Chapter 22
“Theo went to such a dangerous place…?!”
Lucian asked in horror at the words he heard during a short break from training with Zephyros.
“You didn’t know?”
“…Have we had a proper conversation lately?”
Perhaps he was avoiding Theo a little. Not completely avoiding him, but he was extremely wary of being left alone with him in the dorm.
“I thought you guys shared a room?”
“We did.”
“But you haven’t talked?”
“I’ve been… busy.”
It didn’t seem like something that could be explained with just three words.
Zephyros glanced at Lucian and decided not to pry any further.
“Theo is certainly a bit reckless.”
He was a fellow whose thoughts you couldn't even guess from his composed face.
He seemed cautious, but he was also a fellow who would subtly sacrifice himself for others.
Zephyros suddenly looked at the wooden sword he was holding.
It seemed the arduous training of the past few days was effective; in just a few days, Lucian had improved by leaps and bounds, making it hard to recall how he was at the beginning.
Perhaps it was the influence of the holy sword, he was catching up to the swordsmanship skills Zephyros had accumulated over a lifetime at a frightening speed.
However, Zephyros was a Wind Master of the Duchy of Nevera.
That also meant he could see and hear much more than other students.
What came out of the abandoned mine dungeon was an ancient demon.
A demon that even ‘Evan Lisitoel’, called the strongest mage of the modern era, could not annihilate even after using ‘that magic’, and had to settle for chasing it away.
The time Lucian had earned was nothing more than a fleeting moment compared to the time Theo had earned.
No matter how much he couldn't properly draw out the power of the holy sword, a hero is a hero. Theo had bound such a demon, which even the hero had been busy just enduring, for a long time.
Though he almost died, it was an event that could be called a miracle or an extraordinary feat.
Although he had controlled the information because there was nothing good to be gained from it being known that a mere transfer student had performed an extraordinary feat, he probably couldn't control the wind.
Zephyros had deliberately approached Theo.
It was an impure approach.
Theo, seen up close, was fragile enough to break with a touch, but because of that, he could be even more certain.
“But, Theo is stronger than you.”
Blessed talent, the leisureliness that oozed from his attitude, even the delicacy of looking after his opponent before himself─
All were things Theo could possess because he was strong.
“…….”
Lucian’s body flinched at Zephyros’s harsh words.
It was a clear agitation, but Zephyros didn’t mind.
Right now, Zephyros was a teacher giving instruction before being a classmate. Zephyros had to tell Lucian the truth as a teacher.
“Lucian, you know it too.”
It’s not a matter of body durability or strength.
“What you’re doing right now isn’t worrying, it’s being arrogant. It’s a rabbit worrying about a tiger.”
It is a truth that is not mixed with any lies or exaggeration, and therefore, it is a truth that is crueler than anything else.
“I know that well.”
That was the problem.
“It’s a problem because I know it too well.”
Lucian looked at his tattered palms. He tried his best, but he felt like he was getting further and further away.
“So, I’ll get stronger.”
Lucian clenched his fist and looked straight at Zephyros.
“So I can catch up to Theo.”
I won't just helplessly watch anymore.
Looking at Lucian’s eyes, Zephyros let out a chuckle.
Is this why he was chosen by the holy sword?
Zephyros stretched the corners of his mouth and held out his hand to Lucian.
“Alright, I’ll help you too.”
Lucian stared blankly at that hand as if surprised.
As the empty hand lingered in the air, Zephyros, feeling awkward, chided him.
“What? You don’t want to hold my hand?”
At that question, Lucian hurriedly asked back.
“Is it okay to shake your hand?”
“I’m not a weakling like that fellow, Theo. My hand bones won’t break.”
Well, that wasn’t the kind of question it was.
No matter how much they hung out together… Lucian was a commoner and an orphan. He wondered if it was okay to hold hands with the noble young master of Nevera.
But, at that answer, Lucian was somehow able to smile a little for the first time.
“Let’s give him a piece of our mind when he comes back. He’s a fellow who stubbornly went to a dangerous place, so he deserves a scolding.”
“Is that okay?”
“Just because he’s weak doesn’t mean you can’t scold him, right?”
Lucian smiled as if agreeing with Zephyros’s words.
Yes, that was right. Just because he was weak didn't mean you couldn't scold him.
Just because he was weak, it wouldn't be impossible to even walk with Theo.
It’s not that he’s not afraid.
The holy sword still felt like a double-edged sword that could cut down his friend, his precious things, at any time.
But, because they are friends.
“That’s right.”
A friend would be that kind of existence.
Therefore, there would be no need to be obsessed with getting stronger.
Because Lucian has friend’s’.
“Can I call you Zephi?”
“If you let me call you Cian.”
“Alright, Zephi.”
At the tacit permission, Zephyros chuckled. And Lucian also smiled brightly for the first time in a while.
* * *
“Did I pass the test?”
“I never even intended to test you from the beginning.”
The way she smiled with her eyes crinkled reminded me of the arrogant Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.
Her golden hair, as if spun from molten pure gold, and her red eyes, which seemed to have absorbed blood, suited her perfectly.
The man who had been her double had at some point approached her, draped a red outer garment over her, and placed a pipe in her hand.
The woman, who had moved forward leisurely as if cutting through space, sat with her legs crossed on the desk.
“How did you know? Did Evan tell you by any chance?”
“In the first place, if you had known I was meeting you, you wouldn’t have sent me off so meekly.”
“There’s also a saying that no parent can win against their child.”
“…Isn’t it that no son can win against his mother?”
The woman was silent at my question.
“So it wasn’t Evan. Then how did you really know? It was a disguise I was quite confident in.”
Hearing her say that as if genuinely disappointed gave me goosebumps.
“There are such things as miracles in the world, aren’t there? In a world where demons and magic exist, is it important that an incomprehensible thing happened?”
In a world where an ordinary office worker from the Republic of Korea gets possessed into a game he had been playing for 10 years?
However, the master of Golden gave an answer that was very much like her.
“It is important, because I don’t believe in such things as miracles.”
Well, it was an answer that anyone else who knew about her would have laughed at.
“Isn’t that something the one called the Merchant of Miracles shouldn’t be saying?”
When she first took the name Golden and founded the merchant guild, no one expected her current status.
However, she beat out the large merchant guilds with noble families as their backers and proudly rose to the position of the number one merchant guild on the continent.
No matter how much she didn’t shy away from illegal activities, it was a miracle that could not be easily achieved.
“Are you really Evan’s son? No matter how I think about it, the way you run your mouth doesn’t seem like him.”
“I must take after my mother.”
“Hahahahat!!!”
The laughter that burst out as if she was amused sent a shiver down my spine.
In this world, in order to grasp gold, schemes are important, but in order not to have the grasped gold taken away, military force is also absolutely necessary.
How many times have the heads of merchant guilds who competed with her met a mysterious death, and how many times have those who tried to harm her suffered a mysterious accident and become unable to recover?
However, no one could dare to protest recklessly to her. Who could dare to complain to the master of Golden, who possessed the greatest wealth in the empire?
From starting at the bottom to being called the master of Golden, the number of battlefields she has experienced is countless.
The woman in front of my eyes was that kind of ‘monster’.
“I like to cause miracles with my own hands, I don’t like it when others do it.”
She spread her hands wide.
Soon, with a kwajik sound, the top-quality pipe worth dozens of gold turned to dust in her hand and trickled down.
“It’s not fair. I hate that the most.”
“If the people who competed with you heard that, they would cough up blood and collapse.”
“I’ve already buried them in the ground, so they can’t cough up blood or collapse.”
The double, who had been stuck to her side like a shadow since the master revealed her identity, carefully wiped the powder from her hand and handed her a new pipe.
The woman who received it lit it.
Hooo… she leisurely exhaled smoke, sat perched on the desk, rested her chin on her hand, and looked at me intently.
“I enjoy crushing the miracles others have caused.”
“The moment you crush me, the way to achieve your long-cherished wish will also disappear.”
“If you could figure out the way, my competent son will also be able to find it.”
“No, he won’t be able to find it.”
Only I can grant the long-cherished wish of the master of Golden.
Only one person, ‘Theo Lisitoel’, who knows the original story and can use the system.
“If you come out so firmly, it makes me want to kill you.”
“But, you won’t kill me.”
Because you will be convinced by your eyes, ears, and skin that my words are the unadulterated truth.
If you kill me now and truly miss the opportunity to achieve your long-cherished wish, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
She doesn’t do things she’ll regret. That was one of her few principles.
At my confident smile, the master of Golden swept back her golden hair that undulated like waves.
Where did such a thing come from? Her blood-dark eyes asked.
“It’s fun, it’s fun. Alright, fine. So… let’s hear if you’re spouting words even knowing what my long-cherished wish is.”
People think.
The long-cherished wish of the master of Golden, who has obtained ‘most’ of the gold flowing in the empire, is to hold all the gold in this world in her hands.
But, I, who had seen the original story, knew the truth.
“The Golden Elixir.”
The moment those three words came out of my mouth, the woman’s two hands trembled.
A smile hung on her lips. It took only a moment for what was small and blurry to become clear.
Pleasure glistened in her red eyes, burning like a conflagration that would burn everything away.
“Hahahaha!!!”
This was a good sign.
Perhaps it was a sign that I should run away right now.
But, there will be no running away.
Because the word ‘run away’ does not exist in a possessor’s dictionary.
…Probably?