Kalian was engulfed in incomprehensible suspicion while looking at Elijah.
Jade Ilisian was a person from two centuries ago, so it’s natural that people of this era don’t know him well. Yet wasn’t this person speaking as if he’d directly experienced him?
Jade Ilisian was a dark magician who decorated a page of history in a very bad way. In ‘History of the Magic Towers,’ a required subject in magic classes, his life was documented in quite detail.
He, who was once one of the magicians protecting the Holy Hall, became possessed by strange ambition one day. The book speculated that he’d dabbled in dark magic. In any case, he suddenly gave up his position as a royal palace magician and went into hiding.
And when he reappeared in the world after quite some time, he was no longer a benevolent magician. Murder, theft, kidnapping, magic tower terrorism, and so on…… There’s no end to listing the crimes he committed.
He went around slums throughout the country, kidnapping children born with magical power and making them his disciples. They were talents who could have originally been recruited to the royal palace to display their abilities.
Although it wasn’t known in detail what he did with them, in any case, he was a notorious criminal at the time. The destruction of magic towers in all four directions, the damage to numerous ancient sacred relics—it was all his doing.
“Um, Elijah-ssi, did your master by any chance say he was Jade Ilisian?”
This must be impersonation. Someone was clearly impersonating a great villain of the past. This was a serious matter important enough to return to the royal palace and immediately summon the Holy Hall’s magicians.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but Jade Ilisian already died two centuries ago. So right now, Elijah-ssi, you’re thoroughly mistaken about something……”
“It’s not a mistake. Because I personally handled his remains.”
“……”
At that point, Kalian and Bailey looked at each other. See……? I told you he’s crazy……? Bailey sent with his eyes the words he couldn’t say out loud with the person in question right in front of them.
* * *
So, according to the crazy bastard, it was like this.
He was one of Jade Ilisian’s disciples. In other words, he meant he was one of the children kidnapped by Jade.
Jade died at age 98. He didn’t know the details, but while attempting some significant undertaking, he failed and was gravely injured. All his disciples also died from that incident, and only Elijah and Jade barely survived, but Jade, who was already elderly, didn’t live much longer.
Kalian thought he knew what incident he was talking about. If Jade really died at 98, it aligned timing-wise with the fire incident at Celeste Monastery in the east. Though it was a fact learned later, Celeste Monastery had been their hideout.
After that fire, Jade and his disciples also went missing, disappearing into a page of history. Regardless of whether Elijah’s words were false or true, the pieces roughly fit with historical records.
In any case, Elijah has been alive for a full 200-plus years since he died. He said it was purely because of magical power.
“But why can’t you control your magical power yourself?”
Bailey, who euphemistically asked why he caused accidents so constantly without warning if he was such a great person when he should be able to control his magical power himself, glared at him.
“……I don’t know. I think I’ve forgotten how to control it myself from not using magic for too long.”
Tsk, Kalian clicked his tongue with an awkward expression. Bailey’s gaze boring into the side of his head stung.
In fact, if not for the last statement, he would have thought some vicious bastard had impersonated Jade Ilisian and poor Elijah had been played by him.
But the Jade that Elijah described was a person from historical records two whole centuries ago, and he himself was even someone who lived in the same era as Jade.
With that face that looked at most in his early twenties.
‘What do I do, he really was a crazy bastard……’
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe my story.”
“You know yourself that it’s an absurd story……?”
Bailey made a quite sarcastic remark, but Elijah didn’t yield.
If they treated him as a mental patient, let them do so as much as they wanted. Whether they believed it or not, Elijah didn’t care. In any case, as long as he diverted their interest from Rose and escaped this village with their help, that was enough.
“Anyway……, then you haven’t dabbled in dark magic, right?”
Kalian’s persistence toward him seemed truly wondrous to Bailey. Was it now okay even if he was a bit crazy?
“Master hated dark magic more than anyone.”
“Yes……, then that’s fine……, I, I respect that.”
As someone who had experienced dispelling Elijah’s magic, Kalian was certain of at least one thing: that he hadn’t dabbled in dark magic.
Right. Well, that’s enough…… When people are too smart, their thinking also deviates from the normal scope. Though he has strange delusions, outwardly he seems fine enough, so it should be okay to take him to the royal palace.
“Um, if we end up going to the royal palace together, it would be best not to speak the name Jade Ilisian.”
For Kalian, this was truly a concession made a hundred times over.
“Of course I believe your words, but the public’s view isn’t like that. In this era, the name ‘Ilisian’ has deep connections with cult groups that practice dark magic.”
“……I understand.”
Elijah answered with a noticeably depressed face. Without his knowledge, his master’s name had been receiving such disgraceful treatment in the world—it didn’t feel good.
“Kalian-gyeong, the inn owner wants compensation for the floor repair……”
Hieek. Seeing Adam enter, startled Elijah took in a small breath and shrank his shoulders. Adam, seeing him, was equally displeased. Though he’d already heard the full story from Bailey, thinking about how he’d almost become a frog for life because of Elijah made him thoroughly uncomfortable and scared.
“Adam, I told you not to barge in like that because Elijah-ssi gets startled.”
Moreover, Kalian’s words made Adam’s mood even more uncomfortable. His broad face twisted menacingly as he protested his grievance.
“Strictly speaking, I’m the victim, so why should I be mindful of him?”
“Vi, victim! Didn’t you try to harm me first!”
Elijah shouted back without backing down. Though his body was trembling, his attitude was quite spirited.
“You tried to hit me first. You also robbed my mushrooms.”
Though it ended up looking like he was tattling to Kalian, he still felt wronged.
“I was just trying to defend myself!”
“Does that mean you can ruin someone’s life? If not for Kalian-gyeong, I would have lived my whole life as a frog and died!”
“That wasn’t intentional……!”
“Stop, stop it, Elijah-ssi. You stop too. I’ve heard enough about both your situations.”
It was purely a war of words. Kalian couldn’t watch any longer this war of attrition where both were too afraid of each other to recklessly attack, pointlessly blaming each other’s rights and wrongs.
“It’s hard to say there’s no fault on either side, and we need Adam’s guidance immediately, so let’s both reconcile and end it here.”
“But he……”
“Elijah-ssi, please also consider my position of losing a precious cloak in an instant. Before returning to the royal palace, I need to collect several sacred relics, and if I lose my cloak and can’t collect the relics either, it’ll be hard for me to defend Elijah-ssi to the Grand Mage.”
“……”
Finally, Elijah’s mouth shut tight. Since he’d already caused a similar accident at the previous inn and now caused another major accident, he was in no position to say anything even with ten mouths. He lowered his eyes, clenching his still-trembling hands into fists.
Adam was also someone for whom the compensation he’d receive from Kalian was important, so the meaningless fight came to an end in that instant.
* * *
‘I am Igrit, Avatar of Fire. You?’
‘I’m Elijah.’
‘That’s it? Nothing else?’
‘……Just Elijah.’
“……lijah-ssi, Elijah-ssi?”
Eyes that had been dozing snapped open. His forehead hurt, perhaps from bumping into the carriage wall. He felt like he’d dreamed something, but couldn’t remember well. Elijah looked outside the window with dazed eyes. It was afternoon with the sun setting.
“Wake up soon. We’re almost at our destination.”
They said they needed to collect sacred relics buried in the collapsed magic tower. The magic tower was currently a restricted-access area, and those who knew the geography were rare.
“The previous generation of magicians already collected various sacred relics. Those relics are now resting peacefully in the Royal Palace Holy Hall. It’s truly amazing that despite collecting so many, there are still unburned relics remaining underground.”
“……Is that so?”
Elijah, who had been half-listening to Kalian’s explanation, nodded. The desolate magic tower, like an abandoned ruins, was covered with the debris of collapsed buildings.
Elijah knew what the eastern magic tower looked like before it collapsed. The tall magic tower that seemed to pierce the sky had been so huge it was visible even from the monastery where they lived.
On days when the air was clear, the bird decoration atop the magic tower was clearly visible, but now that bird decoration had one wing buried in the ground.
……He definitely felt like he’d been here directly before.
For some reason, he couldn’t remember well. Only the back of Master, who always looked at the magic tower through some window, came to mind.
“Elijah-ssi, this way.”
Elijah, who had been standing still looking at the bird decoration stuck in the ground, suddenly turned his head. Following Adam’s guidance at the very front, a small passage connected to underground appeared.
