Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 332

332.

“…Lisa! Ali…sa!”

A noisy sound had been ringing in my ears for a while. Feeling myself being shaken helplessly by someone’s hand, Alisa frowned deeply. The hazy sensation gradually became clearer. Only then did she realize that she had been asleep. She wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt too heavy. Not only her eyes but her whole body felt crushed.

Where am I? Why do I feel like this? She recognized her condition but couldn’t understand what was happening. It was clear that she had lost consciousness, but the events leading up to it were unclear. Groaning, Alisa slowly began to sort through her thoughts.

What on earth happened? Ah, right. She had visited Isana’s tent after hearing that he was looking for her. She met Carter’s Crown Prince and Asel in front of the entrance, but she didn’t think much about why they were summoned. But when she went inside, Isana looked very surprised. After hearing him say that he hadn’t called anyone, she realized something was wrong. By then, white smoke was rising from all sides. She seemed to have smelled something strange in the rapidly blurring space. And then she didn’t remember anything.

“Alisa!”

“……!”

With a sensation like air rushing in, her eyes flashed open. Before she could grasp the situation, she met the gaze of someone looking down at her. It didn’t take long for her to recognize the familiar face. In fact, she seemed to have known it instinctively from the moment she heard the voice calling her. Feeling relieved, the tension slowly left her body. Alisa let out a long breath she had been holding back.

“Isana…”

“Yes, it’s me. Are you awake?”

She nodded slowly at his voice, noting his delighted expression. For some reason, her body felt excessively heavy. She felt exhausted, as if she had been running at full speed. She didn’t even have the strength to move a finger, so Alisa could only blink her eyes.

“You inhaled too much smoke. I detoxified you, but you’ll remain weak for a while. I woke you up because you seemed to be in pain, but it’ll be difficult to move right away, so just lie there for a moment.”

Isana explained the situation calmly, noticing her bewilderment. Alisa stopped trying to get up and quietly looked around. Judging from the darkness, not much time had passed. The damp night air, heavy with dew, and the star clusters spread out beyond the densely overgrown trees. The scenery of the Swalt Empire was similar no matter where you went, but she could tell at a glance that this was an unfamiliar place. She must have been kidnapped.

But she wasn’t trapped somewhere; she was in an open field. She wasn’t gagged or tied up, and Isana’s demeanor and expression seemed calm. She could hear the sound of a leisurely bonfire burning nearby. When she glanced around, she saw Asel and Raon Hwizen lying a little further away. Her heart sank for a moment, but when she looked again, they were both breathing soundly. They just seemed to be asleep. She didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed like things had been mostly resolved while she was unconscious. Still, she couldn’t help but ask.

“…What happened?”

We were in danger, weren’t we? Isana nodded, understanding her unspoken question.

“My uncle… the Grand Duke was behind it. It seems he was trying to use us as sacrifices.”

“I knew it. But how did you manage to get out? Did you solve it, Isana?”

“No. I received help.”

“Help?”

“Yes, he said he would be nearby, so he’ll be back soon. You’ll be very surprised when you find out who it is.”

Alisa was puzzled because his softly smiling face seemed a little nervous. It was even more so because it was rare for Isana, the emperor, to use honorifics [formal language] with someone. But her head wasn’t clear enough to focus yet. She’d find out when she saw him. Feeling annoyed, she decided to think about it later. Anyway, it seemed clear that she was safe now, so it didn’t matter.

—I’ll give you something good. It will be helpful to you someday.

Just as she was about to let her mind go completely, a voice she had heard long ago flashed through her mind. It was what someone had said to her when she was much younger. Until just before she regained consciousness, Alisa had been with the person associated with that voice.

‘Come to think of it, I had a nostalgic dream.’

Her consciousness, still unstable from being forcibly awakened, easily drifted into the past with just one fragment of memory. Jet-black hair and beautiful golden eyes were vividly drawn in front of her again. The boy’s atmosphere, which felt bizarre and even somewhat unreal.

‘…That person said he was Trowel.’

Trowel.

Surprised by the weight of the word she uttered, Alisa unknowingly took a deep breath. She should be used to it by now, but she was still shocked every time she recalled that fact. It was even more so as she looked back on that day’s meeting. When she thought about it, there wasn’t a single part that wasn’t special. He was the one who first told Alisa about the existence of spirits. That there were beings who were always by her side, even though they were invisible to human eyes. He told her that they liked Alisa very much and were constantly chattering next to her.

—Are there really spirits around here?

—Of course. There are probably more than the population of this village.

—That’s amazing. How do you know that, oppa [term of endearment for an older brother or male friend]?

—Well, how do you think I know?

His eyes, which were filled with light whenever he smiled softly, were really pretty. His voice, which was neither too high nor too low, was like the melody produced by a musical instrument. When the wind blew, the refreshing scent of the forest reached her as she sat next to him. It was also like the smell of soil soaked in clear dew. Was it a problem that she hadn’t thought deeply about the meaning contained in his words because she was so captivated by the various sensations?

When he suddenly held out a gift, she just accepted it without much thought. It was only after he left that she realized it was a book. Remembering that she hadn’t said thank you, she belatedly hurried to run after him, but by then, she couldn’t find any trace of where he had gone. From beginning to end, it was literally like a mirage.

Perhaps he wasn’t human, she had often thought to herself since then. He might have really been a monster, or he might have been a different race that she had only encountered in books. It would have been stranger if someone so beautiful was an ordinary human. She had definitely thought so.

‘But even so, the Earth Spirit King.’

It had exceeded the imaginable range too much. Even according to El’s words, that day’s meeting wasn’t a coincidence. He had deliberately come to find Alisa because he recognized her talent, to guide her on the path to becoming a spirit master in the future. Just looking at the fairy tale book he gave her, it wasn’t something he could have suddenly given her without preparing in advance. Even the fact that the summoning spell was written inside was all planned. Even Alisa, who wasn’t very perceptive, knew how amazing that was. Which spirit master in the world could be directly chosen by the Spirit King? It was a story that no one would believe even if she told everyone. Even the other spirit masters would scoff and consider it a boast. That might be why it didn’t feel real.

As an Earth Spirit Master, the Spirit King Trowel was an existence that she definitely wanted to reach. Even if she couldn’t make a contract with him, she wanted to meet him at least once someday. She was prepared to devote her whole life to achieving that. But she had already met him. Long before she met El, in a way she hadn’t realized at all. It was like she had gone through all sorts of hardships to find a rare book she wanted to read, but it was already on her bookshelf.

Maybe El wasn’t lying? At that time, Alisa was in a period of turmoil because she thought she was taking too much credit. El was kind, so there was a possibility that he made up encouraging words to cheer her up when she was depressed. It was a little unsettling that even Lapis, who wasn’t kind at all, agreed, but he might have done it to tease her. In fact, right after that, he created a subtle atmosphere as if there was something going on between her and Isana, didn’t he? Thinking that far, it seemed like she was really being teased. Alisa frowned deeply at the gradually deepening suspicion. After all, there was no way that boy was Trowel.

“Hmm. Then what do you think he is? A monster that seduces people?”

“Ugh, well… It’s not impossible, but there are still many parts that I don’t understand. If he was a monster, he would have already eaten me back then, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Right? Besides, those monsters usually lure people from afar. I’ve never heard of them sitting right next to you and even having a conversation…”

Wait, who am I talking to right now? More than that, have I ever said my thoughts out loud? The mouth that had been unconsciously continuing the answer gradually closed. When she reflexively looked at Isana, he smiled with a troubled expression. Even with her dull senses, she was sure that the voice from before wasn’t his. Alisa stiffly turned her head in the other direction. There, she saw an unbelievable sight. A beautiful black-haired boy with golden eyes, looking at her with the same appearance as before.

“Hello. Long time no see. How have you been?”

“…….”

In an instant, her mind went blank, and everything around her disappeared as if it were flashing. All she could see was the figure in front of her.

At first, she thought she was dreaming with her eyes open. But no matter how she looked at it, the boy in front of her was him. No matter how many people in the world looked alike, it was impossible for there to be two people with such an appearance. There was no way that someone exuding such a clear presence could be an illusion. He had even greeted her, hadn’t he? ‘Long time no see.’

When she realized that, the sense of reality that had been distant for a while quickly returned. Alisa unknowingly sat up abruptly. Her heart, sensing the situation, began to beat like it was having a seizure. Her jaw muscles hurt because her mouth was wide open. Even if she didn’t know for sure, she felt like she was making a very strange expression right now.

“Uh… what is this…”

Her tangled thoughts couldn’t form proper words no matter how hard she tried. As if understanding her confused heart, the boy smiled brightly. “I was a little surprised because you’ve grown so much that I couldn’t recognize you. You’re really becoming a lady now. You were such a small kid when I first saw you.”

The person saying that hadn’t changed at all. Not his height, not his figure, not his skin tone. Even the length of his hair was the same as she remembered. He was exactly the same as the image she had seen in her dream just a moment ago, so she even felt like he had popped out of it.

“How…”

“Um, let’s just say it happened by chance. Actually, I didn’t plan to meet you again like this back then. Well, I guess this is all fate. I thought that as long as you were connected to El, you would be connected to me again.”

“You… know El.”

“Haha, you’re stating the obvious.”

“Are you really Lord Trowel? The Earth Spirit King?”

“What do you think?”

At the playful answer, Alisa made a crying face and looked to the side. Isana, who had been anxiously watching the situation, tried to nod when their eyes met. But the boy—Trowel’s actions were faster than that. “If it doesn’t feel real, there’s a good way.” He smiled and muttered something incomprehensible, then took a step forward. Alisa, who flinched without realizing it, blankly blinked her eyes as she saw the hand being extended towards her.

“Although it’s late, shall we formally introduce ourselves? I’m Trowel.”

“Ah…”

Alisa hesitated for a long time before finally summoning the courage to shake his hand. At first, she was just going to exchange a light greeting and quickly let go. But as the warm body temperature was transmitted, her stiff face relaxed on its own. It was just a handshake, but it was so strangely touching that her heart fluttered. A feeling of longing and familiarity that made her want to cry, a sense of stability like returning to her hometown, spread throughout her body. It was also like lying on a field and taking in the fresh smell of grass.

She had felt this way when she met him in the past, but she didn’t know what it was. But now that she was a spirit master, she could clearly recognize it. It was the energy of the earth flowing in this world.

“What… It’s real. You really were Lord Trowel.”

Her voice trembled as she tried to forcibly calm the feeling of her heart swelling. Her nose tingled because of the tears that seemed like they would burst out if she let her guard down.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh, it’s weird. Why do I keep wanting to cry?”

“It’s because you’re strongly resonating with my energy. It’s proof that you’ve grown as a spirit master. Your achievement is faster than I thought. You’ll be able to summon Clay soon.”

“Really?”