4 – Ruins, Albion (4)
“…What evidence do you have for that?”
“What about that other world? Specifically, which ‘world’ did you come from?”
“What is your purpose for coming here?”
“What happened to the original Drakan?”
“Why Drakan, of all creatures?”
The questions poured in. I earnestly answered each one.
Scarlet Peridot listened to all the answers and fell silent. Judging by the light tapping on the table, she was clearly contemplating something.
Still, I had to speak.
Even if revealing the truth would lead her to misunderstand me as a fake creature…
“Scarlet Peridot. You are not present in the world seven years from now.”
“….Hmm.”
Scarlet Peridot remained silent. She just looked at me with cold eyes of politeness.
It was difficult to see her pink irises. Her slightly skewed gaze made it impossible to know what she was thinking.
She just seemed to be thinking. Not caring about my words.
Just continued to think.
“…You.”
Finally, after countless moments of silence, she opened her mouth.
“So you’re not Drakan after all.”
“…Yes.”
“What is your original name?”
“If we’re talking about the original name… it’s Lee Seojun…”
“Lee Seojun? That’s a strange name. Is that a common name in your world?”
“… At least where I come from, it is.”
“I see.”
Scarlet Peridot fidgeted with her drink.
“So in seven years, I don’t exist?”
“…Of course, it’s not certain… but at least I haven’t heard of it.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“…I see. That must be the case.”
That must be the case…?
She lifted her head. Nodded lightly.
“I understand. But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why did you reveal that fact to me?”
“……. “
“Are you wanting to stay here? Or hoping to win my favor? If there’s anything else you desire, please say it now. Even if you reveal this story, the fact that you have to leave remains unchanged.”
“… I didn’t say it to stay.”
“Is that so?”
“You… want you to not die…”
“Why?”
That…
“…You’ve treated me well,” I said unintentionally.
Scarlet Peridot blinked. Her hand, which had been fidgeting with the drink, stopped.
“…Those words don’t seem like something that would come out of Drakan’s mouth,” she said.
“Yes?”
“The clans may be different, but we are all alike. What matters most to us is ‘honor.’ Drakan, he was a young elite warrior who placed great importance on it. He saw dying in battle as a glory in itself.”
She wiped her face.
“…I understand everything now. You’ve distanced yourself from the clans. All the discomfort I felt before makes sense now. Even if you lost your memory, the pride of the clans remains deep within your heart. That’s why you…”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing. Can you please step aside for a moment? I need to gather my thoughts.”
She pushed me firmly out of the room.
“Have a good night, Drakan.”
The title she called me by didn’t change. I watched as the door closed right in front of me.
Was it the right thing to do?
I couldn’t tell. I could only wait for tomorrow.
I simply wanted her to make the right choice. Even if it was for her own sake.
…
As the day brightened, Scarlet Peridot came to see me.
“Drakan.”
The words she spat at me from leaning against the door were completely unexpected.
“Do you plan to stay here for another ten months?”
“…What?”
Her words changed. But she continued as if she was somewhat relieved.
“I’m curious about the knowledge of this realm. If you’re determined, there’s no helping it, but it would definitely make me happy if you could help. Mostly because I’m curious about what will happen seven years from now.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’ll accept your favor. For now, let me start by saying thank you. Drakan. I don’t believe it all, but… I appreciate you bringing up the difficult stories first.”
An additional ten months of living together.
I had no reason to refuse. In fact, I thought I lacked some knowledge.
“But… how old are you supposed to be?”
“I’m 26 years old.”
“You know that Drakan is 19 years old, right?”
“…That’s right.”
“If we talk about actual age, then we’re similar in age.”
“Is Scarlet also 26 years old?”
“No. She’s one year younger than me.”
We spent time together. It was not much different from the time we had before.
Having breakfast, maintaining the machines.
When we went outside, we practiced simulations in case of any unexpected combat situations.
We continued with trivial small talks under the pretext of exchanging knowledge.
“…A polygamous system? That’s interesting.”
“Aren’t you a dragonkin?”
“We can do both. There are no specific limitations. If a man has abilities, he can have multiple wives, and vice versa, if a woman has abilities, she can have multiple husbands.”
“Oh, I see…”
“It seems your knowledge about this world is quite shallow.”
“I wasn’t really into setting details like that.”
“A ‘setting connoisseur’?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone who focuses on a particular thing.”
“Focusing on something… It’s a nice title. Am I a knowledge connoisseur then?”
“Something like that… Maybe?”
It didn’t feel like a particularly good title.
The time spent with Scarlett Peridot gradually increased each day. The sense of distance that always seemed to be there also decreased little by little.
“…What will we have for breakfast?”
“The usual rations, right?”
“Well, actually, I experimented during the day… And I found out that if you grill some of it over fire, it becomes delicious.”
She had a mischievous side. Since the provisions didn’t taste good, she used the excuse of grilling them and ended up burning an entire curtain.
“…What if you get hurt?”
“Don’t underestimate dragonkin’s bodies.”
“But it hurts.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“Of course.”
“…I see.”
Scarlet Peridot turned her head slightly as if feeling awkward.
“No need to worry. I’m really okay.”
Sometimes she would run the combat simulator and secretly sneak in. Should I say she played pranks inside the simulation?
When rain suddenly poured from the dry sky in the simulation, I glanced at the virtual rooftop of a building. Then she, sitting on the rooftop railing, would wave her hand towards me.
She was like a cat. The closer we got, the more mischievous she became.
…Well.
I didn’t really mind.
“I die in 7 years?”
“I’m not sure exactly when you die. But according to the records, I’ve never seen your name before.”
“You really liked the dragon clan?”
“Yes.”
“And you said you liked Drakan the most? What was the reason?”
“…How should I put it?”
Well, if I had to choose one.
“It’s about the appearance.”
“…You don’t mean…”
“I know what you’re thinking, but forget it. It’s not that kind of preference. It’s just… there’s something about it. Even other men find him cool.”
“But Drakan is a kid, right?”
“Yes, he is. But even as all the warriors were dying out, he alone held the front line till the end. Even though it was okay for everyone else to run away, he stayed in his place.”
“…You like people like that?”
“Not so much that I like people like that, but…”
A stubborn character.
And the courage to stick with it.
From Noble mtl dot com
Perhaps I fell for that.
“…There was a time when I turned a blind eye to the things I had to do.”
“What happened?”
“That’s a story for later. Anyway, I just liked characters who could do things that I couldn’t do well. Of course, the ending wasn’t good.”
“Well, indeed, Drakan died. And you ended up entering his lifeless body.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s not within the realm of science, Draco. Do you know that? The technology of the dragons is so advanced that even humans cannot fully catch up, but there are areas that even we couldn’t achieve. That would be the realm of creating life.”
“…….”.
“We can develop artificial intelligence. However, replicating humans is not possible. If you try to force replication, only damaged humans will walk out of the cultivation chamber. In the papers, there are some who, quite amusingly, deal with the unscientific part called ‘soul.’ And I somewhat agree with them.”
“In that case…”
“You coming into Draco’s body, isn’t it partly related to ‘the will of the gods’? Of course, we can’t fully understand its meaning… But surely, there must be some reason hidden within.
“…I’ve heard more than enough times that I’m a boring person.”
“It’s my fault.”
Even without a story to tell, she was there. Whenever she did something strange, I was there by her side too.
Then suddenly she said, “The truth is, I wanted to be an engineer.”
“To repair Titans?”
“Yes. But much more than that, I wanted to be a wide-ranging technician.”
“Then why don’t you do it?”
“…I mean, isn’t that the way the world works? Just because you want to, doesn’t mean you can get everything in your hands. Plus, I…tend to make mistakes quite often.”
“But you’re trapped anyway. What freedom is there to do anything inside here?”
“…But…”
“It’s okay.” I laughed softly. “If you make mistakes, I’ll help you out.”
She nodded slightly in response instead of answering. From that day on, we started studying Titans together.
When she made mistakes, I helped her from the side. Somehow, even with the machines in front of her, she still made frequent mistakes.
But with me by her side, no major accidents happened.
A month quickly passed. Two months felt the same.
As I planned to leave after a month, she said in passing, “Would you stay for just two more months?”
I nodded with a smile.
Time passed like arrows.
Around five months after arriving here, I heard a terrible scream as I was checking the calendar.
A sob mixed with a scream.
I threw the calendar I was holding.