Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 575

575.

“What is he doing?”

Lamias frowned, pointing at himself, and Diagon nodded vigorously in agreement. Conversely, when he pointed at me, he shook his head.

“He’s doing all sorts of weird things. Looks like he has something to say to me privately. I’ll be right back.”

“Yes.”

The scene that followed was a comedy in itself. Diagon greeted Lamias, who was approaching him, with a bright smile. Then, he immediately gagged him and teleported away. By the time a shocked Lamias tried to resist, he had already been swallowed by the light. Diagon, who briefly made eye contact with me, waved his hand again. That was the last I saw of him.

“…….”

Well, I guess he’ll sort things out and come back. In the meantime, I decided to kill time by looking around. Walking up the mound from the back gate, a vast meadow unfolded before me. Countless flowers, like constellations, embroidered the lush green field. White petals, seemingly blown from the nearby forest, scattered like snow on the wind. It was a sweet breeze full of spring.

The spirits were in a good mood today, their laughter clear and bright. I was blankly gazing at the scenery when I felt a presence behind me. Thinking Lamias had returned, I turned around and froze. Standing where the petals danced was not Lamias, but a black-haired boy with eyes of gold, so beautiful it was sad.

“Trowel.”

Now I understood Diagon’s strange behavior from earlier. He must have cleared the way so the two of us could talk. He calmly gazed at me as I approached him with a welcoming heart.

“I heard you went to fix the territory…….”

“I just came for a bit.”

After answering briefly, Trowel frowned for a moment. He seemed to hesitate how to continue. His gaze lingered near my chest.

“Your body…….”

“Ah! As you can see, I’m fine. I’m perfectly alright.”

“……I see.”

“How about you, Trowel? Are you okay?”

His eyes wavered at my question.

“You’re still strange.”

His voice sounded somewhat hollow, but he didn’t seem upset. I took courage at his appearance.

“Hey, I heard from Ifrit that you decided to stop destroying humans. Thank you so much.”

Trowel didn’t react for a moment. He just stared at me before blurting out a question.

“What would you have felt if everything was over when you woke up?”

“Of course…… I would have been sad.”

He slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. A smile was on his face as he looked at me again. He looked relieved, as if he had ended a long wandering.

“I still don’t like humans.”

He opened his mouth quietly.

“But I think I hate the thought of you dying even more. No, I hate it. It’s too contradictory to try to wipe out all humans and then hate the thought of one of them dying. I just realized that.”

“Trowel…….”

“To be precise, it’s not that I quit, but I’m putting it on hold. I don’t know what will happen after you die.”

It was such a probing remark that I laughed.

“Trowel wouldn’t do that.”

“You’re so sure.”

“Because you really won’t.”

The him in my world was proof, but even if that weren’t the case, my answer would have been the same. I could already feel that Trowel’s heart had changed. The him I met here always had a thorny, sharp energy, but now I couldn’t feel any of that energy. It was like seeing Trowel as comfortable as the one in the future. He’s really okay now. He’s gotten better. I was quietly moved when he looked at me again. It was when I felt that his expression looked somehow bitter.

“I’m sorry.”

“……Huh?”

“I acted so badly……, I hurt you. I’m really sorry.”

With a calm apology, he bowed his head. I was momentarily stunned by what had happened before quickly regaining my senses.

“Ah, no, Trowel! Don’t do this.”

“I wanted to apologize. It’s true that I tormented you.”

“I don’t care about any of that. It’s enough that you’ve come back as the Trowel I know.”

“……I don’t know what the me you know is.”

Trowel, who lightly lowered his head as if he couldn’t help it, chuckled. I had nothing to be ashamed of, so I was just confident.

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

My heart swelled at the calm answer. So many things had really happened before we could face each other with such a peaceful feeling. Trowel, who was gently looking at me as I grinned, soon let out a short exclamation as if he had remembered something.

“Here, I’ll give this back to you.”

“Huh? Ah……!”

I also exclaimed when I saw what he was taking out of his pocket. It was the pouch containing Lapis. Just like the way I gave it to him, this time Trowel grabbed my hand and handed me the pouch.

“Hey! You! You crazy [expletive]!”

A deafening shout echoed in my head, almost making my ears ring. Trowel looked flustered as I gasped at the sudden mental attack.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing. Hahaha…….”

Yeah, this is it. I knew Lapis would unleash a torrent of abuse as soon as we met. Still a dragon who speaks his mind! He doesn’t disappoint.

“I told you not to! I called Trowel a crazy bastard, and you’re taking it one step further! Are you two deliberately trying to mess with me? Should I call you crazy too? Huh?”

‘Okay, Lapis. I was wrong. It’s all my fault, so let’s talk later.’

“Is that how you apologize!”

He must be really angry this time. Cold sweat dripped down my face at the nagging that didn’t seem to stop. Trowel was watching me with strange eyes. The next moment, he lightly scanned his surroundings. Then, the spirits who were peeking around flinched and disappeared in droves. It was clear that he had deliberately chased them away so they couldn’t watch, and my body tensed.

“There’s something I want to ask you about that.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“The energy I feel from that soul stone is somehow similar to yours. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, what do you think?”

“Huh? Really? That’s strange. Ifrit said it had a strong fire attribute.”

“I’m not talking about the attribute.”

The golden eyes that calmly lowered held a mysterious light. He had opened his insightful eye [a magical ability to perceive deeper truths].

“As I thought, no matter how many times I look at it, it’s the same. It feels similar to when I try to read you. It’s definitely unfamiliar, but somehow familiar and…… I feel strangely nostalgic.”

“…….”

What should I do? I hadn’t even thought of this side effect. Lapis must have been nervous too, because he had already stopped nagging. The moment our eyes met, I felt like time had stopped.

“Who the hell are you?”

I couldn’t answer the question that followed. He had always given me suspicious looks, but this was the first time he had asked me like this. It wasn’t just that he thought there was something special about me, but he was questioning my very existence.

I immediately abandoned my intention to pretend I didn’t know anything. At this rate, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before he noticed. Rather than having something happen suddenly in the future and not being able to cope with it, it might be better to induce Kanos’s spell to activate here and now. Since it erases the memories that would make him realize my identity, it will also erase the doubts he had while looking at Lapis. Once I made up my mind, I felt much more at ease.

“I have no choice. I’ll only tell you.”

Trowel’s eyes wavered as I started to speak. He had asked out of curiosity, but he seemed even more flustered when I actually tried to answer.

“I’m actually here to find a friend’s soul.”

“……What?”

“My friend had a big accident…… and his soul disappeared. It fell here, so I followed it.”

The eyes I faced widened. He must have realized quite a bit with these words. From the fact that I came from another world, to the fact that the friend I was looking for was the soul stone in my hand right now. Is it because this is the first time I’ve revealed this much with my own mouth? Even though I know this isn’t the time, I felt a strange exhilaration.

“Do you know, Trowel? We were brothers there too.”

The moment he opened his mouth, he stared blankly at me. His face, swirling with confusion, created countless emotions before soon being dyed with brilliant light. As if it was strange that he hadn’t noticed until now. The lips that let out a trembling breath smiled brightly. I smiled along with him as I watched his eyes shimmering with tears.

He soon sent me a worried look. He seemed to guess that there was a reason why I hadn’t said anything until now.

“Is it okay to tell me something like this?”

“It’ll be okay. This much.”

It’s not like I openly revealed my identity. This much will be okay, probably. Still, I was nervous because my vision was swaying. Trowel’s expression slowly hardened as he felt me smiling weakly.

“But…….”

“It’s really okay. And…….”

I reached out and naturally took his hand, placing my hand on his shoulder. I looked straight at the face that was sending me a questioning look.

“Anyway, you’ll forget everything.”

“You……?”

“I’m sorry, Trowel.”

His eyes, which had been looking at me with a bewildered expression, soon became empty and blurred. At the same time, my swaying vision quickly stabilized. Fortunately, Kanos’s spell seemed to have been activated safely. A sigh of relief flowed out on its own.

When the light returned to his eyes, Trowel had a puzzled expression as if he had just woken up from a dream. Then, he flinched and stepped back when he realized he was holding my hand.

“What was that just now?”

“Huh? What?”

“Why am I holding your hand…… No, never mind.”

He shook his head with a sigh, and he had already dropped his guard. Thanks to that, I was the one who was flustered. There must be a sense of discomfort even if the memory was erased. I thought he would dig deeper, but his resignation was strangely fast.

“I’ve given up on understanding you.”

“Ahaha…….”

It’s not like I’ve been acting suspiciously just once or twice. Unintentionally, my past actions seem to have played a role in building immunity. I swallowed my embarrassing feelings, feeling relieved, when Trowel stared at me seriously.

“Instead, promise me just one thing: that when the time comes when you can tell me, you’ll explain everything.”

“…Okay.”

I didn’t hesitate to answer this time.

“I promise. Whenever it is, I’ll tell you everything.”

That time when I can tell you might even erase this promise, but still… Definitely someday. When I answered with a smile, a smile also spread across his face.

I have so much to tell you when I get back, Trowel. I wish that day would come soon. Even though you’re right in front of me, I miss you so much. Is the you there doing well? Will you remember the events of this day? I forcibly suppressed and scattered the words that were swelling up like balloons.

But still, we can smile at each other now. It was something that felt as far away as eternity until just a while ago. This alone was enough for now.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

The time for farewell came in an instant. It didn’t feel like we had talked that long, but it was already time to say goodbye, and I couldn’t stop the regretful feeling. It was even more so in that I didn’t know when I would see him again if I left like this. I hurriedly spoke before he disappeared, thinking I should at least get a promise for the next time.

“Hey, Trowel. Can we see each other often?”

“How often is often? Once a year?”

“No! That’s not often! Once a week? At least once or twice a month…….”

“Your prickly spirit won’t like it very much.”

His muttering gaze was directed not at me but in another direction. I unconsciously followed the feeling that he was conscious of something and widened my eyes. Ellyuen was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, having arrived at some point.

“Well, Father won’t care much. We’ve made up now.”

Ellyuen, who hadn’t shown any particular reaction, frowned as if he had heard the most absurd thing in the world the moment I gave a reason. “I wouldn’t call this making up, would you?” Trowel also muttered sullenly.

“……Someone completely blew away the foundation of the territory. It’s hard to make a lot of time.”

Still, it wasn’t like he was saying he wouldn’t come.

“It’s okay to see each other briefly.”

“Okay, then.”

He nodded and hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“……See you next time.”

“Yeah! See you next time, Trowel!”

Trowel also smiled as I answered with a bright smile. Soon, his figure became transparent and scattered into light. I watched the petals scattering in the place he had disappeared for a while before turning around and running towards Ellyuen.

“Father! Did you come to pick me up?”

“Yes. Is there anything left to do here?”

“No, not really. Ah, but Lamias…….”

“He’ll come on his own.”

It was an answer that was consistently cold to Lamias, as expected of him.

“But Father, aren’t you going to make a contract with me again?”

Ellyuen, who was about to start the teleportation magic, stopped at those words. He had a slightly embarrassed face. I felt a little sad, wondering if he hadn’t even considered it.

“I thought you’d ask to make a contract again if we made up…….”

“……So this is making up for you.”

“What, we didn’t make up?”

I said I was wrong and we hugged! The atmosphere was good! Then we made up! Was I the only one who felt better? Is that it? Ellyuen, whom I turned to in embarrassment, was letting out a hollow laugh. As expected, he didn’t seem angry no matter how I looked at him.

“Is it because you still don’t trust me? I really won’t do anything reckless anymore?”

“No, that’s not why.”

He frowned and lightly touched his lips. He had a slightly troubled expression, unlike usual.

“I thought you wouldn’t want it.”

“Huh? Why would I?”

“……I see. I think I misjudged again.”

Ellyuen seemed to have had a lot of thoughts in the meantime. He looked at me with strange eyes for a moment. It was a gaze that seemed to see something pitiful, yet also contained a sense of relief. Like Trowel, who had felt relieved, he also seemed to have come to some conclusion.

“But, yes. If I were a father, I should have urged you even if you didn’t want it. Especially if it’s something that’s beneficial to you.”

A soft touch reached my head.

“I only learn from you. I’m sorry for always making you come to me first.”

Tears were about to fall, so I quickly shook my head. No, Father. This is what Father taught me first. Because Father made me his son first. Because he consistently cared for me and waited silently until I fully opened my heart.

“Let’s make a contract, El. A contract that will never be broken again. A contract between a father and a son.”

I gladly nodded my head. A brilliant smile was drawn on Ellyuen’s face, bending his eyes. Just like on that day when I said I would become his son.