Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 491

491.

The next day was chaotic from morning. Chris barged in without any warning and shook me awake.

“El! El! Wake up! It’s huge news!”

“Ugh, what is it……”

As I reached out to grab the blanket and pillow he was forcibly taking away, Chris grabbed my hand instead and pulled me up further.

“My blaaanket……”

“Ugh, come on, wake up! I have news you need to know! I rushed over here as fast as I could to tell you first!”

“Sigh, what is it?”

“Don’t be surprised. It’s really good news.”

I forced myself to sit up, and Chris, right in front of me, was grinning from ear to ear. He looked like he was already celebrating, even though he hadn’t said anything yet. Did the Jinhon Guild collapse overnight or something? He seemed perfectly fine until yesterday. At this point, I couldn’t help but be curious.

“I’m ready to listen, so tell me now.”

“I found an alchemist!”

“……Found what?”

“An alchemist! An alchemist who can remove the Segeong [a magical affliction]! We can finally cure Davian!”

I stared at him blankly for a moment. Chris’s eyes, full of smiles, were shining like stars.

“……Good night.”

“Hey, you!”

“Haha, just kidding. I’m glad you finally found one. Congratulations, Chris. I knew you could do it.”

“Sniff, you’re the only one!”

He was so happy that his face was filled with tears. I ended up patting him on the back as he couldn’t hold back his emotions and started crying. I was genuinely happy and congratulating him, but my mind was calm. He had been trying to find an alchemist in every way possible, but the negotiations kept falling through. But as soon as Lamias said he would send one, the negotiations were successful. It couldn’t have been a coincidence, so he must have already taken action. It’s only been half a day since we parted, but he works so fast. Of course, considering I was tormented by all sorts of chatter all night yesterday, it was a well-deserved reward.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah, thanks, El. I’m so happy right now, but Davian’s situation is such that I can’t share this joy with just anyone. I don’t know how good it is to have you.”

“I’m glad too. Now all that’s left is for Davian to get better.”

“That’s right. By the way, it’s so much easier now that your brothers aren’t here. At other times, I wouldn’t be able to visit like this. But now I can come in as I please, and I even wondered for a moment if it was okay to do this.”

“I guess so.”

It’s true that until recently, it was impossible for someone to suddenly come in and wake me up. Because it wasn’t just my space back then. I smiled bitterly, and Chris looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

“No, nothing’s wrong.”

“You don’t seem like it. Did you fight with your brothers?”

“It’s not that.”

“Yes, it is. I can tell just by looking at you. Is that why your brothers are away?”

I think it would be better if he didn’t notice at times like this. My expression must have darkened without me realizing it, because Chris’s face was filled with worry. I felt bad for pouring cold water on him when he was so excited about the good news.

“I just, I did something wrong.”

“Hmm, I’m curious, but I guess I shouldn’t ask for the details?”

“……I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I don’t know what happened, but don’t worry too much. They’ll both forgive you soon.”

“Do you think so?”

“Of course. What else is family for? Sometimes you hurt each other’s feelings, and sometimes you fight and fall out. But then you laugh again as if nothing happened. That’s family.”

Chris grinned.

“Do you know why there’s a system of guilt-by-association in this country? It’s because family members embrace each other’s mistakes, no matter what they do. Of course, I’m not trying to defend the system of guilt-by-association. It just means that family is a group with such strong bonds.”

“……Aren’t there families that aren’t like that?”

Chris paused for a moment at my unintentional words. I realized I had made a mistake and quickly shook my head. “Ah, I just said it without thinking.” I smiled nonchalantly, but Chris’s expression became even more serious. He scratched the back of his head with a complicated look on his face.

“Um, El. I think of family as an area of trust that is formed based on me.”

“……?”

“Not by blood or fate, but by innate relationships. The people I can trust, the people I love and who love me, are my family. So, I’m just saying this without any special meaning. If the form of family you know is not like that, don’t force yourself to endure it. That’s not your family.”

Not family.

I thought of my family in Korea. People I wanted to be family, but who didn’t think of me that way. Relationships like sandcastles that only I was holding onto. The long process I had to endure until I finally gave up. Moments I didn’t want to experience again, but might experience again.

“It’s extreme, but you have to admit what you have to admit. It’s just painful for everyone involved.”

“That’s, right.”

“Ah, no, I’m not saying you should always assume the worst. I’m only talking about cases where there’s no trust at all. In my opinion, your brothers seem to care about you a lot. Of course, what you see on the outside isn’t everything, but it’s not completely wrong either. Um, so what I really want to say is… if you think of them as family, trust them a little more.”

The words he had been rambling on about ended with a firm resonance. I blinked blankly, and Chris said awkwardly.

“I said that family is about trusting each other. I think it would be even sadder if my family was afraid that I wouldn’t be forgiven for something.”

“……”

“Think about it the other way around. Your brother did something really wrong to you. So you’re really upset. Your brother is so sorry he could die. Are you going to never forgive him?”

The conclusion was quickly reached. I slowly shook my head, and Chris smiled again.

“Right? Just trust them that much.”

I didn’t feel better right away at those words. But the dark clouds in my head seemed to be clearing up a little. “Thank you,” I muttered softly, and Chris, who had somehow heard me, reached out and ruffled my hair.

“Don’t think about useless things for too long. Eat a lot of delicious food and come back to your usual self soon.”

“That’s right, that’s right. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

At that moment, a cheerful voice was heard. Surprised, I looked up and saw a blond man leaning against the door. It was Ifrit wearing a magic tool [an item that conceals his identity].

“……Lil.”

“Good morning, Young Master. Did you sleep well?”

He winked and smiled. Chris, who was bewildered because he didn’t recognize him at first glance, greeted him with a happy face.

“Oh, it’s Lil? Long time no see.”

“Long time no see, Chris. But you’re putting on quite a dangerous scene from the morning?”

“Huh? Uh-oh! Oh, no, it’s not like that……”

Chris, flustered, hurriedly got out of bed and got down. Then, realizing that something was wrong, he made a dumbfounded expression.

“No, but what’s wrong with friends sitting on the bed together?”

“You’ve already lost the moment you realized that late.”

“Ugh!”

It seemed like no one could beat Ifrit in a war of words. Chris, who was devastated by the sense of defeat, looked back at me listlessly. The impact was quite big, and he looked like he had aged ten years all at once.

“I’ll be going now, El. Oh, right, we decided to proceed with what I said earlier in the afternoon. Do you want to come too if you have time?”

It seemed that the alchemist he had contacted was going to treat Davian in the afternoon. I was planning to go anyway to see if he was the person Lamias had sent, so I nodded right away.

“Yes, I will.”

“Okay. Then I’ll see you later. Lil, see you next time too.”

“Yeah, see you. Next time, don’t try to hit on the person in the bed.”

“Agh! That’s not what I meant!”

Chris, who had a seizure, spewed out words that weren’t properly formed. Ifrit was busy giggling as he watched him. He’s having a lot of fun with him. It seemed best not to reveal Ifrit’s identity for Chris’s mental health. As I was shaking my head, Ifrit, who had finished his short farewell, strode towards me.

“Young Master, were you alone?”

“I was with Chris.”

“No, not him. Didn’t you see Elquines?”

“……Elquines?”

“Was no one there?”

I nodded, and Ifrit frowned. He muttered to himself about not knowing what he was thinking, and how stubborn he was, but when his eyes met mine, he smiled nonchalantly.

“If I had known you were alone, I would have hurried a little more. Let’s go eat something delicious first. Haven’t had breakfast yet?”

“Ah, yeah. But where are you coming from?”

“Ah, Lamias asked me to do something. It took me a while to take care of it.”

Lamias? What could he have asked the Fire Spirit King to do?

As I stared in bewilderment, Ifrit shrugged his shoulders and smiled meaningfully.

“You’ll find out soon, Young Master.”

* * *

It was a little past noon when I visited Chris’s house. His house, which I hadn’t visited in a while, had become quite livable in the meantime. There were things I hadn’t seen before in the space that used to be almost empty like a model house, and every space, including the kitchen, was full of life. The sunlight and warmth that filled the house were something I couldn’t feel before. It seemed that he was paying more attention to it than when he lived alone, perhaps because he was taking care of a sick friend.

“Hello, Davian. How have you been?”

At my greeting, the man with long black hair looked up at me blankly. He quickly lowered his gaze again, but it was a much better reaction than the first time when he was like a doll.

“He’s responding to sounds now?”

“Ah, I think he’s responding to his name. He only stares when I call his name,” Chris replied without turning around, as he had been moving busily in the kitchen to prepare something to serve. I see, I nodded and then looked at Davian again. He was sitting quietly in his seat and looked healthy, except for being a little dazed. Chris must be taking care of him well. He looked as fine as when I first met him on the train, and I felt like I could have a normal conversation with him any minute.

‘It’ll be a reality soon.’

The promised alchemist was said to be arriving soon. I was looking forward to hearing what he would say first when he regained his mind. Would he recognize me? Davian at the time wouldn’t have imagined that he would be facing someone he thought was just a passing acquaintance so persistently. You never know what will happen in life.

“But what’s wrong here?”

“Huh? What?”

“It looks like Davian’s wrist is hurt.”

At the same time that Davian, who had reacted to his name, looked at me again, the sound of dishes clattering suddenly stopped. Chris turned around in a fluster.

“Huh? Really? Is he hurt?”

“Yes, his skin is red.”

I had only seen it briefly at the end of his sleeve, so I thought I had misseen it at first. But when I rolled up his clothes, there was definitely a red wound on his wrist. It looked like a mark from being rubbed hard against something. Moreover, there were the same marks on both sides, not just one. If it was something that could cause such a wound……

“Isn’t this a mark from being tied up?”

The sound of dishes stopped again. It wasn’t just my imagination that I felt a strange atmosphere flowing. I turned around with a sullen look, and my eyes met Chris’s, who was also flustered.

“……Chris. Maybe……”

“Ack! Hey! What are you thinking right now! No! Whatever you’re thinking, it’s definitely not that!”

His reaction of jumping up and down in horror was even more suspicious at a glance. I narrowed my eyes, and Chris’s face turned blue to his ears.

“You don’t have a weird fetish, do you?”

“Are you crazy! Would I have something like that!”

“Then why did you tie him up?”

“No, that’s……!”

“Don’t even think about saying no. Anyone can see that this is a mark from being tied up, you know?”

He’s not the type of person to play such a prank, so there must be a reason. Still, when I asked him strictly, Chris pounded his chest for a while and then swept his hair up and sighed deeply.

“……He sometimes has seizures.”

“Seizures?”

“Yeah. It’s hard to stop him even if you try to subdue him with force. So I tied him up just until he calmed down.”

I turned to Davian in a fluster. Seizures. The man in front of me was so docile that I couldn’t imagine him causing such a commotion that he had to be tied up.

“Is it a Segeong sequelae [aftereffect]?”

“No. It’s a pre-existing condition.”

“What else is that……”

“There’s something like that. It’s a disease he doesn’t want to reveal. I’m telling you because it’s you, so just know that.”

I didn’t know he had such a situation. I felt sorry and looked at him, and Chris, who smiled bitterly, waved his hand, saying it was okay. It was around that time that I heard a sound from outside. Knock, knock, the sound of someone banging loudly on the doorknob made me and Chris look at each other at the same time.

“Looks like he’s here.”

Chris hurriedly left the kitchen and ran out. Soon the door opened and the presence of someone was added. I was so nervous that I couldn’t keep my body still. I got up awkwardly and turned around, and a man wearing a hood pulled down low was following Chris. He was said to be an alchemist, and he had a lot of things to carry. The man who entered the room looked around for a moment and then fixed his gaze on Davian, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Is that the patient I’m going to treat?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The man nodded and took off his hood. Lightly tied dark gray hair flowed out from under the folded cloth. He’s younger than I thought. He had a plain appearance with no particular features. He was so common that I wouldn’t recognize him even if I ran into him again on the street.

‘Hmm? This is a familiar description.’

A strange feeling was creeping up on me. Come to think of it, didn’t that person fix his gaze on Davian right away? Usually, if there are two people inside, there should be some hesitation about who to look at, but there was no hesitation at all.

Besides, his voice sounds familiar. As I stared at him with a queasy feeling, the man who felt my gaze chuckled. At that time, the necklace he was wearing was visible through his slightly lifted outer garment. It was a necklace of a shape I had seen often. That’s right, it’s the same as the medal Ifrit wears.

‘Could it be.’

I blinked a few times, wondering if I had misseen it, and the man smiled and mouthed the words.

‘It’s me.’

……It wasn’t just a possibility, it was really Lamias.