Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 100

100.

A prick.

It felt like a sharp needle stabbing my chest.

I had fully expected Lapis to react that way. In fact, I had been thinking along those lines myself to some extent. But knowing it in my head and accepting it in my heart were apparently two different things. I knew perfectly well he was saying it to provoke me, but I couldn’t stop myself from being shaken.

It was then that Eluien, who hadn’t stirred until now, slowly rose from his seat. With a rustle, his platinum hair scattered around him, revealing his beautiful features clearly in the light. Even though I had just seen his face, it was so dazzling that I couldn’t get used to it. Soon, his light blue eyes, reminiscent of the spring sky, stared straight at Lapis.

“W-what is it?”

Did he feel a twinge of conscience? Lapis faltered, looking a little flustered. Then, Eluien’s expressionless eyes curved, and a soft smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. It was a smile so radiant that it momentarily stunned me.

But the feeling I got from seeing it was closer to fear than admiration. An eerily cold chill was rising around his saintly, pure figure. It was as if things that had been suppressed were bursting out all at once.

…Surely Eluien wasn’t waiting until he completely snapped, was he?

A sudden ominous feeling made me reflexively hug Isana next to me. It was almost an instinctive action.

KWA-BOOM!

At that moment, a tremendous explosion erupted from all directions.

* * *

When the wind stopped, the pressure that had filled the surroundings also disappeared. The deafening noise had already subsided. Only then did I open my tightly closed eyes and slowly lift my head. At that moment, Isana, whom I was holding in my arms, slumped powerlessly. He had fainted, unable to withstand the pressure of the explosion.

“Isana, wake up. Isana?”

I gently tapped his cheek to check his condition. Fortunately, he had only lost consciousness, and there seemed to be no other problems. But the moment of relief was short-lived. As I came to my senses, I was greeted by an unbelievable sight. The shrine room, which had been like a sealed chamber, had disappeared without a trace, and a desolate snowfield was spreading around me!

‘Good heavens.’

Did he blow up the entire building?

I looked around in dismay. The surroundings were completely devastated, as if something unimaginable had happened in that short time. There was nothing left of the walls or pillars. The only evidence that this had been inside a building until just now was some debris scattered on the ground.

And in the middle of the ruins, Eluien stood with a blank face. In front of him, Lapis was lying sprawled out in the shape of a capital 大 [the character ‘dai’ which resembles a person with outstretched limbs]. He, too, seemed to have lost consciousness, like Isana.

However, his condition was vastly different from a simple fainting spell. His entire body was covered in blood and lacerations. Just looking at that made it clear where the explosion had originated.

‘H-he’s not dead, is he?’

Lapis’s appearance was so terrible that it wouldn’t have been strange to think so. If I hadn’t found him breathing faintly, I would have mistaken him for a corpse.

But just because he was alive didn’t mean I could rest easy. The murderous intent returned to Eluien’s eyes as he stared down at him blankly for a while. He was even raising his foot near his neck!

“Uwaaack! Stop!”

Horrified, I immediately ran and hugged Eluien around the waist. He said quietly with an expressionless face.

“Let go, Elle.”

“Stop it! Are you really going to kill him?”

“I could.”

My heart sank at the resolute answer. Eluien was originally not one for jokes. Even if he were, anyone who saw his eyes now would know he was serious. He really intended to take Lapis’s life.

It was true that Lapis was a hateful guy, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch him die. I desperately began to persuade Eluien.

“U-um, can’t you just forgive him? Lapis has probably reflected enough! He’s a bit of a jerk, but he’s not that bad. There’s no need to kill him over something like this, is there?”

“Challenging the authority of God is punishable by immediate execution. This guy has already crossed the line several times. I think there are already enough reasons to kill him.”

“Ugh, don’t do that. I’ll give him a stern talking-to later! He’s still my contractor. If Lapis dies like this, what will become of me? Please, just let it go for my sake, okay?”

Was he shaken by those words? I felt his sharp, knife-like energy subside a little. Eluien frowned slightly and then sighed, putting his foot back on the ground. He had changed his mind.

Watching the shadow that had been looming over Lapis’s head recede, I swallowed a sigh of relief. I felt like I had aged ten years, even though I hadn’t been threatened myself.

“I’m only letting it go this time.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, Eluien. And thank you so much.”

Actually, even as I was asking, I never imagined he would really listen. As I bowed my head and repeatedly thanked him, Eluien sighed again and patted my head with one hand. Even though it was just that, I felt comforted and relieved.

At that moment, I heard a commotion in the distance. Priests and visitors were running out of the other building with panicked faces. They must have heard the explosion a little while ago.

“H-how can this be!”

“The shrine room…!”

They were aghast at the shrine room that had disappeared without a trace. They were trembling so much that they looked like they were about to faint. Among them was the priest Siren, who had guided us here. He found me and rushed over.

“W-what on earth happened? What happened here?”

“Um, well, a very minor problem….”

“Minor? How can a temple collapse due to a minor problem?”

“Ahaha, w-well, I guess?”

“Please explain. Could it be that you did this?”

Perhaps because he was too focused on what was happening right in front of him, the priest didn’t seem to recognize or even notice Eluien’s presence. Watching his face gradually harden, I hesitated to open my mouth, unsure of how to answer. Then, suddenly, another priest in the back shouted loudly.

“Seize the criminals!”

At that moment, priests with spears rushed out from somewhere. They were all well-built men who seemed to have trained their bodies. They quickly surrounded me and Eluien, pointing their sharp spears at us.

Bewildered by the sudden change in atmosphere, I looked at them. Then, the priest who had given the first order glared at us harshly.

“Identify yourselves. Who sent you?”

“H-huh?”

“Recently, we’ve heard rumors that the priests of the Demon God are going around attacking other gods’ orders. Are you also related to them?”

“No! No, there seems to be some misunderstanding….”

“Silence! How dare you damage a temple built with the power of God! Eluien will not forgive you!”

But Eluien is the one who did this?

I bit back the urge to say that and glanced at Eluien, the culprit of all this. But he, for his part, didn’t seem to care much about the situation, just folding his arms with an indifferent face.

Still, perhaps his unique presence was unavoidable? I felt that people who hadn’t noticed him at first were gradually turning their attention to him one by one. The priest Siren, who had guided us, was the same. He seemed to have finally discovered Eluien, and his expression was flustered.

“Hmm, was there someone like that here before?”

“What do you mean, Siren?”

“Ah! No, it’s just that when I guided these people earlier, I don’t think I saw him.”

“Does that mean he infiltrated secretly?”

Then, as if by agreement, the pointed spears turned towards Eluien all at once. It was a perfectly coordinated movement, as if they were highly trained. However, unlike their swift actions, the faces of the priests who were clutching their weapons were filled with fear. They seemed to be feeling an instinctive fear of him, a god whose identity they didn’t know. Besides, maybe it was just my imagination, but Eluien’s presence seemed to be stronger than before. Perhaps that was why even the priest who had given the first order looked nervous.

“State your name.”

“…….”

“If you don’t reveal your identity…!”

“Noisy.”

“Wh-what?”

At that one word that was finally uttered, the priests all stopped breathing at once. Eluien didn’t even look back at their reaction and muttered indifferently.

“I just got rid of what wasn’t needed in the first place. Don’t make a fuss over something so trivial.”

“W-what are you saying! Trivial? The shrine room is the heart of the temple. You must know that it is the only place where humans can communicate and interact with God! How dare you say that such a place is unnecessary…!”

“That’s why I got rid of it.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

“It’s also a pain to review your meaningless prayers and worship every day. Most of it starts here.”

“What on earth are you talking about….”

The priests looked at each other with confused expressions. However, I alone accurately understood the meaning and could only laugh awkwardly. In other words, he had blocked the source in order to reduce his workload.

“What is all this commotion!”

At that moment, another thunderous shout rang out from somewhere else. Startled, I turned my head and saw a group of people approaching at a rapid pace. They were all priests wearing robes. However, one person in the middle of them was dressed slightly differently from the other priests. The robe itself was more voluminous and decorated, and he was wearing a pure white crown on his head.

“C-Chief Priest!”

The people who recognized him began to panic. He was probably the highest-ranking person in this temple. Above all, the divine crest clearly imprinted on the back of his hand was proof of that.

Contrary to the prejudice that people with high positions are old, his appearance was almost similar to Kaitain’s. At most, he was only a year or two older than him? Come to think of it, there didn’t seem to be many old people among the general priests either. The oldest-looking person seemed to be only in their early to mid-thirties. Eluien’s order didn’t have a very long history, and that seemed to have affected the average age of the priests.

“Chief Priest! Something terrible has happened! Eluien’s shrine room has collapsed!”

“The shrine room has collapsed! How on earth did such a thing happen!”

“We don’t know either. We were in the middle of questioning the suspect to find out the situation.”

“Suspect?”

“There, those people over there.”

At the priests’ words, the Chief Priest’s face turned towards us. But what caught my eye was not him, but another priest next to him. It was partly because he was taller than the others, but above all, his face was very familiar.

It was Kaitain, it was him.

“Oh, Mr. Kai?”

“Elle-nim!”

He also recognized me and looked flustered. And his short exclamation caused a huge ripple in the already chaotic space. The Chief Priest, as well as all the priests, were shocked and looked at me.

“E-Elle-nim, you said?!”

“Could it be the Elle-nim you mentioned in the oracle?”

“Then are those people the guests we’ve been waiting for?”

Oops, come to think of it, my name was in the oracle.

I smiled awkwardly and cast a resentful glance at Eluien next to me. Of course, even if I did, he had no idea there was a problem.

“Everyone, be quiet!”

It was the man called the Chief Priest who calmed the murmuring people. He looked around at the quiet crowd and then calmly asked Kaitain.

“What’s going on, Kaitain? Could that person be the one Eluien-nim mentioned?”

“Yes, that’s right, Luyan-nim. It is definitely Elle-nim.”

“But the fact that they are the culprits who damaged the temple….”

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. Elle-nim would never do such a thing.”

Kaitain, who answered firmly, then calmly looked back at the priests who were keeping us in check. The priests who received his gaze all shrugged their shoulders and showed embarrassment.

“Everyone, please put away the weapons you are pointing at the guests.”

“……H-however…….”

At his polite request, the priests looked at each other with bewildered expressions. It was a natural reaction, as the criminal who had been accused of destroying the temple had suddenly had their status elevated.

“What are you all doing? Are you going to continue to be rude to the guests that Eluien-nim told you to welcome?”

As he repeatedly urged (a threat disguised as a request), the priests hesitated and put away their spears. Thanks to this, my vision cleared, and Kaitain came to me in a hurry.

“Elle-nim, are you alright?”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”

“I’m glad I arrived at the right time. I was wondering if I had arrived first, but you were already here. I don’t know what misunderstanding has occurred, but don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

He really didn’t seem to think that we were the culprits who destroyed the temple. Well, it would be hard to imagine that a Spirit King who visited at the call of God would blow up the temple. Even though it was actually Eluien who did it, Kaitain, who had no way of knowing the circumstances, was sending me a look of infinite trust. Then, he glanced at Eluien and asked cautiously.

“But excuse me, who is the person next to you…? Are they a new companion?”

“Um, well, you could say they’re someone Mr. Kai knows well.”

“Yes? I’ve never met them before.”

“Even if it’s the first time you’ve seen their face, you’ll definitely know them.”

“Is that so?”

After staring at Eluien with a puzzled expression for a moment, his complexion quickly turned pale. He had a blank look on his face, as if he had realized something.