EP.155 Coincidence, maybe inevitability (3)
A shabby store located in a secluded alley.
Normally, the only person who would be guarding this store would have been an ancient elf looking at me with a suspicious look in front of that door.
However, not now.
It seems that during the five years I was on the battlefield, this store had some young customers… one of them was a student I was teaching, and the other was a girl who was planning to become a student. I turned my attention to the girl among them.
“Ugh…”
A girl moaning with her head on the desk.
The girl’s ears, revealed through her flowing white hair, were bright red. She seemed to be aware that she had done something shameful. I suppressed laughter and tapped my fingers on the table.
Tuk-tuk.
The girl’s shoulders trembled.
“I asked what your name was?”
I answered the questions she posed to me.
“Rania van Trias. “That’s my name.”
As a bonus, the subject you are in charge of is also included.
“He is in charge of the basics of mana trading… and there is a high probability that he will be in charge of your education.”
Chloe slowly raised her head at my words.
Her face was as red as blush. Eventually, she answered in a voice that seemed to be crawling away.
“Yes, Professor Rania…”
For some reason, the voice seems a bit weak, but it’s probably due to my mood. How could you sound disappointed when the professor you admire is right in front of you?
‘Cancer, of course.’
I held back my laughter and whispered to Chloe.
“I’m honored that you wanted to take my class so much.”
“Tsk…”
Chloe lowered her head.
Watching them not even make eye contact makes me feel sad for some reason. Why, don’t people say that hitting something like this feels good?
‘It tastes like hitting… no, it tastes like teasing.’
She was a fun girl in many ways.
As I was teasing Chloe with her head down, Belnoir, who was standing blankly in front of the store door, opened his mouth.
“Uh, professor.”
“why?”
“What happened…?”
The tone of voice was as if he did not understand the meaning.
Belnoir blinked, looking back and forth between me and Chloe. No matter how quick-witted Belle Noah was, she seemed to have difficulty keeping up with the current situation.
“It’s no big deal.”
I was reasonably quiet.
It’s true that it’s a big deal, but wouldn’t it be too cruel to explain it in detail to Belnoa in front of the person in charge? This girl’s face might explode because she couldn’t overcome the shame she said.
‘I am such a considerate person.’
I don’t know if it’s elegant, but I don’t know.
I interrupted the conversation and winked at Cardi, who was standing behind Belnoa.
“Whoa…”
Cardi, wearing an old man’s mask, shook his head and tapped Belnoa’s shoulder.
“Didn’t you say you had an appointment with Chloe? Go ahead and take that kid out. “If I stay any longer, I’ll have to listen to Chloe’s complaints all day long.”
“Why are you complaining? “I’m not that late…”
“Not you, but me. “Just get out quickly.”
Cardi almost pushed Bellenoir and Khloé away. Even as he was leaving the store holding Chloe’s hand, Belnoir still looked like he didn’t know what was going on.
Sigh.
The hinges make a loud noise, and the door opens again.
Just before the two left the store.
“Chloe.”
I called the girl’s name.
Chloe slowly turned her head and looked at me. I looked straight at her and smiled.
“I’m not sure how to teach class elegantly…”
Chloe’s pupils suddenly got bigger. I smiled as I looked at her bright red face.
“I’ll try. See you again.”
I smiled brightly at the girl who would become my student in the near future. Quite sincerely. However, as always, sincerity is rarely conveyed.
“Ugh, ugh…”
With a bright red face, Chloe bowed her head in greeting, covered her face with both hands, and quickly walked out of the store. I turned to her and waved her hand and told her to bid her farewell.
‘He’s a fun kid.’
She was a girl who was very much looking forward to our next meeting.
2.
Long after Belnoir and Chloe left, inside the quiet shop, I sipped the tea served by Cardi, who had returned to her normal self. Every time we met, I scolded him for not being tasty… but this thick green liquid was no different from the first time.
“Who said you liked this?”
“This is the car that Gleria liked. “I heard it had a chewy taste, so I used to skip meals and drink it while traveling.”
“I guess the first saint had extraordinary tastes?”
“well. He said that everything I gave him was delicious, so I can’t deny that he was an elf-friendly person. “Let alone whether it is extraordinary from the perspective of an ordinary human being.”
I laughed bitterly as I watched Cardi answer with a shrug of her shoulders. Anyway, you don’t say a word. Cardi paused for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“The first saint.”
“······.”
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“Seeing as you can connect that name to her… it seems like you saw everything I left behind.”
“That’s it.”
Cardi put down her teacup.
Cardi asked me with a slightly wry smile.
“How do you feel about facing the truth? “Raniel.”
It’s my impression.
“well···.”
I rested my chin and looked at the teacup.
This thick green liquid rarely goes down the throat. In fact, it was useless to call it a liquid since it had to be chewed.
It’s really funny.
The truth I faced was also like this. This is difficult to accept. It’s hard to get over it, so you have to think about it over and over again. That’s what I saw from the top of the Kurakt Mountains.
“It was shocking.”
I leaned back against the backrest.
“Four disasters. They are the ones who have changed the history of mankind again and again. “The number of territories trampled under their feet is countless… truly, disasters.”
Its origin and origin are unclear.
No one knew what kind of life they lived. At some point, it was only known as a disaster that was born by the Demon King and swept the world.
“Who would have imagined it?”
I blurted out.
“Three of them will be the first heroes.”
The first warrior, Ganicalt Van Galatric.
The first saint, Gleria Bel Armias.
Dragon Shaman, Belial Van Dragonic.
“And, you might be one of them.”
Great Sage, Cardi Van Armiel.
I said, looking at the elf in front of me.
“is not it? Armiel.”
“Do not call me by my baptismal name. “Now it’s truly an abandoned name.”
Cardi said, smoothing her teacup.
The gaze was looking at the teacup, but the eyes seemed to be drawing a distant past. It probably reminds me of someone who called himself Armiel.
After a moment of silence, Cardi spoke.
“···Have you seen the letter?”
“I saw it.”
“If I had seen it, I would have gotten it too.”
I nodded.
Cardi looked at me. Yellow gold eyes were shining. It seemed like they were looking for traces of something in me, but it was quite useless.
“I can’t accept starlight. “You know.”
“Is it because I burned my life?”
“It’s like that. Because the power to overcome limitations has been engraved into my soul again and again. “If I put starlight in a cracked bowl, the only thing I can do is write lines.”
“···It’s too late.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“There’s no need to look at it like that. “If I hadn’t burned my life in the first place… I wouldn’t have gotten there.”
Because I burned my life.
This is the truth that I was able to reach because I did my best at every moment.
If I had thought about this and that, I would have ended up with nothing more than a corpse rolling around on the floor.
‘The moment I met the Demon King, everything would have ended in death.’
Yes, the devil king.
Thinking back to the lump of scum I had encountered, I took a deep breath. My visit to Cardi today was not simply to report.
I had something to check with this elf.
“Hey, Cardi.”
I opened my mouth.
He faced Cardi’s yellow eyes and continued speaking.
“When I first came to see you after retirement… do you remember what you said about the Demon King?”
“…I remember.”
The day I visited Cardi to find a solution to the curse, Cardi was wary of me and asked questions.
“What on earth are you trying to become?”
In response to that question, I faced the devil and explained that I was just under a curse… but Cardi did not let down her guard despite my answer.
Rather, he asked:
“It’s not a contract or a transaction, it’s ‘stuck’?”
Cardi spoke as if a contract or deal with the devil was possible. At that time, I thought it was just a crazy elf’s nonsense… but now that I realized Cardi’s identity, it took on a completely different meaning to me.
The one who faced the devil himself.
A member of the first warriors who fought against the Demon King for ten days and nights.
A wizard called the Great Sage.
A person of that caliber expressed the Demon King as a being capable of communication. If so, that is probably true. However, the demon lord I faced was not like that.
“The devil I saw was just a lump of garbage.”
“······.”
“Although the world describes the four disasters as being like natural disasters… at least they have consciousness. Whether it is instinct or unconsciousness, they move as they wish. But this is not the demon lord I faced.”
That was different.
The very system of existence was different.
“The devil must be a natural disaster. The devil I saw was like that. It has no consciousness. Since I have no control over it, there is no way we can have a conversation.”
It exists there.
It just exists. Just by existing, it contaminates the surroundings and spreads curses… but the devil’s subjectivity is not involved in it.
“That was just a phenomenon.”
A simple phenomenon.
That’s why I have doubts.
That lump of sediment was given the name Demon King. I questioned that fact.
“Well, how can you become a king?”
Doesn’t rule either. It doesn’t reign.
Usually, the word king is not used to describe a phenomenon that just exists there. However, it was called the Demon King. From the distant past until now.
“That’s not the only strange thing.”
I raised my hand and pointed at Cardi.
“If the demon king you faced in the past was a lump of junk like the one I saw…”
I asserted.
“There’s no way you couldn’t have defeated it.”
Of course, the Demon King is indescribably strong.
The moment we faced it, we felt helpless. Even when facing the sword of death, I felt that the reason I was holding on to was cut off. Instinctive fear overtook us.
However, it was not something that could not be resisted.
That day, I gave up half my life to resist the devil. I succeeded in tying its feet and running away. I could have done that on my own.
‘But the first warriors couldn’t do that?’
nonsense.
Just looking at Cardi’s past, she was a more perfect being than me. There are four such beings. If they really felt it was impossible… they would have run away from there. I would have tried to find a new way.
“But you couldn’t even run away. I experienced something there… and chose to continue on to the next path. “Isn’t something strange?”
“Because it wasn’t something you could escape from.”
“I could have done it on my own.”
“…Would you believe me if I told you it was something special?”
I shook my head.
Even if I was special, it would have been better if the warriors who faced the Demon King in the past were more outstanding… They were not inferior to me. never.
“···If you think about it, it’s a strange thing.”
It’s strange.
It was strange, so I made a guess.
“Cardi.”
I put that guess into words.
A guess that is infinitely close to the correct answer.
“Haven’t you guys already defeated the Demon King once?”
I wonder if he brought down an unreachable being to a place he could reach.
I wonder if the title of king was taken away from the devil.
“···aha.”
I asked that.
“Really.”
Cardi responded with a bitter smile.
“You’re like a child who has a good sense of humor.”
It was practically an affirmation.
