13 – Arid Mirror (1)
“A person.”
Tristan’s mouth moved again when Kyle fell from the tree branch.
Lucion glanced at Howard and refocused on Tristan.
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“If I’ve disturbed your sleep, I apologize.”
Nevertheless, he’s a priest, so he’ll probably spare my life.
First, let’s start with the head.
‘I know it’s absurd.’
It was a situation where I couldn’t just easily kill him.
Simply put…
There was a thief in my house. When I threatened him with a bat, he defended himself, and it turns out that the thief was his nephew.
How am I supposed to kill him?
‘Tritan despises people to the extreme, but trusts sacred power.’
It was Lucion’s only hope.
Stems sprouted from the ground. In the blink of an eye without any chance to react, it confined Lucion and Lucia, preventing them from escaping.
“Lucion!”
Sia reached out with surprised eyes, but it was in vain.
Both of them were trapped in a cage.
‘I know this magic.’
Shadows appeared on Lucion’s face.
Elpit,
A technique primarily used by elves to confine sinners.
Lucion gripped the iron bars. Despite being made of wood, it wouldn’t bend with force alone. Trying to burn it had no effect, and even the transformation of nature did not work.
To counter magic, one must know the source of the magic. However, if the caster is Tritan, whose age is unknown, even bringing in a considerable genius wouldn’t help. Moreover, this wasn’t magic; it was using sacred power.
“It’s a seal.”
Not killing, but capturing.
There’s a purpose behind it.
To escape, Lucion needed to understand why Tritan had imprisoned him.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, a human form emerged from the cage floor.
A sprout grew, soon becoming a stem, taking on the form of a person.
The origin of elves is said to be the World Tree.
Elves are called wingless spirits, as well as hybrids of donkeys and gods.
The exact origin is unknown, but it seemed Tritan had the ability to create elves.
The doppelgänger of Tritan before Lucion was undoubtedly an elf.
“Why have you imprisoned me?”
The elf muttered something.
Unable to understand the words, Lucion soon heard directly in his mind.
“You are the descendants bestowed with the power of the goddess.”
“I have been waiting for ‘Pieces’ like you.”
“As you can see, I am unable to move.”
“For a thousand years, no Pieces have approached me.”
I see.
Lucion sensed that the situation was unusual.
‘It seems like they plan to make me a slave.’
He had to choose his words carefully.
Or, find an alternative.
Because it’s not an opponent you can defeat in a fight.
Bow down.
“What do you desire?”
A smile tugs at the elf’s lips.
⎯ I would like you to summon the wind.
“The wind?”
Tritan is an existence beyond human comprehension. It’s not just about conjuring the wind.
⎯ Yes, a very trivial wind.
At times like this, understanding the examiner’s intent is effective.
“Is there a reason you need the wind?”
⎯ Hmm.
There must be a reason they want to utilize Lucion by asking for the wind. If this side disappears, the other side will be in trouble too.
Shouldn’t we make a fair deal?
Even if he tried to act high and mighty, he had to explain the circumstances.
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t know.”
⎯ No.
The elf tilts his head, seeming reluctant to speak.
Is there something he wants to say but finds hard to express?
What on earth is this wind substitute for?
In truth, I didn’t really want to know, so I tried to escape from the quest by pushing Tristan away. But Tristan’s choice was excellent.
– As expected, it’s best to ask them over there.
Sarcastically.
Lucion immediately changed his attitude. Aren’t there hostages here?
“I will do it. It’s windy.”
First, let’s hear what they want. I can’t ask Sia to do something strange.
But it’s about creating wind.
“They must desire change.”
For those who live immortally like Tristan, wind generally symbolizes change.
It must be a sense of boredom in their current lives.
Usually, there are various races around, so Tristan doesn’t get bored. But isn’t there an intellectual being living with him despite his large build?
It can’t be just an ordinary intellectual being.
As long as he lives, his friends should live long too. To Tristan, a creature crawling on the road like an ant has no meaning. At least it should be an elf to become his friend.
– Yes. I have lived for a very long time. But now, it seems like the end is near.
To see the end.
“Are you feeling a crisis?”
The elf’s expression changed to a frown.
– No. It literally means the end.
Apart from lifespan, there was nothing else to think about.
– Can you see the excavated land?
“Ah.”
– It’s my fault that it turned out like this. Now, even if I want to move, I can’t.
Lucion retracted his previous assessment of Tritan’s character as being pathetic.
How could a spirit, who claimed it was his own fault, cause such destruction to the land?
If that’s the case, then the crater dug into the ground is not Tritan’s rampage, but rather a trace of his struggle for survival.
Following Tritan’s explanation, Lucion had no choice but to admit his own foolishness.
– A long time ago, I gave up on relocating myself. I thought this place was the best.
Lucion looked around.
In the middle of the forest.
And a wide open space.
It would be the perfect space for Tritan to live. There are even large roads in both directions.
It’s a land that can absorb the energy of the earth and, when the time comes, abandon the dry land and move at any moment. Tritan decided to settle on this land instead of abandoning it.
“Why did you do that?”
Isn’t it a foolish thing to do?
For a mobile species like the Ents, whose advantage is in moving.
The elf showed his back. Then he looked into the distance.
– It used to be a lake.
– The High Elves were there too.
Perhaps, Tritan of the past may have had a rather glorious appearance.
ㅡ At night, the moon shines, and in the dawn, mist blossoms. In the morning, one could taste the sweet dew flowing along the leaves.
ㅡ When the sun rises, the animals of the forest gather by the lake, thirsting for a drink. And so, the residents of the forest were all my friends.
ㅡ It’s a tale from long ago, but I believe I lived a rather enjoyable life.
A sense of melancholy sets in.
High Elves…
Now a race that remains as a legend.
ㅡ You.
Lucion couldn’t bring himself to respond.
Worries began to creep in.
What could Tritan possibly desire?
ㅡ Once again, will you fill this place with water?
Lucion opened his mouth in astonishment.
This vast crater?
It’s wide enough to fit several villages.
He calculated in his mind.
Even if he poured water all night, it seemed like it would seep into the ground and end.
Thinking about pulling in all the surrounding water sources didn’t give him confidence that it would fill the entire crater.
Asking for the wind, and claiming that it would fill this crater.
It seemed he wanted to meet many animals of the forest through this.
‘Ha. What should I do.’
Realistically challenging, and there wasn’t enough time to spare for Tritan. Perhaps a better way is to turn Tritan into a seed and relocate him.
Tritan could encapsulate his soul in a seed, allowing him to move to a new place and establish roots. Normally, elves lend their hands, but there have been records of success by human wizards as well. On the flip side, successfully relocating Tritan could be considered a jinx, almost making one a grand wizard.
Therefore, attempting to persuade Tritan to migrate.
“Ah…”
Sia cried.
And it was more like a sob.
Has there ever been a time when she cried so mournfully?
All of Lucion’s plans in his mind turned into a blank sheet.
Who made Sia cry?
How can he make Sia stop crying?
These thoughts fill his mind entirely.
‘If I suggest abandoning the body and migrating, Sia won’t be satisfied.’
“Ha-ah!”
Lucion closes his eyes and tilts his head back.
This quest.
“I think I can do it. Very. Certainly.”
– I thought you could. I thought you could do it. Please, I beg you.
The elf gently bowed his head, then smoothly melted away. With the last sight of being absorbed into the ground, Tritan closed his eyes.
The iron bars that confined Lucion and Lucia were lifted.
Lucion approached Lucia without hesitation.
“Lucia. It’s okay. You don’t have to cry.”
Lucia wiped away tears with her sleeves.
“Sigh. But Tritan was alone for a very long time, you know.”
Alone? Strictly speaking, he was together with hundreds of Howlards and Sharonbirds.
Lucion bent down, aligning his eyes with Lucia’s. Then, with a smile, he said,
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“There’s a lot to do, Princess.”
Lucia’s eyes, which had just been crying, became sharp.
“I’m not a child.”
“Yeah. Didn’t you just cry? Sobbing?”
Lucion, who had been enjoying teasing her with a perpetual grin, received a punch to his stomach. Quite a solid one.
Cough.
###
“What should we do?”
Lucia was at a loss.
Tristan, who had just fallen asleep again, seemed pitiful, and she didn’t know what to do.
Lucion replied blandly,
“Well, we just have to fill the lake. Easy, right?”
Is it really that easy?
Ignoring Lucia’s stern gaze, Lucion headed towards the cliff.
In the past, Lucion was the lord who protected the borders.
There were quite a few occasions when water was needed.
Surprisingly close to his main duties, the supply of water was an important issue for the lord.
Below, a land dried up as far as the eye could see.
However, that was only on the surface.
“There used to be a lake here.”
“Yeah.”
“This is somewhere in the middle of the forest. Even though it looks dried up. The water from the lake has been absorbed.”
In other words, water is buried beneath the dry land.