Ch.113Curiosity

# 1.

Castler, lost right before his eyes.

Nahan quickly regained his senses and lunged toward the First Elder who was dissipating.

“Stop!!”

All his outstretched fingers managed to grasp was the necklace Castler had been wearing.

“See you again, black child.”

With a snap, the necklace broke, and Nahan tumbled to the ground.

“Captain!!”

Dallan, who had arrived too late, helped Nahan up, but Nahan immediately pulled his arm away.

“We need to chase after him now!!”

“That’s impossible right now!!”

“But Castler…!!”

It was the first time anyone had seen the Captain so agitated.

While Dallan was momentarily flustered by Nahan’s desperate struggle, Ruby, who had been surveying the battlefield, approached with Castler’s arm that had been left behind as he dissipated.

“Captain, look at this.”

Shifting his gaze, Nahan saw words written in blood on Castler’s wrist.

[Eastern Front. Rocky Terrain. One week later.]

Looking at the hastily scrawled message, written secretly from the First Elder, Nahan unconsciously gritted his teeth.

He needed to chase after Castler immediately and get him back, but there was no way.

Black Wolf,

Yellow Dragon,

Ian Red.

They were all just characters he had played, not his true self.

Without his team members, in this sudden situation, his overwhelming power and the skills he had prided as the strongest in the world were useless.

“Then what am I now…?”

…What kind of existence am I, really?

Questions about his identity crept in slowly.

Despite facing a situation that needed to be resolved, his thoughts became complicated, and he felt himself becoming helpless. At that moment,

His arm, still held by Dallan, was suddenly lifted, and his field of vision spun.

“Captain!! People are gathering due to the aftermath of the battle!! We need to leave first!!”

Simultaneously, the cry of a beast echoed.

“Hold on!!”

Quickly snatched up by Ruby, Nahan boarded the beast, but he continued to stare at the spot where Castler had been kidnapped, muttering,

“Am I still…”

…such a powerless being?

# 2.

Ilsik’s hideout.

Now, with all the Elders absent following the First Elder’s orders.

“Put him in.”

“Yes… Proxy.”

Flora also followed the First Elder’s orders and placed Castler inside the cell.

Clank, clank!

Click!

The prison prepared specifically for Castler was made of special materials, and even the barrier had been personally created by the First Elder.

As she lowered the iron bars and checked the barrier’s medium, regular members of Ilsik who had awakened from the noise approached in a hurry.

“Who’s there…! F-Fourth Elder?! Regular member Russell reporting to Fourth Elder!!”

“Regular member Marsil reporting to Fourth Elder!!”

Their hair was flattened and drool marks ran down to their chins, as if they had fallen asleep during their duty.

“Ah…!! Hey, your drool…!!”

“Your hair…! Your hair…!”

As Flora quietly observed them, the two hastily tidied themselves up.

After the commotion settled down for a moment.

Russell and Marsil, looking at each other, bowed to Flora.

“We’re sorry!!”

“Please spare our lives!!”

Seeing the two trembling with fear, Flora couldn’t help but recall the time when she was captured by the Black Wolf.

-What? Are you hurt, slacker!?

-No, I’m not.

A large man and an excited child,

-Have you been eating well?

-…Yes.

-…Good.

A woman with a story and an old man,

-Castler.

-Cold Heart.

-…Sigh.

A woman with platinum hair and the seemingly mentally unstable man they had kidnapped.

And,

-It’s okay. You can tell me everything.

The saint, Yuria, with cross-shaped eyes that sparkled as she firmly held her hand.

Unlike Ilsik, which killed or spared without mercy based on usefulness, Black Wolf was a place with deep bonds between its members… truly a place where people lived, so,

-Why are you there?

-…I will never give up information.

-No. What I want isn’t information about Ilsik, but your story.

-…My story…?

Flora, weakened in body and mind, had steadfastly protected information about Ilsik but ended up sharing her own story.

The time of the massive witch hunt and how she survived alone in isolation, how she was taken in by the First Elder and became part of Ilsik.

Without any reaction, Yuria, who had been holding her hand the whole time, asked her after the story ended.

-So. At the end of your journey, do you ultimately become happy?

Flora couldn’t answer.

The end of this story was annihilation, yet she had willingly followed because it could bring down this absurd world.

-Can you be happy?

Would there truly be happiness at the end?

As Flora continued her thoughtful contemplation, she asked Russell and Marsil,

“Why did you join Ilsik?”

Facing her red eyes, the two hastily spoke up.

“I-I lost my family to the Empire!”

“Me too!”

Their desire for revenge shone through their wavering fear.

…If they were to realize that even that desire for revenge was manipulated by the Elders, where would their vengeance be directed?

Unconsciously biting her lip, Flora quietly gestured to the two.

“I need to examine the prisoner’s memories, so both of you step back for a while.”

“Yes, Fourth Elder!”

The two turned around, standing at attention.

“Russell… Marsil.”

After murmuring their names, Flora shook off her distracting thoughts and turned toward the prison.

Her gaze fell on the iron bars.

【<Germination (SSS+)> is currently active.】

Flora quietly observed Castler, who was twitching as if having a nightmare.

“…Ran.”

A name she didn’t know, escaping through pale lips.

Why?

“…Ran. What a pretty name.”

She reached out toward the murmuring that she would normally have ignored.

Immediately, a small magical formula appeared in the air.

It was meant to intervene in the <Germination> process happening to Castler to peek at his memories.

All she had to do was place her hand on the completed formula.

As Flora hesitated, still not understanding the principle behind her actions, warmth leaked from the formula and was felt through her hand.

Simultaneously, memories of Yuria surfaced.

-How to be happy? Well…? In my case, I was saved by a ‘god’ who suddenly appeared, but that’s really a rare probability.

-Oh, would you like to believe with me!!!? Our senior punisher went crazy, so there’s a vacancy–!!

-Hmm… You don’t want to? Then I won’t force you. Forceful evangelism is bad. Anyway, if I were to pass on the words from where I used to believe…

-You need forgiveness. Face your sins honestly and apologize to those affected.

Only then did Flora realize.

That she had begun to recognize the ‘sins’ she had committed.

The other Elders and the Proxy would deny it, but the person who commits a sin knows it best.

“If… all the paths I’ve walked so far were paths of sin.”

If the Proxy’s words were lies, and she was just a person who had condoned and participated in his sins.

“I…”

…What should I do now?

Fear belatedly washed over her, but the formula had already been activated,

【Caster – <Flora (SS+)> intervenes in the ultimate skill – <Germination (SSS+)>.】

【Peeking into <Castler (Ex-)>’s memories.】

She steeled herself and began her observation.

# 3.

Meanwhile, right after Flora intervened to examine Castler’s memories, the Third Elder, Silas, who had gone to locate the Yellow Dragon, returned.

“Did you find him?”

“…Well.”

“It’s alright. Don’t hesitate, just answer.”

At the First Elder’s calm words, the hesitant Silas quietly reported.

“…As soon as the Proxy ordered, I searched everywhere including the Imperial Palace and the Mercenary Union… but he’s gone. Without a trace.”

“What do you mean by ‘without a trace’?”

“…Exactly as I said. Not a speck of mana or aura, as if he never existed in the first place.”

As the First Elder contemplated Silas’s calm explanation, the full-body magic stone he was holding in his chest glowed with a small vibration.

Taking out the one connected to Hallorand and operating it, a message appeared.

[The last savior. Ian Red.]

Finally knowing the identity of the final savior.

“…So it was him after all. Well, otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen the light.”

The First Elder smiled slightly, stopped his train of thought, and interrupted Silas.

“There’s no need to find the Yellow Dragon anymore.”

“Then… who should we pursue?”

“Ian Red.”

Silas’s expression hardened instantly.

“Ian Red… Didn’t you say he was already dead?”

“That’s what I thought, but apparently not.”

The First Elder muttered, then stood up and commanded,

“Order the subordinates. Tell them to collect all information related to Ian Red.”

“…And your orders for me?”

As Silas slightly raised his head, the First Elder answered with a raised corner of his mouth,

“You will come with me to Gardner’s territory.”

“Haven’t you already… sent the 5th, 6th, and 7th Elders there?”

There were two reasons for the dispatch.

One, to investigate why the barrier was still maintained despite the celestial shield being lost.

Two, if they found the reason, to discover and retrieve the substitute.

Hearing Silas’s question, the First Elder smiled and muttered,

“Yes, I did, but since it’s related to retrieving the main body, I feel more at ease handling it personally. And… I’m personally curious about something.”

With a crack, the First Elder turned his head, his eyes gleaming ominously as he muttered,

“If we kill the hidden Emperor… how will Lactea and the Yellow Dragon react?”