Turning Chapter 1055

Chapter 1055

Enon touched the old brooch of the great mage as he spoke. "I thought that Luma leaving in such a manner meant he had no intention of returning here again before achieving his goal. Honestly... Luma had no reason to come back anymore. After about 100 years had passed, I thought he must have died somewhere without achieving his goal..."

His hand, which had been fiddling with the brooch, now gripped it tightly.

"But after reading the letter, my thoughts changed a bit. I started to think that perhaps Luma had been moving in a different direction than I had predicted."

"A different direction?" Yuder asked.

Enon nodded at Yuder's question. "Yes. Not that he died without achieving his goal at all, but that he may have found the clue he wanted or discovered a way to find it and visited here to prepare for something."

Muttering that he couldn't know exactly what it was now, Enon put the brooch back into his pocket.

"Anyway, it's certain that Luma deliberately came here to leave this letter for me. Perhaps there are other things that I haven't discovered yet, left in other places. I'll have to search more thoroughly beyond what's visible."

After saying that, Enon calmly revealed the contents of the letter he had read. Most of it was the same as what Yuder had read. There were just a few additional sentences at the end that he hadn't had a chance to read.

"However, if you return to the wall, you will be able to achieve the purpose of protection, but it will be difficult to restore yourself as before. Whether that will be the freedom gained by returning to the origin or a regrettable abandonment, I do not know. Keep in mind that shedding your own body means severing the union of the soul with your own hands... This is Luma's last message."

"..."

"If there's anything else you're curious about here, just ask," Enon said.

Kishiar, his smile fading, asked, "Was there perhaps no mention of well-wishes or greetings in the contents?"

At Kishiar's question, Enon chuckled. "Did you not hear earlier? He's not the type to leave such things."

"I see. Then, in your opinion as a pharmacist, when do you think the great mage returned to leave this behind?"

"It seems he deliberately wrote only what he wanted to say to make it difficult to easily infer that part. But since he's human... well, even if he left it as late as possible, it would be within 100 years after his final departure, right? Although Luma was a great mage, he didn't discover a way to live forever. That's why he created me; otherwise, he would have become the guardian himself, no? But why are you suddenly asking about such obvious things?"

Kishiar nodded, making a humming sound. "The reason I asked is that it reminded me of a certain relic received from the Prince of Nelarn."

"A relic?"

Yuder realized what Kishiar was referring to. It was the relic that Prince Ejain had sent to the Orr Empire, the 'Dream's Voice.'

"It's an old magic tool left by someone called the Blind Sage. Although our empire did not agree, the people of Nelarn believe that the Blind Sage was the great mage Luma who left the empire. Have you heard that story by any chance?"

"No. There were too many frauds pretending to be Luma after he disappeared."

"That's precisely the reason the empire also denied it. However, unlike the numerous Luma impersonators, the Blind Sage was definitely a mage. And a remarkable one at that, capable of leaving items that could perform miracles to heal people in an era when the term 'magic tool' didn't even exist. Some of the other items he left behind are said to still function even now."

"..."

"If great mage Luma could give his heart and hands to others, couldn't he have passed on his eyes somewhere in a similar manner after leaving the empire?"

"That Blind Sage fellow. Does he have a grave?" Enon asked with an expressionless face.

Kishiar shook his head. "No. The Blind Sage apparently wandered around performing various miracles for the poor and sick without meeting the upper echelons of Nelarn at the time, and then disappeared. There are no paintings or sculptures, nothing left behind except for the relics he allegedly left."

"When we return, show me that relic the Prince of Nelarn sent. I'll know if I see it."

"Indeed. I was just thinking that we haven't discovered how to use that relic yet."

Yuder turned his head and asked, "Didn't you bring the Mirror of Truth along when you received it back then? Even after using that, you couldn't find any peculiarities?"

"Yes. I sent it to the Imperial Court Mage Office, but there's been no news yet. Well, it's not strange, considering Nelarn would have already tried using a magic tool similar to the Mirror of Truth."

Originally, it was an item they had received in case it could help heal Emperor Keilusa's vessel. Now that the Emperor had recovered, there was no urgency even if they couldn't figure out how to use the relic. However, even if the relic wasn't truly an item of great mage Luma, it would be good to find out something if possible, so there was no harm in showing it to Enon either way.

"Don't you have anything you're curious about?" Enon's gaze then turned to Yuder, as if he had already seen through what Yuder was most curious about.

In front of such a gaze, there was no point in worrying about whether it was okay to ask such a question now. Yuder stared into his eyes and slowly opened his mouth. "I was wondering if the you from the previous game would have returned to the wall after seeing that letter, and if so, what would have happened."

"Who knows? I probably would have returned, right? Considering I never came back until the end, it seems it was difficult to regenerate like before, as Luma said."

"..."

"Ah, don't make that expression again! Of course, the external situation was incredibly messed up back then, but there were Luma's final words left in the letter. That it was unknown whether returning to the origin would lead to freedom or a regrettable abandonment."

The thought of asking what that expression was disappeared with the following words. "Doesn't that sound like a warning to make a careful decision because it could turn out badly?"

"It is a warning. But the part about returning to the origin and gaining freedom might not have that meaning."

"It sounds like saying freedom gained through death is still freedom."

Whether feeling a sense of liberation or regret while dying, dying was still dying. As someone who had experienced being executed, Yuder knew it well.

"You brat. You keep interpreting it negatively while I'm talking?"

Enon frowned deeply and glared. Yuder decided not to open his mouth further to avoid provoking him more.

"Learn to interpret things positively too! And know that I have absolutely no intention of entering the wall now!"

Enon shouted and abruptly stood up from his seat. "The letter talk is over! Keep searching for what we were looking for! Since the time we spend here might get longer, look around appropriately or go upstairs and rest!"

It was strange. Enon was clearly angry, but for some reason, Yuder's heart felt much more at ease than before. Yuder realized that he was greatly relieved by the fact that Enon had no intention of returning to the wall.

"...It's absurd."

Wherever Enon went, whatever he chose, it was ultimately his decision. Yuder had no authority whatsoever to force anything on that. Nevertheless, if Enon had tried to sacrifice himself by returning to the wall like in his previous life, Yuder wanted to stop him by any means possible.

It was excessive greed. But at the same time, Yuder also thought it would be nice if he could continue to talk with Enon like this.

'Although Enon said he has no intention of returning to the wall now... if the situation takes a turn for the worse, who knows what might happen. So I need to find more information and resolve matters faster.'

Yuder newly realized the weight of what he wanted to do. The fact that even if they had prevented the major incidents in the West and South, not everything had been resolved yet.

—

As Enon said, their stay lasted longer than expected. They searched the laboratory together for several hours but failed to find any new wooden pieces containing information other than the few pieces of information Enon already knew.

Most of the originally stacked wooden pieces contained difficult magical knowledge that Yuder couldn't understand, so they weren't read properly like the letter. Eventually, the sun set, and Kishiar and Yuder were chased upstairs to the bedroom by Enon. Nominally, he told them to look for something that might be on the second floor, but everyone understood it meant the same as wiping their feet and going to sleep.

'Fortunately, there's no need to worry about the horses left at the entrance of the forest, as there are very few people coming and going.'

There were two bedrooms on the second floor. Yuder guessed that one was used by the great mage and the other by Enon. Both rooms were neatly organized, and nothing particularly unusual could be found.

"Will you use a separate room tonight? Or together?" Kishiar suddenly asked playfully.

"Of course, I should use it together with you, Commander. Don't tell me... you were thinking of using it with Enon?"

When Yuder asked back, just in case, Kishiar burst into laughter like a flower blooming at night. "No way. If I did that, it would be a very unhappy night for both the pharmacist and me."

"I'm not inclined to do so either."

Kishiar laughed at the curt answer. "Right. Then let's rest, even if briefly. If we keep going around like this without rest, the one downstairs will be more worried."

"..."

It seemed that the reason Kishiar asked that question at this moment was that he had noticed Yuder was constantly concerned about the lower floor. Yuder let out a small sigh and nodded.

Yuder lay down beside Kishiar and closed his eyes.

And then, after what felt like a very short time, he suddenly opened his eyes again.

'...I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I guess that wasn't the case.'

Until earlier, it didn't feel very dark, but now it was quite dark. It seemed that closing his eyes for a brief moment had turned into sleeping for a few hours. The sound of a bird active at night cried softly in the distance.

Yuder held his breath and checked if he could sense Enon's presence in the next room. He couldn't feel any presence at all.

'Could it be that he's still....'

He got up from his spot, careful not to make a sound so as not to wake Kishiar beside him. However, to no avail, a low, subdued voice was soon heard.

"...You're going down."

"You're awake? I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine."

The man lying down shook his head and gazed at Yuder in the darkness, then reached out his hand. As Yuder lowered his eyes at the touch caressing his cheek, the man let out a long sigh.

"I'll wait here, so go ahead."

"You're not coming with me?"

"If I go too, the pharmacist won't like it. Unfortunately, a short farewell kiss should be enough for me to lie here and wait obediently."

Kishiar had already seen through what Yuder was thinking when he got up. Yuder fell silent, then nodded.

"I'll be back after a brief check."

He lowered his head and kissed Kishiar's lips. He could feel the corners of the man's mouth rising.