Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 587

A laugh escaped me. To think I’d meet this child here. His appearance had changed so much; it was fascinating. I knew he would gradually be influenced, but I never imagined even his hair and eye color would change. When we parted, he was closer to a human, but now he felt like something between a human and a spirit.

“I could feel you getting closer. The spirits were constantly restless, too. I couldn’t believe it. I’m so happy to see you again.”

“I’m happy too, Ray. You’ve changed a lot. How have you been? Do you live here?”

“Yes, I’m living happily with everyone.”

“Everyone?”
The woman who had been chasing Ray came to mind, and I shifted my gaze. She was frozen a short distance away. I didn’t realize it when I glanced at her, but now I saw she was an elf, not a human. Her cute face, abundant platinum blonde hair, and light purple eyes looked familiar, as if she was exactly what I imagined the child I knew would look like grown up.

“Could it be….”

And she seemed to be feeling the same way I was. The woman, blinking her large eyes, opened her mouth with difficulty.

“A-Are you perhaps Elquines?”

When I heard the question, I couldn’t deny it.

“…Cecil?”

As soon as I spoke, a strong force embraced me tightly. I paused for a moment, then gently stroked her trembling head.

“You’ve really grown up beyond recognition. You’ve become a young lady now.”

“You haven’t changed at all, Elquines. You’re really Elquines, right? Oh my, it feels like I’m dreaming.”

“You only saw me briefly when you were little. Do you even remember me?”

“Of course! I remember you healing me and being so kind to me.”

Seeing her face beaming with tears welling up, I felt overwhelmed as well. It was a comfort to know that not all connections were lost.

“How is Endill doing?”

“Ah, Brother….”

“Wait, Cecil! You should at least tell me where you’re going!”

As expected, a voice rang out at that moment. I raised my head and saw a huge blue wolf hurrying towards us from a distance. A man was desperately clinging to its back. He was holding on so well that it looked like an acrobatic performance. But the moment the wolf stopped, he lost his balance and was thrown off. After rolling a few times, the man finally stopped and angrily got to his feet.

“Argh, damn it! I almost died! Are you crazy? Why the sudden tantrum… Huh? What are you guys doing here?”

The man, grumbling, glanced at Cecil and Ray and muttered.

“Brother!”

“Yeah, it’s your one and only brother. Ow, that hurts! I think all my skin is scraped off. Ouch, I really got hurt! Hey, what are you going to do about this, Cecil! I’m bleeding!”

“That’s not it! Look who’s here!”

“What? What are you talking about….”

Endill, who had been scolding the indifferent Cecil, raised his head again and looked this way. And finally, his eyes met mine.

“Gasp….”

He gasped and stared intently while I examined his appearance. Endill, now a young man, had a sharper impression that made it hard to remember his boyish looks. He had the same platinum blonde hair and light purple eyes as Cecil, but while it gave Cecil a radiant feel, Endill had a somewhat decadent aura.

“El…?”

“Hello, Endill. You’ve grown up a lot too.”

When I greeted him with a smile, he seemed to lose strength and slumped to the ground. I watched him, stunned, gaping like a fish, before approaching him. Blood was flowing from a scratch on the back of his hand, probably from rolling on the ground. I took his hand and infused it with healing power, and Endill paused for a moment. He kept looking back and forth between his completely healed hand and me.

“Goodness, it really is El….”

“Have you been well?”

Instead of answering, he hugged me tightly. Like siblings, their actions were similar. Endill, whom I met again, had red-rimmed eyes, filled with tears.

“I heard you went on a long journey. Have you come back now?”

“Yes, I’ve returned. Was I too late?”

“No. Welcome back, El. I’m so glad you’re here.”

His voice was full of emotion. I was relieved to see that this hadn’t changed from when he was a child. Everyone had grown up so much that they felt unfamiliar, but he seemed more like the Endill I knew.

“You must have gone to Carters [Likely referring to the Carters Empire]. Did you come back here again?”

“Yes, I guess there’s no place like home. Carters wasn’t bad, but realistically, we couldn’t even think about leaving the residential area. We heard that the Swalt Empire had become a good place to live, so we just came back.”

Endill joked that it had already been 250 years. Isana had kept her promise to make it a good country for other races, so they had returned.

“Looking back, it was really a timely decision. After Emperor Edmund ascended the throne, the Carters Empire began to persecute other races. Wars kept breaking out; it was a mess. It would have been dangerous if we had stayed there.”

I realized he was talking about the emperor who had persecuted magicians. He had driven other races out of their residences overnight and even sold them into slavery. As a result, even now, in this era of inter-racial trade, not many people venture into the Aratus continent where the former Carters Empire was located. A leader who tries to ruin a country never makes just one mistake.

Afterward, I couldn’t refuse their insistence on serving me tea and visited Endill’s house. The house they used to live in was within the elven territory, but now they had a proper place in the village. It was a picturesque two-story house set against the forest. Endill and his sister lived on the first floor, and Ray lived on the second floor.

It seemed they had started living together a little over a hundred years ago. The story of how they met was very interesting. The siblings had visited a region famous for its beautiful scenery for a summer vacation, where they heard stories about a haunted mansion. Since they had nothing else to do and were bored, they decided to check it out, only to find not a ghost but a boy living alone. That was Ray.

“At first, I thought he was a spirit. But when I looked closely, he was human. But he didn’t seem to be completely human either. I had a feeling he was related to El, so I started talking to him, and we became friends.”

Ray had lived with his adoptive father, Duke Caribdis, and after his death, he lived alone. After realizing he wasn’t aging, he avoided going out, and people who occasionally saw him in the garden mistook him for a ghost.

Ray knew he was being mistaken for a ghost, but he didn’t bother to explain. Being neither human nor spirit, he couldn’t bring himself to associate with anyone. When he met the elven siblings and became friends, he finally decided to live in a new place.

“Didn’t you resent me for not explaining honestly?”

I asked cautiously, and Ray smiled gently and shook his head.

“Resentment? Not at all. This life is a gift from Lynn. I never feel lonely when I think that Lynn is always with me. The spirits often come to visit too.”

Ray, being a half-spirit, could see and talk to natural spirits. Hearing this, it seemed like he was in a similar state to me 4,000 years ago, but he was closer to a spirit than a human, so it seemed difficult to form a spirit contract. He seemed to be able to manipulate water a little as well. “Thanks to you, we’re keeping a close eye on him,” Trowell whispered in my ear, making me laugh awkwardly. Since Ray was the first case of his kind, the underworld and the divine realm seemed to have differing opinions about him. I felt like I was creating all the unique precedents in the spirit world. Still, I was glad that Ray didn’t find it distressing.

“My father always told me that I was a blessed being. So don’t think of this long life as a burden. This life will lead me to a path of increasing happiness.”

Ray smiled shyly, saying that meeting the Endill siblings seemed to prove that. He was a man who had committed many misdeeds on the side of the Grand Duke, but he was a good father to Ray until the end. It seemed like it was a good decision to leave Ray in his care.

While looking around, something suddenly caught my eye. On top of the display case, along with a thick book that looked like a bible, was a silver necklace. It was a necklace with Ellyuen’s emblem engraved on it.

“This is….”

“Ah, that belongs to Kaitain.”

Endill said with a longing expression. Kaitain, who had left for the Carters Empire with the siblings, had helped them settle down for a few years, and when everyone’s life became stable, he returned to the temple. Afterward, he served as a high priest and even became the head of the clergy. Then, when he became too old to move around, he happened to reunite with Endill and spent the last years of his life with the siblings.

“We were there when he passed away. He went peacefully, as if he were falling asleep. He wanted to see El one last time, but he was sad that he couldn’t.”

“I see….”

I slowly stroked the carving on the necklace. It was well-maintained, but it showed signs of wear and tear, proving that it was an item he had always carried with him. Endill, who had been watching me quietly, asked.

“His grave is behind the house. Would you like to visit it?”

* * *

In Akradon, the most basic funeral practice was to embalm the body, put it in a coffin, and enshrine it in a stone chamber. However, it was customary to cremate the bodies of clergymen. It was said that it was to return those who came from the sky back to the sky. The remaining bones after cremation were placed in a jar, buried in the ground, and a tombstone was erected on top.

The same method was used for Kaitain’s funeral. His tomb felt as neat and tidy as he had been when he was alive. It didn’t feel faded even after hundreds of years, as if it was being maintained regularly.

Ellyuen’s most sacred servant, Endill and Cecil’s eternal friend.

Rest peacefully.

I stroked the inscription on the tombstone with my finger and took a slow breath. I thought I had become indifferent, but seeing the tomb in person felt a little different.

“I’m here, Mr. Kaitain. It’s been a very long time.”

‘Actually, it feels like it’s only been a few years for me, so seeing your tomb like this feels strange.’

I muttered inwardly and smiled with a sad feeling. Trowell, who was watching from behind, touched my shoulder as if to comfort me.

“Shall we go now?”

At the words, I slowly nodded. I took the hand he offered and got up.

“Where do you want to go next?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

I raised my head and looked around. The sky, embracing winter, was incredibly high and deep blue. Was it because I had seen the tomb of an acquaintance? There were still more places I hadn’t seen than places I had, but I was no longer interested.

“I’ll go to Isana.”

Trowell looked at me for a moment at my absentminded words.

“Would that be okay?”

“Of course, it would.”

A smile formed on his lips as he nodded. I smiled brightly as well. It was time to stand at the end of the journey.

* * *

The Swalt imperial family is enshrined in the imperial tomb after death. The tomb also existed within the imperial palace. It was a distance away that would take a long time to travel by carriage from the main castle, but it was still within the imperial palace grounds.

The magnificently built building felt more like a temple than a tomb. The interior was also lavishly decorated, giving the illusion of entering a museum. However, the atmosphere changed drastically as we began to descend underground. Spaces with only coffins and no other decorations, dark and dimly lit chambers with only minimal lighting, created a calm and solemn atmosphere.

“You can go to the end.”

Trowell, who had stopped walking, pointed to the space in front of him. It seemed like he meant for me to go alone from here. I suppressed the urge to run away and nodded. I had to face it anyway.

“If you go inside, you’ll be able to see what you need to see.”

“…Are you talking about what you wanted to show me?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

So that was here. My vision was a little blurry, probably from the tension. I couldn’t believe that I was in a tomb, or that Isana was inside. But I soon regained my composure and slowly moved my feet.

When I finally reached my destination, I couldn’t help but gasp slightly. The first thing that caught my eye was the intricate carvings that blended the walls and ceiling together. Looking closely, it was a form that started with the scene of a boy and a girl meeting for the first time, continued with them fighting bravely together, getting married, and waving kindly to the people. It seemed to be a mural depicting the life of Isana and Alisa. In the middle of that space, there were two gold-plated coffins. They were the coffins of Isana and Alisa.

“….”

I barely endured the urge to collapse. In front of the two coffins, there was a decoration that I hadn’t seen in other spaces. A platform made like an altar, and on top of it, a sword with a clear red glow was erected. The color was different from what I knew, but it was definitely the sword I knew.

Sure enough. The moment I took a step, a magnificent voice rang out. It was a voice that reminded me of our first meeting sometime ago.

A wry smile appeared at the almost unchanged lines. I don’t know why Fire Buster is acting as a tomb keeper in here. Was this what Trowell wanted to show me? As I got closer, another thing on the altar caught my eye. It was a thick book covered in gold leather.

“What is this?”

It was when I muttered to myself.

A surprised voice burst out from the sword, which had been scattering a noble red light.

I laughed at the excited voice, as if it had never been magnificent. I wondered if the color had changed, but it seemed like the personality was still the same.

“Yes, it’s me. Long time no see.”

“You’re still going on about the warrior.”

Fire Buster, protesting, had a very aggrieved voice. A ceremony to welcome a new master in front of the coffin of the former master. It seemed to have some meaning in its own way, but judging from the fact that it’s been like this until now, it didn’t seem like a very suitable place. As if noticing my thoughts, Fire Buster hurriedly continued.