679 – 8. Will (53)
I looked around the ownerless workshop.
For seekers of truth, ‘work and defense’ was like life. It was a space that was not freely shown to family or students, and it was also a place where the fruits of research pursued throughout one’s life were stored.
Looking at it objectively, it meant that I was now committing extreme disrespect.
Nevertheless, there was no hesitation in my steps. I just looked at all the reagents on the shelf with a sinking expression.
I thought that the bubbling liquid and the water droplets falling one or two at a time seemed somehow familiar.
Because the raw material had a bright blood color.
It was not strange for an alchemist to use blood as a material. However, it was rare for blood to be beautifully colored enough to scatter a soft light even at night. Perhaps only one person could shed such pure blood.
Emma.
Reciting the name of a woman who was unconscious in the corner of the workshop. I slowly lifted one of the reagents.
I remember drinking it. My memories have been blurry for a while, but now my head is clearing and the past comes to mind.
The day before Celine attacked her academy.
Emma gave me this medicine, and I was able to return to the battlefield, at least temporarily, thanks to its effects.
“Since when?” ….”
The person who would have answered the question that came out like a groan had long since fainted.
No, would it be more accurate to say that I fell asleep soundly?
Emma’s face was deeply tired as she took a deep breath. What she meant was that she hadn’t been sleeping well and was overexerting herself.
There was plenty of evidence to support this.
The traces of life left throughout the workshop meant that they had to settle for lodging here instead of returning to their lodgings. Furthermore, considering Emma’s meticulous nature, the documents and furniture scattered everywhere were extremely awkward.
I guess that means she didn’t have that much free time.
There was no empty paper in the workshop. Numerous formulas, unknown shapes, and finally, my name that stands out every now and then.
I let out a long sigh and washed my face dry. With a sigh of exhalation, a sense of self-destruction invaded my mind.
What on earth am I doing?
I thought I could accomplish anything. I mistakenly thought that I had a belief that I could keep if I didn’t give up and was stubborn. The result was this.
A body barely supported by the tears and sweat of others.
Now I was even sucking the blood of my precious person. For the first time, I thought my situation was disgusting.
So I asked as if chewing it up.
“…… Did you know?”
Even if someone saw it as nonsense, I had nothing to say. It was just me and Emma here, and the only person I was talking to was unconscious right now, so my questions were just empty echoes.
Yes, in other people’s eyes.
But I was closer to the category of ‘madman’ than ‘normal’. Anyway, how can I say I’m sane when I’m hallucinating in an empty workshop?
Golden eyes filled with deep fatigue.
A man wearing a shabby cloak was sitting on a table in the workshop behind me. It was ‘me’ from the future. Is this also because the assimilation rate has become too high?
The man did not give a clear answer as she always did.
“Then what will change?”
“I think it will at least help me understand the situation I’m in.”
“It’s a mess.”
It was a clear summary. Should I say that this is the optimal vocabulary to express my current situation?
“Your body is already limited. My thoughts began to run wild, and all methods except the ‘first offering’ were of no use. The fatal flaw in the ‘created God’ plan is finally being revealed.”
Suddenly, I remembered a memory I had seen recently.
The man was also experiencing a similar problem in the future, and he contacted the red-brown haired alchemist to solve it.
It was similar to me. That may be why there was no wavering in her manly voice.
He must have also had countless worries and conflicts.
I did not stop the questions that kept coming up.
“Since when did Emma know her identity? Since when did she give me blood…….”
“I guess you didn’t know originally. But, you remember, right? “The ‘boundary’ has expanded due to the barrier of the last ‘vampire’.”
There was no way I could have forgotten.
That was the biggest difficulty when fighting against ‘vampires’, and in a world where the physical laws of reality do not apply, I had to actively utilize the power beyond the ‘boundary’.
In other words, the power of ‘me’ from the future.
In return, didn’t my body end up looking like this?
Perhaps Emma was also influenced by that ‘boundary’. When I thought about it, I remembered that senior Elsie was also influenced by her own personality from the world of ‘me’, which came from her future.
It is not strange if an incident that happened once happens twice.
However, this time it only happened to Emma, not senior Elsie.
“Nothing has been revealed about the ‘boundary’ yet. Still, it’s not clear that I passed the ‘boundary’ when I crossed into this world… The gap that opened up at that time may be continuing to widen. Or, it may be because the assimilation rate between me and you has become too high.”
“Then what should I do?”
“I guess I have to do what I have to do.”
The words were simple.
Doing ‘what you have to do’, what does that mean?
It was before I could even smile and ask a question.
“Maybe it’s a good thing. Anyway, there was only one way to solve your problem… Either make a contract with an evil spirit or offer the ‘first sacrifice.'”
“…… What?”
The story was so difficult to accept that my mind instantly felt paralyzed.
‘Good job’? Whatever?
No matter what, the man’s voice continued calmly.
“Contracts with evil spirits are out of the question. Celine’s example is enough to understand, right? There is a risk that your personality will be completely shaken by an unfair contract… “There is only one option left to save humanity.”
“Now, are you asking me to sacrifice Emma?”
“You’re acting like this is the first time you’ve heard this.”
When I asked the question out of tears, the retort that came back resembled mockery.
Naturally, I was about to raise an even more heated counterargument.
“Let’s take off that woman’s bandages.”
My body stopped for a moment at the man’s unexpected suggestion. I wanted to ask what he was talking about.
The man’s expression as he silently glanced at Emma was serious. After hesitating for a moment, my steps soon headed towards Emma.
The woman was so deep in her sleep that it was scary to even touch her. So I had to try as carefully as I could to undo the bandage from her woman’s fingertips.
There was just nothing inside.
My hands unravel more of the bandage in embarrassment. Then, the shape of the finger that was visible was slightly blurry.
Should I say it has become transparent?
Its presence was still felt, but it was impossible to capture it with any sense other than touch. As if there was nothing there.
Breathing stops.
The accident was the same. Like a caveman facing an incomprehensible phenomenon, I couldn’t say anything for a while.
It was then that the man’s voice struck my confused brain.
“Did you really think you only ingested blood? Then, since blood is produced infinitely, the ‘First Offering’ can be used infinitely… Unfortunately, that’s not the case. “Blood is just a medium.”
I finally realized it.
The reason why Emma wore her bandages, why she hid that fact from me, and even why she seemed relieved but somehow unstable.
She didn’t want me to know.
“You were already sacrificing her existence to save her life. If things continue like this, the ending will be the same anyway… “If that’s the case, it means it’s better to do it now.”
If I found out, I would know very well how it would feel.
“Sweetheart.”
And you probably knew what I was thinking.
“You can’t lose anything… “You should know now.”
Even what choice I make.
Instead of answering, my hand picked up one of the reagents lying around the workshop. And then he tilts it and puts it in his mouth.
A flame-like sensation spreads throughout my body. It felt like heat was rushing through my veins, and when the flames reached my brain, a fierce pain arose.
Off.
I took a step back, groaning, and drank another reagent.
While repeating this several times, the man did not say anything. She just watched me closely with her faded golden eyes.
He finally let out a sigh that was as crunchy as sand.
“You’re doing something foolish…” ….”
It was a simple statement, and I didn’t really want to refute it.
Because it was true.
Vitality begins to return to the body that was waiting for death. The magical energy that had flowed like dry spring water received an unexpected force and was rushing like a torrent.
It hurts.
But everyone would have done that. Everyone who tried to protect me and save me must have suffered like this.
Emma would have been no exception.
Saying my life for others was such a painful decision.
It was just before leaving the battle.
“Do you think that I have never had a time like you?”
When I turned around, the man wasn’t even looking at me. She might have just been lamenting.
“I thought and struggled countless times. But I couldn’t not throw anything away… “You will regret it.”
It was something I had already heard dozens of times.
He was right. I drank Emma’s reagent, but in the end, what I was doing was nothing more than a temporary solution. Rather than exhausting Emma’s existence like this, it might be better to aim for her complete cure.
Yes, I was already regretting it.
Nevertheless.
“I know.”
Why did you answer like that?
I don’t know why, but before I knew it, I was taking steps without hesitation. Just rely on intuition and instinct.
The forest south of the Academy.
Aindel was waiting there.