant now. Once you know the coordinates, stealing one item is a piece of cake, right? The reason I got caught back then was because I raided the entire subspace.”

How proud, you unfilial son. From what I heard, he didn’t even return the wealth he had plundered. I offered a brief moment of silence to Diagon, who had been robbed in broad daylight by his own child. Even so, I couldn’t help but feel tempted. If we just went there, she would be angry, but as long as Ellyuene was by my side, Lantasha wouldn’t be able to attack me. All I had to do was grab her and buy some time.

“…Shall we do it?”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

The voice that answered was filled with cheerful laughter. I felt like I was becoming a villain as I tried to smile along. Oh dear, I want to live a good life, but I keep getting influenced by bad things. That’s why you need to make good friends.

They say you should strike while the iron is hot, so I went to Ellyuene and asked him to let me meet Lantasha. Perhaps because he had been watching me moping around for several days, he nodded without saying a word and didn’t waste any time. That meant he immediately executed the space- 이동 [space-movement] magic on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, the cozy living room had turned into a black zone with red lava flowing. The suffocating heat rose in an instant, but it subsided immediately with a wave of Ellyuene’s hand. Before I could thank him, he reached out and strongly grabbed something. Then, a crackling sound like lightning rang out, and I felt like the surrounding space was breaking.

I realized that the barrier had been broken only after seeing the cave entrance that suddenly appeared. It was truly swift and decisive. It was so uninhibited that I even felt relieved. Soon, someone came rushing out of the cave. It was Lantasha.

“Wh-What is it! Who are you people?”

Lantasha was wearing pajamas with lots of floral decorations, as if she had been woken up from sleep. Seeing her face with ribbons and hair rollers dangling from her head and a look of utter panic, I couldn’t help but laugh, even though I knew I shouldn’t.

“Hello, Lantasha. Do you remember me?”

“Ha, are you kidding me right now? Are you saying that because you really think I wouldn’t remember you? I’m asking you what’s going on!”

“I’m sorry for the aggressive method. I contacted you through Ifrit, but there was no news. So I came to meet you in person.”

I smiled as innocently as possible to let her know that I didn’t have any other intentions. Perhaps she was too dumbfounded to even get angry, Lantasha just kept opening and closing her mouth. To be exact, it seemed like she couldn’t do anything because of Ellyuene, who was standing next to me with his arms crossed.

“You know, didn’t you ever think that no news meant I didn’t want to meet you?”

“Actually, I thought that might be the case.”

“But?”

“You didn’t specifically tell me not to come. So I just decided to interpret it as I pleased!”

“Ha, I’m at a loss for words. Were you always this kind of person?”

I figured there was no point in being more brazen now, so I just admitted that I was. I could clearly see her expression changing from bewildered to “What is this?” I’m sorry, Mother. Your son made me do it.

“Hey, grab her hand, grab her hand. Grab anything.”

And that son is now demanding even more from me.

‘Now? In this atmosphere?’

“What kind of atmosphere were you expecting? Have you forgotten why we came here? You need to make contact to analyze the magic circuit.”

It’s now or never. With a feeling of “Oh well,” I strode up to Lantasha and held out my hand.

“Lantasha! Shake my hand!”

“…What?”

“I’m a big fan! I’ve always wanted to shake your hand!”

Yeah, I know. Even I can tell that’s bullshit. Lantasha’s eyes widened at the sudden situation. Her face was full of bewilderment. So was Rapis’s.

“What are you doing right now?”

‘I can’t just grab her hand without permission!’

She was already angry that I had forcibly broken the barrier, so I didn’t want to lose more points here. Of course, I would probably be treated strangely in a different sense.

I was too scared to even check Ellyuene’s reaction, who must be watching all of this. I was sweating profusely as I tried to maintain the most confident expression possible. But at that moment, surprisingly, a warm temperature touched my palm. Lantasha had taken my hand. Her face was full of resignation as I looked at her in surprise. “Well, she says she’s a fan. It’s not hard to shake hands.” Her muttered words sounded like an excuse. It seemed like I had touched a point of attack.

“That worked.”

Rapis also muttered as if he was dumbfounded. Suddenly barging in after breaking the barrier and shaking hands as a fan. It was a rather bizarre sight, but it was still a success. My heart was pounding.