Ch.207The Romanticist (2)

I have a talent for finding people.

It wasn’t just empty boasting to Anton Kehano; I truly was confident in this skill.

What was the first job I took up when I came of age, armed with just a blade? Finding people. Tracking down those who ran off with money, betrayers, and those in hiding—that was my first occupation.

Though I’d only done this work within the limited setting of an underground city, people are people wherever they live, aren’t they?

‘Ah, a postman’s uniform would be perfect right now.’

I smacked my lips unconsciously.

Reminiscing about my days in the underground city reminded me of the postman’s uniform I always wore while working. Just as knights don armor and chefs wear hats and aprons, I would sling on a postman’s bag and pull down a cap before starting work.

Making do with what I had, I loosened my free knight’s attire and cleared my throat a few times.

“So, what kind of person are you looking for?”

First, information gathering.

“It would help if you could tell me their characteristics or where they might be staying, in as much detail as possible. Let’s start with what you know. First off.”

“You’re quite professional about this.”

Anton smiled and folded his arms.

“I’m looking for a woman who disappeared about 400 years ago—427 years, 7 months, and 21 days ago, to be exact.”

“What was your relationship with her?”

“A passionate one. One-sided, perhaps, but I even got my heart pierced once. Ah, I was the one who got pierced. She was a fiery woman.”

“…Were you enemies, by any chance?”

“Why such a brutal assumption? I told you. It was a passionate relationship. She played hard to get at first, but after I confessed many times, she finally accepted me.”

“How many times did you confess?”

“Is that a necessary question?”

“No, just curious.”

“I like your honesty. Let’s see. More than 50 times, but fewer than 100, I think.”

My expression became peculiar.

“At that point, didn’t she accept you just to make you stop?”

“No, my feelings got through to her.”

“Well, anyway. So you were lovers?”

“You could say that. Though she left me right after we spent one passionate night together. Ah, I swear on my honor and manhood that it wasn’t because the night was unsatisfactory. It was the best night for both of us.”

Anton stroked his well-trimmed beard and exhaled a long sigh.

“Her leaving me had more to do with external factors.”

“External factors?”

“The eyes of the world… though that’s not quite right. Neither of us was the type to care about others’ opinions. In this case, the problem was someone like her parent. A very overbearing mother-in-law.”

Mother-in-law? Parental opposition?

My expression grew even more peculiar. I’d seen this story somewhere before. I think I’d read something similar in one of the romance novels tucked among the books Dieta had lent me.

“D-did you read that? Why is it here?”

“Huh? It was just there.”

“That’s not a book I chose! I, um, I asked the staff to select some books, and they must have included that one.”

The image of Dieta stammering with a bright red face flashed briefly through my mind.

“Anton, aren’t you a transcendent?”

“That’s right.”

“And what about this woman?”

“She was a transcendent too. Powerful enough to put a hole through my heart.”

“Do parents interfere in the love affairs of transcendents? Are these parents transcendents too?”

“Ah, a transcendent indeed. The strongest in the world, in fact.”

What does that mean?

I tilted my head in confusion.

“The strongest in the world? Is that a metaphor? Like how parents can become incredibly strong for their children’s sake…”

“No, not a metaphor—it’s the truth. And I doubt there was anything like parental affection between her and her mother-in-law.”

“Who on earth was she?”

“A witch.”

The moment Anton Kehano uttered the word “witch,” I felt a chill run down my spine. It wasn’t of my own volition.

-……

It was Merlin’s emotions flowing into me through our connection. Merlin had several sore spots, and witches were one of them. But it was only momentary; Merlin soon took a deep breath and tried to compose herself.

She tried to, at least.

“The Witch of Abyss.”

Anton’s additional words derailed that attempt.

Thump—my heart pounded heavily. The emotions I felt from Merlin were incredibly intense. Unaware of my inner turmoil, Anton shrugged and continued.

“All witches have one unwritten rule.”

Anton clicked his tongue.

“They must never become involved with humans. My lover broke that rule, so the Witch of Abyss, who is like a mother to all witches, punished her. Damn it all.”

Anton Kehano.

“Ah, I forgot to mention this.”

He calls himself a romantic, a lover of the century, but others have different names for him.

“The woman I loved was a witch. The Witch of Distrust, Lapis.”

The Knight who Loved the Witch.

The Idiot Blinded by Love.

“She was one hell of a fiery woman.”

One of only three such idiots in human history stroked his beard and smiled.

2.

My expression grew complicated.

Dating a witch? The witches I knew were a race that spent their lives contemplating how best to burn humans. Weren’t witches a race that lived solely to kill humans?

“Why, find that strange?”

“It’s a bit awkward to say, but yes, I do.”

“I understand. Before I met her, I had the same thoughts as you. Witches? Aren’t those just pyromaniacs who get a thrill from burning humans? That was my preconception. Well, it’s not entirely wrong.”

I still think that way.

Anton chuckled as he said this.

“I didn’t fall in love with a witch. That’s just a very secondary label that came along with loving her. I didn’t love Lapis because she was a witch; it just happened that the woman I loved was a witch.”

“Did you meet her without knowing she was a witch?”

“No? I knew from our first meeting.”

“……”

“Look, boy. That’s how love works. When you truly love someone, everything else becomes secondary. That’s what Lapis was to me.”

It wasn’t the most convincing explanation, but I nodded anyway, knowing we wouldn’t get anywhere if I didn’t.

“Do you have any other clues?”

“Plenty. I haven’t just been tending to flower beds here for 400 years.”

Anton took a short breath and began.

“Koelmel Gorge. Lake Galid. Osgal Ruins. Hormein Great Forest. Waibel Falls. Daunon Gorge. Tomb of Stars. Battlefield of Stars. Bedad Great Ruins…”

He listed countless place names, ruins, and gorges. After several dozen minutes of reciting locations, Anton added:

“These are all the places I’ve searched over the past 400 years.”

“……”

“I’ve looked everywhere she might be. But there wasn’t a trace. I’m certain she’s somewhere on the Outer Continent, but I’ve run out of ideas on where to look next.”

“At this point…”

Just as I was about to say “isn’t she dead,” Anton cut me off.

“She’s alive. That’s certain. My heart is still beating. I’m warning you—don’t spout nonsense about her being dead in front of me.”

Anton’s gaze turned sharp as he looked at me. A gaze that felt chilling. Soon after, he relaxed his eyes and gave a sly smile.

“Well, that’s how it is. Honestly, I don’t have high expectations of you. If I couldn’t find a trace after searching the Outer Continent thoroughly for 400 years, how could you?”

“We won’t know until we try, will we?”

“I like your confidence. Alright. As a clue, she used to always say this.”

Muttering to himself, Anton then spoke in a sing-song voice:

Ah, Anton. Anton, you’re worse than a dog.

If I ever leave you,

It’s most likely because I got bored of you, but since I’m a woman with a heart wider than the ocean, I might take interest in you again if you come looking for me.

I’m telling you this because you’re as clueless as a flea. And let me add a few more things: I love watching the sun. I especially love watching it from very high places. Got it? Nod if you understand, before I bite those lips off.

“…Hmm.”

She certainly is fiery. I first organized the necessary information from Anton’s recitation.

“A place where the sun is visible, and somewhere high—those are our clues.”

“That’s right.”

“There might be countless such places on the continent, but on the Outer Continent, this could be a definitive clue.”

Places where the sun is visible are rare on the Outer Continent.

Though the location was narrowed down, it was still insufficient. I mentally addressed Merlin.

‘Do you know anything, Merlin?’

-I do. A lot. So much that I don’t know where to begin.

She didn’t seem particularly pleased.

-Do you know my nickname?

‘The Great Archmage?’

-Not that one.

‘Arthur’s Guide.’

-Not that either.

Merlin sighed and said:

-Witch Slayer. The being who has killed the most witches in history. The witches I’ve killed or crippled with my own hands number at least in the triple digits.

In the Empire’s history, there’s a brief sentence: “The Great Archmage Merlin despised witches and demons, and subjugated them.” Merlin elaborated on what was condensed in that sentence.

-There was a time when I destroyed their circles, burned them alive, drowned them, cut them into pieces, and tried every method to eradicate witches… I learned quite a bit about witches during that period. I do remember this “Witch of Distrust” he’s talking about.

With an expression like she’d bitten into a bug, Merlin grumbled with obvious displeasure:

-I don’t remember her name, but it’s probably right. Ask him if Lapis the witch had a long scar across her chest.

I did as instructed. When I asked, “That witch Lapis, didn’t she have a long scar across her chest?” Anton’s eyes widened.

“How do you know that? Have you met her? Wait a moment. That would mean you’ve seen my woman’s chest… I’m torn between being happy that you might have a lead on her and being angry that another man has seen her chest.”

“I haven’t actually seen it, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

She says that’s right, I relayed to Merlin, who nodded.

-Then it’s her. A witch I’ve met before. It’s complicated, but she’s also a witch I spared.

‘Really?’

-Very, very reluctantly, but I absolutely hate to admit it, there is a way to know where that witch might be.

What? My eyes widened.

When I told Anton I had an excellent guide, I hadn’t expected much from Merlin. I didn’t think she would be of such great help.

‘Help as in…’

Since Anton was from 400 years ago, I thought Merlin would at most confirm what happened during that time from her encyclopedic knowledge.

-You seem to be thinking something very disrespectful.

‘I was just thinking how great Merlin is.’

-…Really?

‘The Great Archmage. History’s most capable guide. Always showing me the way…’

While Merlin would die of embarrassment when listing her own achievements with “Who am I?”, she showed no such modesty when others praised her accomplishments.

-Hmph.

Smiling with satisfaction, Merlin gestured with her chin, as if saying “continue.” After I praised her for a while, she finally seemed to be in a better mood and nodded firmly, folding her arms.

-I can’t help it. I, the Great Archmage and most capable guide, will show you the way. Just follow me!

3.

“Are you serious?”

“I’d like to ask my guide the same thing. Is this for real?”

“Where is this guide of yours?”

“Inside me.”

“Do you have a mental illness?”

The direction Merlin pointed.

Walking confidently in that direction, telling Anton “Just follow me,” Najin had to stop in his tracks. Najin and Anton stood still, staring ahead.

“You want us to cross this?”

Anton pointed forward.

Before them stretched an enormous lake. No, could it even be called a lake? It would be more accurate to call it a sea.

And this sea was swirling with whirlpools, lightning strikes (surprisingly, from below upward rather than from above), and reefs that rose like spikes before disappearing back into the depths…

OOOOOOOOOOOH!

Sea creatures large enough to swallow a castle whole swam across the surface, flaunting their size. Watching them, Najin turned to Merlin. With an innocent expression, Merlin tilted her head and returned Najin’s gaze.

-What?

‘Do we have to cross this?’

-Yes. She seems to be on the other side.

Najin looked in the direction Merlin was pointing. She was indicating the far side of this sea.

“Good heavens.”

What the hell.

Najin slapped his forehead with a thud.