Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 42

42

“……What? What are you even saying? Leave with Elquines alone?”

A trembling voice escaped Isana’s slightly parted lips. He blinked several times, his expression clearly bewildered. Before him, Kay and the knights knelt on one knee, heads bowed.

“Your Majesty, as we’ve explained, wanted posters bearing your likeness have been issued nationwide. Traveling with us significantly increases the risk of your discovery. We are the Royal Knights, dedicated to protecting you. We cannot bear to expose you to such danger. Please understand our intentions.”

“No, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. The plan remains as scheduled; we all leave together.”

“Your Majesty!”

“I don’t want to hear it! Even if it becomes more dangerous, do you think I would abandon you—you who have sacrificed everything for me?”

“It’s not abandonment! It’s choosing the safer path! There’s no danger to us in staying here. We’ll go to the capital and await your return!”

“Who would believe that! Do you think you can survive if you go to the capital now? How is that different from suicide!”

“Your Majesty! Why don’t you understand? All we want is for you to safely regain the throne! Didn’t the Emperor instruct us to go to the Claymore Duchy [a region or territory ruled by a Duke] for that very purpose? The wanted order issued for us will create numerous dangers along the way! We never want to be a burden to you. Please, have mercy!”

“Please, have mercy, Your Majesty!”

“I said I don’t want to hear it!”

The knights wore anxious expressions at his firm tone. But even as Isana showed no sign of relenting, they began to look at me with pleading eyes. Their meaning was clear, even without words: they wanted me to persuade him. It was something Kay had already asked me to do.

‘……Ugh, I don’t want to get involved in this situation.’

But their gazes were too intense to ignore. Eventually, after hesitating, I sighed and said, “Hey, Isana. I don’t know what you think, but for the knights’ safety, I don’t think you should object. It doesn’t seem like a bad idea for them, either.”

“……What do you mean?”

“The wanted notice specifically mentions a young boy around sixteen years old with blonde hair and blue eyes. In other words, your presence could actually increase the chances of the knights being discovered.”

“So… I’m putting everyone in danger?”

“You could see it that way. Most people who see the wanted notice will check for a boy your age first. You can disguise a group as mercenaries or something, but you can’t hide your existence. In that sense, I think it might be best for you to split up. The knights seem to think it’s okay too, so why don’t you trust them?”

“I, I…….”

Did he think it made sense? Isana’s voice, which had been so firm, wavered for the first time. As if waiting for this, the knights’ loud pleas resumed.

“Please, have mercy, Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!”

“…….”

In the end, the tedious emotional tug-of-war ended with Isana’s defeat. The knights were adamant, but it was ultimately Isana accepting reality that made the difference. He must have known that splitting up was safer; he just didn’t want to admit that he couldn’t be with them until the end.

Isana, who bowed his head with a gloomy expression, spoke in a voice that sounded like he was about to cry.

“I’m sorry. I am too weak an emperor. I am an infinitely lacking and deficient ruler who cannot even protect those who care for me. I am sorry that I am your ruler. I’m truly sorry.”

“Wh-what are you saying, Your Majesty! That’s not true! Laying down one’s life for the sovereign is every knight’s wish and dream!”

“That’s right, Your Majesty! Please don’t worry about us, and please regain your past glory safely. That is enough for us!”

Isana, whose eyes had already turned red, finally burst into tears. He hugged Kay, who was in front of him, and sobbed.

“Hic! I promise… I will definitely return to my place in the Imperial Palace. So you promise too—never to die. Promise that you will be there to greet me when I return.”

“Kuh-huh! I promise, Your Majesty! We will never get hurt or die! This Kay de Serik! I will be waiting for you in the capital! Please be well until the day we meet again.”

“Hic, sob! Waaah!”

The surroundings were filled with sobs and suppressed weeping. Isana and the knights hugged each other, praying to their respective gods for their safety and well-being.

Watching the scene, I suddenly felt an unknown tension.

An uncertain situation where you can’t see an inch ahead. A farewell where you can’t promise a next time. A world where being driven out and losing your life for simply thinking differently or having different intentions is commonplace. Those who try to take away and those who try to protect. A country where a child cannot exist as a child.

It was a stark shock that I, accustomed to the stable system of Korea, had never experienced before.

Only then did I realize that I had been looking at the situation too simplistically. That this journey, which I had lightly agreed to as if it were just a trip, actually required a considerable amount of determination.

And that the lives at stake at the end of that journey weren’t just Isana’s alone.

* * *

No one slept that night until dawn. We had to pack our bags and leave the next morning, but that seemed to make it harder to fall asleep.

While Isana and the knights reminisced and chatted, I slipped out of the cave and quietly admired the night sky. The moonlight filtering through the lush branches was picturesque.

In the silent space where even breathing seemed loud, I stood alone, sorting out the complicated thoughts in my head. Perhaps I looked quite serious, as the Naiads [water nymphs], who would normally rush to me, were now just watching.

“Elquines? Why are you out here?”

Ferris’s voice broke my reverie. He had come out of the cave and found me.

“Ah, Ferris. Um, it’s nothing. Just a little self-loathing, I guess.”

“Huh? Self-loathing?”

“Ahaha, I just get like that sometimes. What about you, Ferris?”

“Oh, I came out to fill the water bottles. We need to replenish enough fresh water now that we’re leaving tomorrow. When Elquines is here, there’s no shortage of water, but from now on, we have to take care of it ourselves, right? Haha.”

He pointed to the leather water bags he was holding. Judging by the number, it seemed he had brought out not only his own but also the knights’.

“How are you going to carry all that back by yourself? Just give them to me. I’ll fill them up for you here.”

“Really? Then I’ll take you up on that.”

Ferris readily handed over the water bottles without hesitation. I wondered if he had intended to talk to me with this in mind from the beginning.

However, the size of the leather bag I received was larger than I expected. It seemed to hold at least twenty liters [approximately 5 gallons]. It was originally a container used for brewing alcohol, but he said he bought it when he went down to the village because he thought it would be good to use as a water bottle.

The problem was that there were more than five such bags. In addition, he seemed to be planning to have separate small water bottles for individual use. Was he planning to drink only water for three meals a day? I asked, feeling a little overwhelmed by the row of water bottles.

“Wait a minute, Ferris. Are you going to carry all of this around? The weight of the food alone will be considerable; won’t it be heavy with so much luggage?”

“Well, yes, but there’s no other way. We can’t always replenish water whenever we run out. The surveillance network will be more thorough near lakes and streams, and it’s not easy to find water in these mountains, so we need to fill up as much as possible when we have the chance.”

‘But not with this reckless behavior…….’

I had only thought of Ferris as a serious scholar, but he seemed to have a reckless side. I clicked my tongue inwardly and stopped filling the water bottle. Ferris gave me a puzzled look.

“Elquines?”

“Um, hey. Instead of doing this, don’t you think Ferris should contract with a water spirit? It’s easier than going to get water every time.”

“Excuse me? Contract with a water spirit? But I’m a wind spiritist.”

“Wind and water aren’t conflicting attributes, so it doesn’t matter. I think Ferris has enough talent.”

“Excuse me? Is, is that true?”

I nodded to Ferris, who was surprised. In fact, I had felt a sense of closeness to him from the first time I saw him. That meant he had a high affinity with spirits.

Well, even in the situation where the power of all spirits was greatly reduced during the Decade of Disaster, he was able to summon the intermediate wind spirit Shuriel, so in terms of talent alone, he should have become a high-level spiritist a long time ago—and he probably will be in the near future. I didn’t know exactly who told me, but I could naturally recognize that fact.

That wasn’t the only thing I learned.

Not just anyone has the affinity to summon a high-level spirit, and with that level, you can summon spirits of other attributes (provided they aren’t conflicting) depending on your will and effort.

Knowledge that I hadn’t even learned popped into my head one after another. Was it evidence that I was gradually becoming aware as the Spirit King? Anyway, it was quite a mysterious experience.

“I see. So all I need to do is try… But I guess it won’t be possible with just any effort?”

“Of course. But Ferris can do it right now.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“I, the Spirit King, am right next to you. I can draw out the affinity for water from your body.”

This was also a fact that I had learned on my own.

At that moment, Ferris’s face brightened noticeably. He had the expression of someone who had everything in the world.

“That’s an incredibly amazing thing to say. I actually wanted to contract with spirits of other attributes, but most spiritists can only handle spirits of one attribute, so I had given up on it.”

“Then will you try it? However, it will be a little more difficult than when you handle wind spirits. Even though the compatibility is similar, it’s not exactly the same, so there will be some resistance.”

“I don’t care. Please, Elquines!”

“Okay, then let’s summon Cyciel while we’re at it.”

I nodded and prepared to draw out his affinity for water. Then Ferris, who had been full of confidence, screamed in horror.

“Excuse me? Wa-wait a minute, Elquines! Cyciel is a high-level spirit, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. Why?”

“Wh-why? I can only handle intermediate wind spirits right now!”

“It’s okay. It’ll be high-level soon too.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“I said you have talent. It’s okay, so trust me and chant the summoning spell anyway.”

Ferris hesitated for a moment, then nodded with a determined look as if he had made up his mind.

“Ah, I understand. Then I’ll do it. Um, are we doing the summoning ritual here? There’s no water to use as a medium here. Besides, shouldn’t we go to the sea for Cyciel……?”

“Why the sea?”

“We-well, the bigger the medium, the easier it is to concentrate on the ritual. I’ve heard that the higher the level of the spirit, the more important it is to create an environment where you can fully feel the spirit’s attributes in order to summon it. In fact, I thought it was strange that Isana summoned Elquines from that small spring.”

“Haha, that’s not the only strange thing about him. Originally, Isana’s affinity is only enough to summon Naiads.”

“Excuse me? But how……?”

“I guess he had a special opportunity. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about the medium. There’s an environment that’s more effective than the sea right in front of you.”

“Huh? Right in front of me?”

“I’m talking about me, the Water Spirit King. Where’s a better medium than me helping you directly?”

As if he had just realized that fact, Ferris couldn’t say anything for a while. I reached out to him, whose face was red, and said, “Okay, let’s start now if you’re ready.”

Ferris nodded and took my hand with a trembling hand. I waited for him to close his eyes and concentrate, then slowly began to inject the energy of water through the skin that touched. His body shook greatly.

“Gasp!”

“Concentrate, Ferris.”

At my words, he closed his eyes even tighter, but he couldn’t stop the trembling of his body. Cold sweat poured down his face.

Perhaps he felt like he was in the deep seabed. I didn’t rush him and waited for the water energy surrounding his body to reach its peak. Then, a rippling wave of water began to rise around Ferris’s body. Finally, the summoning frame was set up.

“Now!”

I gave the signal right away. At the same time, Ferris opened his lips and shouted, “I ask for permission from the ruler of the beginning. Here, one who is qualified dares to hope to continue the will of water. Cyciel of the sea, answer my call!”

Whoosh―!

At that moment, the waves of water that had been circling around him soared into the sky like a fountain. Startled by the falling water droplets, Ferris opened his eyes wide and stared at the sky. His face was as pale as if it had been bleached due to the rapid consumption of mana [magical energy].

The mass of water that had been gathered in one place soon transformed into the shape of a huge wolf with a flowing mane. Cyciel had been summoned.