Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 19

19.

I was lost in old memories for a moment. Then, Uraeus’s words snapped me back to reality.

“By the way, what did you call me here for?”

“…Oh! That’s right! I completely forgot because I was healing your wounds!”

I glanced at Ifrit with a sheepish expression. For some reason, the guy who would usually blurt out ‘idiot’ was silent this time. Which meant…

‘You forgot too!’

I stared at him, and he turned his head with a flushed face and a ‘hmph.’ He really had forgotten. Even though he pretended to be indifferent, he must have been flustered when Uraeus got hurt.

For some reason, I felt very pleased. It was like discovering a pure side in an incorrigible troublemaker. Ifrit, displeased with my expression, scowled and shouted.

“What are you grinning about? Hurry up and tell him what you need!”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Um, I’m not ‘him,’ I have a name, ‘Uraeus’…”.

“Shut up! Be quiet! If I say you’re ‘him,’ then you’re ‘him.’ Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

“…”

Uraeus shrank back at Ifrit’s harsh words. Or rather, he felt threatened by the fireball that was already forming in Ifrit’s hand.

It wasn’t just any fireball, either… Hey, hey. That’s that dangerous rose! When did he pick that again!

Ifrit grinned ominously at the pale-faced Uraeus.

“If you want, this time I’ll pluck the petals one by one and stick them to your body.”

“N-No! I’m fine with being ‘him,’ ‘that guy,’ ‘hey you,’ anything is fine! Call me whatever you like, Ifrit-nim!”

Reaffirming the trauma of someone who had already experienced the effects of that flower was truly a cruel tactic. Thanks to that, the dispirited Uraeus became as docile as a lamb. No matter how positive he was, he didn’t want to taste that pain again.

“So, your name is Uraeus, right? Actually, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“…A request, you say?”

Uraeus stared at me with a questioning look. At the same time, Ifrit next to him swallowed hard. He was trying to appear calm, but he was clearly quite nervous.

“I heard that Guides can move between dimensions with other people. Could you take us to the Divine Realm?”

“Ehh? The Divine Realm? That’s impossible!”

“What?”

“Ah, no! It’s not that I don’t want to… I mean, it’s impossible even if I wanted to.”

He shook his head sternly, but immediately corrected himself when Ifrit glared at him. Yeah, I know how you feel. I couldn’t help but sympathize with him inwardly as I asked.

“Why is it impossible? Is it against the rules?”

“Something like that. We Guides can freely travel to any dimension, but access to the Divine Realm is strictly forbidden. To go there, you need a permit from the gatekeeper who guards the dimensional barrier. But those are only issued when escorting the deceased.”

“Hmm, a permit…”

“Or the Arbiter could open the way, but otherwise…”

I was at a loss, but Uraeus’s next words made my face light up.

“The Arbiter? You mean Arehis? He can open the way to the Divine Realm?”

“Yes, yes. Th-That’s right.”

“Then could you arrange for me to meet him? I’ll ask him directly.”

“Well, it won’t be easy. Even for him, visiting the Divine Realm is something he avoids unless it’s related to official business…”

“So, are you going to do it or not!”

At that moment, the flames in Ifrit’s hand swelled up like a snowball. Uraeus, startled by the fire that was about to engulf him, stumbled and sat down on the floor.

“I-I’ll escort you.”

A woman in love (?) was great.

* * *

“Oh dear, oh dear. This is really troubling, Elquines-nim.”

Greeting Ifrit and me upon our arrival in the Underworld was Arehis himself, the very person we had come to meet.

Startled by his sudden appearance, Ifrit and I immediately looked at Uraeus. We wondered if he had contacted him in advance. But judging from Uraeus’s stiff face, he hadn’t expected it either.

“Ahaha, long time no see, Arehis… How have you been?”

Inevitably, I stepped forward, feeling like I was taking the lead.

Actually, even if you calculated properly, it hadn’t even been a month since we parted. But Arehis responded to my greeting with his usual painted smile, without any particular comment.

“Thanks to your concern, I’ve been doing well. I’m glad to see that Elquines-nim has also adapted well to his original environment. Even so, I was quite worried after you left. But it seems my worries were unfounded. You are now a complete Spirit King, no matter what anyone says.”

“Ah, no. Not at all.”

“Your appearance has also changed beyond recognition. If I didn’t have the ability to discern the aura of souls, I would hardly think you were the same person as Jihoon back then.”

“Haha… Is that a compliment?”

“Of course.”

Saying that, Arehis smiled and then immediately turned serious, his face hardening. At his sudden change of expression, I reflexively flinched. He spoke sternly, as if scolding me, with a face I had never seen before.

“To abandon the position that the Spirit King should protect is truly reckless. Have you already forgotten the disaster that befell Akkadon due to the absence of the Water Spirit King for the past few decades? Even if Elquines-nim lacks awareness, I never expected Ifrit-nim to participate in such a thing.”

“W-Well, the thing is…”

“I’m not looking for excuses. Fortunately, the two of you, who are opposites, left your positions together. If either of you had been missing alone, another disaster would have struck Akkadon, which had barely been calmed. There’s a reason why the Creator didn’t grant the Spirit Kings, who are considered perfect beings, the ability to move between dimensions. Do you truly not understand that meaning?”

“…”

I had never thought of it that way. But looking at Ifrit’s hardened expression, it seemed he had expected this kind of reprimand to some extent.

Indeed, I still lacked awareness. Like Arehis said, I still had a long way to go to become a complete Spirit King. At the same time, I couldn’t help but notice Ifrit, who had made up his mind to come here knowing all this.

He had come here risking a dimensional disaster, only to find out the whereabouts of the previous Elquines.

Fortunately, Arehis didn’t seem to want to continue the rebuke any further. He let out a light sigh and looked back at Ifrit and me as if he couldn’t help it.

“Well, what brings you here? You wouldn’t have crossed dimensions so recklessly unless it was something important, would you?”

“Oh? Didn’t you know? I thought you knew everything since you appeared as soon as we arrived…”

“Surely not. Even I don’t know that much. I only came out because I sensed the aura of spirits in the dimensional shift towards this Underworld.”

“Really? Then we were lucky. Actually, we came to see Arehis.”

“Me?”

“Yes, there’s something I want to ask you.”

After staring at me silently for a moment, he nodded with a brief silence.

“…I understand. Then let’s move to another place first. Uraeus, you may return now.”

“Yes? Is that alright? What about the punishment…?”

Uraeus, who had been tense, raised his head in surprise at those words. My heart sank at the word ‘punishment’ that came out of his mouth. Now that I saw it, he had been prepared for punishment from the beginning.

Only then did I realize how enormous this thing I had started without thinking was.

‘I was being a complete nuisance!’

Fortunately, Arehis seemed to have decided to overlook the whole situation, shaking his head lightly.

“Bringing the Spirit King here is not a light matter, but it’s not against the rules either. So, I’ll make an exception this time. But there won’t be such leniency next time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for your leniency.”

Uraeus, looking pleased, expressed his gratitude and then bowed to us as well.

“Then I’ll be on my way. It was an honor to meet the two Spirit Kings.”

“Um. Goodbye, Uraeus. Thank you for granting my difficult request.”

“It’s nothing. I owe you my life, so I’m only sorry that I couldn’t do more. I hope you achieve what you desire.”

Until the end, he didn’t forget his polite greetings. Soon, he bowed politely to Arehis once more, then opened a door in a part of the space and disappeared somewhere.

Even though it was just one person’s absence, a heavy silence instantly fell around us. Ifrit and I glanced at each other with troubled expressions. We didn’t know what to do from now on.

Then Arehis turned around and said.

“Please, follow me.”

* * *

Arehis headed to a white space that I had visited once before. The difference was that this time, the surrounding scenery began to change as soon as we entered.

The changed space was, as before, the same place with a tea table on a red carpet. On the table were a teapot with steaming hot water and teacups for three people, as if they had been prepared in advance.

While Ifrit and I hesitated, Arehis pulled out a chair and pointed to it.

“Now, let’s sit down and talk.”

He poured hot tea into the teacups and handed them out in turn.

“Now, tell me. What is it that you want to ask me?”

“Um, actually… I want to go to the Divine Realm.”

“The Divine Realm?”

“Yes, I heard that Arehis can open the way to that place. Could you help me just once?”

Perhaps it was unexpected, but Arehis stared blankly with wide eyes for a long time without saying a word. Then, barely regaining his senses, he asked with a flustered look.

“Why do you suddenly want to go to the Divine Realm…? Even I can’t open the gate to the Divine Realm for personal reasons. Can you explain in detail what’s going on?”

“I, I have something to look into personally.”

“Hmm? What could Elquines-nim, who was just born [newly appointed], possibly have to look into in the Divine Realm? You don’t seem to have any connections there. …Ah, could it be Ifrit-nim’s problem?”

His gaze turned to Ifrit, who was sipping his tea silently. He was asking with the word ‘could it be,’ but his eyes were already full of conviction. But Ifrit quietly avoided his gaze in an ambiguous state, neither affirming nor denying. After all, he wouldn’t reveal the feelings he had been secretly harboring for so long to someone he had just met today.

Thinking that if I didn’t step up, who would, I hurriedly opened my mouth.

“Ah, no, Arehis. It’s my business. Actually, I want to meet the person who was the Elquines right before me.”

“You mean the previous generation of Elquines-nim?”

“Yes, I’ve heard so much about him that I can’t help but wonder what kind of person he is. Ifrit had no choice but to come along because I kept pestering him to go with me.”

Hehehe. How about that, Ifrit? My amazing spirit of sacrifice. You must be touched, right?

But the guy I glanced at had a look on his face like I had eaten something wrong. Damn it, did I step up to help for nothing?

“Hmm, I see. But how can you be sure that the former Elquines-nim is currently in the Divine Realm?”

“Huh? Ah, well… I wasn’t sure. I just thought I could go and find out. Arehis said before that when a Spirit King disappears, they either go to the Divine Realm or walk the path of the afterlife. So I just…”

“Is that so.”

I carefully watched Arehis’s expression. Was it too personal to ask? I didn’t expect him to be happy to grant my request, but his reaction was worse than I had expected.

Should I have just told the truth and used the sympathy tactic?

The disappearance of a loved one, and yet the unrequited love that he couldn’t give up on. If I had explained all of that plausibly, things might have gone much smoother. Above all, that was the reason I came to this place.

Feeling the surrounding air stiffen in an instant, I shrank back slightly. I had no choice. If it came to this, I would just have to find a compromise.

“Um, if it’s difficult to take me to the Divine Realm, could you at least find out what happened to the previous Elquines? Would that be difficult too?”

“…Well.”

So that’s not possible either.

Looking at Arehis, who was smiling awkwardly with a troubled expression, I couldn’t hide my disappointment. Was I going to have to go back without any results after coming all this way? Seeing Ifrit, who was even more depressed than before, made me feel even worse.

How stingy! You’re a god, can’t you at least grant me that much, Arehis!