Chapter 182 – 182 – Structure
“Why did you crouch in the corner when it was this cold? Why didn’t you fire a flare or call loudly?”
After putting on my coat that had dried well at the campfire and coming out, Leni turned around and said as if she was going to leave right away.
Nenya, who was picking up her crushed snow and rubbing it on her red face to cool it down, opened her eyes wide and looked back at me.
“Was there a way like that?”
No, that’s not a good idea. It’s hard to answer because I’m scared of Lennie’s calm voice, but even if I don’t answer, the atmosphere will get weirder. I forced my mouth to move.
“Perhaps the tracking party sent into the forest under King Danar’s orders might find us first? Since Nenya can’t use magic, she can’t defend herself, so I hoped Eshen and Garam would follow the scent and find us first.”
Nenya, who had never had to fear the elven forest guards until now, slapped her forehead and muttered that she had not thought of that.
Anyone who finds themselves in a situation they have never experienced before is likely to become foolish. Just as I was about to laugh at Nenya’s self-blame, Leni spoke harshly.
“That’s what I said.”
“Hmm?”
“I should have just thrown it to the ground when it was discovered.”
Looking back at her from the corner of her eye, Lennie’s face is no different from usual.
There is no anger shown towards the Hyanghwagok hunting party or the scum of Linden. He is so relaxed that he even has a smile on his face.
“So how was it? Did you both like it?”
However, the choice of words is cruel.
“How does it feel to have managed to catch one more person in that short period of leisurely hiding?”
“···Lenny.”
“It’s not Tan. I said I would do it.”
Nya quickly waves her hand and comes in front of her. And she stands close to Lennie.
It is not a sense of distance that suits the atmosphere. So the intention to deliberately pretend to be calm becomes clear.
“For the same reasons as you.”
“Same reason?”
“The ritual you participated in ended unfinished, causing side effects for Tan. She needs to embrace the woman or her life could be in danger.”
Leni’s long exhaled breath shakes a strand of her disheveled bangs that were stretched out in front of her.
“That’s why… I tried to save her comrades like you. That’s all. My love for you hasn’t changed-“
Nenya reached her hand over Lennie’s shoulder and tried to straighten it out.
But Lennie slapped her hand away. And she started walking forward.
“Well, I didn’t really care whether the bantai I wore was broken or not.”
“Lenny, just wait a minute.”
“Listen to me and you. I didn’t save Tan Bantai. I just did it because I thought it would piss you off. That’s it.”
“What···?”
“I was cheating on you just to piss you off. Even if Tan Bantai wasn’t dying, I would have dragged someone into my bed. I was willing to throw what you thought was a treasure to the ground and turn it into trash in the mud. “If I say that, will you understand? Yes, look at that expression!”
Nenya’s face just looks sad. Rather, it’s Lenny who’s really fired up.
“···Is that true, Lennie?”
“I mean, get angry. Why are you always so calm?”
“Do you think you’ll feel satisfied if I get angry? That’s why you hurt me with those words?”
“Satisfaction. Has my satisfaction ever mattered to you? Do you really not know what the problem is?”
Lennie kicked a stone on the side of the road with all his might. In winter, it hits a dead tree with a loud sound, and the snow that has accumulated on the branches overnight falls down. Nenya flinched.
“‘Humans are very peripheral. It’s natural because the time given is not long.’ ‘Human wizards are pitiful because they don’t have enough lifespan to hone their skills compared to their talent.’ ‘To get angry on behalf of something that happened to your ancestors, not even you, seems too humanistic to me. Don’t get caught up and live your own life.'”
“What are you talking about, Lennie?”
“It’s not because you are a person who is not angry with me. Because I have never been an equal creature with you. No matter what number I use to overcome it, you will be shit in the living room in the living room. “The only reaction you’ll get is a sigh. You’re a responsible dog owner.”
Lennie finally looks behind her. She stood with a sad and sharp sneer on her face.
“She’s also the psychotic bitch who drags that dog into her bed.”
Her palm touched Lennie’s cheek. Nenya, who waved her hand while crying, flinched greatly the next moment and stepped back. She seemed embarrassed that she had lost control.
However, Lennie’s head did not turn. She didn’t even notice that she had been hit because she was already red from the cold.
Leni slowly raised her hand. Nenya squeezed her eyes shut, bowed her head and trembled.
But instead of fighting back, Lennie’s hand pointed at me.
“And now there is one equal part.”
“So, are you feeling refreshed now?”
“No. I think you should have taken the advice of your colleagues: ‘Do not give affection to the race that outlives you. Aren’t your ears enough proof that they cannot understand your position?'”
“···Are you talking about those guys who came in and slaughtered the elf senate and turned the nonsense of the elves you hate into prophecy? Those guys who will bring even greater pain to Lesser Elan?”
“…What do you know about the determination of those people?”
“What are you prepared to do? Are you prepared to hold a knife to my neck? Are you saying this because you know how big the price will be? Those guys who sneaked in through the cabin are all probably dead by now! Evennaga-“
At that moment, Lennie’s eyes turned. What she lifted up in an instant was not her palm, but her fist.
But it doesn’t hit straight away. I hesitate and tremble in the air for a long time.
If I had made up my mind, I would have been swayed before I got caught in the middle of it due to my slow reaction. As I grabbed her wrist to stop her, Lennie let out her snort.
“Let go.”
“There have probably been many opportunities to resolve and release old emotions. There will be more in the future. Now is not the time.”
“Ah, it looks like the professional porter would like to share his opinion. Could you please tell me what else I should do now?”
“We have to save Thena. I think I missed it before it jumped into Rod’s mouth and got lost in the Amethyst Palace. We have to get back as soon as possible.”
“Missed it? You?”
“That’s right. So it’s my fault. Everything.”
Leni opened her eyes and looked at me for a long time. If she didn’t have any affection left for her, she couldn’t have looked at her like that. So close to each other, if Lennie pulled out her sword and swung it, she would probably have to accept her death without even making a sound.
“So, despite my shame, I’ll ask you a favor. Help me.”
But I silently accepted the gaze. Leni, who had been glaring at me for a while, shook her head and shook me off.
“Tan didn’t miss.”
“···Then?”
“You’re right. It’s not Tan’s fault that you missed Tena!”
It’s Rod’s voice. When I turned around, Ragna Roca and Monica were running towards me, holding on to the hem of her skirt.
The two people who rushed to us looked over at Nenya and I’s eyelids, touched our entire bodies, and sighed.
“Are you both injured? You didn’t break anything or anything?”
“We’re okay, sister.”
“Then that’s a good thing. Oh my, I was so cold. Rod said his wings were frozen so he couldn’t change direction…”
“I wish I had thought of this idiot in time to fly over and snatch him up.”
Eshen appeared after him, grabbed Nidroga by the back and shook him. We could have tried to shake him off, but Nidrogar was just caught and looked at us despondently.
“I just thought she would be okay because she was with Nya. I couldn’t picture a wizard who even my mother highly praised being in danger.”
“You said the power of your aptitude was taken away. What do you do with your ears?”
“You said you forgot…Do you really mean you can’t use magic?”
Nenya nodded her head sullenly. Nidroga, who had questioned her pure heart, seemed to feel even more guilty and crumpled. She pretended to stab her friend in the back of the head.
Isilun and Erina, who appeared after me, were about to wave at me with joy, but they were shocked and stopped Eshen.
“Do you have any sense? It’s in front of your mother, so I won’t say anything more.”
“Do you really have any sense?!”
“Yes why?”
If he endures it because it’s in front of Yarod, shouldn’t he first refrain from catching his daughter like catching a mouse? Especially if you were in a position to see the bloody scene inside the mouth with your own eyes.
The attitude was a bit too informal, but fortunately Rod didn’t seem to mind. Morgan and Garam looked at Rod’s thoughts and sighed in relief.
“Everyone is safe, so don’t blame yourself, go Nidro. You too, Tan. As I said just now, it wasn’t Tan who missed Thena.”
“Then?”
Lord took out a piece of paper from his sleeve. Complex patterns are drawn on the damp parchment.
This is a special order form from Magic Tower that I have only heard about. It’s a great item that allows you to use magic even if you’re not skilled in magic, but each piece is worth the price of a castle.
My eyes widen, but the party members just giggle. Well, since it was a party with frequent special missions, he might have had a chance to see it unlike me.
“It’s an item made at the Golden Magic Tower, the highest peak among the Magic Towers. ‘Attraction of Allegiance’. It forms a protective force field that draws in allies and repels enemies. I attached it to the roof of the mouth in the shape of a dragon in preparation for something like today.”
In other words, the juice that wets the parchment is your own saliva. Rod made an embarrassed expression as he dusted the parchment with his fingertips.
“In other words, even if Danar and Evenna had chased after you and jumped into my mouth, they would have been pushed back by magical repulsion and remained in the basement of the Amethyst Palace.”
“I see.”
“But the problem is, Thena Everlight was also pushed away by the force of that force field.”
···I have a strong feeling.
Looking back at the party members, they were exchanging complicated glances. Everyone has an expression that they don’t understand at all.
But why would Lord lie? Nenya chewed her lip a few times and then spoke.
“The probability that the scroll made at the Golden Magic Tower malfunctioned is extremely low.”
“···Can I be quick to tell you my guess, Tan?”
“The oldest person is speaking, so who can stop him?”
“Don’t go overboard and keep saying you’re going to protect someone like that… Maybe it’s better to turn around.”
I wanted to stop him. I closed my eyes tightly.
Rod’s explanation passes through my ears, which have begun to hum. It is assumed that Gunther, a servant of Mithras, had a special eye on Thena. It was drenched in Gunther’s blood.
And the flash that resembled sunlight that took away aptitude the moment it flashed, as Nenya stated. Circumstances that lead to deep suspicion of Mithra’s involvement.
Crucially, the moment I rescued Thena from the dungeon, she almost swung her sword at me.
“You’re probably not saying that Thena betrayed me.”
“That can’t be possible. It’s improbable.”
“So you’re saying that Thena might have been possessed by something dangerous about her?”
“That is entirely possible.”
She tried not to think about it, but she definitely felt something strange. A creepy sense of déjà vu that I felt every moment while running with her Tena by her side.
“Meanwhile, the door to the World Temple is wide open without a lock called Edin, King Danar has acquired a weapon to steal human aptitude, and the Demon World is planning an invasion. Now, Tan’s life is not the only thing at stake. So- “
“I guess I’ll have to go rescue him.”
“···Again? I have already summoned my old party members through the Children of the Dragon’s Nest. Like the lords of Armatam, the high-ranking officials of Summeriris, and those living in seclusion in the wilderness of the East, each of them has laid down their weapons for a while for their own reasons. “Legends of the times. People with a power far superior to that of the Extermination Party will gather within a month.”
Rod shook his head with a stern expression.
“I’m just saying it’s not the place for children.”
“One month. Are you saying that Thena will be left alone for a month while under the Demon Lord’s spell?”
“Burnt.”
“I absolutely cannot leave it like that. Even if I am stubborn, there is nothing I can do about it. What would you do if Thena was also fighting the demonic beast that was gnawing at her, just as I was fighting the power of Mithras that had burrowed into my body?”
“If Evenna wasn’t there, and if there wasn’t an unknown force taking away his aptitude, I wouldn’t have stopped him. Look at Nenya! I can’t advise my child and his peers to fight the risk of permanently losing their aptitude!”
The Lord must have been frustrated with my stubbornness and rarely raised his voice. Still, it hurts my heart to be worried.
When Lord points to Nenya, Nenya sighs and makes her hand sign and tries to use her magic.
The tree, which had been shaken by Lennie’s hopscotch a moment ago, suddenly made a clanging sound and moved its branches like an animal. Rod was speechless and his eyes were wide.
“This is reality… Huh.”
An acorn that had not yet fallen fell from a branch that was bending this way and that, as if doing gymnastics, and hit Lennie’s head. After receiving his sling back, Lennie stroked the top of his head and blinked.
When Nya opened her mouth in a daze and folded her fingers back, the tree returned to its original form as if it had never been like that before. Isiluni
“···What is it? Is the magic back?”
“Didn’t taking away an aptitude mean taking it away forever? Did it just temporarily neutralize it?”
“No. Didn’t you say that aptitude would be taken away and redistributed? For example, if you want to redistribute it, you have to store it all somewhere.”
“I don’t know if this analogy is appropriate, but even if you pick an apple from an apple and store it, it will grow back on the tree, right? Even if the power of the wizard’s aptitude is taken away, the root remains, so wouldn’t it become fine over time?”
“That doesn’t make sense. Then isn’t it nonsense to talk about the ‘Age of the King of Jeokseong’? If the ability to give aptitude and then take it away is only temporary, it is far from enough to suppress other worldly powers.”
“It’s just my opinion.”
Adamantone, with a haggard expression, raised his hand. Garam was startled and took half a step back.
“What? Are you still alive?”
“···We’ve been together all along. Hey guys, the power of aptitude is given by the gods, right?”
“It did?”
“And didn’t you say that the guy riding there was some sort of agent carrying out Goddess Ishtar’s will? Right?”
“That’s right. Lilith said that the Goddess appointed her Tan to be the great warrior of her holy temple. But why… Ah.”
The sister who was examining me while touching me stopped answering blankly and suddenly raised her head. Adamanton nodded his head.
“Just like reissuing a revoked adventurer license-“
“Well, did you still remember the incident of having your adventurer license revoked…?”
“That’s true, Sister Isilun, let me finish what I’m saying.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Anyway, what if someone can reissue the stolen aptitude?”
“Then maybe Evenna is the only thing to worry about, Mother. What do you think?”
I wondered what I had done with Nenya to bring back her magic. In fact, rather than worrying, I was just trying to think of something, desperately hoping that there would be some clue other than ‘that thing’.
However, no matter how much I thought about it, until Rod looked back at me with a smile and asked a question, there was only one thing I could figure out.
“Did Tan give Nenya her aptitude back? How? What happened while the two of you were isolated?”
“Well, that is.”
Before I could respond, Lenny cupped her face and turned her head. She must have guessed from the scent floating in the air that Eshen and Garam were already making strange expressions.
After hearing my answer, everyone’s expressions twisted awkwardly in their own way.
Adamantone pursed his lips, seemed to be mulling over something for a while, and then nodded.
“Now that I think about it, I think aptitude might not be that important.”
“What bullshit.”
“I’m done. I’ll live without it.”
“···I have no intention of doing anything for you, you bastard.”
The guy looked very relieved. I asked for patience as my fist clenched of its own accord.
Rod sighed, scratched his head and spoke.
“Let’s be honest. Has anyone here ever slept with Tan Bantai?”
Isilun covered Adamantone’s eyes with one hand, perhaps to keep his secret. And she was the first to raise her hand. From Eshen to Nenya, everyone looked at each other and raised their hands one by one.
“Oh my god, you crazy bastard.”
“I won’t say too much, but it’s surprising to see it again.”
“···Actually, I thought a few people were saying they tried it as a joke.”
“If you’re going to talk like that, why are you covering my eyes?”
A hint of envy can be heard in Adamantone’s voice. If you think about it, this guy was also quite crazy about women.
But in some ways, I feel like it’s not something to be envious of. I felt depressed by the fact that all the women raised their hands.
Only Erina folds and unfolds her raised palms a little vaguely.
“Is it acceptable to do it in a dream?”
“···I’m not sure about that.”
Rod scratched his head a few times, wondering if he had a headache like me.
“Assuming that the hypothesis that aptitude can be returned through sexual activity is correct, it is true that the risk is much reduced. I understand, Tan. Let’s seriously think about a method together.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean TENA. Even if we can’t crush all the conspiracies and crises, it might be possible to steal away one TENA in advance.”
The faces of the party members brightened. Maybe my expression was like that too.
In fact, if Lord had swallowed us in one bite and left, there would have been no way for us to be stubborn even if we had tried.
———–
At the same time, Amethyst Palace
“General, doesn’t that child… Seem to have a mixture of the personality of a luxuriously wealthy person and the personality of someone who grew up without enough food?”
“Shut up, you bastard!”
The knights of Soelan had a hushed conversation. I was lying flat on my stomach, wearing the white robe I had been given by Tena’s order.
And in the place where their prostrate heads turned…
“Please stop… I’m full···!“
There was Tena, surrounded by a mountain of strawberry dishes.
Smoothies, pies, cakes, sorbets and even sandwiches and pizza. The chefs, who had to make the most out of the few strawberries they had, got exhausted while trying to come up with ideas.
Even from the server’s perspective, it was a bit of a pain. The adventurers, who had been robbed of their aptitude and reduced to incompetent servants, were increasingly casting doubt on the sanity of their master, who was revealing his dual personality by the second.
Thena, sitting on the throne of Danar, alternately screamed and cheered. The female warrior, whose eyes were twitching, repeatedly lifted the plate she held out and put it down.
“No, more! It’s not enough! There’s a separate boat for dessert!”
