EP.140 The past, the more distant past (3)
Cardi’s illusion walked without stopping. Even when a blizzard blew, even when he faced a cliff, and even when monsters attacked, Cardi did not stop his steps. Although he stumbled, he continued to walk.
It was a thing of the distant past.
The topography and environment were different from the past.
Looking into the distant past, Raniel walks through the present.
‘···Strange.’
Raniel constantly feels out of place.
Everything was strange in her eyes. The sight of Cardi, who couldn’t even fight properly, defeating her Skebal, and the sight of the old man in the back room skillfully dismantling the magical beast, who seemed to have no actual combat experience, were all unfamiliar.
‘Is it really Cardi?’
Raniel thinks so.
The Cardi she saw in the past was different from the Cardi she sees now. It was so different. The Cardi she knew had a strong scholarly feel to her.
‘An elf who knows a lot, has lived for a long time, is good at alchemy, and seems a little happy when explaining something to others.’
But what about the Cardi you see now?
‘···soldier.’
He was a soldier.
He felt the aura of a soldier like himself.
-···It wasn’t far.
Cardi mumbled and raised her head.
At the same time, Raniel also raised his head.
“···normal.”
It is the peak of a mountain covered in a snowstorm.
Cardi walked towards that peak. He went through a blizzard. Raniel followed suit.
Whiiiiing!
There was a snow storm. A sharp wind that felt like it was tearing the skin was blowing non-stop. It was difficult even to keep my eyes open. It was an overwhelming snowstorm even for Raniel.
“···Ugh.”
Raniel narrowed his eyes.
It was even worse than in the center of the sanctuary. My steps became heavy. I almost got lost several times. However, each time, Raniel saw what was in front of him.
Silver hair, no, now a gray elf.
Cardi’s vision was not lost even in the snowstorm. He walked constantly. He never rested even for a moment. What on earth is there?
Quickly.
Raniel gritted his teeth and followed suit.
Time passed continuously. It was difficult to even estimate how much time had passed. I just walked. I continued walking.
Has it been a day or two?
Or maybe more time has passed than that.
Or, was it just a moment?
It took an unbelievable amount of time. At the end, Raniel arrived. Raniel gave strength and took the last step.
chin.
The snowstorm has cleared.
It was the summit of the infamous Kurakt Mountains.
“Whoosh, whoosh….”
Raniel took a deep breath and raised his head.
A place close to the clouds, a place close to the sky. At the top of the Kurakt Mountains there was a wide plain.
and.
“···what.”
There was also a research facility that Cardi mentioned.
However, the scale was a little strange. Raniel made a dumbfounded noise. Her eyes widened slightly.
“There is a small research facility I built in the Kurakt Mountains in the north.”
Cardi’s words rang in my ears.
‘···This is a small research facility?’
It wasn’t. Absolutely not.
Raniel muttered inadvertently.
“This is a magic tower…”
A place that touches the sky.
It was a tower that seemed to pierce the blue sky. To be more precise, a magic tower.
Trudging.
Even while Raniel was confused, Cardi continued to move forward. He took out the key from his pocket. That was the key that Raniel also had.
“······.”
Raniel wordlessly took out the key from his pocket.
It was the key that Cardi had taken from the apostate’s arm. Raniel also followed Cardi.
-Whoa…
Cardi, who remained as an illusion, sighs and stands right in front of the main gate of the Magic Tower. There were several layers of barriers hanging over the tightly closed front door.
Cardi from the past pushes the key toward the barrier.
The current Raniel also inserts the key into the barrier.
The clicking sound rang twice in succession.
The several layers of barriers around the main gate of the Magic Tower were dismantled one by one. Only after dozens of layers of barrier were dismantled did the door reveal itself.
“······.”
Raniel, who was trying to reach the door, stiffened.
She was silent. Her eyes turn to the pattern engraved on the door. The name of the person who engraved it also remained at the end of the pattern.
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In other words, it was like indicating who the owner of this tower was.
“really.”
Pattern of ashes.
The pattern of the Gray Magic Tower.
“Cardi, you.”
“Cardi van Armiel.”
“What on earth are you doing, bastard?”
Armiel.
The founder of the Gray Magic Tower and the first Ash Magic Tower lord.
2.
“We should have arrived by now.”
An elf who has lived for hundreds of years looks out the window.
Light began to come into this alley, which had not even had sunlight for over a hundred years. It wasn’t difficult to guess the cause.
A child he picked up a few years ago.
It is thanks to that child named Belnoa, who cleared away the underworld that had been gnawing at this alley for a hundred years. For him, it is just a moment. However, he won’t be there for the kid.
Belnoa, who resembles Belial, grew up.
Chloe, who resembles Gleria, also grew up.
They were becoming adults. His touch was no longer needed. Maybe it wasn’t needed in the first place.
“It’s not just them.”
About ten years ago, I met a child.
He was a special child. He was a child who was bound to be special. Because he was born that way. Cardi asked the child his name.
Raniel.
That was the child’s name.
He was a child who would succeed no matter what he did. He had a talent for children. He was an interesting kid. Cardi watched the boy for a while.
‘It’s only for a moment, though.’
It was a fun time.
The boy grew up and became a young man. Watching him grow up was like watching his own past.
“It looks similar.”
Maybe he wanted it because it resembled him.
When that guy opened the magic tower to defeat the demon lord… I couldn’t believe it, but I ended up laughing.
You look alike.
They look so similar.
So, it was you.
“······.”
So, Cardi hopes.
‘No matter what you see there, what you realize, or what you reach…’
I hope she can accept that.
‘Only your thoughts are the right answer, Raniel.’
I just hoped.
3.
Armiel.
There was a wizard called that. No one knew his name. He even refused to receive a name from the royal family. He simply called himself ‘Armiel’.
-We will dig up the ruins of the fallen kingdom.
A study on the lost past.
He built the tower in the name of studying the once prosperous ancient kingdom that was reduced to nothing but ashes. The royal family gave the name ‘Ashen Magic Tower’ to the tower he built. That was the first magic tower.
Therefore, the gray magic tower has no color.
Colorless, odorless, tasteless.
That was the characteristic of the Gray Magic Tower, and also the characteristic of Armiel, the first magic tower owner. He always wore a robe covered up. He never once took off his robes. Until the day he steps down from his position as the first Mage Tower Lord.
Armiel.
He was an unknown person.
『Memoirs of the 2nd Mage Tower Lord, Lafarut.』
‘···Cardi is Armiel?’
Raniel turned his head.
Her eyes were fixed on Cardi. Raniel thinks as she looks at Cardi, who is holding onto her doorknob and seems to be contemplating something without opening it.
‘Armiel.’
Raniel also knew little about its existence. Through the memoirs left behind by the second Mage Tower lord, one could only guess that he was a special wizard.
‘···And, he’s from an ancient kingdom.’
Many people assumed that.
Because he is a survivor of the kingdom, he wants to build the Gray Magic Tower and rebuild the technology of the past. He’s trying to do what no one else has done.
‘But, he also failed.’
He disappeared without a trace one day.
Armiel disappeared, handing over his position to the next magic tower owner at the time. He disappeared, carrying all the research materials he had conducted.
And now time has passed.
Raniel faced the first magic tower lord.
The appearance is unfamiliar yet familiar.
“What on earth?”
Raniel frowned.
There was nothing I could figure out. I was almost annoyed. There was no relief in any of it.
‘If you open this door, this door.’
Is there any truth?
Is it possible to know everything?
“Whoa…”
Raniel let out a short breath.
She placed her hand on the doorknob that Cardi was holding. With a clatter, dust fell.
-······.
As if Cardi of the past had made a promise, he pulled the doorknob. Raniel and Cardi’s movements overlapped. The door to the past opens softly, and the door to the present opens with a creak.
It’s a disaster.
The door opened and a breeze blew.
The blowing wind was not cold. With a warm wind, the inside of the magic tower was revealed.
‘···church?’
That was my first impression.
Rather than a facility for studying spells, it was closer to a church. Soft sunlight came in from the row of windows.
-······.
Raniel looked back at Cardi.
Cardi was biting her lip. He walked away with his face wrinkled. Raniel watched him pass by.
Trudging.
So one step, then two steps, then five steps again.
After walking about seven steps, he stopped.
“······.”
A moment of silence.
“sorry.”
A voice broke the silence.
The voice that echoed through the walls of the church had substance. It was a welcome, but it was not a welcome. The circuitry carved into the church wall made Cardi’s appearance clear.
“I couldn’t keep my promise.”
He said.
“I couldn’t protect you.”
He looks towards where the sunlight gathers.
Someone was standing there. At that point, Raniel noticed. The Cardi of the past, seeing something more past than myself.
“I’m sorry, Gleria.”
Cardi called someone’s name.
Just as Raniel’s voice does not reach Cardi, Cardi’s voice also does not reach anyone from the past. But is it a coincidence?
“Oh, are you here?”
A vision of the past answered Cardi’s voice.
Cardi gritted her teeth. Because I know that is not the voice speaking to me now.
“Really, it’s late. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”
To Cardi of the past, a woman from an even more distant past smiles. She let out a soft laugh. And then, she spoke Cardi’s name as if she were whispering her lover’s name.
“Armiel.”
Cardi lowered her head, and Raniel raised his head.
“under.”
Raniel burst out laughing.
She muttered, wiping away her eyes.
“···Really, I’m going crazy.”
A woman calling Cardi’s name.
There was no way Raniel would not recognize her appearance.
Pure white hair.
Green eyes.
Apostate, Gletus.
The woman before the disaster was there.
It was in the past, even further in the past.
A word from the author (author review)
Armiel is first mentioned at the beginning of episode 51.
