Turning Chapter 1080

Chapter 1080

It was an unexpected suggestion. However, it was clearly much milder than the method Yuder had thought of.

Yuder fell into contemplation in silence.

The imprint, that is, the connection between them, had a great relevance to awakening from the beginning. How many and how mysterious processes had there been for the infinitely thin and faint single thread, which was unnoticeable when first recognized, to become what it is now?

Since the second gender manifestation event itself, where the connection first occurred, only happens among awakeners in the first place, it would be more difficult to see it as unrelated to the Red Stone that created awakeners.

'Even if it doesn't succeed, it's better than not trying.'

Yuder reached a conclusion and nodded.

"Alright. Let's try it."

"Good."

Kishiar wrapped his clothes around Yuder's body and lightly lifted him up. He seemed to be trying to change his seat to the office chair.

"That sofa's legs are bent, so it looks a bit dangerous to fall asleep like this."

The man, who explained lightly, suddenly thought of something and let out a faint smile.

"Don't worry. I'll send that sofa to a good place without anyone knowing what happened to it."

If the subject wasn't a sofa, it would have been a remark that could be misunderstood as having murderous intent.

"Is that possible?"

"If you knew how many things I've dealt with here without anyone knowing, you wouldn't have had such distrust. It's a pity there's not enough time to explain."

Yuder sat on the office chair while being held in the man's arms. To be precise, he was sitting on his lap, but thanks to being wrapped in a blanket-sized thick coat, it felt almost like leaning on a bed.

The scenery inside the office seen from this position looked different again. Yuder stared blankly at the direction he would have been standing in his previous life.

The strangely stirring empty spot.

There is no one there now.

The man who stood there with his sword pointed doesn't exist either.

At that moment, the arms holding Yuder tightened, and a whispering voice was heard in his ear.

"It's okay."

"..."

"If you don't have any dreams, you'll just wake up well-rested, so it will be a good sleep and make you feel good. Even if you're worried about having a different dream instead of the one you wanted, it's okay. Then, like before, I'll be there."

He was promising that he would somehow follow along, just like when Yuder had a nightmare before.

"We are connected, so wherever you go, I can follow. Just as you said you would do anything to save me, I will also go with you wherever you go."

Wherever, together.

That heavy yet affectionate whisper melted the heavy tension that had been lurking in Yuder's heart. The arms holding him tightly as if never to let go, and the regular pulse sound heard in his ear were the same. As Yuder exhaled deeply, releasing the tension from his whole body, the man leaned his head.

As if giving a signal without any words, the activation of the imprint occurred simultaneously. Yuder confirmed the sight of the golden threads rising comfortably like breathing, filling the space between him and Kishiar. His vision was shared, making him a little dizzy, but it wasn't as hard as before. It seemed like he could fall asleep if he wanted to.

"Hmm... It seems a bit lacking to fall asleep yet. Then shall we talk a little more until you fall asleep?"

"...Shall we?"

When he expressed a positive intention, Kishiar brought up a topic as if he had been waiting.

"I remembered this while talking about the orders earlier, but the priest who helped in naming the awakeners and second gender is still in the North. If you want to meet him, I think you can meet him before leaving Peletta... Do you have any thoughts?"

"Why is someone who was dispatched from the Great Temple still here?"

"Because that priest was favorable to awakeners, including me. He was demoted after receiving a bad evaluation from the opposition. It was thanks to His Majesty that he was at least sent to the North."

That person is currently in a different city near Peletta, not in Peletta, but it is a close enough distance to come within half a day.

"Since the Northern Branch of the Cavalry is there, it might be okay to go together while we're at it."

"That's... not a bad idea."

"Originally, he mainly studied historical materials within the Great Temple. Unlike other priests who mainly meet people, he's closer to a scholar. He was the first to suggest the idea of understanding awakeners by comparing them to the mages of the early founding era."

"That's impressive."

"At that time, I heard that among the old records remaining in the temple, there were quite a few opinions that seriously tried to view the early mages as monsters. But in the end, that didn't happen, right?"

At those words, Yuder suddenly remembered something.

"Come to think of it... I think I saw similar content in Luma's diary that I read on the way here."

"Hmm?"

On the way to Peletta, Yuder read Luma's diary from the first page whenever he had time, as Enon had instructed. However, to be honest, he hadn't found any content that seemed to be truly helpful there yet. Luma didn't write much about the people around him even in his own diary. Most of the early parts of the Archmage's diary were close to a collection of brief notes about the troublesome things he experienced as a mage.

"There was content like... he found a fight between mages who were being cursed as monsters outside and ordinary people. A few times..."

In fact, even now, people curse their feared opponents as monsters, beasts, or demons when they encounter them. Wasn't Yuder the living proof of that? It was no exaggeration to say that he was the person who was called by such curses the most in this world.

So he only had a chilling impression that there was no difference between a thousand years ago and now...

'The temple even had records of seriously doubting whether mages were closer to monsters than humans.'

It seemed like awakeners could have almost ended up the same way without knowing, so it didn't feel like someone else's business. While Yuder was thinking like that, Kishiar exhaled with a 'hmm'.

"Among the mages at that time, there were quite a few who became unable to bear children. It seems the temple considered that problem quite important at the time. It was a time when the prosperity of descendants was much more important than now."

"Is that so...?"

Did it mean that there were also those who had no choice at all, not just those who were obsessed with magic and research and didn't have descendants? It was quite unexpected as it was a part he didn't know well.

"Now, it is almost accepted as a principle that the more mana accumulates in the body, the higher the possibility of weakening reproductive ability. Due to that influence, even now, many people don't get married at all when they become mages, and there is a culture of valuing the relationship between master and disciple. Among the mages we know, there are hardly any who are married, right?"

"That's true, but."

"The cases are different, but... now that I think about it, it might be somewhat similar to the relationship between awakeners and second gender manifestation. Both involve physical changes that didn't exist before, either by becoming a mage or an awakener."

That might be the case. It certainly seemed like an issue worth thinking about. Kishiar said that when he returns to the capital, he will talk to Thais Yulman and Alik about this topic.

"Come to think of it, they should be finishing the next prototype of the suppressant soon..."

While listening to Kishiar's voice, sleepiness began to come over him. When he unknowingly tilted his head as his eyelids became heavy, the man who had been continuing to say something closed his mouth. The approaching hand gently supported his head and laid it on his chest.

The sound of a regularly beating heart.

Receiving the warm heat from the mana stone fireplace, Yuder fell completely asleep.

***

A man gropes his way through a secret passage. After advancing with his footsteps muffled and all his senses highly alert, he encountered a man with golden hair sitting in a dark office.

He repeated the same words he had already heard several times while looking at the man dressed in black.

'Shall I offer you a cup of tea? Ah, I'll have to bring the kettle and cups.'

His face was as calm as if he was welcoming a guest he had been waiting for. Even though his face with a brazen smile was buried in darkness, it was so pale that it could be seen as abnormally bloodless.

Seeing that appearance, Yuder felt a pain as if piercing his heart.

As he wished, he was standing in Peletta on that day again.

However, this time, through the eyes of a third person.