“I’m hungry, Big Brother.”
“...Maybe we can at least have some water?”
“I want some bread...”
Ever since their mother left them in their aunt’s care to earn a living, being thrown out of the house had become an almost daily occurrence.
Whenever their aunt and uncle were in a bad mood or something made them angry, the siblings had to make themselves as small and quiet as possible. That way, they might get beaten a little less.
Even then, today ended no differently. They were beaten and thrown out once again.
On days like this, they went without food for the entire day. Their only choice was to wait until night fell and their aunt and uncle had calmed down, then quietly slip back inside and go to sleep.
Step.
“.....?”
The two children had been absentmindedly running their fingers through the dirt, trying to distract themselves from the cold and their empty stomachs, when someone stopped in front of them.
They slowly looked up. A figure in a gray robe stood over them.
“Whoa.”
“So pretty.”
When the children caught a glimpse of the face hidden beneath the hood, their mouths fell open in awe. Their innocent admiration brought a faint smile to the man’s lips as he held something out to them.
Clink.
“Take it.”
“What is it?”
“Travel money.”
“Huh?”
It was a coin pouch. The children accepted it without thinking and stared up at the man with wide, bewildered eyes.
Seeing they didn’t understand, he stepped closer and crouched until they were at eye level.
“Leave this place. Go as far away as you can.”
“Why?”
The little girl tilted her head. The man gently ruffled her hair.
“Because this place is about to become hell.”
At those words, the siblings’ eyes grew even wider.
“So leave. Go as far away as you can.”
“Far away?”
“That’s right. Right now.”
The two children looked at each other before nodding eagerly. With this money, they could finally go to where their mother was.
Their faces lighting up with excitement. They sprang to their feet and ran off without another word.
“......”
The man watched them disappear into the distance before getting to his feet and pulling back his hood. Pale lavender hair spilled free, revealing a face so deathly pale it looked as though it had never seen the light of day.
“Jutel.”
At Prince Alex’s call, a man appeared soundlessly. Jutel dipped his head in greeting before chuckling.
“Are you planning to send all the children away? I’ve already lost count of how many you’ve saved.”
“Killing children’s souls won’t do much to make the flowers bloom.”
“Yes, yes.”
Suppressing his smile under Alex’s cold stare, Jutel handed over the object he had been carrying. It was a black gemstone the size of an adult’s fist, one capable of creating an S-Class Black Forest.
“You have thirty minutes. You need to be out of here before then.”
“I know.”
Once the gem was thrown, anyone still nearby after thirty minutes would be swallowed by the Black Forest, including him. Knowing that better than anyone else, Prince Alex had already prepared a teleportation scroll.
“...Phew.”
Prince Alex sighed heavily as he tightened his grip around the black gemstone. Then, after steeling himself, he tossed it into a deserted alley.
Crack!
When the gemstone shattered, dark energy began to seep from the broken fragments.
The instant he saw it, Prince Alex tore open the teleportation scroll and vanished from the alley with Jutel.
.
.
.
Chapter 35. The S-Class Black Forest
“Artia... knew about you?”
“Yes.”
“That fool... hid it from me?”
Of all people, Artia...
Are you telling me Arti kept a secret from me? And it was about my own disciple!
“N-No!”
Seeing Ceres jump to the wrong conclusion, Ersi hurried to explain.
“He only found out after you passed away, Master.”
“How?”
“I ran into him by chance.”
It was about twenty years after he left House Ellesia and disappeared from the public eye.
He lived as quietly as he could so no one would notice that he neither aged nor died, waiting for the day the name and face of ‘Enoch’ would be forgotten.
But one day...
“Enoch?”
“Gah! N-No, you’ve got the wrong person!”
“Oh? Then why’d you flinch the second you saw me?”
“I-I didn’t flinch.”
“Do I need to drag Kai over here before you’ll finally admit it?”
“Gah! It’s been so long, Lord Artia!”
It really was a complete coincidence. Never in a million years did he expect to run into Artia in some small village so far from the capital.
“That’s why I told him everything.”
“......”
“And then Lord Artia gave me this key.”
It was a black key, one Ceres recognized immediately.
Grace had once told Enoch herself that she’d founded the Sky Guild to gather information. The black key was proof of the owner’s identity.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“Because I think you’re the one who should have it.”
“Why me?”
“I have a feeling that fool is going to want to see you.”
“Huh? Who are you talking about...?”
Back then, he’d assumed the “fool” Artia mentioned was Kainel. There were only a handful of people who even knew this key existed.
But now...
“It was you, Master.”
There must have been another secret behind these keys, one known only to the three of them. Otherwise, how could she have tracked down something so carefully hidden and ended up here?
Arti... You really did think of everything.
Ceres gently traced her fingers over the key Artia had left behind. Just how much had he prepared for her before he was gone?
He’d always insisted he’d never entrust this key to anyone else. Yet he’d willingly placed it in Enoch’s hands for one reason alone. So that one day, she could meet her disciple again.
“What are all those?”
After a long silence, Ceres pointed toward the pile of belongings stacked in the corner of the room. It looked like he was getting ready to move, with all sorts of luggage already packed.
“Ah...”
Ersi scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.
“I’m thinking of leaving.”
“Leaving?”
The unexpected answer made Ceres knit her brows. Was someone after him?
“I heard Lord Kainel came to the capital...”
Even after all these years, Kainel was still the only person who could recognize him at a glance.
Until now, Ersi had never worried. As far as he knew, Kainel had spent the past three centuries without ever leaving the Grand Duchy of Persia.
But not long ago, word reached him that Kainel had come to the capital. As soon as he heard the news, Ersi decided he couldn’t stay. If he remained at the temple much longer, running into Kainel was only a matter of time.
“Unlike Lord Artia, if Lord Kainel sees me...”
“...His first instinct will be to draw his sword.”
He’d want to find out whether Enoch was a monster first.
There was one time they encountered a monster that pulled memories from people’s minds and trapped them in illusions.
Back then, Kai had a really hard time.
He could barely bring himself to lift his sword.
“Hey, you idiot! Why are you just standing there? I told you it’s a monster!”
“I knew...”
“Then why didn’t you do anything?!”
“.......”
Even now, she could still remember the look in Kai’s eyes when she had scolded him. He didn’t argue. He just looked at her with quiet sorrow.
“...Because it looked like someone I could never bring myself to stab. Even if it killed me.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
Oddly enough, Artia seemed to understand exactly what Kai meant. Normally, he’d have chewed him out even more than she did. But that day, he simply nodded and said nothing.
What did those two see in those illusions? Hers was her late parents. But both of their parents were still alive.
Ever since then, if anything even resembled one of those illusion monsters, Kai never hesitated. He struck first before it had the chance to show him another vision.
The moment he sees Enoch’s face, he’d probably mistake him for that same kind of monster and attack without a second thought.
“But...”
Ersi carefully voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.
“What happened to you, Master?”
How did she come back to life? He had seen it with his own eyes when Kainel had frozen his master’s body with the utmost care.
“Me?”
Ceres smiled bitterly.
“This was Artia’s doing.”
“Ah...”
She didn’t offer any further explanation, but Ersi nodded in understanding. If it involved Artia, who was always doing the impossible, then somehow it all made perfect sense.
“......”
“......”
Silence settled over the room once more.
Ceres and Ersi... no, Grace and Enoch. Master and disciple had finally met again after centuries apart. Various emotions welled up between them.
Screeeeeeeech!
“—!”
“...What’s that?”
A piercing screech ripped through the silence a moment later. It was an awful sound she should’ve been used to by now, yet it still grated on her nerves every time she heard it.
It was the Black Forest warning alarm.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter