Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 368

368

‘Well, I can’t live clinging to the past forever, I guess.’

The tribe that was the main culprit of my torment had left for the Divine Realm, and 4,000 years had passed since then. Thanks to being sealed, I didn’t feel the passage of time so much, but it was a long time, enough for a person’s bloodline to pass down through several generations. I’ve made new friends too, so it’s about time I changed. Sibelius decided to think positively.

Thud-

Was it just my imagination? I heard a sound like something tearing somewhere. He reflexively turned around, confirmed that nothing was wrong, and tilted his head. It was a rather strange sensation, but it wasn’t particularly alarming, so it didn’t bother him. Rather, he felt a sense of liberation, a refreshing feeling. He couldn’t explain why, but that’s just how he felt. For some reason, he felt like he could get a good night’s sleep for the first time in a long time tonight.

* * *

Beings that exceed a certain limit are free from the constraints of space. This is because they have the ability to move instantly, no matter how far away. If you can include other people in that target, you can become a contributor who greatly shortens the overall schedule. The only downside is that the other party may be suddenly caught up without having time to prepare. What I mean is, I was teleported.

The time was when Trowel was about to leave with Mete to find a place to build the Earth Formation. Ifrit, who had gone to check the fire energy, had just returned. As expected, the place she designated was the same place Trowel had predicted. When I raised my head at Diagon’s cheerful voice, a red world unfolded before my eyes. Stone mountains sprouting up like bamboo shoots, holding embers, and piles of coal-black rocks each containing eye-achingly red lava. Liquids pouring down like waterfalls from all directions stretched out red paths all over the place, and eventually gathered and flowed. It was a river of fire that seemed like it would never cool down.

Volcanic Zone Treia.

It was the place where the Fire Formation would be built.

Treia, the oldest active volcano on the continent, is also the largest volcanic zone. In the past, I had generally looked after Arkadon while restoring nature, but I had focused more on restoring water, so I hadn’t looked closely at areas related to fire. So, when I first heard the word ‘volcanic zone,’ I thought of the scenery I had often encountered in the media in Korea. For example, slightly scorched black land, a floor with pure white steam coming out, or hot springs where eggs are boiled. ……I never imagined it would be such an extreme sight, with ash flying around, the sky all black, flames constantly spewing from the crater, and overflowing lava forming rivers in real time.

The scenery was like a scene from hell, and if you only looked at this place, you would believe that the end of the world was happening. Ifrit’s fire domain is also full of lava, but it didn’t have such a brutal atmosphere. I wondered if we had arrived right after a massive volcanic eruption, but it was always like this. Fortunately, the fire spirits, who were the natives here, were controlling the water level, so the amount of ash flying around wasn’t too severe. In times like this, I really feel that this world has a different structure from Earth.

“……Still, couldn’t you give me a little warning about this in advance?”

The moment the scenery in front of me changed, I instinctively knew what had happened to me. But just as great things don’t get lighter just because you’re prepared, knowing doesn’t mean you’re not surprised. I’m still timid, so when an absurd (though this is common sense in this setup) situation like this happens, my body freezes up out of habit. Of course, Diagon, who had no way of knowing this, looked bewildered.

“Why? You were going to come anyway. Ah, did you want to move on your own? But isn’t this easier than moving separately?”

“That’s true, but…….”

“Then there’s no problem. Okay, let’s hurry because we don’t have much time. I’ll go get the kids first. They’ve all been waiting.”

“Everyone?”

“The blueprint is so complex and vast that we need five more kids to help with the framework. Even then, it will take more than a week to complete. Ah, since there’s a High God, it might be shorter than that? Elqu… no, Ellyuen, you’re helping with this, right?”

At Diagon’s words, Ellyuen, who had been standing indifferently, frowned slightly. But in this case, even he couldn’t avoid the predetermined answer. Diagon’s face brightened at the readily given permission.

“That’s a relief. Ah, now that I think about it, I had something to ask you!”

“What is it?”

“This, what does this say? There’s some kind of separate attachment, but it’s written in a divine language, so I can’t read it.”

With a troubled face, Diagon took something out. It was something like a slightly fluttering piece of paper. The reason I described it as ‘like paper’ was because it wasn’t actually paper. The material itself felt closer to a white stone slab, but it was still fluttering as if it could be crumpled, which was strange. It didn’t seem to be a material from the human world.

Inside, the contents were densely filled with patterns and calculations that looked like magic circles. It seemed to be the blueprint for the purification circle that had been handed down from the Divine Realm. Most of the letters were recognizable, but only one part that Diagon was pointing to was written in unknown letters. Since I, who can read most letters, couldn’t understand it, it seemed to be a divine language. Ifrit, who looked at it with me, also looked bewildered because she couldn’t read it. And Ellyuen’s eyes, staring at it, turned cold.

“……That damn bastard.”

“Huh?”

Everyone who was watching him, including me, was startled by the sudden harsh words. Ellyuen looked like he was about to crumple the thing, whether it was a stone slab or paper. Only after Diagon was horrified and quickly hid it did he lower his eyes slightly.

“It’s nothing. It’s just graffiti.”

“Oh? Then this has nothing to do with the purification circle…….”

“Nothing.”

“Then what does this say…….”

“Don’t you understand what it means when I say it has nothing to do with it?”

The firm tone was like icicles dripping. Diagon’s face, which had been sparkling with curiosity, turned pale in an instant.

“Ahaha, if Ellyuen says so, then I’ll just ignore this part.”

Ellyuen nodded insincerely at the quick retreat. Immediately after Diagon left, I subtly watched his expression. His eyes were much more relaxed, but he still seemed displeased. It seemed like something had bothered him a lot. I know that it’s better not to touch him in times like this to avoid incurring his wrath. But curiosity overcame fear.

“That paper-like thing from before, it came from the Divine Realm, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can I ask what the graffiti said?”

“……It’s not that great of a content [not a significant message].”

Fortunately, Ellyuen answered readily. When I glanced back, Ifrit, who was anxiously watching, nodded. At this moment, we were both of one mind. Encouraged by her supportive eyes, I mustered a little more courage.

“But I’m curious…….”

“You’re curious about everything.”

“Still…….”

Ellyuen seemed a little bothered as I trailed off with lingering feelings. He looked at me with a slightly helpless expression, and then sighed.

“「Stay still there.」”

“……Huh?”

“That’s the answer you were curious about.”

“Stay still? That’s what the graffiti said?”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean? No, who wrote it to whom?”

“It’s none of my business.”

The curt answer was consistently feigning ignorance, but I instinctively realized it. I didn’t know who the sender was, but it was clear that the graffiti was aimed at Ellyuen. And the sender was probably the god I knew, the Demon God Kanos, who was stuck in the Divine Realm because he had stolen the necklace. I couldn’t think of any other being. I didn’t know if he had predicted Ellyuen’s range of actions and sent him a message.

‘But usually, they tell you to come back, right? What does it mean to stay still?’

Although this action was extreme, Ellyuen is not the type to cause trouble. Rather, it would be Kanos. But on the contrary, he left this message to Ellyuen, so something was strange. Ah, maybe he was saying that he would go find the necklace soon, so wait without moving? That would make sense.

But why? Even as I nodded, my face frowned involuntarily. I felt strangely uneasy.

* * *

Diagon, who had disappeared, returned about 30 minutes later. When he left, he was alone, but when he returned, he was with five people, consisting of men and women. All of them were Red Dragons, and they all had red hair similar in color to Lapis.

“It’s our first time greeting the new Water King. Nice to meet you.”

Their attitude towards me was unexpectedly very polite. Ifrit and Lapis always had some friction with the fire attribute, so I was nervous, but that was the moment I realized it was a prejudice. In a way, it also meant that I was really unlucky. I was involved with the guys with bad personalities, leaving all the generally kind people alone.

“Lapis, long time no see.”

The fact that they were kind could also be seen in the way they took care of Lapis, who was standing blankly. I thought everyone would avoid him because of Lapis’s personality (?), but this time again, it was an unexpected and friendly atmosphere. Some of them were blushing, so it seemed like there were feelings beyond simple liking. On the other hand, Lapis’s gaze towards them was only cold. He didn’t even look at them and ignored them, which made me feel embarrassed. The dragons seemed used to it and didn’t care at all. Rather, they seemed eager to talk to him, which was even more embarrassing. It seemed that Lapis was more popular among his tribe than I thought.

But their reaction was the hottest when they found out about Ellyuen’s identity. Unlike the Spirit Kings who occasionally interact, High Gods are literally like beings above the clouds, so even dragons couldn’t readily accept them. Strangely, no one recognized that he was the previous Elquines. It didn’t seem like they hadn’t interacted before, and Ellyuen probably took some measures because he was tired of seeing the same reactions every time. As evidence, when Diagon showed signs of mentioning that part, Ellyuen’s eyes immediately turned cold. The quick-witted Diagon didn’t open his mouth until the end.

After that, the full-scale formation began. Since the formation to be designed was so large, the dragons had to divide the area and draw it separately. I could see why they said they needed five assistants. Diagon and Ellyuen were in charge of the work of creating the central framework, and Ifrit also helped with that.

Meanwhile, Lapis went into intensive training to maximize the fire energy. All the training consisted of was drawing a magic circle and sitting on it. Even I, who had nothing to do, quietly watched from the side.

“Come to think of it, Lapis, where is your lair?”

“Over there.”

What Lapis pointed to was among the craters where lava was pouring out in real time. This area was all like that, but no matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like a place where a living being could live.

“Lava seems to be flowing from the walls there. And it doesn’t seem like it’s in contact with a water vein [underground water source].”

“Well, that’s right.”

As expected, a positive answer came back to my sullen question. Lapis gave me a look as if there was something wrong as I stared at him in bewilderment.

“You were going to make a lake in a place like that?”

“I succeeded for now? I had a perfect cooling function to prevent the water from evaporating.”

“You said it all dried up?”

“A tectonic shift occurred while I was out for a while, and the magic circle was broken. I didn’t expect it to dry up in 10 years.”

“10 years is a short time, which is like you, but don’t you calculate all those things in advance when designing a magic circle?”

“Of course I did. But it missed my expected range. I can’t be wrong, so the fire spirits must have been playing tricks.”

The reason I couldn’t retort that he was blaming others was because the natural Casas [small elemental spirits] that were circling around Lapis at that moment were dancing around. Seeing them very happy that they had been caught, it seemed that what he said was true. He would be triumphant if I told him, so I quietly pretended not to see it.

“But if you succeeded in maintaining it, can’t you make it again?”

“That’s true.”

“What, then why did you ask me as if it couldn’t be helped?”

I remember it clearly now. At that time, Lapis said that it was impossible for him to make the lake again with his own ability, so he was asking me. I couldn’t have misremembered that absurd suggestion that he wanted me to act as a fountain because I had to keep the cold water.

“As a result, that’s true. No matter how I make it, I can’t get the feeling I want.”

“The feeling you want?”

“Should I call it harmony, or should I call it vitality? Anyway, there’s always something missing. In water maintained by magic, the artificial smell doesn’t disappear.”

“……You’re really picky.”

“My taste is a bit high-end.”

His skill in skillfully interpreting even sarcastic remarks in his own way is unusual. I was dumbfounded, but it seemed funny to get angry about it here, so I soon gave up. If you want to live in the world with that kind of personality, you have to be positive. He’s so positive that he seems to have become that kind of personality.