# Chapter 28
Ion’s eyes widened, and his surprised lips parted further.
“What… did you just say…?”
“Try to understand it the first time I say it.”
Hest clicked his tongue habitually and kindly repeated:
“If you restore the damaged core, Levi will come back to life.”
THUD—!
Unable to control his emotions, Ion jumped to his feet and slammed his hands hard on the table, his face excited. The untouched tea trembled as if about to spill over.
“H-how do I restore this?! How can he come back to life?!”
Ion opened the box to show its contents. Seeing Levi’s core inside, Hest smirked.
“You seemed like an idiot, but you kept it safe after all.”
Despite saying this, Hest had expected Ion to have Levi’s core with him.
❖ ❖ ❖
Levi’s first and last request to Hest:
If he were to die, protect Ion.
Levi had told him that Ion was being pursued by slave traders. Hest certainly thought that if he, a son of Marquis Wesslon of the Delos Empire, stayed by Ion’s side, he could keep those traders at bay to some extent.
But Hest didn’t like Ion. As for Ion’s left-handed ability, he’d heard about it verbally through Levi and had seen with his own eyes how it made flowers bloom, so he could believe it well enough.
However, regardless of such a good ability, he couldn’t tolerate anything that negatively affected Levi.
“You’re asking me to look after someone who not only changed your territory but also healed and released all those humans you were using as food? Absolutely not.”
“Hest.”
No matter how much Levi requested it, that was the one thing he didn’t want to do.
Levi, who consumed the life energy released when humans died as food, inevitably had to take lives to survive. Otherwise, his hunger would intensify, potentially causing him to indiscriminately attack nearby humans.
If that happened, Levi, who was quietly living in seclusion, risked being exposed to the outside world. Then there would be people who’d consider him a monster and try to eliminate him. Just like before.
Determined to prevent this, Hest had been contemplating how to resolve Levi’s food source issue from the moment he realized Levi had regenerated.
During this time, he heard about the Numinel disease that had suddenly become epidemic in the southern part of the Delos Empire. Though the patients were quarantined, being within the Delos Empire, the authorities wanted to send them out of the country.
Coincidentally, there was an abandoned village not far from Levi’s territory, the Black Forest, and Hest subtly suggested to his father, Marquis Wesslon, that they be isolated there.
Thus, the Numinel disease patients came to live together in the abandoned village near the Black Forest. As expected, one by one, they developed incurable necrosis and wished for death in their suffering. Levi was able to use his power for them while simultaneously obtaining food.
Moreover, the Black Forest, full of death energy, was the optimal place for Levi, allowing him to endure longer with less food. The compatibility between Levi and Ion, who suddenly intruded into the Black Forest, was practically the worst.
Dead grass and flowers came back to life, and the thorny trees that had absorbed humans and corpses to fill themselves with death energy now radiated vibrant life. For Levi, such environmental changes inevitably increased the consumption of food needed to sustain his life. In the midst of this, when the Numinel disease patients, who were essentially irregular food providers, were liberated and left the abandoned village, Levi foresaw that his limit would soon come.
“Ion is a good kid.”
“Good or not, he’s as good as someone trying to kill you. Why should I help him?”
When Hest expressed clear dissatisfaction, Levi gently grasped his hand.
“I’ll grant you one wish, anything you want.”
“No… That’s…”
It was an apology for a year and a half ago when Hest had abruptly cut Levi’s throat to confirm it was really him. To use that for such a brat.
Feeling his insides boil, Hest let out an irritated sigh.
“Of course… if you ask, I’ll do it. I will, but…”
Hest’s face contorted painfully in a way unlike him.
“Can’t I just bring you humans to feed on? Criminals, or even slaves would do.”
He whined to Levi as if he had returned to a distant past childhood that Levi couldn’t remember. It would be a scene that would horrify Ion if he saw it.
Levi shook his head without hesitation.
“I… can’t be a murderer anymore.”
He gave a gentle smile as he thought of Ion.
“Ion doesn’t want me to be a murderer.”
Having seen Ion healing Numinel patients, Levi had figured out why he went to such lengths. After understanding his intentions, he could no longer take lives for food.
Seeing Levi’s smile, Hest had no choice but to finally give up trying to persuade him.
A few days later, to fulfill Levi’s request, he prepared a Delos Empire travel pass and proof that Ion was a distinguished guest of his family. Feeling it was too little to just bring those items in a small box, he also packed various foods.
“Ion likes meat.”
Remembering what Levi had casually mentioned, Hest personally selected quality meats to pack, all while constantly grumbling.
‘That damn Ion, Ion, Ion.’
He was frustrated and annoyed that he had to pack such things for a mere brat. Yet, thinking that the current Levi, having lost his memories, wouldn’t even know what meat tasted like, he meticulously included vegetables and seasonings to accompany it.
“I’m not packing this because you’re pretty, so eat it with some tact.”
When he handed over the packed bag with some harsh words out of frustration, the small boy glared back intensely, bristling.
Then suddenly, like a child, he smiled brightly.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I can make something delicious for Levi.”
Having said that, Ion examined the food in the bag, murmuring enthusiastically.
This one I’ll cook well for Levi, this one I’ll boil soft for Levi, this one I’ll make sweet like the flowers Levi likes.
Levi, Levi, Levi.
Seeing an adult-like smile on the face of Ion, who had seemed like a naive child, Hest acknowledged for the first time:
That it wasn’t just Levi unilaterally sacrificing and loving, but that this little boy also held emotions no less intense toward him.
❖ ❖ ❖
Recalling the former Levi and Ion, Hest took out the black sphere from the box.
“…It’s properly broken.”
It was in poor condition, looking as if it might crumble at the slightest touch. Ion hung his head low.
“While protecting me from the slave traders… he ended up like this.”
Glancing at the drooping Ion who looked like he might cry again, Hest rose from his seat.
“I bet. Even if Levi wasn’t in his right mind, I figured you’d rather die yourself.”
“…”
Hest held the core up to the light streaming through the window, examining it from various angles, before placing it back in the box.
“The damage is severe, so regeneration will take quite some time.”
“Quite… how long…?”
“Well.”
Hest answered, thinking of past events.
“I’ve seen Levi die twice.”
“…!”
Ion looked at Hest with surprised eyes. To have witnessed Levi’s death not once but twice.
“The first time was when I was five years old. He died trying to save me.”
Hest’s expression darkened slightly.
“It was just cracked, and it took about a year to regenerate. He still retained most of his previous memories then.”
“Then the second time…?”
Hest traced his vague memories carefully to answer:
“Some fragments had broken off, so it took about seven years for him to open his eyes again. That’s the Levi you met… and as you know, he had lost all his memories.”
Reflecting on that time, Hest extended his finger to point at the black sphere in the box. It was a precarious core with cracks all over and some fragments damaged and missing.
“This is more severely damaged than that time.”
Ion’s face quickly fell.
“It will take much longer. Naturally… he won’t remember us either.”
Hest’s face darkened as much as Ion’s. Despite experiencing this for the third time, his fingertips trembled slightly.
According to Hest, the more severe the damage to the core, the longer the regeneration takes, and along with that, memories are lost.
10 years, 20 years, 30 years.
No one knows how long it might take.
He’ll open his eyes having completely forgotten even about himself.
Just as he had forgotten Hest and his mother.
But Ion did not despair.
Instead, a resolute light settled on his face.
“As long as Levi comes back to life, I don’t mind.”
He could wait however long it took.
If Levi had forgotten him, he would just build new memories.
If only he could see Levi again, he would do anything.
The Ion who had been like an invalid was nowhere to be seen; all that remained was a boy who wanted nothing more than to save his precious person, no matter what.
