Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 102

Chapter 102

The heat that had lingered on my forehead vanished as if it had never been. Even as I touched my forehead, Ellyuen continued,

“Then I shall return now. You can contact me anytime if needed. And try to keep that lizard away from you as much as possible. It would be better to kill it.”

“Ahaha…….”

It wasn’t just my imagination that the latter part felt more forceful. It seemed Lapis had earned his deep displeasure. Considering he survived going against a god (?), he might be quite lucky in a way.

“Oh, right, Ellyuen, there’s something I wanted to ask!”

“What is it?”

Even though I suddenly stopped him as he was about to leave, he answered calmly without any sign of displeasure. I took courage from that and asked.

“If I go to a temple, can I meet any god?”

“Well, it varies from god to god, but they would rarely refuse a Spirit King’s request.”

“Then can I meet a Demon God too?”

At that moment, a brief silence fell from Ellyuen. Even though I couldn’t see his face clearly because of the light, I somehow knew his expression had twisted.

“Why a Demon God?”

“Um, it’s not really important, but there’s something I want to ask him.”

“If it’s not an important matter, you should refrain from it.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You’re going to visit a Demon God’s temple with another god’s mark? You’ll likely be rejected right from the entrance. If you’re unlucky, you might face considerable hardship.”

“Ah, I see.”

Come to think of it, I heard the Demon God’s priests were a bit aggressive. Seeing how the people here initially mistook us for remnants of the Demon God’s forces, there must be quite a few cases of them causing trouble for other priests. If I openly went to them, they would only see it as picking a fight.

‘I wanted to ask about the oracle that led to Isana’s father’s death.’

I should have visited the Demon God’s temple first if I knew it would be like this. Feeling a bit disappointed, I clicked my tongue. Then, Ellyuen’s voice, slightly lower, was heard.

“Even aside from that, refrain from associating with Demon Gods as much as possible. It’s unlikely, but even if they come looking for you, the same applies. He’s not someone you can handle.”

“Is he that scary of a god?”

“……It might be better if it could be expressed that simply.”

I couldn’t help but be even more puzzled by the incomprehensible words. Ellyuen spoke to me again in a low voice.

“Remember my words, without fail.”

* * *

They say the life of the one left behind is sadder than the one who departs. It might not be the most fitting example, but there doesn’t seem to be a better way to express my current situation. In that sense, I couldn’t help but sigh after Ellyuen returned, because there were mountains of problems to deal with.

The first thing waiting for me was the scene inside the devastated prayer room. The priests who were barely holding on couldn’t endure any longer and lost consciousness around the time he left. Everyone was collapsed, and the floor was covered in vomit and filth they had spewed out. I was the only one in this space who was awake and unharmed. That meant I was the only one who could clean up the mess.

I started by checking on Lapis sequentially. Among those here, his condition was by far the most serious. To be honest, I was a bit taken aback by it. According to the knowledge that automatically came to mind, dragons were a race with excellent regenerative abilities. Yet, his condition hadn’t improved even slightly from the beginning. Even using healing magic, it wouldn’t heal immediately.

An injury that wouldn’t heal right away even with the Spirit King’s power… Ellyuen must have been really determined. After repeating the treatment several times, I was finally able to make him look somewhat presentable.

After that, I began to move around among the people, treating their injured areas or cleaning up the dirty spots. It was a simple task, but since there were so many people, just roughly going around took quite a bit of time. Once things were somewhat organized, I started to worry about other things.

‘What am I going to say when people wake up?’

Regret is always too late, no matter how early it comes. I didn’t think at all when I was actually doing the deed, but as the excitement subsided, the events from just a while ago flashed through my mind like a panorama: treating Ellyuen too casually in front of people, making dangerous remarks about him being my son or the Spirit King without hesitation… everything was bothering me.

Most of the people who heard our conversation probably already realized my identity. I could somehow try to manage things if it were just the priests, but the problem was that there were ordinary people mixed in here. No matter how much I threatened them, I didn’t think I could silence their mouths.

“Ugh, it’s all Ellyuen’s fault. He spoke so nonchalantly that even I lost my sense of caution.”

I sighed deeply, blaming the innocent Ellyuen. I even thought about taking my group and running away while I had the chance, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it because it felt like it would make things even bigger.

The moment of truth(?) came not long after. A small groan was heard from among the people, and someone slowly raised their body.

“Umm…….”

It was High Priest Ruyan. As the person with the most divine power, his recovery seemed to be the fastest as well.

He swept back his disheveled hair and looked around with a bewildered expression. His eyes were still hazy, as if he hadn’t fully regained his senses to understand the situation.

The moment our eyes met, I tensed up and clenched my fist. In my head, words starting with excuses and ending with excuses were busily waiting for their turn. But what came out of his mouth was a completely unexpected question.

“Isn’t this the prayer room? Why am I here? No, more than that… who are you?”

“Huh? Me, me?”

Could it be that he doesn’t remember? What was even more perplexing was his next action. Tears like beads began to fall from his eyes as he stared blankly at me.

“H, High Priest?”

Only after hearing my call did he seem to realize his condition. He raised both hands and gently touched his cheeks, staring intently at the liquid that had thoroughly soaked his palms. He himself seemed unable to understand his own appearance.

“How strange. Tears are falling, but I can’t stop them. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember. I feel like I’ve forgotten something I shouldn’t have.”

“R, really, you don’t remember anything?”

“The fact that you’re asking that means you know why I’m like this?”

Feeling like I had slipped up, I bit my tongue slightly. Seeing that, he seemed to be even more convinced of his thoughts, and he stared straight at me.

“Please tell me. What on earth happened here?”

“Um, well, you see…….”

I swallowed hard, feeling the gaze fixed on me. I never imagined he would lose his memory. I had never considered this possibility, so I didn’t know how to explain it.

At that moment, the High Priest’s pupils suddenly widened. He blinked his eyes several times as if slightly embarrassed, and then blurted out an unexpected question.

“By any chance, is your name El…?”

“Huh? You remember?”

“……My guess was correct.”

Wait, he doesn’t remember?

Judging by his reaction, it didn’t seem like his memory had returned, but it felt strange that he knew a name I hadn’t even told him. I carefully watched his expression, wondering what on earth was going on.

The High Priest had a thoughtful expression. After a while, he raised his head again and looked at me.

“You clearly said your name was El.”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll ask you just one more thing. Did Ellyuen-nim [respected title] personally visit this place?”

Is he using telepathy? I nodded slowly without realizing it. Then, a gentle smile spread across his lips, as if he understood everything.

At that moment, groans began to echo from the other side as well. The people who had collapsed were regaining consciousness one by one. Isana was among them.

“Umm, El……?”

“I… Lai, are you okay?”

At my question, he raised his body and nodded. In that state, he blankly rubbed his eyes for a moment, then asked with a startled expression.

“But why am I lying down? Did I fall asleep?”

“Huh? Don’t tell me you don’t remember either?”

“Either? Then El doesn’t remember either?”

“No, it’s not that… how much do you remember?”

“Umm, I remember coming into the prayer room… but after that, not at all…….”

In the end, that meant all the memories from the point of meeting Ellyuen had flown away. The other people who woke up had similar reactions to Isana. They were all looking around with bewildered expressions. It seemed no one remembered what had happened until just now.

It would be impossible to dismiss the fact that so many people had lost their memories at once as mere coincidence. It was clear that Ellyuen had done something before leaving.

‘He should have told me this in advance!’

If I had known it would be like this, I would have just secretly left the temple. I despaired inwardly at the fact that I had missed a golden opportunity. At that moment, I felt intense gazes on both cheeks. It was Isana, looking at me with startled rabbit eyes.

“What’s wrong, Lai?”

“Um… ah, well… by any chance, did we meet Ellyuen-nim?”

“Huh? You know too? How?”

“That’s….”

Isana hesitated and couldn’t continue the explanation properly. He seemed a bit excited for some reason.

“El-nim?”

I felt an intense sense of déjà vu from the voice I heard at that moment. When I turned my head, I saw Kaitain standing there blankly with a surprised face. It was the same appearance as when we reunited here. And just like then, his one word caused a huge ripple around him.

“E, El-nim?”

“Could it be that El-nim is the one mentioned in the oracle?”

“Then is that person the guest we’ve been waiting for?”

The voices that burst out in gasps were surprisingly the same. In some ways, they were very consistent people.

“What happened? What on earth happened here…….”

Kaitain hurriedly pushed through the crowd and ran forward. But the next moment, he stopped speaking and widened his eyes when he saw my face. It was a similar reaction to what High Priest Ruyan and Isana had shown.

It wasn’t just him. Everyone who saw me began to make the same expression. Was it just my imagination? It felt like they were even more shocked than when the prayer room exploded.

“W, what’s wrong?”

When I asked nervously, Kaitain seemed to finally regain his senses and relaxed his stiff face. Still, he couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

“Um, it’s nothing. By the way, you’ve finally received the mark. Congratulations.”

“Huh? You can tell right away?”

“Yes, of course. It’s very clear.”

“Really? Where is it?”

I hurriedly looked down at my body. The higher the rank of the priest, the more noticeable the mark would be. I wasn’t even a formal priest, so I thought they would have just put it somewhere appropriate, but it seemed to be in a more visible location than I thought.

However, I couldn’t find the mark or anything similar to it, not only on the exposed parts of my skin but also when I rolled up my sleeves. As I tilted my head in bewilderment, Kaitain made a slightly embarrassed expression. It felt like he was reluctant to answer.

At that moment, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Isana. When I looked back at him with a puzzled expression, he pointed to his forehead with an awkward expression. At that moment, a sudden ominous feeling washed over me.

Come to think of it, what did Ellyuen do when he was engraving the mark……?

“……!”

It wasn’t difficult to recall. As soon as I remembered it, I hurriedly covered my forehead with both hands. I absolutely didn’t want to believe it, but could it be that Ellyuen, that father……!

“By any chance, is the god’s mark… engraved on your forehead?”

As expected. Not only Isana but everyone nodded at my hesitant question.

Now I seemed to know why they were all so shocked when they looked at me, and also the reason why High Priest Ruyan had immediately noticed Ellyuen’s descent.

The part where the High Priest Ruyan, the person with the highest status in this temple, had received the mark was on the back of his hand. In other words, that had been the most visible location up until now. But suddenly, I, who had popped out of nowhere, had received the mark in an even higher location. And even on the most noticeable face!

I never imagined he would be engraving the mark on the spot! I had been careless, thinking it was just part of the process, and that was the root of the problem. I should have noticed from the moment he said he had done so many things to welcome me. Damn it, Ellyuen!

‘Doesn’t he know that parental love should be moderate?’

A silent scream soared up to my throat.