Chapter 168: Not Peaceful at All (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 168: Not Peaceful at All (2)
He had only wanted to live.
Yet, rain fell every time he set out. He was forced to let go of everything he grasped. And just when he thought he had finally clawed his way out, he was dragged back down.
Was it the wrong choice?
Or was it a twisted fate?
Then again, since he was now living to save the very person he once hated, it was difficult to blame anything for a life so thoroughly twisted.
"Sigh..."
And so, Calian simply let out a sigh.
He turned and descended once more into the basement of Heisia Palace, a place he had left behind without a shred of regret just moments ago. He took solace in one thing: he didn't feel that familiar, sinking sensation of being pulled back into his memories of Bern.
As he went down, an unfamiliar sight met his eyes. The stone door, which had always been shut, was open.
It was a door that usually opened only for a moment before closing immediately, but now it stood wide open as if waiting for an invited guest. When Calian stepped inside, accepting the sudden invitation, the stone door slid shut with a sound that had become all too familiar.
That alone was enough for Calian to realize that the true master of this place had indeed arrived.
Standing just inside the entrance, Calian froze. He stared ahead in silence, having spotted something entirely unexpected.
A flutter of wings.
The delicate movement of a living creature, one that did not suit the pouring rain at all.
Flutter.
It was a butterfly.
A small, black butterfly drifted past Calian, fluttering here and there as it wandered about the room. It flew as if casually inspecting the carvings on the stone walls, yet it seemed fully aware of the gaze following its every move.
His eyes lingered on the trail of sparkling black light that shimmered and vanished in the butterfly’s wake. Calian thought that if a black star existed somewhere in the sky, it would leave footprints just like this.
Flutter, flutter.
Soon, the black butterfly seemed to grow tired of flying. Just as its wings slowed, it turned and flew toward the fragment of the Axis.
Then, it effortlessly passed through the barrier that Calian could not penetrate by any means and landed proudly atop the fragment.
Watching this, a faint smile, as delicate as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing, touched Calian’s lips.
"Black butterflies..."
He addressed the tiny creature, his voice far too polite to be directed at a mere insect.
"...signify death. That is why they are not very welcome."
As if it understood his words, the butterfly gave a single flap of its wings.
At that moment, the black particles that had been sparkling in its wake gathered around it, creating what looked like a miniature universe with the butterfly at its center.
How could a color that held the night itself shine so brilliantly?
Calian watched the pitch-black shimmer for a moment, his eyes filled with genuine admiration. The cluster of light grew until it completely shrouded the tiny butterfly, expanding further and further. Then, as if alive, it began to take a new shape.
It transformed into a figure of such nobility that no human could compare.
"Which is why I, of all people, should be welcomed by you."
As the last of the sparkles lingered at the tips of her long, wavy hair before slowly fading away, Sispanian—who was at once the butterfly, the light of the night sky, and a great being in her own right—revealed herself and answered him.
Calian bowed politely, a deep smile gracing his face.
"I greet the most magnificent Sispanian."
He neither confirmed nor denied her remark about him welcoming death.
The Ancient Dragon of old, Sigmund Khan Sispanian, stood before him once more and nodded. She gazed into Calian’s eyes in silence for a moment before speaking.
"I wished to understand. Thus, I called you back."
Currently, Sispanian was not emitting any of the Dragon Fear that radiated from her very being. There was none of that overwhelming terror that made one want to bow, kneel, or even choke oneself. Furthermore, she didn't even project the most fundamental presence of a living creature. It felt as if no one was there, leaving Calian to feel utterly alone in the room.
Thanks to this, Calian had a brief moment to think.
Should he explain why he had destroyed the palace she used to live in, or should he apologize for cursing the "excessive consideration" that had weakened her blessing?
"What is it that you wish to understand?"
Sispanian turned her head to look at him.
Calian had only just entered the room. Sispanian, who had walked over to the mural carved with the final fragment, replied. Though the distance between them was considerable, her voice was soft yet clear, as if she were whispering right into his ear.
"Anything would do."
Ah...
Oh, Founding King Hatsuara.
What on earth did you see in her to propose? It’s impossible to have a proper conversation with her.
By this point, it was clear: being a person of few words was definitely genetic. Lemain was never verbose, and Randel didn't speak at all. Even the last of them was a brick wall. Thinking about that guy only gave him a headache, and talking about him was a waste of breath.
Seeing Calian’s expression, Sispanian seemed to wear a faint smile. Her face hadn't changed at all, but he somehow got that impression, as if she had just read his thoughts.
Fortunately, Sispanian did not seem intent on rebuking him for completely demolishing her old palace.
"You do not seem to distinguish who is permitted to tread where the Fragment of Disaster lies."
The Fragment of Disaster.
That was what Sispanian called the fragment of the Axis of Time. She called the Axis of Time a disaster.
It was such an incredibly accurate description that Calian let out an involuntary chuckle. Then, he began to weigh the meaning behind her words.
A moment later, he realized she was reprimanding him for bringing Franz here—for revealing the truth and showing the Axis of Time to someone completely unrelated to the entanglement of time. For the recklessness of that act.
"Do I not even have the right to be healed?"
And so, he asked.
Could he not even do that?
"Am I supposed to live clutching a blade no one knows exists, getting wounded, worn down, and left to fester? Am I to keep gouging out the rot until nothing is left? Is that how I must live? Must I?"
Resentment.
Yes, he was resentful. He was venting his anger.
He directed his bitter words at Sispanian, who knew so much yet could say nothing—and through her, at Serenti. Even though he already knew, understood, and had accepted his path, he still had to say it.
Rustle...
Sispanian turned to face him.
The tips of her long, cascading hair brushed against the stone wall, and the faint sound was as loud as a heartbeat.
With her red eyes, which seemed to brim with the force of life itself, Sispanian gazed into Calian's own blood-red eyes. Looking deep into those eyes—which were, in the end, the same color as her own—she offered an answer that drifted down like a leaf on a quiet breeze.
"I understand."
That was her only reply.
That she understood his response to her reprimand. That she understood the innermost feelings he had clutched so tightly in his grip.
—I'm in a tight spot because I can't even resent anyone or vent my anger.
Only then did he recall the words he had spoken to Franz just moments ago.
Sispanian had seen him bring Franz to the place where the Axis of Time—the disaster—lay. She had seen and heard his innermost thoughts as well. That was why she had come: to listen to the resentment and anger he could never voice to anyone else.
He only realized it now.
Finally understanding why this thoughtful Ancient Dragon had come, Calian bowed his head.
"...Thank you."
*
The mage's clothes weren't wet at all.
Finding only that intriguing, Franz—who felt a bit awkward holding his own umbrella—stared blankly at Alan.
Alan was the one who had declared he was no longer afraid of the brothers' madness before leaving. Franz realized this was the first time they had run into each other like this since then. Of course, they had met several times regarding Valkan, but on those occasions, a certain mage who was clearly out of his mind had always been present.
"Greetings, Prince Franz. What brings you to a place like this all alone?"
Upon seeing Franz, Alan offered a polite greeting and immediately asked his question.
In Kairis, one couldn't speak until a royal acknowledged their greeting, a custom not followed in Libern. However, it wasn't that Alan was confused by such etiquette, nor was he being intentionally rude.
He simply didn't care.
He was a man powerful enough to afford such indifference.
In truth, Franz wasn't adhering strictly to etiquette either. If he were, he wouldn't be outside in only a thin cardigan, holding his own umbrella. A royal was supposed to stand tall with empty hands, even if it meant getting drenched in the rain.
Instead of pointing out Alan's attitude, Franz remained silent for a moment.
It was hard to tell if he was standing blankly in the rain to organize his thoughts, trying to decide where to go after his younger brother had suddenly abandoned him, or deeply contemplating the fact that a legendary ancestor was alive and breathing in the basement of Heisia Palace.
"And you?"
So, he simply asked back. He was a prince, after all. He was perfectly entitled to skip answering.
While being a royal was tedious when it came to etiquette, there was no position more convenient at times like this.
"Excuse me for a moment."
Observing Franz's state, Alan bowed slightly and spoke.
One asked what the other was doing, the other shot back the same question, and the first responded by asking for a brief excuse. Indeed, they were both just saying whatever they wanted.
Regardless, having announced his intention, Alan proceeded. He had never planned on asking for permission in the first place. If Franz was a prince, Alan was Alan Manasil.
Snap!
With a crisp sound from Alan's fingertips, Franz's soaking hair and clothes became instantly dry and clean.
Come to think of it, Calian had gone downstairs without drying his clothes. Well, they weren't close enough for Calian to care about such details anyway.
Since the rain wasn't stopping, he would soon be wet again, but he didn't mind the brief moment of comfort.
"Mage. Why did you come here?"
His mood improved by the small comfort, Franz asked a more direct question.
He didn't know much about magic, but Calian had said she was calling him. Therefore, Alan couldn't have come because he sensed Sispanian's presence. If he had, he wouldn't be acting so leisurely. To Franz, she was just a very distant ancestor, but to mages, she was an absolute being.
"I came to look around for a moment," Alan replied, proving Franz's assumption correct. Since he didn't know Franz had already seen what lay below, he refrained from stating his exact reason—that he intended to carefully re-examine the carvings on the wall.
"I think it would be better if you came back later," Franz said.
The hem of his cardigan was growing heavy again as it absorbed the rain. He shouldn't have worn such a long one.
Franz turned his head toward the stairs and continued.
"My younger brother is currently looking around first."
It was clear that Calian and Franz had come here together, and Franz's reaction suggested he already knew there was something "below." Consequently, Alan stared at Franz with a complicated expression, prompting Franz to nod and speak.
"I heard. The Axis of Time. And what I did, too."
Alan was someone who knew all of Calian's secrets anyway. Franz knew this as well. Thus, Franz didn't beat around the bush.
After staring at Franz's face for a moment, Alan smiled gently and nodded.
"I heard you shared it. It seems it was true."
On the day Chase left Kairis, Franz's name had come up during the countless conversations between master and disciple. Among those stories was how Franz, with an expression like the world was ending, had shared the sour tangerines Chase had brought. That was what Alan was referring to.
Having no way of understanding Alan's words, Franz furrowed his brow. They had shared so many things that he had no idea what Alan was talking about, but he could tell that Alan's pleased expression—as if his precious child had finally made a friend—was thoroughly annoying.
Still, he wasn't so ill-mannered as to tell an archmage who had lived more than three times his lifespan to stop yapping, so Franz simply kept quiet.
"Understood. I shall return later," Alan said without further explanation. Whatever the case, Calian was already investigating the basement, and since Franz was asking him not to disturb him, there was no reason to force his way down.
However, instead of turning back immediately, Alan stared at Franz for a moment. Then, in a steady, earnest voice, he spoke as if offering advice.
"Even if you should see nightmares in the future, please do not lock yourself away in a tower you did not build, claiming you will bear the burden."
The wise mage knew all too well what Calian, who was like his own child, was most worried about right now.
"He is walking a path alone not to assign blame or impose responsibility, but simply to keep everyone alive. He would not wish for you to do that."
Whether it was Secritia, Kairis, Chase, or Franz—wasn't Calian the one clutching everything close, determined to restore all that had been broken?
"I know. Me too," Franz replied curtly.
Alan nodded. If he knew, if he understood, then that was enough.
In response, Alan gave Franz another look like one would give their child's new friend, and in response, Franz scowled again.
*
He asked if the black stone was a sacred artifact made by someone.
Sispanian replied that it was.
"Since it contains the power of the other side, it does not bear Serenti's touch."
This meant it was not Serenti's sacred artifact.
However, it was yet another enigmatic phrase. The power of the other side.
"The children who believe in you have stepped forward. When the time comes, you too shall know."
Instead of explaining it herself, Sispanian offered these words.
Although he did not understand who "the children who believe in you" referred to, Euria suddenly crossed his mind. Calian made a mental note to check if Euria was still investigating it.
"I understand," he replied.
After a brief silence, he asked again.
"Are you, by any chance, searching for the fragments of the Axis?"
"I merely placed here what has manifested in the world."
Sispanian nodded as she answered, and Calian felt as if the entire world shook with the movement.
"Where are the other fragments?"
"They have not yet appeared."
"Then why did you seek this one out and place it here?"
Sispanian let out a soft sigh.
Then, she delivered her final words.
"Because it has become something you must retrieve yourself."
Whether he had to retrieve it to use this disaster, or to shatter and destroy it—she left that unanswered.
After lingering before the stone wall carved with the final fragment for a moment longer, Sispanian turned away.
A single black butterfly fluttered past Calian, then vanished from sight.