Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 327

327.

“What did you see?”

“…I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I can’t remember. I think I saw something.”

He had suffered such intense shock, yet nothing remained in his memory. Like sand slipping through fingers, it felt like he had tried to grasp something that was never meant to be held. Amused by his own absurdity, Trowel chuckled. Ellyuen, who had been watching him with a strange look, clicked his tongue lightly.

“Judging by the fact that you can’t quite put your finger on it, it might be related to an evil god.”

“That’s just comforting. I feel even worse now.”

“So, where is El and what is he doing now?”

Trowel frowned at the immediate question. It had only been a brief moment, but he had lost consciousness and was just now stabilizing. To immediately ask about his business with the other party… His true nature never changes. He was now firmly convinced that humans or gods could not be reformed. Of course, he had no intention of saying those words out loud and inviting trouble. Besides, this was a situation where Ellyuen was likely to be sensitive. For a while, he had been unable to pinpoint El’s location. He had confirmed that he was in the capital, but he couldn’t see his figure properly. This was also a rare experience, so even though he didn’t show it, Trowel was quite anxious. Perhaps that was why he had such a strange experience.

Trowel refocused and expanded his vision. Perhaps the time was right now. Fortunately, the vision that had always come up empty began to spread clearly this time. He saw the person he was looking for in an unfamiliar landscape. El, smiling brightly as always.

“Ah, I found…”

It was the moment he was about to smile, filled with the joy of finally finding him and the relief that he was safe. Trowel’s face froze as he was about to smile. As if faced with an unexpected situation, a look of bewilderment spread across his face. Ellyuen, who had been watching the subtle reaction, frowned.

“What is it this time?”

“…El has blonde hair.”

“He must have borrowed the power of magic.”

The Spirit King’s hair color cannot be dyed, but temporary trickery is possible. Unlike Ellyuen, who casually assessed the situation, Trowel’s expression remained stiff.

“Ellyuen.”

“…?”

“Was El… originally blonde?”

“…I shouldn’t have to answer that stupid question.”

Trowel chuckled at the mercilessly sharp words. He himself thought it was an absurd question. Was El blonde? He knew best what his hair color was. Hadn’t he watched him from the moment he was born? Even if that weren’t the case, Elquines was originally born only with blue hair, his unique color. Just like Trowel had black hair and golden eyes for generations. It was such an obvious fact that there was no need to confirm it again.

But why did El with blonde hair feel so familiar? Moreover, he was even happy to see him as if he hadn’t seen him in a long time. He was sure that this was the first time he had seen El with blonde hair today.

Because of the many thoughts swimming in his head, he couldn’t easily escape from his dazed state. Ellyuen, who had been staring at him, sighed quietly. He didn’t want to get involved if possible, but he couldn’t just ignore it.

“Hey, Trowel. I’ll tell you this first.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t tell El about it.”

“…Hmm?”

Trowel, who didn’t understand the meaning for a moment, wore a puzzled expression before hardening his face. A look of absurdity appeared in his now clearer golden eyes.

“What, Ellyuen. You don’t think I would check that with him, do you? Ask him if he was originally blonde? That’s too much. Don’t treat me like such an idiot.”

“But you’ve already started to harbor doubts.”

“…”

“You wouldn’t lightly dismiss such a sense of incongruity.”

“You…”

“You were easily swayed by the words of those guys who I don’t know where they crawled out from, so your words will have an even greater impact. That guy will fall into unnecessary thoughts again.”

“Again?”

“Anyway, I’ve made it clear.”

His tone was calm to the end, but the meaning contained within was close to a warning. Trowel’s face sank seriously.

“Come to think of it, you said something strange about ‘rift’ before. What do you know?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie. You can’t say that without any meaning.”

“I really don’t know. It’s not in my memory. But, yes, it seems like you’re starting to remember.”

“What are you talking about…”

“That’s probably because you’re ‘Trowel.’ You guys are born with the eyes to see the truth from the beginning. Your power is more useful than mine in exploring hidden things. So, if you’re curious, find out for yourself. That’ll be the fastest way.”

Golden eyes filled with agitation wavered. Eyes filled with unresolved questions were demanding a more detailed explanation, but Ellyuen had no intention of getting involved any further. After sighing again, he was about to remove the part that was being held. But this time, Trowel didn’t back down. He grabbed the hand that was trying to pull away and gripped it tightly. It was then that Ellyuen frowned as he felt it.

“El doesn’t remember?”

“…What?”

“It can’t be, Elquines. It shouldn’t be. It’s El. Even if others don’t, you, only you, shouldn’t forget El.”

“You, are you…”

“How can you so lightly say that you’ve forgotten El? That child was your son.”

“…”

The expression disappeared from Ellyuen’s frowning face. He closed his mouth and carefully examined Trowel’s face. Even though he was staring intently, his eyes were somewhat blank. They weren’t the flamboyant and clearly shining golden eyes he had just had. He was speaking to himself, but he wasn’t looking at himself. After clicking his tongue lightly, Ellyuen raised his unheld hand and struck his head hard. Trowel, who had been caught off guard, groaned in pain as if his body was splitting apart.

“Ugh, what are you doing…!”

“Yes, as you said, El is my son. But I’m not Elquines.”

“…!”

Trowel, who was groaning and clutching his head, shuddered at those words. What did I just say? As the foggy mind cleared, he became aware of the phenomenon he hadn’t recognized. He raised his head with a confused expression.

“Ellyuen, I’m…”

“Are you awake now?”

Facing the chilling eyes that resembled water, the past situation felt clearer. Trowel took a deep breath and slowly swept his hands over his head. The sensation of his whole body being soaked in cold sweat due to the excessively realistic implementation was very unpleasant. What on earth is going on? Even though it was a phenomenon that occurred in his own body, he didn’t understand any of it.

“You must have something to say. But it’s better to stop thinking now. It’ll all be useless.”

Only after hearing the still calm voice did the boiling heart gradually calm down. Of course, just because he had calmed down didn’t mean that the questions that were dominating his mind disappeared. Trowel glared at Ellyuen as if he was about to bite him.

“You don’t seem to care at all, Ellyuen. Is this what you meant by the rift? Certainly, this is something you can’t tell El.”

“I’m glad you understand. I don’t have to ask twice. Now that you’ve assessed the situation, I’d like to continue the interrupted story. You said you found El? Where is he and what is he doing now?”

Once again, the two gazes intertwined in the air. Trowel was the one who gave up first in the silent battle. Ellyuen, who had already chosen silence, would never give him the answer he wanted, even if the world turned upside down. Rather than wasting time in vain, it was better to have a slightly more constructive conversation.

“El was talking with his companions. It seemed like he was staying at an inn close to the Imperial Palace. He changed his hair color, but nothing else seemed to be wrong.”

“You said he wasn’t visible because of that spirit sword Minerva made. It took quite a while to resolve.”

“Because it’s a sword that shares the unique power of the wind. This is the first time I’ve truly felt that power. Maybe it’s a good thing we recovered it now.”

After answering bitterly, Trowel clicked his tongue softly.

The past time was like a pilgrimage for him. It wasn’t difficult to confirm that El had separated from Isana and left for the capital. It was also easy to grasp that he was trying to recover Blester. The problem was from then on. The energy of the rampaging Blester was very similar to the feeling of Minerva’s anger. That energy dominated the entire capital, so there was no way that the lower spirits could properly function within it. A place where the ‘eyes’ couldn’t reach was like a night with the lights turned off. Even El’s energy was mixed with the rough wind, making it difficult to pinpoint accurately. That phenomenon lasted for days. At first, he thought nothing of it, but as he continued to be unable to check the situation there, he couldn’t help but worry.

The presence of Ellyuen, who was constantly glaring at him with a murderous gaze, only made things more difficult. He was now a god, but he was once a Spirit King. No matter how bad his personality was, there was no way he wouldn’t understand this situation. The only reason was that he had lost trust because he had interfered with finding his way in the beginning. The god who had been deceived once would not readily believe anything he said after that. It was already meaningless in this situation to complain about why he was wearing a divine object of the Demon God and making himself suffer.

What was unexpected was that he was still following Trowel’s words appropriately. As a result, they were still maintaining their original schedule of visiting the Imperial Army. It wasn’t that he had accepted the initial advice to avoid meeting El. There was a slightly different background to this.

“You said it’s tomorrow at dawn?”

“Yes.”

Trowel nodded at Ellyuen’s repeated question. So far, everything had been going smoothly. He had confirmed El’s safety before the scheduled date, so the timing wasn’t bad either. The scattered mercenaries had returned just in time, so the conversation was naturally interrupted. “Matthew, how are you feeling?”, “I brought warm milk. Drink this.” Amidst the group fussing over taking care of the youngest, Trowel had no choice but to match his actions with them.

“Ah, Priest. It seems we’ll be arriving at the Imperial Army camp soon. I can see torches down the hill.”

Herold, who had gone to get kindling, conveyed what he had seen. It was something he had already grasped, but Ellyuen nodded silently. As he dusted off the spot where he had been sitting and stood up, everyone’s eyes gathered. Ellyuen said without looking back at them.

“It seems like it’s time for us to go our separate ways. You guys spend the night here and go down tomorrow morning.”

It was a sudden notice of farewell. The Champagne mercenaries widened their eyes at the unexpected situation.

“Yes? Are you leaving like this?”

“Yes.”

“No, Priest. Why so suddenly… It’s already getting dark. Wouldn’t it be better to go down with us tomorrow?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right! The mountain path at night is dangerous!”

Ellyuen chuckled at the words of dissuasion. The Champagne mercenaries soon became embarrassed when they saw the smile on his lips. They knew better than anyone else that it was all unnecessary worry. He was by no means an ordinary priest. He had knocked down the priests and soldiers of the Demon God Temple with a single gesture, and he could subdue most people with just his voice. He had never shown any signs of fatigue from the forced march, and he didn’t get drunk even when he drank strong liquor instead of water. Even the monsters and ferocious beasts that are commonly encountered when entering the mountains had never been encountered since he had been with them. On the contrary, docile herbivores suitable for hunting appeared frequently.

At first, they thought it was a coincidence, but as such things continued to happen, they knew. He had the power to avoid bad luck and attract good luck. Night roads could not be a threat to him, who seemed to have been created by God’s blessing. They were only dissuading him because they were sad. It seemed that they had grown quite fond of him in the meantime. He was a difficult and uncomfortable person to deal with, but when they thought about parting, they felt sad and mournful. They were only embarrassed by the fact that they felt such emotions. Mercenaries were originally accustomed to wandering around and parting ways after spending some time together. Even if they met on the front lines and entrusted each other’s lives, they would become strangers the very next day. But why were they so sad that the awkward priest was leaving? It was like being a baby bird that had lost its mother bird. Because they couldn’t express this sense of loss, the Champagne mercenaries became sullen. Ellyuen, who looked back at them, smiled briefly again.

“It was not a bad time. Ah, yes. I’ll tell you one good thing.”

“Yes?”

“On the day you seek the sunset, Nasik will be embraced by Manel. When the red gold ring adorns Perma’s finger, go east and meet the blue wings. You will be able to go higher.”

A divine revelation fell before their eyes, but no one noticed it. Therefore, no one realized how amazing this was. All the mercenaries did was stare endlessly at his receding figure.