Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 595

Side Story. 2

Having shed his adult appearance and returned to his original form, Trowel immediately located El’s position. El wasn’t one to hide his tracks, so finding him wasn’t too difficult.

El, who had recently started traveling, was exploring various parts of the world with his unicorn, Sibelius, and his godson, Asmodel. Their current destination was the desert kingdom of Haratun, a kingdom that had separated from the old Alphonse Empire. It was one of the few remaining desert areas in the Rom Continent, which had mostly recovered its production capabilities. However, upon arriving, they found they had a visitor.

“Good heavens! This is a taste I know!”

The man shouting in shock had hair and eyes the color of the deep sea. It was Lamias, a Blue Dragon and an elder of the dragon clan, as well as Elquines’s only contractor. He was currently in shock at the food he had just tasted. El, who had been watching him taste the food with a fascinated expression, sparkled his eyes.

“Oh, really? Do you remember this?”

“Without a doubt! This texture! This temperature! The exquisite harmony of sweet and salty! The chef I cherished the most made exactly this taste! I was so dismayed when he suddenly ran away one night, wondering what his dissatisfaction was!”

He exclaimed dramatically, pointing a finger at the brown-haired man wearing an apron.

“But that was you? Really?”

Sibelius, who placed the newly completed dish on the table, retorted nonchalantly.

“I’ve told you I’m the one several times.”

“But you’re a unicorn! That chef was a blue elf! Oh, no! Was he a unicorn disguised as a blue elf? Wow, wow! It must be true!”

“I’m telling you, it’s me. You know that far, so why don’t you recognize my face?”

“I don’t know! I don’t remember! I just realized I don’t remember that chef’s face! Oh, this is really absurd!”

Holding his head, Lamias couldn’t escape the confusion. Trowel, who had experienced similar situations several times, gave a bitter smile. Not many people would be able to admit that there was an error in their memory. The less affected they were by oblivion, the greater the shock would be.

“I didn’t know you were a dragon either. I thought you were too strong for a human. I helped you with the magic when you were catching the rebels, remember that?”

“Wow, right! I did… No, no! I still can’t admit it! This is really strange! I can understand my Elquines forgetting because he wasn’t from that era! But why did you forget?”

“How would I know.”

“Perhaps the memory-erasing procedure wasn’t applied to him. So he became an exception too.”

Trowel didn’t miss the opportunity to step in. As he naturally joined the conversation, everyone’s attention turned to him.

“Trowel!”

El’s eyes widened, and his face lit up with bright joy. Just like on the day they reunited, Trowel smiled heavily at his face, filled with nothing but pure delight. He felt deeply relieved that he was welcomed as always, even with his silent visit. But that also caused a sharp pain in his heart.

The memories that had been erased as if they never existed. The murky and barely recalled moments of that time often felt like dreams, even when he was aware that they were reality. Moreover, it was an old story from thousands of years ago. But not for El. For him, it was something he had experienced just a while ago, at most a few years ago. Now that oblivion couldn’t affect him, it might have become even clearer. But how can you smile at me? How can you forgive so easily?

“What brings you here all of a sudden?”

“I just wanted to see you. Am I interrupting?”

“Interrupting? Of course not! Trowel is always welcome. Come on in.”

It was a little painful to meet his gaze directly, especially since he had recalled the worst memories. The fierce glare of Sibelius, who was glaring at him from the side, was almost welcome. There was a time when he resented the fact that he was the only one who retained his memories, but now he thought it was a good thing. It was really fortunate that there was someone who could be angry on behalf of El, who was foolishly not even resentful.

“Aren’t you reacting too differently from me, Elquines? You asked me why I came when I arrived.”

“Is Lamias the same as Trowel?”

“Sniff, that’s true, but it’s too much. But even that coldness is wonderful.”

“Oh, really. Please don’t say things like that.”

“Why? I’m giving you my heart!”

“I don’t need that!”

“…I really can’t get used to the changed personality. Isn’t it like a reincarnation at this point?”

Sibelius also frowned alongside El, who was grimacing. Protests that his personality hadn’t changed and rebukes to recall the past clashed.

“Do you know how thoroughly you tormented and exploited El? But now you’re pretending to be shy and coy.”

“What? That can’t be! It’s impossible! Even if he weren’t a spirit king, this appearance is perfectly my type! There’s no way I would have tormented this flower-like beauty! You’re making it up because I don’t remember!”

“Seriously, you’re too much. You weren’t like this before. You were somewhat dignified and majestic, weren’t you? Where did all that go?”

“You don’t understand. There’s no way I could be like that in front of my Elquines.”

“…Please stop using the possessive.”

It was a pointless and unfulfilling argument. *That guy’s going to get kicked out soon.* Trowel, predicting the obvious future without any special insight, sat silently on the sofa. Asmodel, who had been calmly eating snacks regardless of the farce unfolding before his eyes, looked at Trowel, who was sitting across from him. His red eyes curved with mischief.

“Uncle, hello?”

“That’s a pretty novel title.”

“The godfather’s brother is like an uncle to me. More than that, can I hear more about what you were saying earlier?”

“What story?”

“About Sibelius becoming an exception too.”

Only then did the meaningless argument stop. Even though he was young, the demon king was a demon king. His ability to control the atmosphere in the direction he wanted was outstanding. Watching them sit down on the sofa, Trowel smiled lightly.

“It’s as it sounds. Originally, El is an existence that shouldn’t exist in that era. He wasn’t born through a normal birth process; he was entirely created. So the system of the world recognized it as an error and probably corrected it by erasing all related traces. But in that process, one thing accidentally slipped out. Then that itself becomes a new error.”

“So the memories related to him were erased as well?”

“That’s what I’m assuming for now. However, unlike El, he actually existed, so I think it proceeded by deleting only the parts that caused the error, without erasing his existence itself.”

Sibelius, resting his chin on his clasped hands, groaned lowly. He probably guessed it himself, but hearing it through someone else’s mouth seemed to feel different.

“To be completely separated from space-time, the seal made with Luseph’s power was too effective. You’re lucky. If it were an ordinary seal, time wouldn’t have stopped, and you wouldn’t have been able to escape the world’s system. If that were the case, only an old and ignorant horse would have fallen into this world 4,000 years later.”

“…You always have to say something.”

“But you’re also thinking it’s a good thing, aren’t you? It’s inevitable that you regret not being more of a jerk to El in the beginning.”

“Damn it, don’t read my mind!”

*I didn’t read it, I heard it.*

When emotional fluctuations were high, he could hear the other person’s thoughts even if he didn’t try to read them. No matter how hard he tried to control it, this was something he couldn’t help. But instead of explaining the situation, Trowel just shrugged. Regardless of whether he thought the other person’s anger was justified, he had no intention of being kind to the unicorn who always bristled at him.

Suddenly, El, who turned around, was fiddling with the circlet he was wearing with a troubled face. He seemed to be trying to change it several times, but the one adorning his forehead was still the silver circlet decorated with lapis lazuli [a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone]. He couldn’t seem to find anything else he liked, so he seemed to have decided to wear it as it was in the end. He excused himself by saying that he was too used to the current circlet and that others felt awkward, but everyone already guessed the real reason. It was an object filled with memories of his contractors. It was also because it was now one of the few remaining traces of Kanos.

“More than that, El, I found something interesting, do you want to see it?”

“Something interesting?”

Trowel smiled and took out the book he had brought. It was a book that Lucia, the informant who ran his information guild, had brought at the right time. El, looking puzzled, scanned the title written on the cover.

“Understanding the World of Spirits Through Oral Legends? Is it about spirits?”

“The stories contained in each paragraph are different. Read the water spirit paragraph there.”

“Is it divided by attribute?”

El, with an interested face, turned the pages and stopped when he found the area. A little agitation began to settle on his face as he slowly read it. Trowel, who had expected it from the moment he handed over the book, or rather, from the moment he obtained this book, calmly watched the scene.

“Trowel, this…”

“It’s a very familiar story, isn’t it?”

El’s eyes trembled at the smiling reply.

“The book I gave to Alisa was exactly that.”

“Ah…”

The stories were too coincidental to be a coincidence. It was also a book that caused unexpected misunderstandings. Sibelius also recognized it and looked surprised.

“I was worried about it, so I looked into it afterward, and it was only published three times 500 years ago. I think it was made for archival purposes. I kept looking to see if I could get it, but I didn’t get anything, but I finally found it this time.”

“I see. Thank you, Trowel. Actually, I was always curious about what that book was. So this is what it’s really about. It’s even more surprising to see it in person. If it’s 500 years ago, it would be difficult to find the author’s data, right?”

“That’s the only disappointing thing. It was published in the kingdom of Segar, but the country itself disappeared due to war.”

“What kind of book is it? Can I see it too?”

El readily handed the book to Lamias, who had joined with a curious face. Lamias, who received it with a happy face and read it, soon had a strange expression.

“It’s a fairy tale? Let’s see. ‘The boy was an orphan with no parents or siblings. The boy, who had no one to rely on, made a wish to Elquines. Will you be my father? Then Elquines answered. Of course, child. Call me father. I will protect you forever.’… Wow. What is this.”

The hand that turned the next page became faster. The episode, which consisted of two parts, was divided into a prequel in which Elquines became the boy’s father, and a sequel in which Elquines turned the white horse that the boy had befriended into a human. Lamias kept gasping for breath while checking the overall content. It wasn’t just that he was taking the content itself as absurd. Trowel, who read the outpouring of thoughts, turned to him with surprised eyes.

“You, do you know the author of that book?”

“What?!”

El and Sibelius looked at him at the same time. Lamias flinched, embarrassed by the attention.

“Uh, um. What should I say? I don’t know this book, but should I say that I know the original author of the novel that became the basis of this story?”

“Novel?”

“Uh, novel. He was a spiritist who used to work under me. Writing was his hobby, so he published books. He wrote a novel with a spiritist as the main character for fun, and it seems like those settings went into it? No, that’s for sure.”

An unexpected source was revealed, but it was the same as not solving anything. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. It was then.

“But it’s a bit strange. Actually, I gave him the material for the main character calling Elquines his father and the white horse that became his friend turning into a human.”

“…What did you say?”

“No, just. I happened to find him writing on the way, and it looked interesting. I asked him if he should include these settings, and he readily agreed. But how did only those parts get included?”

The expressions of El and Sibelius, who had been confused, immediately became sullen. Trowel also stared at him with eyes that said, ‘Were you the culprit?’ Lamias, who was bewildered by those reactions, opened his mouth with a sudden realization.

“Huh? Ah? Could it be that this really happened? Elquines called the previous Elquines his father? Wow, wait. Is the white horse that becomes a human him? Unicorn? Was I unconsciously thinking of him and throwing out the material?”

“I think that’s what it is.”

“Wow, what’s wrong with my subconscious!”

The person who caused the twist was the most surprised by the unexpected twist. Sweat dripped down his face, stained with shock.

“Come to think of it, that novel came out when I was Duke Sepion. It must have been around the time I handed over the title to Yangja and retired.”

“Huh…”

“Wow, this is really crazy. Wait a minute. I have the draft of that novel. I’ll go get it right now!”

Lamias, who disappeared in a hurry, reappeared not long after. He was holding a fairly thick book in his hand. The blue cover had ornate patterns engraved in silver foil.

“This is it.”

The book, managed with preservation magic, was as clean as if it had just been published. Judging by its condition alone, you couldn’t think it was 4,000 years old at all. However, modern printing and binding technology has not yet been able to create such a sophisticated book. First of all, the quality of the paper was different. It was written in ancient language, but even people who didn’t know the era would have to admit that this was an ancient book.

“It’s a popular novel, so there are a lot of far-fetched settings, but it’s well-written and fun. As soon as it was published, it was a huge hit, and the printing house couldn’t keep up with the orders. The popularity of this book greatly contributed to raising the awareness of spiritists.”

Lamias was very proud, saying that the first edition was priceless. There was also a boast that the author’s signature was on the last page. It seemed that he had made good use of his superior’s privileges. El, who received the book, carefully examined it and paused after checking the title engraved on the cover.