Finding the Golden Compass (1)

"Ugh. My head... Just what the hell happened?"

Braust opened his eyes, clutching his throbbing skull. He could remember seeing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Betran's food—but everything after that was a blur.

"Hey. You back with us?"

"Who's there?!"

At my question, Braust reached straight for his sword, only to find nothing at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his hip. He immediately tried to run. No blade, and no real grasp of the situation. Fleeing was, I'll give him that, a smart call.

"Braust."

"Huh? That voice..."

He had been turning to bolt, but the familiar sound in his ear stopped him cold.

"Please, calm yourself, Braust."

"Lady Elena?"

He turned, confirmed it was her, and halted his escape. Then he walked slowly toward us.

"Lady Elena, how are you here?"

"Never mind that. I heard everything from Grandfather. And they say you're the one who brought those people into the Hidden Temple. Is that true?"

"......"

Braust could not open his mouth.

"Why won't you speak?"

"Lady Elena. That's..."

"Braust, just be honest with me. I know better than anyone that you're not that kind of person. There's something else going on, isn't there?"

Elena still believed in him. Not just Elena—the others, too. With so many elves putting their faith in Braust, it was hard to accept that he had actually betrayed them.

After a long silence, Braust seemed to come to a decision, and finally spoke.

"I had no other choice."

"No other choice?"

"If I hadn't done this, every last one of our people would have been facing death."

"Facing death?"

The look on Braust's face was the look of a man telling the truth. His words said he had done something that tore him apart—but he had done it for the elves.

"Yes. Lady Elena, you know of it, don't you? The prophecy that has been passed down among our people."

"The prophecy... you mean that one?"

"Yes. That's the one."

At the mention of the legend, Elena's expression grew complicated. She seemed to understand, at least a little, why Braust had done what he did.

"What is this prophecy that's worth all of this?"

I couldn't understand her. What kind of legend could possibly justify putting other elves in danger like this?

"We have a prophecy that has been handed down for thousands of years. When the world changes, you shall perish. If you wish to escape annihilation, resurrect him. That is the legend."

Elena's face was utterly serious as she said it.

A prophecy, though. Earth had been drowning in those for centuries—doomsday predictions by the dozen, and not a single one had ever come true. Taking something like that at face value was hard for me.

"And you actually believe this prophecy?"

"Of course. It was given to us directly by the god we serve."

"A god?"

A god. That was even harder to swallow. Earth had no shortage of gods either, but for someone like me who didn't believe in any of them, this sounded even more absurd than the prophecy itself.

"Yes. It is the prophecy of the Primordial Elf God, Kaiserion."

But the faces of Elena and Braust as they said it were dead serious. They clearly believed in this god without a shred of doubt. I wasn't about to criticize them for their faith. Their methods, though—those were another matter.

"So you're saying that because the world has changed like this, the elves are going to be wiped out?"

"Yes. That's correct."

"And you pulled this whole thing to find the 'him' from the prophecy?"

"That's right. If we cannot find him, we will be destroyed."

Braust answered every question without hesitation. Watching him, I couldn't help but get angry.

"Even so—dragging innocent children into this? Don't you think that's going too far?"

"They promised they wouldn't treat them harshly..."

"Ramella nearly died because of you!"

"Th-that can't be..."

Braust couldn't believe what I was saying. But it was the truth. I wasn't making any of this up.

He bowed his head for a moment. Then, after a pause, he spoke.

"That... I will repay with my life, when the time comes."

He was offering his own life. It really did seem like he hadn't done any of this out of greed. He had done it for his people.

"Just who is this 'him' that's worth all of this? If you find him, does that solve everything?"

"We don't know for certain. But according to the prophecy, 'he' is the reincarnation of the Primordial Elf God, Kaiserion."

"The Elf God's reincarnation?"

"Yes. That's correct."

Honestly, I was having a hard time believing Braust. A god ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reincarnating? This wasn't some fantasy novel. Things like that couldn't possibly... wait.

Then again, the situation we were already in didn't make any sense either. Monsters appearing, the whole world turned upside down—what was a god compared to that? At this point, I'd believe a god's grandfather was wandering around reincarnated.

"So what were you supposed to get from those bastards?"

"They said they had the Golden Compass."

"The Golden Compass?"

"Yes."

The Golden Compass. When I asked what it was, Braust explained that it was an item that would guide you to whatever you wished to find. Anything at all. Did something like that actually exist?

If that's true... could I find my little sister with it?

I still didn't even know if she was alive. If the story about the Golden Compass was true, I could find her too.

"But those bastards! Breaking their promise ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like this..."

Braust clenched his fists so hard his whole body trembled. Betran had already shown his hand. It was safe to assume they had no intention of keeping their word.

"Is it true they have the Golden Compass?"

"Yes. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Hmm. Is that so?"

If they had the Golden Compass, there was only one thing to do. Take it from them. I wasn't particularly fond of stealing from people—but these were the kind of scum who'd use a child elf like that. I had no desire to leave them alone.

"Let's head back for now. Those wounded elves need treatment."

"U-understood."

Braust kept glancing at his comrades, clearly troubled that they had been hurt because of him. Their wounds looked serious. Recovery potions had been enough for first aid and nothing more. They needed proper treatment, and soon.

As we moved closer, I saw a place where other elves had gathered besides Braust's group. They had clearly been waiting for him to return. The moment we arrived, they came toward him.

"Braust. We can go back now, right?"

"Yeah. We've been worried sick."

"We understand why you did it, but our families are waiting. We're worried about them."

It seemed Braust had told the other elves the truth as well. They understood his reasons, but their faces were full of worry for their families. Then they spotted the wounded comrades behind us, and alarm swept through them.

"What on earth happened?"

"How did it come to this?"

Braust told them everything, honestly. The elves who heard it trembled with rage.

"Humans really can't be trusted."

"That's right."

"Damn humans!"

They were saying all of that with a human standing right in front of them. A little much, wasn't it?

"They're not talking about you, Min-seong. Please don't take it to heart."

"Haha. Right, of course."

Elena said that, but I couldn't help being a little bothered.

The wounded elves were taken away for treatment, and I approached Braust.

"Braust, do you happen to know where they are?"

"Yes. I know where they were, at least. Whether they're still there, I couldn't say."

"Would you tell me the location?"

"What do you intend to do?"

"We have to take it back from them, don't we?"

Braust shook his head. The look on his face said going after it was impossible.

Even out of his mind, Braust had been able to fight me on roughly even terms. Honestly, someone of his caliber was far stronger than most humans alive right now. For him to be this certain was strange.

"It's impossible."

"Why?"

I wondered if it was because of what had just happened to him, but Braust said that wasn't it.

"One of them. That man's ability... you cannot defeat it. Not ever."

"That man..."

It had to be the leader who'd been with those three. I'd already seen what the others could do.

"What kind of ability are we talking about?"

"Even if I explained it, you wouldn't believe me."

Braust looked like he wanted me to just give up. He'd already decided it would be faster to find another way.

"Tell me the ability. I'll try to think of a way."

"Hah. If you insist, I'll tell you."

Braust still thought it was hopeless, but there was a flicker of maybe in his voice as he described the leader's ability.

"...Is that really true?"

"Yes. It is."

"There really might be no way to beat that."

Elena, who'd been listening beside us, shook her head as well. That's how absurd the leader's ability was.

But in that moment, a method of countering that ability came to me. If I used it, there was a real chance I could beat him. The problem was, the method I had in mind would take a considerable investment. Was the Golden Compass worth that much?

The Golden Compass matters, sure. But I can't just leave those bastards alone either.

If I left them to their own devices, there was no telling what they'd do next. Just thinking about what happened in Gopchang Alley was enough.

"I'll bring back the Golden Compass."

"Can you truly do that?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Then I leave it in your hands."

The moment Braust finished speaking, a window appeared.