Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: A Day in Northsweden
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The next day, after finishing breakfast and stepping outside, a blonde girl wearing a white beret was sitting on the entrance steps, moving a pen over a piece of paper.
She was drawing the small garden outside the mansion, but since she had only recently started, her skill didn't look particularly impressive.
Last time, after I told her about knowledge from my previous world and she tried to draw along, she must have gotten hooked on drawing since then.
"Good morning."
"Ah, Deius... P-Professor."
"We're outside the academy right now, and it's vacation, so feel free to call me casually."
At my response, Elenoa flashed a bright smile.
"Deius! Yeah, that's it. Calling you Professor feels so distant somehow."
Well, I wasn't sure about that.
"You're drawing."
She said she came on a trip by chance for the vacation, but no matter how I looked at it, it was obvious she had followed me here.
I felt sorry for King Orpheus, who must have been waiting for his sister to return.
"Ah, yeah! I tried drawing all sorts of things you told me about. Here, look."
Elenoa showed me her sketches one by one. Starting from the green dinosaur I had mentioned before, to penguins with glasses, and so on.
She must have been really impressed by the characters from children's animations, as she had drawn them diligently.
Of course, since I had only sketched them simply when explaining, they weren't exact copies, but the unique touch of Elenoa's own creativity made them interesting.
"What do you think? Do they look like the ones you know?"
"Yes, they're quite similar."
"Ehehe!"
Elenoa stomped her feet happily. I found myself continuing to look at her drawings, not because Elenoa was particularly good at drawing and they were captivating.
"......"
Old memories suddenly bubbled up fresh in my mind. Seeing those small, cute characters that I had no particular feelings for anymore brought back what couldn't even be called the past.
It was more accurate to call it my previous life.
"Deius?"
Elenoa called out to me cautiously. I slowly gathered my thoughts and handed the sketch back.
"Drawing is a good hobby."
"Right? I think so too. It feels like a whole new world opening up."
Did she possess not only the talents of a ruler but also the virtues of an artist?
With her talent, her drawing skills would probably improve quickly.
"There are more on the back."
On the next pages, Elenoa showed me her drawings of a magic wand and a magical girl.
I remembered she quite liked the stories about magical girls back then, and it seemed they had left a deep impression, as the following pages were filled with magical girls.
And their faces were.
"...Aria, huh?"
Magical girls drawn with Aria Rias as the protagonist. It suited her, but if the real Aria saw them, she would definitely complain loudly about dressing her up like that.
"Yeah, I didn't have a good model. Drawing myself in it felt a bit weird."
"......"
"But she's pretty enough in real life, so it turned out decent, right?"
Indeed, the quality jumped when drawing magical girls. She was still immature with landscapes, but she seemed somewhat familiar with forms and people.
"And..."
Elenoa hesitated, glancing at the last sketch.
I wondered why, but she scratched the back of her head awkwardly and asked.
"Um, don't get mad when you see it."
"...Did you draw me?"
"Eh?!"
Elenoa panicked, wondering how I knew. The only thing she could have drawn that I'd get mad about was me.
It didn't matter much.
A princess of a nation drawing my portrait—I should be grateful instead.
"O-Okay, I'll show you."
At my calm reaction, Elenoa swallowed hard and quickly turned the page.
And there.
A man was drawn there. The traces of erasing and redrawing showed how much effort she had put in.
Even though it was a faint memory, she had racked her brain to recreate it as accurately as possible.
The man was dressed in a black suit, as if heading to work.
Born in South Korea, seeing ghosts, living a twisted life while pretending to be as normal as possible.
It was Kim Shin-woo.
"...Ah."
Had my mind ever been this chaotic with shock?
My mouth opened involuntarily, a gasp escaping. Now I understood why Elenoa had asked me not to get mad.
"Y-You know, your original appearance? You showed it in the dream, so..."
Elenoa trailed off, covering her face with the sketch. Only her eyes peeked out, gauging my reaction.
Thinking about it.
Thinking about it, yes.
I had told Deia directly.
I didn't know how Aria found out from my previous life, but when we talked, she didn't go into details.
The Black Necromancer naturally learned because she was by my side.
Stella figured it out on her own.
No one had seen my real face.
Except for the real Deius Verdi, who was already asleep.
Elenoa was the only girl on this continent who had directly faced the man named Kim Shin-woo.
"Ha..."
Hot breath mixed with the cold morning air. My hands trembled, a swell of emotion rising.
'I looked like this.'
For a moment, I realized I had forgotten that.
Recalling how I had hesitated when I first saw the portrait, a wave of self-loathing washed over me.
What even I had forgotten, this princess in front of me remembered without forgetting and drew it exactly.
She left evidence.
That a being named Kim Shin-woo existed here.
"Sh-Should I erase it?"
Sensing my unusual reaction, Elenoa hesitated and asked, but I shook my head.
Calmly and carefully, I placed my hand on the white beret on her head and closed my eyes for a moment.
Otherwise, the surging emotions would overflow.
"Thank you."
Suppressing my feelings over and over, I uttered a single word of gratitude.
Not as Deius.
As Kim Shin-woo.
"Ah..."
Elenoa looked up at me blankly, her eyes widening as her expression gradually bloomed into a radiant smile.
It was a smile like a sunflower blooming in Northsweden, where flowers were hard to see.
She fidgeted, trying to remove the beret between my hand and her head, but when I pulled my hand away first, she pouted in feigned disappointment.
But that lasted only a moment. She stood up from the steps, dusted off her bottom, and asked.
"What are you going to do now?"
"I'm thinking of visiting the grave for a bit."
"Grave?"
"Yes, I'll go alone, so why don't you sightsee Northsweden a little."
"...I've already seen everything for two weeks."
Elenoa grumbled, but I couldn't let her follow, and seeing I wasn't inviting her, she didn't insist.
As I stepped out of the mansion, Darius was approaching, sweating profusely.
"Oh! You're here!"
Darius raised his hand high with a bright smile. I subtly stepped back from the smell of sweat.
"You're working hard."
Still, he seemed consistent with his training, as his body looked more toned than before and his frame larger.
"Of course! I'm the bulwark of Northsweden!"
He took pride in that title, but setting that aside.
"Thanks for helping during the bishop incident last time. It let us resolve the case cleanly, and it helped His Majesty too."
"Ah, you mean cracking down on the nobles?"
Though it was dying down a bit, King Orpheus's noble discipline campaign was still ongoing.
It started with the Zeronia Family, one of the most powerful nobles, confessing their past shame—the inhuman massacre and torture of Setima citizens—to the Saintess, erecting a memorial, and declaring surrender by lowering their own influence.
Various nobles who had held their heads high naturally knelt under the king's power.
I heard there were still a few nobles harboring resentment toward King Orpheus.
But that was probably because they had dirty secrets, fighting with unyielding resolve.
The moment they bowed their heads, unforgivable sins would be revealed, and they'd die either way.
They must have colluded in major plots like alliances with other nations, spying, or rebellion preparations.
In the end, they were admitting their own guilt.
"It was fun enough, and if it helped His Majesty and you, that's sufficient."
"......"
Was this guy always the type to say such reliable things?
"And... I got to punch you once."
Recalling the time he asked me to let him scar my face to emphasize our bad relationship, Darius clenched his fist lightly and smiled.
"If something like that comes up again, call me for sure."
"That won't happen."
As I passed him, he chuckled behind me for some reason.
Anyway.
I headed straight to the North Wedden Mountains. On the way, I ran into the Black Necromancer I had assigned to Aria and simply informed her that Aria and Pinden A were sparring before sending her back.
The Mountain Lord in the mountains wouldn't accept a Black Necromancer.
Midway up the mountain.
It was a hard-to-find spot, but the tombstone was still well-maintained.
Did Deia come visit sometimes?
- Emily, the girl who loved flowers.
May she find eternal rest here.
The inscription on the stone was still clear, but the sulfur flower I had left initially had naturally blown away in the wind.
But it didn't matter.
Before coming to Northsweden, I had prepared a yellow flower and placed it in front.
"It's a yellow flower you liked."
She couldn't hear, but I hoped she was at least a little happy.
I closed my eyes briefly, sharing silence with the girl. Suddenly, closing my eyes brought back memories starting from when I met her connected to the Bone Centipede underground.
The first time I held a spirit ritual in this world.
From that point, the Verdi Family began to change.
As I spent that quiet time.
Grrr.
A heavy roar that made my whole body tingle. Darius claimed to be Northsweden's bulwark.
But the true master of the North Wedden Mountains.
A tiger with a pure white body and blue eyes slowly appeared behind me.
"Mountain Lord."
I bowed calmly and greeted him. No offerings like before, but since we had a contract, small things could be overlooked.
[Deius Verdi, even in this short time, much has changed for you.]
"For a human, it was a decently long time."
To the Mountain Lord, who lived an almost eternal life, it might not be much.
[Normally, something filthy that drags corpses and souls around, making the mountain scream, should be torn apart...]
"......"
[But you're the same as them yet different.]
It was a reaction to the difference in how we handled souls. I didn't treat souls as mere consumables.
"What brings you to seek me out?"
The Mountain Lord coming directly meant he wanted something.
We had agreed to protect the North Wedden Mountains, but that was something the Verdi Family had done anyway.
I knew he received offerings from Darius once a month as I requested.
Also, the Mountain Lord's voice held concern, not anger or hostility toward me.
But what he said was an unexpected question.
[Do you know of the Marias Great Forest?]
"Yes, of course."
The largest forest on the continent, east of the kingdom. Beyond it lay the Sahar Desert.
The Sahar Desert, called the land of death.
The Marias Great Forest had staunchly halted the expanding desertification.
But it wasn't hostile to humans. There were many threatening Magic Beasts, but paths were well-trodden.
And natives lived inside, having built their own civilization.
[The guardian deity of the Marias Great Forest, Horua, has begun to move for some reason.]
"...Meaning."
[He has abandoned his nest. I don't know why, but it's not good news for humans.]
A guardian deity abandoning its land naturally couldn't live eternally and would weaken over time.
It was essentially suicide, meaning something urgent forced Horua into that choice.
"Do you want me to go find out why?"
[No, that's his choice. I merely came to warn you.]
"......"
[Be careful. You seem fated to brush against opportunities.]
As he said, I felt a certainty that I might encounter Horua someday.
It was absurd, but I needed to prepare.
[Also, I hope not to see the great evils inside you next time we meet.]
"......"
The Mountain Lord had precisely seen through Stella and Belica sleeping within me.
"He's better than expected."
When I defended him, the Mountain Lord fell silent for a moment, then snorted with a scoff and turned away.
[True, there are guys like you who handle the souls of the dead without filth. So perhaps good Archdemons exist too.]
Watching the departing Mountain Lord, I bowed in farewell, then descended the mountain.
In the city, Pinden A, arms crossed, waiting for me, boldly declared.
"I'm going to the Clock Republic for a bit."
My good mood soured instantly with my expression, and Pinden A shrugged nonchalantly.
"I said just a bit, right?"