Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 372

372

I was reeling. Before I could even gather my thoughts, shocking information kept pouring out, and all I could do was listen. Overwhelmed and unsure how to respond, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Ellyuen. “Is all of this true?” He nodded in response to my barely audible question.

“It was something the Divine Realm had been investigating. We were tracking the source, and it narrowed down to this area.”

“I… I see.”

“I’m sorry, El. I only learned the full details now. When I heard that they exploited the Water Spirit King’s impending extinction, I was appalled, but to think the instigator was one of us… I have no excuse.”

Diagon apologized, his face etched with gloom. Okal, standing next to him, couldn’t even lift his head.

“I’m truly sorry. Back then, I enjoyed interacting with the demons, and he was a visitor after a long time. As I treated him and shared stories about the world, the atmosphere became comfortable. Then, without thinking, I let slip a casual remark. I never imagined he would do something like that after hearing it.”

Well, I suppose not. It was just that the Water Spirit King would soon disappear. Most people would just react with indifference—information that they couldn’t really care about or get involved in. Probably no one would have predicted that such a trivial piece of information would lead to these consequences. It was shocking, but I wasn’t angry at Okal. This must be a disastrous experience for him too, like his grandfather putting a spell on him without his knowledge.

“You can’t claim there’s no fault just because it wasn’t intentional.”

However, Ellyuen’s assessment was cold. He stared with chilly eyes at Okal, who seemed speechless and depressed, then turned to me.

“He will be placed on probation after this is over. But if there’s any other punishment you desire, tell me. Whatever it is, it will be done as you wish.”

The tone was calm, but the content was anything but. Moreover, the punishment mentioned by the ‘God of Punishment’ was bound to be extraordinary. It was the moment when Okal’s already pale face turned white. But instead of pleading his innocence, he quietly waited for me to speak. He seemed to have decided to accept whatever came his way.

“Hmm, I think I can just let it go if I can confirm one thing.”

“What is it?”

“About the unicorn eyes. You didn’t kill them to get them, did you?”

I asked Okal directly, who was frozen. I don’t know when it started, but unicorn eyes wouldn’t be easy to obtain. If Karyuan wanted as many as he did, there was a possibility that he deliberately attacked unicorns to meet the demand. It was something that had been bothering me since I heard it, so I wanted to address it.

“No, that’s not it! How could I do that! I was on good terms with the unicorns, the Holy Beast race! I started collecting them after they migrated to the Divine Realm. I only collected what they left behind after their death. I swear I have never obtained them directly from a living Holy Beast!”

Okal jumped up. Seeing his usually composed face looking tearful as if he was truly wronged, I shrugged.

“He says that’s not the case. Then I don’t particularly want anything.”

“El, leniency isn’t always good.”

“Hmm, but he seems to be blaming himself enough. And he’s going to be on probation anyway. He didn’t deliberately participate, so I think that’s enough.”

“…My son is too soft.”

Ellyuen sighed and nodded as if he couldn’t help it. I smiled at him and turned to Okal, who was fidgeting, looking like he didn’t know what to do. When our eyes met, he quickly lowered his head.

“Thank you for your generous disposition.”

“No. I’m glad you didn’t collect unicorn eyes in a bad way. I have a unicorn friend, so it made me uneasy.”

“A friend? Oh, was there a unicorn who visited the Spirit Realm?”

“No, I met him here.”

“…! There are still Holy Beasts left on the ground? Amazing. I thought there were none left after Glen died.”

“Glen?”

The pronunciation sounded familiar, and when I thought about it, there was someone I could guess. A similar pronunciation, and if there was only one unicorn left on the ground besides Sibelius…

“Are you talking about a unicorn named Rigleo?”

“Ah! That’s right. That’s his real name.”

I thought so. Okal couldn’t hide his surprise, as if it was quite unexpected.

“How does the Water King know Glen?”

“I don’t know him well, I just heard his name. The friend I mentioned earlier is that Rigleo’s brother.”

“…!”

Okal’s eyes, which were already wide, widened even more. He could only open and close his mouth as if he was speechless, then gave a hollow laugh. His watery blue eyes were filled with longing and regret.

“Glen had a brother. I only heard that he had cut ties with his clan, so I didn’t know the details. It’s amazing that the connection continues like this.”

“How do you know him?”

“Similarly, I initially knew him through a transaction. Unicorns have good eyes and are good at finding unique minerals. Glen used to visit my lair every few years, but one day, his visits suddenly stopped. When I went to his place, I heard he was already dead.”

“Do you know the cause of death?”

“No. I only confirmed his grave. All of his descendants had left, so I couldn’t find out where they had migrated to…”

“I see.”

“The Water King seems to know his cause of death.”

I knew it. I didn’t know if it was a topic I should bring up here. I just passed it without much thought when I heard it, but it seemed like I had found an unexpected link here. Seeing me hesitate, Okal seemed to have guessed something. He straightened his posture and stared at me.

“Although it started as a transaction, Glen was one of the few acquaintances I opened my heart to. I have always wondered about his sudden death. If there is anything you know, please tell me.”

“Um, maybe it’s better not to hear it.”

“No. I think it’s something I need to know.”

The bright blue eyes shone stubbornly. I could feel his strong will to hear it in his gaze that stared straight at me. I hesitated about how to answer, then sighed.

“I don’t know the details either. I only heard it from his descendant.”

“Glen’s descendants are still continuing.”

“Yes. It seems like there was a record in their family mentioning the ancestor’s last moments. He died… by a demon.”

“…A demon, you say?”

The tone of his reply became heavier. Seeing his face stiffen in an instant, I knew he was thinking of the same thing as me. Who was the demon who killed Rigleo, and why did he kill him?

“It seems like he told him about Rigleo too.”

“…I have nothing to say.”

Okal lowered his head gloomily. His expression was only slightly clouded, but his hands were clenched tightly below, drawing blood. From what I heard, it wasn’t that he had specifically talked about Rigleo. It seemed like he had only mentioned that he had a close unicorn who he traded with regularly. But even that little bit of information was a great clue for someone who was aiming for it.

“I knew he had returned to the Demon Realm as soon as the transaction was over. I had been interacting with Glen for quite a long time after that. His visits stopped more than 200 years later. So I never suspected the relationship until now. It’s all my fault.”

Okal’s eyes were filled with anger as he explained. If that was the case, he had been thoroughly manipulated in a meticulous and thorough manner.

I should have just not answered. Seeing his face filled with guilt and regret made my mouth bitter. He was already in shock, and now another crime had been revealed. A few careless words led the world to destruction and even took the life of an acquaintance. It was too harsh of a price to pay for what he had to pay.

To be honest, I was more surprised that Karyuan didn’t harm him and left him alone. If he was such a central figure, I would have thought he would try to hide him to destroy the evidence, but was he confident that he would never be caught? In fact, no one knew until now, so it was possible. Well, if he had died, things might have gone wrong. The death of a unicorn with no particular ties might not have attracted anyone’s attention, but the death of Okal, the direct descendant of the Dragon Elder, would have certainly drawn attention. That difference made Rigleo’s death even more heartbreaking. Okal seemed to feel the same way, making a face like he was about to cry.

“Um, where can I meet the… brother? I want to meet him in person and apologize when this is over.”

“Um, I don’t think I can readily answer that. I’ll pass on the message for now.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I think I was too focused on my own feelings.”

“No. Okal is probably the one with the most complicated feelings right now. I understand. It’s just that there’s an order to follow on this side.”

Come to think of it, I don’t know how to tell Sibelius about this. He doesn’t seem to want to hear about his brother, and it’s not good news, it’s bad news. There’s a saying that ignorance is bliss, and I was worried that I was just stirring up trouble.

Even though he acted indifferent, he was shocked when he found out that his brother had died. Moreover, if he finds out that the demon who killed him is Karyuan, it will be difficult to pass it off casually.

‘Should I stop by there for a while as soon as the barrier is completed? I wonder how much progress has been made on their side by now?’

On a whim, I deployed ‘Water’s Memory’ [a spell that allows the user to see past events in a specific location] on the spot. Even though I had already decided on the range and location to look at, it took quite a while to focus because it was such a long distance. The battle was still in a stalemate, and there were no noticeable changes. Following the familiar structure, I soon found Isana in his tent, in the middle of a meeting. Seeing him healthy without any injuries made me smile with relief. But no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t see Sibelius and Alisa. It wasn’t just that they weren’t participating in the meeting, I couldn’t find the tent itself.

‘What is it?’

At first, I thought the tent’s location had simply changed. It wasn’t like Sibelius only built his tent in a fixed location. As the all-out war was approaching, he might have moved to the rear for Alisa’s safety. But as if to mock those guesses, his tent was nowhere to be seen. Even though my senses were duller than seeing it directly, it was strange that I couldn’t find it like this.

“Who are you looking for, El? That Sibelius guy?”

Trowel spoke to me as I was panicking in confusion. He smiled softly at my nod.

“Maybe the people you’re looking for aren’t there. I saw them in one place in the near future.”

“Huh? Where is it?”

“It’s a place with several large buildings. It looks like an educational institution for humans. Looking at the scenery, it seems to be in the Carters Empire.”

“Carters?”

Those guys moved to the Carters Empire in the meantime? I was dumbfounded because it was an unexpected fact. But if it’s an educational institution in the Carters Empire, there was one thing that came to mind. The academy that Raonhizen and Asel attend. That was the only connection they would suddenly go to. Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw those two when I looked around earlier. No, they definitely weren’t there. I don’t know how things have turned out while I haven’t been paying attention.

“But did you suddenly see that?”

“Um, no. To be exact, I was trying to find out something else, but I stumbled upon it.”

“Something else?”

“…I need to hurry things up a bit more.”

The voice that followed at that moment somehow contained a different resonance than usual. His eyes, which had lost focus on where he was looking, seemed dazed. The figure seemed a little blurry, as if shattered by sunlight. I slowly blinked my eyes and soon widened them. It wasn’t that it looked blurry. The figure was actually fading.

“T, Trowel! Your body…!”

“Huh? Ah.”

Trowel seemed to realize the phenomenon happening to his body a little late. He looked down at his gradually transparent body and lightly clicked his tongue. The mana surrounding him was flowing violently in reverse. As far as I knew, there was only one symptom that caused this phenomenon.

‘Reverse Summoning?’

Why is he suddenly being reverse summoned?

Everyone else was making surprised expressions as much as I was, who had frozen at the incomprehensible phenomenon. In comparison, Trowel, the person involved, was calm as if he had already guessed it. He smiled bitterly at me, who was frozen.

“Sorry. I had a bad feeling, so I tried to read the future connected to the Evil God. I must have overdone it in a state of exhausted energy.”

“Even so, reverse summoning…”

“That means his power has grown that much more. I have a feeling that something is dangerous, but I don’t know what it is. First of all, El, find that unicorn.”