Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 321

“Anything that gets in the way… will be eliminated.”

The voice, harsh and guttural, was like the snarl of a wild beast. At the same moment, the sensation in my hand vanished. He had disappeared. The Duke had teleported. Clicking my tongue, I immediately moved to where I anticipated his attack.

KWA-KOOONG!

Again, I created a barrier of water to block his assault. The fiercely descending blade halted just before Loran’s nose. Gritting his teeth, the Duke landed opposite me, glaring. After two failed attacks, he finally seemed to recognize me. The trembling girl, unable to withstand the shock, fainted. “Loran!” Erina cried, catching her quickly. Thankfully, Erina seemed to be regaining her composure. At my signal, she quickly helped Loran retreat into the gap.

“Krrrraa!”

The Duke, emitting a frustrated groan, unleashed a savage wave of killing intent. However, enraged as he was, I no longer had the luxury of simply observing him. Not because he was too difficult to handle, but for another reason. Starting with his disappearance moments ago, the power of wind was emanating from his entire body. It made me feel increasingly uneasy. If I let my emotions take over, I would undoubtedly go too far. I needed to subdue him quickly before I accidentally annihilated him.

“Dare you use the King’s power in front of me? You’ll get more than just a slap on the wrist when you come to your senses.”

I gave a light smile and began to loosen up. It was an unexpected encounter, but fortunate in a way, as it saved me the trouble of searching. Perhaps my relaxed demeanor seemed strange to him? The Duke’s expression faltered as he brandished his sword. A newfound wariness filled his gaze. The meaning was obvious.

“Now you recognize me, huh? Too late.”

As I raised my hand, the Duke flinched and hastily retreated. This time, his reaction was exactly as I had anticipated, eliciting a hollow laugh. He was, as expected, trying to escape.

“Don’t make me angry, Jin. I’m already holding back a lot, you know?”

So just surrender quietly. At the warning I sent with my eyes, the Duke’s body twitched even more. Yet, foolishly, he seemed unwilling to choose the easy path. Gritting his teeth, the Duke slammed his sword forcefully into the ground. With a resounding rumble, the floor began to crack and split. From the fissures, a tempest of wind erupted, swirling in all directions.

“Such shoddy tricks!”

Needless to say, it was a futile attempt against me. However, I hadn’t fully considered that an indoor space wasn’t ideal for a clash of powers, especially one where many people lived. It meant there was a high possibility of unforeseen complications. The ensuing situation was precisely one such case. An unexpected presence was felt within the range of the attack.

‘Oh no!’

The familiar presence was none other than Lay. Turning back in dismay, I saw the child emerging from a doorway. He must have been curious about the noise and came to investigate.

“…Uncle?”

The child blinked slowly as he spotted me. In the seconds that followed, I made a swift decision. There was no other choice. Although he was a bit away, it was still close enough for him to be seriously injured. In his fragile state, he might even die. I quickly moved, grabbed Lay, and shielded him as I rolled away. I felt the startled child clinging tightly to me.

“Lay, are you alright?”

The fierce storm soon subsided. As I felt the wind weakening, I immediately checked on the child. Lay, still in my arms, nodded blankly. Thankfully, he seemed only startled and otherwise unharmed. Relieved, I couldn’t help but sigh. Even though it was expected, I couldn’t suppress the bitter feeling.

“Haaa…”

The Duke had vanished.

In my mind, a siren blared, signaling a first-round defeat. It was only a brief opening, but enough time for the Wind Sword [another name for the Duke] to conceal himself once more. It seemed capturing him would have to wait until next time. I didn’t know when that would be, but one thing was certain: things had just become more complicated.

* * *

“Are you an idiot?”

The mercilessly cutting remark from above made my stomach churn. Normally, I would have bristled at such words, but this time, I couldn’t argue.

“You were holding his arm, right? Then you should have subdued him first. Not only did you just stand there and watch him escape, but you actually let him get away? There’s a limit to being careless. Why didn’t you just send him a letter in advance? ‘I’m coming to catch you, so run far away.’”

The barrage of criticism, based on fact, was all too accurate, making me feel utterly diminished. Of course, just because it was true didn’t mean I wasn’t upset, and I couldn’t hide my stiff expression. Lapis, staring down at me with disdain as I avoided eye contact and stared uselessly at the floor, sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Tell me honestly. You just didn’t feel like catching him, did you?”

“N-no. Of course, I was a bit careless at first. I honestly didn’t expect him to disregard me so much.”

“Is that something to be proud of? A King being looked down upon by a lower spirit? Is that your boast?”

“I wasn’t being looked down upon! He just didn’t recognize me! He’s the weird one! He was wary after he recognized me! That’s why he ran away!”

“Oh, really? So you’re proud that he recognized you and ran? How wonderful for you.”

“Don’t be sarcastic. I’m already pissed off enough.”

In fact, I was probably the angriest person in this situation. I could have caught him, but I let him get away. It was a more frustrating and disheartening feeling than I had anticipated. Even now, just thinking about that moment made my stomach churn. As Lapis said, I should have subdued him as soon as I saw him. I was too taken aback by the fact that he didn’t recognize me and wanted to observe him a bit longer, which only made things worse. Why was I being so complacent? It was absurd that I gave him an opening to escape, and even more ridiculous that I didn’t strike first before he could react. Complacency is the greatest enemy, they say. I was learning that the hard way. It seemed today’s events would remain a shameful memory for a long time to come.

“Still, it’s something that you found his trail. None of us have managed to do what you did in the past few days, El.”

As I continued to sigh heavily, a calm voice spoke up. It was Deron, who had been standing by the door, picking at his ear while Lapis was scolding me. It didn’t seem like he was trying to comfort me, but that made it all the more comforting.

“That’s right. We weren’t any help at all. We kept searching in the wrong places. So, El, you can stop blaming yourself.”

Asdo, who was sitting next to me, began to take my side in earnest. Lapis, for his part, had nothing to say about that and quietly shut his mouth.

The reunion of our scattered group had only occurred a few minutes ago. The location was the inn where we had been staying. I had located everyone and sent Cyciel as a messenger to contact them and tell them to return. The fact that we hadn’t been able to capture the Duke in the capital for several days meant that our current methods weren’t working. There was no reason to waste precious energy continuing with our current approach.

I had slipped out of the Duke’s mansion during the confusion. I had practically dumped Lay on the butler who happened to be running by. Fortunately, everyone was too preoccupied with assessing the situation to pay any attention to me. With so much damage and witnesses who had seen the Duke, things wouldn’t be sorted out easily for a while. I would just have to visit Lay again later.

“It was Uncle.”

The image of the child, wide-eyed and blankly uttering those words, made me sigh again. Even in that chaotic situation, Lay had accurately recognized the Duke. I didn’t know if the Duke had recognized Lay, but judging by the fact that he had run away without hesitating, he probably hadn’t seen him.

“Was that you just now, Uncle?”

Lay seemed quite shocked that the person who had unleashed such a powerful attack that destroyed the mansion was the uncle he knew. I didn’t want to take the Duke’s side, but for the child’s peace of mind, I quickly shook my head.

“You must have been mistaken.”

“But the face was the same.”

“Were the hair and eye color the same too?”

“That… no.”

“See? It’s someone else. There are plenty of people in the world who look alike.”

Only after hearing my repeated emphasis did Lay finally look relieved. It was likely that the other witnesses, Loran and Erina, would also eventually believe it was just someone who looked alike. People want to believe what they want to believe. The new, snow-white hair and eye color would serve as an excellent excuse.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I’ll have to find him again, of course.”

I shrugged at Lapis’s question. I looked at him as if to ask why he was asking the obvious, and he frowned.

“You said the trickery method won’t work. Do you have another plan?”

“It seems the Duke’s awareness is quite strong. He’ll be even more cautious now, but he won’t abandon his original goal so easily. I think we can use that to our advantage.”

“Hmm, he’s targeting blondes with blue eyes, right? Well, even so… there are tons of people in the capital who fit that description. How do you know who he’ll show up to?”

“Well, I don’t know. But if there’s a target openly walking around during this time, wouldn’t he try to target them?”

“Which means.”

“Lapis, can you change hair and eye color with magic?”

At my smiling question, Lapis sighed as if he knew it was coming.

“So, you want me to be bait again. Well, whether I’m luring him with magic or appearance, it’s all the same, but… I don’t want to be the only one being used.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that the demons’ [referring to a specific race of beings] can’t be changed.”

“Huh? Really?”

Surprised, I turned to see Deron nodding with a troubled expression.

“A demon’s hair and eye color are like a kind of mark. They can’t be changed by any means. You can cover the hair with a wig, but it’s difficult to tamper with the eye color.”

“Ah, I see. I didn’t think of that. Oh well. Let’s try it with two people for now.”

“Two people?”

“Me. Can you change my hair color?”

Lapis, who had been looking at me questioningly, closed his mouth for a moment. He seemed to be calculating something rather than being flustered. Deron and Asdo watched us with great interest.

“Can’t you?”

“No. If you’re asking if it’s possible, it is. But it won’t last very long.”

“How long can it last?”

“Half a day at most.”

“Hmm. That might be good enough. Change it for me for now.”

I decided that I would wander around and ask him to recast the spell when it wore off. After coming to my own conclusion, I made a request (though it sounded more like a demand), and Lapis frowned slightly.

“But won’t he recognize you? You’ve already had contact with him once.”

“It’ll be fine. Bluster [the Duke’s alias] seems to be a bit out of it, so he doesn’t seem to recognize my aura or face properly. Even just changing my hair color will give a different impression, right? He might be fooled if it’s him now.”

“Hmm. It’s a reckless statement, but it makes sense.”

After muttering to himself, Lapis lightly swept back his hair. The change happened instantly. As if his hand were a brush, his red hair slowly began to be dyed a vibrant gold from where it touched.

Watching someone’s colors slowly change before your eyes was a more mystical sight than I had expected. The discoloration, which started at the top of his head, quickly spread downwards, filling each strand of hair with gold. As he swept down his face, his eyebrows and eyelashes also changed to the same color in turn. The finishing touch was the eyes beneath them. At the touch of his fingertips, his ruby-red eyes turned into the deep blue of sapphires.

Having completed the series of transformations, Lapis had a completely different impression than before. It was just the change in hair and eye color, but the feeling was drastically different. If he had been the flamboyant and intense Lord of the Sun until now, the person before me now was like an elegant and noble Knight of the Moon. After staring at him for a long time, I came to a serious conclusion.

“…It’s like a magical girl transformation sequence. No, in this case, is it a magical boy? He’s too big to be a boy, so a magical young man…?”

“What?”

“Anyway, it’s amazing. I see why people can’t recognize transformed magical girls. I used to laugh at them for having face blindness, but now I think I can understand.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying your vibe is so different that I can’t recognize you.”

Lapis, who had been making a dumbfounded expression, chuckled at those words. He had a look on his face as if he was saying, “Have you finally realized my greatness?” so I quickly dispelled my admiring mood. Why can’t that guy maintain the points he’s earned? I guess that’s a talent in itself.

“Okay, I changed yours too.”

“Ah, thanks.”

If I had to pick one of his strengths that I couldn’t help but acknowledge, it would be his speed of execution. When he said that, I turned to see that my hair color had already changed. The blue color that resembled the sky had disappeared, and a light honey color that sparkled like pearls had taken its place. “Blonde suits you well too, Godfather [a term of endearment or respect].” Asdo’s compliment raised my expectations. There happened to be a large full-length mirror nearby, so I stood in front of it and saw my reflection with golden hair instead of my usual blue hair. Is it because they’re both bright colors? In my case, the change in hair color didn’t give as drastically different a feeling as it did for Lapis. Still, it seemed like the atmosphere had changed to some extent.