Ch.220Interlude, A Story (1)

In this story, Najin was a supporting character.

As befitting a supporting character, Najin watched the two from a distance. Relieved that their story didn’t end in tragedy, Najin let out a long breath.

‘To be honest……’

Najin smiled bitterly.

‘I thought it would be a tragedy.’

400 years of waiting, love between a witch and a human, taboo.

It was a story filled with elements destined for tragedy. Even until they reached the top floor of the tower, Najin had expected tragedy. But contrary to Najin’s expectations, the story of the witch and the knight didn’t end in tragedy.

The witch who loved a human abandoned everything she had.

The essence of her distrust, the part of her soul that made her a witch, thus she gave up her identity as the “Witch of Distrust.” Just as Anton had once given up being a knight for her.

‘And that empty part……’

The part emptied by abandonment.

That part was filled by Anton’s star. Anton had achieved the unheard-of feat of two people sharing one constellation. Najin couldn’t even begin to imagine how such a thing was possible.

-Truly amazing.

And Merlin, who had watched countless stars born and die over 1000 years, showed a similar reaction to Najin’s. She looked at Anton and Lapis with amazement.

-Two people sharing one constellation, and it ‘perfectly’ supporting a constellation that lost its star? It’s impossible by common sense. Nothing like this has ever happened before. It’s truly the first case of its kind.

It is a virtue of a magician to analyze the cause and effect of everything and explore how such things are possible. But Merlin thought she didn’t want to do that at this moment.

-Perhaps, it’s also a miracle.

Sometimes there’s a need to accept a miracle simply as a miracle. Especially if it’s related to stars.

‘What’s going on? You’re not analyzing this, saying this is why this happened or that will happen.’

-What do you take me for? I have enough sensitivity to admire and applaud beautiful stories too, you know?

As Merlin grumbled, Najin smiled.

Since coming to the Outer Continent, she had been constantly witnessing someone’s demise or mourning them. That’s why an ending like this where people could ‘laugh and talk’ felt all the more welcome.

A human who gave up being a knight for a witch, Anton Kehano.

A human who gave up being a witch for a knight, Lapis.

At the end of the story, all that remained was a couple who endured 400 years for each other.

“What wouldn’t I do for my lady?”

“When you truly fall in love, you become a fool. A fool who can throw away everything, literally everything, the most foolish fool in the world.”

As Anton said, it was a story of fools.

A story of fools who were foolish, but because of that foolishness, full of romance.

2.

One story had ended. But the play wasn’t over, and the stage lights hadn’t gone out. Najin’s story was still in full swing.

But everything needs a rest.

A brief gap before the curtain falls and the next story begins. Time given to catch one’s breath, enjoy the lingering emotions, and prepare for the next story.

An intermission.

During the intermission, Najin exchanged greetings with Anton.

“There’s much to talk about, but I think this should come first.”

Anton Kehano bowed to Najin. A gentleman’s greeting following proper etiquette. After greeting, Anton extended his hand to Najin, requesting a handshake.

“Thank you. Thank you isn’t enough. You helped me beyond what you promised. I’m grateful to you. I owe you a great debt.”

“Did you enjoy the voyage? Captain.”

“Ah, what can I say.”

While shaking hands with Najin, Anton raised the corners of his mouth.

“It was the best voyage of my life. Oarsman.”

They burst into laughter. The oarsman and captain who had shared an amazing voyage took a walk together, talking. There were stories that needed to be heard now.

“The terms of our deal were that you would take me to where Lapis was, and in return, I would provide you with ‘information about Quixote and La Mancha.'”

Anton nodded.

“Promises must be kept.”

Outside the tower, feeling the sea breeze, he opened his mouth.

“Talking about La Mancha is a high-risk affair for me too. That’s why I didn’t easily share it with others.”

“If it’s high-risk?”

“Because my uncle and the Empress of Bliss would be watching me.”

Anton Kehano shrugged his shoulders.

“Think from the Empress of Bliss’s perspective. For a demon with the bad taste of controlling stars at her whim, what better jester candidate than me?”

The greatest lover. Idiot. Fool. Love-blinded lunatic. The Knight who Loved the Witch, and so on—just looking at the nicknames describing Anton, it was an understandable story.

“From my standpoint, it’s best not to catch the Empress of Bliss’s eye. Finding Lapis was already overwhelming enough, but imagine a demon with 10 stars eagerly flirting with me. How exhausting would that be?”

“It wouldn’t just stop at being exhausting.”

“Right. And if the Empress of Bliss started moving in earnest, not just me but Lapis would be in danger too. The most efficient way to make me a jester would be to secure Lapis.”

In a situation where he didn’t know where Lapis was.

Anton said he wanted to avoid competing with the forces of the Empress of Bliss in that situation.

“That’s the reason. La Mancha has become a kind of ‘taboo,’ and the moment I reveal information about it, I would attract the attention of the Empress of Bliss and my uncle.”

“……”

“Ah, no need to look so worried. I promised to tell you, didn’t I? And now that I’m with Lapis, it’s fine.”

Anton shrugged as if it was nothing.

“My lady is quite fierce, you know. A great magician who once had 9 stars at her peak. If any woman dared to flirt with me, she’d probably gouge her eyes out.”

“You absolutely must not cheat.”

“I never intended to, but considering Lapis’s personality, I should be extra careful.”

After joking around, Anton snapped his fingers to change the atmosphere.

“To talk about La Mancha, I should start with this story first.”

He began his tale.

“Originally, La Mancha was a subject in a play popular in the Kehano domain. The original was a fairy tale, I think it was called ‘The Knights of La Mancha’? I believe that was it.”

Anton briefly explained the content of the fairy tale, and although Najin had never heard of it, somehow the story felt familiar.

“Isn’t that the Arthurian legend?”

“There are many similarities. It probably was influenced by it.”

The story of knights searching for a place called La Mancha. That was the main content of ‘The Knights of La Mancha.’

“In the fairy tale, La Mancha is a kind of holy land. Not a star land, but a sacred land. A utopia where all sins are forgiven and everyone can laugh happily. It’s described as a place like heaven. I think it probably took its motif from Avalon in the Arthurian legend.”

Muttering that it was a ridiculous, foolish, and silly adventure tale, Anton smiled.

“Still, it was a good story. It made you think about what it means to be a knight.”

Anyway, he tapped his temple.

“Alonso Kehano, my uncle, was a unique character in many ways. Beyond being immersed in fairy tales, he lived his life like a fairy tale. And the story he loved most was ‘The Knights of La Mancha.'”

Anton spread his arms wide.

Then he started talking theatrically.

“Laugh! No matter what tragedy befalls you, laugh ridiculously, laugh until your belly bursts. Whether it’s a tragedy or a comedy is determined by none other than me, Alonso Kehano! He went around acting like the protagonist of the fairy tale, so that says it all.”

Was it because he was such a person?

Anton muttered and smiled bitterly.

“Even in front of the burned domain, my uncle didn’t despair. Far from despairing, he put the remaining ashes in a jar and set off on a journey. He headed in the opposite direction from me, who was seeking revenge against the witch.”

Where to? When Najin asked, Anton answered.

“La Mancha.”

At that moment, he felt a gaze.

A sticky gaze.

But Anton continued his story as if he didn’t care, as if mocking whoever was looking.

“A holy land that doesn’t exist. A heaven that doesn’t exist. A fictional place that exists only in stories. My uncle began his journey, saying he would bury the domain’s people in that place.”

What meaning or value it had, he couldn’t tell. But Anton said that Alonso Kehano called himself ‘Don Quixote,’ the protagonist from the fairy tale, and continued his journey.

“I didn’t travel with my uncle, so I don’t know the details. But I heard he traveled with a servant named Sancho and a guide called Rocinante. And one day, while I was busy catching and killing witches, a letter arrived for me.”

It should be somewhere here.

He rummaged through his clothes and pulled out a letter.

“To my dear nephew, Anton Kehano.”

Anton unfolded the letter and showed it to Najin.

“I have arrived at La Mancha. When your revenge is over, I hope you will come here too. This is an invitation from your uncle Alonso Kehano, and the ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.”

A letter with a drawing of a windmill.

Pointing at the letter, Anton said:

“When this letter arrived, I was in the middle of killing witches, so I couldn’t pay attention to it. And after meeting Lapis, it was too late. By then, my uncle was already being called ‘Quixote, Star of Contempt.'”

Anton sighed.

“Although my uncle had his ridiculous sides, he wasn’t the kind of person who would become a demon’s jester and do such things. I suspect that shortly after arriving at La Mancha, the Empress of Bliss played some kind of trick.”

“Then what is this La Mancha……”

“I don’t know what it was like at first.”

Anton handed the letter to Najin and said:

“Now that place is a graveyard of stars.”

A graveyard of stars.

Najin frowned.

“A graveyard of stars… Quixote’s?”

“I don’t know for sure either. But that place had become a graveyard of stars, and it’s the core location of Quixote, Star of Contempt. It’s also a place the Empress of Bliss wants to hide.”

Anton chuckled.

“Seeing how she’s trying to erase all information about the Knights of La Mancha, the Kehano domain, Alonso Kehano, and everything else… there must be something quite important there.”

He looked at Najin.

“It would be useful information for you who’s chasing the Empress of Bliss. What do you think? Was it helpful? If you travel with that invitation, you’ll naturally arrive at La Mancha.”

Najin, who received the letter, nodded.

“It’s definitely useful information.”

“I’m glad it helped.”

Muttering so, Anton looked at the 10 stars twinkling in the sky, the stars of the Empress of Bliss, and joked:

“Such an ardent gaze is troublesome. My heart is already mortgaged to Lapis. And even if it wasn’t…”

Anton said firmly:

“A woman without principles like you is not my type.”

3.

As if waiting for the story to end, Lapis approached Anton and put her arms around his neck. As if she wouldn’t let go after being apart for 400 years, Lapis stuck close to Anton and waved her hand affectionately toward Najin.

“So you’re the guide? Thank you!”

Lapis smiled, joking that she was grateful for bringing the stupid Anton here, and that without Najin, she might have had to wait hundreds more years. It was truly a happy smile.

“So… Najin?”

Anton, who seemed like he would continue chatting if left alone, called out to Najin, cutting off Lapis’s chatter.

“As I said earlier, you helped me beyond what you promised. Though I may have given up being a knight, I haven’t forgotten the rules of the deal and my duty as a person.”

To the blinking Najin, Anton said:

“I plan to rest for a while at that place where you first found me. The hut on the hill. I need to enjoy the conversations and romance I’ve postponed for 400 years. But you know.”

Anton thumped his heart with his fist.

“I swear on my heart.”

He raised the corners of his mouth and swore:

“Just as you rowed for me, if you ever need me, I’ll come to row for you anytime.”

“I’ll help too. Half of that oath applies to me as well.”

The assistance of a Sword Master and a great magician.

The promise of help from two transcendents.

As Najin shook hands with Anton, she suddenly blinked.

“Come to think of it, Anton?”

“What is it? Something you want to ask?”

“How many stars did you have? I don’t think I asked this before.”

“It’s certainly a belated question. Well, now we’re sharing them half and half, but…”

Anton snapped his fingers.

“I just got one star, so that makes eight.”

Seeing the eight shining stars, Najin’s eyes widened.

“Wait, were you that strong?”

“The number of stars doesn’t necessarily guarantee strength, but I’m quite strong, yes. Why, did I look weak because I seemed tired in the tower?”

Anton chuckled.

“Despite appearances, at my peak, I was a hunter who killed dozens of constellations. It wasn’t something I could have done in my right mind.”