Chapter 47
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Radon's Tear
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Elin jumped in surprise and looked at me.
“Professor, that’s…….”
“Elrize, come out already. I know you’re awake.”
Soon, the small lakeside vanished, replaced by a massive fog.
A storm-like mass of mist crept up slowly.
It blocked the light, creating a damp, dim atmosphere.
Just moments ago, we had been at the entrance to Spirit Mountain, but now we were inside the spirit realm where Elrize resided.
She had refused to grace us with her presence at the small lakeside and instead dragged us into her own domain.
The vast lake unfolding before us, like an ocean, revealed Elrize’s true form from ages past.
Elin swallowed hard beside me.
She had glimpsed it once before, but things had been too chaotic then for it to register.
She seemed stunned that this immense, unfathomable power was all Elrize’s doing.
─Human, how do you know of that?
Elrize’s usual soft, authoritative demeanor had crumbled somewhere along the way.
Instead, it was filled with passion and hostility.
─It should have fallen into ruin?
Elrize narrowed her eyes at the pristine water spreading across the ground.
‘Ruin.’
Runes had indeed fallen into ruin. In the original story, only traces remained, and no one could follow them.
‘Even if used, they were counterfeits.’
In other words, I was the last true rune user left in the world.
That’s what allowed me to impersonate one so convincingly.
I slowly recalled Elrize’s backstory.
The words spoken by that ancient spirit in the original tale, the lingering aftermath, the remnants left behind.
I pieced together even future events, spinning tales as if I had lived through that era myself.
“Do you remember the covenant?”
─Human, you haven’t answered my question……
“Pitiful spirit of the shallows, you’ve ascended to spirit of the great lake, yet how is it you’ve changed not at all from the past?”
─You……
“With your petty, narrow courage, you hostile toward the unknown, curling up like a hedgehog. You tend to your body but remain infinitely far from true magnanimity. What am I to do with you…….”
I clicked my tongue and turned my head away.
Then, feigning solemnity, I tossed out one more line.
“Will you yield your domain to another country bumpkin and hole up, sparing your body once more? Was that why Radon made his arrangements for you?”
Elrize fell silent.
It was a long silence, one that seemed to churn with a whirlwind of emotions.
Disbelief and suspicion crossed her face—how do you know that?
But soon, all agitation subsided, leaving only a calm stillness.
Elrize lowered her head.
─…The spirit of the shallows greets the fulfiller of the covenant.
Ignoring Elin’s gaze fixed on me, I let the moment linger.
This was one gimmick.
More precisely, it was part of a future DLC addition.
‘It wasn’t in the main story… but the code was there.’
I swallowed.
From here on, I had to play it perfectly.
Runes were a universal truth piercing through the world.
The golden age of runes was called the Age of Covenants, followed by the Age of Giants, the Age of Dragons, and now the present era after ruin and rebirth.
The guidance of runes was based on the countless covenants forged in the golden age.
If I could use runes, it meant I could tap into those covenants they had woven.
The one I aimed to exploit was ‘Radon’s Arrangement.’
The story went that the ancient dragon who proclaimed the natural order, before merging with the earth, made a final request to the spirit there.
It was deeply rooted as a covenant, and the fulfiller had to present the proper key.
‘That key being the rune of water.’
Which was what I had just shown Elrize.
In an age before causality existed, as Radon proclaimed the shackles of natural order, he voiced one concern.
His lifespan ended as the price for tampering with the world’s principles before he could even witness the natural order take hold.
‘The natural order is the veil Radon placed to separate gods and humans. It stabilized the five elements, established causality through the flow of time, and created the eternal cycle of beginning and end.’
He did it to prevent a world dictated by the gods.
The ancient dragon was certain he was right, yet harbored doubts, so he left one final safeguard to shatter the shackles.
That was ‘Radon’s Arrangement.’
And it tied directly to Elrize.
‘Because… the spirit Radon entrusted his arrangement to was Elrize.’
I watched as the mare forged from clear spring water bowed its head to me.
Radon’s motif was a multi-headed dragon.
Whether the dragon guarding the golden apple or the red dragon that could fell a third of the stars with a tail swipe was unclear.
‘But it’s definitely a many-headed dragon.’
A dragon that spewed water like a river from its mouth.
That was also why Elrize was bound to Radon.
In the past, Elrize had been merely a faint spirit of the shallows.
But bearing the dying Radon’s arrangement, she formed a great lake from the river he exhaled, transforming a mere shallow spirit into the spirit of a great lake.
‘The great lake we see now was made from the water Radon spat out.’
The hazy mist came from the immense heat it still held.
I cleared my throat. To claim the reward for subjugating the maddened Elrize through this loophole, there was no other way.
“Do you remember Radon’s final request?”
─I remember.
“Do you remember the end of the ancient dragon?”
─I remember.
“Then do you know where you cradled his body?”
Elrize looked at me. Eyes endlessly deep and clear.
As she tried to read my heart, I pierced through her in return.
‘Trying to verify if I’m truly the covenant’s fulfiller, huh.’
I could assure her with confidence.
‘Absolutely not.’
A covenant? Nonsense. How would I know about that?
I was just an unlucky director.
A mere extra who luckily stumbled into using runes without knowing why.
‘But I can’t let it look that way.’
Elrize lowered her head again.
─His body is cradled deep within this lake.
“That’s right. Elrize, the source of your power was Radon’s before it was yours. Fulfill the arrangement, the covenant. Make the ancient dragon’s dying wish come true.”
─As you command.
“Bring forth the final tear he shed upon his deathbed.”
─Will you shatter the natural order?
Radon’s arrangement was a failsafe to break the natural order.
But the natural order, though unstable, still functioned well. It was because of the natural order that causality existed and the world’s principles interlocked.
I shook my head.
I wasn’t trying to collapse the natural order.
On the contrary……
“The natural order is crumbling.”
─……
“The roots of the ancient tree are rotting. It won’t show yet, but once exposed, catastrophe will come soon. Fulfill the covenant. Aid your contractor in protecting the natural order.”
Elrize met my gaze.
Soon, with reverence, the mare placed a small droplet on my palm.
─Turn the wheels of fate. Last remaining knowledge of the world.
‘Wheels of fate?’
It sounded familiar……
‘Where did I hear that?’
There were so many dialogue lines in the game quests that I couldn’t recall.
“I’ll call you again.”
─Anytime, at your word.
The thick fog lifted, returning us to the small lakeside behind the mountain.
I let the small droplet on my palm roll off.
It was transparent yet shimmering with an arrogant blue hue.
Elin gaped, her face blank.
“P-Professor!? Th-that.”
“Elin.”
“What was that just now…….”
“Open your mouth. Actually, no need. Just stay like that.”
As if it were nothing, I tossed the droplet into Elin’s mouth right as she tried to speak.
“Mmph, mmph?! Mmph?!!”
Elin’s eyes bulged as she unwittingly swallowed the droplet.
“Wh-what did you just feed me…….”
“Tears. Tears. You heard, didn’t you?”
“Whose tears?”
She’d heard it all, so why ask now……
“The tears of an ancient dragon that existed since primordial times. It’s dead now, though.”
Elin fell into panic once more.
“No way?! Why feed me something like that! It must be priceless…….”
“How do you even price it? So precious.”
Seeing Elin dazed, I leisurely started walking.
“Business done, let’s go.”
Elin shot me a bewildered glare.
“…That’s it? You show me something like that, give no explanation, and we’re done?”
“What good does it do if you know?”
“You still have to tell me!”
She raised her voice so much that I sighed.
Pretending nothing happened and brushing it off casually wasn’t going to fly.
“Didn’t you say you’d only mastered the surface of Elrize’s power and couldn’t delve deeper? It’s the natural next step when you lack true understanding of her power.”
Elin wouldn’t realize this until the very late game in the story.
Now that she knew sooner, her growth timeline would accelerate too.
“Th-then what you did earlier…….”
“How would you know the dragon’s legend? You just got a lucky encounter to boost your power quickly. That’s all you need to know.”
“Then how do you know all that, Professor?!”
Elin grabbed my sleeve, refusing to let go.
“Well…….”
Uh, what should I say?
I hadn’t thought that far.
Elin glared at me fiercely.
She was in full honeytrap mode.
She wouldn’t let go until I spilled.
‘And I can’t come alone…….’
The clear lake’s tear had to be consumed immediately upon acquisition.
Its effect diminished over time.
“P-Prof-essor!”
Hearing her urging, I sighed again.
“Elrize called me the last remaining knowledge in the world, remember?”
“Y-yeah. She did. But runes… you lied to me…….”
“At the end of mastery, I traced my origins. The rest came naturally.”
‘I’ll just throw it out there.’
If it gets exposed later, I’ll just say it was a lie……
Future me can deal with the fallout.
Elin swallowed.
“…Professor, you’ve achieved ancestral regression.”
“It’s atavism. Not every master achieves it. I’m just a special case.”
“If this gets out…….”
I stopped walking and turned to Elin.
Consider it a warning.
“Do you really want to get kidnapped by heretical mages?”
Elin shook her head.
“Then keep it shut. I only did this because you said you were stuck.”
“I just asked for simple advice, and you went way too big…….”
“Forget it. It was no big deal.”
“No, how could I forget?!”
Ignoring Elin’s fussing, I slowly enjoyed the sunlight.
Beside me, she gestured wildly, unable to comprehend my nonchalance, tried to say something, then gave up.
Her gaze toward me was a bit weary now.
“Isel sunbae said Professor Aiden handles incidents calmly then acts like it’s nothing, and it’s exactly like that.”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
“How could it be!”
I ignored Elin’s outburst as well.
After that, it became a pointless back-and-forth: Elin spreading rumors, me denying them, Elin raising her voice again.
As we walked, I fell into thought for a moment.
‘Country bumpkin Donapart.’
It came up when Elin contracted with Elrize.
Donapart was the name of the capital—and the emperor.
So the bumpkin Elrize mentioned was……
‘The founding emperor.’
During development, we’d scattered one arc to another, but piecing it together now, it felt haphazardly tangled.
“I guess that needs resolving too.”
“Pardon……?”
Elin asked, but I didn’t answer.
If there was a covenant between Radon and Elrize, there was also one between Elrize and the imperial bloodline.
If I didn’t want to see the empire fall, this was another issue to handle.
‘Focus on the burrow for now.’
As I walked the corridor, a small mana mark caught my eye, snapping me from my reverie.
With Elrize’s covenant invoked, the scenario with bumpkin Donapart would come soon enough.
I could deal with it then.
As I approached my lab, someone was waiting at the main door.
‘Green chitin?’
Eyes mixed with green and blue.
An exotic earring on one ear only.
A sense of déjà vu made me stroke my chin.
He spotted me and approached with a bright smile.
“Professor Aiden, I’ve come to give the greeting I couldn’t back then.”
“Who are you?”
“Eh, oh.”
He showed a flicker of embarrassment, then scratched the back of his head.
“Of course. You saved more than one or two back then.”
The man smiled sheepishly.
“When the intruders hit the magic tower, you saved me from the plant-type magic beast.”
As I pieced it together, Elin let out a small gasp.
“Arion. Top of the first-year alchemy department, right?”
“Top student is a bit embarrassing…….”
I let out a small sigh and closed my eyes tightly.
Arion, the turquoise Arion.
Nomad of the great plains, wielding spear and wind spirits.
That exotic earring symbolized the nomads.
Only then did it click, and I stroked my chin.
The third protagonist after Elin and Ladia had appeared.