EP.156 Coincidence, maybe inevitability (4)
Crack, thump, thump.
The sound of shoe heels echoed loudly in the alley. It’s the sound of footsteps, as if you’re running away from something, but without a sense of danger. The white-haired girl who is the owner of those steps glances back.
“······.”
There was quite a distance from the store.
Chloe slowly bent her knees. He squatted at the corner of the alley. Covering his face with both of his palms, Gonchloe let out a silent scream.
‘Are you crazy, are you crazy…!’
My face turned red from shame.
My face is so hot that it feels like steam is rising. Rania’s whispering voice continued to linger in Chloe’s ears.
“I’m honored that you wanted to take my class.”
My face feels like it’s going to explode. really.
“···!”
Chloe screamed silently and shook her head repeatedly. It was as if he was talking excitedly about himself in front of me. Elegant class and all, while saying a lot of embarrassing things.
“I’m going to take this person’s class. “This is not a class taught by someone as violent as the professor!”
The words I said linger in my ears.
How ridiculous he must have looked in the eyes of that professor. Chloe stroked his face and looked up at the sky. The sky was blue without notice.
“haha.”
Chloe let out an empty laugh.
‘Hello, ideal school life.’
The first button was twisted.
I left a strong impression in a different way on the professor who I wanted to impress. No, from the beginning, the professor seemed to be a slightly different person than the rumors…
“What should I do···.”
In any case, it is clear that life at the academy is a mess.
Chloe buried her head in my lap and muttered. There was one person who answered her self-talk.
“What should I do?”
Chloe raised her head.
Belnoir was leaning against the alley, looking down at himself. Chloe glared at Belnoir for no reason.
“···why are you late?”
It’s a very chilling voice.
Belnoir flinched and his shoulders trembled. It wasn’t Chloe’s usual soft voice.
“You’re an hour late.”
“I… I’m sorry.”
There were quite a few excuses, such as being caught by the old man on the way to the store and being late because he had run an errand, or that there was nothing he could do… but Belnoir was silent. Because I knew Chloe didn’t want to hear those words.
“I’ll be on time next time.”
Belnoir answered like that and looked at Chloe’s eyes. She still didn’t seem to be in a good mood. She looked somewhat sulky.
‘It looks like something happened…’
Belnoa, who had no way of knowing the context of the incident, could only guess. Belnoa sighed inwardly and looked back at the path he had taken.
‘What on earth happened in the store?’
A narrow alley.
It’s like a maze where you can quickly get lost if you don’t walk in the right order. Old Cardi’s store, where Belnoir spent his childhood, was located at the end of such an alley.
‘But, Professor, why are you in such a secluded place?’
As I looked down the alley, a thought occurred to me.
Belnoir narrowed his eyes. If you think about it, it’s a little strange. This wasn’t the first time Professor Rania stopped by here.
‘You stopped by last time too. ‘He said he knew someone.’
A story that I overlooked at first.
However, not the second time.
Belnoir feels a sense of discomfort as he realizes the identity of the professor he once thought was a different species.
‘Ashen wizard.’
Raniel van Trias.
The legendary wizard said that old Cardi was an acquaintance. Also, a very old acquaintance. Belnoir narrowed his eyes and muttered.
“···What on earth are you doing?”
He was an old man whose identity was still unknown.
2.
“It is as you said. “Raniel.”
An old store.
“We killed the devil that day.”
A chair that makes a creaking sound even if you move your body even a little. A shelf full of dust. Potion bottles scattered everywhere. This store cannot be called clean, even with empty words.
“There, I cut down the body of the shadow.”
In such a humble shop, the most brilliant history is being told. By a great sage who lived through that era and remembers everything.
“I succeeded up to that point, but…”
I listened to him.
“We ultimately failed. “Because I couldn’t kill him.”
“…You couldn’t kill me?”
“It wasn’t enough. “A lot of things.”
Cardi closed her eyes.
Cardi was silent for a moment, as if recalling the distant past. When he opened his eyes again, his golden eyes were a little more sunken than usual.
“…I may have told you about the concept of shade before. “Do you remember?”
“I remember. “A madman observed the opposite of a star, and it became a shadow.”
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“You also know that it is related to the Demon King, right?”
I nodded.
‘The Demon King’s Curse and Ganicalt’s Sword.’
A scum that cannot be dealt with with normal spells and devours starlight. And, the devil I saw was none other than the Old Man himself.
“The devil is the shadow itself.”
Cardi declared so.
Since I expected it to some extent, I wasn’t that surprised. Cardi seemed to have anticipated my reaction and calmly continued.
“So we were mistaken.”
“mistaken?”
“Yeah, I’m mistaken. The shade is a creation created by foolish human hands. It is a concept created by human hands. It is nothing more than a foreign substance that has intervened in the providence that has continued for eons. “We thought so.”
Cardi looked at the teacup. Looking at the thick liquid in the teacup, he continued.
“···That wasn’t just that.”
I thought I heard the sound of teeth grinding.
“that day.”
Cardi looked at me.
“What we encountered there was not an incomplete concept. “It was not something that was created through observation and should not have existed in the first place.”
What is reflected in the yellow gold eyes is regret.
Although it happened hundreds of years ago, Cardi spoke to me as if she was just recalling the events of last night.
“It was not an imperfect being.”
one.
“They were not mortal like us.”
one.
“No, it wasn’t…there’s no way everything we built up would work on that being.”
As if correcting a past mistake, Cardi continued. He asked me with a laugh.
“Raniel, do you know what a perfect being is called?”
“···star?”
Cardi nodded.
“In another language, to borrow Gleria’s words, it is God. Something not bound by providence. “Something that has transcended existence and become a law.”
King of ten thousand horses.
“That’s what we had to deal with.”
What the first warriors faced.
Even while listening to Cardi’s words, I couldn’t dare picture it.
“We fought for ten days and nights.”
Being able to picture that.
“Everyone gave their all.”
They must have been the only ones who encountered it.
Cardi said as if she were vomiting.
“I wrote everything I could. Belial gave up his body. As a dragon, he went on a rampage. Ganikalt gave up his pride. He swung a sword not for cutting, but for tearing and tearing. Gleria used the sacred law to save someone, but to kill someone. I used all kinds of gold tricks. Even by breaking taboos.”
It was that kind of fight, that was.
Cardi muttered that and looked at me.
“I did that, but there seemed no chance of victory.”
“···And yet.”
“And yet I had to resist.”
Why did I have to resist?
“Because it was just us. What can stop that? Because it won’t work if it’s not us. “It was a sense of duty, responsibility, and the duty of those who put their name on the line as warriors.”
widely.
Cardi put down the teacup she was shaking in her hand.
“On the tenth night, the decision was made.”
He raised his hand.
“It was a being born from the ugly origins of humans, and as such, it was a being that could not completely escape from humans. “We took advantage of that gap.”
Cardi touched the teacup with her fingertips.
Tick, tidik. There was a crack in the teacup.
“In the end, we cut down the king’s body.”
With a crunch, the teacup shattered.
“But I couldn’t kill him.”
Thick liquid flowed onto the table.
The liquid flowed and flowed until it reached me.
“I can’t tell you the details. Because you haven’t reached the second contract yet. But, let me explain it briefly…”
Cardi said, pointing to the liquid.
“It was flooded.”
“······.”
“It is impossible to stop the flooding waves with a single human hand. That’s why we failed.”
A bitter smile appeared on his lips.
“And the price of failure was cruel.”
The price of reaching the unreachable.
The price of pointing a sword at God.
The price was something I knew well.
“The following is the same as the history you know.”
The warriors became corrupted, and they became a disaster.
The disaster devastated many countries. The oath they made when they set out on an adventure had to be broken by their own hands.
“···It became such a disaster, is that right?”
“That’s the way it is.”
“Is the current Demon King also like a by-product that you killed once… but could not kill?”
“It would be wrong to say that it is a by-product. However, it is true that it has weakened. Because that’s what the contract was for.”
contract. That damn contract.
I said with a sigh.
“···I think something was omitted quite a bit.”
“Because I can’t tell you yet. “Even if you force yourself to say it, your ears won’t hear it.”
Cardi said, wiping away the spilled green tea.
“You only know one of the three contracts, and there is probably a lot more you need to know.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Because Cardi’s attitude toward me was a little different from before. I pointed that out.
“…You’re not trying to hide anything anymore?”
“Because there are more things you can listen to. Even if I can’t tell you the details… I can at least give you some insight.”
“In the past, they didn’t even try to catch me.”
“Because I didn’t want you to reach the truth.”
Cardi slowly raised her head.
I asked him back with a frown.
“…You didn’t want it?”
“okay.”
“why? “Because I wanted someone to know, you…”
“I was hoping someone would know, but I hoped it wasn’t you.”
I was about to ask what that meant, but I closed my mouth for a moment. Cardi’s words softened slightly. He looked at me with eyes that were different from usual.
“···I know you.”
Cardi said.
“I thought that if you heard this story, you would reach a contract that no one else could reach… and if you found out the truth, you would definitely want to take responsibility.”
“···responsibility?”
“They will try to dig deeper. “After finding out all the other truths, I will try to take to the battlefield once again.”
I was silent.
In silence, Cardi continued speaking.
“You have already retired. You have already accomplished many feats and dedicated your life to humanity. “You can’t say I’m wrong.”
“···that.”
“Do not deny it. “No one will deny that you sacrificed yourself for humanity.”
Cardi extended her hand.
He pointed to my heart. It seemed to refer to the curse that was still eating away at my body, or to my soul that had already worn out.
“The body is broken. “The soul is worn out.”
So, Cardi said.
“Have you decided to spend the rest of your life in rest?”
“······.”
“You have the right to rest. So, I just thought it would be okay if it wasn’t you right now. You have done well enough. After this…”
“hey.”
“Even if it’s not you…”
“Hey, Cardi.”
I cut off Cardi.
I smiled bitterly as I looked at him. It seemed like I was completely mistaken.
“Who said this?”
“···What do you mean?”
“Who decided to spend the rest of their life in relaxation?”
I laughed.
“I don’t plan on doing that.”
3.
Cardi looked at me silently.
It seemed like he was asking what that meant, so I gladly agreed to answer.
“In the first place.”
I said, resting my chin.
“You can live as long as you have lived now, but the term ‘the rest of your life’ is a bit different. How can you live with that much time just resting? “It’s so boring I can’t stand it.”
An elf who has lived for over a thousand years.
From Cardi’s point of view, my life is just a moment. I’m sure it will. About ten years would be a blink of an eye for this ancient elf.
But, not for me.
I was human, and ten years was not a short time for me. Rather, it was a very long time in which many things could be done. I have already proven that over the past five years.
“I killed two plagues in five years.”
“···two?”
“Skebal is as good as dead anyway. Anyway, I killed them both in less than 5 years. “I even have a vague idea of how to kill the remaining two.”
I got the idea.
I also saw the possibility.
