There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 136

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to deceive you, Philomell…”

The story that came from his mouth was as follows.

Nasar couldn’t stand to leave those people alone after seeing the hardships and humiliation Philomell had suffered.

The prisoners were sent to the temple’s forced labor camp, and the public order officers were dismissed and made to leave the city.

In the deepest corner of the restaurant, he confessed sincerely.

“Actually, I desperately wanted to get rid of them all… but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“May I ask why?”

“I was worried you might be upset if you found out the truth later.”

His judgment was accurate.

Philomell certainly disliked them. But that didn’t mean she wanted them all dead.

The same went for Ian Solbritt.

She didn’t think he was qualified as a public order officer, and even if he lost his job and was punished for his mistakes, she wouldn’t feel an ounce of sympathy.

‘But not like this.’

Ian’s wife, who had cried out to find her husband, kept bothering her. If things continued like this, she would spend her whole life searching for her husband without ever knowing why.

“Nasar, please make sure they receive a fair punishment under the law, even now. That’s the right thing to do.”

Nasar couldn’t answer easily.

“Actually…”

After a moment, Philomell learned the reason.

“His Majesty ordered them all to be captured and killed?”

“That seems to be the case. His Majesty’s direct unit ferreted them out. All the prisoners in the forced labor camp have disappeared without a trace.”

“That can’t be…”

“Quite a few of the scattered public order officers have also disappeared without a trace.”

“Is Ian Solbritt one of them?”

“Not him. He seems to be running away quite well.”

“You seem to know a lot.”

“It ended up with me helping them escape, somehow…”

He hesitated and looked at Philomell.

“Am I showing too much unnecessary kindness?”

This was the reason why Nasar had the public order officers leave their hometowns. Because even if it wasn’t him, someone else would try to kill them.

Philomell patted his hand.

“No. You did well. I would have felt very uncomfortable if it wasn’t for Nasar.”

The Emperor, who was furious when he belatedly found out that Philomell had been imprisoned, came to mind.

‘Even so, I never thought he would go this far…’

At that time, she didn’t really believe the Emperor’s words that he cared for her, so she couldn’t foresee this situation.

Philomell sipped her sweet and sour juice, lost in thought.

‘Since it’s an order from His Majesty, there’s nothing I can do unless he retracts it himself.’

Even after leaving, he was still a person who disturbed Philomell’s mind.

* * *

Late at night.

Philomell was writing a letter in her room.

[To His Dear Majesty the Emperor. How have you been? It’s been a while since I last saw your face…]

She only wrote that far before throwing the pen onto the desk.

“Dear, my ass…”

They had parted on such terms, and now she was reluctant to write such hypocritical words.

“Do I really have to go this far?”

She felt a sense of futility, but when she thought of Ian’s desperate wife, her conscience pricked her, and she couldn’t just stand by.

Moreover, he wasn’t the only one disturbing Philomell’s mind.

Philomell glanced sideways at the handkerchief placed next to her. On the handkerchief, transparent crystals were carefully laid out.

Fragments of the Eye of Truth. She had forgotten about them since they were no longer useful, but the Eye of Truth was clearly a sacred object.

‘How am I supposed to explain this to the World Tree!’

I accidentally smashed the precious sacred object I borrowed the other day. Haha.

“Oh well, whatever.”

Philomell decided to take a break and lay down on the bed. Sleepiness quickly washed over her.

Justis’s face came to mind. How was he doing?

‘…No way. Elencia needs to be caught quickly.’

Elencia’s face also surfaced in her consciousness.

Sun-like blonde hair, lake-like blue eyes.

The beautiful child asked.

“Who are you?”

Elencia stared at Philomell with tearful eyes.

“Philomell? Are you Philomell?”

Philomell was greatly taken aback.

She was sure she had been in her room just a moment ago, but where was she?

It was all dark around her. There was nothing to be seen except for Elencia and herself.

Elencia clung to her.

“Please save me! It’s so scary here. There’s no one here. I miss my mom.”

Seeing the girl sobbing so desperately, she felt a sense of incongruity. She was so different from the one she had seen so many times.

Could it be…

“The real Elencia?”

The real Elencia, not an intruder. At those words, Elencia nodded her head vigorously several times.

“I’m the real Elencia! The one outside is fake! I’ve been trapped here all along since some time ago.”

“Where is this?”

“I don’t know either.”

At that moment, a chilling sensation brushed against Philomell’s nape. Elencia also shuddered.

Elencia cried out urgently.

“It’s dangerous! Run away quickly!”

“Run away…”

“A strange power entered my body some time ago. A very ominous power. I know it. Surely… something terrible will happen if things continue like this!”

“Calm down! What kind of power is it?”

Philomell tried to calm Elencia, who was in a panic. She moved her lips.

“Ieris.”

“What?”

“That person introduced himself as Ieris.”

Elencia shook her head.

“I don’t know more than that. I can only see the outside from here for a very short time.”

There was no more time to talk. An ominous energy, felt even on the skin, crashed in like a wave.

“Go quickly!”

Elencia pushed Philomell. Watching Philomell fall into an unknown place, the girl said.

“I’m okay, so please protect the people I love. Please.”

Even though the distance was clearly growing, she could hear the last words clearly.

“You’re the only one I can ask. I’m sorry.”

Philomell woke up.

When she opened her eyes, she was still lying on the bed.

“…Was it a dream?”

No, it wasn’t just a dream.

A cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

It was still vivid. The chilling sensation, and even the warm hand that pushed her.

‘It was real.’

Hwaaaaa.

At that moment, a faint light entered her vision. The bead fragments placed on the desk were emitting light.

“Did I have that dream because of this?”

Come to think of it, it felt somewhat similar. The light emitted by the beads and the feeling of the girl she met in the pitch-black world.

Without time to think deeply about the reason, Philomell ran out of the room. She held the handkerchief containing the fragments tightly in her hand.

“Le Guin!”

Her destination was the Master Tower Lord’s room. As expected, the lights were on even at this late hour.

Philomell knocked, and as soon as she heard a response, she opened the door.

“Something terrible has happened!”

It seemed that Le Guin and Lexion were in the middle of a conversation in the room.

Both of them looked serious after hearing Philomell’s story.

The reason was clear.

Ieris. The name of the evil god that the temple and the imperial family wanted to erase from history altogether.

The god of destruction, Ieris, does not appear in mythology.

‘To be exact, the records were erased.’

Philomell only learned of its existence after being recognized as the heir to the throne and hearing it from the Emperor.

On the day he gave Philomell the Ring of Crimson Flames, Justis said.

“One of the Emperor’s missions is to prevent the existence of the evil god from being revealed to the world.”

And to prevent Ieris from being released from his seal.

To learn about Ieris, one must go back to the mythological era when this world was first created.

In the beginning, when the Creator God created all things in the universe, Ieris tried to return them to nothing.

The Creator God, Miwa, sealed Ieris to prevent this and fell asleep, exhausted.

After that, Belleron, the most powerful and greatest sun god among the remaining gods, came to rule the world.

“Gods must always give only benefits to their creations. Even if they give adversity, there must be a purpose to grow the creations behind it.”

When Philomell asked why Ieris’s existence had been erased, Justis answered like this.

A god who only tries to destroy the world should not be a god.

‘Because the reason to believe in God weakens.’

Moreover, if Ieris’s existence became known, there would surely be those who would try to break the seal. Ieris’s existence had to be buried in darkness.

Therefore, only a very few people know its name in the present day.

Fortunately, Le Guin and Lexion also knew of Ieris’s existence, so Philomell didn’t need to add any further explanations.

Lexion muttered something with a focused expression.

“Ieris… Ieris’s power in the princess’s body… Then, what helped the intruder escape was…”

“Lexion?”

“That’s it! Please wait a moment! I’ll be right back!”

He ran out of the room, unusually excited.

After a while, Lexion returned and placed two objects on the desk.

One was the magic scroll that Elencia used when she disappeared, and the other was a black stone that she had never seen before.

At Philomell’s questioning gaze, he kindly opened his mouth.

“This stone is part of Ieris’s seal stone, which I obtained through some route.”

“Seal stone?”

“It is an object in which Ieris is sealed. Originally, it was a huge rock, but over time, it broke apart here and there.”

Even Philomell was hearing this for the first time. Le Guin glared at Lexion with fierce eyes.

“I told you to stop that research.”

Even though it was a terrifying glare that made her heart shrink, Lexion calmly brushed it off.

“Is that important now? An evil god might be resurrected.”

Then, he placed the black stone on top of the magic scroll and recited a spell.

“Huh?”

Even Philomell, who wasn’t a magician, could see it. Very faintly, both were tinged with a dark color.

“It’s resonating. It proves that the magic power remaining in these two objects is of the same nature.”

“That means…”

“It was Ieris who helped the intruder escape.”

As expected.

“No matter what I compared the trace amount of magic power left in the magic scroll to, it didn’t match anything, but to think it was the magic power of a forgotten god…”

Lexion pushed up his glasses.

“It’s no wonder the court magicians couldn’t find it. Researching anything related to Ieris is a serious crime that would immediately lead to the execution stand.”

“And you’re a daring guy who researches that kind of thing in the Magic Tower. Huh?”

At the Master Tower Lord’s words, Lexion smiled nonchalantly.

“It’s because I inherited my father’s temperament, which doesn’t allow me to leave things alone if I’m curious.”

“You’re playing around.”

Philomell was both trembling and elated by the existence of the evil god. This was a big step forward.

‘I finally got a clue!’

She could now find out the location of the intruder, which had been a mystery all along.

“Where is a place related to Ieris?”

Lexion crossed his arms.

“Well, the specific sealing location is a top secret on the temple’s side, so.”

“Then where was this stone found?”

“Actually, this also came to me through several hands, so I don’t know exactly… There are a few places that are suspected to be sealing locations, though.”

“Where are they?”

Just as Lexion was about to open his mouth.

“Philomell.”

Le Guin stared at Philomell with sunken eyes.

“…Why?”

“It would be better for you not to get involved in this anymore.”