Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 118

118

“So that’s what happened.”

Isana and Kaitain burst into laughter after hearing the whole story while waiting for the ship to depart. They had looked incredibly anxious when Lapis declared he would stay. Such an unprecedented event made them think the world was about to end.

“I knew something was off. Lapis-nim isn’t one to volunteer to stay behind.”

“Tell me about it. I nearly broke a sweat trying to persuade him.”

“Still, it’s a relief. No offense to Lapis-nim, but I feel much more at ease knowing my sister is safe.”

“Yeah, most of them will be staying with Ifrit’s merchant group, but Lapis promised to protect them if anything happens, so we don’t have to worry about that.”

Of course, things weren’t entirely smooth sailing afterward. April, unaware of Lapis’s true identity, remained skeptical of him.

However, Lapis silenced her with a single action: he transformed her appearance on the spot, turning her into a very obese middle-aged woman. It might have been an unpleasant experience for her, but at least there was no risk of the demon followers recognizing her at a glance.

After experiencing Lapis’s magic firsthand, April began to follow him like a docile lamb. She seemed determined to learn magic from him as her teacher during their year together. Whether Lapis would willingly teach her was another matter.

“Thank you, El. For taking care of so many things.”

Isana seemed deeply touched that I had considered April’s situation. I responded to his gratitude and apology with a smile.

Just then, Isana’s expression froze as he stared at something. Following his gaze, I saw a group of people causing a stir.

They had just arrived at the harbor, pushing through the crowd in a flurry. They were cloaked in black from head to toe. It wasn’t hard to guess their identity. I had seen similar figures before.

‘The pursuit squad.’

Soldiers were already keeping watch in various locations, but if they were only searching as part of their regular duties, these men were specifically tracking Isana—knights dedicated solely to the pursuit. This was our second encounter since meeting them below the mountain after contracting with Isana. They were slowly approaching us.

“Welcome, Duke Caribdis.”

The soldiers who came to greet them bowed deeply to the man at the front. He must be the leader of the pursuit squad.

“Any sign of him?”

“Not yet, sir.”

“I see.”

I silently squeezed Isana’s hand, which was trembling. He seemed to relax slightly, his tension easing.

Soon, their horses passed right in front of us. As I inadvertently looked up, I saw the face of the man leading the horse, staring ahead. There was a familiar aura about him, a strong scent of wind.

‘A wind spirit user? No, that’s not it…’

It was strange. The spirit’s energy was so strong, yet there was no wind mark on his forehead. Besides, spirit users were usually accompanied by natural spirits, but there was no sign of that either.

Soon, he disappeared into the crowd. Until then, Isana had been staring intently at the ground. When I signaled that I was okay, he finally looked up and sighed in relief.

“I didn’t expect to see him here. So Duke Caribdis has been mobilized after all.”

“Who is he?”

“My uncle’s right-hand man. The youngest Sword Master and the knight my uncle favors most, I’ve heard.”

“Hmm, I see. Is there any chance this duke is a spirit user?”

“A spirit user? No, I’ve never heard anything like that…”

“I thought so.”

“Why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

I watched the duke’s receding figure, now almost a blur. Perhaps it was because of the distance, but I no longer sensed any spirit energy. That was a relief. If he were truly a spirit user, the traces of the spirit wouldn’t dissipate, no matter how far away he was. I must have been mistaken.

Come to think of it, what is Minerva doing now? It’s been too long since I last saw him. Compared to Trowell, with whom I had frequent interactions, or Ifrit, who occasionally showed his face, he rarely left the wind realm.

Even when I was bored out of my mind, Minerva remained in the spirit realm, in his domain. I haven’t heard of him going out to play since then, so he’s probably still there.

I once asked Ifrit about him, and the answer was simple:

“Minerva is always like that.”

“Always?”

“He’s been like that since the beginning. He’s not very interested in playing, doesn’t place much importance on interacting with others, and is most comfortable just staying in his domain. I don’t know what’s so fun about sleeping all day. I guess it’s just his nature.”

He said it casually, as if it were nothing to worry about. He seemed so used to it that he didn’t question it. And I seriously thought,

‘…Could there be shut-in spirits too?’

* * *

Swoosh—

A bone-chilling wind swept through the bare branches of the trees. Among the many spirits frolicking in the sky, the wind’s high-ranking spirit, ‘Jin,’ stood out. As he took light steps, the fierce wind gained momentum, carrying the frigid air. Each time, the fire children holding the sun startled and retreated. Winter had fully arrived.

The black-haired boy indifferently watched the wind’s playful dance for a while. The pouring wind, the freezing air—none of it affected the boy. Just as the desert remained in place even when the sand was distorted by the strong wind, even the wind passing by seemed to be a part of him.

“The wind is blowing.”

The boy threw off the blanket covering his shoulders and murmured in a languid voice. As if responding to his words, a voice followed in rhythm.

“Ah, so it is. The wind is blowing.”

“A terribly cold wind, at that.”

“If this wind blows about a hundred more times, won’t we all be found as frozen corpses?”

“That’s a pretty likely scenario, don’t you think?”

“Right?”

“Eek! It’s all your fault, Herol!”

The monotonous conversation ended with a burst of animosity directed at one person. Herol, the giant of the Champagne Mercenary Company, wore an aggrieved expression as he attempted a small protest.

“What did I do?”

“What did you do! Are you even asking? If you hadn’t lost the pouch with the travel expenses, we wouldn’t be in this situation, having to sleep outside in this cold!”

“Wow, that’s really harsh. Did I want to lose it? The pouch attached to the saddle was old and fell off! How was I supposed to know it would fall off!”

“Oh! Are you being loud about doing something wrong?”

Mighty, with his hood pulled down to his nose, glared at Herol with a resentful expression. The pouch contained all the expenses for traveling to the capital—the commission received for escorting Clamore, as well as the down payment.

Initially, Mighty had suggested dividing the money and having each person take responsibility for it. But Herol had insisted on taking it all, saying he should be trusted. Despite feeling uneasy, they had entrusted it to him because he was so confident, only for him to create this mess.

My precious money. Just thinking about the vanished down payment made a fire burn inside me, even when I was still.

“Both of you, stop it. It’s no use blaming one person now.”

“But Hussen!”

“You seem lively, so you must still be doing okay, right? It’s better to conserve your strength while you can. If you have the energy to argue, go gather some more firewood.”

“Tch!”

Although it was heartless, Hussen’s words were right. It was more important to conserve energy than to waste it arguing.

Mighty and Herol glared at each other and began gathering dry branches to light the campfire. They had to hurry to finish before dark.

It had been a week since they left Clamore. The plan to stay in luxurious inns and leisurely head to the capital had been shattered from the first day. Now, they were in a situation where they had to worry about how to solve even each meal, let alone staying in an inn.

There were only four burly men in the group, and except for Trowell, they were all voracious eaters. For a while, they survived on dry bread and soup, but the limit was quickly reached.

“Damn it! Is it all bread crumbs again today?”

“Meat! I want to eat meat!”

“I can’t take it anymore! I’m going to starve to death!”

The momentum of calling for meat was so ominous that it seemed like they would pounce on each other to eat human flesh if left alone. Unable to watch any longer, Trowell sighed and said,

“Everyone, be quiet.”

His tone was cold and devoid of warmth, as if he were angry. But the group wasn’t fazed at all. To the Champagne Mercenary Company members who had been with him for years, this side of Trowell was more familiar.

An indifferent and expressionless face, a cold and detached tone of voice. That was the original ‘Matthew’ they knew. Even as a colleague, he always kept his distance, and his motto for conversation was ‘keep it brief,’ so they had never dared to make personal jokes. They had had more conversations during these three months than in the past few years of mercenary life, so there was no need to explain further. If he hadn’t met El, they might have thought he was someone who didn’t even know how to smile.

That’s why they knew that Matthew’s tone and actions weren’t malicious. To be honest, seeing him smiling brightly with El was hard to get used to, so they were rather glad to see his original self return.

“But Matthew, I’m so hungry.”

“That’s right. You eat so little, so you probably don’t understand the fear of starvation that big eaters have. It’s really terrible, you know? My hands and feet are trembling, and my stomach feels like it’s being squeezed and burned. At this rate, even if a monster appears, I won’t even have the strength to hold a sword, let alone fight back.”

“…I understand. I’ll try to get some meat tomorrow morning. Would that be okay?”

“What? Really? Is there something edible nearby?”

“This area is close to a herd of battle pigs. They’re classified as monsters, but they’re still a type of pig, so you can eat them if you remove the toxins.”

“Sniff! You’re the only one for us!”

One of the reasons they unconditionally revered Matthew was because he was strong, but this was also a reason. He was knowledgeable beyond his young age. He knew every part of the continent well and had a lot of information about the habitats and herds of lesser-known monsters. This information was often a lifeline for mercenaries. Trowell explained that it was because he had been wandering since he was a child.

“Should I go with you?”

“Battle pigs are sensitive to movement. It’s better if I go alone.”

Mighty gave up cleanly at those words. When Matthew said it was better to go alone, it really was. He never made the wrong judgment. Knowing this, the group unconditionally trusted his words.

“Thank you so much, Matthew. You’re our hope.”

“It’s nothing.”

“If it weren’t for that Herol, we wouldn’t be making you suffer like this…”

“Oh, come on! Can’t you stop already? I said I was wrong, didn’t I?”

“Is that the attitude of someone who’s reflecting?”

“Hey! Mighty! Stop it! Herol is reflecting!”

Just then, Iril quickly defended her lover, Herol. As if waiting for it, Herol burrowed into her arms with his huge frame.

“Iril, honey! Sniff!”

“Oh, come here, honey. Who bullied my honey? Just tell me. I’ll punish them all.”

Even in the harsh cold and hunger, the affection between the two had not diminished but had become even stronger. The group booed at the sight of the two clinging to each other.

“There are things to defend, Iril. Is this the time to take Herol’s side? Who is it because of that we’re suffering like this? Can’t you see Hussen’s face is half gone?”

“Oh, look at her. People can make mistakes while living, isn’t it too much to keep embarrassing them for that? And it’s not just Hussen’s face that’s half gone. Our Herol is just as pitiful.”

“Herol is getting what he deserves, but Hussen is the one who suffered the damage. How is that the same? Besides, Hussen is skinny, so he needs to eat well.”

“Herol has reflected enough, hasn’t he? And Herol has to eat a lot to maintain his large size. Don’t you feel sorry for him, getting all kinds of abuse and eating with his eyes open?”

“Kuaaak! Are these guys making fun of someone who doesn’t have a lover right now! Can’t you stop right now?”

What decorated the finale was Mighty’s desperate scream. It was the unfortunate struggle of a man who didn’t want to be reminded of the tragic fact that he was cold and hungry, and his side was empty. But the women in love were heartless.

“You stay out of this, Mighty. I need to work hard to restore our Herol’s honor. And why don’t you fix the habit of shouting all the time? Look at our Herol. How dignified is he even in a cornered situation? How long are you going to live like that?”

“Yeah, Iril is right. That’s why you don’t get a girlfriend. Take a lesson from Hussen. He’s mature.”

“You guys, really!”