[Side story] Chasing butterflies (4)
Fortunately, the inspection ended without any problems.
I was worried that Princess Selaha, who harbored ill feelings toward me, would catch on to this or that, but surprisingly, she only confirmed the report without any complaints.
Princess Selahha’s appearance as she inspected the academic facility looked surprisingly calm, to the point where I wondered if she wasn’t very interested in the academic situation.
No matter how much it was, there was no way a person with a straight personality like Princess Selaha would do that.
So, the inspection was completed without incident, and it was time to go in her magnificent carriage as Princess Selaha had instructed in advance.
Amputator Gellan.
to meet the war hero.
“I want to go too.”
Now, if I don’t stick to myself, I feel rather empty. Lucy Meiril had said that she would accompany them without any doubt.
I pondered for a moment. It was because Princess Selaha told me to come alone.
“If I tell you that I know about Grandpa Glockt’s whereabouts, Zellan will ask to see me first.”
There was some truth in Lucy’s words.
And… I don’t know how Princess Selaha will take it, but since she’s strangely uncomfortable with Lucy, I think I’ll have to push through somehow.
As a result, Lucy was accompanied by Princess Selaha’s carriage.
In fact, it’s hard to even call it a carriage, and it’s about the size of a decent house. At least it’s definitely bigger than my first cabin.
There are only 13 horses attached. It is so enormous that I wonder if it would be more appropriate to call it a mobile fortress rather than a wagon.
It took a long time just to climb the stairs. The soldier standing guard in front of the carriage entrance politely saluted as if he had been notified in advance.
As I bowed my head and entered the carriage door, there were more people waiting inside the carriage than I expected.
The first thing that caught my eye was Princess Selaha, who was sitting in the high chair. As the owner of this wagon, it was natural.
“You are here.”
And, a middle-aged man quietly bowing his head in the lower seat.
Next to him sits a more dwarfed mage. As for her appearance, the robe was pulled over, so she didn’t look right. From her size, she seemed to be a little boy or girl.
“Sit over there. It’s just… I’m sure he told me to come alone.”
“yes. However, I felt like I needed this guy.”
“…?”
I glanced at the two people sitting across from me, dragged Lucy by the arm, and sat down side by side.
Lucy looked around for a moment, then sat on my lap, dragging her large collar.
Anyway, he is a guy who never pays attention to the eyes of the people around him.
“Lucy Meiril is, at this point, the only person who knows of the former residence of Archmage Glockt.”
At those words, the old man’s expression trembled. The strange reaction was the same on the one wearing the robe.
“If you’re curious about information about Archmage Glockt, there’s no one more qualified than Lucy to give you the answer.”
“…You seem to have some idea of Zelan’s purpose.”
“I just heard about it from my old colleague, Professor Kalade.”
“That weed still seems to be licking his mouth for nothing. Nothing seems to have changed, so my heart softens.”
It was a softer voice than expected.
It’s a voice that seems playful and on the other hand seems relaxed.
And when I put down the robe, as expected, the figure of a young girl appears. Her hair, neatly tied up on either side of her, spreads down her shoulders like her wings.
White hair with a slight purple tint. I narrowed my brows for a moment when I saw that he looked completely young.
Professor Kaleid said she should be a mother by now.
however….
“Nice to meet you. My name is Gelan Allendark. Because he cut the northern Orfend Mountains in half, he is probably better known as ‘Zellan the Severer’. what…”
The girl who was introducing herself as Zellan in front of me couldn’t even say that she looked old even with empty words.
While twisting the ends of her mysterious two-tone hair, the girl continues her conversation in a relaxed voice.
“…Not really a nickname I like.”
“…”
“You look a little surprised. Well, you must have been embarrassed because it was different from what you imagined?”
The girl tidied up her robe and hat and put them behind her, talking as if it were nothing.
“Anyway, I’m 140 this year. young friend.”
* “I am the one who challenges the taboo.”
I’ve mentioned it for a long time when subjugating Glast.
For the wizards of this world, there are three areas of magic that should never be pursued.
The three major fields that twist and break the providence of the world and disturb the order of the spirit realm.
Seeking eternal life, reviving the dead, going back in time.
Among mages, studying those three fields was regarded as a kind of taboo.
Of course, there were authors who continued their research while riding the line between the boundaries, but it was hard to find a human who openly broke the rules of magicians.
Most of them are punished at the Mage Tower level, and even seal their magical powers.
Since Sylvania Academy should also set an example as an educational institution, education in such taboo areas was certain.
However, the amputator Gellan is a person who directly challenges those three taboos.
“…Professor Kaleid said you’re going to be an old lady…”
“iced coffee. Well, that’s what he looked like when he was playing on the battlefield with him.”
“…”
“Well, imitation magic isn’t easy magic… but it was necessary.”
The girl speaks while pulling the ends of her hair several times.
“I don’t age. When I was 15, I broke a taboo and magically stopped time in my body.”
“…is that possible?”
There are limits to such things even with Aspect Magic.
You can stop the creature itself with time prison or time restraint, but you can pick and choose only growth and stop it so that you can have an immortal body.
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If such eternal life magic existed, there was no way the influential people around the world would leave it alone. Taboos are easily broken in the face of human desire.
“Why not? I am a genius.”
“…”
“…Yes, I can tell what you’re thinking just by looking at your eyes. I was exaggerating a bit. Because of coincidence and my own insight… Somehow, I managed to live eternal life. I don’t want to go into detail about the process. I just want to say I was lucky.”
“The reason why I lived in mimicry while hiding my true face…”
“That’s right… I’m a high-stakes criminal who will be executed immediately if I get caught in the magic world. The name Gellan is just a pseudonym.”
Zelan, a war hero in history, is actually a high-stakes criminal in the world who has broken a long-standing taboo in the magic world.
After witnessing the shocking truth, I could understand why Princess Selaha had told her to come alone.
It’s not a truth worth telling anyone.
“Sometimes I lived my life pretending to be an old wizard, and sometimes I lived as a child of a noble family who didn’t know anything. What… Even while wearing the name Gellan, he made a lot of appearances like this… It’s a bit confusing.”
“…is the image you are doing right now what you saw?”
“…well? What do you think?”
Gellan smiled strangely. It wasn’t easy for her to figure out what she meant.
I pressed Lucy’s head for a moment and fell into trouble.
Just by meeting a person named Gellan, the situation is sorted out to some extent.
taboo challenger.
Amputator Gellan.
“The reason you’re trying to find Glockt’s keepsake is because you need a tool to challenge the taboo. To satisfy your individual passion for learning. There is probably nothing more helpful in twisting and breaking the providence of the world than the keepsakes of Gloct Elderbane, who was a master of Aspect Magic.”
“That’s… only half correct.”
“What about the other half?”
“It’s true that I need the traces of that archmage to challenge the taboo, but that’s not to satisfy my personal ‘desire for learning’.”
“then?”
“…”
The girl thought for a moment, then smiled and said:
“I just… have some things I want to ‘observe’. Not for academic reasons.”
Saying that, the girl shuts her mouth again.
Taking a sip of the black tea placed on the small tea table, I examine the situation again.
I watched her quietly, then turned my head to Princess Selaha.
“Did the imperial family know the truth about Gellan?”
“okay. Not only me, but Abamama, Fenia, Persica, and even Lindon’s brother, everyone knew.”
“…It sounds like the story was that the imperial family was hiding a treason criminal who was violating a taboo.”
“How much do you think the taboo among mages will affect our Chloe royal family?”
Princess Selaha sat with her chin on her chin with her legs crossed, and spoke while patting her lips with a fan.
“We are the royal family. It would be too arrogant to think that the taboo rules of spellcasters could shake the authority of our imperial family.”
“…But you didn’t want to stir up a dispute with the Mage Tower because it became public opinion.”
“It’s a scratch and a boil. Scholars always talk loudly. why. To threaten to reveal the truth about Gellan? I’m sorry, but if you act like that, not only me but Fenia will be in trouble.”
That’s what I say, but if you didn’t really believe in me, you wouldn’t have brought me here. There’s no way a person with a thorough personality like Selaha wouldn’t mind that much.
Selaha had intended to share the secret about Gellan with me.
Well, why? The question called follows.
“Why are you telling me such a big secret?”
“It is a secret of no great importance. However, it is also true that the existence of Gellan is a headache for me. She’s causing all sorts of trouble in the Cohelton Lawless Zone, which I manage.”
“Haha. It is a secondary accident that occurs while conducting academic research…”
“Keep your mouth shut.”
Selaha gasped and forced Jelan to shut his mouth.
Gellan grinned, shrugged, and sipped the tea again.
“I made a little promise with Gellan. If you introduce someone who can solve your problems, move the lab to another area.”
“Is that me?”
“Isn’t that right? You too must have needed Gellan’s help. It’s all about helping each other, so you’re in a position to be grateful to me.”
After hearing that, I put my chin on my chin and fell into trouble for a while.
“Yeah… I think that’s definitely true.”
“…”
“Thank you very much, Princess Selaha. Thanks to that kindness, I was able to save a lot of time and trouble.”
So I expressed my gratitude with an honest heart.
I thought he would smile arrogantly, but Selaha’s reaction was unexpectedly gentle.
“…I never thought I would be so honest with my gratitude…”
“…yes?”
“No, it is. I’m a bit embarrassed too. Do you even know how to speak so honestly? Don’t you always hide what you see and say strange things here and there?”
“that…”
I was about to say something, but I swallowed it because I didn’t think it was a provocation against the imperial family.
However, Princess Selaha put on an angry expression for no reason, as if the thief said she was numb, or perhaps she could guess what I had swallowed just by reading my expression.
“You always have a knack for making people angry, even when you’re not affectionate.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s more heartbreaking to talk with an expression of no apology.”
After saying that, Selaha sighed, then continued again.
“I will give you special permission to pass through the Cohelton Lawless Zone.”
I am very busy because I am in the middle of the semester.
However, if the justification of ‘Hwangmyeong’ is given… I can’t stay still.
“The two of you, give and receive what you need on your own, find everything you want to find, then please leave my territory. Please refrain from suffering any longer because of Gellan’s strange research. Please finish the work as soon as possible.”
That was the imperial order given directly by Princess Selaha.
*“Let me introduce you, this is my assistant Wilhelm. He’s a pretty strong friend, so we’ll get along well.”
After getting off Princess Selaha’s carriage, Zelan introduced the assistant she was accompanying.
The unidentified shabby man bowed his head with a gentle face.
I nodded and remembered the man’s name.
“Being among the young people makes me feel good as if I have gone back to the old days.”
It’s not persuasive to talk like that with such a young look.
“The emperor must have fallen, wouldn’t it be better to get things done as quickly as possible? After I find Glockt’s belongings, Ed… did you say… Yes, I’ll do anything the young man asks.”
“First of all, we must prepare to leave for the Rameln Mountains.”
“Well, soon. Time is like a lightning bolt.”
After saying that, he laughed cheerfully, and it seemed that he was polite because he was in front of the royal family in the carriage.
“okay. Did you say Lucy Mayrill? He’s heard the name. That name of a rare genius wizard.”
Gellan’s gaze goes to Lucy, who is wrapped around my waist.
“…It seems to be hanging like an ornament.”
“I like this posture.”
“What… Respect. Anyway, let me take your guidance. The location of the abode where the great wizard Glockt Elderbane stayed until the end.”
“…no.”
An unexpected answer came out.
At Lucy’s brief refusal, Gellan nodded. It seems to be her own way of expressing her embarrassment.
“Hoo?”
“You have so much to hide.”
Glockt Elderbane is like a father to Lucy Meiril.
He said that he would search the last residence of such a person, but he could not easily nod his head.
No matter how much I said I would cooperate, there is at least a story to tell.
“How he got the body of eternal life, why he is breaking taboos, and what he wants to ‘observe’ through his grandfather’s relics… You haven’t revealed anything.”
Certainly, Gellan is a mage full of questionable parts.
There is no way that Lucy will easily open her mind and reveal the information she knows against Gelan.
“If you don’t tell me everything, I won’t say a word.”
“…Even if this blond youngster whom you care so much for asks?”
At those words, Lucy flinched and looked at me.
asking me with my eyes Like Gelan said, am I also asking Lucy to give me information? That fact is intriguing.
In fact, if I asked with all my heart, regardless of Zellan’s attitude, I might give you information about Glockt.
Lucy’s uneasy eyes contained such a meaning.
It’s obvious, but that doesn’t happen.
“Unfortunately, I also agree with Lucy.”
Lucy hugged my waist tightly and buried her head. He seemed happy to agree.
“If you want to help each other, you have to show all your cards. Isn’t it?”
“…”
The one whose expression darkened at those words was Wilhelm, the assistant who had been aiding Zelan by his side.
However, Zelan smiled willingly, as if asking what Wilhelm’s expression was like.
“The young man is right.”
After stretching with that small body, he spoke while putting the robe cap on his back again.
“As I said, it is not for academic reasons that I have my eye on Glockt’s relic.”
Maybe the reason why her voice became vague is because she was recalling unwanted memories.
“I am a horse. You are a failure.”
The girl continues.
“Everything I tried to achieve in my life up until now, everything has failed. Among them, there was a long-cherished and long-cherished wish… That also failed.”
Gellan looks at Lucy, who is holding me tightly around my waist, with melancholy eyes.
“You care so much for this blond young man. Lucy Mayrill. Perhaps the reason for your life is this man.”
It’s embarrassing to say, but Lucy nodded casually.
“I decided to live for him. To put it bluntly, I was touted for the reason for living.”
“It’s a little wordy, Lucy…”
“are you okay. Because I didn’t like it.”
Lucy speaks casually. He just calmly says that he is.
“okay. But I’m not like you, Lucy Mayrill. I have no reason to live any longer. Everything was lost, and everything was a failure.”
At those words, Lucy’s expression crumpled for a moment.
Lucy knows the pain of loss better than anyone else. What does Gellan look like in Lucy’s eyes?
A lot of people have lost a lot of this and that.
However, Gellan says that he couldn’t protect anything properly.
“I wanted to make the sub-humans accepted as members of this empire. But in the end, I ended up in a position where I had to catch and kill all the subhumans with my own hands. I was pushed by the tide of war, and as a mage of the empire, I had to stand before the demi-humans who were committing slaughter.”
Head lowered, Gellan spoke in a low voice.
“When I came to my senses, I found that I was covered in the blood of the subhumans, and the Empire called me a war hero who slaughtered the subhumans.”
Suddenly, I remembered the Ain nuns at Cleric Monastery.
The young survivors of the demi-humans that Gelan said were entrusted with could be her last remaining guilt.
“They said that when the Aspect Magic that Glockt uses reaches its peak, you will be able to observe both the flow of the future and the past, which diverge again and again.”
That’s where the word ‘observation’ finally came from.
Those who reached that level were, at best, only the great sage Sylvania. She is the only person who has observed all of the thousands and tens of thousands of past and future flows that diverge and diverge.
Reaching that level is probably impossible.
However, even if it is far less than that… If you can observe the flow of other futures and pasts…
“It may be difficult to understand. Still, I mean Among the tens of thousands of divergent streams, I wonder if there was a future in which I achieved what I wanted… I just wanted to find out.”
A world where Gellan did not massacre the Ain.
Could such a possibility exist?
Gellan wanted to confirm the possibility of that ‘what if’.
The question of what the hell that meant went up to the tip of his chin and then went down.
However, Zelan smiled softly as if he knew what he wanted to say.
“Yeah, you might think it’s meaningless.”
The girl stretches out her hand to the sun floating in the sky.
“It’s like a butterfly that can’t be caught. You know it’s absurd, but you go after it without reason.”
“…”
“So, I just want to make sure that such a future could exist. That is the last, last wish in my life.”
“…You seem to be talking like someone who is about to die.”
“Well, what about it?”
Gellan lowers his arm and turns his gaze to Lucy.
“Did you get an answer? A strict cat lady.”
I haven’t answered all the questions… but I’m sure I’ve answered the least…
Lucy, who was still looking into Gellan’s eyes, nodded slowly.
In Lucy’s eyes, it was because the appearance of Gellan, who seemed to be overflowing with composure, somehow seemed empty.
*”Hey.”
After getting ready to leave, we promised to meet again.
That’s how Lucy and I parted from Gelan, and walked down the school street as the sun went down.
Lucy, who had been following me by the cuffs, suddenly called me to my feet.
“…why?”
“hug me.”
At those words, I checked Lucy’s condition.
“Is it difficult to walk? I definitely did a lot of walking today. If your legs hurt, I’d rather be on my back…”
“It’s not like that, I just want to be hugged.”
In the past, he seems to have been a bit shy, but after spending a few months together, Lucy’s request seems to have become more bold.
Was there any change of heart? After taking a look at Lucy’s expression, he shook her head and made up her mind.
It was because he understood Lucy’s heart.
Bachelor Noeljin.
sparsely populated street.
I quietly leaned over and hugged Lucy tightly.
Lucy wrapped her arms around my back and spoke in a whisper.
“thank you.”
“Yeah, it reminded me of bad memories.”
I also agree with Lucy’s thoughts.
I don’t think it’s the same war hero colleague…
Seemingly full of life, those empty eyes of Gellan…
He looked too much like Professor Glast, who was no longer in the world.
It’s not a very good memory for Lucy Meiril. Rather, the aftertaste is a bitter memory.
The memory of Professor Glast, who fell asleep under a zelkova tree and died coldly.
Unable to overcome the pain of loss… a stupid scholar who entangled himself in chains of death.
For Lucy, it is a scene that makes her ruminate on the days when she struggled with that piercing solitude.
Solitude has been overcome.
Next to me is me, Ed Rosteyler.
As if wanting to confirm that fact, Lucy was quietly hugged by me.
The sunset was setting.
In the slanting shadow, I hugged Lucy for a long time like that.
