Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 105

105.

“What are you doing?”

I asked, dumbfounded. He frowned even more than I did, asking with displeasure,

“What’s that on your forehead?”

“What? Ah…….”

It seemed he had discovered the Divine Crest. Moreover, as someone who had lived on this land for so long, he seemed to know what it meant. I answered awkwardly.

“As you can see… it’s a Divine Crest.”

“Who asked about that? I can tell it’s a Divine Crest at a glance. What are you going to do with that thing on your forehead? Are you trying to show off? Don’t you know what it means to have a crest on your face…?”

“I know. The High Priest explained everything to me.”

“And you just stood there and let him do it?”

“What could I do? I already received it. Ellyuen seemed to be doing it out of concern, and I can’t exactly ask him to take it back.”

“What a devoted son you are.”

Was it because of the words ‘devoted son’? Even though it was blatant sarcasm, I didn’t feel too bad. Rather, I felt a little proud, as if I had been acknowledged as a son. Lapis sighed, as if resigned, and asked.

“So, what are you going to do now? You’re not thinking of just walking around like that, are you?”

“I’m not that clueless, you know? Don’t worry, I’ll cover it up.”

“How are you going to cover it?”

“Hmm, well, wouldn’t a turban be okay? If not, I’ll just wrap a hood around it.”

“……Do you have any sense of aesthetics at all?”

“There’s no other way. I can’t exactly paint over it.”

“Tsk, wait here.”

After lightly clicking his tongue, Lapis raised one hand and waved it in the air. I was bewildered, wondering what he was doing, but soon, something incredible happened. Something materialized from the empty air into his hand.

“……Huh? Wh, what is it?”

He nonchalantly held out what he had in his hand to me, who was flustered. When I took it, I saw that it was an ornament: a round band encircled by gold and adorned with colorful jewels placed like embroidery. A large diamond was embedded in the center, and its sparkling radiance was so dazzling that even someone who didn’t know much about jewels could immediately recognize its value.

“It’s called a circlet.”

“A circlet? Where did this suddenly come from? Did you make it with magic?”

“Of course not. As great as magic is, it doesn’t have the ability to create something from nothing. I just retrieved it from a subspace.”

“Subspace? What’s that?”

“It’s like forcibly twisting space to create another small space within the gap. It’s like a personal warehouse that only I know about and can open. Well, only someone like me can create it, though.”

Somehow, the way he always manages to turn any situation into a boast is quite a talent. I stared at him with a sullen look, and he shrugged.

“Anyway, try it on. It looks like it’ll cover it up roughly.”

“Huh? You want me to try this on?”

“Did you think I gave it to you just to look at? I’d rather sacrifice my collection, even if it’s a waste, than see you walking around with a hood. As you can see, it’s really good. About a thousand years ago, it was a treasure of the Mahwang Kingdom’s royal family. Humans seem to know it as a relic of the ancient golden age.”

A relic of the golden age?

I blankly opened my mouth and stared at Lapis. No matter how I thought about it, this guy was definitely out of his mind.

“Hey, Lapis…….”

“What? Hurry up and try it on.”

“I don’t know about relics or whatever, but won’t this stand out too much?”

“…….”

“You’re not planning to attract thieves everywhere we go, are you?”

“…….”

He, who always answered confidently, couldn’t open his mouth this time. It seemed he hadn’t thought that far ahead either.

What good is good intention if it’s not helpful at all? I sighed and handed the circlet back to him.

“Put it back. I’ll stop by a shop and buy something else.”

“You’re so timid. It’s just this much.”

“‘Just’? Look at these jewels scattering light everywhere! Does this look like ‘just’ to you? If you’re so nonchalant about it, why don’t you wear it and go out? The jewels will catch the eye before your face does.”

“Alright, alright, calm down. Then wait a little longer. I think I had something more plain than this.”

After saying that, Lapis started waving his hand in the air again like before. His hand, which had been rummaging for a long time, finally came down when I was about to get tired.

“Here, how about this?”

Wondering what kind of amazing thing he would take out this time, I watched with great anticipation. However, what he presented this time was a surprisingly simple circlet. It was a silver band with a blue jewel in the center without any other decorations. But even though the shape was simple, it didn’t look cheap. Especially the jewel in the center was very pretty.

The jewel was a round shape about the size of a small coin, and it had a color completely different from the commonly known blue hues. Overall, it was very opaque, and it was closer to a deep ultramarine color that was so blue it was almost black. At first glance, it seemed to be just a single color, but if you looked closely, you could see golden patterns mixed in as if they had been deliberately embedded, giving it an even more mysterious feel.

Judging from the fact that there was no special craftsmanship, it seemed that the raw stone was used as it was, but it seemed to stand out even more because of that. The deep blue color seemed to have captured the image of the Earth as seen from space. Lapis said with a slightly embarrassed expression as I admired it with wonder.

“It’s a Lapis Lazuli raw stone.”

“Huh?”

“The jewel on this circlet. It’s a raw stone of a jewel called ‘Lapis Lazuli’ [a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone]. It symbolizes success, prosperity, and good luck. Its value has dropped a lot because of sapphires now, but it was quite a precious jewel even 2,000 years ago.”

“Ah, this is Lapis Lazuli? It’s my first time seeing it in person. It’s not too flashy and just right, isn’t it?”

With this, it didn’t seem like there would be any major problems even if I wore it on the street. I was about to gladly receive the circlet when I looked at Lapis.

“But I’m realizing something new. To give a Red Dragon a name that symbolizes blue, your parents must be very unique.”

“I named myself.”

“Huh?”

“I chose my own name. Dragons receive a formal name separately when they reach a certain age, in addition to the nickname given by their parents at birth. At that time, I requested to be named ‘Lapis Lazuli.'”

“Hee, that’s possible. What was your original name?”

“Sardonyx.”

Lapis answered without hesitation. Was it because I thought too deeply about the request to change his name? Contrary to my expectations that it would be something amazing, it was a more decent name than I thought. No, it even seemed quite fitting. I nodded unconsciously, then suddenly realized one thing and looked at him again.

“Wait! Isn’t Sardonyx a red gemstone?”

“That’s right.”

“But you insisted on being called Lapis? You’re a Red Dragon, aren’t you?”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s my name; I can name it however I want.”

“……Well, that’s true.”

Even so, there was no need to attach a gemstone with a contrasting color as a name. I swallowed the words that were about to come out of my mouth. I had known it from the beginning, but Lapis’s perversion was clearly something that started from birth.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Huh? About what?”

“The circlet. Are you going to take it or not? Is this too flashy too? Should I look for something else?”

“Ah, no. This seems fine. I’ll take it.”

I quickly shook my head and took the circlet. And while he was watching, I carefully tried it on as a test.

“How is it? Does it cover the crest completely?”

“Yeah, I can’t see it at all. It suits you well.”

“Really?”

The good thing about being the Water Spirit King is that I don’t have to look for a mirror in times like these. I thinly spread a curtain of water in the air and checked the image reflected on it. Fortunately, as Lapis had said, the circlet was perfectly covering the Divine Crest. The color itself matched my hair color, so it didn’t seem too flashy.

“Thanks, Lapis. I’ll use it well.”

“I’m glad you like it. But do you know what? Even though it looks simple, it’s more expensive than the one I showed you earlier.”

“Huh! Really?”

At the unexpected fact, I was about to put away the curtain of water, but I turned my head again. It was true that it looked luxurious, but I couldn’t believe that this simple circlet was more expensive than that flashy lump of jewels (that’s the only way I could describe it).

Is he scamming me because I don’t know anything? I looked at him with distrust, but the answer that came back was surprisingly serious.

“I told you. Lapis Lazuli was quite a precious gemstone. It was so rare that it was known among humans as a sacred stone that bestows blessings. The era when I obtained this was when that ideology was at its peak. It was harder to obtain than diamonds.”

“Then is this also a treasure of the royal family?”

“No, it was a treasure of the temple. There might be records left somewhere. I secretly stole it from the altar where the priests of the Masingyo Church [likely a fictional religious order] had decorated it. So, it was quite noisy for a while.”

“…….”

You’re really crazy. You stole a treasure of God?

Horrified, I quickly took off the circlet and practically threw it back to Lapis. He caught it in a daze and looked at me as if he couldn’t understand.

“Why?”

“Why? Why are you even asking why?! If it’s a stolen jewel, it’s stolen goods! You’re giving that to me to use?”

“It’s been over 2,000 years anyway. Even I had forgotten about it; who would recognize it?”

“It’s not just any temple, it’s the Masingyo Church! It’s still standing strong! If they left it as data, anyone could recognize it! What if I have it and problems arise later? The priests of Ellyuen might also be harmed!”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that. The current Masingyo Church is one that was revived after the Masingyo Church of that time collapsed. Most of the past data has been destroyed. And what if they recognize it? Just deny it.”

“How can you say that now……!”

“Why can’t I say that? It’s not like the old days; Lapis Lazuli is not a rare gemstone now. You can make this kind of circlet as much as you want. Besides, does this look like it’s thousands of years old?”

“W, well, it’s not, but…….”

After listening, everything he said was right, so I trailed off without confidence. As he said, the circlet was so clean that you could believe it was just made, and it even had an overall shine. No one would think it was a treasure from thousands of years ago.

“I cast a preservation spell as soon as I brought it,” Lapis simply explained the reason to me, who was wondering.

“And anyway, the Masingyo Church had most of its treasures looted when it collapsed once. A circlet like this won’t even make a dent. They won’t even think of looking for it.”

“What? Is that so? Then you should have said so from the beginning.”

“You’re too timid. It’s not enough that you were a man in your past life; you must have been a beggar. Don’t be so fussy about such things when you’re a Spirit King.”

Isn’t it more ridiculous to be confident after stealing someone else’s things? Even if it’s something that happened thousands of years ago, stealing is stealing. How hard are we working to reclaim the cultural assets that were taken away in Korea! Time is a gangster, and there are more cases where we shed tears of blood because we can’t reclaim them even when they’re right in front of us. But that’s not right. It’s really not right!

I grumbled inwardly but silently took the circlet. If there’s a problem, I’ll pretend I didn’t know and return it willingly, which was a somewhat carefree calculation.

“Okay, is that all done?”

“Ah, wait a minute.”

As I put the circlet back on, Lapis suddenly covered it with his hand. As I was wondering, I suddenly felt a strong mana wave around me. It seemed he had used magic.

“What did you just do? You used magic, right?”

“Ah, I fixed the circlet in place.”

“Fixed?”

“It would be a problem if it dangled and accidentally fell off. So, I used magic to prevent it from falling off. From now on, no one but you will be able to forcibly take off the circlet. You can act comfortably.”

To think there was such a convenient magic. But before I could admire it, I stared at Lapis intently. It was more surprising that he had taken the initiative to do me a favor than the function of the magic itself. Then Lapis’s face instantly frowned.

“What’s the meaning of that look?”

“Um, just…… you seem very kind for some reason.”

“What are you talking about? I’m always kind, you know?”

“You said you wouldn’t do anything you weren’t asked to do.”

“So, are you complaining?”

“No, it’s not that.”

I smiled and touched my forehead. It felt awkward and funny to feel the hard metal in the place that was always smooth.

Come to think of it, he gave me this circlet first. When I think about it, he’s not a bad guy. He seems to have a more meticulous side than I thought. He might just be worried that I’ll lose his things, but I can’t help but see him in a new light because he helps me every time.

Looking at this, I feel like I’m lucky to have good companions.