Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 543

543.

My Treasure.

I still vividly remember that moment. The little necklace the girl with the cheerful smile shyly offered me. It looked like an ordinary piece of stone if you glanced at it, but if you looked closely, you could find a shell pattern engraved on it. She said it was a fossil she found in the forest.

‘I’ll give it to El.’

It was a farewell gift that Lansi gave me when she left. She said it was a precious necklace filled with memories of her deceased father, but she wanted me to keep it. That was the most valuable gift that young Lansi could think of. Her heart was so kind that I always carried it with me from the day I received it. Except for unavoidable circumstances, I had never taken it off, so it was no exaggeration to say that it was almost a part of my body. And that necklace contained the Soul Stone. It even felt like it *was* Lapis.

There is a serious problem here that I cannot just ignore. I received the necklace shortly after I arrived in this world. It was when I had just realized that this was the past and summoned the Spirit King with a hopeful heart—literally the very beginning of my journey. So, in short… I found him as soon as I got here?

“…Hahaha, are you kidding me?”

“Would I joke about this?”

I felt dizzy at the blunt reply that followed. I definitely heard it this time too. It was vibrating in my head like a sound wave, so I couldn’t feel the voice itself, but anyone could tell that this hateful tone belonged to Lapis. Or am I going crazy? Leaving behind all those turbulent times, now? So out of the blue?

“El, what did you just say?”

“Huh?”

I raised my head abruptly and saw Cibelious with a puzzled look on his face. Come to think of it, I wasn’t alone here right now. I was so surprised that I didn’t think about the surrounding situation at all. It was obvious how I must have looked, talking to a broken piece of stone.

“Ah, sorry. It’s nothing. So, you’re saying that this stone has a soul in it?”

“That’s what I guess. I can’t tell at first glance, but the part that El pointed out definitely has a different property. How did El recognize this?”

*Because that part alone has a different color.*

The answer that filled my head only lingered in my mouth before fading away. It seems that I’m the only one who sees that piece of stone as purplish-red. Come to think of it, Lamias had never shown a Soul Stone with color until now. They were all in the form of common pebbles rolling around on the road. *Ah, is that why he said I would recognize it at a glance?* The heart I had tried so hard to calm down was pounding again. The fact that it only looked different to me meant that this piece was indeed Lapis.

“Cibel, would you mind doing some shopping alone? I have a place to go for a while. I think I left something at the Hunter Association earlier.”

“Huh? Then can I come with you…?”

“No, no. I’ll be back soon by myself. Buy what you need here.”

“Um, okay. I just need to buy what’s on this list, right?”

“Yeah! I’ll be back!”

I answered hastily and quickly left the place. After turning around the alley and making sure that Cibelious was completely out of sight (and after confirming that there were no spirits around), I looked at what I was holding again. I couldn’t help but swallow hard at the purplish-red stone fragment that still had such a bewitching light.

“Lapis…?”

To be honest, I was still more doubtful. Maybe it was a vivid hallucination created by my desperate desire. So maybe there would be no response this time. I steeled myself not to be disappointed even if that were the case.

“Don’t just call me, say something.”

But he answered. The answer came back this time too. My legs gave way. I slid down to the floor and my body trembled.

“You, are you really Lapis?”

“Then who else would I be?”

I clenched what I was holding in my hand and repeatedly swallowed my rough breath. It wasn’t a delusion. It was really Lapis. What should I do? I found him. I finally found Lapis. Or should I say I found *it*? To be honest, I don’t even know how to express it. I was just out of my mind.

“Why… why…?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but tears welled up. I hurriedly covered my mouth, but it was difficult to stop the sobbing sound from leaking out. Then I heard a flustered voice.

“What, you. Are you crying right now?”

“It’s not like I *want* to cry! You bad guy.”

“Why am I the bad guy when you didn’t recognize me?”

The voice was openly complaining in an absurd tone. Hearing the familiar nagging made me feel good even in the midst of my sorrow. Maybe I’m really crazy. But I didn’t care anymore.

“Lapis?”

“Yeah, speak.”

“Lapis.”

“What, keep calling me.”

“…Okay, okay. Call me as much as you want.”

A chuckle came out at the resigned voice. The voice echoing in my head asked in an absurd tone.

“What’s so good that you’re laughing?”

“Of course it’s good. You answer every time I call you.”

When I call his name, he answers as if it’s natural. After that moment when he was completely cold and stiff and didn’t respond no matter how much I called him, I thought such a day would never come again. It was as huge a severance as Canos, who had disappeared in front of my eyes. Thinking about it, I bit my lip tightly because I felt like I was going to cry again. Lapis, who had been silent for a while, let out a low laugh.

“Ah, I kind of know what that feels like too. Honestly, I’m more touched than you are.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve been talking to you for a long time now.”

I blinked in confusion at the unexpected answer. Lapis had been talking to me. Come to think of it, the first thing he said as soon as I realized it was a reproach that I only knew now?

“No matter how much I called you, you wouldn’t listen. It felt like I was shouting at a wall. It seemed like I could hear you a little better after drinking Lantana’s blood. But you treated it all like nonsense.”

“What… Huh, wait a minute! Wait! All the hallucinations I’ve been hearing were you?”

“That’s right. You really didn’t notice.”

What is all this? I was dumbfounded by the absurd feeling. The hallucinations started quite a while ago in my memory. But Lapis had been talking to me since then?

“Hey! You should have said you were Lapis then!”

“I did? But you couldn’t hear that at all?”

“Seriously?”

“Why would I lie? You keep trying to pass the buck to me, but I was so frustrated all this time. Well, I’m already dead, though.”

My heart sank at that moment. It felt like cold water had been poured on the dreamlike cozy feeling.

“Why are you suddenly silent? Did you realize that I’m dead?”

“…Don’t talk like that.”

“Well, it’s true that I’m dead. Otherwise, this situation can’t be explained.”

“Do you know what the situation is?”

“Am I stupid? I became Lafrenaria [referring to the stone fragment]. And it seems like I fell into the past.”

Like the bright guy he is, he seems to have figured out the situation without anyone telling him. I felt a little suffocated thinking about him calmly sorting out his thoughts alone in a space where he couldn’t even communicate.

“When… when did you become conscious? You don’t remember everything from the moment you fell here, do you?”

“What? Ah, no. I just heard your voice at some point. I was asleep before that.”

If he woke up recognizing me, it would be about three years at most. I was relieved that it wasn’t the worst. Being inside a fossil meant that he had been trapped for a long time, and it would have been too painful if he had been conscious since then.

“Why? Are you feeling sorry for me because I might have been talking to myself for thousands of years?”

I couldn’t help but sigh at Lapis, who was still making nonchalant noises in the midst of all this.

“Aren’t you upset that you’re dead?”

“Why would I be upset? It’s not like I didn’t know. If I had survived in that situation, it would have been even stranger, right?”

My heart welled up again at the calm reply. Troel had told me that Lapis had already foreseen his death when the Mana Heart was broken. It seems that’s right. No, he was so sure that he didn’t even expect a miracle. Even though he knew that much for sure.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What good would it do to tell you that? It can’t be cured anyway. What difference would it make if I was treated like a terminally ill patient?”

“How can you say that now…!”

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll listen to you getting angry later, so let’s talk about that later. But I have something else I’m curious about? Let’s ask that first.”

I don’t want to admit it, but this guy knows how to handle me too well. My head is boiling with anger, but the fact that he has something he’s curious about in the midst of all this bothered me even more. In the end, I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.

“…What are you curious about?”

“I know I’m dead, and I’m a Soul Stone. I don’t know how the Underworld guys are doing their job, but it was an unlucky situation in many ways, so I can accept it. What I can’t understand the most is you.”

“Me what?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know? This is the past. But why are you here?”

“Of course I came to find you.”

*If I say one, you should know ten.* I was about to be puzzled by the thought of why he was asking such an obvious thing, but no response came back for a while.

“Lapis?”

“You came to find me?”

“I said so. Why else would I be here?”

“Oh, really? You didn’t even know where I fell. You crossed time and space to find me? Without knowing when and where you would meet me? Abandoning the body of the Spirit King?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you crazy?”

My eyes went blank at the sound that echoed loudly. If it was a normal scream, I could just cover my ears, but I don’t know how to deal with the sound that echoes directly in my head.

“Hey, speak a little quieter. My head hurts.”

“Am I in a position to worry about that now! Are you really in your right mind? What were you thinking?”

“Then how can I stay still in that situation? You have no right to say anything to me. You saved me and disappeared on your own. I did what I wanted too.”

“Are you and I in the same situation?”

“What’s the difference? Someone said that if you can’t save the guy you want to save, what’s the point of being an absolute being? I think so too. And I told you. I’ll go help you if you’re in danger.”

“Ha, really… That’s the kind of guy you were.”

Lapis seemed to be in a good mood even while muttering in vain. If he’s happy, he should just say he’s happy. He’s really a guy you can’t figure out.

“Anyway, I’m so shocked that I didn’t know you were right next to me. Why didn’t anyone recognize that there was a Soul Stone in the fossil? I can’t believe even the Spirit Kings didn’t know.”

“Maybe it’s because my soul is strong.”

Lapis, who was answering, was nonchalant. I frowned slightly because I didn’t understand.

“Shouldn’t it be more noticeable if it’s strong?”

“No. Because it’s strong, it has a stronger power to protect itself.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Originally, the stronger the wandering soul, the less energy it feels. If it’s easily noticeable, the probability of it falling into the hands of mediocre people and being misused increases. It takes on a kind of protective color to prevent such problems. Thanks to that, there’s also the problem that it’s difficult to recover from the Underworld.”

So that’s why I couldn’t find it until it became a fossil. It seems that the disadvantages are greater than the advantages at this point. Ah, is that why the Underworld didn’t recognize me when I was wandering as a soul? It’s said that I didn’t have any fate, so the energy of the dead didn’t settle on me, but it was a bit strange that no one noticed me even though I was openly wandering around the funeral hall. Now that I see it, it’s probably because my presence was more hidden because I was the soul of the Spirit King. As I was quietly agreeing with the late realization, Lapis grumbled in a dissatisfied tone.

“I’m saying I’m that strong, why aren’t you admiring me?”

“It feels like it’s natural for you to be strong, so not really…”

“You sometimes say admirable things like that.”

“You often say things without thinking.”

I scowled and snapped, and a snickering sound echoed. I didn’t say it to make him laugh, but is it funny? I feel like I’m being swayed by him since a while ago.

“More than that, don’t you have something to say to me?”

“What?”

“You should say thank you! I came all the way to find you!”

“Ah, yeah. Thank you, thank you. But is there a way to go back?”

*’You didn’t come without thinking, did you?’* He didn’t ask it outright, but the nuance gave off that kind of atmosphere. I didn’t even get enough of hearing the thank you in an insincere way. I don’t know what this guy thinks of me.

“I’m not that reckless. Of course, I’ve prepared everything to go back.”

“Really? Then let’s go back.”

“Huh? Now?”

“Then what else are you going to do here? You came to find me. Isn’t that enough?”

“That’s true, but… As far as I know, there’s still something I need to experience here. But now that you’re telling me to go back, I have a bad feeling.”

“What are you talking about?”

*There may be side effects.*

Why is the voice that answered cheerfully coming to my mind now? Canos doesn’t want me to change the past. He’s the one who forced time to flow so that I can’t touch anything. Could he not have foreseen this situation? Even though he must have realized that Lapis was right next to me?

*When you decide to go back, the spell of return will come to your mind automatically.*

I remembered what Eluen had said before I left. He said that if I cast the spell, he would pull me in.

I want to go back. I want to go back to my original world right now!

I put my hands together as if praying and muttered repeatedly. I’m trying it out, but my desire to go back is sincere. Is that why? I thought I had forgotten a lot of Eluen’s original appearance while living here, but his appearance came to mind as clearly as if it were drawn in front of my eyes. The one with long, bright platinum blonde hair turns around and smiles softly at me. It’s the face of a kind father that I’ve never seen here. A feeling of longing and overwhelming pain welled up. But that was it.

“…What should I do, Lapis?”

“What. Ah, never mind. I think it’s better not to listen.”

The quick-witted Lapis seemed to have already figured out the situation. I couldn’t bring myself to say it either. But the result was so clear that I couldn’t help but say it.

“The spell of return doesn’t come to mind.”

A desolate wind swept through the heavy silence. It was an air as cold as frost.