42. Sweet Times (4)
“There is no one.”
Judah said, looking around.
Next to him, Elijah held her hand and she walked alongside.
“Because everyone who dies is dead, and everyone who can escape is gone.”
The two of them were at the home of the Bebel family.
Balak and Narcissus.
It was a mansion used by the two’s five direct children.
In Judas’ mind, this place was more like a castle than a mansion.
The scale was extraordinary.
As for how big it is, it takes a few minutes to run from the front gate of the lot fence to the central building.
“It looks like a ghost will appear.”
“Don’t worry. I’m with you.”
Judah said that while she was trustworthy in her own way, her own situation was a bit odd.
‘… Aren’t I the escort?’
It seemed that the roles kept changing.
But it was true that Elijah was stronger than she was, so she had nothing to say.
She’s not just strong, she’s overwhelmingly strong.
The reason Elijah came here was simple.
A black key taken from Balak’s bosom.
She wanted to find out where it was used.
Balak tried to retrieve the key before he died.
She may be hiding a secret number she didn’t expect.
There is no particular reason for bringing Judas.
He has to follow him wherever he goes.
It’s not a place you want to stay for very long.
It is full of unpleasant memories.
Just coming back here almost made me feel down, but she didn’t because she was with Judas.
But still, I just wanted to quickly confirm my purpose and leave.
The largest building in the center of the site is the main mansion.
The building right next to it is Balak’s magic lab.
“That building. Balak’s personal magic lab. There must be something out there that could use this key.”
A guess, but most likely.
The two went straight into the lab.
The inside was a mess.
Books and flasks were scattered in a mess, and some of the furniture was broken.
Those who ran away seemed to have stolen valuables.
Elijah also sent soldiers to collect her loot.
“I hope I didn’t touch anything that might be useful for this key.”
Elijah decided to check her drawer first.
Judas agreed with him.
The two of them walked around the large laboratory, checking each drawer with a keyhole.
But there was no hole to fit.
I tried to force open the locked drawers, but there were no drawers with great items either.
“It seems to be somewhere….”
If it’s not a drawer, something else.
But besides the drawer, is there anything I can put the key in?
Elijah decided to change the direction of her search.
“There might be a secret door or something. Judas, come behind me and hug me.”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
I don’t know why, but Judas obediently followed.
Elijah used her magic, laughing at the great warmth that enveloped him behind her. She
She created an affair around herself.
The rustling magic spreads throughout the room.
Elijah meticulously read the flow of wind embodied by magic.
“… Found.”
Among them, several strands of wind flowed in the wrong direction.
To the naked eye, it is a place blocked by a flat wall.
“… But why did you ask me to hug you?”
“Just to feel good.”
Actually, if Judas stood away from him, she might disturb the flow of the wind. She
She was hugged and she felt good, she said.
“… Aha?”
I don’t know, but Judas was good anyway, so I decided to skip it.
Elijah approached the wall through which the wind escaped.
Plump. When you tap it, it makes a sound. There is space beyond.
“I think this is a door.”
“Should I open it by force?”
“No. If it was hidden this thoroughly, some kind of trap might have been prepared.”
“Yes.”
Unlike Judas, who was simply ignorant, Elijah decided to proceed cautiously.
She looked at the books on the bookshelf next to her.
There was a hidden keyhole behind it.
She inserted the black key that Balak had left behind.
It fits perfectly.
Put it in and turn it.
– Dripping.
And the wall rotated open.
“Oh….”
While Judas was amazed and amazed, Elijah observed the area around the entrance.
Fortunately, there were no magical traps.
Beyond the door was a straight passage.
It’s dark, it’s dark, and it’s even narrow.
It is barely enough for one person to come and go.
“I’ll take the lead.”
“But….”
“Can you identify and remove magic traps early?”
“Sorry for being incompetent.”
“It’s okay. Just being by my side helps me.”
In the hands of Elijah, who only went straight ahead, Judas was led meekly.
Going down a dark road.
The deeper she went, the more Elijah wondered.
What was this space built for?
For a hidden place, there wasn’t even a magic trap or anything like that.
At the end of the passage was a door.
Not locked.
When you open it and enter, a small space comes out.
It was like a small study.
The bookshelves that lined the walls were filled with books.
As if the bookshelves weren’t enough, piles of books were piled up on the floor.
A thin layer of dust settled on it.
‘This place seems to be untouched….’
Most of them were books that even Elijah knew.
Concerning magic theory and practice.
From the basics to the advanced level.
Among them, the ones piled on the floor and scattered on the desk seemed to be books I had recently read.
It was mainly a book about magic creation and fusion.
‘What were you trying to make?’
There was also a notebook, so Elijah picked it up and opened it.
From noble mtl dot com
The traces of her research on new magic were neatly recorded.
Changes in actual implementation due to transformation of magic shapes.
Creation starting from change, and so on.
‘… What kind of magic is this?’
Elijah was also the type I had never seen before.
All of the notebooks are dense with such attempts and studies.
‘It seems to be traces of an experiment to create some kind of magic….’
Other notebooks were not much different.
‘What kind of magic were you trying to create? It seems like a target-specific magic that only activates on a specific target…. Too complex for wizards to use directly. It would be different in my country. Anyway, I think Balak was trying to implement this as an artifact.’
The resulting artifact was not difficult to find.
It was placed right on the desk.
It’s a necklace.
It is the only item in this space that emits magical waves.
From the moment I entered this place, I was concerned.
Judas was about to touch it, so Elijah took his hand and stopped him.
“I will touch it first. It could be dangerous.”
“Yes….”
For some reason, Judas felt like an immature child.
Elijah hid him behind himself and put his hand on his necklace.
‘It’s not a trap type. It’s true that I imprinted that magic earlier. After all, it is magic that aims at an external target that satisfies certain conditions…. At least me, Judas. Or it’s not dangerous to my allies.’
First of all, I took the necklace and investigated it.
After that, I looked into the study further, but there was no meaningful clue.
I couldn’t figure it out after all.
The reason why Balak tried to get the key to this place right before he died.
‘Was it my mistake to try to take out the key? That’s probably not it.’
I wouldn’t have kept the key so strictly if there wasn’t an important reason.
Anyway, there was no more information to find out here.
“Unfortunately, I have no clue…. Let’s go back.”
The two went out holding hands.
I could have teleported back, but Elijah didn’t.
I wanted to walk with Judas.
While she was with him, she briefly forgot that this was the home of the Bebel family.
After exiting the laboratory, you will come to the mansion site again.
This once luxurious place is in ruins.
I really liked the messy look of this place.
They walked side by side, but Judas spoke first.
“Did you find something?”
“I did find it, but I still don’t know what Balak was trying to do then. I’ve searched further and there’s no clue, so I’m going back. If you study this necklace, you may find out.”
“I see. What are you going to do next?”
Elijah’s goal is to destroy the Bebel family.
She tried to hit even the empire that tried to touch her at once, but lately her thoughts have changed.
Because at that time she benefited from being with Judas.
“First of all, check out what opinions the Empire is making. If negotiations break down… It may be annoying, but you will have to fight.”
But still, if the opponent doesn’t avoid the fight, I intend to retaliate.
She didn’t want to leave her hostile enemies unharmed.
“And again, if possible, I want to overthrow the Assassins Guild.”
“… An assassin’s guild?”
“Yes. Even though it was a request, they killed her mother because they executed it.”
Yuda was nervous without knowing it.
Not now, but because he belonged to the Assassins Guild in the past.
She doesn’t even remember herself, but will Elijah forgive her?
She must be considered the group of enemies who killed her mother.
I don’t know.
Even though she is a mere member of the affiliation that she herself has not practiced.
But she might be able to help Elijah’s goal if she stepped up.
“At least, I want to find the guy who killed my mother. Holding the entire organization accountable is both forced and difficult.”
At that level, she might be able to help a little.
Even at the risk.
For some reason, Elijah looked at Judas, who became serious.
It was a very complicated feeling.
In her space, which was filled with only unpleasant and difficult work, her landscape, where her own world entered, was very heterogeneous.
It felt like two elements that shouldn’t be mixed met and mixed together.
She didn’t hate it.
Her unpleasant memories seemed to fall piece by piece just by walking here with him.
Her own unique color.
Like spilled ink, the light that spread from Judas pushed away her messy past bit by bit.
“Will you tell me about the old days?”
Elijah asked abruptly.
She was in fact what she wanted to do herself, but she was shy and she asked Yuda’s doctor for nothing.
She might not like him to listen.
“An old story? Are you talking about the lady staying here?”
“Yes, yes.”
“That’s nice.”
When the agreement was reached, Elijah smiled.
Even though it’s not a big deal, she just liked his positivity.
“See over there?”
Elijah pointed to a corner of her lot.
“What…. Is that building?”
“Yes. This is the building I lived in when I lived here.”
“… It doesn’t look like an inhabited building.”
In his eyes, that small and low building was suitable for a warehouse.
At first glance, the interior space is narrow, and in winter, cold wind seems to permeate through it.
Although it’s a dreary place now, it wasn’t hard to envision this luxurious estate in its heyday.
But the flat building must have been shabby and unsightly even in the old days.
It doesn’t fit like an isolated picture.
Elijah just laughed.
“Right. It is not actually a building used by people. It used to be a warehouse, but when the dungeon was full, it was used as a temporary prison or as a torture chamber.”
“… ….”
“Then, since I came here about 10 years ago, it has been my home.”
Judah couldn’t bear to speak.
I wanted to say something.
Sympathy or comforting words.
But she couldn’t dare imagine the pain and alienation she must have been through, so she shut her mouth.
A hasty empathy is only selfish.
She held her hand tighter instead.
That alone was enough for Elijah to feel her comfort.
“And the place over there is the study room. When I was being taught by a tutor, I had to walk there. When she learned etiquette, she moved to the main building in the center.”
It was too far for a child to walk.
Elijah covered the scenery of those days over the present.
A time when I was terribly suffering.
Still, she didn’t know her mother was dead.
She believed that one day her mother would come back and take her away.
She prayed every night.
She didn’t even know it was an unreachable prayer.
“It used to be. She once lost her doll. Back then, I was carrying a teddy bear.”
Judah sneakily looked into Elijah’s bosom.
A cat doll held in her opposite arm.
‘… It was cute from then on.’
She imagined that Elijah holding a teddy bear would be very cute, and she even held it up.
“It was her last present from her mother, but she suddenly disappeared and was distracted. So she wandered around the entire site until dawn, which she later found out was Achan stole and hid it.”
“… ….”
“I walked around this wide area until her feet were swollen, but she didn’t help me. Not even trying to help.”
At the time, Balak was also aware of Elijah’s wandering around.
Elijah also noticed and hoped to help her, but he did not intervene.
Because when Balak intervenes, the intended imbalance collapses.
At that time, Elijah resented Balak.
She even thinks that she is rather fortunate now.
Because she was so cruel, she was able to kill without mercy or regret.
“That’s when I realized. Ah, there is no one on my side in this wide world. In the end, people have no choice but to stand up alone.”
There was, but it disappeared.
She said that she didn’t dare.
That’s not what she wants to tell you now.
“By the way, it didn’t exist.”
Elijah grinned at Judas.
Her own unique color.
She is towards the man who is the world she lives in itself.
She was always ready to show him this unadorned bare face.
“Remember what I said before? Words that curse me are nothing more than piling up leaves.”
“I remember.”
“It’s enough to clean up the fallen leaves in the yard. However, the fallen leaves that accumulated in my heart remained in my heart even after I removed them. By the way, you removed the fallen leaves.”
A welcome visitor to the cage.
Anemones.
And fireflies.
The child who threw the fallen leaves he could not clean up out of the cage.
The origin was right in front of her eyes.
My heart was filled with him.
Elijah embraced him.
Like a month she fell to herself one day, she approached herself this time she herself.
A sense of satisfaction as if embracing the entire universe swelled in my heart.
A being who is always willing to give his arms to himself like this.
She laughed.
Words that resonate and shake the vast empty space.
“Thank you for coming to me.”
If only he hadn’t come.
If only we hadn’t crashed.
There would never have been an anemone blooming in a cage, and he would never have experienced such heart-pumping emotions himself.
Her Judah saw her bright smile and gained her enlightenment.
Now, she was overwriting her bad memories with herself.
Since the scars left in her heart could not be erased, she was drawing anew herself.
Yuda wanted to be the color and brush.
She hugged her as hard as she could.
Looking at her, he also received a lot from her.
It is not simply material things such as food, clothing and shelter.
Because he had become infected with Elijah before he knew it, his world was operating with Elijah as its central axis.
A small body temperature that fits comfortably in your chest.
Small, warm, precious.
It fits like a person prepared for himself.
Judas hugged her quietly.
Until the memories of this place are sufficiently melted by your own body temperature.
Just be quiet.
Then Elijah slowly raised her head.
Naturally, I hugged Judas by the neck and slightly lifted my tiptoe.
In the ruins with no obstacles, approach the moment you have been waiting for.
Even Judas was gently drawn to her.
Slightly twists her head, lowers it.
The moment was very slow, like petals falling.
Embrace them gently.
The lips parted slowly, making no sound.
I quietly touch you.
As slow as it was, the body temperature and the texture of the skin were clear.
Warm, soft and moist. The closer they got, the stronger their scent became.
Wait to exchange exhalation through the nose.
The falling of the lips was just as slow as when they touched.
When Judas opened his eyes, he saw Elijah crying.
Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.
However, the corner of her mouth was smiling to the fullest, giving her a happy expression that couldn’t be better.
Judah said nothing and hugged her tightly.
It wasn’t a moment that needed words.
Language is just a means to convey thoughts and feelings.
If the heart touches, the language is cumbersome.
Heart beats in sync.
Coming and going breathing.
Share the body temperature.
Residual heat left on each other’s lips.
It was enough for my heart to reach.
Enfolded in her cosmic arms, Elijah laughed and wept.
It was a life like dust thrown into the air, but he was willing to hug him.
Although it was the moon that shined because of itself, it was enough for the whole universe to shine with its small rising light.
A vast site with only two people.
In the middle of the desolate Bebel family home, the two felt that the world was full of each other.
Suddenly, the unpleasant memories of Elijah’s experiences here disappeared as if they had been burned.
