Chapter 56: I Am Alive (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 56: I Am Alive (3)
A dazzling light enveloped the cavern.
Even though it was morning, the light was so brilliant it was visible from the city of Citren, a two-day journey away.
Those who had watched Calian enter the cavern could not hide their astonishment. A phenomenon unlike any before was unfolding before their eyes.
It certainly wasn't an ominous light.
However, the companions waiting for Calian at the foot of the rocky mountain couldn't bring themselves to relax.
Yan, in particular, was pacing restlessly, his eyes glued to the cavern entrance. Someone approached him with silent steps, then roughly ruffled his curly hair.
"Are you that worried about your little brat?"
Many knights were gathered there. Calian’s own retinue, including Arsen, was also present. In such a place, the only one who would dare call Calian that was, of course, Suleiman.
Clutching his now-messy hair, Yan stared at Suleiman with wide, surprised eyes. It was far too early for him to have arrived.
"I thought you were on an inspection?"
The western district Suleiman had to inspect was half a day's journey away. Even if he had departed the previous evening, there was simply no way he could have finished the inspection and returned already.
At Yan's question, Suleiman stepped aside slightly and replied, "I got lucky and ran into some welcome guests, so I came back early."
Yan turned his head to look at the people who had been hidden behind Suleiman's massive frame. His face grew even more shocked than when he had first seen Suleiman.
Two people stood there, neither of whom Yan had ever met. However, the moment he saw the girl who appeared to be around his age, he instantly guessed her identity.
"I am Veronica Manasil."
Her hair grew progressively redder toward the tips.
She was Alan Manasil's granddaughter.
* * *
In the silence, the rustling of grass drifted on the wind.
A simple, unremarkable scent filled the air.
The place where Calian now stood was a small, sloping field. There was nothing around him—neither land nor sea was visible. It felt like a solitary island floating in the sky. Because of this, Calian couldn't tell if this was Kairis, or even the world of humans at all.
—I greet the great Sispanian.
Sispanian, receiving Calian's greeting, did not answer.
Instead, she dispelled the mana that seemed ready to consume the surrounding air, and with it, the suffocating dread that made him forget how to breathe.
The overwhelming pressure he had felt when first facing her vanished.
Feeling noticeably more at ease in her presence, Calian bowed his head slightly.
Sispanian, who had been watching him, turned around without a word.
She walked slowly, almost gliding, toward the edge of the field. Her long black hair fluttered in the wind, rising and falling with the breeze.
Suddenly, Sispanian's voice reached Calian's ears.
"I wondered what business a child who should not exist in this world could have, to seek me out."
She was questioning how Calian, whose fate was to have already died, had come to be here.
"I wondered what business he had, possessing memories of a different time."
She wanted to confirm why Calian possessed the memories of Bern.
"I wondered what business he had, having forged my blessing into a blade."
She wanted to know why the mana within Calian's heart—the heart she had blessed—was different from that of others.
Still standing at the edge of the field and gazing into the distance, Sispanian turned her head to look at Calian. Her mysterious voice, sounding as if she were speaking right beside him, echoed once more.
"And so, I have summoned you."
Only then did Calian realize why Sispanian had appeared before him in her true form, rather than as a mere lingering will.
Out of sheer curiosity about him, she had decided to meet him in person.
Does this mean Randel and Franz have never met Sispanian's true self?
Whether he should consider this extraordinary meeting a stroke of luck…
Calian smiled bitterly.
Soon, Sispanian took a step toward him. In an instant, she was standing right in front of him.
The movement was so incredibly natural that Calian didn't even have time to be startled by her sudden appearance.
Standing face-to-face with him, Sispanian spoke.
"I shall see."
She offered no explanation of what she intended to see.
Having said only that, Sispanian stared into Calian's eyes—which so resembled her own—for a long time. As she watched, she would occasionally nod, sigh, or let out a soft laugh.
It seems she’s looking through my memories.
It was just as Calian suspected. Sispanian was directly examining his life.
One might have been offended by her rummaging through memories without permission, but Calian was surprisingly calm. Sispanian was not a being who needed anyone's permission, nor did Calian have any reason to hide his experiences from her.
More time passed in this manner.
Averting her gaze from Calian, Sispanian spoke.
"I understand."
A brief, single sentence.
Far from being surprised by Bern's resurrection, she didn't even seem to harbor any doubts. Her reaction was simply one of acknowledgment, as if knowing what had happened was enough. Calian let out a helpless chuckle.
But Sispanian was not finished.
"They have committed a reckless act in the end."
Closing her eyes for a moment, Sispanian murmured.
Yes.
She had definitely said those words.
Yet, they did not reach Calian.
Even though she had spoken right in front of him, he could not hear her. He saw her lips move, but he couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Even the shape of her lips failed to linger in his mind.
Seeing the confusion on Calian's face, Sispanian frowned slightly. She then explained what had just occurred.
"You cannot hear my words. It is because she does not wish it."
A restriction had been placed to prevent him from hearing her. There was no need to wonder who the "she" Sispanian referred to was. Calian, who had not uttered a single word until now, spoke unconsciously.
"Are you speaking of Serenti?"
"So she is called."
If not the Chief God Serenti, who in this world would dare impose restrictions on Sispanian's speech?
As his thoughts reached that point, a sudden curiosity arose.
"It is said that Serenti fell into a slumber while sealing the Evil God. How, then, is she blocking your words?"
It was difficult to understand how a sleeping Serenti could intervene so opportunely to silence Sispanian, as if she were perfectly active.
To this, Sispanian replied as if it were of no consequence.
"Does being asleep mean one ceases to exist?"
"Are you saying that even if she isn't awake, she can obscure your words?"
"Consider that I, too, am here, having left only my will behind."
Sispanian's words were slightly strange.
Did she mean that just as Serenti had left her will behind when she fell asleep, Sispanian had also come to "this place" by leaving her own will behind elsewhere?
Calian asked once more, "Then, where is this place?"
"A place where human feet cannot reach."
It was not an answer he could fully comprehend. In fact, it didn't seem like an answer meant for him to understand at all. It sounded as though she had no intention of telling him. Calian merely nodded, signaling that he understood well enough. What mattered to him right now was not where Sispanian was.
Soon, Calian took out something he had brought with him: the black pebble that the elf Luca had stolen. Seeing it, Sispanian reached out her hand.
Looking closely at the stone, Sispanian frowned once more and spoke.
"It was made by them."
These words, too, were unheard.
Realizing that Calian hadn't heard her, Sispanian returned the pebble and spoke again.
"Keep it with you. You will find out when the time comes."
At those words, Calian realized that Serenti's restriction was at play again. Since even Sispanian seemed unable to defy Serenti's will, he simply nodded once more.
Of course, Calian had no intention of letting all his questions go unanswered. He carefully chose his next words. It was time to bring up his true purpose for seeking out Sispanian—the reason he had pursued this coming-of-age ceremony for so long.
"You are a child with many questions," Sispanian remarked, seeing no end to his inquiries. Fortunately, her tone wasn't one of annoyance.
For some reason, Calian felt as though she was smiling. Feeling a bit more at ease, he asked his question.
"In Secritia, there was something called the Axis of Time."
"I know."
Sispanian let out a low sigh. It was very different from the one she had let out while sifting through his memories. This one was laden with a deep lament.
Startled by her reaction, Calian quickly asked, "I want to know why Kairis wanted the Axis of Time."
Hearing this, Sispanian opened her mouth to speak, but the restriction was applied once more. This time, not even a sound came out. Serenti blocked her words far more forcefully than before.
Sispanian substituted her answer with different words.
"She does not wish for you to be hasty. She fears that if you prematurely learn about the situation after your death, you might ruin what is to come. So, do not be disappointed."
At those words, Calian's eyes gleamed.
"I am not disappointed."
It wasn't a lie. He had learned something crucial from the way the restrictions were being applied.
"You mean to say that something significant enough occurred for Serenti to personally intervene and prevent it from being known."
Divine intervention. The scale of this was far larger than he had ever imagined.
It also meant that traveling ten years into the past—and to Kairis, the very nation that had destroyed Secritia—was by no means a meaningless event. Watching Calian with an intrigued expression, Sispanian replied, "You are correct."
Calian fell silent, lost in thought. Soon, his voice drifted out cautiously.
"I would like to ask just one last thing."
"I am listening."
Although she granted permission immediately, Calian could not bring himself to speak easily. With clear hesitation on his face, he finally asked, "Is it true that my older brother used the Axis of Time to revive me?"
A genuine smile appeared on Sispanian's lips. It was a smile of gentle rebuke.
With the smile still lingering, she replied, "Your thinking is shallow. That, too, is something you will learn in due time."
"So it was not my older brother who used it."
Those words alone were a sufficient answer. However, Sispanian chose to speak once more.
"Before he is your brother, he is a king. Is your brother so foolish as to defy the natural order for you alone?"
It was a clear rebuke.