Chapter 57 - The Aftermath

Rhema, who came back after the sunset, came across Ofeq waiting for him.

“You might have changed history today. Are you satisfied now?”

It was a sarcastic tone. Rhema tried to pass it without answering. The bird fluttered and flew to him and held out what it was holding with its paw.

“Look, Rhema Reshith.”

What Ofeq showed was a grey, cracked egg. The crack that started from the tip was stretched to the center. Along with the deep crack, small cracks were being formed. Standing still, he looked at it.

“Do you really want it to end? Make your mind, before it’s too late,” Ofeq urged him.

Rhema was silent for a long time. Then he passed the bird and entered the house.

Azriel Esthera was sitting with her knees raised on a huge armchair, with a blanket over her. Standing by the doorside, Rhema vacantly gazed at the girl. The girl who was buried in the chair was small. She was lovely. Yes, she became lovely and precious. He recalled an old memory that had been crushed by the long period of time.

“… You are the last one. There’s no one left besides you,” the voice of the man who said this was hoarse and cracked. “…You have to do it. You are… to become… an unshakable watchman.”

The words that were spoken as if being squeezed. Whose words were they? Like blowing the dirt that had been thickly built up, he searched his memory. The memory of the thick smell of blood and burning flesh reeking. Master. It was his master’s words. Rhema’s master was dying.

“If you fall… you will be the end. Never… fall… never.”

Rhema listened to his master without saying a word. Was he crying? It had been too long that he was unsure.

“… So don’t give affection to anyone. Don’t make someone precious to you. You… shouldn’t love anyone.”

There was no mana left in his master’s voice. It was merely a thin and weak voice of a dying person. Nevertheless, those words were rooted inside him like a curse. The rooted words bound him.

“You could do it. If it’s you—”

The master put on a smile that made it hard to distinguish whether he was crying or smiling. Then he looked at Rhema with eyes full of emotion and took his last breath. Was the emotion in the master’s eyes a sympathy for him, guilt, or—

Rhema stopped thinking and stepped in the living room where Azriel was.

Azriel, looking in the air blankly, was patting Largo whose head was on her feet. At the sound of someone coming in, she turned around. Rhema, who was bloody before, returned home as the white wizard in a clean attire that she knew.

“Rhema!” Rejoicing, Azriel sprang up from the chair.

Largo, who was pushed away by that, shook his body and slipped away. With a faint smile on his face, Rhema hugged her who came into his arms.

“Why are you still awake? You couldn’t sleep?”

“I waited for you.”

As Azriel responded and smiled, a smile on his face suddenly disappeared. With an ambiguous face, he looked down at her. Then he murmured to himself.

“Why do you keep shaking me?”

“What?”

“Nothing. Do you feel dizzy or hurt?”

“I’m fine now,” she answered, shaking her head.

“You must’ve been exhausted. You’d better sleep quickly,” he spoke, lightly lifting her up.

He escorted her to the bed. There were so many things that Azriel wanted to ask about what happened today and so many things to say. She hesitated to say something until Rhema laid her and put the blanket over her.

“Good night, Azriel.”

He was about to leave the room after gently saying good night. Azriel grabbed his sleeve without realizing it. Rhema looked back at her.

“Umm, Rhema.”

“Yes, Azriel.”

“The thing I did today— touching mana.”

“Do you mean dragon eye magic?”

“Yes…”

Biting her lips, she hesitated. Rhema waited quietly until she continued. Perching on the edge of the bed, his face was calm and soft as usual. Azriel asked as she looked at his face.

“Is it what you said you would teach me if I wanted after learning other magic— the magic that the primary wizards used?”

“You’re right.”

“I didn’t know that was such dangerous magic— That’s why you did not teach it to me.”

Her body shook. She felt like the image of the knight who was cut into pieces would appear in her dream. The tips of her fingers became cold. Azriel grabbed Rhema’s hem tightly.

“Will I, by any chance, use that scary magic again if there is a similar situation?”

“You probably will,” he, who spoke candidly, added as he pulled her blanket. “Azriel, magic is not scary. It’s a power to protect yourself.”

“But, it’s the power to— make other people like that.”

“That power will never attack you. So, you don’t have to be scared of it.”

“That means, others around me will be attacked. Didn’t you say not to touch mana because I might recklessly attack others around me?”

“I didn’t forbid you from using dragon eye magic for that reason.”

“… Then why did you tell me not to use it?”

“…” Rhema closed his mouth. He stroked her hair silently for a while and stood from his seat. “Sleep tight, Azriel. Wish you a sweet dream.”

After whispering that, he left the room.