The Mist Vol 3 Chapter 19

Vol 3 Chapter 19

"The reason for assigning the job to guys without any professional consciousness was merely to avoid suspicion—that must have been Father's opinion."

The man's black eyes slowly narrowed as he addressed those who didn't respond.

"Was it Brother's idea to attach listening devices to such guys to control any unexpected situations?"

"..."

As he spoke, the man approached the fallen men with steps that appeared almost leisurely, and slowly bent down. He then removed a tiny listening device that looked like a sticker from the waist of one of the fallen men, and slowly moved his hand illuminated by moonlight to examine its condition.

"As I listened... it was quite a spectacle. They almost dragged in an uninvolved person."

Crack.

The man, who had been looking at the fallen men indifferently, simply crushed the listening device between two fingers and stuffed it into his pocket.

"The request is canceled."

Having achieved his purpose, the man lightly mounted the black motorcycle with beast-like movements. Along with the fierce engine sound that came as soon as he started it, moments later, the man and the motorcycle dashed out of the empty lot in the blink of an eye. In that fleeting moment, the man's hair reflected in the moonlight had a chilling blue tint amidst the black that seemed as if it could cut to the heart.

As he rode away on the roaring motorcycle, the man suddenly recalled his brother's voice he had heard before leaving.

"You don't have to go yourself, why are you so insistent on going?"

"...Just because."

"How unusual. To think you'd take interest in something. Well, do as you please."

Simultaneously, a part of the sound he had heard through the poor-quality listening device replayed in his mind.

[ Static... static... 'Let go.' ...static... static... ]

[ ... 'While I'm... asking nicely... let go...!' Static...! ]

Why was it? For some reason, he had been oddly concerned the moment he heard that voice. It seemed the reason might have been that the cool tone felt in that voice, even amidst the noise where words could barely be distinguished, slightly resembled a certain figure he couldn't erase from his mind lately. Yet when he arrived at the scene, he had only encountered five useless guys beaten to a pulp.

In a moment of silence where nothing could be heard despite racing down the road at a dangerously high speed, the man slowly lowered his eyes. It was a night when he desperately wanted to see a certain person occupying his thoughts.

The day after the failed attempt to learn Superior's magic, Kapros and Kran went to see Ilumine again. Though they thought they had become quite accustomed to the unpredictable situations that occurred here, yet another unexpected event happened.

"...Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"The way ahead is blocked."

"What do you mean?"

Puzzled by Kran's words, who was walking ahead, Kapros peered over his shoulder at the narrow path. He had thought it was a joke, but there was only a solid wall blocking the way as if nothing had ever been there.

"What's going on all of a sudden? How could a perfectly fine path be blocked?"

Kran, bewildered, tapped the wall with his palm. The place that had been open until just yesterday was now blocking their way as if nothing had ever been there. Kapros also reached out his arm through the gap beside Kran's head to tap the wall, but the result was the same.

They tried calling out to Ilumine from outside, but there was no response. Having no choice, they waited in front of the wall for a while longer before having to return to the elven village.

"Excuse me, could I ask you something?"

The elves who had initially looked at them with wary eyes gradually eased their guard as Kapros and Kran went back and forth between the village and Ilumine's cave. Moreover, Kran, who had stayed in the elven village for a long time with nothing to do after following Kapros, had fully demonstrated his incredible sociability and become quite friendly with the elves. Perhaps because of this, the elf caught by Kran turned around with a willing face and smiled.

"Of course, human friends. What is it?"

"You know that we've been going to Lady Ilumine's cave every day, right?"

"Is there an elf who doesn't know that?"

"Well, we just went to the cave, but the passage was blocked. We came back to the village wondering if something had happened..."

"The cave is blocked?"

The elf interrupted Kran's words and asked.

"Oh, um... Yes. It was blocked."

As Kran nodded, a bit flustered, the elf spoke with a worried expression.

"That... might mean someone else is trying to come to this forest again."

Again? Seeing their curious expressions, the elf erased the worried look and continued with a smile.

"Lady Ilumine always blocks the cave and uses her power in her own space when something is about to happen in this forest. Until now, she mainly did this when non-elven beings were coming, like when you or the human before you came, and also when humans who come to sell things at the forest entrance every few years arrive. That's why I thought someone might be coming again."

"Ah... I see."

"This place has been so quiet for 500 years... Seeing so many humans visiting lately, I wonder what's happening outside the desert?"

They thanked the elf and headed back towards the forest. Occasionally, little elf children would pop their heads out from the trees and look at them with interest, but neither Kran nor Kapros paid any attention.

"...So what do we do now?"

To Kran's deflated question, Kapros answered, thinking 'why ask such a thing?'

"Train."

"Huh?"

"We train while we wait."

"..."

For a moment, Kran's face changed strangely as he flinched greatly, but Kapros didn't see it properly as he was walking ahead. Afterwards, after one failed attempt to escape back to the village, Kran had no choice but to draw his sword next to Kapros, sighing deeply.

"Sigh... Why is a perfectly fine cave blocked... Really, now..."

"Let's begin."

Shing.

Ignoring the grumbling, Kapros lightly drew his sword to start the training they had been doing since yesterday, and Kran's expression darkened even more.