Chapter 357
Chapter 357
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 357
Chapter Title: The Covenant of Light
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Thud—
I saw the light Leo had conjured. The faint vibrations, the glow, his expression, and the words spilling from the tip of his quill. Words that would have been better heard aloud—they burned in my gut, aching my heart. It was literal. The core encircling my heart reacted to this inexplicable light, sending pain surging through me. It felt like every drop of mana in my body was merging into that light.
‘As if those words were an incantation….’
I stared at his hand, shining as if pierced by something. The light pressed down on the back of his hand. A lost covenant, belonging to no one, unanchored to the present, pierced his hand and gleamed. I couldn’t even tell what I was thinking.
“…!”
I caught Leo as he squeezed his eyes shut and toppled to the floor.
“Hey!”
It was clear. No magic had been involved, yet his words had acted as a spell. *These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.* Not even a fragment of it, and yet… His words had bound as a covenant. Since when? From today? Even that, I couldn’t be sure.
“What did you do?”
I grabbed Leo, who was still out of it, and demanded.
“What spell did you cast here?”
Even though he can’t use divine power.
He hadn’t said those words to me with the intent of casting magic. They had clearly started as mutterings to himself, and from what I could see, he hadn’t been trying to weave a spell. Leo’s breathing quickened, so I struck his chest and channeled divine power into him.
“…!”
His sky-blue eyes, slightly unfocused, peeked through his lids. I snapped my fingers to float the bound notebook in the air and seized his collar.
“What happened, Leo? Tell me.”
“—.”
His lips moved, but my ears rang with silence. Just like always. His words appeared at the tip of the gleaming quill, shining like lapis lazuli.
[Nothing.]
“Nothing? Are you out of your mind?”
“…—.”
[I thought I saw a vision for a moment. Otherwise, how could I be sane.]
The letters formed slowly at the quill’s tip. If I hadn’t been able to hear him, I wouldn’t have noticed right away, but Leo was clearly struggling to speak. His furrowed brow, twisted in shock, made that obvious.
“What was it? Tell me. I could use divine power to read your memories.”
[You can’t read them anyway. I don’t even know what I saw—nothing’s sorted in my head. You think grilling me will get coherent answers?]
“…….”
I glared at those flashing strokes, then at Leo. He barely moved his lips, mumbling as his gaze groped at empty air.
[How much do you know about Narké?]
“What, out of nowhere?”
[How much?]
“Well….”
How much did I know about Narké? Not much different from what he knew. As I trailed off in thought, his words continued.
[How far does that guy’s foresight reach?]
How far did Narké’s foresight go? He’d said the clearly visible future only spanned a few days, constantly shifting with countless variables. Judging from his reactions so far, that wasn’t wrong.
Was he saying he’d seen the future?
“Explain in more detail.”
He just panted, lips parted, not fully closing. Whether his hair poking his eyes didn’t bother him or he lacked the strength to fix it, he let everything be. The quill hung motionless in the air. Fine, if he couldn’t sort his thoughts, I wouldn’t press now. Feeling my breath catch, I voiced the void weighing on me.
“What were you thinking, saying that?”
I looked at the light that had been in Leo’s hand, now gone. The glow piercing his palm was still vivid in my mind. He hadn’t uttered a single element of a covenant spell formula, yet it would produce the same effect—perhaps even a stronger, more enduring one. The realization flooded me.
He wasn’t one to speak carelessly, and when he did voice words ruminated dozens of times within, he never regretted the resolve behind them. So he wouldn’t regret even if it cost his life; he’d find satisfaction in fulfilling his mission. That chilled me. And I knew it was the same sensation Leo had felt all along.
‘…Ah.’
My insides burned.
I realized what it meant for him to speak like Patroclus. Elias’s Patroclus and mine would differ in form.
I’d known it then, and I knew it now. His justice continued through me. That was why he’d vowed to share life and death with me. This peace was fleeting; we’d soon face the line between life and death. His resolve was timely. If not now, we wouldn’t have this conversation. Unsure if he could hear me clearly, I slowly drew out the words from my heart.
“I’m not the embodiment of justice.”
The quill didn’t move. Watching the light-dust, like sunbeams, slowly scatter beneath the blue feather, I continued.
“You know that, Leo? Unlike you, with your shining ideals, my eyes see nothing.”
I’ve just followed you and Elias to get here. So if I had to guess why I was drawn to this place… I swallowed those words. The water was spilled; the light gone without a trace. I didn’t know how to undo it. What I needed to say now was different.
“You said you become a fool in front of me.”
Your ideals and your reality clash. Especially before me, you stray far from the ideals you chased. I knew he agonized between the two irreconcilable paths.
Unexpectedly, in your self-mocking lament, I see you anew.
Becoming a fool? Wrong. It might be partly true, but it doesn’t suit your present self.
“You’ve become yourself again.”
I whispered words he couldn’t hear. I didn’t know how much this version of you could grasp. But up to this moment, you’ve never strayed from your ideals. Ironically, because of this very moment.
You know how blessed it is to become oneself. Your progress stems from it. In your deficient present, your pathetic self, unlike the shining others who show only facets, everything—even the ugly—is laid bare under the noon sun. No shadow hides the flaws. If you sought to be flawlessly smooth as you desire, you’d be wrong. Impossible. Polished biographies omit the grueling toil. The reverent light on ancestral statues praises the saint’s darkness, but we don’t easily grasp what eyes don’t see. Chase their haloed glory, and you’ll lose light; advance from darkness with them, and you’ll shine. Yes, their beginnings must have been thus.
I gaze at one who will one day be an ancestor, etched in history. No cause for self-loathing. Imperfection makes perfection; acknowledging it brings truth. Does he know that? Your talent is accepting your nature and thoughts as they are, unhideable by shadows. I lack what lets the noon sun shine on me, so I can face myself numbly—different from his gaze. Mine is void; yours brims with struggle for life. I stagnated; you advance.
“Sometimes I don’t know what you take me for.”
You hesitate not to hurl yourself into the fire. More than anyone, you embody yourself without qualms. Accepting yourself let you rise here despite meager senses and talents—not just in magic, but all fields, stepping into the most human realms. And you…
“No matter the situation, you’ll save me….”
You define me as the greater cause?
The most human among us is you, touching the duty all should uphold. I should protect that light, yet you say the opposite.
Whatever resolve you make. Still, in you, I see a future possible in some worlds but never mine. Always, before coming here, and now. My reverence belongs to you. Before one truer to himself than any, I have no choice.
If my lost life equals yours, and you’ve resolved to save me that way…
Your plan succeeds. I can’t ignore the young possibility passing time I lack.
An indecipherable memory flickered faintly. My mouth opened on its own.
“This time, we’ll make sure nothing’s lost, no matter what.”
* * *
“Narké.”
—“Ah, it’s been ages since you came looking for me~”
I visited Narké’s guest room in Munich’s Nymphenburg Palace. The moment I opened the door, Pie climbed my leg, circling my shoulder. Not using divine power to speak, perhaps—regrettably, I couldn’t hear Pie’s chirps, but his intent came through his actions.
“Yeah, it’s been a while. Both of you. Though I did visit during the holy relic business… anyway.”
—“Come more often~ Tea?”
“No, I’m good.”
Drinking or eating during talks scatters focus. I could hear via divine power now, but senses gone and returned wasn’t long ago; splitting attention felt uneasy. Narké watched me quietly, then gestured to the sofa.
—“About Leo?”
“Yeah.”
—“Sounds like a headache~”
“That too. Sharp as ever.”
—“Hahaha!”
Narké laughed as if my words were absurd. Obviously, visiting his room meant trouble; even without insight, it was an easy guess. He waited for my words, so I dove in.
“Leo seems to have cast a covenant spell.”
—“Hmm. Oh dear….”
“…….”
A man unable to use divine power casts a covenant spell, and that’s all?
Narké wasn’t surprised. What did he ‘know’ to react this way? Given his ability, this made judging—from covenant confirmation to why Leo mentioned him—impossible.
—“So you heard about me from Leo.”
“How’d you guess that?”
I smiled and pressed on.
“Yeah. Leo saw something involving you—or your foresight, precisely.”
—“Honestly, I know what Leo saw. But…”
Pie poked into my hand. Narké eyed him and said,
—“I can’t tell you what. It’s not my domain.”
“…….”
Knows but can’t say. Intriguing. I bit my lip, pondered, then asked,
“What if I figure it out myself?”
—“If it’s the natural order, you will. But not now.”
“My head hurts….”
Why not? His foresight says so? Narké smiled awkwardly.
—“Sorry. I want to help.”
“No, not blaming you. I’d feel worse if you overused and hurt like before.”
—“The train trip, right~?”
I nodded, smiling. Can’t tell? Nothing for it now. Not giving up, of course. Then Narké said something ridiculous.
—“Wanna play board games while you’re here? With Pie!”
“Board games with Pie?”
—“Why not?!”
The furball plopped his front paw on my hand in protest. Pie’s voice came faint, unlike usual—likely because his divine power paled against Narké’s. Slight hitches in receiving it suggested the bishop’s spell damaged more than just his ears.
Sorry, Pie, but kindergarten intellect versus two near-adults—wait, I’m just an adult: barely seasoned, blood still hot-headed, but anyway—doesn’t compare…
Surprisingly, it worked.
‘What?’
I swallowed doubts watching Narké move for Pie’s words and chips. Common sense breaking. Though a divine-power-using snow rabbit talking was already beyond norms. Needed leeway—plenty, really—but he grasped rules better than expected. Narké swept the chips, laughing.
—“I win this round~”
“You turned off insight.”
—“Of course. Haha, let me win once in a while.”
One point each now. Ultimately, entertaining Pie. We’d play nine more, each winning three. Even now, bound by Leo’s covenant and words, not thinking suited gaming. Otherwise, no leisure for this. Couldn’t erase the void of him staking his life for mine with such time.
Narké cleared Pie’s stone pieces—his game tokens—and rolled the dice. Then, unexpectedly:
—“Why do you strive for justice?”
I looked up slowly.
—“Start there. I think it’s right.”
“…Sudden.”
—“First, to beat Adrian Ascanien. If the Empire turns republican later, he’d win the masses’ support instantly, elected president as the benevolent giant. You must match that; His Majesty personally exiling Adrian Ascanien shows your efforts for reputation aren’t overkill~?”
“…….”
—“You’re questioning if he’s truly villainous now, but your goal hasn’t changed.”
I fixed on Narké’s eyes. He focused on moving wooden pieces, avoiding mine. Instead of answering that, I addressed the prior.
“…He chose to stay abroad himself. What more?”
—“Explaining the political reasons would tire my mouth. You know~”
I pushed a chip silently. Narké continued alone.
—“Your utmost effort has reasons beyond what I said—still valid, but another motive. You know the answer. That’s why you won’t respond….”
Still avoiding my gaze, languid as one indifferent to worldly affairs, he went on.
—“It’s simply because it all unfolded before you. What’s before you brought you here.”
“…….”
—“You think you’re distant from human duty, but hmm. Ignoring a drowning lamb sounds ordinary, but it’s not, is it?”
“Thanks for the praise.”
—“Haha, no joke~”
Narké smiled at me.
—“Your self-view has changed a lot. Right? Yesterday’s me isn’t today’s; last month’s neither. Yesterday’s knowledge lacks meaning today; yesterday’s goals don’t function. You haven’t stagnated.”
“…….”
Opposite my thoughts. Applying his advice needed more clues, and my focus remained Leo’s covenant, but I met his eyes and nodded.
“Yeah, heard you. Thanks for thinking of me.”
Narké smiled back.
Time to return to the Crown Prince’s palace. We’d promised to meet Leo again before I came, so departure neared.
“Gotta go for real. I’ll visit more.”
“Yeah, I’ll crash at Leo’s room often next week~”
“…….”
* * *
No clue what to do when Narké’s mischief kicks in. No need to flaunt knowing the office vaporized.
‘Just wait a week.’
Bayern or not… It felt like a second hometown, so resolve wouldn’t last. Visit Bayern, but hole up at that Mecklenburg hotel from the extra chapter.
So why meet Leo again?
To finally try restoring my hearing.
‘No idea if it’ll work or what method.’
Time to trust Leo once. He’d initiated talk after our chat, optimal for trying.
Deep breath, I flung open Leo’s door. Entering the inner room he’d left ajar, I scanned the hall—another door open.
Whoosh—
Nearing, fresh air hit like a purification artifact. Inside: empty save a bed and trolley. No—include Leo, grim-faced like medical staff beside the bed, and wall plants.
“…….”
Operating table?
Just a bed, but Leo’s vibe made it feel surgical. Like the extra chapter’s astral projection bed—why does this world have such?—encounter. I opened the notebook, floated the quill, and said,
“Lie there?”
[Or stand?]
“Yeah. Better.”
Why?
‘Looks exactly like an operating table.’
The trolley brimmed unfamiliar medical artifacts, deepening suspicion. Didn’t expect full medical. Thought simple spell or similar.
‘…He’s not seriously cutting my ear. Even if, would it change anything?’
Trust this quack for surgery? Couldn’t wait a month amid unknowns exploding post-week. Tense before the amateur medic, alternating glances between notebook and his mouth, Leo spoke, face taut.
[Let’s begin.]